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LONDON: 
FBIMTID  BY  WILLIAX  CLOWM  AND  SONS, 
(TAHrotO  (TBUT  AlID  CKAUXO  CKOM. 


LIST  OF  THE  PLATES,  VOL.  III. 


(^Tho8€  iUustrationa  whiefi  have  an  cuterUk  prefixed  are  not  drawn  by 

Sib  J.  Gabdnbb  Wilkinson.) 

^  Plate  XVII.  Great  Triad  of  Thebes — Amen,  Mut,  and  Khonsu 

Frontispiece :  see  VoL  11.  p.  612 
XVIII.  Xnum  or  Chnoumis,  Sati  or  Satis,  and  Sept  or  Sothis 
XIX.  Amen-ra    ........ 

XX.  Ptah  or  Phtha 

XXI.  Phtha-Sekar-Asar — Ptah-Socharis-Osiris 
XXII.  Ha  and  Harmachis        ...... 


>» 
»» 
»» 
»» 

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ft 
«» 


Paob 


3 

8 
14 
18 
46 

XXIII.  Khueuaten  and  family  adoring  the  Aten  or  disk        To  face  62 

XXIV.  Nut 63 

XXV.  Asar  or  Osiris               66 

XXVI.  Asi  or  Isis 100 

XXVII.  Hat'har,  Athor,  or  Hathor 114 

„   XXVm.  Athor 118 

XXIX.  Har-ur,  Haroeris,  and  Harsaasi  or  Harsiesis                        .  122 

XXX.  Harsaasi,  Harsiesis 129 

XXXI.  Figs.  1,  2,  Nubti  and  Thothmes  III.    Figs.  3,  4,  Har-hat 

and  Thothmes  III 137 

XXXII.  Taur,  Thoueris,  and  S'epu 146 

„  XXXni.  Gippos  representing  Horus  on  the  crocodiles,  with  the  head 

ofBes 153 

„  XXXIV.  Fig,  1,  Apap  or  Apdphis.    Fig.  2,  Horus  spearing  Apap 

or  Apdphis 156 

„     XXXV.  Anepu  or  Anubis        .......  168 

„   XXXVI.  Thoth 163 

XXXVII.  Fig.  la,  unknown.    Fig.  2,  Ta-sen-t-nefer.    Fig.  3,  Har- 
semt-ta.    Fig.  4,  Har-pa-ra.    Fig.  6,  Pan8b-ta.    Fig.  6, 

Heka     .........  177 

» XXXVIII.  Atum 179 

,    XXXIX.  Fig.  1,  Tefnu.  Fig.2,  Ur-hek.  Fig.  3,  Menhi.   Fig. 4,  Bast  192 

>  XL.  Nekheb  or  Nishem,  Eileithyia      .....  196 

>  XLI.  Uati  or  Buto 199 

XLII.  Sefekh 202 

XLIIL  Atum,  Bameses  II.,  Sefekh,  and  Thoth                   To/ace  203 

XLIV.  Hapi,  or  the  Nile 208 

XLV.  Figs,  la  and  15,  Thebes.     Fig.  2,  Tentyris.    Fig.  3,  Bak. 

Figs.  4  and  6,  Rannu 212 

XLVI.  Fig.  1,  BaL    Fig.  2,  Heh.  Fig.  3,  Re[n]pi.  Figs.  4  and  6, 

Amen.t          ........  215 

XLVn.  Fig.  1,  Nebhotep.    Fig.  2,  Ta-aha.    Fig.  3,  Unnu.   Fig. 

4,  souls  or  spirits  of  Buto  and  Men!    ....  218 


«> 


«» 


n 
n 


Tl  LIST  OF  THE  PLATES. 

Pack 

Plate  XLVIIL  Fig,  1,  Amset.   Fig.  2,  Hapi.    Fig,  3,  Tuautmutf.   Fig,  4, 

Qabhsenuf 220 

/  „      XLIX.    The  Forty-two  Daemons  of  the  Dead  To/ace    223 

L.    Amt  or  Cerberus :  various  types 225 

LL    Tanen,  lusaas,  Hu,  Sebak 227 

LIL    Fig.  1,  Khu.   Fig.  2,  Isis.    Fig.  3,  Hek.     Figs,  4  and  5, 

Naham-ua 229 . 

„        LIIL    Fig,  1,  Mer-sekar.    Fig.  2,  Mert.    Fig.  3,  Ani.    Fig,  4, 

Ta-nen 231 

LIV.    Fig.  1,  Horns.   Fig.  2,  Ras.    Fig.  3,  Isis.    Fig.  4,  Ra-ta  .     233 
„  LV.     Figs.  1,  4,  and  5,  Reshpu.     JF'^.  2,  Ket    Fig.  3,  Khem  .     235 

LVI.     Fig.  1,  Anta.    Fig.  2,  Sapt.    Fig.  3,  Anhar.    Fig.  4,  Menq    237 
„       L VIL    Fig.  1,  Mat'et  Fig.  2,  Man.    Figs.  3  and  4,  Shuu.    Fig,  5, 

Ra.t 238 

„     LVIII.    Fig,  1,  Sat.      Fig,  2,  Tat-un.      Fig.  3,  Nebuu.      Fig.  4, 

Seb.    Figs.  5  and  6,  Ahi-ur 240 

U  ,,        lilX.    Birds  and   other   creatures    from  Egyptian  monuments. 

To/ace    312 
/  „         LX.    Procession  and  manifestation  of  the  god  Khem  or  Amsi, 

and  of  the  white  bull       ....         To /ace    355 

^  „       LXI.    Set  and  Horns  placing  the  crown  on  the  head-dress  of 

Rameses  II.  .         .         .         .         .         .         To/ace    361 

v„      LXII.    Seti  I.  anointing  Khem  or  Amsi — Horns  and  Thoth  of  Hat 

purifying  Amenophis  III.         .         .         .         T^fni&s    362 

>f  „    LXin.    Rameses  11.  celebrating  a  festival  ....     367 

„     LXIY.    Seti  I.  investing  Paur  or  Paser,  a  high  priest,  governor, 

and  magistrate,  with  insignia  of  office  To  fact    371 

„      LXV.    Fig.  1,  king  ofifering  incense.    Fig.  2,  king  offering  water 

and  oil-jars.  Fig.  3,  king  offering  clothes.  Fig.  4, 
king's  gift  of  oil  in  a  silver  statue.  Fig.  5,  king's  gift  of 
things  on  a  silver  statue.  JF"^.  6,  king*s  gift  of  oil. 
Fig.  7,  king  offering  incense  to  Ra.  Fig.  8,  Thothmes 
IIL,  protected  by  Buto,  offering  a  pylon.  Fig.  9,  king 
offering  pure  water,  attended  by  queen  .415 

y  „      LXYI.    Great    funeral  procession  of  a  royal    scribe    at   Thebes 

[coiowrtd) Toface    444 

V  „   LXYII.    Funeral  passing  over  the  Sacred  Lake  of  the  Dead,  and  its 

arrival  at  the  tomb  on  the  other  side.  Fig.  1,  boat  with 
mourner  and  mummy  of  Neferhetep,  scribe  of  Amen. 
Fig.  2,  boat  with  mourners  and  sepulchral  furniture. 
Fig,  3,  boats  with  furniture,  priests,  and  mourner.  Fig. 
4,  boat  with  priests,  basket  of  food,  and  palm  branches. 
Fig,  5,  boat  with  priests,  elders,  and  furniture,  aground. 
Fig,  6,  boat  with  priests  carrying  nosegays  and  boxes  on 
yokes.  Fig.  7,  female  mourner  with  children.  Fig.  8, 
relatives  and  mourner.  Fig.  9,  priest  offering  fire  and 
water,  and  female  prostrate.  JF^^.  10,  cakes  offered  to 
the  dead.  Fig.  11,  member  of  family  offering  papyrus 
flowers.  Fig.  12,  entrance  of  tomb :  mummy  of  Nefer- 
hetep supported  by  his  sister  Meri ;  and  another  mummy. 
Thebes,    (coloured) To/ace     447 


LIST  AND  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  WOODCUTS.  vii 

Paos 

'^  Plate  LXVIU.  Conveyance  of  a  mummy  to  sepulchre    .         .        Tofctce  449 

V      „        LXIX.  Scene  of  mummies  at  tombs         ...              „  451 

„  LXX.  Osiris,  attended  by  the  guardian  of  the  balance ;  a  deity 

with  a  hatchet,  Anubis,  giving  judgment ;  and  the  barque 

of  Gluttony 467 

„        LXXI.  Scene  of  judgment  in  the  hall  of  the  Two  Truths     .         .  469 

„       LXXII.  Bandaging  mummies  and  making  the  cases     .         .  475 


LIST  AND  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  WOODCUTS. 


Paos 

•Vignette  M. — Pyramid  at  Assur  in  Nubia          .....  1 

Vignette  N. — ^View  of  the  modem  town  of  Manfal(5ot,  showing  the  height 

of  the  banks  of  the  Nile  in  summer.     In  the  mountain  range,  op|)o- 

bite  MaufaliSot,  are  the  large  crocodile-mummy  caves  of  Madbdeh    .  242 

Vignette  0. — Temple  at  Edfou 364 

Vignette  P. — Interior  of  a  mummy-pit,  or  sepulchral  chamber,  at  Thebes ; 

with  a  Fdldh  woman  searching  for  papyri  and  ornaments                .  427 
No. 

•496.  Unusual  type  of  Amen-ra 13 

497.  Ptah  under  the  form  of  Stability 17 

498.  Porcelain  figure  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris.     British  Museum        .         .  19 

499.  Fig,  1,  porcelain  figure  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,  Isis,  and  Nephthys. 

Fig.  2,  back  of  same,  with  soul  of  the  goddess  Bast  British  Museum  20 

500.  Xeper  in  his  boat,  ruling  the  spirits  of  Heliopolis  (fig.  1)  ;  same  with 

scarabseus  (fig.  2)    .         .         .         .  .         .         .         .21 

501.  Ka,  father  of  the  fathers  of  the  gods 21 

502.  Heka,  mistress  of  Hesar 22 

503.  Sepulchral  figure  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,  used  as  a  box  for  holding 

mummied  objects    .........  23 

504.  Khem,  Min,  or  Am.<<i .24 

505.  Mut 31 

506.  Various  forms  of  the  name  of  Bast  or  Bubastis  (figs.  1-4)  34 

507.  Bronze  figures  of  Bast.    British  Museum 35 

506.  Se^et  and  Menhi,  forms  of  Bast 36 

509.  Best 37 

510.  Nat  or  Neith.    Figs.  1  and  2,  wearing  the  tetter,  or  crown  of  Lower 

Egypt    Fig.  3,  Neith,  having  her  name  on  her  head    ...  40 

511.  Nat  (Neith)  as  the  West,  holding  a  papyrus  sceptre          ...  41 

512.  Neith  with  water 42 

513.  A  form  of  Neith 43 

514.  King  under  the  form  of  a  hawk  and  of  a  sphinx,  and  in  his  usual 

form,  before  the  god 46 

515.  Figures  iMraying,  accompanied  by  a  star           .....  48 
515a.NKme  of  Potipberah,  Pet-phra,  or  Pet-ra 54 

516.  Fig.  1,  Seb,  with  goose  on  his  head.    Fig.  2,  Seb,  without  emblem    .  60 

517.  Some  of  the  titles  of  Osiris 70 


>  •  • 


viu  LIST  AND  EXPLANATION 

No.  Pack 

518.  Osiris  Tat,  called  Sept,  father  of  the  gods                                   .         .  82 

519.  Asar-hapi,  Osiris-Apis,  or  Sarapis          ......  87 

520.  Fig,  1,  bronze  figure  of  Apis.     Fig.  2,  the  marks  on  his  back    .         .  88 
621,  Hieroglyphical  names  of  Apis  {figs,  1-4)       .....  88 

522.  Hieroglyphical  name  of  Apis,  in  the  Apis  tablets  at  Saqqdra  (Memphis)  89 

523.  As  or  Isis,  winged 107 

524.  Athor  as  Ta-aha,  *  the  Cow,'  mother  of  Ra,  or  the  Sun      .         .         .109 

525.  The  cow  of  Athor  at  Denderah,  which  the  Sepoys  are  said  to  have 

worshipped Ill 

526.  Triad  of  Isis,  Horns,  and  Nephthys 112 

527.  Isis  suckling  Horns 112 

528.  A  head-dress  of  Isis.     PhiUE 113 

529.  Tablet  surmounted  by  hawk,  mummied,  ax^m,  perhaps  emblem  of 

Horns 126 

530.  Hat  {fi>g.  1)  and  Har-hat  {figs,  2-4) 133 

531.  Nubti  {fi>g,  1) ;  with  double  head  (fig,  2) 135 

532.  Bes 148 

533.  Bes  holding  nosegays  .........  149 

534.  Fig,  1,  Bes  armed.    Fig,  2,  details  of  another  shield                            .  150 

535.  Bes  and  Hi 151 

536.  Bes  like  Hercules 152 

537.  Bronze  figure  of  Bes 152 

538.  Bes,  seated,  holding  some  object.    British  Museum          .                   .  152 

539.  Neb-ta  or  Nephthys 156 

540.  Jackal  of  Anubis  protecting  a  deceased  person         ....  160 

541.  Thoth 170 

542.  Shu  {fig,  1) ;  with  four  plumes  like  Anhar  {fig,  2)  .172 

543.  Porcelain  figure  of  Shu  supporting  the  solar  disk.    British  Museum   .  173 

544.  Xonsu,  Ehonsu,  Chons                 175 

545.  Nefer-Atum 180 

546.  Anka  or  Anoukis                182 

547.  A  breastplate  with  the  figures  of  Ba  and  Ma  .....  183 

548.  Ma,  daughter  of  the  Sun  {fig,  1,  with  emblem  of  West);  Ma,  regent 

of  the  gods  {figs,  2-4) 184 

549.  Mentu-ra 187 

550.  Fig,  1,  Mem.    Fig,  2,  Meru-ra  or  Maloul 189 

551.  Sebak  or  Souchis.     Fig.  1,  ram-headed ;  fig,  2,  crocodile-headed ;  fig, 

3,  plume-headed      .........  190 

552.  Other  forms  of  the  goddess  Eileithyia    ......  197 

553.  Fig,  1,  Uati,  or  the  genius  of  the  Lower  Country,  opposed  to  figs,  2 

and  3,  Nishem  or  the  goddess  Eileithyia      .....  197 

554.  Fig,  1,  Uati.     Figs.  2  and  3,  Nishem,  the  goddess  Eileithyia    .         .  198 

555.  The  crocodile's  tail  {fig,  1)  in  the  name  of  Egypt,  *  Kham '  {figs,  2, 3)  200 

556.  Other  modes  of  writing  the  name  of  Egypt.     Fig,  1,  with  eye ;  fig,  2, 

with  tree 200 

557.  Fig,  1,  the  West.    Fig.  2,  the  East 201 

558.  Fig,  1,  Serqa  or  Selk.    Fig,  2,  Imouthos 204 

559.  Pe,  or  the  heaven,  with  the  sun  and  stars.    The  figure  beneath  is  Seb  206 

560.  Form  of  Thoth 226 

661.  Satcm 226 


OP  THE  WOODCUTS.  ix 

Nou  Paos 

562.  Sapti 228 

563.  Neith,  or  Sa,  Sais 228 

564.  Naham-ua 230 

565.  Mersekar  opposed  to  Eileithyia 230 

566.  Stone  lion.    British  Museum       .......  257 

567.  Ostrich,  \vith  the  feathers  and  eggs        ......  257 

567a.ul&u,  or  Elephantine  .........  295 

568.  Name  of  Apis 306 

569.  Androsphinx 309 

570.  Kriosphinx 309 

571.  Hieracosphinx 309 

572.  Sta^  asp-headed  monster      ........  310 

573.  The  qneen  Mut-netem  of  the  18th  Dynasty  as  a  female  sphinx          .  310 

574.  Androsphinx     ..........  810 

575.  Stfer^  or  hawk-headed  sphinx       .         .         .         .         .         .         .311 

576.  Wioged  gazelle 311 

577.  Sha,  an  emblem  of  Seth      ........  311 

578.  Axex  or  gryphon        .........  312 

579.  Sak,  hawk-headed  dog 312 

•580.  Sacred  hawk 316 

581.  The  Trochilus,  or  Charadrius  melanoctphalus^  Linn.        .         .         .  327 

582.  Goose 327 

583.  llie  oxyrhynchus  fish,  in  bronze  .......  341 

584.  llie  same,  at  the  Oasis 342 

585.  Bronze  Lepidotus       .........  343 

586.  A  fish  at  Esneh 343 

587.  Altar  with  scarabseus          ........  346 

588.  Sacred  tamarisk  of  Osiris.     Tomb  cU  How       .....  349 

589.  Priest  watering  the  sacred  tamarisk.    FhUm  .....  350 

590.  Emblems 352 

591.  Gifts  of  the  gods  to  man 352 

592.  A  king  receiving  from  Amen  the  emblems  of  majesty  and  dominion  .  353 

592a.  Symbolic  frog 353 

*593.  Sacred  scarabteus.    British  Museum     ......  353 

593a.  Shrine  with  decorations  on  a  sledge 357 

594.  One  of  the  sacred  boats  or  arks,  with  two  figures  representing  che- 

rubim   ...........  358 

595.  Dedication  of  the  pylon  of  a  temple  to  Amen  by  Kameses  111.,  who 

wears  on  one  side  the  crown  of  Upper,  on  the  other  that  of  Lower, 

Egypt 359 

596.  Sceptre  of  a  queen      .........  363 

597.  Tau,  or  sign  of  life  {fiys.  1  and  2)         .....         .  363 

598.  Hieroglyphs  of  festivals  of  thirty  years 3G6 

599.  Fig,  1,  throwing  the  balls  of  incense  into  the  fire.    Figs,  2  and-  3, 

ceosers.  a  a,  cups  for  holding  the  incense  balls.  &,  c,  the  cups  in 
whicb  were  the  fires.  In  &  are  three  flames  of  fire ;  in  c,  only  one. 
Fig,  4,  a  censer  without  a  handle.  Figs,  5  and  6,  other  censers,  with 
incense  balls  or  pastilles  within.    These  last  two  are  from  the  tombs 

near  the  Pyramids 398 

600.  Inoenae  burnt  at  the  festival  of  the  inundation  of  the  Nile        .         .  399 

TOL.  nL  h 


LIST  AND  EXPLANATION 


No.  Pagv 

601.  Taharka,  or  Tirbakah,  conquering  the  Assyrians     ....     401 

602.  Heads  of  foreigners  whicli  once  supported  part  of  the  ornamental  arclu- 

tectnre  at  Medeenet  Haboo  in  Thebes .  .     403 

603.  Enemies  as  the  footstool  of  a  king 403 

604.  Seal  of  the  priests,  sigmfying  that  the  victims  might  be  slaughtered. 

Determination  of  the  word  smau,  *  to  kill '  .         .                  .  407 

605.  Stands  for  bearing  offerings 408 

606.  Different  joints  placed  on  the  altars  or  the  tables     ....  410 

607.  Offering  of  incense  and  a  libation  .         .  .416 

608.  Wine  offered  in  two  cups 416 

609.  Vases  used  for  libations 417 

610.  Offering  of  milk,  art 417 

611.  Various  flowers  from  the  sculptures.     Thebes  .....  418 

612.  Fig.  1,  a  basket  of  sycamore  figs.    Figs,  2,  3,  and  4,  hieroglyphic  sig- 

nifying 'wife.'  Figs,  5  and  6,  Cucurbita  Lagenaria,  or  Karra-fowedl. 

Figs,  7  and  8,  Raphanus  sativus,  var,  edulis.    Fig,  9,  onions .         .  419 

613.  Preparing  to  anoint.     Thebes 420 

614.  *  He  gives  Truth  (or  Justice)  to  his  father' 421 

615.  Emblematic  offerings :  varieties   .         .         .                                     .  421 

616.  Emblematic  offerings :  other  varieties    ......  422 

617.  '  Gives  sistra  to  his  father.'    Thebes 422 

618.  Figs.  1  and  2,  a  priest  kneeling  at  the  altar,  on  which  another  pours 

a  libation.  Fig.  3  appears  to  hold  the  cubit,  or  a  tablet  from  which 
he  is  reading.  Fig,  4,  another  priest,  who  holds  what  is  supposed 
to  be  a  tail, '  bringing  the  foot ' 

619.  Persons  beating  themselves  before  a  mummy. 

620.  A  lamp.     Thebes       .... 

621.  A  game  or  ceremony.     Thebes 

622.  An  attitude  of  adoration.     Thebes 
♦623.  Plan  of  Alexandria    .... 

624.  llie  members  of  the  family  present  when  the  services  were  performed. 

J%ebes 

625.  A  woman  embracing  and  weeping  before  her  husband's  mummy 

626.  Conveying  the  mummies  on  a  sledge  to  the  closet  in  which  they  were 

kept,  after  the  service  had  been  performed  to  them.     Thebes  . 

627.  Pouring  oil  over  the  head  of  a  mummy.     Tomb  at  Thebes 

628.  An  altar,  in  the  British  Museum,  showing  that  the  trench  is  for  car- 

rying off  the  libation 

629.  A  table  found  in  a  tomb  by  Burton,  on  which  are  a  duck  trussed  and 

another  cut  open,  with  cakes.    British  Museum  . 

630.  Seals  found  near  the  tombs  at  Thebes   . 

631.  Closets  containing  figures  of  gods 

632.  The  mummy's  head,  seen  at  an  open  panel  of  the  coffin. 

633.  Knot  of  a  belt 

634.  A  peculiar  attendant  at  a  funeral,  called  ter,t 

635.  Figs,  1  and  2,  certain  personages,  ter,t,  '  layers  out.' 

mummy  with  its  coffin  placed  on  a  sledge,  before  which  Jig,  5  is 
pouring  grease  or  some  liquid.  Fig,  4,  a  priest  reading  from  a 
papyrus  or  a  tablet 451 

636.  A  stone  scarabaius,  covered  with  wings,  which,  with  the  sun  and  asps, 

are  of  silver 487 


Thebes 


423 
423 
424 
424 
425 
426 

428 
428 

429 
430 

431 

433 
437 
444 
445 
446 
449 


Fig,  3,  the 


4  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

as  the  two-feathered  god  of  Thebes.  He  is  then  Amen-ra  with  the 
head  of  a  ram,  as  he  takes  the  form  of  Khem  or  any  other  god, — 
a  case  of  very  rare  occurrence  ;  *  nor  can  I  trace  that  distinction 
between  the  figure  before  us  and  one  of  similar  form,  which  the 
learned  ChampoUion  has  considered  a  different  deity  presiding 
oyer  the  inundation ;  since  the  god  of  Elephantine  has  the  same 
office  as  that  ascribed  to  the  one  he  distinguishes  by  the  name  of 
Cnouphis.'  This  is  farther  confirmed  by  my  having  found  an 
inscription  in  that  island  beginning  XNOTBI  8EftI,  where  a 
temple  dedicated  to  him  stood  till  lately  amidst  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  town,  the  same  mentioned  by  Strabo  as  that  of  Chnuphis. 
It  is,  indeed,  as  consistent  to  suppose  the  deity  of  the  inundation 
to  be  one  of  the  characters  of  the  god  Chnoumis,  as  *  the  President 
of  the  Western  Mountain'  to  be  one  of  the  characters  of  the 
goddess  Athor. 

Herodotus,^  Diodorus,  and  other  writers,  in  speaking  of  the 
Jupiter  of  Ethiopia,  evidently  had  in  view  the  god  Chnoubis ; 
and  there  is  less  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  notion  of  his 
being  the  same  as  Jupiter,  since  he  was,  if  not  the  king,  at  least 
the  leader,  of  the  gods.  He  corresponded  to  no  other  deity  of 
the  Greek  Pantheon ;  and  the  triad  of  the  Cataracts,  by  uniting 
him  with  Sati  or  Juno,  appears  to  give  him  a  claim  to  the  name 
of  Jove.  There  is  not,  however,  the  same  excuse  for  confounding 
Chnoubis  with  Amen,  or  giving  to  the  latter  deity  the  head  of  a 
ram,  as  his  general  attribute. 

*  The  inhabitants  of  the  Theb^,'  says  Plutarch,'  *  worship 
their  god  Kneph  only,  whom  they  look  upon  as  without  beginning 
so  without  end,  and  are  exempt  from  the  tax  levied  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  sacred  animals.'  But  this  could  only  be  true  if 
he  alludes  to  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  that  district;  for  the 
worship  of  Amen,  or  Amen-ra,  was  much  more  general  through- 
out the  Thebwd,  except  at  the  island  of  Elephantine,  and  Syene. 
Eusebius  seems  to  confound  him  with  Agathodsemon,  but  this 
name  applies  rather  to  another  deity,  the  hawk-headed  Har-Hat, 
whose  emblem  was  the  winged  globe,  placed  over  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  Egyptian  temples,  and  overshadowing  the  sacred 
person  of  the  monarch ;  or  to  the  asp,  frequently  represented  in 
the  tombs  of  Thebes,  guarding  the  wine-presses  and  gardens  of 
the  Egyptians,  which  was  dedicated  to  another  divinity,  the 


'  Herodotus  iati   the    onlj  two    gods       Bacchns ;  roeaning  Chnoumis  and  Osirii. 
worshipped  at  Mero<!  were  Jupiter    and  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  et  Osir.  s.  21. 


Chap.  XUL]  CHNOUMia  5 

goddess  Bannu,^  who  is  sometimes  figured  with  the  head  of 
that  snake. 

The  asp  was  also  sacred  to  Chnoimiisy  and  that  deity  is  fre- 
quently represented  in  the  tombs  standing  in  a  boat,  with  the 
serpent  over  him ;  and  he  is  not  unfrequently  seen  with  this 
emblem  on  kis  head,  without  any  other  ormament.  At  the 
Cataracts  I  have  found  him  with  the  asp  rising  from  between  his 
horns,  and  bearing  the  crown  of  the  Lower  Country  on  its  head, 
as  if  intended  to  indicate  the  dominion  of  the  deity  there  as  well 
as  in  the  Thebiad.  This  serpent  was  the  type  of  dominion ;  for 
which  reason  it  was  affixed  to  the  head-dress  of  the  Egyptian 
monarchs;  and  a  prince,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  was 
entitled  to  wear  this  distinctive  badge  of  royalty,  which,  before 
the  death  of  his  father,  he  was  not  Jiuthorised  to  adopt.  Many 
other  parts  of  the  royal  dress  were  ornamented  with  the  same 
emblem  ;  and  *  the  asp-formed  crowns,'  mentioned  in  the  Bosetta 
Stone,  were  exclusively  appropriated  to  the  kings  or  queens  of 
Egypt  The  asp  also  signified,  in  hieroglyphics,  'a  goddess;* 
and  when  opposed  to  the  vulture,  *  the  Lower  Country  ;'^  and  it 
was  given  to  Ba,  the  physical  sun,  probably  as  an  emblem  of  that 
dominion  which  he  held  over  the  universe,  and  from  his  character 
of  prototype  of  the  Pharaohs.  ChampoUion  has  satisfactorily 
accounted  for  the  name  Uraeus  given  to  the  snake,  by  suggesting 
that  the  word  derives  its  origin  and  signification  from  eu^roy  in 
Coptic  ^a  king,'  answering,  as  HorapoUo  teUs  us,^  to  the  Greek 
fiaaOua-Ko^f '  royal ;'  and  it  is  from  this  last  word  that  the  name 
basilisk  has  been  applied  to  the  asp.  But  I  do  not  know  on 
what  authority  he  supposes  the  royal  asp  to  be  different  from 
the  asp  *  of  Chnouphis.'  * 

The  description  given  by  Porphyry  of  *Kneph,  with  a  human 
head,  azure  black  colour,  bearing  a  feather  on  his  head,'  agrees 
exactly  with  the  god  Shu,  but  not  with  Chnoumis ;  and  these  two 
deities  can  in  no  way  be  related, — ^the  latter  being  one  of  the 
great  gods,  and  the  former  always  having  the  title  '  Son  of  the 
Sun,'  and  being  of  an  inferior  order  of  divinities.  Nor  does  any 
representation  occur  of  '  the  egg  proceeding  from  his  mouth, 
which  Porphjrry  conjectures  to  signify  the  world ;  and  from 
which  proceeded  another  god  called  Phtha,  the  Yulcan  of  the 

'  ChampoUion  was  perfectly  correct  in  Lower  Egypt. 

eouidering  the  asp  of  Chnoumis  different  '  Horapollo,  Hierog.  i.  1 :   *  The  Egyp- 

from  this  gnardian  genios.    I  had  supposed  tians  call  it  Ouraius,  which,  in  the  Greek 

this  last  to  belong  aUo  to  Chnonmis.  language,  signifies  $affi\laKos,* 

*  See  the  gol  Nnbti,  and  the  genius  of  *  ChampoUion,  Pantheon,  Nef. 


6  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

Greeks ;'  and,  indeed,  this  cannot  be  applied  to  any  deity  of  the 
Egyptian  Pantheon.  The  figure  of  Chnoumis  was  that  of  a  man 
with  the  head  of  a  ram,  frequently  of  a  green  colour ;  sheep  were 
particularly  sacred  to  him ;  and  with  Satis,  Juno,  and  Anoukis, 
Vesta,  he  formed  one  of  the  great  triads  of  Upper  Egypt. 

His  worship,  as  I  have  already  observed,  was  very  generally 
admitted  in  the  cities  of  Ethiopia,  particularly  above  the  Second 
Cataract,  where  the  ram's  head,  his  emblem,  was  used  as  a 
common  ornament,  or  as  an  amulet  by  the  devout ;  and  in  that 
part  of  the  country  lying  between  the  First  Cataract  and  the 
modem  Shendy,  the  ram-headed  Chnoumis,  or  Cnouphis,  was  the 
principal  god.  One  deity  alone  shares  with  him  equal  honours, 
but  this  is  in  the  two  temples  of  Wady  Owateb  and  Wady  Benat 
alone,  where  the  lion-headed  god  appears  to  be  the  principal  ob- 
ject of  worship.  At  Napata,  the  capital  of  Tirhakah  (now  Gebel 
Berkel),  Chnoumis  received  the  highest  possible  honours ;  and 
it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  Napata,  Nouba,^  and 
the  Nobatse  were  called  from  this  deity,  whose  name  has  the 
varied  sound  of  Cnouphis,  Chnoubis,  Chnebis,  Chnoumis,  Noub, 
and  apparently  even  of  Nou(m),  in  some  of  the  hieroglyphic 
legends  of  the  Thebaid. 

Herodotus  states  that,  in  consequence  of  sheep  being  sacred 
to  the  Theban  Jupiter,*^  the  people  of  that  nome  never  sacrifice 
them,  but  always  select  goats  for  their  altars :  and  this  is  con- 
firmed by  the  sculptures  of  Thebes,  by  which  we  find  that  sheep 
were  never  immolated  for  the  altars  of  the  gods,  nor  slaughtered 
for  the  table.  The  large  flocks  of  sheep  in  the  Thebaid  were 
kept  for  their  wool  alone ;  and  the  care  bestowed  upon  them,  so 
that  they  might  have  lambs  twice  a  year  and  be  shorn  twice 
within  the  same  period,  the  number  of  persons  employed  there 
in  making  woollen  cloths,  and  the  consequence  which  the 
sculptures  show  to  have  been  attached  to  those  animals,  testify 
to  the  importance  of  the  wool  trade  in  Egypt,  and  serve  as 
an  additional  proof  of  the  advancement  of  this  people  in 
manufactures. 

At  Esn6  or  Latopolis,  Chnoumis^  is  represented  under  the 


*  Some   have   derived  this    from   nou6,  the  hieroglyphs  for  this  god,  Chnoumis  his 

*  gold.'  been  inserted  instead  throughout  this  and 

'  Herodot.   ii.  42.      More  properly   to  the  preceding  pages.     His  name  had  no 

Chnebis,  who  was   represented   with   the  connection  with  the  Egyptian   word  Nif^ 

head   of   a  ram,   and   not  Amen,  as    he  'breath,'  but  is  written  I^em  or  Auin,  a 

supposes.  word  meaning  *•  cistern/  '  reservoir,'  *  to  join' 

'  As  the  name  Neph  does  not  occur  in  or  '  unite.'  (Pierret,  Vocab.,  p.  268.) — S.  B. 


Chap.  XHI.]  CHNOUMIS.  7 

form  of  a  ram,  from  between  whose  horns  rises  the  sacred  asp : 
and  in  some  of  the  legends,  the  name  over  it  is  followed  by  those 
of  Osiris,  Ba,  Shu,  and  another  god  with  whom  Chnoumis  is 
connected  on  this  occasion.  He  is  also  figured  as  a  man  haying 
two  or  four  rams'  heads ;  but  this  is  of  rare  occurrence,  except 
on  monuments  of  a  late  date,  or  in  subjects  relating  to  the  dead 
and  the  mysteries  of  a  future  state.  At  Esn6  instances  occur  of 
Chnoumis  with  the  additional  title  Ha,  which  then  connects  him 
with  the  sun,  and  may  perhaps  be  an  argument  in  support  of  the 
opinion  I  have  mentioned  of  the  early  Sabaean  worship  of  Egypt. 
To  Chnoumis  were  given  not  only  the  ordinary  horns  of  the 
sheep,  curving  downwards,  but  also  the  long  projecting  horns  ^ 
of  that  animal,  which,  from  their  twisted  form,  being  readily 
mistaken  for  those  of  the  goat,  have  caused  some  difficulty 
respecting  two  characters  in  the  names  of  the  Caesars,  both  being 
supposed  to  represent  the  same  animal,  and  also  to  stand  for  the 
two  letters  h  and  8,  It  is,  however,  evident  that  the  latter  was 
the  sheep  or  ram,  siu,  which  had  the  alphabetic  force  of  «  as  in 
Trajanm,  and  that  the  former  was  the  goat,  horem-pe,  which  was 
chosen  to  represent  the  letter  &  or  t;,  as  in  Tiberius,  Severus,  and 
Se2wistus.  [The  god  Khnum  was  the  deity  of  the  waters,  and  the 
early  character  of  his  worship  is  proved  by  the  association  of  his 
name  with  that  of  Khufu  or  Cheops,  in  the  cartouches  of  that 
monarch.  At  the  time  of  the  12th  Dynasty,  he  was  allied  with 
the  goddess  Heka  or  Hak,  and  is  mentioned  as  ^  existing '  or 
^formed  at  first.'  He  was  a  demiurges,  and  is  represented  at 
FhilsB  as  making  man  out  of  clay  on  a  potter's  wheel,  and  in 
many  texts  he  is  styled  the  builder  of  mankind.  In  connection 
with  the  waters  he  was  particularly  the  god  of  the  fowler  who 
caught  the  water-fowl.  While  his  emblem,  the  ram's  head,  ia, 
connected  him  with  the  soul  or  cosmic  soul  of  the  gods,  his 
attributes  of  the  solar  disk  and  urseus  allied  him  to  the  sun ;  and 
in  the  later  representation  of  the  sun's  progress  though  the 
hours  he  appears  in  the  solar  disk  in  the  4th  and  10th  hours, 
as  if  a  personification  of  that  luminary.  He  reconstructed  the 
limbs  of  the  mutilated  Osiris,  was  father  of  fathers  of  the  gods, 
making  heaven,  earth,  hades,  the  streams,  and  hills.^  In  the 
Bitual'  Khnum  is  said  to  be  at  the  wall  of  the  house  of  the 


*  Owing  to  the  error  respecting  Amen,  '  Birch,   *  Gallery  of  Antiqnitiei,*  i.  p. 

they  haT«  been  the  origin  of  the  name  of  10. 

the   Ammonite ;  and  thus  has  this  mis-  »  Ch.  Ivii.  1.  5 ;  eh.  Ixiii.  L  4. 

nomcr  been  perpetuated  in  stone. 


Chap.  XIH.]  AMEN.  9 

deceased,  and  to  make  sound  his  limbs.  He  was  coloured  blue 
in  his  celestial,  and  green  in  his  chthonic  character;  but  his 
worship,  although  most  ancient,  was  localised  in  the  south,  and 
never  took  the  range  acquired  by  that  of  Amen-ra. — S.  B.] 

It  may  appear  singular  that  Amen  should  be  placed  second 
to  Chnoumis ;  I  have,  however,  noticed  them  in  this  order,  not 
from  any  superiority  of  the  latter,  but  because  he  is  said  to  have 
been  the  oldest  deity  of  Upper  Egypt ;  and,  since  some  alteration 
has  been  made  in  the  name  of  the  god  known  to  us  as  Amen,  it 
may  even  be  supposed  that  in  the  earliest  times  he  had  not 
the  same  character  as  ijt  the  age  of  the  last  kings  of  the  18th 
Dynasty.  Indeed,  if  Chnoumis  really  answered  to  the  spirit  which 
pervaded  and  presided  over  the  creation,  and  was  the  same  whom 
lamblichus  describes  from  the  books  of  Hermes,  he  may  in  justice 
claim  a  rank  above  Amen,  or  any  other  of  the  eight  great  gods. 
The  alteration  to  which  I  allude  is  a  circumstance  well  worthy 
of  attention;  and,  as  I  have  elsewhere  remarked,^  has  been 
observed  by  me  on  many  of  the  oldest  monuments  of  Egypt, 
where  'the  hieroglyphics  or  phonetic  name  of  Amen-ra  have 
been  continually  substituted  for  others,  the  combinations  of 
which  I  could  never  discover,  being  most  carefully  erased,  and 
the  name  of  Amen,  or  Amen-ra,  placed  in  their  stead.  The 
figure  of  the  god  remains  unaltered,  as  is  also  the  case  with  that 
of  Khem,  when  in  the  character  of  Ajnen-ra  Generator,  whose 
phonetic  hieroglyphics,  and  not  figure,  have  been  changed.  To 
make  this  last  observation  more  intelligible,  I  must  acquaint  the 
reader  with  a  fact  not  yet  mentioned, — that  Amen-ra,  like  most 
of  the  gods,  frequently  took  the  character  of  other  deities ;  as  of 
Khem,  Ra,  and  Chnoumis ; '  and  even  the  attributes  of  Osiris : 
but  he  is  then  known  by  the  hieroglyphics  accompanying  his 
figure,  which  always  read  Amen-ra,  and  therefore  differ  from 
those  given  the  deities  in  their  own  character.' 

In  examining  the  sculptures  of  an  early  period,  I  have  found 
that,  wherever  the  name  of  Amen  occurs,'  the  substitution  has 
been  so  systematically  made,  that  nothing  short  of  a  general 
order  to  that  effect  sent  to  every  part  of  Egypt,  and  executed 
with  the  most  s<;rupulous  care,  can  account  for  it ;  and  from  this 
alteration^  being  confined*  to  monuments  erected  previous  to 

I  *  lUtcri*  Hi«n>f ./  PaBtb«oii«  p.  4.  Mt  mar  be  ttn  on  the  Obelisk  of  8. 

'  B«t  0(111  u  a  member  of  the  triad  of      GioTnnni  Ltteraoo,  at  Rome. 


ydi  Asms  vat  the  chief.     I  hare  eren  *  The   nams  Amen   eiisted  long  befSoft. 

kim    with  a  hawk's  bead,    ttjled       WitseM  the  kings  of  the  17th  Dynaatj. 
Ra  Atav,  Lard  of  Tkebsa.'  *  This  has  baaa  sabatqaaBtlj  diseorti^d 


10 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XUI. 


and  during  the  reign  of  the  third  Amenophis,  we  may  conclude 
that  it  dates  after  his  accession,  or  about  the  year  1420  B.o. 
Another  peculiarity  is  observable  in  the  name  of  Amen,  that  the 
hieroglyphics  which  compose  it  frequently  face  the  wrong  way ; 
that  isy  they  turn  in  a  different  direction  from  the  rest  of  the 
inscription :  the  reason  of  which  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 

I  have  stated  that  Amen-ra  and  other  gods  took  the  form  of 
different  deities,  which,  though  it  appears  at  first  sight  to  present 
some  diflSculty,  may  readily  be  accounted  for  when  we  consider 
that  each  of  those  whose  figure  or  emblems  were  adopted,  was 
only  an  emanation  or  deified  attribute  of  the  same  great  Being, 
to  whom  they  ascribed  various  characters,  according  to  the 
several  oflSces  He  was  supposed  to  perform.  The  intellect  of  the 
Deity  might  be  represented  with  the  emblems  of  the  Almighty 
Power,  or  with  the  attributes  of  His  goodness,  without  in  any 
manner  changing  the  real  character  of  the  heavenly  mind  they 
portrayed  under  that  peculiar  form ;  and  in  like  manner,  when 
to  Osiris,  or  the  Goodness  of  the  Deity,  the  emblems  of  Ptah  the 
Creative  Power  were  assigned,  no  change  was  made  in  the  character 
of  the  former,  since  goodness  was  as  much  a  part  of  the  original 
Divinity  from  whom  both  were  derived,  as  was  the  power  with 
which  He  had  created  the  world  ;  and  if,  as  sometimes  happens, 
Amen-ra  is  represented  making  offerings  to  Osiris,  it  will  be 
recollected  that  one  attribute  might  be  permitted  to  show  respect 
to  another,  without  derogating  from  its  own  dignity,  and  that 
Osiris  in  his  character  of  judge  of  Amenti,  and  as  the  object  of 
the  most  sacred  and  undivulged  mysteries,  held  a  rank  above  all 
the  gods  of  Egypt. 

Amen,  or  Amen-ra,  formed  with  Mut  and  Khonsu  the  great 
triad  of  Thebes.  The  figure  of  Amen  was  that  of  a  man,  with  a 
head-dress  surmounted  by  two  long  feathers  ;^  the  colour  of  his 
body  was  light  blue,  like  the  Indian  Vishnu,  as  to  indicate  his 
peculiarly  exalted  and  heavenly  nature ;  but  he  was  not  figured 
with  the  head  or  under  the  form  of  a  ram,  as  the  Greeks  and 
Bomans  supposed,  and    the    contortis   eamibm   Ammon   is    as 


to  be  due  to  the  heretical  worship  of  the 
tfun's  disk  introduced  by  the  Queen  Tail, 
widow  of  Amenophis  III.  The  name  of  the 
solar  disk  or  orb,  aten,  was  substituted 
whererer  accessible  or  possible  for  that  of 
the  god  Amen-ra,  who«e  name  was  tried 
to  be  suppressed  and  destroyed.  After  the 
fall  of  the  monarch  Amenophis  IV.,  who 
assumed  the  name  of  Khuenaten  in  honour 


of  the  solar  orb,  the  name  of  Amen  was 
replaced  by  chiselling  away  that  of  Aten. 

*  Q.  Curtius,  speaking  of  the  deity  of 
the  Oasis  of  Ammon,  says,  'Id  quod  pro 
Deo  colitur,  non  eandem  effigiem  habet, 
quam  vulgo  Diis  artifices  accommodavemnt, 
Umbilico  tenus  arieti  similis  est  habitus, 
smaragdis  et  gemmis  coagmentatns.' 


CJHAP.Xm.]  AMEN.  11 

inapplicable  to  the  Egyptian  Jupiter  as  the  description  of  the 
dog-headed  Anubis  to  the  Mercurius  Psychopompos  of  the  region 
of  Amenti.  He  was  considered  by  the  Greeks  the  same  as  Jupiter, 
in  consequence  of  his  having  the  title  'King  of  the  Gods;'  and 
under  the  name  Amen-ra  he  was  the  intellectual  sun,  distinct 
from  Ba,  the  physical  orb.  This  union  of  Amen  and  Ea  cannot 
fail  to  call  to  mind  the  Jupiter  Belus  of  the  Assyrians,  Baal  or 
Belus'  being  the  sun :  and  if  it  be  true  that  Amunti,  or  Amenti, 
signified ,  *  the  giver  and  receiver,'  the  name  Amen-ra  may  be 
opposed  to  Aten-ra,  and  signify  the  sun  in  the  two  capacities  of 
*the  receiver  and  giver.'  As  in  most  religions,  the  supreme 
Deity  was  represented  in  the  noblest  form  that  could  be  suggested, 
that  of  a  human  being,  and  Amen  was  therefore  figured  as  a  man, 
whom  Holy  Writ  states  to  have  been  made  after  the  image  of  his 
Creator.  At  Thebes, '  the  King  of  the  Gods '  may  be  considered 
under  two  distinct  characters,  as  Amen-ra  and  as  Amen-ra 
Generator;  in  this  last  assuming  the  form  and  attributes  of 
£jhem,  the  god  of  generation.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  then 
the  same  whom  the  Greeks  styled  the  ^  Pan  Euodos;'^  he  was 
the  chief  of  a  second  Theban  triad,  the  other  members  of  which 
were  Tamen  and  SLarka :  the  former  a  character  of  Neith,  and 
perhaps  a  sort  of  female  Amen ;  the  latter  the  offspring  of  the 
first  two,  as  Khonsu  was  of  Amen-ra  and  Mut.  According  to 
Manetho,  the  word  Amen^  means  *  concealment ;'  and  Hecataeus 
observes  ^  that,  so  far  from  being  the  proper  name  of  the  god,  it 
was  a  word  in  common  use,  signifying  *come,'*  by  which  his 
benignant  influence  and  presence  were  invoked ;  and  lamblichus 
says,  it  implies  ^that  which  brings  to  light,  or  manifestation.' 
If  the  observation  of  Manetho  or  of  HecatsBus  be  true,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  name  of  this  god  was  merely  a  mysterious 
title.  The  word  Amoni^  signifying  *to  envelope'  or  *  conceal,' 
applied  in  hieroglyphics  to  a  man  enveloped  in  a  cloak,  confirms 
the  statement  of  Manetho ;  as  AmSini,  *  come,'  accords  with  that 
of  HecatsBus :  and  the  change  in  the  hieroglyphic  legends  of  the 
god,  and  the  introduction  of  the  word  Amen  throughout  the 
sculptures,  may  be  explained  by  supposing  it  a  title  rather  than 
the  actual  name  of  the  deity.  We  are  told  by  Herodotus,*  that 
the  homed  snake  was  sacred  to  this  deity,  and  buried  in  his 

'  HANI  erOAm  ocean  in  an  inscription      *  hidden  is  his  name.'— S.  B. 
•t  the  Br«ccta  quarries,  on  the  road  from  *  Pint,  de  isid.  s.  9. 

Contra- ATOUinopolis  to  Berenice,  with  the  *  The   word   *  come,'   or  *  come  ye,'   is 


12  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIII. 

temple  at  Thebes;  but  the  Father  of  History  was  wrong  in 
supposing  the  vipera  cerastes  to  be  harmless;^  and  it  was 
fortunate  he  did  not  prove  by  experience  the  fatal  effects  of  its 
deadly  bite.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  these  snakes  embalmed  in 
the  tombs  of  Koorna,  the  modern  name  of  the  Necropolis  of 
Thebes,  and  its  vicinity.  The  great  triad  of  Thebes  consisted  of 
Amen,  Mut,  and  Khonsu ;  and  though  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain 
the  exact  character  and  relative  offices  of  these  three  deities, 
we  may  suppose  them  to  be  '  demiurges,  intellect,'  mother,  and 
created  things.  The  oracle  of  Jupiter  was  celebrated  at  Thebes, 
and,  according  to  Herodotus,^  the  divine  gift  was  imparted  to  a 
priestess  as  she  slept  in  the  temple,  where  the  deity  was  also 
believed  to  pass  the  night  He  supposes  it  to  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  oracle  of  Dodona  ;^  though  his  story  of '  the  women 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  that  deity  having  been  carried  off 
from  Thebes  by  the  Phoenicians,'  is  too  absurd  to  be  pardoned, 
even  on  his  usual  excuse  of  having  received  it  from  the  Egyptian 
priests.  His  statement,  that  the  'Libyan  oracle  of  Ammon' 
was  derived  from  the  Thebaid,  is  highly  probable ;  though  he 
makes  the  common  and  unaccountable  error  of  supposing  the 
god  of  Thebes  to  have  had  the  head  of  a  ram,^  which  has  led  to 
much  confusion  respecting  the  deity  worshipped  at  Meroe.  For 
to  this  place  a  procession,  carrying  the  statue  of  the  Theban 
Jupiter  with  a  ram's  head,  is  said  annually  to  have  gone  from 
Thebes ;  though  the  Jupiter  of  Thebes  was  Amen,  and  the  great 
deity  of  Ethiopia  the  ram-headed  Chnoumis.  In  the  legends 
of  Thebes,  Amen  has  generally  the  title  'King  of  the  Gods' 
accompanying  his  name,  and  these  two  are  sometimes  inserted  in 
an  oval,  or  royal  cartouche,  as  are  the  names  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and 
Athor.  [Amen  was  also  considered  the  same  as  Jupiter,  because 
he  was  the  king  of  the  gods ;  and  it  was  from  his  worship  that 
Thebes  received  the  name  of  Diospolis,  *  the  city  of  Jove,'  answering 
to  No-Amen  or  Amenna  of  the  Bible  (Jer.  xlvi.  25 ;  Ezek.  xxx. 

14-16),  the  Amen-6i  ^jUUJJ^^  ('abode  of  Amen'),  or  Amen-ei 
Na  I  ■■■    f     (*  the  great  abode  of  Amen '  or  *  Amen-ei '  only  ?) 

of  the  sculptures.  Amen  and  Noum,  having  both  some  of  the 
attributes  of  Jupiter,  naturally  became  confounded  by  the  Greeks; 
and  the  custom  of  one  god  occasionally  receiving  the  attributes  of 


*  Lib.  i.  8.  87.    Diodoms  is  correct  in  '  Herodot.  ii.  54,  58. 

placing  it  among  poisonous  reptiles.  *  Ibid.  i.  182.  *  Ibid.  ii.  42,  &c. 


Chap.  XUL] 


13 


anotlLer  doubtless  led  them  into  error.  The  greatest  interchange, 
however,  was  between  Amen  and  Ehem ;  bat  as  this  was  onl^  at 
Thebes,  and  litt}e  known  to  the  Greeks,  the  same  misappre- 
hension did  not  take  ^Hace,  and  Ehem  by  the  Greeks  was  only 
considered  to  be  Paa  Yet  Pan  again  was  supposed  by  them  to 
be  Menes ;  and  the  two  names  of  Ajnen  and  Amen-ra  given  to 
the  same  god,  would  probably  have  perplexed  the  Greeks  if  they 
had  happened  to  perceive  that  additional  title  of  Amen.  It  is, 
however,  only  right  to  say  that  the  Ethiopians  frequently  gave  the 
name  of  Amen  to  the  ram-headed  Noum,  who  being  their  greatest 
god,  was  to  them  what  Jupiter  was  to  the  Greeks. — G.  W.] 

[Amen-ra  was  also  styled  Lord  of  the  Thrones  of  the  Earth. 
The  hymns  to  Amen-ra  of  the  time  of  the  18th  Dynasty  describe 
him  in  pantheistic  terms,  representing  him 
to  be  the  abstract  deity,  and  creator  of  men, 
animals,  and  plants.  They  idet>tify  him  also 
with  Ehem  or  Asi,  as  the  title  of  his  mother 
and  the  west,  and  ally  him  in  all  respects  to 
the  sun.*  The  hymn  inscribed  to  him  in  the 
time  of  Darius  identifies  him  with  Ba,  Turn,  and 
Osiris,  apparently  at  a  later  date,  and  describes 
him  as  the  supreme  deity.  This  hymn  also 
gave  details  of  his  colour  and  attributes,  his 
bine  face  and  gilded  limbs.  The  gods  are  said 
to  emanate  from  him.* 

A  bronze  statuette  of  an  unnsnal  type 
of  tius  god  is  in  the  Museum  of  Liverpool. 
He  is  represented  with  features  resembling 
those  of  the  god  Bes,  standing,  the  left  foot 
advanced,  wearing  on  his  head  a  reeded  conical 
cap,  and  raising  a  mace  in  his  right  hand. 
It  has  a  foreign  appearance,  as  if  imitated  from 
that  of  a  god  not  of  Egyptian  origin.  Hound 
the  pedestal  is  an  inscription :  '  The  speech  of  ""■ '"" 
Amen,  the  slayer  of  enemies,  great  god,  giver  of  life  and  health : 
A  long  life  and  good  old  age  to  Nesaptah,  son  of  Uumuamen,' 
the  donor,  *  bom  of  Penneter.'  As  the  inscription  is  partly  in 
the  later  or  so-called  secret  alphabet,  this  type  is  certainly  not 
older  than  the  22nd  Dynasty.    A  series  of  the  mystical  names 


Un  Dnul  tTpc  of  JlBini-n. 


'  GrjViBBt,  '  Rjmnt  1  ^mnion-IU,'  8io,      the  '  Bfcordi  of  the  Put,'  vol.  yf.  p.  97. 
Vuit,  1875.    Goodwill,  fljnm  ^g  j^tn,  \a  '  '  Record,  of  Um  P»t,'  toI.  tUL  p.  135. 


^/^ 


Chap.  XUIJ  PTAH.  15 

of  Amen-rSy  in  the  language  of  the  Negroes  of  the  land  of  Kens 
or  Nubia,  is  given  in  the  Ritual.^ — S.  B.] 

Ptah,  or  in  the  Memphitic  dialect  Phthah,'  was  the  demiurgos, 
or  creative  power  of  the  Deity;  Uhe  artisan/  as  lamblichus 
styles  him,  ^and  leader  of  mundane  artisans,  or  the  heavenly 
gods.'  The  same  author  gives  a  singular  confirmation  of  the 
iact^  as  I  have  elsewhere  observed,^  of  the  goddess,  who  bears  on 
her  head  a  single  ostrich  feather,  being  Justice  or  Truth  ;  which 
I  shall  have  occasion  more  fully  to  notice  in  speaking  of  that 
divinity.  In  the  sculptures  of  Thebes,  we  find  Ptah  not  only 
accompanied  by  her,  but  bearing  the  title  '  Lord  of  Trvih^  in 
his  hieroglyphic  legend  ;  and  lamblichus,  who  calls  '  the  artisan 
Intellect  the  Lord  of  Truth,'  observes,  '  that  whereas  he  makes 
all  things  in  a  perfect  manner,  not  deceptively,  but  artificially, 
toffeiher  with  TrtUhy  he  is  called  Ptah,'  though  the  Greeks 
denominate  him  Hephaestus,  considering  him  merely  as  a 
physical  or  artificial  agent. 

'  Ptah  is  then  the  Lord  of  Truth,  which  was  itself  deified 
under  the  form  of  the  above-mentioned  goddess ;  and  the  con- 
nection between  the  Creative  Power  and  truth  is  a  singular 
coincidence  in  the  Egyptian  and  Christian  systems.  He  was 
said  to  be  sprung  from  an  egg,  produced  from  the  mouth  of 
Neph,  who  was  therefore  considered  his  father.'  At  least,  this 
is  the  account  given  by  Porphyry,  though  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  do  not  tend  to  confirm  it,  nor  does  his  description  of  the 
form  of  that  god  agree  with  the  ram-headed  Chnoumis  of  the 
Egyptians.  *  The  scarabfeus,  or  beetle,  was  particularly  sacred 
to  him,  and  signified  the  world,  or  all  creation  ;^  and  in  con- 
sequence of  there  being,  as  Plutarch'  says,  "  no  females  of  this 
species,  but  all  males,  they  were  considered  fit  types  of  the 
Creative  Power,  self-acting  and  self-sufficient."  The  beetle  was 
also  an  emblem  of  the  sun,  being  chosen,  according  to  Horapollo,* 
**  from  its  having  thirty  fingers,  equal  to  the  number  of  days  in 
an  (ordinary  solar)  month ; "  and  the  frog  was  another  symbol  of 
Pub,  because,  as  Horapollo  says,  ^  it  was  the  representative  of 
man  in  embryo,"  that  is,  of  the  being  who,  like  the  world,  was 
the  work  of  the  Creative  Power,  and  the  noblest  production 
of  His  hands.    There  are  other  characters  of  Ptah,  as  Ptah- 

*  LtfwM,  '  TodUBbach,' lixvii.  Ixxrui^  *  Conf.  H»rapollo,  {.  12. 
c  l€\  1<I4.                                                                  *  I'lot  d<*  Itid.  n.  lu 

'  la  €»rMk«  ♦•A.  *  Horapollo,  Hierog.  i.  10;  «od  Porphjrj 

•  *  Jfataru  Ukrof V  PaailMoa,  p.  7.  taji,  *  Cantbarum  Soli  accommod«tiun,* 


16  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIII. 

SochariB-Osiris  and  Ptah  Cheper;  but  since  they  are  represented 
by  the  Egyptians  as  different  and  separate  divinities,  I  have 
thoaght  it  better  to  keep  them  apart  from  the  god  of  whom 
they  were,  perhaps,  originally  emanations/^  and  treat  of  them 
as  distinct  deities.  It  is  also  possible  that  to  Ptah,  the  Creative 
Power,  were  ascribed  four  or  more  different  offices,  each  being  a 
separate  form  of  that  deity,  as,  1st,  the  creator  of  the  universe 
generally ;  2nd,  the  creator  of  the  world  we  inhabit ;  3rd,  the 
creator  of  all  animal  and  vegetable  life;  and,  4th,  the  creator 
of  mankind. 

The  Greeks,  as  I  have  already  stated,  considered  the  Ptah 
of  Egypt  the  same  as  their  Vulcan  or  Hephaestus,  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  their  idea  of  this  deity  was  derived  from  the 
demiurgos  in  the  Egyptian  Pantheon ;  the  error  they  made  in 
the  character  of  the  opifex,  or  framer  of  the  world,  proceeding 
from  their  degrading  him  to  the  level  of  a  mere  physical  agent, 
as  lamblichus  has  very  properly  remarked.  According  to  Cicero, 
there  were  several  deities  who  bore  the  name  of  Vulcan,  and  one 
was  reputed  to  be  the  son  of  the  Nile,  from  which  *we  may  infer 
his  Egyptian  origin.  The  Greek  name,  according  to  Phumutus, 
is  supposed  to  have  been  taken  from  hephthai,^  signifying  '  to 
bum;'  and  other  etymologies  have  been  offered  by  various 
writers :  but  the  word  Hephaestus,  and  still  more  the  derivation 
suggested  by  Phumutus,  sufficiently  indicate  the  real  root  of  the 
name  in  the  Egyptian  Ptah. 

The  form  of  this  deity  is  generally  a  mummy,  not  holding 
in  his  hands  the  fiagellum  and  crook  of  Osiris,  but  merely  the 
emblems  of  life  and  stability,  with  the  staff  of  purity ;  which  last 
is  common  to  all  the  gods,  and  to  many  of  the  goddesses,  of 
Egypt.  The  absence  of  the  flagellum  and  crook  serves  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  another  deity ,^  Ehonsu,  the  third  member  of 
the  Theban  triad,  even  when  his  hieroglyphical  name  is  wanting ; 
and  this  last  has,  in  addition,  a  disk  and  crescent,  or  short  horns, 
on  his  head,  which  are  not  given  either  to  Ptah  or  Osiris.  The 
ordinary  head-dress  of  Ptah,  when  in  the  form  of  a  mummy,  is 
a  close  cap  without  any  ornament ;  but  he  occasionally  wears  a 
disk  with  the  lofty  ostrich  feathers  of  Osiris,  and  holds  in  each 


»  The  passages  between  inverted  commas  word  Ptahy  or  PafeiA,  *  to  open/  in  the  sense 

are  extracted  from  my  *  Materia  Hierogly-  of*  builder,  constrnctor,  sculptor.' (Brugsch, 

phica.'  « Gesch.  Aegypt.,*  8vo,  Leipzig,  1877,  p.  30. 

*  &ir^  rov  liipBoi,    [This  is,  like  most  of  —8.  B.] 

the  Greek  explanations,  erroneous,  as  the  '  I   have   found   one  instance  of  Ptah 

name,  of  the  god  is  the  same  as  the  Egyptian  with  the  flagellum  and  crook. 


€^AF.  xm.] 


PTAH. 


17 


hand  a  staff  of  parity,  in  lien  of  the  emblems  of  stability  and 
life.  The  sculptures  of  the  tombs  also  represent  Ptah  bearing 
on  his  heady  or  clad  in,  the  symbol  of  stability,  which  is 
occasionally  given  to  Osiris;  showing  how  closely  he  is  some- 
times allied  to  the  character  of  that  deity.  Ptah  even  appears 
under  the  entire  form  of  this  emblem,  which  is  surmounted  by  a 
winged  scarabseus  supporting  a  globe,  or  sun,  and  is  itself  supported 
by  the  arms  of  a  man  kneeling  on  the  heavens. 
I  have  also  met  with  an  instance  of  the  god^ 
occupied  in  drawing  with  a  pen  the  figure  of 
Harpocrates,  the  emblem  of  youth ;  probably  an 
allusion  to  the  idea  first  formed  in  the  mind  of 
the  Creator  of  the  being  he  was  about  to  make.' 
[Ptah  was  worshipped  with  particular  honours  at 
Memphis,  and  he  held  a  distinguished  position  in 
all  the  temples  throughout  Egypt. — 6.  W.] 

[This  god  represented  one  of  the  great  demi- 
urgi,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  Egyptian  gods, 
his  name  appearing  on  the  monuments  of  the  4th 
Dynasty.  At  a  later  period  he  is  mentioned  as 
the  Creator.  He  was  the  father  of  the  gods,  and 
the  hymns  describe  the  gods  as  coming  out  of 
his  eye  and  men  out  of  his  mouth.  At  Denderah 
he  is  said  to  be  'the  master  of  the  company  of  the 
gods,  who  has  formed  beings,  and  that  all  things  came  after  him, 
the  lord  of  truth  and  king  of  the  gods.'  Other  inscriptions  de- 
scribe him  as  creating  beings,  and  making  men  and  gods  with 
his  hands,  or  the  father  of  beginnings,  who  has  made  the  egg  of 
the  sun  and  moon.  Another  of  his  names  was  Tanen.  In  the 
Xemphite  list  he  is  the  first  king  of  primordial  Egypt,  and  as 
such  his  name  appears  in  a  cartouche,  while  his  title,  the  Southern 
Rampart,  or  wall,  connects  him  with  the  city  of  Memphis,  and 
its  name,  Ptah-ka  City,  connects  him  with  the  Pataikos.' — S.  B.] 

Ptah-Socharis-Osiris  was  that  form  of  Ptah,  or  Vulcan,  par- 
ticalarly  worshipped  at  Memphis.  Herodotus^  describes  him 
as  a  pigmy  figure,  resembling  the  Pataikos,*  placed  by  the 


Pub  imder  Um  fmn 

ufSuUUtj. 
Mo.  «tT. 


>  PUU  XX^fg.  &.    Puh  is  aloM  iatro- 
4mctd  m  tW  fUU.    It  b  fron  DMa«r«h. 


If  M,  thtf  btlUT«d  tW  first  muk  to 
bis  earsvr  in  c«rlj  jontk, 
ast  ■•  •  fall-frowm  man;  liks  Japit«r, 
B«rnU«Bi.  •md  etlMr  of  tb«  gods  of  GrMot. 

•  •Qalkry  of  Aatftsaltks,*  i.  pp.  IS,  U; 
Bn«Kk, « GosdOckU  Asf7pt.,>  aa-^K. 

rou  in. 


«  Herodot.  iU.  37. 

*  [Pttailtos  sMms  to  be  the  Efjptiaa 
luuBM  Ftb«b  or  l*tah,  tbe  bard  A  being 
made  into  k  hj  tbe  Greeks,  m  tbat  letter 
BOW  so  often  is  bj  tbe  modem  Greeks, 
wben  tbe  J  write  or  pronounot  it  in  Armbic, 
— O.  W.] 


Cuir.  XUL]  FTAH-SOCHAItia-OSnua  19 

Phoenicians  at  tbe  prow8  of  their  ressels;  and  says  that  Cambyses, 
on  entering  the  temple  at  Memphis,  ridiculed  the  contemptible 
appearance  of  the  Egyptian  Hepbsstos.  Representations  of 
this  dwarf  deity  are  frequently  met  with  at 
Kemphis  and  the  vicinity;  and  it  appears 
that  dwarfs  and  deformed  persons  were  held 
in  ocmaideration  in  this  part  of  Egypt,  out 
of  respect  to  the  deity  of  the  place.  He 
Qsnally  has  a  scarikbeuB,  his  emblem,  on 
his  head;  he  sometimes  holds  the  crook  and 
flagellnm  of  Osiris;  and  he  frequently  ap> 
peats  with  a  hawk's  head,  both  when  wor- 
shipped in  the  temples,  and  when  placed  on 
the  sarcophagi  of  the  dead.  I  have  even 
seen  the  lids  of  coftins  at  Memphis  formed 
in  the  shape  of  this  god.  The  necklace, 
whose  two  extremities  are  surmounted  by  a  , 
hawk's  head,  pecnliarly  belonged  to  Ptah- 
Socharis;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  bis  name  Sekari'  may 
be  derived  from  the.  hawk.  Bat  this  is  merely  a  conjecture. 
Besides  tbe  searalNous  and  hawk,  the  capricom  also  belonged 
to  him,  and  the  prow  of  his  boat  or  ark  was  ornamented  with  the 
head  of  that  animal.  The  ceremony  of  bearing  this  boat  in 
•olemn  procession  was  one  of  tbe  most  important  of  all  the  rites 
ptactised  by  tbe  Egyptians ;  and  the  sanctity  with  which  it  was 
legmided  by  the  whole  country  is  suSBciently  indicated  by  tbe 
conspicuous  place  it  held  in  the  temples  of  Thebes.  Indeed,  I 
believe  that  it  was  nothing  less  than  the  hearse  of  Osiris,  and 
that  this  procession  recorded  the  funeral  of  that  mysterious 
deity ;  a  conjecture  strongly  confirmed  by  tbe  frequent  occur- 
rence of  the  hawk-beaded  figure  and  name  Socharis-Osiris  tu 
those  sculptures  at  Pbilie  which  represent  his  apotheosis,  or 
rather  his  return  from  this  world  to  that  state,  whence  be  bad 
come  to  manifest  himself  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  It  is, 
perhaps,  to  this  funeral  ceremony  that  Athenagoras  alludes, 
when  he  says,  '  They  not  only  show  tbe  sepulchre  of  Osiris,  but 
«Ten  his  embalmed  body.'  The  deity,  under  the  form  of  Sekari, 
it  also  carried  forth  by  tbe  four  genii  of  Amenti,  in  the  same 
chamber  at  Phils;  where  be  appears  to  have  jmssed  through 
this  intermediate  state,  previous  to  his  assuming  his  final  office 


■  Tka  EcTptiM  fad  Xfx^fUi  BMBtii>B«l  ia  *  nn*  of  CntiDiu,  U,  m  V.  ChtapoUioi 


20  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIU. 

of  judge  of  the  dead ;  and  his  body  being  placed  on  a  bier, 
within  the  some  boat  or  ark,  seems  to  leave  no  doubt  respecting 
the  truth  of  my  conjecture.'  [These  types  of  Ptah  do  not  appear 
in  the  sculptures  till  a  later  period,  and  one  of  the  varieties 
represents  him  with  two  heads,  one  human,  the  other  that  of  a 
hawk  having  a  disk  and  plumes.  The  texts  here  ally  him  to  the 
sun.  The  rubrics  speak  of  him  as  having  the  hawk's  head  and 
plumes,  and  raising  the  arm  holding  a  whip,^  and  as  a  dwarf  or 
pigmy.  The  type  is  foetal. — S.  B.]  The  deformed  figure  of  this 
god  probably  gave  rise  to  the  fable  of  the  lameness  of  Vulcan  in 
the  Greek  mythology,  who  is  represented  to  have  been  thrown 
from  heaven  by  Jupiter,  and  to  have  broken  his  leg  in  falling 


upon  the  Isle  of  Lemnos.  Ftah-Socharis-Osiris  is  sometimes 
seated,  attended  by  Isis,  '  the  potent  mother-goddess,'  who  pro- 
tects him  with  her  wings ;  he  is  then  more  closely  connected 
with  Osiris  than  Ptah,  of  which  two  deities  be  unites  the 
characters.  He  is  frequently  styled  Socharis-Osiris  withowi  the 
prefix  Ptah;  and  it  appears  that  he  Is  then  more  particularly 
connected  with  the  passage  of  Osiris  from  this  life  to  another 
state,  and  his  mysterious  return  from  his  human  to  his  divine 


Xeper,  or  Kheper,  is  another  form  of  Ptah,  to  whom  in  this 
character  also  the  scarabEeus  was  particularly  sacred.  It  stands 
for  the  syllable  of  his  name,  and  may  be  emblematic  of  his  office 
as  creator  of  the  world,  of  which  this  insect  was  the  type.    He 


'  Bvjol  Soc  af  Lm  pUtM  6B  ud  B9.        '  Lep«iiu,  'Todt.' liiifliL  c  184,  IL  13,  14, 


Chat.  Xm.] 


OTHER  FOBHS  OF  FTAH. 


21 


WM  aometimea  represented  with  the  acarabieus,  in  lien  of  a  bead, 
either  with  closed  or  outspread  wings ;  but  his  usual  form  was  a 
human  figure  with  the  head  of  a  man,  wearing  the  globe  of  the 
son,  and  an  asp,  the  emblem  of  kingly  or  divine  majesty.' 


Kfc  htlwr  a(  ibi  bthn  o(  Ika  |D 


The  fn^-headed  deity,  Ea  or  Batrachocephalus,  is  also  a  form 
ot  Ptab,  particularly  in  reference  to  his  creation  of  man.  Hora- 
poUo  tella  ufl  that  '  man  in  embryo  was  represented  by  a  frog,' 
and  it  was  therefore  considered  a  fit  symbol  to  form  the  base  of 
the  palm  branch  of  years,  held  by  Thoth,  as  the  deity  who  super- 
intended the  life  of  man.  The  arms  in  the  hieroglyphic  legend 
of  the  god  Batrachocephalus,  also  connect  him  with  this  notion  ; 
they  recall  the  figure  illustrative  of  human  life  which  bo  fre- 
quently occurs  on  the  monuments,  and  a  man  with  arms  on  bis 
bead  is  sometimes  given  as  an  emblem  of  Ptab. 

Of  the  peculiar  office  of  the  batrachocephalic  goddess,  I  am 


m  nti\j  ■  mUt  Ijpc     AcconUnf  t. 


rcprtMntcd  tha  nocturnal 


22 


THE  ASaiSST  EOTFTIANa 


[Chap.  Xm. 


ignorant.  She  has  a  frog's  head,  without  the  scarabsBiig  of  the 
former  deity ;  and  it  is  probable  that  she  is  only  aa  emanation 
of  Ptah,  or  in  a  subordinate  capacity  among  the  genii,  or  lower 
order  of  gods.  [Thia  goddess  in  the 
12th  Dynasty  was  worshipped  along 
with  the  god  Ehnnm  or  Chnonmis,  and 
in  the  representations  of  the  four  ele- 
ments symbolises  the  female  principle 
of  water.— S.  B.] 

E.hem,'  the  generative  principle, 
particularly  worshipped  at  Chenunis 
or  Fanopolis,  and,  according  to  the 
evidence  of  Diodorus  *  and  the  scalp 
tores, '  treated  with  marked  rererence 
by  all  the  Egyptians,'  was  another  of 
the  deified  attributes  of  the  Almighty 
Founder  of  the  aniverse,  and,  as  Hero- 
dotus justly  observes,  one  of  the  eight 
great  gods.  His  office  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  procreation  and  continua- 
tion of  the  human  species,  but  extended 
even  to  the  vegetable  world,  over  which 
he  presided ;  whence  we  find  his  statue 
accompanied  by  trees  and  plants,  and 
kings  offering  to  him  the  herbs  of  the 
ground,  cutting  the  com  before  him, 
or  employed  in  his  presence  tilling 
the  land,  and  preparing  it  to  receive  the  generating  influence 
of  the  deity.  It  was  from  this  circumstance  that  the  Greeks 
and  Bomans  assigned  to  Friapus  the  office  of  presiding' over 
their  gardens ;'  and  the  idea  of  his  frightening  away  thieves 
with  his  right  hand*  was  probably  derived  from  the  flagellum 
placed  over  the  uplifted  arm  of  the  Egyptian  Khem.*  It  is  also 
possible  that  the  Hermes  figures,  placed  on  the  public  roads, 
were  borrowed  from  one  of  the  mummy-formed  gods  of  Egypt. 


I  ProDaanced  Kh4ii]. 

■  Dlodor.  L  18. 

*  Hor.  Epod,  ii.  17.  A  lignrc  of  Priaput, 
rogrsTrd  by  Boiiurt,  hu  tbii  iD*criptiDD, 
*  HortorDm  coatodi,  Tjgjll,  coDHmtori  pro- 
paginia  TiUicorum.'       BaDier,   Mjth.   It. 


1.  453. 
•  Hor.  Sat.  I. 


ill.  3. 
e  of  tbU  god  bM  b««ii  ti 


oatij  read  u  Xtm  nnd  Min,  but  aoma  lUtlj 
ditcoTtttd  TBiiaati  glre  it  aa  Amil.  In 
woodcut  So.  &D1  ■  king  veariag  the  ktef 
ii  repreaent«d  aa  ploughing  or  hoeing  the 
ground  before  him.  The  T«riou»  inscrip- 
tioDi  from  Tariona  placea  gire  hia  titles : 
I.  Amai-Ameii,  title  of  mother.  2.  Amai 
or  Khem,  aon  of  Ui).  b.  Bull  of  bi« 
mother,  Uioe  of  tho  san. — S.  B. 


Chap.  XTTI.] 


EHEM. 


23 


All  statues  in  Greece,  before  the  time  of  Daedalus,  were  similarly 
rude  imitations  of  the  human  figure,  the  legs  being  united,  and 
the  arms  attached  to  the  body  ;  but  we  may  reasonably  suppose 
that  some  other  reason  beyond  the  mere 
retention  of  ancient  custom  induced  them 
to  give  to  these  statues  alone  so  remarkable 
a  form ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the  Hermes 
figures  bear  a  stronger  resemblance  to  the 
£^yptian  mummy  than  to  a  statue  of  the 
ancient  Greek  style.  From  their  name,  it 
might  be  inferred  that  they  were  peculiar 
to  the  god  Mercury ;  but  ihis  depended  on 
the  head  they  bore :  those  with  the  face 
of  Apollo  being  styled  Hermapollos;  of 
Minerra,  Hermathenas ;  and  others,  accord- 
ing to  their  respectiye  combinations.  The 
Hermes  figure  was  therefore  the  exclusive 
name  given  to  statues  of  a  peculiar  form, 
and  not  to  those  of  Mercury  alone.  For, 
besides  the  fact  of  the  latter  being  repre- 
sented in  a  perfect  form  like  the  other  gods,  we  find  from  Cicero 
that  these  Hermes  statues  were  forbidden  to  be  erected  upon  a 
tomb,  which  would  seem  to  be  the  most  appropriate  situation  for 
a  figure  of  Mercury,  the  deity  to  whom  the  care  of  the  dead  was 
particularly  confided. 

In  one  of  several  groups  of  hieroglyphics  signifying  *  Egypt,' 
a  tree  is  introduced  as  the  symbol  of  that  country ;  but  whether 
any  peculiar  tree  was  sacred  to  the  god  Khem,  or  its  name  re- 
sembled the  word  *  Chemi,'  Egypt,  I  will  not  pretend  to  decide ; 
trees  of  the  same  form  as  that  occurring  in  the  name  of  Egypt  ^ 
accompany  the  shrine  of  the  god,^  and  they  may  be  emblems 
both  of  the  country  and  of  the  deity  whose  name  it  bore.^  For 
Egypt  was  denominated  *  Chemi,  Khemi,  or  the  land  of  Ham,' 
as  we  find  in  the  hieroglyphic  legends  ;  and  the  city  of  Ehem, 
or  Panopolis,  was  called  in  Egyptian  Chemmo,  of  which  evident 
traces  are  preserved  in  that  of  the  modem  town  E'Khmim.^ 
Indeed,  the  name  of  the  god  appears  from  the  hieroglyphics  to 


Sepulchnl  figure  of  Ptah- 
SocbArU-Oeirlfl,  used  as  box 
for  holdiog  mummied  ot^ects. 

No.  60S. 


^  See  the  RoeeiU  Stone. 

*  Woodcut  No.  504. 

*  The  tree  U  the  sycamore,  Neha ;  Egypt 
being  cmlled  amongst  other  titles  the  land 
of  the  sjcamore.~-S.  B. 

*  It  U  singular  that  this  town  shoald 


have  had  the  name  given  to  the  whole 
country  of  Khemi;  and  another,  Coptos, 
Koft  or  Kebt,  have  retained  that  of 
Egypt,  which  is  Qypt  with  a  prefixed 
letter  or  diphthong. 


24 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAUa 


[Chap,  xnt 


h&ve  been  Ctiemmo  or  Ehemo ;  and  when  in  the  character  of 
Amen-ra  Generator,  the  title  of  Ehemo  is  added  to  that  of  Amen. 
Plutarch  says*  that  'the  leaf  of  the  fig-tree  represented  both 
their  king  Osiris  as  well  as  their  nstiTe  country;'  and  it  is 
possible  that  this  notion  was  founded  upon  the  circumstance  of 
the  fig-tree  itoelf  being  the  symbol  of  Egypt :  but  from  what 
he  afterwards  says  of  the  Friapean  chaxactw  of  Osiris,  we  may 


E^^ 


1,1. 'lad,  AmNt-ka-ninlal.'      s.  ■  Jjwi,  »ii  of  Iili.'     i.  ■  AmiUn,  lard  of  ■  ■  ■ .'    s.  ■  Ktmolir, 
Ihu  at  Iha  Son.' 

conclude  he  has  confounded  that  deity  with  the  god  Ehem.  If 
this  be  true,  the  tree  abore  mentioned  may  be  the  fig,  or  more 
probably  the  Fieu»  syoamorut ;  and  the  conventional  form 
adopted  by  the  Egyptians  for  this  and  all  trees,  excepting  the 
palm,  dom,  pomegranate,  and  a  few  others,  appears  to  justify 
this  conjecture.  The  sycamore  was  particularly  sacred  to  the 
goddess  Nut,  as  the  Persea  to  Athor ;'  but  these  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  mention  hereafter. 

■  Plot,  da  i^.  1.  as. 


Chap.  Xm.]  HAM— KHEM— MIZRAIM.  25 

The  assertion  of  Herodotus,^  that  the  Egyptians  represented 
the  god  Pan,  like  the  Greeks,  with  the  head  and  legs  of  a  goat, 
applies  neither  to  the  god  Khem,  nor  to  any  other  deity  in 
the  Egyptian  Pantheon,  and  is  as  little  worthy  of  credit  as  the 
statement  he  afterwards  makes  respecting  an  occurrence  in 
the  Mendesian  nome ;  where  he  also  states  that  ^  the  goat  and  the 
god  Pan  both  have  the  name  Mendes  in  the  Egyptian  language.' 
The  description  of  the  god  worshipped  at  Panopolis,  given  by 
Stephanas  of  Byzantium,^  accords  exactly  with  the  Egyptian 
Pan,  or  Khem,  which  the  learned  Prichard  has  supposed  to  be 
'  Osiris  or  Horns ;'  and  it  is  Khem,  and  not  blendes,  to  whom 
belong  the  attributes  of  the  god  of  generation.  The  Hebrew 
word  Ham  is  identical  with  the  Egyptian  Ehem,  being  properly 
written  Khm^  Kham,  or  Khem;  and  is  the  same  which  the 
Egyptians  themselves  gave  to  their  country,  in  the  sculptures 
ci  the  earliest  and  latest  periods.  The  Bible  also  applies  to 
Egypt  the  name  of  3Iizraim,  or  Mitzrim,  a  dual  or  plural  word, 
which,  as  I  have  before  observed,  seems  to  refer  to  the  two 
regions  of  Egypt,  the  Upper  and  Lower  Country,  over  which  the 
Pharaohs  are  always  said  in  their  regal  titles  to  hold  dominion. 
It  is,  however,  remarkable  that  the  word  itself  does  not  occur  in 
hieroglyphics,  though  traced  in  the  modem  name  Musr  or  Misr, 
by  which  both  Cairo  and  Egypt  are  known  at  this  day.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptural  account^  of  the  peopling  of  the  world 
by  the  sons  of  Noah,  it  appears  that  Ham  or  Khem  colonised 
the  lands  of  Cush  (Ethiopia),  Mizraim  (Tjower  Egypt  and  the 
Thebaid),  Phut  or  Libya,  and  Canaan  (Syria);  the  four  being 
mentioned  as  'sons  of  Ham  ;'  which  may  refer  to  the  migration 
of  an  Asiatic  tribe  to  those  countries,  and  tend  to  confirm  my 
opinion  respecting  the  Oriental  origin  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
valley  of  the  Nile.  Ham  or  Khem  may  have  been  the  original 
name  of  that  tribe  which  settled  in  the  two  districts  called 
Mizraim ;  and  the  Egyptians  may  have  retained  the  appellation 
which  they  had  as  conquerors,  in  preference  to  that  of  the 
country  they  occupied.  The  progeny  of  Cush  is  equally  re- 
uarkable.  Cush^  is  the  name  of  Ethiopia,  both  in  Scripture 
and  in  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  earliest  periods ;  and  was  applied 
to  that  country  lying  above  the  Second  Cataract,*   inhabited, 

*  H«rodot.  ii.  46.  Iik«  th«  worl  Ethiopiii. 

«  rrickard,  p.  120.  •  Tirhakiih  wm  king  of  Coih  (2  KiDft 

'  G«m.  B.  6.  xii.  9).    The  capitiil  of  Tirhiikah't  dominioa 

*  !•   Hebrew   it    tifj^ttifiM    *  bUckntM ; '  wm  at  El  Berkel  the  ADcient  Nupata.    Sol* 
•pplitd  to  *  tb«  bUck  cnoatry/  pi  tins  Sertrof  calls  him  Tirchac. 


26  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIII. 

as  at  present,  by  a  copper-coloured  race.  After  the  Bible  has 
enumerated  the  sons  of  Gush,  it  mentions  an  offset  in  Nimrod, 
who  founded  the  kingdom  of  '  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  and 
Calneh  in  the  land  of  Shinar/  ^  from  which  country  the  Assyrian 
founders  of  Nineveh  emigrated.  This  connection  between  an 
African  and  Asiatic  Ethiopian  race  is  the  more  remarkable,  as 
the  same  is  noticed  by  profane  writers :  the  Ethiopian  Memnon 
was  said^  to  be  a  general  of  Teutamis,  the  twenty-first  king  of 
Assyria  after  Semiramis,  and  to  have  been  sent  with  a  force  of 
10,000  Ethiopians,  and  the  same  number  of  Susians,  to  assist 
Priam,  when  Troy  was  besieged ;  and  the  Cushites  of  Africa  are 
also  called  Ethiopians. 

To  the  god  Khem  the  Egyptians  dedicated  their  exyotos  in 
the  quarries  of  the  Kossayr  road ;  nor  were  temples  and  votive 
inscriptions  put  up  in  honour  of  Sarapis  till  the  time  of  the 
Bomans,  and  in  a  few  instances  during  the  reigns  of  the  Ptolemaic 
kings.  In  the  Greek  exvotos  he  is  styled  the  'Pan  Euodos,' 
but  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  have  not  the  title  Amen-ra, 
though  it  is  probable  that  in  this  character  he  was  the  same  as 
Amen-ra  Generator.  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  the 
name  of  Ehem  was  that  for  which  Amen-ra  was  substituted ;  in 
which  case,  these  would  be  two  characters  of  Ehem,  instead  of 
Amen-ra.  Either  this  may  have  been  the  case,  or  the  original 
legend  may  have  contained  a  name  of  the  deity,  which  in  after- 
times  was  deemed  too  sacred  to  be  exposed  to  the  eyes  of  the 
profane,  when  the  uninitiated  had  become  acquainted  with  the 
previously  occult  meaning  of  hieroglyphic  writing. 

Khem  was  considered  the  generating  influence  of  the  sun, 
whence  perhaps  the  reason  of  his  being  connected  with  Amen-ra : 
and  in  one  of  the  hieroglyphic  legends  accompanying  his  name 
he  is  styled  the  sun ;  that  is,  the  procreating  power  of  the  only 
source  of  warmth,  which  assists  in  the  continuation  of  the  various 
created  species.  I  have  twice  found  hieroglyphic  legends  stating 
him  to  be  '  engendered  by  the  sun,'  and  in  another  he  is  called 
the  '  son  of  Isis,'  which  might  seem  to  deny  him  a  place  among 
the  eight  great  gods ;  but  these  may  refer  to  a  distinct  o£Sce  he 
was  supposed  to  bear  on  some  occasions ;  and  his  intimate  con- 
nection with  Amen-ra  fully  establishes  his  claim  to  the  rank 
Herodotus  has  given  him  in  the  Egyptian  Pantheon.^  '  The 
Greeks,'  says  the  historian,  'consider  Hercules,  Bacchus,  and 


^  Gen.  X.  8,  10.  *  Diodor.  ii.  22.  *  Herodot.  ii.  145. 


Chaf.  Xm.]  THBTPHia  27 

Pan  as  the  most  modem  of  their  gods ;  the  Egyptians,  on  the 
contrary,  look  upon  Pan  as  Tery  ancient,  holding  a  rank  among 
the  firat  eight  deities ;  Hercnles  they  place  in  the  number  of  the 
twelve,  called  the  second  order ;  and  Bacchus  ranks  with  those 
of  the  third  order,  who  are  engendered  by  the  twelve.' 

It  is  not  improbable,  then,  that  Khem  was  also  considered  by 
the  Egyptians  the  generating  principle  of  nature  itself ;  and  this 
will  accord  with  the  idea  they  entertained  of  his  extending  his 
immediate  influence  over  all  the  animal  and  vegetable  world. 
On  the  Eossayr  road  I  have  met  with  a  tablet  in  which  the  god 
Khem  is  represented  as  a  hawk,  with  human  legs,  and  an  arm 
holding  up  the  usual  fiagellum,  his  head  crowned  with  the  long 
feathers  of  Amen ;  but  this  is  an  unusual  form  of  the  deity,  and 
of  uncertain  date.  Thriphis  was  the  favourite  and  contemplar 
companion  of  Ehem,  as  well  at  Panopolis  as  in  the  temple  of 
Athribis  or  Crocodilopolis,  whose  ruins  are  still  seen  to  the  west- 
ward of  Soohag.  She  appears  to  be  one  of  the  goddesses  re- 
presented with  a  lion's  head ;  but  I  have  been  unable  exactly  to 
ascertain  her  attributes  and  office.  The  Greek  inscription  at 
Athribis '  designates  the  town  by  the  same  name,  Thriphis.  It 
is  still  called  by  the  Arabs  Atrib,  and  by  the  Copts  Athrebi ; 
and  the  honours  with  which  the  goddess  was  there  worshipped 
may  be  inferred  from  the  dimensions  of  her  temple,  200  feet  in 
length  and  175  in  breadth.  Part  of  the  inscription  is  lost,  but 
may  be  easily  restored  ;  and  the  name  of  the  emperor  mentioned 
in  it  occurs  also  in  the  hieroglyphics,  which  on  the  other  face  of 
the  same  architrave  present  the  ovals  of  Tiberius  Claudius  Cicsar 
Germanicus.  In  the  Greek  is  the  name  of  the  Empress  Julia, 
the  widow  of  Agrippa  and  daughter  of  Augustus,  with  the  date 
of  the  ninth  or  fifth  year  of  Tiberius,  which  shows  that  her  death 
oould  not  have  happened  as  early  as  is  generally  supposed.^ 
The  dedication  to  'the  most  great  ffoddesi  Thriphis,'  and  the 
mention  of  '  ApoUonius,  prefect  of  the  city  of  Thriphis,'  show 
them  both  to  have  borne  the  same  name  ;  as  the  ovals  of  Ptolemy 
the  eldest  son  of  Auletes,  which  occur  in  another  part  of  the 
building,  prove  that  the  foundation  of  the  temple  dated  before 
the  empin%and  that  the  inscri[ition  of  Ti)>erius  was  only  attached 
to   repairs  or  additions  made  during  hi^  reign.      The  Greek 

>  TIm  Arab  tmUtioa,  mtatioDwi  bjr  Ui«  '  [Siact  thu  wm   written  I  End  tkiit, 

kutofiaa   llacrisi,  of   tb«   four    loiu    of  according  to  Letrunne,  this  wm  not  JulU 

Mixrmim.    OtbaiiB,   AtrA^   Sa,    Koft,    U,  Augiuta,  «Uught«r  of  Augustus,  but  JalU, 

liA«  BMj  otb^n  wbich  aboimd  in  Cgjpt,  who,  aAcr  the  death  of  Augustas,  took  ibt 

U  aeeottBt  lor  iko  aaiiiot  of  citm.  Bamt  of  Jolia  Augiuia.— O.  W.] 


28  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIH. 

inscription  at  Panopolis  is  of  the  time  of  Trajan.  It  has  the 
date  of  his  twelfth  year,  and  mentions  Pan  and  Thriphis  as 
the  chief  deities  of  the  place.  The  story  of  Pan  having  been  the 
lieutenant-general  of  Osiris,  in  his  Indian  expedition,  and  by  the 
fright  he  caused  to  the  enemy  haying  given  rise  to  the  expression 
^  Panic  terrors/  is  an  idle  legend,  which,  too,  cannot  apply  to  the 
Pan  of  Egypt.    It  is  mentioned  by  Plutarch  and  Polyenus. 

[This  deity  is  supposed  to  represent  in  himself  the  double 
part  of  father  and  son,  connected  with  Amen-ra,  and  perhaps 
Osiris  as  the  title  of  his  mother ;  at  the  same  time  he  appears 
as  the  Har  nekhiy  *  powerful  Horus,'  or  Horns  the  son  of  Isis. 
He  symbolises  the  productive  power  of  nature,  and  figures  are 
occasionally  found  of  him  made  of  barley.  He  was  an  ancient 
god,  appearing  in  the  oldest  chapters  of  the  Ritual.  '  I  am  Khem,* 
one  passage  says  in  his  proceeding.^  Titere  are  two  plumes  on 
his  head.  ^  Khem,'  says  the  esoterical  explanation, '  is  the  saviour 
of  his  father,'  and  Horus  the  son  of  Isis.  *  His  proceeding '  is  ^  his 
birth.'  The  plumes  on  his  head  are  Isis  and  Nephthys.  There 
are  the  two  hawk  feathers  on  his  head,  placed  upon  him ;  they  are 
as  two  birds ;  they  are  firm  on  his  head ;  or  they  are  the  great 
uraei  in  front  of  his  father  Tum,  *  or  his  «yes  are  the  plumes 
on  his  head.'  He  is  also  called  '  Khem  the  king,  the  powerful 
Horus,'  an  allusion  still  closer  described  as  '  I  am  Khem,  the 
Horus  saviour  of  his  father,  the  substance  of  his  father  Unnefer,' 
Onnophis  or  Osiris.  The  festival  of  his  procession  or  manifesta- 
tion is  mentioned  at  the  earliest  period,  and  celebrated  with  the 
highest  honours  at  Medeenet  Haboo,  in  the  month  Tybi,  of  which 
he  was  the  eponym. — S.  B.] 

The  goddess  Sati,  or  Juno,  always  accompanies  Chnoumis  in 
the  exvotos  at  the  Cataracts  of  Syene  and  the  Island  of  Sehayl ; 
where  she  forms  the  second  member  of  a  triad  composed  of  Chnou- 
mis, Sati,  and  An6uqa.  This  triad  frequently  occurs  on  different 
monuments  in  the  vicinity  of  Syene,  it  being  customary  for  every 
town  to  assign  a  conspicuous  post  in  their  temples  to  the  chief 
deities  and  to  the  peculiar  triad,  worshipped  by  their  neighbours, 
as  a  mark  of  respect  not  only  to  the  gods,  but  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  adjoining  districts.  And  the  general  adoration  paid  to 
the  principal  member  of  this  triad  throughout  Nubia  readily 
accounts  for  its  constant  occurrence  in  the  temples  between  the 
First  and  Second  Cataracts.    At  Dakkeh,  the  manner  in  which  it 


>  Pierret,  'Diet.  d'Aot.  figypt.,'  p.  290.       1.  2;  c  125, 11.  15,  60;  c  142,  1.  60;  c. 
Lepsins,  •  Todtenbuch,'  c  17,  L 11 ;  c  124,      145,  L  75 ;  g.  148,  L  2 ;  c  149, 1.  3. 


Chap.  XHI.]  SATI,  OR  JUNO.  29 

is  mentioned  oyer  one  of  the  doors  is  remarkable ;  the  Ethiopian 
King  Ergamnn  being  styled,  on  one  side,  '  Son  of  Neph,  bom 
of  Satiy  nursed  by  An6uqa,'  and  on  the  other,  ^  Son  of  Osiris, 
bom  of  Isis,  nursed  by  Nephthys.* 

The  Island  of  Sehayl  was  formerly  ealled  S^te,  a  name  not 
unlike  that  of  the  Egyptian  Juno;  and  a  Greek  inscription 
there  mentions  the  dedication  of  a  temple  to  the  aboTe-mentioned 
triad.  In  another,  inscribed  upon  a  column  at  the  granite 
quarries  of  Caracalla,  near  Syene,  Jupiter-Hammon-Cenubis  and 
Juno  are  said  to  preside  over  the  hill  near  whose  summit  it  was 
erected ;  but  these  would  not  have  been  sufScient  to  identify  the 
goddess,  had  not  the  sculptures  presented  the  name  of  an  arrow, 
which,  piercing  a  standard,  forms  her  hieroglyphics,  written  in 
phonetic  characters,  and  expressing  the  word  Sati.  Horapollo 
afiBrms  that  Juno,  Sati,^  presided  oyer  the  lower  part  of  heayen, 
and  Neith,  Athene,  oyer  the  upper  hemisphere :  but  it  is  pos- 
sible that  he  may  haye  confounded  Neith  with  Nut;  though 
some  confirmation  of  his  remark  may  be  deriyed  from  the  fact 
of  the  cap  wom  by  Neith  signifying,  in  hieroglyphics,  *  Upper 
Egypt,'  and  that  of  Sati,  the  *  Lower  Country/  Horapollo  is 
fully  home  out  by  the  hieroglyphics  in  what  he  afterwards 
says, — that  'the  Egyptians  think  it  absurd  to  designate  the 
heayen  in  the  masculine,  but  represent  it  in  the  feminine,  inas- 
much as  the  generation  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  the  rest  of  the 
stars  is  perfected  in  it,  which  is  the  peculiar  property  of  a 
female.'  * 

The  marriage  of  Jupiter  with  his  sister  Juno,  in  Greek 
mythology,  was  probably  deriyed  from  the  story  of  Osiris  and 
Isis,  who  were  also  brother  and  sister  and  the  children  of  Seb, 
considered  by  the  Greeks  the  same  as  Saturn ;  but  the  confusion 
caused  by  their  judging  of  the  identity  of  their  own  and  the 
Egyptian  deities  from  casual   analogies  is  so   great,  that    to 
Jupiter  alone  are  attributed  legendary  tales  taken  from  Amen, 
Chnoumis  and  Osiris.     The  statues  of  the  Greek  Juno  were  not 
always  confined  to  one  particular  form ;  and  to  that  goddess  were 
sometimes  giyen  the  attributes  of  Pallas,  of  Diana,  of  Yenus,  of 
Nemesis,  of  the  Fates,  and  other  diyinities.    In  this  respect  they 
resembled  many  of  the  deities  of  Egypt,  who,  as  already  obseryed, 
borrowed  each  other's  attributes,  and  could  only  then  be  recog- 
nised by  the  hieroglyphic  legend  placed  aboye  them. 

The  goddess  Sati  does  not  appear  to  haye  played  so  important 

1  Horapollo,  L  11. 


30  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

a  part  in  Egyptian  mythology  as  the  Juno  of  Greece.  Nor  will 
I  pretend  to  decide  if  she  presided  over  marriages  :  and  little  is 
known  of  her  from  the  accounts  of  ancient  writers.  Diodoms/ 
Horapollo,  and  some  other  authors  merely  make  a  cursory 
mention  of  the  Egyptian  Juno,  and  little  dependence  can  be 
placed  on  what  Manetho  relates  concerning  her.  According  to 
Porphyry,*  the  priest  of  Sebennytus  states  that  three  men  were 
daily  sacrificed  to  the  Juno  of  Egypt,  after  having  been  examined 
like  the  clean  calves  chosen  for  the  altar ;  which  ceremony  was 
abolished  by  order  of  Amosis.  And  to  this  Plutarch  alludes,' 
when  he  says,  *  We  are  informed  by  Manetho,  that  they  were 
formerly  wont,  in  the  city  of  Idithya,*  to  bum  men  alive, 
giving  them  the  name  of  Typhos,  and  winnowing  their  ashes 
through  a  sieve :  which  sacrifices  were  performed  in  public,  and 
at  a  stated  season  of  the  year, — in  the  dog-days.'  If,  indeed, 
this  were  ever  the  case,  it  could  only  have  been  at  a  very  remote 
period,  long  before  the  Egyptians  were  the  civilised  nation  we 
know  them  from  their  monuments,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
show  in  treating  of  the  sacrifices. 

According  to  Herodotus,  the  great  goddesses  of  Egypt  were 
Neith — Minerva,  Bute— Latona,  Bubastis — Diana,  and  Ws; 
the  Greeks  having  become  acquainted  with  their  names,  from 
being  worshipped  in  Lower  Egypt ;  and  to  their  ignorance  of  the 
deities  of  the  Theb^'d  may  be  attributed  their  silence  respecting 
Mut,  the  great  goddess  of  Thebes,  and  Sati,  the  second  member 
of  the  triad  of  Elephantine. 

Sati  was  represented  as  a  female  figure,  wearing  on  her  head 
the  cap  or  crown  of  the  Upper  Country,  from  which  projected  the 
horns  of  a  cow ;  and  in  her  hand  she  holds  the  usual  sceptre  of 
the  Egyptian  goddesses.  Another  goddess  appears  also  to  lay 
claim  to  the  name  of  Sati;  but  her  form  and  character  differ 
from  those  of  the  Egyptian  Juno ;  and  she  seems  rather  to  repre- 
sent the  western  bank  of  the  Nile.  From  her  occurring 
frequently  in  tombs,  it  is  probable  that  she  had  some  o£Sce  in 
Amenti.  Indeed,  the  evident  connection,  and  the  similarity  in 
the  name,  of  Amenti,  *  the  lower  regions,'  and  Ement,  *  the  west,* 
are  remarkable ;  and  the  idea  of  the  end  of  the  world  being  in 
the  west,  as  its  commencement  in  the  east,  is  thus  noticed  by 
Plutarch.  The  Egyptians  make  ^  a  sacred  dirge  or  lamentation 
over  Osiris,  bewailing  him  who  was  bom  on  the  right  side  of  the 

»  Diodor.  i.  13,  15.  «  Porphyr.  de  AUt.  ii.  55.  »  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  73. 

*  Probably  Ilethyi  or  Eileithyis,  the  city  of  LucinA,  a  title  given  to  the  Greek  Juno. 


CuF.  XUI.] 


81 


world,  and  who  periabed  on  the  left  For  it  must  be  observed 
that  the  Egyptians  look  upon  the  east  as  the  front  or  face  of  the 
world,  npon  the  north  as  ita  right  aide,  and  npon  the  south  aa 
ita  left*' 

The  goddess  Mat,'  or  Tman,  was  the  second  member  of  the 
Theban  triad.  Her  name  signi- 
fies '  mother ;'  and  though  many 
dirinities,  as  Isis,  Nut,  and 
others,  have  the  title  '  Mother- 
goddess,'  the  name  Mat  was 
peculiarly  applied  to  the  one 
before  ua,  who  may  with  mach 
reason  be  supposed  to  represent 
in  this  capacity  Nature,  the 
mother  of  alL  From  the  pre- 
tence of  the  vulture  in  her 
hieruglyphics,  she  has  been 
ioppoaed  the  same  as  Neitb 
(Minerva);  but  that  bird  is 
merely  a  pbonetio  character 
signifying '  mother,'  and  not  an 
emblem  of  the  goddess  herself. 
For  the  vultore,  aa  Horapollo 
observe*,*  being  the  peculiar 
type  of  a  female  and  of  mater- 
nity, 'the  Egyptians,  when- 
ever they  wiah  to  designate  a 
mother,  represent    this    bird.' 

Some  may  be  disposed  to  iden-  _  

tify  her  »ith  Buto,*  the  Latona  "■««'' "»k^ 
at  Egypt,  and  imagine  that  the  name  she  bears  refers  to  the  office 
■he  beU  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  or  to  her  duties  as  nurae  of 
Horoa.  Some  indeed  have  confonnded  Buto  with  Minerva,  who 
■as  said  to  have  been  the  tutor  of  Bacchus.* 

The  oracle  of  Buto  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in  the 
«orld,  and  the  hononrs  rendered  this  goddess  by  the  Egyptians 
■«re  doubtless  very  great,  since,  as  Herodotus  states,  they  had 


>  Plst.  d*  tiii.  L  33.  TIm  Anla  call 
lb  Hvtk  tb*  ltd,  bciDi  OB  tbtir  left  u 
tkn  ioqt  towuxli  Uu  mti,  or  towuil* 
M.kk*h. 

■  Or  Ma,  I  bdu  tb«  baittle  iln. 


•  Tha  itoildti*  Ual  ii 
BatiL     AlthoBili  a  trparalt  Keddcii,  aba  ia 
nlifiol  with  Uut,  aa  Id  wood. 
K.<.  bOS,  mhtn  Uot  ■•  callad  >1hi  Ual. 


32  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

greater  veneration  for  her  oracle  than  for  that  of  any  "other  deity.* 
'It  is  consecrated  to  her/  says  the  historian,^  'in  a  large  city 
(also  called  Buto)  situated  near  the  Sebennytic  mouth  of  the 
Nile.  You  pass  it  in  going  from  the  sea  by  that  branch  of  the 
river.  It  contains  several  temples ; — of  Apollo,  of  Diana,  and  of 
Latona.  In  this  last  the  oracles  are  delivered.  It  is  of  very 
great  size,  having  porticoes  10  orgyai  (fathoms)  in  height  But 
of  all  that  I  observed  within  the  enclosure  sacred  to  Latona,  the 
chapel  of  the  goddess  caused  me  the  greatest  surprise.  Its  sides 
are  of  a  single  stone,  sqtiare  both  ways,  measuring  in  length 
and  breadth  40  cubits ;  and  another  block,  whose  thickness  is 
4  cubits,  forms  the  roof.  Nothing,  in  fact,  in  the  whole  of  this 
consecrated  spot  is  more  worthy  of  admiration.  Next  to  this  is 
the  Isle  of  Chemmis,  situated  in  a  deep  and  spacious  lake  near 
the  temple  of  Latona  at  Buto.  According  to  the  Egyptians,  it  is 
a  floating  island ;  but  I  confess  I  neither  saw  it  float,  nor  even 
move,  and  I  was  much  surprised  to  hear  that  any  islands  did 
float  In  it  is  a  large  chapel  of  Apollo,  with  three  altars.  The 
soil  produces  a  number  of  palm  and  other  trees  without  culture, 
some  of  which  bear  fruit.  '  The  following  reason  is  given  by  the 
Egyptians  for  its  floating.  Latona,  one  of  the  eight  most  ancient 
divinities,  who  lived  at  Buto,  where  her  oracle  now  is,  having 
been  charged  by  Isis  with  the  care  of  Apollo,  concealed  him  in 
this  island,  which  is  now  called  the  Floating  Island,  though 
formerly  fixed  and  stationary.  She  preserved  him  there  in 
safety,  while  Typhon  was  searching  everywhere  for  the  son  of 
Osiris :  for  they  say  that  Apollo  and  Diana  are  bom  of  Bacchus 
and  Isis,  and  that  Latona  was  their  nurse  and  preserver.  Apollo 
is  called  Orus,  Horus,  in  Egyptian ;  Ceres  is  Isis ;  and  Diana, 
Bubastis.' 

Of  the  form  and  attributes  of  the  Egyptian  Latona  we  are 
completely  ignorant  It  is  far  from  certain  that  Mut  and  Buto 
are  two  characters  of  the  same  deity ;  and  unfortunately  the 
sculptures  of  her  temple,  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  are  no  longer 
in  existence  to  clear  up  the  difiSculty.  But  if  Strabo  be  correct 
in  stating  that  the  mygale  or  shrew  mouse  was  worshipped  at 
Athribis,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  lion-headed  goddess 
Thriphis,^  who  gave  her  name  to  that  city,  was  the  same  as  the 
Egyptian  Latona.    The  mygale  is  imiversally  allowed  to  have 


1  Herodot.  iL  83.  *  Ibid.  ii.  155.    See  also  ii.  75.    Strabo,  xrii.  p.  551. 

'  Strabo,  zyii.  p.  559. 


Chap.  XUL]  BUTO,  PRIMEVAL  DAEKNESS.  33 

been  sacred  to  Buto  ;^  it  was  buried  in  the  city  of  that  name : 
and  if  the  Egyptians  really  assigned  the  reason  mentioned  by 
Plutarch  for  the  worship  of  this  animal,  we  may  believe  that  the 
goddess  Buto  represented,  as  ChampoUion  supposes,  the  dark- 
ness which  covered  the  deep.    *  The  mygale/  says  that  writer, 

*  received  divine  honours  by  the  Egyptians,  because  it  is  blind, 
and  darkness  is  more  ancient  than  light.'  ^ 

This  idea  of  night  being  older  than  day  was  very  ancient, 
and  commonly  entertained.  We  find  in  Genesis,  that  Hhe 
evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day  ;' '  which  is  retained 
to  the  present  time  by  the  Arabs,  in  the  expression  layl  oo  nahr, 

*  night  and  day.'  *  The  Egyptians,'  says  Damascius,  *  celebrated 
unknown  darkness  as  the  one  principle  of  the  universe.'  *  Accord- 
ing to  Hesiod,  *  from  chaos  arose  Erebus  and  black  night ;  from 
night,  ^ther  and  day:'  ^  and  Aristotle  tells  us, '  the  theologians 
consider  all  things  to  be  bom  from  night.'*    Aristophanes  makes 

*  Chaos,  Night,  Erebus,  and  Tartarus  the  first ; '  ^  and  in  the 
Orphean  Fragments  we  find,  ^  I  will  sing  of  Night,  the  genitor  of 
gods  and  men ;  Night,  the  genesis  of  all  things.'    The  Anglo- 
Saxons  also,  like  Eastern  nations,  began  their  computations  of 
time  from  night,  and  the  year  from  the  day  corresponding 
with  our  Christmas,  which  they  called  ^Mother  Night;'  and 
'the  Otaheitans  refer  the  existence  of  their  principal  deities  to  a 
state  of  darkness,  which  they  consider  the  origin  of  all  things.' ' 
This  darkness  was  not,  however,  the  same  as  night,  or  evening, 
in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  word,  when  the  sun  withdraws 
its  light  from  the  earth,  but  that  primeval  night  or  darkness 
from  which  all  created  nature  had  its  commencement.    And  if 
Buto  represented  darkness  the  companion  of  chaos,  or  ^  night  the 
genesis  of  all  things,'  another  goddess  claimed  the  post  of  night, 
who,  under  the  name  of  Athor,  received  the  sun  into  her  arms, 
as  he  retired  behind  the  western  mountain,  of  which  she  was  the 
presiding  deity.    Porphyry  and  others  seem  to  confound  the  two, 
and  supposed  Latona  to  be  the  atmosphere,  which  appears  light 
and  dark  beneath  the  moon ;  deriving  the  name  of  Leto  from 
the  forgetfulness  caused  by  sleep  during  the  night,  over  which 
they  suppose  her  to  preside.    This,  like  many  other  mysteries, 
being  clothed  by  the  Egyptian  priests  in  the  guise  of  a  popular 


»  Herodot.  ii.  67.  »  Hesiod,  Theog.  y.  123. 

'  Plut.  Sympos.  iy.  qasst.  5,  •  Metoph.  xii.  6. 

*  Q«L  1. 2  and  3.  »  Amtoph.  Bird*. 

*  Cory,  Frtgments,  p.  320.  •  Cory,  FragmenU,  p.  820. 
VOL.  111.  U 


31  THE  ANCIENT  £aTPTIAN&  [Chap.  XIH. 

tale,  suited  to  the  comprehension  of  the  people,  was  placed 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  nninstrncted  or  the  profane;  and 
the  sanctity  of  the  mygale  was  attributed  to  the  protection 
it  afforded  to  Latona,  who,  nnder  its  form,  eluded  the  pursuit 
of  Typho. 

It  is  this  custom  of  explaining  the  nature  of  the  gods  in  two 
different  ways — ^the  one  intended  for  the  instruction  of  the 
initiated,  the  other  to  satisfy  the  frofanwn  vutgy^s^  who  were 
excluded  from  all  participation  in  metaphysical  truths — ^which 
has  been  the  cause  of  so  much  apparent  contradiction  in  the 
character  of  the  Egyptian  deities ;  and  we  may  readily  conceive 
the  labyrinth  into  which  the  human  mind  was  led  by  similar  ex- 
planations. But  the  object  of  the  priest  was  obtained  by  these 
means:  for  since  they  presented  no  difficulties  to  the  com- 
prehension of  a  superstitious  people,  they  had  the  appearance  of 
truth,  and  effectually  prevented  their  indulging  in  speculation 
upon  the  religion  they  were  taught  to  obey. 

Mut  is  represented  as  a  female  figure  wearing  on  her  head 
the  psherUf  or  double  crown,  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Countries, 
placed  upon  a  cap  ornamented  with  the  head,  body,  and  wings  of 
a  vulture.  This  pshent  is  not  worn  by  her  as  by  the  kings,  the 
one  crown  placed  within  the  other,  but  side  by  side, — a  mode  of 
arranging  it  adopted  also  by  Atmu  and  some  other  deities. 
Instances  also  occur  of  Mut  with  the  head  of  a  lion,  or  of  a  cat. 
She  probably  then  has  the  attributes  of  Bast  or  Bubastis,  or  of 
Thriphis  above  mentioned.  But  it  is  frequently  difficult  to 
ascertain  whether  these  heads  are  those  of  a  lion  or  of  a  cat ; 
even  the  ears  are  not  always  a  sufficient  guide,  though  generally 
the  latter  are  erect  and  pointed,  and  the  others  round. 

Some  black  basalt  sitting  figures  in  the  British  Museum,  and 
other  European  collections,  represent  the  Egyptian  Bubastis, 


it   ri    .-5  ;i 

No.  606.  Vftilout  fonni  of  the  name  of  Bast  or  Bubastis. 

whose  name  frequently  occurs  in  Lower  Egypt  over  a  goddess  with 
a  lion's  head.    Above  is  the  form  of  the  name  Bubastis,  jiff.  4. 

This  goddess  was  principally  worshipped  in  the  Delta  and 
Lower  Egypt.    Great  honours  were  also  paid  her  in  the  Upper 


Chap.  XnLl 


BAST,  BUBASTES,  DIANA. 


Cooiktiy,  ukd  at  Thebes  her  figure  holds  a  conspicuous  place 

among  the  contemplar  deitiee.    The  city  of  Bubastis,  where  she 

was    partioolarly  adored,  stood  east  of  the    Delta,  and  at  a 

short  distance  from  the  Felusiac  branch  of  the  Kile,  where  lofty 

mounds,  called  Tel  Basta,  still  mark  its  site.     'Here,'  says 

Herodotus,'    'is  a  temple  of  Bnbastis  deserring  of  mention. 

Other  temples  are  larger  and  more  magnificent,  bat  none  more 

beautiful  than  this.     The  goddess 

Bnbastis  ia  the  same  as  the  Greek 

Diana.    Her  temple  stands  in  an  i^ 

land  sorroonded  on  all  sides  by  water, 

except  at  the  entrance  passage.    Two 

separate  canals  lead  from  the  Kile  to 

the  entrance,  which  diverging  to  the 

right  and  left,  snrronnd  the  temple. 

They  are  about  100  feet  broad,  and  I 

planted  with  trees.     The  vestibule 

is  10  oigyai,  or  fathoms,  high,  orna- 
mented   with   very  fine  figures  six 

cabita  in  height.     The  temple  stands 

in  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  in  walk- 
ing ronnd  the  place  you  look  down 

npon  it  on  every  side,  in  consequence 

of  the    foundations    of  the    houses 

having  been  elevated,  and  the  temple 

sdll  continuing  on  its  original  level. 

The  sacred  enclosure  is  encompassed 

by  a  wall,  on  which  a  great  number 

of  figures  are  sculptured ;  and  within 

it  is  a  grove,  planted  round  die  cella 

of  the  temple,  with  trees  of  a  considerable  height.  In  the  eella 
is  the  statue  of  the  goddess.  The  sacred  enclosure  ia  a  stadium 
(600  feet)  in  length  by  the  same  in  breadth.  The  street  which 
corresponds  with  the  entrance  of  the  temple  croBses  the  public 
sqiwre,  goes  to  the  east,  and  leads  to  the  temple  of  Mercury : 
it  is  about  three  stades  long  and  four  plethra  (400  feet)  large, 
paved,*  and  planted  on  either  side  with  Urge  trees.' 

Bubastis  is  represented  with  the  head  of  a  lioness  or  a  cat,  and 
to  her  the  latter  was  peculiarly  sacred.    On  her  head  she  bears  a 


A  Dtam,,  „  ^aU,  tn  tha  Fj 


tha  Fjotrni, 


town  to  tha  lempla,  though  imiillar  thu 


THE  ANCIEKT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XHX 


disk,  from  which  rises  the  nneus,  or  royal  asp,  and  in  her  hand  she 
holds  the  usual  sceptre  of  the  Egyptian  goddesses.  From  the 
difficulty  above  stated  of  distinguishing  between  the  cat  and  the 
lion-headed  figures,  doubts  sometimes  arise  respecting  the  form  of 
tho  Egyptian  Diana :  though  it  appears  that  she  took  the  head 
of  both  those  animals.  The  goddess  of  the  Speoa  ArtemidoB^  is 
represented  in  the  hieroglyphics  by  a  lioness  ;*  and  if  it  be  true 


that  the  wolf  and  jackal  were  dedicated  to  one  deity,  Anubis,  we 
can  with  equal  reason  suppose  the  lion  and  cat  to  have  been 
emblems  of  the  goddess.* 

In  the  bronze  figures  of  Bast  more  care  seems  to  have  been 
taken  to  distinguish  between  the  lion  and  the  cat,  the  head  of 
the  latter  being  evidently  given  to  this  goddess.  They  some- 
times represent  her  holding  a  sistmm  in  her  right  hand,  and  in 

■  ■  Egrpt  and  Th«b«,'  p.  379.  theltc  or  malt  uid  f«m«ls  niton  at  the 

*  '  Uateria  Hiin^.'  No.  8,  goddoi.     Sba  onljr  appain  with  th«  head 

*  The  head  of  the  godd«M  ii  not  that  of  of  a  cat  at  a  later  period,  aod  than  prin- 
■  cat,  but  a  lion,  alluding  to  the  uieoi>-  dpall;  in  mull  TotiTt  bnnne. — S.  B, 


Cbaf.XUI.] 


BAST. 


37 


her  left  the  bead  of  a  lion  surmounted  by  a  disk  and  aap ;  some- 
times with  a  basket  npon  hei  ann :  bat  they  are  frequently  of  a 
late  date,  and  the  attributes  they  present  are  less  to  be  depended 
upon  than  the  sculptures  of  the  ancient  monumeuta. 

One  of  the  principal  featirals  of  the  Egyptians  was  held  at 
Bnbastis  in  houour  of  Bast ;  and  Herodotus '  considers  that  they 
took  a  greater  interest  in  it 
than  in  any  of  the  numerous 
fetes  annually  celebrated  in 
Egypt  '  This,'  says  the  his- 
torian,  '  is  the  nature  of  the 
ceremony  on  the  way  to  Bn- 
bastis.  They  go  by  water,  and 
numerons  boats  are  crowded 
with  persons  of  both  sexes. 
During  the  voyage,  several 
women  strike  the  eroiaia ;' 
some  men  play  the  fiute ;  the 
r«st  singing  and  clapping  their 
bands.  As  they  pass  near  a 
town,  they  bring  the  boat  close 
to  the  bank.  Some  of  the 
women  continue  to  sing  and 
play  the  eroteda ;  othen  cry 
oDt  aa  long  as  they  can,  and 
otter  reproaches  against  the 
people  of  the  town,  who  begin 
to  dance,  while  the  former  pull 
ap  their  clothes  before  them  in 
Thei 


i»  repeated  at  every  town  they  pass  upon  the  river.  Arrived  at 
Bobastis,  they  celebrate  the  festival  of  Diana,  sacrificing  a  great 
Dnnber  of  victims;  and  on  that  occasion,  a  greater  vonsomp- 
tion  of  wine  takes  place  than  during  the  whole  of  the  year ;  for, 
•ocording  to  the  accounts  of  the  people  themselves,  no  less  than 
TOU.000  penons  of  both  sexes  are  present,  besides  children.' 

Bast,  or  Bubastis,  is  a  member  of  the  great  triad  of  ^lemphis, 
and  the  usual  companion  of  Ptah ;  by  whom  she  is  said,  in  the 


>  H«n4<M.  u.  ».  M. 

•  TW  avtala  wtn  •ltk«r  ejmbiU*,  or  ■ 
Tt  U  clappn  of  wood  or  nwUl— pcrb*p4 
■  aaa  ■■  tM  trliadrical  macM  mealioD«il 


1.  i.  p.  ibi.     CoBt.  rrap«rt.  ir.  Elcg. 
'ill,    taiu    tiblMB     ctMt     croUlutria 


38  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS,  [Chap.  XIIL 

hieroglyphic  legends,  to  be  *  beloved.*  Herodotus  considers  her 
the  daughter  of  Bacchus  (Osiris  ^)  and  Isis.  Were  this  true,  she 
could  not  hold  a  rank  among  the  eight  great  deities,  but  among 
those  of  the  third  or  even  fourth  order ;  and  his  assertion  is  fully 
disproved  by  the  exalted  character  she  bears  in  the  temples  of 
Thebes.  This  error  I  believe  to  have  arisen  from  the  supposed 
identity  of  Horus  (the  son  of  Osiris)  and  the  sun,  or  the  Apollo 
of  the  Greeks,  whose  sister  Diana  was  reputed  to  be.  Horus  the 
Elder,  whom  they  called  Aroeris,  was  brother  of  Osiris,  and  said 
to  be  the  same  as  the  sun ;  whence  he  also  was  considered  by 
the  Greeks  to  answer  to  Apollo.  But  it  was  the  younger  Horus 
who  was  the  son  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  and  he  had  no  Bister ;  nor, 
indeed,  could  Bubastis  have  been  the  sister  of  the  Egyptian 
Aroeris.  Another  mistake  respecting  this  goddess  arose  from 
the  idea  that  Isis  was  the  same  as  the  moon ;  and  the  relation- 
ship of  Isis  and  her  brother  Ajroeris  confirmed  the  Greeks  in  this 
erroneous  fancy.  Isis,  however,  was  distinct  from  the  moon; 
she  was  in  no  way  connected  with  Bubastis ;  and  the  latter 
goddess  was  not  the  representative  of  that  luminary. 

Ovid  has  reported  the  fabulous  story  of  the  Egyptian  Diana 
(if,  indeed,  she  can  be  called  by  that  name)  assuming  the  form  of 
a  cat,  to  avoid  the  enmity  of  Typho.^  But  Juvenal  has  banished 
her  from  the  Pantheon  of  Egypt :  ^  Oppida  tota  canem  vene- 
rantur,  nemo  Dianam;'  not,  as  the  learned  Prichard  supposes, 
because  '  her  worship  had  been  discontinued,  or  had  sunk  into 
obscurity,  before  Egypt  fell  under  the  Boman  yoke,'  but  because 
Juvenal,  in  common  with  so  many  other  persons  who  visited  the 
country,  was  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  its  religion.  The  Greeks, 
indeed,  gave  to  Diana  three  different  characters.  As  the  moon, 
she  was  Lucina ;  as  goddess  of  the  chase,  Diana ;  as  a  deity  of 
the  lower  regions,  Proserpine  or  Hecate :  hence  the  poets  styled 
her  iriformis;  and  they  sometimes  represented  her  with  three 
heads  " — that  on  the  right  being  of  a  horse,  that  on  the  left  of  a 
dog,  and  that  in  the  middle  of  a  wild  boar — though  Pausanias  ^ 
thinks  this  custom  neither  ancient  nor  universal.  But  the  form 
and  attributes  of  nearly  all  the  Greek  deities  were  very  un- 
certain ;  and  Cicero  has  shown  how  confused  were  their  genea- 
logies and  origin.  He  even  confesses  that  the  mode  of  represent- 
ing them  depended  on  the  caprice  of  painters  and  fabulists,^ 

1  Herodot.  ii.  156.  «  Pans,  in  Corinth,  c  30. 

*  Ovid,  Met.  lib.  y.  830.  •  Qcero,  de  Kat.  Deor. 

»  Virg.  JEn.  lib.  ir.  511. 


Chap.  XIII.]  BAST.  39 

who  committed  the  palpable  absurdity  of  representing  the  gods 
subject  to  anger,  lust,  and  other  bad  passions,  and  exposed  to  the 
infirmities  of  human  nature. 

[Formerly  the  name  of  this  goddess  was  read  Pfiwht,  but 
recent  researches  have  demonstrated  that  the  true  reading  is 
Sekhet ;  and  in  the  sculptures  the  lion-headed  goddesses  have 
yarious  names :  as  *  Sekhet  the  great  Merenptah,'  ^  or  beloved  of 
Ptah,  'mistress  of  the  heaven/  and  'Sekhet  the  great  Urhek,'* 
or  *  Menh-Sekhet/^    She  is  also  connected  with  Mut,  and  then 
styled  *Mut  dwelling  in  the  abode  of  Ptah,   mistress  of  the 
heaven,  regent  of  the  earth,  and  Mut-Uati,  Ur.t-hek,  also  Menh, 
resident  on  the  earth.'    Sekhet  has  been  supposed  to  symbolise 
the  devouring  fury  of  the  sun,  and  punished  the  damned  in  the 
Egyptian  Hades,  while  on  earth  she  performed  the  part  of  Bellona. 
As  wife  of  Ptah,  Sekhet  was  the  mother  of  Nefer  Atum,  and 
formed  the  second  personage  of  the  Memphite  triad.    Allied  with 
her  was  her  sister  Bast,  in  the  same  way  as  Isis  was  connected 
with  Nephthys,  except  that  Bast  represented  at  a  later  period  the 
vegetation  of  the  two  countries.*    Her  mixed  nature  is  described 
in  the  Bitual,  where  she  is  figured  as  the  Mother,  or  Mut,  having 
three  heads,  one  that  of  a  lioness,  px^^^  having  plumes ;  another 
that  of  a  man  wearing  the  pshent;  and  another  of  a  vulture, 
phallic,  having  wings,  and  the  claws  of  a  lion.*^ — S.  B.] 

The  idea  of  a  connection  existing  between  Pasht  and  Hecate 
seems  to  be  in  some  degree  authorised  by  the  sculptures  of  the 
Egyptian  temples,  since  we  find  the  hieroglyphical  name  of  the 
latter  attached  to  the  goddess  before  us ;  ®  and  the  character  and 
title  of  Hecate  were  also  applied  to  Mut  and  Isis. 

Another  reason  that  the  moon  in  the  Egyptian  mythology 
could  not  be  related  to  Bubastis  is,  that  it  was  a  male  and  not  a 
female  deity,  personified  in  the  god  Thoth.     This  was  also  the 
case  in  some  religions  of  the  West.    The  Bomans  recognised  the 
god  Lunus ;  and  the  Germans,  like  the  Arabs  to  this  day,  con- 
sider the  moon  masculine,  and  not  feminine,  as  were  the  Sel^n6 
and  Luna  of  the  Greeks  and  Latins. 

Neith,  the  Egyptian  Minerva,  was  particularly  worshipped  at 
Sds^  in  the  Delta.    Pausanias  *  pretends  that  Minerva  at  Thebes 


'  Woodcut  So.  508,  lines  1,  2.  •  Woodcut  No.  509,  bicrog.  2. 

*  line  3.  *  Lino  4.  '  Cicero  is  correct  in  saying,  *  Minenra 

*  Pterrct,«Dict.d*Arch.  Sg7pt./p.  89.  secnnda,  orta  Nilo,  qnam  JEgyptU  Saitc 

*  Updns,  Todt,  Ixxix.  c  164.  U.  12, 13.  colunt.'    (Nat.  Deor.  iii.  p.  248.) 
Th«  Tign«it«  docs  not  oorrespond.  •  Pausanias,  Ixxx.  c  12. 


40 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa 


[Cbap.  xni. 


was  styled  Onka/  which  is  a  Fhceniciau  and  not  an  Egyptian 
name ;  but  it  was  also  one  of  her  names  in  Egypt,  written 
Onk  or  Anq  [1  "'*^.     This,  however,  was  the  name  of  her  city 

in  the  Delta;  and  it  is  evident  that  she  was  called  Neith 
both  in  the  Upper  and  Lower  Country ;  and  Plato  and  Erato- 
sthenes are  correct  in  stating  this  to  be  her  Egyptian  name. 


'There  is,*  says  the  former,  'a  certain  nome  of  Egypt  in  the 
Delta,  called  Saltic,  whose  capital  is  the  city  of  S^  the  birth- 
place of  King  Amaais.  The  founder  of  this  city  was  a  goddess, 
whom  the  Egyptians  call  Neith ;  the  Greeks,  Minerva ; '  and  its 
inhabitants  are  very  mnch  attached  to  the  Athenians,  to  whom 


'  What  PaBuoiu  nf >  it,' At  to  thoH 
who  thlak  that  Cadmiu,  who  came  to 
Thebet,  wai  aa  EgypUaD,  and  not  a 
Pbnnician,  the  aame  at  this  Uinerra  ii 
oppowdtothoiratatenifDt;  for  ihe  !■  called 
Siga,  Saka,  io  tho  Phtznlcian  lasgnagc, 
and  not  Saii,  u  in  the  Egyptian.'  That 
Onka  fOyjn)  b  tho  proper  reading  ig 
pTDTad  bf  £ichjliu,  who  apaak*  of  'Oyaiq 


'AfarSi.  Cadmiu  wu  a  Phcsnleian  name= 
Cadn, '  the  Eait,'  personified.  He  was  tht 
Ead  who  went  to  Eorape,  Crtb,  or  gharh, 
'  tho  West.'— 0.  W. 

'  nJX«Hi  ().(.,  Sab)  St&t  ipTTfii  imr, 
Alyirwrurri  fitr  Tsivo/u  N4IS,  '  EAAiinirri 
Si,  A,  6  inlmr  A^i,  'Atqra.  (PUto  in 
Tinueo,  p.  1043,  ed.  Franc) 


Cbu-.  XIII.] 


NEITH,  HINEBVA. 


41 


they  conaider  themselves  in  aome  degree  related.'  *    Stephanas 

of  Byzantium,  HesychiDB,  and  others,   agree  with  Flotaich  in 

saying  that  the  Minerva  of  Thebes  had  the  appellation  of  Onka; 

and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  an  instance  occurs  there  of  the 

name  of  Neith  with  the  adjunct  Onk  or  Auk,  which  may  either 

be  an  occasional  titje  of  the  goddess  Keith,  or  be  corrupted  from 

the  name  of  An^uqa,  the  Egyptian  Vesta.    Some  have  supposed 

the  word  Sus  to  signify  an  olive-tree,  on 

the  assumption  that  Saiih  in  Hebrew  has 

this  meaning;  but  neither  was  the  Saite 

nome   famed  for  the  growth  of  this  tree, 

nor  was  the  olive  supposed  by  the  Egyp 

tians  to  be  the  gift  of  Minerva.    Saith, 

indeed,  is  not  the  Hebrew  word ;  it  is  Zeth, 

the  same  as  the  Arabic  Zit,  signifying  oil ; 

and  the  town  of  SeSs  was  called,  in  Egyp- 
tian, Saa  or  8ai,  and  has  not  therefore  one 

letter  in  common  with  the  Hebrew  name  of 

the  olive.    An  additional  reason  for  this 

conjecture  was  probably  the  fact  of  Athens 

having  been  colonised  by  people  from  Saia, 

who  were    supposed  to  have  taken  with 

them    the   worship    of   Minerva,   and   the 

olive-tree   her  emblem ;    but   there  is  no 

appearance  of  this  tree,  or  the  owl,  having 

been  sacred  to  the  Egyptian  Neith ;   and 

Diodoms  expressly  states,  that '  the  Egyp- 
tians considered   themselves  indebted   for 

the  olive  to  Mercury,  and  not  to  Minerva,  as 

is  the  opinion  of  the  Greeks. ''  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the 
Greek  name  Athena  or  Thena  was  derived  from  the  Egyptian 
word  Neith  or  Neth,  by  an  inversion  of  the  order  of  the  letters, 
—the  Egyptians  writing  it  from  right  to  left,  and  the  Greeks 
from  left  to  right :  bnt  this  is  of  little  moment ;  nor  is  it  im- 
portant to  inquire  whether  Athens  gave  its  name  to  Athena,  or 
the  goddess  to  the  town.  Some  have  supposed  the  Minerva  of 
Athens  to  be  a  daughter  of  Cecrops  ;  but  this  notion  probably 
originated  in  his  introduction  of  her  worship,  when  he  led  a 
colony  from  Sfus  to  the  Athenian  shore.* 


^It  U  unulig  to  ebMm  tha  prelcn-  '  Sia  ii  tbs  Dam«  of  the  city,  ud  the 

•«  of  the  Gntk*,  whs  iknded  them-  hierogljphi  ihow  that  it  it  qaite  dlffinnt 

■«»•■  the  (nudtn  of  Sili  ud  of  HeliiH  from  the  word  Uel,  lued  for  'ollre'  ud 

P"^    (DW.T.W,fa)        ■Wod.i.  16.  'oll«eil/-S.B. 


42  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XIH. 

In  bieioglyphics,  the  name  of  Neith  is  tisaaUy  composed  of 

the  following  character,  ^^•^  ©r  ^^*^ ,  accompanied  by  the 

half  circle  and  egg,  the  female  signs,  or  hy  two  half  circles ;  and 
an  instance  occnrs  at  Esneh  of  the  word  written  with  the  bowl, 

or  basket    ^^^^   ,'   though  this  last  is  uncommon,  and  of 

Boman  time.    Her  figure  is  frequently  represented  at  Esneh, 
where,  Stntbo  says,  Minerva  and  the  Latus  fish  were  particularly 
worshipped. 
—  =:  -      -  Plutarch'  shows  that  he  misunderstands 

^^  W^  the  character  of  Neith,  when  he  attributes 

f[_\  "^        to  Isis  the  inscription  in  the  temple  of 

"""  Minerva, '  I  am  everything  which  has  been, 

which  is,  and  which  will  be,  and  no  mortal 
has  yet  lifted  up  my  veil ;'  for  though  Isis 
may  fteqnently  have  taken  the  attributes  of 
Neith  and  of  other  deities,  they  were  always 
kept  distinct  in  the  Egyptian  Pantheon.  In 
another  place,*  he  says, '  Isis  is  frequeoUy 
called,  by  the  Egyptians,  Athena*  signify- 
ing, in  tiieir  language,  "  I  proceeded  from 
myself;"  '  from  which  the  Greeks  probably 
"^V  borrowed  the  idea  of  that  goddess  being 
bom  without  a  mother.  Bnt  Athet%a  wag 
not  her  Egyptian  name ;  and  she  was  not, 
as  already  observed,  the  same  as  Isis. 

Neith  was  to  SaSa  what  Amen  was  to 
Thebes.    The  names  of  several  monarchs  of 
the  26th  Dynasty  contained  the  legend  of 
""■'"■  the  Egyptian  Minerva ;  and  in  the  sacred 

precincts  of  her  temple  were  buried  all  the  kings  of  that  Salts 
Camily.  Keith  was  represented  as  a  female  wearing  the  crown  of 
the  Lower  Country,  and  holding  in  her  hand  the  hooked  st^ 
of  the  gods,  or  the  usual  flower-headed  sceptre  of  the  goddesses, 
sometimes  with  the  addition  of  a  bow  and  arrows;  being,  as 
Proclns*  tells  us,  tbe  goddess  of  war  as  well  as  of  philosophy. 


Kellii  wllh  water. 


>  Ib  tfthn  OM  lk«  md  XJ,  ITiil,  oi 
JfM.  •  hat.  d«  Irid.  *.  0. 

'  Ibid. «.  S3. 


44 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XTTT. 


appear.^  Occasionally  she  is  seen  suckling  two  crocodiles. 
They  are  the  children  of  Neith.*  Her  green  colour  alluded  to 
her  terrestrial  functions. — S.  B.] 

In  mentioning  the  remaining  gods^  it  is  not  my  intention  to 
point  out  the  order  of  the  twelve  secondary  deities^  and  thence 
proceed  to  those  of  the  third  order.  I  shall  therefore  follow,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  the  arrangement  adopted  in  my  'Materia 
Hieroglyphica/  after  I  have  noticed  the  god  Ea,  the  physical 
sun,  whom  I  had  there  placed  among  the  eight  great  deities 
of  Egypt. 

The  worship  of  Ea,  the  physical  sun,  appears  to  have  been 
universal  throughout  Egypt.  The  name  of  this  deity  was 
pronounced  Ba;  and,  with  the  definite  article  Pi  prefixed,  it 
was  the  same  as  Phrah,  or,  as  we  erroneously  call  it,  Pharaoh, 
of  Scripture, — ^Pire,  in  the  Theban  dialect,  being  written  at 
Memphis  Phre.  I  have  already  noticed^  the  origin  of  the  title 
Phrah,  Phar8U)h,  given  in  the  Bible  to  the  kings  of  Egypti  and 
have  shown  that  the  Hebrew  word  Phrah*  is  no  other  than  the 
Memphitic  name  of  the  sun,  Phre,  pronounced  Phra,  which  is 
still  retained  in  the  Coptic  Pi-re.  I  have  also  shown  that  the 
hawk  and  globe,  emblems  of  the  sun,  are  placed  over  the 
banners  or  the  figures  of  the  kings  in  the  sculptures  to  denote 
this  title,  and  that  Amen  and  other  deities  are  often  seen  pre^ 
senting  the  sign  of  life  or  power  to  the  monarch  under  this 
emblem.  *In  every  case,'  as  I  have  observed,  *it  will  read 
Phre ;  and  if  Hermapion,  in  his  translation  of  the  obelisk  of 
Bameses,  given  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  had  used  the  word 
"sun"  instead  of  "Apollo,"  the  sense  would  have  been  much 
better. 

'  It  is  singular  that  the  Greeks  never  mention  the  title  Phr^ 
or  Pharaoh,  as  we  term  it ;  and  I  can  only  account  for  this  by 
supposing  that  they  translated  it  wherever  it  occurred,  as  is  the 
case  in  Hermapion's  translation  of  the  obelisk,  where  in  the 
third  column,  instead  of  "the  powerful  Apollo,"  we  ought  to 
read  "  the  powerful  Phre,  Pharaoh,'^  the  all-splendid  son  of  the 


>  Pierret,  *  Diet.  d'Arch.  %jpt.,'p.363; 
Birch/ Gall,  of  Antiq.'  p.  12. 

*  *  Records  of  the  Past/  iv.  p.  110. 

*  *  Materia  Hierog.,'  Pantheon,  pp.  6, 109, 
and  'Hierog.  Extracts,'  p.  6.  i  think  it 
right  to  allude  particularly  to  mj  mention 
of  this  as  early  as  the  year  1827,  as  it  has 
since  appeared  as  a  new  obserration. 


*  Josephus  supposes  this  name  to  be  taken 
from  Phoiiro,  *the  king,'  in  Egyptian;  but 
though  Phouro  has  this  meaning,  it  is  not 
the  word  used  for  Pharaoh  either  in  Hebrew 
or  Egyptian.  [The  word  Pharaoh  is  sup* 
posed  now  to  be  the  Egyptian  per  aa^  or 
per  aa  anxt  the  'great  house,'  or  'great 
house  of  life,*  an  expression  which,  like  our 
word  'court,'  was  often  used  for  the 
monarch.— S.  B.] 


46 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAJrS. 


[Cbaf.  xni. 


Bon."*  >  This  adoption  of  the  name  of  the  bqu  as  a  regal  title 
was  probabljr  owing  to  the  idea  that,  as  the  sun  was  the  chief  oi 
heavenljr  bodies,'  be  was  a  fit  emblem  of  the  king,  who  was  the 
niler  of  all  on  earth ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  many  instances  of 
analogies  which  occur  in  the  religious  system  of  the  Egyptians. 
The  importance  attached  to  this  deity  may  be  readily  ii^erred 
from  the  fact  of  every  Pharaoh  having  the  title  '  son  of  the  son  * 
preceding  his  phonetic  nomen,  and  the  first  name  of  which  their 
prsenomens  were  c<nnposed  was  that  of  the  sun.  In  many,  too, 
the  phonetic  nomen  commenced  with  the  name  of  Ra,  as  the 
Barneses  and  others ;  and  the  expressions  '  living  for  ever,  like 
the  snn,*  '  the  splendid  PhrS,'  are  common  on  all  obelisks  and 
dedicatory  inscriptions.    The  freqnent  occnrrence  of  the  name 


of  Ba,  and  the  great  respect  paid  to  the  snn,  even  in  towns 
where  other  deities  preuded,  tend  to  show  the  estimation  in 
which  this  god  was  held  thronghoat  Egypt,  and  suggest  the 
probability  of  the  early  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  previoUB 
to  the  adaptation  of  a  metaphysical  theory  to  the  nature  of  the 
gods.  This,  indeed,  is  the  opinion  of  several  ancient  writers ; 
though  they  are  wrong  in  assigning  to  Osiris  and  Isis  the  chap 
ractets  of  the  snn  and  moon.  Diodoma  says,*  '  The  first  genera- 
tion of  men  in  Egypt,  contemplating  the  beanty  of  the  superior 
world,  and  admiring  with  astonuhment  the  &ame  and  order  of 
the  universe,  imagined  that  there  were  two  chief  gods,  eternal 
and  primary,  the  sun  and  moon,  the  first  of  whom  they  called 
Osiris,  the  other  Isis.  .  .  .  They  held  that  these  gods  governed 
the  whole  world,  cherishing  and  increasing  all  things ;  .  .  .  that 


'  Hieroe.  Eitnct*,  p.  8. 

'  Cant  Forphfiy,  dtAlitUii.:  <  Qtumta  doccm  eMe  Solam.' 


r.Lll. 


cbap.  xm.]     woBsmp  op  the  sun  and  moon.  47 

in  their  natures  they  contributed  much  to  the  generation  of 
those  things ;  the  one  being  of  a  hot  and  active  nature,  and  the 
other  moist  and  cold,  but  both  having  something  of  the  air. 
They  also  said  that  every  particular  being  in  the  universe  was 
perfected  and  completed  by  the  sun  and  moon,  whose  qualities 
were  five :  a  spirit  or  quickening  efficacy,  heat  or  fire,  dryness 
or  earth,  moisture  or  water,  and  air.  .  .  .  These  five  were  de- 
nominated gods :  .  •  .  the  spirit  being  called  Jupiter ;  the  fire, 
Vulcan ;  the  earth,  Mother,  as  the  Greek  Demeter  was  at  first 
called  Gemeter;  water,  Oceanus;  and  the  air,  Minerva,  the 
reputed  daughter  of  Jupiter.'  That  the  historian  is  wrong  in 
supposing  Osiris  and  Isis  to  have  corresponded  to  the  sun  and 
moon,  is  evident ;  and  the  names  and  character  he  gives  to  the 
five  deities,  as  well  as  the  idea  of  their  proceeding  firom  the  two 
former,  are  equally  at  variance  with  the  notions  of  the  Egyptians. 
But  part  of  his  statement  may  possibly  be  true, — that  the  first 
gods  were  the  sun  and  moon ;  and  his  error  in  assigning  the 
names  of  Osiris  and  Isis  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  limited 
acquaintance  of  the  Greeks  and  Bomans  with  the  mythology  of 
Egypt.  Macrobius^  makes  a  similar  mistake  respecting  these 
deities, — ^the  former  of  whom  he  calls  '  the  sun,  and  the  latter 
Earth,  or  Nature;'  and  when  he  adds,  'The  Egyptians  show 
Osiris  to  have  this  character,  when  in  hieroglyphics  they  re- 
present him  emblematically  by  an  eye  and  sceptre,'  he  proves 
how  little  conversant  he  was  with  the  religious  notions  of  that 
people.  If  the  allegories  mentioned  by  Plutarch  were  really 
Egyptian,  they  could  only  be  the  visions  of  speculators  (like  the 
many  allegorical  fancies  to  which  facts  mentioned  in  the  Bible 
have  been  doomed  to  submit  by  the  Cabbala),  forming  no  part 
of  their  religious  belief,  and  unsupported  by  the  authority  of 
monuments.  In  my  Pantheon,  I  had  introduced  Ba  among  the 
eight  great  deities,  in  consequence  of  the  important  station  he 
holds  in  the  temples,  both  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Country ; 
hot,  as  before  observed,  it  is  probable  tliat  Amen-ra  and  Ba  were 
Bot  of  the  same  class  of  gods,  since  the  intellectual  was  of  more 
consequence  than  the  physical  sun,  and  Manetho  calls  him  the 
•on  of  Ptah :  I  have  therefore  placed  him  among  those  of  the 
Kcomd  order. 

If  the  Egyptians,  like  some  other  Eastern  people,  adopted  at 
fiat  a  SaboBan  mode  of  worship,"  and  afterwards  substituted  for 

»  Macnb.  Satan.  L  26.    CouL  Plut  de  Iiid.  ss.  10  and  51.  «  Diodor.  i.  11. 


48  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHL 

it  the  deification  of  yarious  attributes  of  the  Deity  EUmself,  there 
would  be  reason  to  suppose  that  the  sun  once  held  (he  fird  fbce 
in  their  Pantheon,  and  was  not  removed  from  it  till  they  had 
learnt  to  consider  the  divine  mind  of  the  Creator  superior  to 
the  work  He  had  created.  But  it  is  now  impossible  to  settle 
this  question;  and  it  will  probably  always  remain  uncertain 
if  that  was  the  primitive  mode  of  worship  in  Egypt,  or  if  their 
religion  was  corrupted  from  the  originally  pure  idea  com- 
municated to  them  by  the  early  descendants   of  Noah,  who 

established  themselves  in  the  valley  of 
the  Nile.  The  great  importance  of 
the  name  of  Ra  may  seem  to  argue  in 
favour  of  the  former  opinion;  and  the 
connection  of  a  star  with  an  attitude  of 
prayer  may  tend  to  confirm  it.  Some 
may  even  be  disposed  to  see  the  union 

Figures  praying,  accompauicd  by  /.     .  i  .  f  •        ^-i  m 

a. tar.  of   thc   two   systcms   in  the  name  of 

^^•"'-  Amen-ra. 

But  if,  in  former  times,  the  Egyptians  really  adopted  a 
Sabasan  mode  of  worship;  and  if  the  worship  of  Ba,  and  of 
Thoth  in  one  of  his  characters  as  the  moon,  appear  to  confirm 
this  opinion,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  their 
religion,  at  the  time  we  know  it — consequently  long  before  the 
age  of  any  writer  with  whose  name  we  are  acquainted — had 
already  assumed  a  very  different  character.  The  existence  of  an 
early  Sabeean  worship  in  Egypt  is  merely  possible;  while  the 
metaphysical  nature  of  their  religion  is  proved  by  abundant 
evidence,  both  of  ancient  writers  and  the  monuments;  and  we 
are  therefore  bound  to  consider  it  as  it  presents  itself  to  us, 
rather  than  to  be  led  away  by  conjecture.  And,  however  much 
I  respect  the  valuable  opinion  of  many  writers,  especially  the 
learned  Prichard,  who  maintains  that  '  the  principal  objects  of 
Egyptian  worship  were  those  physical  agents  whose  operative 
energy  is  the  most  conspicuous  in  the  phenomena  of  nature/^ 
I  must,  from  the  evidence  before  me,  deny  that  physical  agents 
constituted  the  principal  deities  of  the  Egyptians.  If  their 
metaphysical  doctrines,  divulged  alone  to  the  initiated,  are  not 
within  our  reach,  sufficient  is  shown  to  convince  us  that  the 
nature  of  the  great  gods  was  not  derived  from  mere  physical 
objects ;  and  that  those  which,  in  consequence  of  certain  notions 


»  Prichard,  'Egypt.  Mythol^  p.  27. 


Chap.  XIIL] 


THE  PLANETS. 


49 


respecting  analogies  and  emanations,  were  admitted  to  a  par- 
ticipation of  divine  honours,  held  a  subordinate  post  to  the 
deified  attributes  of  the  Divinity. 

As  with  the  Greeks,  the  planets  were  dedicated  to,  and 
called  after,  certain  deities,  though  the  Egyptians  differed  in 
the  names  they  assigned  to  them.    The  Egyptians,  according  to 
Achilles  Tatius,  agree  with  the  Greeks  in  giving  to  the  planet 
Saturn,  though  the  least  brilliant,  the  title  of  the  splendid ;  but 
the  latter  consider  it  of  good  omen,  while  the  former  denominate 
it  the  star  of  Nemesis.    The  second,  of  Jupiter,  the  Phaethon  of 
the  Greeks,  is  by  the  Egyptians  assigned  to  Osiris.    The  third, 
of  Mars,  by  the  Greeks  denominated  the  fiery,  they  refer  to 
Hercule&^    The  fourth,  of  Mercury,  called  by  the  Greeks  «tUb6n^ 
is  the  star  of  the  Egyptian  Apollo ;  and  Pliny  and  Macrobius  ^ 
also  state  that  '  the  star  of  Mercury  is  given  by  many  nations 
to  Apollo.'     According  to  Pliny,  the  planet  Venus  was  by  some 
called  of  Isis  ^  (of  Juno,  or  of  the  mother  of  the  gods) ;  but  the 
learned  and  laborious  Jablonski "  is  not  authorised  in  supposing 
this  planet  to  have  been  ascribed  by  the  Egyptians  to  Pan,  whom 
he  d^s  Mendes,*  and  still  less  in  his  assertion  of  the  crva  ansata, 
or  sign  of    life,  having  been  dedicated  to  that  deity.    The 
mptions  of  the  planets  were  calculated  with  great  care  by  the 
Egyptians  :^  but  if  every  hierogrammateus  was  required  to  under- 
stand all  that  related  to  them,  the  sun  and  moon,  as  well  as  the 
geography  of  the  world,  this  was  not  with  a  view  to  the  worship 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.    Astronomy  was  studied  in  Egypt,  as  in 
other  countries,  without  requiring  the  deification  of  those  visible 
works  of  the  Creator,  or  the  substitution  of  created  things  for  the 
Deity  by  whom  they  were  created.    And  if  their  knowledge  was 
concealed  under  the  guise  of  a  fable,  in  which,  as  Proclus  says,^ 
it  was  their  custom  to  clothe  the  secrets  of  nature,  this  was  only 
to  conceal  them  from  such  as  were  not  admitted  to  a  participa- 


.  •  Pliny  QL  8)  Mtyi^'The  third,  of  Maw, 
»  ky  iOBie  «Ued  of  Hercnlet.'  (Jablonski, 
ft^  L  c  5,  a.  4.)  [Man  was  called, 
•Mowiag  io  Vettlw  Valeni  (Salmas.   de 

■jwrtiiig  to  C«lmni  0-  p.  295),  Hertotu 


*  The  planets,  according  to  the  Egyptian 
monnments,  are  called  Ear  p^pshj  or  Har 
tashj  or  Mars ;  Har  ka,  or  Har  pa  ka,  *  Horns 
the  bnll/  or  Jupiter;  Haremakhiif  Har- 
machis,  or  Venus ;  and  Pa  neter  m6,  or  Har^ 
hehmiy  supposed  to  be  Mercury.  (Lepsios, 
•  Einleit.,'  pp.  94,  95.)— S.  B. 

'  Seneca,  Nat.  Quiest.  yii.  3,  sajs, 
'  Eudozus  primus  ab  iEgypto  hos  motus  in 
Gredam  transtulit.'  'iEgyptios  .  .  . 
quibuB  major  coeli  cura  fuit.' 

•  Produs,  in  PUt.  Tim.  lib.  i. 


E 


50 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[OHAP.Xni 


tion  of  their  leaming,  and  not  with  any  view  connected  with 
religion.* 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  obelisks  were  dedicated 
exclusively  to  the  sun^  and  that  they  were  called  by  the 
Egyptians,  according  to  Jablonski,  PUSbpere^  *  the  finger  of  the 
sun/  This,  however,  is  a  misconception  not  difficult  to  explain. 
The  first  obelisks  removed  from  Egypt  to  Bome  were  said  to 
have  come  from  Heliopolis,  *  the  City  of  the  Sun,*  which  stood  in 
Lower  Egypt,  a  little  to  the  south-east  of  the  Delta ;  and  those 
of  Heliopolis  being  dedicated  to  Ba,  the  divinity  of  the  place, 
the  Bomans  were  led  to  conclude  that  all  others  belonged  to  the 
same  god.^  But  the  obelisks  of  Thebes  were  ascribed  to  Amen,' 
the  presiding  deity  of  that  city ;  and  though  several  of  those  at 
Bome  came  from  Thebes,  and  were  therefore  dedicated  to  Amen, 
the  first  impressions  were  too  strong  to  be  removed,  and  the 
notion  of  their  exclusive  appropriation  to  the  sun  continued,  and 
has  been  repeated  to  the  present  day. 

The  god  Ba  was  usually  represented  as  a  man  with  a  hawk's 
head,  surmounted  by  a  globe  or  disk  of  the  sun,  from  which  the 
urseus  asp  issued ;  sometimes  with  the  head  of  a  man,  and  the 
same  disk;^  and  more  rarely  under  the  form  of  a  hawk,  his 
emblem.  Porphyry  says,  '  The  hawk  was  dedicated  to  the  sun, 
being  the  symbol  of  light  and  spirit,'  because  of  the  quickness 
of  its  motion,  and  its  ascent  to  the  higher  regions  of  the  air. 
Horapollo  thinks  it  was  chosen  as  a  type  of  that  luminary, '  firom 
its  being  able  to  look  more  intently  towards  its  rays  than  any 
other  bird ;  whence  also,  under  the  form  of  a  hawk,  they  depicted 
the  sun  as  the  Lord  of  Vision.'^  Horapollo  also  says,*  that  the 
scarabaBUs  was  an  emblem  of  the  sun,  in  which  he  is  bome  out  by 
the  authority  of  the  sculptures,  though  he  is  wrong  in  the  reason 
he  assigns  for  its  adoption.    He  supposes  it  to  be  from  a  certain 


*  lamblichas  sajs  Pjthagoras  imitated 
the  Egyptians  in  his  mode  of  teaching  bj 
symbols,  having  learnt  this  during  his  stay 
in  their  country.  (Vit.  Pythag.  Pausan. 
Vit.  Pythag. ;  and  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  10.) 

'  Pliny  (xzzyi.  8)  says  the  first  was 
raised  in  Heliopolis,  which  was  the  general 
idea  among  the  Romans. 

*  The  obelisk  was  called  UKhetiy  and  also 
men  or  man^  and  at  a  later  time  was  used 
to  express  the  name  of  the  god  Amen. 
Some  nave  supposed  that  the  word  obelisk  is 
derived  from  vben  ra  or  vMa^  its  equivalent, 
but  it  is  apparently,  like  basilisk,  purely 
Greek. — S.  B. 


*  Plate  XXII.,  figs.  1,  2,  and  3  are  ac- 
companied bv  the  name  'Haremakho,  or 
Harmachis,  the  great  god.'  Fig,  4  has  Ba- 
kheper,  with  the  scarabcus  and  Ra  seated  in 
the  solar  disk  on  the  horiion.  Fig.  5  has  Ra, 
the  solar  disk  on  the  horizon,  with  emblem 
of  life  supported  by  two  lions,  emblems  of 
Horus  and  Set.  Fig.  6  has  the  tolar  disk 
held  out  of  the  granite  mountains  of  the 
west  by  Athor,  adored  by  a  scribe.  The 
inscription  reads,  '  Adoration  to  Ra,  when 
he  sets  in  the  western  horizon  of  the 
heaven.    Hail,  Ra.'— S.  B. 

*  Horapollo,  i.  6. 

*  Ibid.  i.  10. 


52 


THE  ANCIENT  EQTPTIANa 


[GtaAP.  XHL 


evident  that  he  alludes  to  a  similar  mode  of  representing  the 
sun  supported  by  lions.  They  were  placed  back  to  back,  seated 
or  lying  down;  and  when  made  of  stone,  pottery,  or  other 
materials,  they  were  united  together,  forming  one  body,  termi- 
nated by  a  head  on  either  side.  They  were  worn  as  amulets  and 
ornaments, — the  ring  by  which  they  were  attached  answering  to 
the  sun;  and  I  have  found  one  instance  of  a  cow's  head 
substituted  for  that  of  one  of  the  lions.^ 

The  name  Aten-ra  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  Attin,  or  Atys, 
the  Phrygian  sun;  and  from  the  ovals  of  the  king,  who  was 
noted  for  the  peculiar  worship  of  the  sun  represented  at  the 
grottoes  of  Tel  el  Amama,^  being  always  so  systematically 
erased,  some  may  argue  the  animosity  of  the  people  against 
a  king  who  had  made  an  unwelcome  foreign  innovation  in  the 
religion  of  the  country,  or  at  least  in  the  mode  of  worshipping 
that  deity.  But  the  name  of  Aten-ra  already  existed  at  a  very 
early  period ;  and  though  the  subjects  of  Tel  el  Amama  rarely 
occur,^  except  in  those  grottoes  and  the  vicinity,  some  traces 
may  elsewhere  be  found  of  the  sun  represented  with  similar  rays, 
in  sculptures  of  the  time  of  the  great  Bameses.  If,  as  I  have 
already  remarked,  Amenti  signifies  Hhe  receiver  and  giver,' 
Amen-ra  may  be  opposed  to  Aten-ra,  in  the  same  sense.^  Many 
other  subdivisions  or  emanations  of  the  god  Ba  may  be  traced  in 
the  characters  of  other  Egyptian  deities,  as  Aroeris,  Mandooli, 
and  others  of  whom  I  shall  have  occasion  to  treat  hereafter.  We 
also  find  Chnoumis  standing  in  the  sun,  accompanied  by  the 
scarabaeus,  in  which  character  he  may  bear  some  relation  to  the 
god  Ba. 

It  is  probable  that  they  separated  the  light  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  as  the  Greeks  considered  Phoebus  distinct  from  Apollo. 


>  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  26. 

*  Plate  XXIII. 

*  I  foand^me  of  the  soalptares  of  this 
king  at  Koos,  ApoUinopolis  Parva,  near 
Thebes ;  and  have  since  heard  of  others  at 
the  temple  of  Kamak,  destroyed  and  bnilt 
over  by  Amenophis  III. 

*  The  worship  of  the  Aten,  or  solar  disk, 
in  opposition  to  the  god  Amen,  received  a 
great  extension  in  the  reign  of  Amenophis 
III.,  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  queen 
Taii.  lU  first  appearance  on  the  monuments 
is  in  the  11th  year  of  that  monarch,  and 
his  successor,  Amenophis  IV.,  subsequently 
assumed  the  name  of  Khuenaten,  and 
endeavoured  to  remove  the  capital  of  the 


country  to  Tel  el  Amama,  and  destroy  all 
indications  of  the  worship  of  Amen-ra 
throughout  the  country  by  erasing  the 
name,  which  was  subsequently  restored  on 
the  overthrow  of  the  worship  of  the  disk. 
The  Aten  was  supposed  to  be  the  sun  as 
the  universal  god,  and  an  adoration  to  it 
calls  it  the  '  Sun,  lord  of  the  horixon  under 
the  name  of  the  light  which  is  in  the  aten 
or  disk.'  It  is  also  called  the  *  sun-light 
which  is  the  Amen  of  Thebes,  and  the 
maker  of  all  beings ;  which  gives  light  to 
mankind.'  In  the  accompanying  plate  it  is 
called  <  the  great  living  Aten  or  disk,  lord 
of  thirty-year  festivals,  lord  of  the  sun's 
orbit,  the  disk,  lord  of  the  heaven,  lord  of 


Chap.  Xm.] 


CHABACTEBS  OP  THE  SUN. 


53 


The  latter,  too,  made  a  distinction  between  Apollo  and  Helios 
(*  the  sun ') ;  and  their  mythology,  according  to  Cicero,  admitted 
four  deities  who  bore  the  name  of  Apollo ;  one  of  whom,  the 
reputed  son  of  Vulcan,  was  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Aroeris  of  Egypt  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  god  Ea 
corresponded  to  the  Syrian  Baal,^  a  name  implying  *Lord,'^ 
which  was  given  par  excellence  to  the  sun :  and  the  same  idea  of 
peculiar  sovereignty  vested  in  that  deity  may  have  led  the 
Egyptians  to  take  from  Ea  or  Phra  the  regal  title  of  their  kings. 
Heliopolis,  in  Syria,  still  retains  the  name  of  Baalbek,  *  the  City 
of  (the  Lord,  or)  the  Sun;'  and  the  same  word  occurs  in  the 
names  of  distinguished  individuals  among  the  Phoenicians  and 
their  descendants  of  Carthage,^  as  HannitoZ,^  Asdrubo/,  and 
others. 

If  the  Egyptians  separated  the  orb  from  the  rays  of  the 

sun,  they  were  not  singular  in  that  idea ;  the  same  was  common 

to  the  Greeks ;    for,  as  the  philosopher  Sallust  says,^  '  It  is 

only  from  established  custom  that  we  are  induced  to  call  the 

orb  of  the  sun  and  its  rays  the  sun  itself;'    and  they,  also, 

found  reason   to  deify  those  two,  and  to  make  of  them  two 

separate  divinities.      Indeed,  it  appears   that   the    Egyptians 

made  of  the  sun  several  distinct  deities:    as  the  intellectual 

sun,  the  physical  orb,  the  cause  of  heat,  the  author  of  light, 

the    power   of   the  sun,  the  vivifying  cause,  the  sun  in  the 

finnament,  and  the  sun  in  his  resting-place ;   and  many  other 

characters  of  the  sun  were  probably  admitted  into  the  Pantheon 

of  Egypt. 

Heliopolis,  Ainshems,  or  Bethshemesh,  the  On  of  Scripture,  a 
small  but  celebrated  city  of  Lower  Egypt,  was  the  place  where 
the  worship  of  Ea  was  peculiarly  adopted.     Plutarch  says,* 


the  earth,  in  the  temple  of  the  Aten  or  disk, 

in  the  horizon  of  the  disk  ;'  and  the  rajs 

terminate  in   human   hands   to   show  its 

•itmrnrgic  or  creative  power.     After  the 

^11  of  the  family  of  Khuenaten  the  disk- 

vonhip  was  abandoned.     Some  see  in  it 

t^e  adoration  of  the  Hebrew  Adonai,  and 

^Tyian  Adonia.    (Birch   on  a   remarkable 

<'^i«ct  of  the  reign  of   Amenophis   III., 

Arch.  Joura.  riii.  p.  396  and  foil.     Lep- 

^^  'Ueber  den  ersten  agyptischen  Got- 

^^wi<».  i,n.  1.)— s.  B. 

*  Ai  BtdtMb  or  BaalzdnSf,  *  the  lord 
«  fti«.'     BoaJtm,    Mordi,'    or    *  idols/ 


Judg.  ii.  11.  rin  the  Punic  and  Phoenician 
inscription  at  Malta,  Melcarthus  (Hercules) 
is  called  Baitzura,  lord  of  Tyre.— 0.  W.1 

'  Serrius,  on  these  verses  of  Virgil  (^n. 
i.  733)— 

*  Impleritque  mero  pateram,  quam  Belus 

et  omnes 
A  Belo  soliti  '— 
sajs,  'LinguA  Punidt  6al    Deus  dicitur, 
apud  Assjrios  autem  Bel  dicitur.' 

*  [Written  in  Punic  ffnbal;  in  Hebrew 
characters,  ^Vaan.— O.  W.] 

*  In  his  fourth  book  on  the  Gods  of  the 
World. 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  6. 


54  THE  ANCESNT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

*  Those  who  minister  to  the  god  of  Heliopolis  never  carry  any 
wine  into  the  temple, — looking  upon  it  as  indecent  to  drink  it 
during  the  day,  when  under  the  immediate  inspection  of  their 
loid  and  king.  The  priests  of  the  other  deities  are  not 
altogether  so  scrupulous  on  this  point ;  making  use  of  it,  though 
sparingly;  unless  at  some  of  their  more  solemn  purifications, 
when  they  wholly  abstain  from  it.  Indeed,  they  give  themselves 
up  wholly  to  study  and  meditation,  hearing  and  teaching  those 
truths  which  regard  the  divine  nature.'  This,  however,  does  not 
appear  to  refer  to  the  ordinary  libations  made  to  the  sun,  which 
were  doubtless  of  wine,  as  the  usual  drink-offerings  presented 
to  the  gods,  but  to  a  regulation  which  prevented  the  priests 
from  indulging  in  the  use  of  wine,  and  we  find  abundant  proofs, 
from  the  sculptures  in  other  places,  of  its  having  been  offered  to 
the  sun. 

Plutarch  continues  to  observe,  that  'even  the  kings  them- 
selves, being  of  the  order  of  priests,  have  their  wine  given  them 
according  to  a  certain  measure  prescribed  in  the  sacred  books,  as 
we  are  told  by  Hecatceus;  and  it  is  only  since  the  reign  of 
Psammatichus  that  this  indulgence  has  been  granted  them :  for 
before  that  time  they  drank  no  wine  at  all ;  and  if  they  made 
use  of  it  in  their  libations  to  the  gods,  it  was  not  because  they 
looked  upon  it  as  in  its  own  nature  acceptable,  but  as  the  blood  of 
those  enemies  who  formerly  fought  against  them,  which,  being 
mixed  with  the  earth,  produced  the  vine :  and  hence  they  think 
that  drinking  wine  in  quantities  makes  men  mad,  being  filled 
with  the  blood  of  their  own  ancestors.  These  things  are  related 
by  Eudoxus,  in  the  second  book  of  his  Tour,  as  he  had  them  from 
the  priests  themselves.'  The  assertion,  however,  respecting  the 
prohibition  of  wine,  previous  to  the  time  of  Psammatichus,  is 
erroneous ;  and  I  have  already  shown  that  the  kings  and  priests 
were  permitted  its  use  at  the  earliest  periods,  as  the  sculptures 
abundantly  prove,  as  well  as  the  Scriptural  account  of  Pharaoh's 
butler.^  It  was  of  Heliopolis,  or  On,  that  Potipherah^  was  a 
priest,  whose  daughter  Asenath  was 

given  in  marriage  to  Joseph ;  and  ■      <=>    •  ^^ 

the  name  of  that  person  is  evidently       ^^      *    ^     ^    ■      \r 
compounded  of  Phre  or  Phrah, '  the    n«wj  of  PoUph«mh.  m-phr*.  or  PH-r». 

Sun,'  and  answers  to  the  Egyptian  Pet- 

phra,  or  Heliodotus,  which  in  hieroglyphics  would  be  thus  written  : 


»  Gen.  xl.  11.  •  Gen.  xli.  45. 


Chap.  Xm.]  BENOWN  OP  HELIOPOLIS.  55 

The  priests  of  the  sun  at  Heliopolis,  like  those  of  Thebes  and 
Memphis,  were  celebrated  for  their  learning ;  and  it  was  to  this 
city  that  Plato,  Eudoxus,  and  other  Greek  sages  repaired,  in 
order  to  study  *  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians ;'  and  'Pythagoras,' 
according  to  Plutarch,^  *was  the  disciple  of  Oinuphis  the  Heli- 
opolite.*  Astronomy  and  all  branches  of  science  were  studied  at 
Heliopolis :  and  the  priests  of  the  sun  enjoyed  the  greatest  repu- 
tation for  learning.  Their  city,  though  small,  was  the  university 
of  Egypt;  and  near  it  was  an  observatory,  which  Strabo^  at- 
tributes to  Eudoxus,  but  which  we  may  conclude  with  greater 
reason  belonged  of  old  to  the  city,  whither  he  had  gone  from 
Greece  to  study  the  secrets  of  the  Egyptian  wisdom.  In  the 
time  of  the  geographer,  the  reputation  of  this  seat  of  learning 
had  already  declined ;  the  spacious  mansions  in  which  the  priests 
lived  were  pointed  out  to  him  as  objects  of  bygone  days ;  and  the 
inhabitants  spoke  of  the  former  sojourn  of  learned  men  among 
them.  The  colleges,  as  well  as  the  doctrines  they  taught,  no 
longer  existed  in  Heliopolis ;  nor  was  anyone  shown  to  him  who 
occupied  himself  in  the  pursuits  of  former  times.  Alexandria 
was  the  seat  of  learning  at  that  period :  philosophy  seemed  to 
have  sought  an  abode  and  patronage  near  the  court;  even 
its  obelisks  were  removed  with  its  learning  from  Heliopolis,  and 
all  that  could  give  it  splendour  or  celebrity  was  taken  to  the 
new  city. 

The  hawk,  as  before  stated,  was  peculiarly  sacred  to  the  sun. 

Herodotus  also  mentions  a  bird  called  the  Phoenix,  of  which  he 

gives  the  following  account :  ^ — '  I  have  never  seen  it  but  in  a 

painting,  for  it  seldom  makes  its  appearance,  and,  if   we  may 

believe  the  Heliopolitans,  it  only  visits  their  country  once  every 

500  years,  on  the  death  of  its  father.     If  it  is  like  its  picture, 

its  ¥dngs  are  partly  gold,  partly  red,  and  its  general  appearance 

is  similar  to  an  eagle,  both  in  form  and  size.    They  relate  a 

peculiarity  respecting  it,  which  to  me  appears  incredible.    It 

comes,  as  the  Egyptians  say,  from  Arabia,  bringing  with  it  the 

body  of  its  father  enveloped  in  myrrh,  and   buries  it  in  the 

temple  of  the  sun.    For  this  purpose  it  makes  a  mass  of  myrrh 

into  the  form  of  an  egg,  of  the  weight  which  it  thinks  itself 

capable  of  canning,  and  having  raised  it  and  found  it  portable, 

it  proceeds  to  hollow  out  the  mass ;  and  then  introducing  the 


*  Flut  dt  Wd.  1. 10.  «  strabo,  xvii.  p.  555.  »  Herodot.  ii.  73. 


66  THE  ANCIENT  BGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XHT, 

body  of  its  father,  and  closing  the  orifice  with  myrrh,  the  egg 
is  found  to  be  of  the  same  weight  as  when  solid;  and  this 
being  done,  it  brings  it  to  Egypt  and  deposits  it  in  the  temple 
of  the  sun.' 

*  The  Phoenix  of  Arabia,'  says  Pliny,*  *  surpasses  all  other 
birds ;  but  I  do  not  know  if  it  be  a  fable  that  there  is  only  one 
in  the  whole  world,  and  that  seldom  seen.  According  to  report, 
it  is  the  size  of  an  eagle,  of  a  gold  colour  about  the  neck,  the 
rest  being  purple,  its  tail  blue,  varied  with  red  feathers,  its  face 
and  head  richly  feathered,  with  a  tuft  on  the  top.  Manilius 
observes  that  no  man  ever  saw  it  feeding ;  that  in  Ajrabia  it  is 
held  sacred  to  the  sun ;  that  it  lives  660  years)  and  when  it 
grows  old  it  builds  a  nest  with  twigs  of  cassia  and  frankincense, 
and,  having  filled  it  with  aromatics,  dies  upon  it.  A  worm  is 
afterwards  produced  from  its  bones  and  marrow,  which,  having 
become  a  young  bird,  carries  the  entire  nest  to  the  city  of  the 
sun,  near  Panchaea,  and  there  deposits  it  on  the  altar.  Manilius 
also  says  that  the  revolution  of  the  great  year  agrees  with  the 
life  of  this  bird,  in  which  the  seasons  and  stars  return  to  their 
first  places ;  beginning  at  noon  on  the  day  when  the  sun  enters 
Aries.'  This  imaginary  bird,  of  which  so  many  tales  have  been 
handed  down  to  a  late  period,  is  frequently  represented  in  the 
paintings  and  sculptures  of  the  temples  of  Egypt,  though  without 
appearing  peculiarly  emblematic  of,  or  sacred  to,  the  sun.  It 
occurs  in  the  ornamental  details  of  cornices,  Mezes,  and  other 
parts  of  buildings,  at  the  bases  of  columns,  and  on  the  sails 
of  ships;  and  sometimes  a  monarch  is  seen  presenting  it  as 
an  offering  to  the  gods.*  According  to  Horapollo,'  it  was  the 
emblem  of  one  who  had  returned  home  after  travelling  over 
distant  countries ;  and  it  was  therefore  very  properly  chosen  to 
ornament  monuments  erected  by  the  victorious  monarchs  of 
Egypt,  after  achieving  conquests  that  shed  a  lustre  over  their 
names,  and  claimed  the  congratulations  of  a  grateful  country  for 
their  safe  return.  The  Egyptian  Phoenix  is  represented  under 
the  form  of  a  bird  with  wings  partly  raised,  and  seated  upon  its 
open  claws,  having  at  the  back  of  its  head  a  small  tuft  of 
feathers  similar  to  that  of  the  crested  plover,^  so  common  in 


>  Plin.  z.  2.  *  This  bird  appears  rather  to  represent 

*  [This  is  really  the  '  pure  soul '  of  the  *  intelligence/  or  in  the  ploral  *  inteUi- 

king.     The  Phoenix  seems  to  be  the  Bennu,  gences '    or  *  intelligent  beings/  as  w%en 

or  Ardeoj  sacred  to  Osiris.— G.  W.]  meant  •  risible  things/  and  enti^  « inrisible 

'  Horapollo,  i.  35.  things.'    It  is  doubtful  if  it  is  the  Phoenix 


Chap,  xm.] 


THE  PHOENIX. 


57 


Egypt ;  and  in  front  it  raises  two  human  arms  as  if  in  an  attitude 
of  prayer.  But  it  may  be  doubted  if  this  be  the  same  whose 
picture  Herodotus  mentions ;  and  from  the  slight  description  he 
gives  of  ity  we  might  rather  suppose  he  had  in  view  the  hawk, 
which  was  the  emblem  of  Ba,  and  which  is  seen  on  obelisks  and 
other  monuments,  whether  dedicated  to  the  sun  or  other  deities. 
They  sometimes  represent  the  Phoenix  under  the  form  of  a  man 
with  wings,  in  the  same  attitude  of  prayer,  and  bearing  the  tuft 
of  feathers  on  his  head,^  accompanied  also  by  a  star,  which,  as 
I  have  observed,  seems  to  have  been  connected  with  the  idea  of 
adoration.  Of  its  name  in  the  Egyptian  language  we  are 
ignorant.  Ovid  says,  *  the  Assyrians  call  it  Phoenix ; '  and  from 
this  bird  and  the  palm-tree  having  the  same  name  in  Greek,  we 
are  sometimes  in  doubt  to  which  of  the  two  ancient  writers  in 
that  language  allude,  as  in  the  case  of  the  phoiniha^  carried  in 
the  hand  of  the  Horoscopus,  mentioned  by  Clemens.  Pliny 
even  pretends  that  the  bird  received  its  name  from  the  palm.^ 
In  the  time  of  Herodotus,  as  the  learned  Larcher  observes,  the 
notion  of  the  Phoenix  rising  from  its  ashes  had  not  yet  been 
entertained.  Suidas,  who  flourished  about  the  tenth  century, 
states  that  from  its  ashes  issued  a  worm  which  changed  itself 
into  a  Phoenix ;  and  the  early  fathers  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Church  availed  themselves  of  this  accredited  fable  as  a  proof  of 
the  resurrection.^  But  though  the  story  of  its  rising  from  its 
ashes  may  have  been  a  late  invention,  the  Phoenix  itself  was  of 
very  ancient  date,  being  found  on  monuments  erected  about  the 
commencement  of  the  18th  Dynasty.  And  we  even  find  mention 
of  this  long-lived  bird  in  the  Book  of  Job.^  This,  at  least,  is  the 
opinion  of  Bede,  who,  in  accordance  with  the  Septuagint  trans- 
lation of  the  word  we  render  '  sand,'  reads,  '  I  shall  die  in  my 
nes^,  and  shall  multiply  my  days  as  the  Phoenix :  *  and  Prichard, 


wliich  is  rtpresented  by  a  kind  of  heron 

with  two  tufts  behind   its   head,  and  is 

called  Bemtu,  the  same  word  as  phom^x ; 

•ad  in  the  Ritual  the  mjstical  interpreta- 

tioa  giren  to  it  is,  *The  Bennu  is  Osiris; 

ia  An  or  Heliopolis,  the  rerifier  or  reckoner 

of  things  Tisible  and  invisible  is  his  body/ 

or  Mt  is  an  age  and  eternity.'    (Lepsins, 

•Todt.',  c  17,  IL  10,  U.)  Awn,  or  « age,'  is 

the  day,  eternity  is  the  night.    The  Phoenix 

erdea,  or  periods,  are  supposed  to  represent 

tte  time  rw^uired  for   the  wanderings  of 

the  soul,  to  purification,  of  1500  and  600 

y«rs.    (Lepilua,'JEinleiVp.lM.).^.  B. 


*  Conf.  Plin.  x.  2,  and  xi.  37. 

*  Plin.  xiii.  4. 

*  Ambrosius  says:  'Phoenix  avis  in 
Arabite  locis  perhibetur  ....  doceat  igitur 
nos  hsec  avis  exemplo  sui  resurrectionem 
credere.'  (Hexamer.  lib.  t.  c.  23.)  It  ia 
also  celebrated  by  Lactantius,  Gregory 
Nazianzenos,  and  Tertullian. 

.  *  Job  zxiz.  18.  The  Hebrew  name  is 
h\n.  Hoi  or  Kholf  which  also  means  'sand,' 
as  in  our  Version.  The  Septuagint  has 
♦od'il. 


58  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XTH. 

Greseniosy  and  others  allude  to  the  same  interpretation  of  the 
passage. 

Several  ancient  writers  mention  the  periodical  return  of  the 
Phoenix:  some  agreeing  with  Herodotus  in  fixing  it  at  about 
800  years ;  while  others  state  it  to  have  been  660,  600,  500,  340, 
or  1460.  *  Various,'  says  Tacitus,^  *  are  the  opinions  respecting 
the  number  of  years.  They  most  commonly  allow  500,  though 
some  extend  the  interval  to  1461,  and  assert  that  the  bird 
appeared  in  the  age  of  Sesostris,  of  Amasis,  and  the  third 
Ptolemy.'  But  these  two  periods  do  not  agree:  that  from 
Sesostris  (or  Bameses  the  Great)  to  Amasis  being  about  780 
years ;  that  from  Amasis  to  Ptolemy  III.  about  330.  Some  have 
thought  that,  by  the  Phoenix,  the  Egyptians  intended  to  indicate 
the  appearance  of  comets ;  and  I  have  seen  a  paper  written.to 
prove  that  the  average  ^  number  of  years  assigned  to  the  return 
of  the  Phoenix  corresponded  to  the  great  comet  of  1680.  Without 
however  assenting  to  the  opinion  of  Seneca^ — who  thinks,  ^because 
Eudoxus,  having  studied  in  Egypt,  and  thence  introduced  into 
Greece  the  knowledge  of  the  motions  of  the  planets,  took  no 
notice  of  comets,  that  the  Egyptians,  the  greatest  observers  of 
celestial  phenomena,  had  not  attended  to  this  part  of  the 
subject^' — I  must  confess  that  the  reappearance  of  the  Phoenix 
appears  rather  to  indicate,  as  Pliny,  on  the  authority  of 
Manilius,  supposes,  the  return  of  a  certain  period.  And  the 
mention  of  the  number  1461  argues  strongly  in  favour  of 
the  opinion  that  the  Sothic  period  was  the  real  Phoenix  of 
Egypt  This,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  was  the  number 
of  years  that  elapsed  before  the  solar  year  of  365  days  coin- 
cided with  the  Sothic  or  fixed  year  of  365^  days.  It  was 
also  called  the  Great  Year  of  the  Egyptians,  at  the  end  of 
which  all  the  planets  returned  to  the  same  place  they  occupied 
at  its  commencement. 

[The  name  of  Ba  is  supposed  to  mean  'disposer,'  as  the 
deity  who  made  the  cosmos  out  of  the  material  given  by  Ptah. 
He  is  also  supposed  to  be  fire,  and  existence  or  *  to-day,'  the 
present.  His  worship  was  at  the  earliest  period,  and  was 
universal;  and  during  his  passage  through  the  hours  of  the 
day  and  night  he  assumed  the  types  of  all  the  principal  solar 
deities  who  were  associated  or  identified  with  him.  He  was 
the  great  god,  lord  of  the  heaven,  bom  of  the  great  cow  of 

>  Tadt.  Annal.  vi.  28.    Sen.  £p.  42.  taken  by  the  writer,  being  575. 

'  The  ayerage  of  600  and  540  jean  ig         *  Sen.  Kat.  Quest,  lib.  viL  c  3. 


Chap.  XHI.]  SEB,  SATURN.  59 

Hathor  or  Neith,  and  resident  or  dwelling  in  the  solar  orb; 
the  great  victorious  god  of  the  disk,  the  creator  of  the  mun- 
dane egg,  and  the  one  proceeding  out  of  the  nUy  or  celestial 
waters.  In  his  transformations  he  assumed  the  form  of  the 
lion,  cat,  and  hawk.  The  battle  in  heaven  with  the  gigantic 
Apap,  or  great  serpent;  his  final  triumph,  and  strangling  of 
the  dragon,  and  his  diurnal  renewal  of  the  fray,  formed  the 
subject  of  the  walls  of  the  tombs  and  sarcophagi  at  the  time 
of  the  18th  and  subsequent  dynasties.  His  name  is  found 
in  a  cartouche  as  one  of  the  divine  rulers  of  primitive 
Egypt,  after  Ptah,  of  whom  he  was  the  son,  according  to  the 
Memphite  tradition.  This  myth  is  so  extensive  in  its  bearings 
that  only  the  principal  facts  of  it  can  be  given  in  the  present 
work.^— S.  B.] 

Seb,'  the  father  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  was  supposed  to  be  the 
same  as  Saturn,  probably  from  his  having  the  title  *  Father  of  the 
Grods.*  This,  however,  referred  to  his  being  the  parent  of  the 
deities  above  mentioned,  and  not  to  any  resemblance  he  bore  to 
the  sire  of  Jove ;  for  the  Saturn  of  Egypt,  *  the  father  of  Osiris,' 
was  said  to  be  *  the  youngest  of  the  gods.'  Indeed,  the  character 
of  Saturn  differed  essentially  from  that  of  the  Egyptian  Seb ; 
and  the  rites  of  the  former,  when  introduced  by  the  Ptolemies, 
were  looked  upon  by  the  Egyptians  to  be  so  much  at  variance 
with  their  religious  notions,  that  his  temple,  like  that  of  Sarapis, 
was  not  admitted  within  the  precincts  of  their  cities;  and  it 
was  not  without  compulsion  that  the  worship  of  these  two  deities 
was  tolerated  by  the  people. 

Macrobius  says:   *  Through  the  tyranny  of  the  Ptolemies 

they  were  obliged  to  receive  those  gods  into  their  worship,  after 

the  manner  of  the  Alexandrians,  by  whom  they  were  particularly 

adored  ;'^  the  opposition  made  to  their  introduction  being,  as  he 

thinks,  in  consequence  of  the  novel  custom  of  slaying  victims  in 

their  honour.    He  states  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  the  Egyptians 

to  propitiate  the  gods  by  sheep  and  blood,  but  with  prayers  and 

incense  only ;  and  Porphyry*  expresses  a  similar  opinion,  when 

he  says,  *  Those  in  earlier  times  who  performed  sacrifices  offered 

herbs,  flowers,  and  trees,  or  incense  of  aromatic  substances ;  for 

it  was  unlawful  to  slay  animals.'    *  Among  the  offerings*  made 


»  BlwA, » (hXl  of  Antiq.,'  p.  24 ;  Pierret,  •  Chronos,  or  Time. 

•Diet.  d'Arch^'  p.  468 ;  Bni|^h,  « Gesch.  »  Macrobius,  Saturn,  i.  4. 

AtfypL,'  p.  30 ;  Lapsing, « Ueber  dea  enten  *  Porphyry,  de  Abstinentii,  lib.  ii. 

^^<**«*wb.'--8.  B.  »  « Materia  Hieroglyphica,*  p.  15. 


TBE  ANCIENT  EQTPTIAN3. 


[Chap.  xm. 


to  the  Egyptian  deities,  libations  and  incensd  hold,  it  is  true,  a 
promineot  place,  as  well  as  flowers,  frait,  and  other  productions 
of  the  soil ;  but  geese,  and  other  birds,  gazelles,  capriooms,  the 
legs  and  bodies  of  oxen  or  of  the  wild  goat,  and,  what  is  still 
more  remarkable,  the  head  of  the  victim,  are  also  placed  b^oie 
them:''  and  thus  the  reason  given  by  Macrobios  is  iiilly  dis- 
proved. Herodotus  also  tells  ns  that  the  oxen,  after  having  been 
examined  by  a  priest  and  marked  with  his  seal,  were  led  tu  the 


altar  and  sacrificed ;  and  this  is  fully  confirmed  by  the  sculptures 
in  every  part  of  Egypt.  I  shall  not  here  stop  to  inquire  if  really, 
in  early  times,  the  Egyptians  or  other  ancient  people  contented 
themselves  with  offerings  of  herbs,  incense,  and  libations,  and 
abstained  fVom  sacrifices  of  victims.  This,  if  it  ever  was  the  caa^ 
could  only  have  been  in  their  infancy  as  a  nation ;  and  it  ia 
more  probable,  as  I  have  already  observed,  that  the  kind  of 
offering  considered  most  acceptable  to  the  deity,  which  was  'a 
firstling  of  the  flock,'  had  been  established  and  handed  down 

■  'UaUria  Hleroglrphlo,'  p.  16. 


Chap.  XIH]  THE  OHILDBEN  OF  SEB.  61 

from  the  very  earliest'  period,  as  a  type  of  the  destined  perfect 
propitiation  for  sin,  which  man  was  taught  to  expect. 

The  story  of  the  birth  of  the  children  of  Saturn,  mentioned 
by  Plutarch/  abounds  with  contradictions.       'Bhea,'  who  is 
Nut,  'having    had    intercourse  with   Saturn   by  stealth,  was 
discovered  by  the  sun,  who  thereupon  denounced  a  curse  upon 
her  *  that  she  should  not  be  delivered  in  any  month  or  year.* 
Mercury,  however,  being  likewise  in  love  with  the  same  goddess, 
in  recompense  for  the  favours  which  he  had  received  from  her, 
played  at  tables^  with  the  moon,  and  won  from  her  the  seventieth 
part  of  each  of  her  illuminations.    These  several  parts,  making 
in  the  whole  five  new  days,  he  afterwards  joined  together,  and 
added  to  the  360,  of  which  the  year  formerly  consisted ;  which 
days,  therefore,  are  even  yet  called  by  the  Egyptians  the  ^>aety 
or  superadded,  and  observed  by  them  as  the  birthdays  of  their 
gods.      For  upon  the  first  of  them,  they  say,  was  Osiris  bom,  at 
whose  entrance  into  the  world  a  voice  was  heard,  saying,  **  The 
lord  of  all  the  earth  is  bom."  •  • . .  Upon  the  second  was  Aroeris 
bom,  whom  some  call  Apollo,  and  others  distinguish  by  the 
name  of  the  Elder  Horns.    Upon  the  third,  Typho  came  into  the 
world ;  being  born  neither  at  the  proper  time,  nor  by  the  right 
place,  but  forcing  his  way  through  a  wound  which  he  had  made 
in  his  mother's  side.    Isis  was  bom  upon  the  fourth,  in  the 
marshes  of  Egypt ;  as  Nephthys  upon  the  last,  whom  some  call 
Teleute  and  Aphrodite,  and  others  Nik6.    Now,  as  to  the  fathers 
of  these  children,  the  two  first  of  them  (Osiris  and  Aroeris)  are 
said  to  have  been  begotten  by  the  sun,  Isis  by  Mercury,  Typho  ^ 
and  Nephthys  by  Saturn;  and  accordingly  the  third  of  these 
superadded  days,  because  it  was  looked  upon  as  the  birthday  of 
Typho,  was  regarded  by  the  kings  as  inauspicious,  and  conse- 
quently they  neither  transacted  any  business  on  it,^  nor  even 
suffered  themselves  to  take  any  refreshment  until  the  evening. 
They  further  add,  that  Typho  married  Nephthys ;  and  that  Isis 
having  a  fond  affection  for  Osiris  while  they  were  yet  together 
m  their  mother's  womb,  became  pregnant  by  her  brother,  and 
from  this  commerce  sprang  Aroeris,  whom  the  Egyptians  likewise 
call  the  Elder  Horns,  and  the  Greeks  Apollo.'    According  to 
this  account,  Osiris  was  the  son  of  Nut,  or  Bhea,  by  the  sun ; 
las,  by  Mercury :  how,  then,  could  they  be  twins  ?  And  *  Satum,' 

»  Sl*^  ^  ^*^ ».  12.  •  TltTrtia,  *  An  unlucky  day.     Some  persons  are 

tmJ^  ^^"^  Typho  is  to  be  preferred  to      equally  superstitious  about  unlucky  days, 
TjpteQ.  ^^^  In  i^^g^  enlightened  times. 


62  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XDI. 

we  are  told  by  Plutarch,  *  introsted  the  care  of  the  child  Osiris 
to  Paamyles;'  which  could  not  reasonably  be  expected,  unless 
he  were  his  own  son.  Were  Plutarch  our  only  guide,  we  might 
remain  in  uncertainty  upon  the  subject;  but  fortunately  the 
hieroglyphics  solve  the  difficulty,  and  establish  the  claims  of 
Seb  (or  Saturn)  to  the  title  of  father  of  Osiris. 

Seb  is  sometimes  represented  with  a  goose  standing  upon  his 
head,  which  is  the  initial  of  his  phonetic  name;  and,  in  the 
hieroglyphics,  he  has  the  title  'Father  of  the  Grods.'  This 
alludes  to  his  being  the  father  of  Osiris,  and  the  other  deities 
bom  on  the  days  of  the  epact ;  and  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
the  formula  which  the  gods  are  made  to  utter,  'I  give  you 
the  years  of  Seb,*  appears  to  connect  this  deity  with  Kran€$,^ 
the  Saturn  of  the  Greeks,'  distinct  as  he  was  from  the  Saturn 
of  Boman  mythology.  His  dress,  and  that  of  Nut,  his  consort^ 
are  remarkably  simpla  [Seb  was  also  called  the  repa  or  'heir 
of  the  gods,'  and,  in  allusion  to  the  goose,  *  the  great  cackler/ 
which  produced  the  egg,  apparently  the  mundane  one.  There 
was  an  intimate  connection  between  the  name  of  Seb  and  the 
word  for  star,  and  he  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  represented 
the  planet  Saturn.  He  was  not  however  demiurgic,  like  Ptah 
or  Khnoum,  but  of  the  order  of  terrestrial  gods. — S.  B.] 

'Nut  has  frequently  been  mistaken  for  Neith,  but  the 
hieroglyphics,  calling  Osiris  the  son  of  Nut  and  Seb,  leave  no 
room  for  further  doubt  upon  the  subject.^  It  is  not  altogether 
impossible  that  Horapollo  may  have  ascribed  to  Neith  what  in 
reality  belongs  to  the  wife  of  Seb;  since  the  firmament  is  her 
emblem,  or,  at  least,  indicates  the  last  syllable^  of  her  name. 
Another  goddess  with  whom,  from  the  similarity  of  name,  she 
might  possibly  be  confounded,  is  Nephthys;  but  the  sister  of 
Isis  differs  entirely  from  the  Egyptian  Bhea;  and  Tpe,  the 
goddess  of  the  heavens,  enclosing  the  zodiacs,  is  also  distinct 
from  her,  as  from  Neith  and  Nut.  She  is  sometimes  repre- 
sented with  a  vase  on  her  head,  the  initial  of  her  name ;  and 
she  firequently  occurs  in  the  paintings  of  the  tombs,  standing  in 
the  sycamore  fig-tree,  pouring  a  liquid  from  a  vase,  which  the 
deceased  and  his  friends,  and  even  the  soul  of  the  former  under 


'  XpJrof.  for  the  whole  syllable)  were  used  ooea* 

'  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  5.  sionally  in  hieroglyphics— as  if  for  Mai^  the 

'  *  Materia  Hierog.,'  p.  18 ;    and  Plate  hare  for  oudn^  and  others — independently 

XXV.  hierog.  7.  of  the  omission  of  the  intermediate  yoweb 

*  Dr.  Tonng  was  not  wrong  in  stating  between   consonants,    as    in  Arabic   and 

that  sjllables  (or,  at  least,  the  initial  letter  Hebrew. 


64 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[CHAP.Xm. 


the  fonn  of  a  bird  with  a  human  head,  are  catching  in  their 
hands.  Besides  this  nectar  of  heayen,  she  presents  them  with 
a  basket  of  fruit  from  the  sacred  tree.*  It  is  to  Nut  that  the 
sycamore  was  dedicated ;  and  ^the  number  of  instances  I  haye 
met  with  of  Nut  in  this  tree^  leaye  no  doubt  of  the  fig,  which 
gaye  the  name  of  Hierosycaminon  to  a  town  of  Nubia,^  being 
sacred  to  the  mother  of  Osiris.'  The  representation  of  this  tree 
at  Hierosycaminon  is  yery  rude,  and  of  the  late  era  of  the 
Eoman  empire :  if,  therefore,  the  goddess  seated  beneath  it  has 
rather  the  character  of  Isis,  or  of  Athor,  than  of  Nut,  the 
authority  of  such  a  period  is  of  little  weight;  and  we  haye 
abundant  proofs  from  the  oldest  monuments,  that  the  sycamore 
was  consecrated  to  Nut,  as  the  Persea  to  Athor.  [In  Plate 
XXIY.,  Nut  {fig.  1)  is  seen  in  this  character,  and  the  in- 
scription reads,  'Nut,  the  greatly  splendid,  in  her  name  of 
the  sycamore  neha,  I  present  to  thee  the  fresh  water.  Befiresh 
thy  heart  with  it ;  it  is  the  water  which  proceeds  from  Nu,'  the 
deity  of  the  celestial  waters  or  abyss  of  heayen,  the  liying 
water  of  the  Egyptian  myths. — S.  B.] 

The  Athenians  had  a  holy  fig-tree,  which  grew  on  the  'sacred 
road,'  where,  during  the  celebration  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries, 
the  procession  which  went  from  Athens  to  Eleusis  halted.  This 
was  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  ceremony,  called  lacchus,  in  honour 
of  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Geres,  who  accompanied  his  mother  in 
her  search  for  Proserpine ;  but  the  fig-tree  of  Athens  does  not 
appear  to  haye  been  borrowed  from  the  sycamore  of  Egypt, 
unless  it  were  in  consequence  of  its  connection  with  the  mother 
of  Isis  and  Osiris,  whom  they  supposed  to  correspond  to  Oeres 
and  Bacchus. 

In  one  of  the  hieroglyphic  legends  giyen  in  the  plate,' 
Nut  appears  to  be  identified  with  Lucina,  and  to  preside  oyer 
births  and  nursing.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  mothers  looked 
to  her  for  protection,  being  the  fabled  parent  of  their  fayourite 
deities  Isis  and  Osiris,  from  which  she  deriyed  the  title  '  Mother 


^  This  U  one  of  the  rignettes  of  the  Book 
of  the  Dead,  or  Ritual,  appearing  in  the 
38th  chapter,  that  of  drinking  the  waters 
in  Hades.  Nut  also  represent^  the  female 
natore  of  the  dual  element  of  water  con- 
sidered as  male  and  female.  The  corre- 
sponding male  deitj  was  Nu,  or,  as  it  is 
possible  to  read  the  name,  Han,  and  then 
the  name  of  Nat,  Han.t.— S.  B. 


*  Now  Maharraka,  or  Oofide^na. 

»  Plate  XXIV.,  hierog.  No.  2,  from 
Denderah.  [The  inscription  reads,  'Nut, 
mother  of  the  gods,  the  nurse,  haTing 
power  oyer  the  place  of  new  birth,  ifi«9x«n, 
holding  temples,  the  chief  of  Uindages.' 
Hierog.  3  reads,  *Nut,  mother  of  the  gods, 
mistress  of  heayen.' — iS.  B.] 


CHAP.xm.]  .        OSIRIS.  65 

of  the  Gk)ds.*    Of  the  Egyptian  Lacina,  worshipped  at  Eileithyia, 
I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 

'Osirisy  in  his  mysterious  character,  was  the  greatest  of  all 
the  Egyptian  deities ;  but  little  is  known  of  those  undivulged 
secrets  which  the  ancients  took  so  much  care  to  conceal.  So 
cautious  indeed  were  the  initiated,  that  they  made  a  scruple 
even  of  mentioning  him  ;'^  and  Herodotus,  whenever  he  relates 
anything  concerning  this  deity,  excuses  himself  from  uttering 
his  name.  His  principal  o£Sce,  as  an  Egyptian  deity,  was  to 
judge  the  dead,  and  to  rule  over  that  kingdom  where  the  souls 
of  good  men  were  admitted  to  eternal  felicity.'  Seated  on  his 
throne,  accompanied  by  Isis  and  Nephthys,  with  the  four  G^nii 
of  Amenti,  who  stand  on  a  lotus  growing  from  the  waters,  in  the 
centre  of  the  divine  abode,  he  receives  the  account  of  the  actions 
of  the  deceased,  recorded  by  Thoth.  Horus,  his  son,  introduces 
the  deceased  into  his  presence,  bringing  with  him  the  tablet  of 
Thothy  after  his  actions  have  been  weighed  in  the  scales  of 
Truth.  To  Anubis,  who  is  styled  the  '  director  of  the  weight,' 
belongs  this  duty ;  and,  assisted  by  Horus,  he  places  in  one  scale 
the  feather  or  the  figure  of  Thmei,  the  goddess  of  Truth,  and  in 
the  other  a  vase  emblematic  of  the  virtuous  actions  of  the 
judged.  A  Gynocephalus,  the  emblem  of  the  ibis-headed  god, 
sits  on  the  upper  part  of  the  balance;  and  Cerberus,  the 
guardian  of  the  palace  of  Osiris,  is  present.  Sometimes  also 
Harpocrates,  the  symbol  of  resuscitation  and  a  new  birth,  is 
seated  on  a  crook  of  Osiris,  before  the  god  of  letters,— expres- 
sive of  the  idea  entertained  by  the  Egyptians  and  oilier  philo- 
sophers, that  nothing  created  was  ever  annihilated;  and  that 
to  cease  to  be  was  only  to  assume  another  form — dissolution 
being  merely  the  passage  to  reproduction.  Some  of  the  figures 
of  the  dead  are  represented  wearing  round  their  necks  the  same 
emblem  which  appears  in  the  scales,  after  they  have  passed  their 
ordeal,  and  are  deemed  worthy  of  admission  into  the  presence  of 
Osiris ;  the  purport  of  which  is,  that  they  are  justified  by  their 
works,  weighed  and  not  'found  wanting.'  To  men  and  to  women 
also  was  given  after  death  the  name  of  Osiris,' — implying  that, 
in  a  future  state,  the  virtuous  returned  to  the  fountain  of  all 


Hcrodoi.  panim.     PUt.  d«  kid.  ■.  21,  texU  of  papyri,  howerer,  hare  this  formnlm ; 

*^;  *  I^liit  de  Itid.  8.  79.  but  then  it  is  uncartoin  what  is  thtir  exact 

^_y^  *-  ^-    At  a  later  period,  no  in-  age.      The  form  ma  x"^  *juftified'  or 

•™«  ooevn  on  iKe  tombe    or   mono-  <trath-«peaking,' which  was  particnlarlj  in 

S^Ti  nS*?lJJ*  *^  «»•  0^  kings,  vp  to  relation  with  Osiris,  does  not  appMr  tUl 

«t   irifc  Dyniity.    Some  of  the  oldest  the  close  of  the  12th  DjnastTw— &  R 


■V 


<d^{':n  -@1I;:!^3I 


£m??ia'i^rf@S 


Cbap.  XnL]         TRANSMIQBATION  OF  THE  SOUL. 


67 


good,  firom  which  they  originally  emanated ;  and  that  the  sonl, 
being  separated  from  its  material  envelope,  was  pure  and  intel- 
lectnal,  divested  of  all  the  animal  feelings  which  a  distinction  of 
•ex  might  indicate,  and  free  from  those  impurities  or  imperfec- 
ticms  to  which  human  nature  was  in  this  life  subject.    They  also 
ooondered  the  soiils  of  men  to  be  emanations  of  that  divine  soul 
which  governed  and  pervaded  the  universe ;  each  eventually  re- 
taming  to  its  divine  origin,  provided  the  virtuous  course  of  life 
it  had  led  in  this  world  showed  it  to  be  su£Sciently  pure  to  unite 
with  the  immaculate  nature  of  the  deity.    It  was  Uieir  opinion 
that  those  which  had  been  guilty  of  sin  were  doomed  to  pass 
thioagh  the  bodies  of  different  animals,  in  order  so  to  purify 
them  that  they  might  be  rendered  worthy  again  to  mix  with  the 
parent  soul  whence  they  emanated ;  the  number  and  duration  of 
these  transmigrations,  and  the  kind  of  animals  through  which 
they  passed,  depending  on  the  extent  of  their  impieties,  and  the 
consequent  necessity  of  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  purification. 
This  doctrine  of  the  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of  the 
sod,  was  afterwards  adopted  by  Pythagoras,  with  many  other 
cpinioDs  he  acquired  during  his  stay  in  Egypt.    The  idea  of  the 
letom  of  the  spirit  to  the  Deity  seems  also  to  have  been  ad- 
mitted by  the  Jews,  in  the  time  of  Solomon ;  since  we  find  in 
Eodesiastes,  *  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was  ; 
^  the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it'  ^    The  cha- 
ideis  of  Osiris  were  numerous,^  as  were  those  of  Isis,  who  was 
^Itcaos  called  Hyrionymus,  or  'with  10,000  names.'     He  was 
^  attribute  of  the  Deity  which  signified  the  divine  Goodness ; 
^  in  his  most  mysterious  and  sacred  office,  as  an  avaiaVy  or 
^•ftifestation  of  the  Divinity  on  earth,  he  was  superior  to  any 
^^  of  the  eight  great  gods.'     And  though,  as  Herodotus 


'  Han  cpafottftd^d  with  othtr  d«iti€t. 
(KM«.  L  25.) 

'  TW  fvittdpAl  tj^m  of  Otirii  are  nm- 
■^  !•  th»  aceoapaBjing  PUU  XXV. 
^9- 1  nfnmmU  him  in  hb  ftrain  prior  to 
^  tek,  koUiag  tb«  Mcptre,  noi  or  fom, 
la'tW  wpmh«l  of  life,  aod  wearing  two 
tmthm  mt  his  head  to  indicate  hit 
Ufd  of  the  hall  of  the  two  tmthi. 
,  1,  i,  are  hie  naoM,  As-ar.  Fig.  2  is 
^Sm  la  hie  eaUetlal  character,  wearing  the 
•f  the  nppcr  world  or  hemi- 
ied,  eiTeloped  in  baadagea. 
Mm,  holding  the  harrier-headed 
crooks  Aago,  aad  whip, 
•f  hif  nUe  and  dooiaioA. 


Before  him  Is  the  pard-ekin  on  a  pole,  the 
hierogl  jph  of  the  word  nem,  *  second,*  in  re- 
lation to  the  *  second  life.'  Hierog.  3  is  his 
name,  *  eternal  ruler  ;*  4,  *  lord  of  Abut  or 
Abjdot.'  Fig.  3  represents  him  as  jadge 
of  the  dead  in  the  Egyptian  hall  of  the 
two  tmths  in  Hades,  wearing  the  atef  or 
cap  of  the  npper  world,  with  two  ostrich 
feathers,  holding  the  crook  and  whip.  His 
titles,  hierog.  5,  are,  *  Ouris,  lord  of  the  age, 
ball  in  the  AmenU.'  Fig.  4  is  Osiris  in 
the  same  attributes  with  the  head  of  the 
Bennn  or  Phanii,  emblem  of  his  aonl. 
Fig.  5  is  Osiris  Tat  or  Tatta,  draped,  with 
peculiar  face,  holding  the  crook  and  whip, 
aad  wearing  a  disk,  and  two  oetrich« 
iiitli«n  OB  Um    goat's  horns,  haTing  a 

F  2 


68  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

informs  us,^  all  the  Egyptians  did  not  worship  the  same  gods 
with  equal  reverence,  the  adoration  paid  to  Osiris  and  Isis  was 
universal,  and  he  considers  Isis  the  greatest  of  all  the  diyinities 
of  Egypt.^  Of  the  manner  in  which  the  Egyptians  supposed 
this  manifestation  of  the  deity  in  a  human  form  to  have  taken 
place,  I  will  not  pretend  to  decide.  This  was  always  a  profound 
secret,  revealed  only  to  some  of  those  who  were  initiated  into 
the  higher  order  of  mysteries.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Osiris  was 
not  believed  by  them  to  have  been  a  human  being,  who  after 
death  was  translated  into  the  order  of  demigods ;  for,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  no  Egyptian  deity  was  supposed  to  have  lived 
on  earth,  and  to  have  been  deified  after  death,  as  with  the 
Greeks  and  other  people. 

Pythagoras  also  borrowed  from  the  Egyptians  his  notion  re- 
specting emanation.  He  held  that  the  Deity  was  the  soul  which 
animated  all  nature — the  anima  mv/ndi^  or  soul  of  the  universe 
— ^not  an  external  influence,  but  dwelling  within  it,  as  the  soul 
of  man  within  the  human  body  ;  and  from  this  universal  soul  all 
other  gods,  as  well  as  the  souls  of  men  and  other  animals,  and 
even  of  plants,  directly  proceeded.  Plutarch,  indeed,  attempts 
to  show  that  the  worship  of  animals  in  Egypt  was  borrowed  from 
this  idea,  when  he  says,  ^  On  the  whole,  we  ought  to  approve  the 
conduct  of  those  who  do  not  reverence  these  creatures  for  their 
own  sakes,  but  who,  looking  upon  them  as  the  most  lively  and 
natural  mirrors  wherein  to  behold  the  divine  perfections,  iuid  as 
the  instruments  and  workmanship  of  the  Deity,  are  led  to  pay 
their  adoration  to  that  God  who  orders  and  directs  all  things ; 
concluding,  on  the  whole,  that  whatever  is  endued  with  soul  and 
sensation  is  more  excellent  than  that  which  is  devoid  of  those 
perfections — even  than  all  the  gold  and  precious  stones  in  the 
imiverse,  though  collected  into  one  mass.  For  it  is  not  in  the 
brilliancy  of  colour,  in  the  elegance  of  form,  or  in  the  beauty  of 
surface,  that  the  divinity  resides.  So  far  from  it,  those  thhigs 
which  never  had  life,  and  have  not  the  power  of  living,  are  in  a 
much  lower  degree  of  estimation  than  those  that  once  enjoyed 
existence,  though  they  may  since  have  lost  it.     But  whatever 


disked  arsus  on   each  side.     It  appears  begotten  by  Seb ; '  8,  same  as  6  ;  9  has  no 

from  a  coffin  at  Cambridge  that  the  Tat  relation  to  Osiris ;   10-13,  Osiris  Unnefer 

alone,  or  emblem  of  stabUity,  represented  or  Onnophris,  the  name  in  a  cartouche  to 

Osiris ;  and  the  emblem  of  life,  anxi  the  show  that  he  had  ruled  oyer  Egypt.— S.  B. 

goddesses  Isis  and  Nephthys.    The  titles  >  Herodot.  ii.  42. 

of  the  god  are,  6,  Awr  xent  Am/BKH^  'Osiris  •  Ibid.  ii.  40. 
resident  in  the  west ; '  7,  *  Osiris  ion  of  Nut, 


CHAP.xm.] 


OSmiS,  JUDGE  OP  THE  DEAD. 


69 


beings  are  endued  with  life,  and  the  faculty  of  seeing,  with  a 
principle  of  voluntary  motion  in  them,  and  are  able  to  dis- 
tinguish what  belongs  to  and  is  proper  for  them — all  these,  as 
Heraclitus  says,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  affluxes,  or  so  many 
portions  of  that  supreme  wisdom  which  governs  the  universe ;  so 
that  the  Deity  is  not  less  strikingly  represented  in  these,  than  in 
images  of  metal  and  stone  made  by  the  hand  of  man.'  ^ 

The  same  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius  as  the  opinion  expressed 
in  the  old  Hermcac  books  called  Genica:^  ^Have  you  not  been 
informed  by  the  Genica,  that  all  individual  souls  are  emanations 
from  the  one  soul  of  the  universe  ? '  and  Porphyry  says,  *  The 
Egyptians  perceived  that  the  divinity  not  only  entered  the 
human  body,  and  that  the  (divine)  soul  dwelt  not,  while  on 
earth,  in  man  alone,  but  passed  in  a  measure  through  all 
animals.' 

Osiris  was  called^  the  *  manifester  of  good,'  or  the  *  opener  of 
truth,'  and  said  to  be  '  full  of  goodness,  grace,  and  truth.'  He 
appeared  on  earth  to  benefit  mankind;  and  after  having  per- 
formed the  duties  he  had  come  to  fulfil,  and  fallen  a  sacrifice  to 
Typho  the  evil  principle  (which  was  at  length  overcome  by  his 
influence,  after  his  leaving  the  world),  '  he  rose  again  to  a  new 
life,'^  and  became  the  judge  of  mankind  in  a  future  state.  The 
dead  also,  after  having  passed  their  final  ordeal  and  been  ab- 
solved firom  sin,  obtained  in  his  name,  which  they  then  took^ 
the  blessings  of  eternal  felicity.  The  title  '  manifester  of  good ' 
accords  well  with  what  Plutarch*  says  of  Osiris,  that  he  was  a 


*  Thif    doctrine    is  well   described    hy 
Virgil    (iEn.  ri.  724)    in    the   following 
beuitifiil  lines : — 
'Prindpio  ccelom,  ac  terras,  camposque 

Uqnentes 
Lnoentemque  globum  Inns,  Titaniaque 

astra, 
Spiritns  intos  alit,  totamque  infasa  per 

arias 
Hens  agitat  molem,  et  magno  se  corpore 

misoet. 
lade  iMnninnm  pecudumque  genos,  vi- 

taque  Tolantum, 
It  qoft  marmoreo   fert    monstra  sub 

•qaore  pontus. 
^IMis  est  oUis  rigor,  et  coelestis  origo 
SouBiVns. 

Q^  et  supremo  cum  lumine  Tita  re- 
Viqidi, 

Aoa  tasMA  omne  malum  miseris,  nee 

fvs^tus  omncs 
^-<*n«««  eieedunt  pestes ;    penitosqae 


Malta    din   concreta    modis   inolescere 

miris. 
Ergo     exercentur    pcenis,    yetemmque 

malorum 
Supplicia  ezpendunt. 
Donee  longa  dies  perfecto  temporis  orbe 
Concretam    ezemit    labem,    purumque 

reliqoit 
^thereum  sensum,  atque  aural  simplicis 

ignem. 
Has  omnes,  ubi  mille  rotam  rolvere  per 

annos, 
Lethaeum  ad  flurium   Dens  eyocat  ag- 

mine  magno : 
Scilicet  immemores  supera  ut  conveza 

revisant, 
Rursus  et  incipiant    in   corpora    Telle 

reverti.' 

«  Prichard,  p.  208. 

*  (Jnnefer,  the  Greek  Onnophris. 

*  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  35. 
«  Ibid.  s.  42. 


70 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIAN& 


[Chap.  XIII. 


*good  being,  and  sometimes  styled  Omphis  (Onuphis),  which 
signifies  a  benevolent  and  beneficent  power ;'  the  word  Onuphis 
being  evidently  the  Egyptian  appellation  of  this  god  Otiofi- 
nofre^  Hhe  opener  of  good/  This  was  his  principal  title.  He  was 
also  frequently  styled  *  President  of  the  West,*  *  Lord  of  Abydus' 
(which  may  either  be  Ehoi^  Abydus,  or  Ebty  the  East), '  Lord  of 
the  World;  '  Lord  of  Life/  *  the  Eternal  Ruler,'  and  *  King  of  the 
Gods.'  These,  with  many  others,  are  commonly  found  in  the 
hieroglyphic  legends  accompanying  his  figure,  as  may  be  seen 


1 


l^ 


!•! 


*1 

I   I  I 


i 


.\> 


ri 


4-li 


No.  sn. 


8  •  10 

SoDM  of  the  UtlM  of  Oririi. 


11 


12 


1.  '  Owiris  dwelUng  in  Artsn.'    2.  *  OBlrii,  lord  of  the  EMt,'  or  *  Abydos.'    3.  *  Lord  of  Taaer/  or  •  Hades. ' 
4.  '  Kttl  land.'    6.  '  Lord  of  the  living/    6.  *  Dwellinf  In  the  Weet.'    f .  *  Lord  of  an  con,'  or  ^ace/ 
•time.'    8.  •  Eternal  ruler.'    ».  '  Over  the  oirele  of  the  gods,'  or  *  nine  goda.'    10.  '  DirelUng  tii  Bii> 
■at»'  or  the  gateway  leading  to  Hadee,  regtmi  of  hdL    11.  Imperfect  ineorlption,  *over  his  crew/ 
12.  « OeirlB,  king  of  the  go&.' 

in  the  annexed  woodcut ;  and  the  papyri  frequently  present  a 
list  of  forty-nine  names  of  Osiris  in  the  funeral  rituals. 

The  custom  of  applying  the  name  of  Osiris  both  to  men  and 
women  who  were  supposed  to  partake  sufficiently  of  the  qualities 
of  the  good  being  to  be  worthy  that  honour,  appears  to  have 
some  connection  with  the  Greek  notion  of  Dionysus  or  Bacchus 
(who  was  thought  to  answer  to  Osiris)  being  both  male  and 
female.^  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark,  that  Servius,  in  comment- 
ing on  the  mystical  fan  of  lacchus  ^  of  Yirgil,  affirms  that  *  the 
sacred  rites  of  Bacchus  pertained  to  the  purification  of  souls.* 

If  Osiris  was  represented  as  one  of  the  gods  of  the  third 
order  ^  (who,  according  to  their  extravagant  calculation,  lived 
15,000  years  before  the  reign  of  Amasis,  and  consequently  later 


>  As  in  AristidM,  p.  52,  8,  10 ;  and  the  Ozphic  poems,  Hymn  30,  and  42,  4. 
'  <  Mystica  Tannos  lacchi/  *  Herodot.  U.  145. 


.  Xm.]  CHARAGTEB  OF  OSIBIS.  71 


than  HercoleSy  Pan,  and  other  deities  of  the  second  class),  we 
may  suppose  that  this  was  intended  to  show  that  he  visited  the 
earth  siter  the  religion  of  Egypt  had  been  long  established ;  or 
that  it  was  an  idea  introduced  into  their  religious  system  sub- 
sequently to  the  systematic  arrangement  of  the  other  members 
of  their  Pantheon.  The  sculptures,  however,  of  the  oldest 
monuments  abundantly  prove  that,  if  it  were  of  more  recent 
introduction,  the  change  must  have  occurred  at  a  very  remote 
period,  before  the  erection  of  any  building  now  extant  in  Egypt ; 
as  the  tombs  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Pyramids,  belonging  to 
individuals  who  were  contemporary  with  their  founders,  show 
that  Osiris  had  at  that  time  the  same  o£Sces  as  in  the  age  of  the 
Ptolemies  and  Caesars. 

In  an  ancient  inscription  this  deity  is  made  to  say,  *  Saturn, 

the  youngest  of  all  the  gods,  was  my  father ;  I  am  Osiris  :'  and 

in  another,  *  I  am  the  eldest  son  of  Saturn,  of  an  illustrious 

branch,  and  of  noble  blood  ;  cousin  of  the  day  ;  there  is  no  place 

where  I  have  not  been,  and  I  have  liberally  distributed  my 

benefits  to  all  mankind.*    But  the  character  of  Osiris  given  by 

Tibullus,^  as  the  teacher  of  agriculture,  seems  to  refer  to  Ehem 

rmther  than  to  the  son  oi  Seb ;  and  the  attributes  of  the  Egyptian 

Pan  have,  in  more  than  one  instance,  been  given  to  Osiris.    The 

notion  that  the  gods  imparted  to  men  the  arts  of  civilisation, 

was  common  to  the  Egyptians  as  to  the  Greeks.    Nu  is  re- 

pietented  teaching  the  kings  the  use  of  the  bow ;    Chnoumis 

and  Ptah  show'  them  the  potter's  art;  and  Thoth  instructs 

them  in  the  mode  of  catching  birds  with  the  net,  in  the  art 

of   writing,   and    in   everything    connected    with    calculation, 

aedicine,  and  astronomy.    In    all   cases,  however,  it  was  an 

fthftract  idea  representing  the  different  means  by  which  in- 

tdleetual  gifts  were  imparted  from  the    deity  to  man.     The 

Greeks  identified  Osiris  with  Bacchus, '  in  consequence  of  his 

RINtled  conquest  of  India,  and  some  other  analogies  in  the 

•ttribotes  or  character  of  those  two  deities.    'The  histories,' 

iiyi  Plutarch,^  'on  which  the  most  solemn  feasts  of  Bacchus,  the 

TiUiuA  and  Nuktelia,  are  founded,  exactly  correspond  with  what 

^  tie  told  of  the  cutting  to  pieces  of  Osiris,  of  his  rising  again, 


'  TML  L  Dm.  7.  i  plat,  dt  Iiid.  s.  IS,  37.    The  attcitti 

[Al  Pkiln,  thm9  two  godt  an  moe/^,  £tocbat  of  Gre«c«  wit  rtprtMiiUd  with  a 

JJIlfci  tUj  oTwhieh  (kirk  ^»*Jo  ^  ^^       \t%t^\    ih«    youthful    BMchw,  m 

■"■^  whei    b«  riaui  ihi  ^orld  l  C3tsik  ^wm.  d»Ut  «fUr  the  Uim  of  Alex- 

»^.J                        ^  ^^^                    «  Plut.  de  Iiid.  •.  M, 


72  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

and  of  his  new  life.'  He  was  also  supposed  to  answer  to 
Pluto,^  from  his  oflSce  of  ruler  of  Hades  or  Amenti ;  *  a  circum- 
stance of  which  the  priests/  according  to  Plutarch,^  '  never  speak 
but  with  the  utmost  caution  and  reserve.  For  the  erroneous  ac- 
ceptation of  this  truth  has  given  occasion  to  much  disturbance, 
— ^the  minds  of  the  vulgar  not  being  able  to  conceive  how 
the  most  pure  and  truly  holy  Osiris  should  have  his  dwelling 
under  the  earth,  amongst  the  bodies  of  those  who  appear  to 
be  dead.  This  god  is,  indeed,  removed  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  earth,  being  free  from  all  communication  with  such  beings 
as  are  liable  to  corruption  and  death.  As,  therefore,  the 
souls  of  men  are  not  able  to  participate  of  the  divine  nature 
while  encompassed  with  bodies  and  passions ;  so,  when  they  are 
freed  from  these  impediments,  and  removed  into  the  pure  unseen 
regions  which  are  not  discernible  to  our  senses,  it  is  then  that 
this  god  becomes  their  leader  and  king,  and  they  behold  that 
beauty  for  which  Isis  has  so  great  an  affection.'  ^  Osiris,'  says 
Diodorus,^  '  has  been  considered  the  same  as  Sarapis,^  Bacchus, 
Pluto,  or  Ammon.  Others  have  thought  him  Jupiter,  many 
Pan ;  and  some  look  upon  Sarapis  as  the  same  as  the  Greek 
Pluto.'  The  historian  also  endeavours  to  identify  him  with  the 
sun,  as  Isis  with  the  moon, — an  opinion  maintained  by  other 
ancient  writers;  but  which  I  have  already  shown  to  be  at 
variance  with  the  authority  of  the  monuments,  and  the  well- 
known  character  of  Osiris.  Many  fanciful  notions  have  been 
derived  from  his  fabled  rule  on  earth ;  and  comparisons  have 
been  made  with  Osiris  and  other  deities,  which,  as  in  the  case  of 
Isis,  are  mere  speculations  of  a  late  time,  totally  at  variance  with 
the  opinions  of  the  Egyptians — at  least,  of  those  who  understood 
their  religion  and  the  nature  of  the  gods.  Divested,  then,  of  all 
the  fancied  connection  with  the  sun  and  the  many  deities  to 
whom  Osiris  is  compared,  we  see  in  him  the  Ooodness  of  the 
Deity,  which  was  supposed  to  have  been  manifested  upon  earth 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  in  a  future  state  the  Judge  of 
the  world.  There  were  other  personages  in  the  lower  regions, 
according  to  the  Greek  mythology,  whose  names  bear  the  stamp 
of  an  Egyptian  origin,*  though  they  cannot    be  themselves 


*  Plat,  de  Isid.  ss.  27,  28.  Greek,  Dionytw  and  Serapion, — G.  W.] 

'  Ibid.  s.  79.  *  PUto,  in  the  Gorgias,  makes  Jupiter 

*  Diodor.  i.  25.  lay  that  he  '  has  made  his  sons  judges : 

*  [And  in  the  PhoBnician  inscription  at  two  from  Asia — ^Minos  and  Rhadaman- 
Malta  the  names  Abd-Onr  (slave  of  Osiris)  thus — and  one  from  Europe ;'  and  that  *  he 
and  OstT'Shamar  are  in  the  accompanjing  will    confer   this   additional   dignitj    on 


CiuF.  xm.]  woBSHip  OF  osmia  73 

exactly  traced  amongst  the  deities  of  Amenti.  These  are  Minos, 
^£acii8,  and  RhadamanthuSy  the  judges  of  the  dead ;  in  the  first 
of  which  the  Egyptian  Min  or  Men  is  easily  recognised,  and  in 
the  last  the  name  of  Amenti  itself. 

Numerous  explanations  have  been  given  of  the  mythological 
history  of  Osiris,  many  of  which  are  the  result  of  fancy,  as  those 
of  Diodorus  and  Macrobius,^  already  mentioned.  I  have  stated 
that  the  principal  character  of  Osiris  was  the  Groodness  of  the 
Deity,  who  was  supposed  to  have  yisited  the  world ;  but  upon 
the  story  of  his  imaginary  life  on  earth  were  engrafted  numerous 
allegorical  fietbles,  and  different  interpretations  were  given  to 
them,  according  to  the  circumstances  to  which  his  history 
appeared  to  be  adapted. 

The  existence  of  Osiris  on  earth  was,  of  course,  a  speculative 

theory, — an  allegory,  not  altogether  unlike  the  avaiars  of  the 

Indian  Yishnoo ;  and  some  may  be  disposed  to  think  that  the 

Egyptians,  being  aware  of  the  promises  of  the  real  Saviour,  had 

anticipated  that  event,  recording  it  as  though  it  had  already 

happened,  and   introducing  that   mystery  into  their  religious 

system.     Of  the  mysteries  and  of  the  festivals  in  honour  of 

Osiris,   we   can  obtain  little  or  no  information  from  ancient 

aathors.    The  former  were  too  sacred  to  be  divulged ;  and  few 

of  the  Greeks  and  other  strangers  were  admitted  even  into  those 

of  the  lesser  order.    They  were  divided  into  the  greater  and 

mysteries;   and  before  admission  into  the  former,  it  was 

that  the  initiated  should  have  passed  through  all  the 

fpadaticms  of  the  latter.    But,  to  merit  this  great  honour,  much 

expected  of  the  candidate,  and  many  even  of  the  priesthood 

unable  to  obtain  it    Besides  the  proofs  of  a  virtuous  life, 

fisher  reoommendations  were  required ;  and  to  be  admitted  to  all 

the  grades  of  the  higher  mysteries,  was  the  greatest  honour  to 

vUdi  anyone  could  aspire.    It  was  from  these  that  the  mysteries 

^Elsiisis'  were  borrowed :  for,  though  celebrated  in  honour  of 

Osris»  they  applied  more  immediately  to  Isis,  and  to  the  grief 

^  felt  for  the  loss  of  her  consort,  as  the  former  recorded  the 

kaentatioDS  of  Ceres  at  the  fiette  of  her  daughter.    The  Thes- 

^ophorisy  in  honour  of  the  same  goddess,  were  also  derived  from 

^tJt^     Herodotus  mentions  a  ceremony  on  the  Lake  of  Sidis, 

ii  which  the  history  of  Osiris  was  represented.    They  styled  it 


ht   thall    d€ddt   wbnUrer       CTtylor,  Tniu.  It.  p.  453.) 
mfUimenUhk  to  thtathtr  Jndf^*  ijH^crob.  Stian.  L  21.        «  Diod.  i.  29. 


74  THE  ANCIENT  BGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XllL 

the  Mysteries.  'Though/  adds  the  historian^^  'I  am  well 
acquainted  with  themi  I  refrain  from  revealing  any,  as  well  as 
those  relating"  to  the  institutions  of  Ceres,  called  by  the  Greeks 
Thesmophoria ;  and  I  shall  only  mention  as  much  of  them  as  my 
religion  permits.  The  daughters  of  Danaus  brought  them  firom 
Egypt,  and  taught  them  to  the  Pelasgic  women ;  but  at  length, 
the  Dorians  having  expelled  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Pelo- 
ponnesus, these  rites  were  lost,  except  amongst  the  Arcadians, 
who,  not  being  driven  out  of  the  country,  continued  to  preserve 
them.'  ^  At  Sais,'  says  the  same  author,  ^  they  show  the  sepulchre 
of  him  whom  I  do  not  think  it  right  to  mention  on  this  occasion  : 
it  is  in  the  sacred  enclosure,  behind  the  temple  of  Minerva,  and 
close  to  the  wall  of  this  temple,  whose  whole  length  it  occupies.* 
'  They  also  meet  at  Sais  to  offer  sacrifice '  during  a  certain  night, 
when  every  one  lights  in  the  open  air  a  number  of  lamps  around 
his  house.  The  lamps  consist  of  small  cups  filled  with  salt  and 
oU,  having  a  wick  floating  in  it  which  bums  all  night.  This 
fSte  is  called  that  of  the  burning  lamps.  The  Egyptians  who 
are  unable  to  attend  also  observe  the  sacrifice  and  bum  lamps 
at  home ;  so  that  not  only  at  Sais,  but  throughout  Egypt^  the 
same  illumination  takes  place.  They  assign  a  sacred  reason 
for  the  fgte  celebrated  on  this  night,  and  the  respect  they  havo- 
for  if 

Of  the  ceremonies  during  the  &te  of  Busiris,  I  shall  speak  in 
describing  the  goddess  Isis.  It  was  held  in  honour  of  her  and  of 
Osiris;  Busiris,  like  Philae,  Abydus,  Memphis,  Taposiris,  and 
other  places,  claiming  the  honour  of  being  the  supposed  boiial- 
place  *  of  this  mysterious  deity. 

Having  noticed  the  metaphysical  character  of  Osiris,  I  proceed 
to  examine  some  of  the  allegories  founded  upon  his  fabulous 
history ;  though,  as  already  stated,  I  believe  them  to  be  for  the 
most  part  mere  fanciful  speciilations,  forming  no  part  of  their 
religious  belief,  but  rather  designed  to  amuse  the  ignorant  and 
satisfy  the  people  with  a  plausible  story ;  while  the  real  purport 
of  all  connected  with  ike  deity  was  reserved  for  those  alone 
who  were  admitted  to  a  participation  of  the  mysteries. 

Of  these,  the  principal  one  is  that  in  which  he  is  compared  to 
the  NUe,  and  Isis  to  the  land  of  Egypt.  'By  Osiris,'  says 
Plutarch,^  'they  mean  the  Nile;    by  Isis,  that  part  of  the 


>  Herodoi.  IL  171.  '  Pint,  de  Itid.  s.  2L 

*  Ibid.  tt.  62.  *  U>id  s.  82. 


Chap.  XIIL]  HISTOBT  OP  OSIRIS.  75 

oonntry  which  Osiris  or  the  Nile  overflows ;  and  by  Typho,  the 
sea,  which,  by  receiving  the  Nile  as  it  runs  into  it,  does  as  it 
were  tear  it  into  many  pieces,  and  entirely  destroy  it,  except- 
ing only  so  much  of  it  as  is  admitted  into  the  bosom  of  the  earth 
in  its  passage  over  it,  which  is  thereby  rendered  fertile.'  And 
the  notion  of  Osiris  being  bom  on  the  right  side  of  the  world, 
and  perishing  on  the  left,  is  explained  ^  by  the  rising  of  the  Nile 
in  the  south  country,  which  is  the  left,  and  running  northwards 
till  it  is  swallowed  up  by  the  sea.' 

The  story  of  the  supposed  life  of  Osiris  is  briefly  as  follows.^ 
'  Osiris,  having  become  king  of  Egypt,  applied  himself  towards 
ci^Uising  his  countrymen,  by  turning  them  from  their  former 
barbarous  course  of  Ufe,  teaching  them  moreover  to  cultivate  and 
improve  the  fruits  of  the  earth. . . .  With  the  same  good  dis- 
position, he  afterwards  travelled  over  the  rest  of  the  world,  in- 
dnoing  the  people  everywhere  to  submit  to  his  discipline,  by  the 

mildest  persuasion During  his  absence  from  his  kingdom, 

Typho  bad  no  opportunity  of  making  any  innovations  in  the 

state,  Isis  being  extremely  vigilant  in  the  government,  and 

always  on  her  guard.    After  his  return,  however,  having  first 

persuaded  seventy-two  other  persons  to  join  with  him  in  the 

conspiracy,  together  with  a  certain  queen  of  Ethiopia  named 

Aso,  who  chanced  to  be  in  Egypt  at  the  time,  he  contrived  a 

proper   stratagem  to  execute    his   base   designs:  for,  having 

privily  taken  the  measure  of  Osiris's  body,  he  caused  a  chest  to 

be  made  exactly  of  that  size,  as  beautiful  as  possible,  and  set  off 

with  all  the  ornaments  of  art    This  chest  he  brought  into  the 

banqueting  room,  where  after  it  had  been  much  admired  by  all 

^esent,  Typho,  as  if  in  jest,  promised  to  give  it  to  any  one  of 

them  whose  body  upon  trial  it  might  be  found  to  fit.    Upon  this, 

the  whole  company,  one  after  the  other,  got  into  it ;  but  as  it 

did  not  fit  any  of  them,  last  of  all  Osiris  laid  himself  down  in  it ; 

upon  which  the  conspirators  immediately  ran  together,  clapped 

on  the  cover,  and  then,  fastening  it  on  the  outside  with  nails, 

ponied  melted  lead  over  it.    After  this,  having  carried  it  away 

to  the  river-side,  they  conveyed  it  to  the  sea  by  the  Tanaitic 

i&cmth  of  the  Nile,  which  for  this  reason  is  still  held  in  the 

^itmoBt  abhorrence  by  the  Egyptians,  and  never  named  by  them 

but  with  proper  marks  of  detestation.    These  things  happened 

ott  the  17th  day  of  the  month  Athyr,  when  the  sun  was  in 


'  Plat,  de  Uid. ».  13. 


I 


76  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIH. 

Scorpio,  in  the  28th  year  of  Osiris's  reign ;  though  others  say 
he  was  no  more  than  twenty-eight  years  old  at  the  time.  The 
first  who  knew  the  accident  that  had  befallen  their  king,  were  the 
Pans  and  Satyrs  who  lived  about  Chemmis ;  and  they,  immediately 
acquainting  the  people  with  the  news,  gaye  the  first  occasion  to 

the  name  of  Panie  terrors Isis,  as  soon  as  the  report  reached 

her,  cut  off  one  of  the  locks  of  her  hair,  and  put  on  mourning ; 
whence  the  spot  where  she  then  happened  to  be  has  ever  since 
been  called  Koptos,  or  the  city  of  mourning.  And  being  in- 
formed that  Osiris,  deceived  by  her  sister  Nephthys,  who  was  in 
love  with  him,  had  unwittingly  taken  her  to  his  embraces  instead 
of  herself,  as  she  concluded  from  the  melilot-garland  which  he 
had  left  with  her,  she  proceeded  to  search  out  the  child,  the 
fruit  of  their  unlawful  union.  For  her  sister,  dreading  the 
anger  of  her  husband  Typho,  had  exposed  it  as  soon  as  it  was 
bom ;  and  it  was  not  without  great  di£Sculty  that,  by  means  of 
some  dogs,  she  discovered  the  place  of  its  concealment.  Having 
found  it,  she  bred  it  up ;  and  it  afterwards  obtained  the  name  of 
Anubis.'  'At  length  she  received  more  particular  news  of  the 
chest.  It  had  been  carried  by  the  waves  of  the  sea  to  the  coast 
of  By  bios,  and  there  gently  lodged  in  the  branches  of  a  tamarisk 
bush,  which  in  a  short  time  had  shot  up  into  a  large  tree,  growing 
round  the  chest,  and  enclosing  it  on  every  side,  so  that  it  could 
not  be  seen ;  and  the  king  of  the  country,  having  cut  down  the 
tree,  had  made  the  part  of  the  trunk  wherein  the  chest  was  con- 
cealed, a  pillar  to  support  the  roof  of  his  house.  .  . .  Isis,  having 
gone  to  Byblos,  obtained  possession  of  this  pillar,  and  then  set 
sail  with  tiiie  chest  for  Egypt. . . .  But  intending  a  visit  to  her 
son  Horus  (Orus),  who  was  brought  up  at  Butus,  she  deposited  the 
chest  in  the  meantime  in  a  remote  and  unfrequented  place. 
Typho,  however,  as  he  was  one  night  hunting  by  the  light  of 
the  moon,  accidentally  met  with  it,  and,  knowing  the  body  en- 
closed in  it,  tore  it  into  fourteen  pieces,  disposing  them  up  and 
down  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Being  acquainted  with 
this  event,  Isis  set  out  once  more  ^  in  search  of  the  scattered 
members  of  her  husband's  body,  using  a  boat  made  of  the  papyrus 
rush,  in  order  more  easily  to  pass  through  the  lower  and  fenny 
parts  of  the  country  •  •  • .  And  one  reason  assigned  for  the  many 
dififerent  sepulchres  of  Osiris  shown  in  Egypt,  is,  that  wherever 
any  one  of  his  scattered  limbs  was  discovered,  she  buried  it  in  that 


1  Pint  de  laid.  s.  18. 


Chap.  XIH.]  •  HI8T0BT  OP  OSIRIS.  77 

spot ;  though  others  suppose  that  it  was  owing  to  an  artifice  of  the 
queen,  who  presented  each  of  those  cities  with  an  image  of  her 
husband,  in  order  that,  if  Tjpho  should  overcome  Horus  in  the 
approaching  conquest,  he  might  be  unable  to  find  the  real  sepul- 
chre. Isis  succeeded  in  recovering  all  the  different  members,  with 
the  exception  of  one,  which  had  been  devoured  by  the  Lepidotus, 
the  Phagrus,  and  the  Oxyrhynchus ;  for  which  reason  these  fish 
are  held  in  abhorrence  by  the  Egyptians.  To  make  amends, 
therefore,  for  this  loss,  she  consecrated  the  Phallus,  and  instituted 
a  solemn  festival  to  its  memory.'  '  A  battle  at  length  took  place 
between  Horus  and  Typho,  in  which  the  latter  was  taken 
prisoner.  Isis,  however,  to  whose  custody  he  was  committed,  so 
£Ekr  from  putting  him  to  death,  set  him  at  liberty;  which  so 
incensed  Horus,  that  he  tore  off  the  royal  diadem  she  wore ;  but 
Hermes  substituted  in  its  stead  a  helmet  made  in  the  shape  of 
an  ox's  head.  After  this,  Typho  publicly  accused  Horus  of 
illegitimacy ;  but,  with  the  assistance  of  Hermes,  the  question 
was  set  at  rest  by  the  judgment  of  the  gods  themselves ;  and  at 
length  two  other  battles  were  fought,  in  which  Typho  was 
defeated.  It  is  also  related  that  Isis  had  intercourse  with  Osiris 
after  his  death,  and,  in  consequence,  brought  forth  Harpocrates, 
who  came  into  the  world  before  his  time,  and  lame  in  his  lower 
limbs.'  Proceeding  with  the  examination  of  the  different  parts 
of  this  allegorical  fable,  Plutarch  observes  ^  that,  *  Osiris  being 
the  inundation  of  the  Nile,  and  Isis  the  land  irrigated  by  it,' 
from  the  conjunction  of  these  two,  Horus  was  bom,  meaning 
thereby  that  just  and  seasonable  temperature  of  the  circumambient 
air  which  preserves  and  nourishes  all  things.  Horus  is,  moreover, 
fl;uppoeed  to  have  been  brought  up  by  Latona,  in  the  marshy 
oountry  about  Butus,  because  a  moist  and  watery  soil  is  best 
adapted  to  produce  those  vapours  and  exhalations  which  serve 
to  relax  the  excessive  drought  arising  from  heat.  In  like  manner, 
they  call  the  extreme  limits  of  their  country,  their  confines,  and 
sea-shores,  Nephthys,  Teleute,  or  the  end,  whom  they  suppose  to 
have  been  married  to  Typho.  Now,  as  the  overflowings  of  the 
Nile  are  sometimes  very  great,  and  extend  to  the  boundaries  of 
the  land,  this  gave  rise  to  the  story  of  the  secret  intercourse 
between  Osiris  and  Nephthys,  as  the  natural  consequence  of  so 
gvBst  an  inundation  would  be  the  springing  up  of  plants  in  those 
pvts  of  the  country  which  were  formerly  barren.    Hence  they 


>  Pint,  de  bid.  f.  38. 


78  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XHI- 

imagine  that  Typho  was  first  made  acquainted  with  the  infidelity 
of  his  wife  by  tiie  melilot-garland  which  fell  from  the  head  of 
Osiris  while  in  her  company ;  and  that  the  legitimacy  of  Homa^ 
the  son  of  Isis,  may  thus  be  explained^  as  well  as  the  ill^timacy 
of  Anubisi  who  was  bom  of  Nephthys.  *  Furthermore,  by  the 
conspiracy  of  Typho,  and  his  tyranny,  are  to  be  understood 
the  force  and  power  of  drought,  which  overcome  the  moiatnie 
whence  the  increase  of  the  Nile  proceeds.  His  being  assisted 
by  the  queen  of  Ethiopia  refers  to  the  southern  winds 
blowing  from  that  country;  which  when  strong  enough  to 
prevail  against  the  Etesian  or  annual  northern  ones,  that  carry 
the  clouds  towards  Ethiopia,  prevent  those  showers  of  rain  firom 
falling  and  contributing  to  the  increase  of  the  Nile.  ...  As  to 
the  shutting  up  of  Osiris  in  a  chest,  this  signifies  the  withdraw- 
ing of  the  Nile  within  its  own  banks,  when  the  Etesian  winds 
have  ceased,  which  happens  in  the  month  Athyr.  About  this 
time,  in  consequence  of  the  increasing  length  of  the  nights,  the 
power  of  darkness  appearing  to  prevail,  whilst  that  of  light  is 
diminished,  the  priests  practise  doleful  rites,  in  token  of  the 
grief  of  the  goddess.  One  of  these  is  to  expose  to  public  view  a 
gilded  ox,  covered  with  a  pall  of  fine  black  linen ;  this  animal 
being  regarded  as  the  living  image  of  Osiris.  The  ceremony 
lasts  four  days,  beginning  on  the  17th  of  the  month,  and  is  in- 
tended to  represent  four  things : — 1st,  the  falling  of  the  Nile, 
and  its  return  within  its  own  channel ;  2nd,  the  ceasing  of  the 
north  winds ;  3rd,  the  length  of  the  nights  and  decrease  of  the 
days ;  and,  lastly,  the  destitute  condition  in  which  the  land  then 
appears.  Thus  they  commemorate  what  they  call  the  loss  of 
Osiris.  But  upon  liie  19  th  of  the  month  Fachon,  they  march  in 
procession  towards  the  sea,  whither  the  ttdisUd  and  priests  cany 
the  sacred  chest,  containing  a  vessel  of  gold,  into  which  they 
pour  some  river-water,  and  all  present  exclaim,  ^^  Osiris  is  found." 
Then  throwing  fresh  mould  into  the  water,  and  mixing  with  it 
aromatics  and  precious  incense,  they  make  an  image  in  the  form 
of  a  crescent,  which  is  dressed  up  and  adorned,  to  show  that  these 
gods  are  the  powers  of  earth  and  water.^ 

^  Isis  having  recovered  the  body  of  Osiris,  and  brought  her 
son  Horus  to  maturity  (whose  strength,  by  means  of  exhalations 


>  Clem.    Reoogn.    lib.    z.    27:     ^Osiri  dorns,  lib.  iz. ;  and  Clem.  HomiL  tL  9: 

aquam,  Hammoni  arietem ;'  Origen,  V.  in  '  aquam    terri    inferiorem.   .    .    .  Odrin 

Celsum,  p.   65:   'Osiris   water,  and  Isis  AUiciipAnmt.' 
earth;'  or  the  Kilo,  according  to  Halio* 


Chap.  XIH.]     INTERPBETATION  OF  HI8T0BY  OP  OSIBIS.  79 

and  clouds,  was  continually  increasing),  Typho  was  in  his  turn 
conquered,  though  not  totally  destroyed.  For  the  goddess,  who 
is  the  earth,  in  order  to  maintain  a  proper  temperament  of  heat 
and  cold,  would  not  permit  this  enemy  of  moisture  to  be  quite 
extinguished,  but  loosed  his  bonds  and  set  him  at  liberty,  well 
knowing  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  world  to  subsist  in  per- 
fection, if  the  force  of  heat  was  totally  extinguished.' 

To  sum  up  the  details  of  this  story  according  to  the  foregoing 
interpretation,  we  may  apply  to  each  its  distinct  meaning,  as 
follows : — Osiris,  the  inundation  of  the  Nile.  Isis,  the  irrigated 
portion  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Horus,  their  offspring,  the  vapours 
and  exhalations  reproducing  rain.  Bute,  Latona,  the  marshy 
lands  of  Lower  Egypt,  where  those  yapours  were  nourished. 
Nephthys,  the  edge  of  the  desert,  occasionally  overflowed  during 
the  high  inundations.  Anubis,  the  son  of  Osiris  and  Nephthys, 
the  production  of  that  barren  soil,  in  consequence  of  its  being 
overflowed  by  the  Nile.  Typho,  the  sea,  which  swallowed  up 
the  Nile  water.  The  conspirators,  the  drought  overcoming  the 
moisture,  from  which  the  increase  of  the  NUe  proceeds.  The 
chest  in  which  Osiris's  body  was  confined,  the  banks  of  the  river, 
within  which  it  retired  after  the  inundation.  The  Tancatic 
mouth,  the  lake  and  barren  lands  about  it,  which  were  held  in 
abhorrence  firom  their  being  overflowed  by  the  river  without 
producing  any  benefit  to  the  country.  The  twenty-eight  years 
of  his  life,  the  '  twenty-eight  cubits  to  which  the  NUe  rises  at 
Elephantine,  its  greatest  height.'^  The  17th  of  Athor,  the 
period  when  the  river  retires  within  its  banks.  The  queen  of 
Ethiopia,  the  southern  winds  preventing  the  clouds  being 
carried  southwards.  The  different  members  of  Osiris's  body,  the 
main  channels  and  canals  by  which  the  inundation  passed  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  where  each  was  said  to  be  afterwards 
buried.  That  one  which  could  not  be  recovered  was  the  genera- 
tive power  of  the  Nile,  which  still  continued  in  the  stream  itself; 
ov,  as  Plutarch  thinks,  it  was  said  to  have  been  thrown  into  the 
river,  because  *  water  or  moisture  was  the  first  matter  upon  which 
the  generative  power  of  the  deity  operated,  and  that  principle 
by  means  of  which  all  things  capable  of  being  were  produced.' 
Th»  victory  of  Horus,  the  power  possessed  by  the  clouds  in 
cansing  the  successive  inundations  of  the  Nile.  Harpocrates, 
whom   Isis   brought   forth   about   the  winter    solstice,    those 


'  Plat  de  Isid.  s.  43. 


80  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Ceap.  XHT, 

weak  shootiDgs  of  the  com  produced  after  the  innndation  had 
subsided.^ 

According  to  another  interpretation,^  ^by  Typho  is  meant 
the  orb  of  the  sun,  and  by  Osiris  that  of  the  moon ;  the  former 
being  of  a  scorching,  the  latter  of  a  moistening  and  prolific, 
nature.  When,  therefore,  they  say  that  Osiris's  death  happened 
on  the  17th  day  of  the  month,  it  means  that  the  moon  is  then  at 
its  full,  and  from  that  time  is  continually  on  the  wane.  In  like 
manner,  Osiris  is  said  to  have  lived  or  reigned  twenty-eight  years, 
alluding  to  the  number  of  days  in  which  she  performs  her  course 
round  the  earth.  As  to  his  being  torn  into  fourteen  pieces,  this 
is  supposed  to  mark  out  the  number  of  days  in  which  the  moon 
is  continually  decreasing  from  the  full  to  its  change;  and  by 
the  war  between  Typho  and  Horus  is  meant,  that  in  this  terres- 
trial system  sometimes  the  principle  of  corruption  prevails,  and 
sometimes  that  of  generation,  though  neither  of  them  is  ever 
able  entirely  to  conquer  or  destroy  the  other.' 

For  other  explanations  of  this  history,  I  refer  the  reader  to 
Plutarch's  treatise  of  Isis  and  Osiris ;  who  very  properly  observes, 
that  We  are  not  to  suppose  the  adventures  there  related  to  be 
*  really  true,  or  ever  to  have  happened  in  fact.'^  He  treats  it,  as 
it  reidly  was,  in  the  light  of  a  metaphysical  question ;  for,  he 
adds,  he  alone  is  competent  to  understand  it, '  who  searches  into 
the  hidden  truths  it  contains,  and  examines  the  whole  by  the 
dictates  of  reason  and  philosophy.'^  *  And  taking  a  proper  view 
of  these  matters,  we  must  neither  look  upon  water,  nor  the  sun, 
nor  the  earth,  nor  the  heavens,  simply  as  Osiris  and  Isis ;  nor 
must  we  by  Typho  understand  either  fire,  or  drought,  or  the  sea ; 
but,  in  general,  whatever  in  these  bodies  is  irregular  and  dis- 
orderly, or  whatever  is  bad,  is  to  be  attributed  to  Typho ;  as,  on 
the  contrary,  whatever  is  good  and  salutary  is  the  operation  of 
Isis  and  the  image  of  Osiris.'*^ 

Many,  however,  were  disposed  to  clothe  with  reality  all  the 
emblematic  characters  of  Osiris,  looking  upon  abstract  ideas  or 
allegories  as  positive  facts.  With  this  view,  they  deemed  him 
the  deity  of  humidity,  instead  of  the  abstract  quality  or  benefit 
arising  from  it ;  and  hence  ^  the  votaries  of  Osiris  abstained  from 
destroying  a  fruit-tree,  or  marring  any  springs  of  water.'*  A 
similar  notion  also  induced  them  ^  to  carry  a  water-jar  at  the 
head  of  the  sacred  processions  in  honour  of  this  god.'  ^ 

1  Plat,  de  laid.  s.  65.  *  Ibid.  ss.  11,  20.  *  Ibid.  s.  64.  '  n>{d.  f.  36. 

•  Ibid.  t.  41.  «  Ibid.  s.  3.  •  Ibid.  s.  35. 


Chap.  Xm.]  OSIBIS  THE  PARENT  KING.  81 

In  the  fabulous  history  of  Osiris,  we  may  trace  a  notion, 
common  to  all  nations,  of  a  god  who  in  the  early  ages  of  their 
history^  lived  on  earth,  and  was  their  king,  their  instructor,  and 
even  the  father  of  their  race ;  who  taught  them  the  secrets  of 
husbandry,  the  arts  of  ciyilisation,  and  the  advantages  of  social 
intercourse;  and  who,  extending  his  dominion  over  the  whole 
world,  permitted  all  mankind  to  partake  of  his  beneficent  in- 
fluence. They  represent  him  to  have  been  assailed  by  the 
malignant  attacks  of  some  monster,  or  enemy  of  man,  either  as 
an  evil  principle,  or  the  type  of  a  destructive  power.  He  is 
sometimes  exposed  to  the  waters  of  the  sea — an  evident  allusion 
to  the  great  deluge — from  which  he  is  saved  by  taking  refuge 
in  a  cavern,  or  by  means  of  a  floating  island,  a  lotus,  or  a  snake, 
which  bears  him  safely  to  the  summit  of  a  mountain.  He  is 
frequently  aided  by  the  interposition  of  some  female  companion, 
who  is  his  sister,  his  daughter,  or  his  wife,  and  the  mother,  as  he 
is  the  father,  of  the  human  race^  which  springs  from  their  three 
sons ;  like  the  family  of  Adam,  repeated  in  that  of  Noah.  But 
though  we  observe  some  analogy  between  these  and  the  history 
of  Osiris,  it  is  only  in  particular  points  that  any  positive  resem- 
blance can  be  admitted :  the  o£Bce  of  Osiris  was  of  a  more  im- 
portant character  than  that  usually  assigned  to  the  hero-god  and 
parent  of  man ;  as  the  notion  of  a  trinity  was  of  a  more  exalted 
nature  than  that  given  to  the  material  work  of  its  hands — the 
three  sons  of  Noah  and  his  prototype. 

Osiris  is  frequently  represented  of  a  black  colour,  as  Plutarch 

observes,*  but  more  usually  green ;  and  when  Judge  of  Amenti, 

he  has  the  form  of  a  mummied  figure,  holding  in  his  crossed 

hands  the  crook  and  flagellum,  which  is  the  mystical  vanniM — 

^  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand.'    He  is  clad  in  pure  white,  and  wears 

on  his  head  the  cap  of  Upper  Egypt  decked  with  ostrich-feathers ; 

which  head-dress,  if  not  exclusively,  at  least  particularly,  belongs 

to  this  deity.      In  the  sculptures,  a  spotted  skin  is  sometimes 

suspended  near  him — an  emblem  supposed  to  connect  him  with 

the  Greek  Bacchus;^  and  occasionally  assuming  the  character 

of  •  stability,*  he  appears  with  his  head  and  even  face  covered 

with  the  four-barred  symbol,*  which  in  hieroglyphics  has  that 


The  BWh«ree  tribe  of  Arabs  still  speak  instances  where  this  is  introduced  show  it 

•I  tb«r  founder  Bega,  who  was  their  first  to  be  the  leopard  or  panther ;  which,  as 

P»wt  as  well  as  god.  well  as  the  nebris,  belonged  to  Bacchus. 

,  rlttt.  de  bid.  s.  33.  «  Woodcut  No.   518.      Osiris  was    also 

WodoT.  L   U.     The  skin  is  nsnallr  en  lied  Lord  of  7a«M,  or  the  city  of  the  Tat, 

Tn"««ited  without  the  head ;  bat  some  supposed  to  be  Busiris.— a  B. 

vou  in.  Q 


82 


THE  ANCIENT  EaYPTIAHS. 


[Chap.  XM. 


fflgniflcatioD,  and  which  may  also  refer  to  the  intellect  of  die 
Deity. 

In  fonner  times,  the  fonr-baiied  symbol  of  stability  waa 
mistaken  for  a  Kilometer,  aa  the  sign  of  life  or  enue  aiueUa  waa 
compelled  to  submit  to  the  unintel- 
ligible name  of '  Key  of  the  Nil&'    So 
^  1     tax,  however,  is  the  latter  from  any  con- 

^        _____  nection  with  the  aver,  that  it  is  leas 

frequently  seen  in  tibe  hand  of  t^e  god 
Nilos  than  any  deity  of  the  Egyptian 
Pantheon  ;  and  the  former  never  occurs 
among  the  nomeroua  emblems  or  offer- 
ings  he  beara.  It  is  represented  as  a 
sort  of  stand  or  anpport  in  workmen's 
shops,  where,  for  the  sake  of  the  gooda 
they  wished  to  Bell,  we  may  charitably 
hope  it  required  no  graduated  Nilometet 
to  measure  the  height  of  the  intmaive 
inundation. 

Osiria  also  takes  the  character  of  the 
god  Bennu,  with  the  head  of  a  crane, 
peculiarised  by  a  tuft  of  two  long  fea- 
thers ;  and  he  sometimes  appears  as  a 
human  figure,  with  a  simple  cap  aui- 
mounted  by  two  ostrich  plumea.  The 
atatementof  Plutarch,'  that  the  dress  of 
Osiris  was  of  one  uniform  shining  colour, 
is  confirmed  by  the  paintings,  which 
generally  represent  him  clad  in  white. 
Isis  was  dressed  in  robes  of  various  hues,  because,  according 
to  the  same  writer,  'her  power  was  wholly  conversant  about 
maUer,  which  becomes  all  things  and  admits  all,  light  and 
darkness,  day  and  night,  fire  and  water,  life  and  death,  beginning 
and  end.'  Osiris  also  appears,  when  in  the  character  of  Socharia- 
Osiris,  with  the  head  of  a  hawk.'  Under  that  title  he  has  some 
connection  with  Ptah ;  and  it  is  then  that  he  is  considered  to 
have  risen  from  the  dead  after  his  visit  to  the  world.  The 
phallic  ceremonies,  said  to  have  been  performed  in  honour  of 
Osiris,  appear  rather  to  have  belonged  to  the  generative  principle 
of  the   deity   worshipped  under  the  name   of  Khem;  though 


I  'Sfpt,  Cutur  ol 


84  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  Xm. 

period,  is  found  chiefly  in  connection  with  that  of  the  sepulchres, 
and  the  tablets  and  other  objects  of  the  dead  are  consecrated  to 
him.  The  principal  incidents  detailed  by  Plutarch  are  found  in 
the  different  inscriptions,  with  some  additional  ones :  his  identifi- 
cation with  the  principal  deities  of  Egypt  as  the  son  of  Ba  and 
emanation  of  the  god  Ptah ;  his  proceeding  from  the  north  of  the 
sea ;  the  scarabaeus,  the  living  type  of  Ptah  and  Ba,  proceeding 
from  his  nostril ;  his  representation  by  two  crocodiles  or  a  serpent, 
and  his  assimilation  to  the  god  Sebak,  and  the  recovery  of  his 
limbs  in  the  water  by  Horus  in  the  shape  of  a  crocodile ;  his 
personification  of  the  earth,  and  his  rule  over  the  sand  and 
Anrut,  or  land  of  sterility,  and  Egypt  being  the  eye  of  Osiris ; 
his  connection  with  the  Apis  as  the  black  bull  and  bull  of  the 
west ;  his  residence  in  the  sycamore-tree  and  the  nor  or  tamarisk, 
with  the  Bennu  personified  as  his  soul;  his  mystical  annular 
shape,  and  his  festival  of  dwelling  in  the  Amenti  on  the  16th  of 
the  month  Choeak.^  The  myth  of  Osiris  in  its  details — ^the 
laying  out  of  his  body  by  his  wife  Isis  and  his  sister  Nephthys, 
the  reconstruction  of  his  limbs,  his  mystical  chest,  and  other 
incidents  connected  with  his  myth — ^are  represented  in  detail  in 
the  temple  of  Philae. 

It  is  principally,  however,  as  the  one  dwelling  in  the  West, 
and  the  judge  of  the  Hall  of  the  Two  Truths,  or  of  the  dead,  and 
awarder  of  the  final  judgment,  that  Osiris  is  seen  wearing  the 
atef,  seated  on  his  throne,  attended  by  Isis  and  Nephthys,  while 
the  heart  of  the  deceased  is  weighed  in  a  scale  against  the 
feather  of  truth.  The  deceased  being  led  in  by  Ma,  Truth,  or 
Anubis,  Thoth  records  the  judgment ;  and  the  lotus  of  the  sun, 
with  the  four  gods  or  genii,  as  they  are  called,  of  the  dead,  are 
seen ;  while  the  -4m,  or  the  devouring  Cerberus  of  the  Egyptian 
Hell,  and  the  forty-two  avenging  daemons,  each  the  punisher 
of  a  fault,  are  seated  before  him  awaiting  the  final  decree  of 
Osiris.— S.  B.] 

Each  town  had  its  protecting  deity,  who  presided  over 
it ;  and  the  post  of  honour  in  the  adytum,  as  in  the  most  con- 
spicuous parts  of  the  temple  erected  in  his  honour,  was  assigned 
to  him.  The  peculiar  triad  of  the  place  also  held  a  prominent 
station  in  the  sculptures ;  and  to  the  contemplar  gods  was 
assigned  a  post  according  to  the  consideration  they  there  enjoyed* 
But  the  deities  worshipped  in  the  towns  of  one  nome^  or  province 


Lefebnre,  *Le  Mythe  Osirien,'  Paris,  1874-75, 


Chap.  Xm.]  HIS  SEPULCHRE  AT  PHIUE.  86 

of  Egypt,  did  not  always  receive  the  same  honours  in  another ; 

and  it  frequently  happened  that,  though  acknowledged  to  be 

deities  of  their  country  and  treated  with  every  mark  of  respect, 

many  of  them  were  omitted  in  the  list  of  contemplar  gods.    This 

must  necessarily  have  happened  in  small  temples,  which  could 

only  admit  a  portion  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon,  especially  as  the 

tutelary  deity  of  the  place  alone  occupied  many  and  the  choicest 

places.    But  few  temples,  if  any,  denied  a  post  to  Isis  and  Osiris, 

*the  greatest  of  all  the  gods.'^    *For,'  says  Herodotus,  *the 

Egyptians  do  not  give  equal  honours  to  all  their  gods,  and  the 

only  two  to  whom  the  same  worship  is  universally  paid  are  Isis 

and  Osiris/*    With  regard  to  the  sacred  animals,  they  were 

looked  upon  with  feelings  so  different  in  various  parts  of  the 

country,  that  those  worshipped  in  one  town  were  often  held  in 

abhorrence  in  another ;   as  is  shown  by  the  civil  war  between 

the  Oxyrhynchites  and  the  people  of  Cynopolis,  mentioned  by 

Plutarch,'  and  by  a  similar  contest  related  in  Juvenal^  between 

the  people  of  Ombos  and  Tentyris.    But,  as  I  have  elsewhere 

observed,  though  the  objects  of  their  worship  varied,  it  is  not 

probable  that  such  excesses  were  committed  in  early  times, 

daring  the  rule  of  their  native  princes.    Philae  and  Abydus  were 

the  two  places  where  Osiris  was  particularly  worshipped ;  and  so 

sacred  was  the  former,  that  no  one  was  permitted  to  visit  that 

holy  island  without  express  permission ;  and  in  the  temple  which 

still  remains  there,  his  mysterious  history  is  recorded  in  the 

manner  already  mentioned.    Besides  the  celebration  of  the  great 

mysteries,  which  took  place  at  Philae,  as  at  S^uis  and  Busiris,  a 

grand  ceremony  was  performed  at  a  particular  time,  when  the 

priests  in  solemn  procession  visited  his  tomb  and  crowned  it  with 

flowers.*    Plutarch  even  pretends  that  all  access  to  the  island 

was  forbidden  at  every  other  period,  and  that  no  bird  would  fly 

over,  or  fish  swim  near,  this  consecrated  ground.    ^  The  sepulchre 

of  Osiris  at  Philce,*  says  Diodorus,*  *  is  revered  by  all  the  priests 

thioughout  Egypt ;  and  860  cups  are  filled  daily  with  milk  ^  by 

priests  expressly  appointed  for  this  purpose,  who,  calling  on  the 

iiames  of  the  gods,  utter  a  solemn  lamentation ;  wherefore  the 

idand  can  only  be  approached  by  the  priests ;  and  the  most 

aolenm  oath  taken  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Thebaid  is  to  swear 

by  Onris,  who  lies  buried  at  PhilsB.'      The  temple  of  this  deity 


»  Hcrodot  ii.  40.  *  Ibid.  ii.  42.  »  Plat,  de  IsM.  s.  72. 

•  Jut.  Sftt  IT.  36.  •  Plat,  de  hid.  s.  21.  •  Diodor.  i.  22. 

'  Milk  wu  oMd  ia  tarly  times  for  libations,  as  by  Romalas. 


86  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIIL 

at  Abydus  was  also  particularly  honoured ;  and  so  holy  was  the 
place  itself  considered  by  the  Egyptians^  that  persons  liying  at 
some  distance  from  it  sought,  and  perhaps  with  difficulty  ob- 
tained, permission  to  possess  a  sepulchre  within  its  necropolis ; 
in  order  that,  after  death,  they  might  repose  in  ground  hallowed 
by  the  tomb  of  this  great  and  mysterious  deity.  This  fact  is 
noticed  by  Plutarch,^  and  confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  inscrip- 
tions there,  which  state  the  deceased  were  natives  of  Thebes  and 
other  places.  I  have  observed  that  Memphis,  Busiris,  Taposiris, 
and  other  towns  also  claimed  the  honour  of  being  the  burial- 
places  of  Osiris ;  ^  and  the  reason  that  Apis,  ^  which  they  looked 
upon  as  the  image  of  the  soul  of  Osiris,  was  kept  at  Memphis, 
seems  to  have  been  in  order  to  place  it  as  near  his  body  as 
possible.'^  Indeed,  the  name  of  that  city,  which  signifies  the 
'  place  of  good/  appears  to  refer  to,  and  perhaps  to  have  been 
called  from,  Osiris,  who  was  the  '  Goodness '  of  the  Deity ;  and 
from  its  being  his  reputed  burial-place,  and  the  abode  of  his 
representative  on  earth,  the  bull  Apis,  we  may  find  reason  to 
prefer  this  explanation  to  that  given  by  Plutarch,^  who  considers 
Memphis  to  mean  the  ^  haven  of  good  men.'  The  name  of 
Busiris  implies,^  as  Diodorus  observes,*  the  burial-place  of  Osiris; 
and  the  same  interpretation  is  given  to  Taposiris,  though  the 
word  is  not  Egyptian  as  the  former,  but  Greek ;  as  are  most  of 
the  names  of  towns  mentioned  by  ancient  writers. 

Osiris  was  also  worshipped  under  the  form  of  Apis,  the  sacred 
bull  of  Memphis,  or  as  a  human  figure  with  a  bull's  head,  ac- 
companied by  the  name  ^  Apis-Osiris.'  According  to  Plutarch,^ 
^Apis  was  a  fair  and  beautiful  image  of  the  soul  of  Osiris;' 
and  the  same  author^  tells  us  that  'Mnevis,  the  sacred  ox  of 
Heliopolis,  was  also  dedicated  to  Osiris,  and  honoured  by  the 
Egyptians  with  a  reverence  next  to  that  paid  to  Apis,  whose 
sire  some  pretend  him  to  be.'  This  agrees  with  the  statement 
of  Diodorus,  who  says,  Apis  and  Mnevis  were  both  sacred  to 
Osiris,  and  worshipped  as  gods  throughout  the  whole  of  Egypt  ;* 
and  Plutarch  suggests  that,  from  these  well-known  representa- 
tions of  Osiris,  the  people  of  Elis  and  Argos  derived  the  idea  of 


*  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  20.  *  There  was  more  than  one  place  in 

*  The  text  gires  the  following  places  of  Egypt  of  this  name.    (Diodor.  L  17  ;  waA 
which  Oairia  was  said  to  be  lord: — Tatiu,  Plin.  r.  10,  and  zzzri  12.) 

or  Bosiris ;  Abutj  or  Abydoe  \  and  Sem^  or  *  Diodor.  i.  88. 

Ammty  the  West.— S.  B.  '  Plat,  de  Isid.  at.  29  and  SO. 

'  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  20.  "  Ibid.  s.  33. 

«  Ibid.  8.  21.  •  Diodor.  L  21. 


Cur.  XnLI 


APia 


87 


Baccbas  with  an  ox'a  liead;  Bocchns  being  reputed  to  be  tbe 
Mme  as  Osiris.  Herodotus,*  in  describing  him,  sajs,  'Apis, 
also  called  Epapboa,  is  a  young  bull,  whose  mother  can  have 
DO  other  offsprisg,  and  who  is  re- 
ported by  the  Egyptians  to  conceive 
from  lightning  sent  &om  heaven, 
and  thus  to  produce  the  god  Apis. 
He  is  known  by  certain  marks :  his 
hair  is  black ;  on  his  forehead  is  a 
white  triangular  spot,  on  his  back 
an  eagle,  and  a  beetle  under  his 
tongue,  and  the  hair  of  bis  tail  is 
duuble.'  Ovid  speaks  of  him  as 
wxriia  edortbta  Apia,  Strabo  de- 
scribe* him  with  the  forehead  and 
some  parts  of  his  body  of  a  white 
colour,  the  rest  being  black,  by 
which  signs   they   fix  upon  a  new 

one  to  succeed  the  other  when  he 

dies.     Plotarch*  observes  that,  'on 

acconnt  of  the  great  resemblance 

'they  imagine  between  Osiris  and  tbe 

aooon,  bis  more  bright  and  shining 

jiarts  being  shadowed  and  obscured 

l>y  those  that  are  of  a  darker  hue, 

tUiey  call  the  Apis  the  living  image 

of  Osiris,  and  suppose  him  begotten 

\xf  a  ray  of  generative  light,  flowing    from    the  moon,   and 

fixing  upon  his  dam  at  a  time  when  she  was  strongly  dis- 
fnaed  for  generation.'*  Pliny*  speaks  of  Apis  '  having  a  white 
•pot  in  the  form  of  a  crescent  upon  his  right  side,  and  a  lump 
vnder  his  tongue  in  the  form  of  a  beetle.'  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linos*  says  the  white  crescent  on  his  right  side  was  the  principal 
ngn  by  which  he  was  known :  and  ^lian  mentions  twenty-nine 
Bttki  by  which  he  was  recognised,  each  referable  to  some  mystic 
'^fication.  But  he  pretends  that  the  Egyptians  did  not  allow 
tW  given  by  Herodotus  and  Aristagoras.  Some  suppose  him 
entirely  black ;  and  othen  contend  that  certain  marks,  as  the 


■r-bi^  (MrtHApto.  or  SinpU. 


.  B  of  til*   wo]  of  that  goi, 

Mil  d«  lild.  t.  43.  UlDt  <^1«1  oiX  •'«•  «<•  Ptak,  '  tha  Uemd 

'  >i  ippsn  fron  th*  iMcriptlou  •(  tk«      llf*  of  Ptak.'— S.  B. 
"tnm  U  Mmphb,  that  ApU  n  pro-  '  PI>B.  rill.  M. 

n4  k;  Pub  ost  of  ■  Uiht,  ud  h«  *«,  *  Ana.  Muotllla.  uU.  14. 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Cbap.  xm. 


predominating  black  colour,  and  &e  beetle  <m  his  tongae,  show 
lum  to  be  consecrated  to  tlie  sun,  as  the  crescent  to  the  moon. 
AmmianuB  MarcelliniiB  and  others  say  that '  Apis  was  sacred  to 
the  moon,  Mnevis  to  the  son ;'  and  most  authors  seem  to  describe 
the  latter  of  a  black  colour.  With  regard  to  the  accuracy  or 
inaccuracy  of  Herodotus  respecting  the  peculiar  marks  of  Apis,  it 


is  difficult  ta  determine.  There  is,  howeTer,  evidence  from  the 
bronzes  discovered  in  Egypt,  that  the  vulture  (not  eagle)  on  bis 
back  was  one  of  his  characteristics,  supplied,  no  doubt,  like 
many  others,  by  the  priests  themselves.' 

To  Apis  belonged  all  the  clean  oxen  chosen  for  sacrifice; 
the  necessary  requisite  for  which,  according  to  Herodotus,*  was, 


fR"I  ^?^1 


JfiE. 


^? 


that  they  should  be  entirely  free  from  black  spots,  or  even  a 
single  black  hair ;  though,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  remark 
in  treating  of  the  sacrifices,  this  statement  of  the  historian  is  far 
from  accurate.  It  may  also  be  doubted  if  the  name  Epaphus, 
by  which  he  says  Apis  was  called  by  the  Greeks  in  their 
8  of  Greek  origin.* 


'  TheM  marka  wer*  inpposad  to  be  Amnd 
In  th«  confannatiDii  of  the  hsir,  ud  there 
wu  a  particular  kind  of  prieiti  or  eiperti 
who  examined  the  cattle  for  that  purpoH. 
The  perpetual  laccauion  of  the  Apli  and 
hii  discorerj  by  certain  marka  recalla  to 
mind  the  incceaaioo  ot  Badhi,  and  their 
conatant  preMmoe  in  the  world  ai  an  in- 


caniate  deity.  The  history  of  the  incar- 
nation or  the  Apia,  hie  worihip,  and  that 
of  hia  dirine  mother,  will  be  foond  in 
Uariette,  'M«moin  mr  la  Uire  d'Apb,' 
a»o.  Paria,  1856.— S.  B. 

'  Hetodot.  II.  38. 

■  Ibid,  it  28,  Hi ;  and  iiL  37. 


Chap.  XIH]  WOBSHIP  OF  APIS  AT  MEMPHIS.  89 

He  is  called  in  the  hieroglyphic  legends  Hapi;^  and  the 
bnll,  the  demonstratiye  and  figurative  sign  following  his  name, 
is  accompanied  by  the  erux  ansata,  or  emblem 
of  life.     It  has  seldom  any  ornament  on  its  ^v* 

head ;  but  the  figure  of  Apis-  (or  Hapi-)  Osiris  JB 

generally  wears  the  globe  of  the  sun,  and  the 
asp,  the  symbol  of  divine  majesty ;  which  are 


also  given  to  the  bronze  figures  of  this  bull.  J 

Memphis  was  the  place  where  Apis  was  kept,  JJ 

and  where  his  worship  was  particularly  observed.  ^®A2?-h«5r&ISIpu?' 
He  was  not  merely  looked  upon  as  an  emblem,  CHierogiyphicai  name  ©r 

_  ^1.  I    rM.  1  1  ApKintheAplBUblets 

but,  as  Pliny  and  Cicero  say,  was  deemed  *  a     ?« swjqitra  (Memphb). 

,       Vi  •  99         1  ri        1     «       11      1     .  He      M  CAlled    Apl»- 

god  by  the  Egyptians :  *  and  Strabo'  calls  Apis  omm  id  the  legend 
the  same  as  Osiris.  Psammatichus^  there  erected 
a  grand  court,  ornamented  with  figures  in  lieu  of  columns  twelve 
cubits  in  height,  forming  a  peristyle  around  it,  in  which  he  was 
kept  when  exhibited  in  public.  Attached  to  it  were  probably  the 
two  stables,  *  delubra  *  or  *  thalami,'  mentioned  by  Pliny :  *  and 
8trabo  says, '  Before  the  enclosure  where  Apis  is  kept,  is  a  vestibule, 
in  which  also  the  mother  of  the  sacred  bull  is  fed ;  and  into  this 
vestibule  Apis  is  sometimes  introduced,  in  order  to  be  shown  to 
strangers.  After  being  brought  out  for  a  little  while,  he  is  again 
taken  back.  At  other  times  he  is  only  seen  through  a  window.' 
'  The  temple  of  Apis  is  close  to  that  of  Vulcan ;  which  last  is  re^ 
markable  for  its  architectural  beauty,  its  extent,  and  the  richness 
of  its  decoration.'  The  festival  in  honour  of  Apis  lasted  seven 
days ;  on  which  occasion  a  large  concourse  of  people  assembled 
at  Memphis.  The  priests  then  led  the  sacred  bull  in  solemn 
procession,  every  one  coming  forward  from  their  houses  ,to 
welcome  him  as  he  passed ;  and  Pliny  and  Solinus  affirm  that 
children  who  smelt  his  breath  were  thought  to  be  thereby  gifted 
with  the  power  of  predicting  future  events. 

Diodorus*  derives  the  worship  of  Apis  from  the  belief  of 
*the  soul  of  Osiris  having  migrated  into  this  animal,  who  was 
thus  supposed  to  manifest  himself  to  man  through  successive 
ages;  though  some  report  that  the  members  of  Osiris  when 

*  [TKU  name  Hapi  is  the  same  they  '  Cicero,  de  Nat.  Deor.  1.    Plin.  riii.  4C. 

f»Te  to  the  gcA  Nilus ;  and  the  penonifi-  '  Strabo,   xrii.  p.  555.     When   iElian 

cation  of  nrm  as  bulls  was  not  confined  (xi.  10)  says,  'They  compare  Apis  to  Horus, 

^  ^Cypt ;   it  is  found   also  among  the  being  the  cause  of  fertility/  he  evidently 

Gmks,  as  In  the  story  of  Hercules  and  means  Osiris. 

th«  AcheloOs,  Itc  (Conf.  Horace,  40d  xir  *  Herodot.  ii.  153. 

25:  » Sic  Tolvitur   iaufiforifut  AufiL.  '^  *  PHn.  riii.  46. 


I 


90  THE  ANCIENT  BGTPTIANa  [Chap,  ^ttt 

killed  by  Tjpho  haying  been  deposited  in  a  wooden  ox,  en- 
veloped in  byssine  cloths,  gaye  the  name  to  the  city  of  Busiri^ 
and  established  its  worship  there.'  When  the  Apis  died/  certain 
priests  chosen  for  this  duty  went  in  quest  of  another,  who  was 
known  from  the  signs  mentioned  in  the  sacred  books.  As  soon 
as  he  was  found,  they  took  him  to  the  City  of  the  Nile,  prepara- 
tory to  his  removal  to  Memphis,  where  he  was  kept  forty  days ; 
during  which  period  women ^  alone  were  permitted  to  see  him. 
These  forty  days  being  completed,  he  was  placed  in  a  boat,  with 
a  golden  cabin,  prepared  to  receive  him,  and  he  was  conducted 
in  state  down  the  Nile  to  Memphis.  Pliny  and  Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  however,  affirm  that  they  led  the  bull  Apis  to  the 
fountain  of  the  priests,  and  drowned  him  with  much  ceremony, 
as  soon  as  the  time  prescribed  in  the  sacred  books  was  fulfilled. 
This  Plutarch  states  to  be  twenty-five  years,  the  square  of  five^ 
and  the  same  number  as  the  letters  of  the  Egyptian  alphabet,' 
beyond  which  it  was  forbidden  that  he  should  live ;  and  having 
thus  put  him  to  death,  they,  with  great  lamentations,  sought 
another  to  take  his  place.  His  body  was  embalmed,  and  a 
grand  funeral  procession  took  place  at  Memphis,  when  his  coffin, 
'placed  on  a  sledge,  was  followed  by  the  priests,'  ^dressed  in  the 
spotted  skins  of  fawns,  bearing  the  thyrsus  in  their  hands, 
uttering  the  same  cries,  and  making  the  same  gesticulations  as 
the  votaries  of  Bacchus  during  the  ceremonies  in  honour  of  that 
god.'^  This  resemblance,  however,  to  the  Bacchic  rites  will  cease 
to  be  as  striking  as  Plutarch  supposes,  when  we  observe  that  the 
spotted  skins  were  merely  the  leopard-skin  dresses  worn  by  the 
pontifis  on  all  grand  ceremonies,  which  I  have  had  frequent 
occasion  to  mention.  The  thyrsus  was  probably  either  their 
stafi*  of  office,  the  long-handled  censer,  or  the  vase  for  libation — 
the  last  two  being  usually  carried  by  the  high  priests  when 
about  to  officiate,  either  at  the  temple  or  the  tomb.  They  relate 
that  when  the  Apis  died  a  natuml  death,  his  obsequies  were 
celebrated  on  the  most  magnificent  scale;  and  to  such  ex«> 
travagance  was  this  carried,  that  those  who  had  the  office  of 
taking  charge  of  him  were  often  ruined  by  the  heavy  expenses 
entailed  upon  them.  On  one  occasion,  during  the  reign  of  the 
first  Ptolemy,  upwards  of  fifty  talents  were  borrowed  to  de&ay 


*  Pint,  de  bid.  8.  56.  '  On     the    Apis    cycle,    see    Leftsiiis, 

*  The  rest  of  the  sUtement,  which  at  'Einleit.,'  and  <Ueber  den  Apiskreis,'  Zeit. 
most  could  only  be  hearsay,  is  improbable;  derO.  M.  G.  Leipsig,  1853. 

unless,  perhaps,  in  Roman  tiroes.  *  Pint,  de  IskL  s.  35. 


QiUF.  Xm.]       DEATH  AND  BEFLACEMENT  OF  APIS.  91 

the  necessary  cost  of  his  funeral;^  'and  in  our  time/  says  Dio- 
doros,  *  the  curators  of  other  sacred  animals  have  expended  one 
hundred  talents  in  their  burial/ 

As  soon  as  he  was  buried,  permission  was  given  to  the  priests 
to  enter  the  temple  of  Sarapis,^  though  previously  forbidden 
during  the  whole  of  the  festival.  From  whatever  cause  the 
death  of  Apis  took  place,  the  people  performed  a  public  lamen- 
tation/ as  if  Osiris  himself  had  died  :  and  this  mourning  lasted 
until  the  other  Apis,  his  successor,  had  been  fotmd.  They  then 
oommenced  their  rejoicings,  which  were  celebrated  with  an 
enthosiasm  equal  to  the  grief  exhibited  during  the  late  mourn- 
ing. The  notion  entertained  by  the  Egyptians  respecting  the 
iMppearance  of  the  deity  under  the  same  form,  and  his  entering 
the  body  of  another  bull  as  soon  as  the  Apis  died,  confirms  the 
opinion  of  Diodorus,  that  they  believed  in  the  transmigration  of 
the  soul  of  Osiris  into  the  body  of  this  animal :  and  the  choice 
of  it  as  the  representative  of  Osiris  was  probably  owing  to  the 
doetrine  of  emanation  already  mentioned. 

Of  the  discovery  of  a  new  Apis  ^lian^  gives  the  following 

aeoonnt : — '  As  soon  as  a  report  is  circulated  that  the  Egyptian 

Spod  has  manifested  himself,  certain  of  the  sacred  scribes,  well 

in  the  mystical  marks,  known  to  them  by  tradition,  ap* 

the  spot  where  the  divine  cow  has  deposited  her  calf,  and 

following  the  ancient  ordinance  of  Hermes,  feed  it  with 

milk  dming  four  months,  in  a  house  feusing  the  rising  sun. 

^lien  this  period  has  passed,  the  sacred  scribes  and  prophets 

Mftxt  to  the  dwelling  of  Apis,  at  the  time  of  the  new  moon,  and, 

pUeing  him  in  a  boat  prepared  for  the  purpose,  convey  him  to 

Memphis,  where  he  has  a  convenient  and  agreeable  abode,  with 

FlttMue-gTounds,   and    ample   space    for  wholesome    exercise. 

Female  companions  of  his  own  species  are  provided  for  him,  the 

^Ml  beautiful  that  can  be  found,  kept  in  apartments,  to  which 

W  has  access  when  he  wishes.     He  drinks  out  of  a  well  or  foun- 

^  of  clear  water ;  for  it  is  not  thought  right  to  give  him  the 

^iter  of  the  Nile,  which  is  considered  too  fattening.     It  would 

k  tedious  to  relate  what  pompous  processions  and  sacred  cere- 

Miies  the  Egyptians  perform  on  the  celebration  of  the  rising 

^  th/b  Nile,  at  the  fete  of  the  Theophania,  in  honour  of  this  god, 

vvbat  dances,  festivities^  and  joyiful  assemblies  are  appointed 

oi  the  occasion,  in  the  towns  and  in  the  country.*    He  then  says, 

'  Dioaer.  i.  S4.  i  Coaf.  Tibull.  liV.  L  Eltg.  tU.  2a. 

•  \hn^Mj  ofCWrii  or  i/rffc  i  j^x^mm^  xtUu  10. 


92  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap,  xm 

'  The  man  from  whose  herd  the  divine  beast  has  sprung,  is  the 
happiest  of  mortals,  and  is  looked  upon  with  admiration  by  all 
people;'  which  refutes  his  previous  statement  respecting  the 
divine  cow :  and  the  assertions  of  other  writers,  as  well  as  pro- 
bability, show  that  it  was  not  the  mother  which  was  chosen  to 
produce  a  calf  with  particular  marks,  but  that  the  Apis  was 
selected  from  its  having  them.  The  honour  conferred  on  the 
cow  which  bore  it,  was  retrospective,  being  given  her  after  the 
Apis  with  its  proper  marks  'had  been  found'  by  the  priests ;  and 
this  is  consistent  with  the  respect  paid  to  the  possessor  of  the 
favoured  herd,  in  which  the  sacred  bull  had  been  discovered. 
'  Apis,'  continues  the  naturalist,  *  is  an  excellent  interpretation 
of  futurity.  He  does  not  employ  virgins  or  old  women  sitting 
on  a  tripod,  like  some  other  gods,  nor  require  that  they  should 
be  intoxicated  with  the  sacred  potion;  but  inspires  boys  who 
play  around  his  stable  with  a  divine  impulse,  enabling  them  to 
pour  out  predictions  in  perfect  rhythm.' 

It  was  in  consequence  of  these  festivities  that  the  anger  of 
Gambyses  was  so  much  excited  against  the  people  of  Memphis. 
Supposing  that  they  intended  to  signify  their  satisfaction  at  the 
defeat  of  his  army  in  the  Ethiopian  war,^  he  sent  for  the  priests, 
and  asked  them  the  reason  of  their  rejoicings.  They  replied, 
that  it  was  the  celebration  of  the  manifestation  of  the  god  Apis, 
who  had  been  a  long  time  without  appearing  amongst  them. 
Gambyses,  little  pleased  with  this  reply,  ordered  the  pretended 
deity  to  be  brought  before  him ;  when,  drawing  his  sword,  he 
plunged  it  into  the  luiimal's  body ;  and  having  killed  it,  he 
ordered  the  priests  to  be  beaten,  and  all  those  who  were  found 
celebrating  the  festival  to  be  put  to  death. 

The  Egyptians  not  only  paid  divine  honours  to  the  bull 
Apis,  but,  considering  him  the  living  image  ^  and  representative 
of  Osiris,  they  consulted  him  as  an  oracle,  and  drew  from  his 
actions  good  or  bad  omens.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  offering 
him  any  kind  of  food,  with  th6  hand :  if  he  took  it,  the  answer 
was  considered  favourable ;  ^  if  he  refused,  it  was  thought  to  be 
a  sinister  omen.  Pliny  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus  observe  that 
he  refused  what  the  unfortunate  Germanicus  presented  to  him ; 
and  the  death  of  that  prince,  which  happened  shortly  after,  was 
thought  to  confirm  most  tmequi vocally  the  truth  of  those  presages. 
The  Egyptians  also  drew  omens  respecting  the  welfare  of  their 

>  Herodot,  iU.  27.  *  Plat,  de  kid.  s.  39.    Amm.  Marcellin.  lib.  xxiL 

*  Plin.  lib.  TiiL  c  48. 


Chap.  Xm.]  CONSULTATION  OF  APIS.  93 

country,  according  to  the  stable  in  which  he  happened  to  be. 
To  these  two  stables  he  had  free  access ;  and  when  he  sponta- 
neously entered  one,  it  foreboded  benefits  to  Egypt,  as  the 
other  the  reverse;  and  many  other  tokens  were  derived  from 
accidental  circumstances  connected  with  this  sacred  animal. 

Pausanias^  says,  that  those  who  wished  to  consult  Apis  first 
burnt  incense  on  an  altar,  filling  the  lamps  with  oil  which  were 
lighted  there,  and  depositing  a  piece  of  money  on  the  altar  to 
the  right  of  the  statue  of  the  god.  Then  placing  their  mouth 
near  his  ear,  in  order  to  consult  him,  they  asked  whatever 
question  they  wished.  This  done,  they  withdrew,  covering 
their  two  ears  until  they  were  outside  the  sacred  precincts  of 
the  temple;  and  there  listening  to  the  first  expression  anyone 
uttered,  they  drew  from  it  the  desired  omen. 

Children,  also,  according  to  Pliny  and  Solinus,  who  attended 

in  great  numbers  during  the  processions  in  honour  of  the  divine 

bull,  received  the  gift  of  foretelling  future  events;   and  the 

same  authors  mention  a  superstitious  belief  at  Memphis,  of  the 

influence  of  Apis  upon   the  crocodile,  during  the  seven  days 

when  his  birth  was  celebrated.     On  this  occasion,  a  gold  and 

silver  patera  was  annually  thrown  into  the  Nile,  at  a  spot  called 

from  its  form  *  the  Bottle  :'  and  while  this  festival  was  held,  no 

one  was  in  danger  of  being  attacked  by  crocodiles,  though 

bathing  carelessly  in  the  river.    But  it  could  no  longer  be  done 

with  impunity  after  the  sixth  hour  of  the  eighth  day.     The 

hostility  of  that  animal  to  man  was  then   observed  invariably 

to  return,  as  if  permitted  by  the  deity  to  resume  its  habits. 

Apis  was  usually  kept  in  one  or  other  of  the  two  stables — 

seldom  going  out,  except  into  the  court  attached  to  them,  where 

strangers  came  to  visit  him.    But  on  certain  occasions  he  was 

conducted   through  the  town  with  great  pomp.     He  was  then 

escorted  by  numerous  guards,  who  made  a  way  amidst  the 

ciowd,  and  prevented  the  approach  of  the  profane ;  and  a  chorus 

of  children  singing  hymns  in  his  honour  headed  the  procession. 

The  attention  paid  to  Apis,  and  the  care  they  took  of  his  health 

^scrupulously  selecting  the  most  wholesome  food,  were  so  great, 

that  even  the  water  he  drank  was  taken  from  a  particular  well 

»et  apart  for  his  use ;  and  it  was  forbidden  to  give  him  the  water 

of  the  Nile,  in  consequence  of  its  being  found  to  have  a  pecu- 

littly  fattening  property.  Tor,'  says  Plutarch,^  *they  endeavour 


*  P»M*tt.  Ub.  yiii,  f  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  5. 


94  THE  ANCIENT  BGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XTH. 

to  prevent  fatness  as  well  in  Apis  as  themselyes;  always  stndions 
that  their  bodies  may  sit  as  light  about  their  souls  as  possible, 
in  order  that  their  mortal  part  may  not  oppress  and  weigh  down 
the  more  divine  and  immortal/  Their  idea  of  the  fecundating 
qualities  of  the  Nile  water  led  the  Egyptian  shepherds  to  raise 
it  from  the  river  for  their  flocks,  especially  for  ewes  or  goats 
which  were  not  prolific ;  and  to  this  ^lian  attributes  their  pro- 
ducing five  at  a  birth.^  I  have  seen  an  instance  of  a  bull  with 
the  globe  and  feathers  between  its  horns,  standing  on  a  monu- 
ment built  at  the  side  of  a  mountain — probably  the  Libyan 
range  behind  Memphis — ^and  over  it  the  name  '  Ftah-Socharis- 
Osiris,  the  God  of  the  West ;'  which  was  probably  intended  to 
represent  Apis,  in  the  character  of  that  deity.*  On  the  opposite 
side  was  a  cow,  also  coming  from  a  mountain,  with  a  similar 
head-dress,  and  the  long  horns  usually  given  to  Athor,  over 
which  was  the  name  Isis.  This  is  one  of  many  proofs  of  the 
analogy  between  the  two  goddesses ;  the  more  remarkable,  from 
Isis  being  introduced  with  Apis,  as  she  usually  is  with  Osiris. 
A  black  bull  with  a  white  crescent  on  its  shoulder,  or  a  white 
spot  upon  the  shoulder,  and  others  on  the  haunch,  the  nose, 
round  the  eye,  and  on  its  legs,  carrying  a  dead  body,  covered 
with  a  red  pall,  is  sometimes  represented  at  the  foot  of  a  mummy- 
case,  or  on  a  board  deposited  in  the  tomb.'  This  appears  to  be 
the  Apis,  in  some  office  connected  with  Osiris,  as  ruler  of 
Amenti.  It  runs  in  haste  over  the  hills,  on  its  way  to  the 
western  region,  where  Osiris  presided:  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  king,  when  running  into  the  presence  of  the  gods,  with 
vases  or  other  emblems  in  his  hand,  is  sometimes  accompanied 
by  a  bull.  A  *  white  *  bull  also  attended  in  the  procession  at  the 
coronation  of  the  Pharaohs  ;  and  the  bull  of  Tum  at  Heliopolis, 
the  Mnevis,  was  called  ^  the  strong  bull  of  Tum,  of  An  or 
Heliopolis.'  * 

[The  discovery  by  Mariette  Bey,  in  1851,  of  the  Serapeum 
at  Saqqdra  has  added  considerably  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Apis  worship.  It  appears  also  that  the  step-shaped  pyramid  of 
Saqqara  of  the  1st  Dynasty  is  the  Apeum  of  the  so-called  old 
empire.  The  Serapeum  of  Memphis  consisted  of  the  series  of 
galleries  and  chambers  in  which  the  bulls  were  buried,  from  the 
reign  of  Amenophis  III.  to  the  Eoman  Empire.    The  numerous 


>  iElian,  iii.  33.  <  Apis  bearing  away  the  body  of  Osiris.' 

'  This  is  found  on  coffins.  Brit.  Mus.  No.  6681. 

*  The   inscription  on*  bome  states  it  is  *  Burton^  £xe.  Hier.  51. 


GHAP.xm.] 


SABAPIS  OF  FOBEIGN  OBIQIN. 


95 


tablets  discovered  record  the  date  of  the  death  of  the  Apis*^  that 
of  his  discovery  and  enthronement  at  Memphis  at  the  time  of 
the  later  d]masty,  and  afford  important  chronological  resnlts. 
A  long  dromos  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  sphinxes  led 
from  the  east  side  of  the  Egyptian  Serapeum  to  the  Greek 
Serapenm,  which  was  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the 
Sarapis  of  Pontus,  and  the  alliance  of  Sarapis  and  Osiris,  and 
not  a  sepulchre.  The  Asar-Hapis,  Osiris  or  deceased  Apis,  was 
the  son  and  ^repeated  *  or  *  second  life  of  Ptah.' — S.  B.] 

The  account  given  by  Plutarch  ^  of  the  introduction  of  Sar- 
apis into  Egypt,  is  as  follows  : — ^  Ptolemy  Soter  had  a  dream, 
in  which  a  colossal  statue,  such  as  he  had  never  seen  before, 
appeared  to  him,  commanding  him  to  remove  it  as  soon  as  possible 
from  the  place  where  it  then  stood,  to  Alexandria.  Upon  this, 
the  king  was  in  great  perplexity,  not  knowing  where  the  statue 
was.  Sosibius,  however,  who  was  a  great  traveller,  declared  that 
he  had  seen  one  answering  its  description  at  Sinope.  Soteles 
and  Dionysius  were,  therefore,  sent  thither,  and  with  much 
diflScnlty  succeeded  in  bringing  the  statue  to  Egypt. 

'Timotheus'  the  interpreter,  and  Manetho  the  Sebennite,  as 

soon  as  it  arrived  and  was  shown  to  them,  concluded,  from  the. 

Cerberus  and  dragon,  that  it  represented  Pluto,  and  persuaded 

the  king  that  it  was  no  other  than  Sarapis.    For  it  was  not  so 

called  at  Sinope ;  but,  on  its  arrival  at  Alexandria,  it  obtained 

the  name  of  Sarapis,  which  with  the  Egyptians  answers  to  Pluto.^ 

The  observation  of  Heraclitus  the  physiologist,    that    Hades 

(Pluto)  and  Bacchus  are  the  same,  leads  to  a  similar  conclusion : 

Osiris  answering  to  Bacchus,  as  Sarapis  to  Osiris,  after  he  had 

dianged  his  nature ;  for  Sarapis  is  a  name  common  to  all,  as 

those  know  who  are  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Osiris.    The 

opinion  of  those  who  pretend  that  **  Sarapis  is  no  god,  but  the 


'  Muiette,  'Choiz  de  MontuneDts,'  Paris, 
^to,  1856;  •M^moire  sur  U  M^re  d'Apis,' 
^to,  Paris,  1856 :  *  Le  Serapeam/  fol.  Paris, 

'  PlaU  de  Isid.  s.  28. 

'  TtdtQs  sajs  he  was  an  Athenian. 

*  This  is  the  Greek  type  of  Sarapis  or 
^pis,  that  of  a  hearded  man,  draped, 
vitk  the  expression  of  Hades  or  Pluto, 
vcari&i  on  his  head  a  modias,  and  holding 
A  teeptre,  either  standing  or  seated  on  a 
throne,  at  the  side  of  which  are  an  eagle, 
cAblein  of  Zeus  or  JoTe,  and  Cerberus, 
mblem  of  Hades.  The  modius  is  occa- 
«w»l^T  decorated  with  floral  ornaments 


This  type  of  Sarapis  without  the  adjuncts 
replaces  on  the  coins  and  monuments  the 
leading  deities  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon, 
such  as  Khnum,  Amen,  Ptah,  Osiris,  and 
Turn.  It  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
Egyptian  Asar-hapi,  or  Sarapis,  which  was 
always  represented  bull-headed,  sometimes 
wearing  the  solar  dislc,  and  personifying  the 
deceased  Apis  in  contradistinction  to  the 
bull,  or  living  Apis.  At  Rome  and  elsewhere 
the  Egyptian  religion  under  the  Empire, 
known  as  the  Isiac  worship,  was  represented 
by  Osiris,  Sarapis,  and  Isis,  and  temples 
were  erected  to  Sarapis  alone.  The  greatest 
temple  of  Sarapis  was  at  Alezandriiu — S.  B. 


96  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHT. 

mere  denomination  of  the  sepulchral  chest,  into  which  the  body 
of  Apisy  after  death,  is  deposited/'  is  perfectly  absurd.  The 
priests,  indeed — at  least,  the  greatest  part  of  them — tell  us,  that 
Sarapis  is  no  other  than  the  mere  union  of  Osiris  and  Apis  into 
one  word ;  ^  declaring  that  **  Apis  ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  fair 
and  beautiful  image  of  the  soul  of  Osiris."  For  my  own  part,  I 
cannot  but  think  that  this  word  is  expressive  of  joy  and  gladness, 
since  the  festival  which  the  Greeks  call  Charmosyna,  or  the  feast 
of  joy,  is  by  the  Egyptians  termed  Sarei.*  Tacitus'  gives  the 
same  account  of  the  introduction  of  Sarapis  into  Egypt,  which 
is  confirmed  by  Macrobius  and  Pausanias;^  and  Clemens  of 
Alexandria  ^  states,  ^  on  the  authority  of  some  persons,  that  the 
statue  was  sent  as  a  present  by  the  people  of  Sinope  to  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  who  had  relieved  their  city  from  famine  by  a 
supply  of  com.  It  was  a  representation  of  Pluto,  and  was  placed 
in  the  promontory  now  called  Bacotis,  where  the  temple  of 
Sarapis  stands.  Others,  however,  affirm  this  Sarapis  to  be  a 
Pontic  statue,  brought  to  Alexandria  in  consequence  of  the 
great  concourse  of  strangers  in  that  city.'  From  the  foregoing 
statement  of  Plutarch,  it  is  evident  that  the  Sarapis,  whose 
worship  was  introduced  by  the  first  Ptolemy  from  Sinope,  was  a 
new  deity,  previously  unknown  in  the  Pantheon  of  Egypt ;  and 
Macrobius  *  affirms  that,  though  the  Egyptians  were  compelled 
to  receive  Sarapis  and  Saturn  into  the  order  of  gods,  and  to 
celebrate  their  rites  after  the  manner  of  the  Alexandrians,  their 
temples  were  never  admitted  within  the  precincts  of  their  towns. 
We  therefore  find  no  mention  of  Sarapis  till  the  time  of  the 
Greeks  and  Bomans ;  and  that  principally  in  cities  founded  or 
greatly  frequented  by  them,  as  Alexandria,  Canopus,  Antinoopolis, 
and  Berenice,  in  small  Boman  towns  of  the  Oasis,  in  the  Nitriotis,* 
or  in  quarries  and  stations  in  the  deserts,  where  he  was  also 
invoked  under  the  names  of  Pluto  and  Sol  Inferus.'  The  form 
of  Sarapis,  according  to  the  statues  found  at  Bome,  is  totally 
different  from  that  assigned  to  him  in  the  Greece-Egyptian 
temples  of  Egypt ;  where  he  appears  to  be  merely  a  modification 
of  Osiris  himself.  Clemens  describes  the  figure  of  the  god  to  bo 
of  an  azure  colour  approaching  to  black. 

Indeed,  from  what  Plutarch  says,  that  Sarapis  answered  to 

*  Clemens,  Orat.  Adhort.  p.   21,    also         *  Clemena,  Orat.  Adhort.  p.  20. 

says  the  name  of  Sarapis  is  composed  of         *  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  4. 

Osiris  and  Apis.  *  Strabo,  xrii.  p.  552. 

'  Tacit.  Hist.  ir.  cc.  83,  84.  ^  These  inscriptions  usually  begin  All 

>  Pausan.  in  Athen.  HAIfil  MEFAAOI  SAPAOIAI. 


Chap.  TOn.]  NATURE  OF  SARAPIS.  07 

Odiiis  after  he  had  changed  his  nature  (that  is,  when  Judge  of 
Amentiy  or,  as  Diodorus  says,^  in  the  character  of  Pluto),  and 
that  Sarapis  was  a  name  given  to  all  persons  after  their  death, 
it  is  eyident  that  he  was  thought  to  resemble  Osiris,  in  his 
character  of  President  of  the  Lower  Begions.  But  the  mode  of 
celebrating  his  worship  was  repugnant  to  the  religious  scruples 
of  the  Egyptians ;  he  was  therefore  kept  distinct,  and  refused  a 
place  amongst  the  gods  of  their  Pantheon.  Tacitus  ^  tells  us, 
that  so  great  was  the  difference  of  opinion  respecting  this  deity, 
that  some  thought  him  to  be  .^culapius,  others  Osiris,  others 
Jupiter,  and  others  Pluto.  According  to  Macrobius,^  ^the 
Egyptian  Sarapis  being  asked  who  he  was,  replied  in  these 
yerses: 

**■  I  will  let  jou  know  whmt  kiod  of  god  I  am. 
The  hearenlj  host  is  my  head,  mj  belly  is  the  sea. 
My  feet  are  the  earth,  my  ears  are  air, 
And  my  two  eyes  the  far-shining  bright  light  of  the  snn." — [S.  B.] 

From  which  it  appears  that  Sarapis  and  the  sun  are  one  and  the 
same  deity ;'  and  hence  the  formulsd  of  so  many  Greek  dedica- 
tions to  this  god,  which  are  inscribed,  '  To  Pluto,  the  Sun,  the 
great  Sarapis.'    Prichard  supposes  that  ^  the  rites  of  ^sculapius 
were  borrowed  by  the  Greeks  from  the  worship  of  the  Egyptian 
Sarapis ; '  '  the  same  animals,  the  serpent  and  cock,'  which  were 
'appropriated  to  Sarapis,  being  the    symbolical    emblems    or 
consecrated  victims  of  the  god  of  health:'   but  it  must   be 
observed  that  these  emblems  are  not  given  him  by  the  Egyptians ; 
and  the  cock  is  never  represented.    He  also  states,  on  the 
authority  '  of  Porphyry  and  Eusebius,  that  he  was  supposed  to 
preside  over  the  invisible  world,  and  to  be  the  ruler  of  daemons, 
or  maleficent  spirits.'  ^    Some,  indeed,  are  disposed  to  think  that 
Sarapis  was  an  Egyptian  deity  of  an  early  era,  and  that  the 
niemblance  found  to  exist  in  the  attributes  of  the  god  of  Sinope 
Aows  the  Egyptians  recognised  in  him  a  god  already  known  to 
tlk^ii;  while  others  conclude  that  he  was  altogether  unknown 
in  Egypt  previous  to  the  age  of  Ptolemy  Soter.    But  I  will 
^eavour  to  reconcile  these  opinions.    The  statue  was  thought 
to  bear  analogy  to  Osiris ;  the  word  Sarapis  was  taken  from  the 
iwune  of  that  Egyptian  deity,  being  a  corruption  of  Apis-Osiris  * 


'  IKedor.  L  25.        *  Tacit.  Hist.  \y,  83.  (or  Apis).'    According  to  Clemens,  *  Aris- 

'  Macroh.  Saturn.  L  25.  teas   the  Argiye  thought  that  Apis  was 

*  Priehaxd,  E^ypt.  Myth.  p.  94.  called  SarapU ;'    and  he  has  a  strange  idea 

*  notarck  (de  laid.  s.  87)  says,  *  Osiris  of  the  Argire  king  Apis  being  the  founder 
«^  SarapU  an  aoM  other  than  Epaphm  of  Memphis.    (Strom,  i.  p.  29.) 

VOL.  III.  H 


98  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIH. 

(or  Osiris- Apis) ;  and  the  new  god  was  made  a  separate  diyinity 
in  consequence  of  some  objection  to  the  mode  of  celebrating  his 
worship.  This  is  confirmed  by  what  Pausanias  says  of  the  worship 
of  Sarapis  being  introduced  into  Egypt;  and  of  there  haying 
been  a  temple  dedicated  to  him  at  Memphis,  and  another  at 
Alexandria,  previous  to  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  ;  the  latter  being, 
according  to  Pausanias,^  '  the  most  splendid,  as  the  former  was 
the  most  ancient.'  Tacitus  also  states  that  ^at  Bhacotis'  a 
small  temple  had  been  consecrated  to  the  same  deity,  and  to  IsU 
before  that  time.'  The  deity,  then,  to  whose  temple  they  allude, 
was  Osiris  :  Sarapis,  who  was  only  introduced  into  temples  built 
by  the  Ptolemies  and  Ceesars,  was  a  modified  form  of  the  husband 
of  Isis ;  and  the  god  of  Sinope  was  thought  or  made  to  accord 
with  the  same  deity.  We  may  at  once  reject  the  statement  of 
Eustathius,  that  the  Jupiter  of  Sinope  was  the  deity  of  Memphis, 
as  we  may  question  the  truth  of  there  being  a  hill  near  that  city 
which  bore  the  name  of  Sinopion.  The  endeavour,  on  the  part  of 
his  votaries,  to  discover  in  Sarapis  a  resemblance  to  so  many 
different  deities,  arose  from  their  desire  to  remove  that  antipathy 
to  his  worship  which  the  Egyptians  had  conceived,  from  the 
moment  this  foreign  deity  was  introduced  into  their  country; 
and  every  means  were  resorted  to  which  could  serve  to  dispel 
their  prejudice,  or  induce  them  to  perceive  in  him  an  a£Snity  to 
their  ancient  gods.  But  the  artifice  had,  as  might  be  expected, 
little  effect  upon  the  priesthood,  with  the  exception  of  those 
appointed  to  temples  erected  by  the  Ptolemies,  in  remote  places, 
as  at  the  Oases,  Berenice,  and  other  towns  situated  in  the  desert. 
And  while  few  gods  were  known  at  Alexandria  but  this  intruder, 
who  was  arbitrarily  made  to  conform  to  or  usurp  the  attributes 
of  several  other  respectable  divinities,  the  Alexandrian  Greeks 
fancied,  by  giving  him  a  comprehensive  character  similar  to  that 
mentioned  by  Macrobius,  that  they  had  united  in  him  the 
essence  of  a  whole  assembly  of  gods.^  But  Sarapis  was  at  no 
time  Egyptian;  he  was  always  foreign  to  their  worship,  and 
treated  as  an  intruder  by  the  Egyptians ;  and  at  most  he  may 
be  considered  a  Grseco-Egyptian  deity,  attached  to  rather  than 
belonging  to  the  Pantheon  of  Egypt. 

Isis,  more  frequently  worshipped  as  a  deity  in  the  temples  of 


*  Pmusan.  Attic,  edit.  Siebelis,  p.  42.  84 ;  and  Strabo,  xrii.  545.) 

*  Rhacotis  or  Racotis,  Rac6t,  stood  where  '  The  Emperor  Hadrian  saw  in  him  the 
Alexandria  was  built.    (Tacit.  Hist.  lib.  ir.      God  of  the  Jewd  and  Christians. 


k^jaii::;TOOVi 


C5HAP.  Xm.]         MANIFOLD  CHARAOTEB  OP  ISIS.  101 

the  city  of  Bubastis  was  built  in  my  honour.  Bejoice,  0  Egypt, 
which  hast  been  to  me  a  nurse/  The  same  author  also  says, 
*  There  is  a  great  question  respecting  this  goddess,  as  well  as 
Osiris;  some  calling  her  Isis,  others  Ceres,  Thesmophoros,  the 
Moon,  or  Juno ;  and  many  give  her  all  these  names.'  ^ 

Plutarch  considers  Isis  ^  to  be  the  Earth,^  the  feminine  part 
of  nature,'  or  that  property  which  renders  her  a  fit  subject  for  the 
production  of  all  other  beings ;'  and  he  thinks  ^  *  that  the  dresses 
of  her  statues  were  made  with  a  variety  of  colours,  from  her 
power  being  wholly  conyersant  about  matter,  which  becomes  and 
admits  all  things.'  The  notion  of  Isis  ^  being  the  earth  agrees 
with  her  supposed  resemblance  to  Ceres,  under  the  name  of 
Demeter,  or  Mother  Earth;  and  Diodorus*  says,  that  'the 
Egyptians,  considering  the  earth  to  be  the  receptacle  of  all 
things  that  are  bom,  call  it  mother^  as  the  Greeks  in  like  manner 
denominate  it  Demeter; — the  word  being  slightly  altered  by 
time  from  the  ancient  Mother  Earth,'  as  Orpheus  attests : 
''Mother  of  all  things,  Demeter  giver  of  wealth."^' 

The  numerous  characters  she  bore,  arose  from  the  various 

combinations  into  which  she  entered.     She  was  considered  to 

be  matter  in  reference  to  the  intellect  of  the  Deity,  which 

operated  upon  it  in  the  creation.    And,  in  accordance  with  this 

idea,  Osiris  and  Isis  were  supposed  to  resemble  the  two  members 

of '  the  nuptial  diagram  of  Plato,  representing  a  right-angled 

triangle,  whose  perpendicular  side  is  equal  to  3,  the  base  to  4, 

and  the  hypothenuse  to  5 ;  and  in  which  the  perpendicular  is 

designed  to  indicate  the  masculine  nature,  the  base  the  feminine, 

and  the  hypothenuse  the  offspring  of  both.    Accordingly,'  adds 

Plutarch, '  the  first  of  these  aptly  represents  Osiris,  or  the  prime 

Cause;  the  second,  Isis,  or  the  receptive  power;  and  the  last, 

Oraa,  or  the  common  effect  of  the  other  two.'*    She  was  thought 

to  answer  to  Proserpine,  because  she  presided  with  Osiris  in 

Amenti ;  and  the  hieroglyphics  not  only  identify  her  with  Hecate, 

bat  point  out  the  Egyptian  origin  of  that  name  in  the  legends 

iMioompaaying  her  name,  where  she  is  styled  'Isis,  the  potent 


^  Diodor.  i.  25.  name  of  Osiris,  as  A^-ar,  <  seat-maker,'  but 

'  Plat,  da  Isid.  s.  3S.  it  is  doubtful  if  the  esoteric  meaning  was 

*  Ibid.  s.  53.  Conf.  Athenajror.  Supplic  the  same  for  her  phonetic  name.  Wood- 
KtCbisUanis:  ^Irir  f^ur  cOwyos,  ii  <f  cut  No.  527.— S.  B. 

^intt  ffw^or.  *  Diodor.  i.  12. 

*  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  7S.  '  I^r  fi^tpa, 

'  The  aanic  of  Isis  was  Am  or  HeM,  and  •  T^  ti'ir^p  wdtrrmp,  Ai^fifmip  vXovro- 

vrittcn  hj  tiM  throne,  and  meant  <  the  Z&r^tpa,    Conf.  Cic  de  Nat.  I>eor.  lib.  ii. 

Hst;'  the  throM  ftlM  entered  into  the  '  Flat,  de  Isid.  s.  56. 


102  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  tttt. 

Hekte.'    lu  comparing  Anubis  and  Hecate,  Plutarch  would  have 
been  more  correct  if,  for  the  former,  he  had  substituted  the  name 
of  Isis,  when  he  says/  *  Anubis  seems  to  be  of  the  same  power  and 
nature  as  the  Grecian  Hecate,  a  deity  common  bo^  to  the 
celestial  and  infernal  regions.'    She  is  sometimes  figured  under 
the  form  of  a  scorpion,  the  emblem  of  the  goddess  Selk,  with  the 
legend  *  Isis  Selk ; '  but  this  is  only  in  some  inferior  capacity 
connected  with  the  mystic  rites,  or  the  region  of  AmentL     The 
greater  number  of  the  characters  given  to  Isis  by  Greek  writers 
appear  to  be  mere  fancies  of  a  late  time,  unsupported  by  the 
authority  of  the  monuments ;  and  some  are  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  known  sentiments  of  the  Egyptians;  as  an  instance  of 
which,  I  may  mention  her  supposed  identity  with  the  moon, 
which  was  represented  by  the  god  Thoth,  and  in  no  instance 
considered  a  female  deity.    I  do  not  stop  to  examine,  or  even  to 
enumerate,  the  idle  tales  which  the  Greeks  repeated  concerning 
Isis.    I  have  already  observed  that  both  Osiris  and  his  sister  Isis 
were  not  deified  persons  who  had  lived  on  earth,  but  fiabulous 
beings,  whose  history  was  founded  on  metaphysical  speculation ; 
and  adapted  to  certain  phenomena  of  nature,  as  in  the  allegory 
of  the  rising  of  the  Nile,  where  she  is  the  land  of  Egypt  irrigated 
by  the  waters  of  the  inundation.    With  the  same  spirit,  and  in 
continuation  of  her  fabulous  history,  it  was  said  that  her  soul  was 
transferred  after  death  to  Sirius  or  the  DogH9tar,  ^  which  the 
Egyptians  call  Sothis.'  ^    That  she  had  the  name  of  Isis-Sothis, 
and  was  supposed  to  represent  Sirius,  is  perfectly  true,  as  the 
sculptures  themselves  abundantly  prove  ;^  and  the  heliacal  rising 
of  that  star  is  represented  on  the  ceiling  of  the  Memnonium  at 
Thebes,  under  the  form  and  name  of  this  goddess.    It  was  not, 
however,  in  consequence  of  a  belief  entertained  in  Egypt — at 
least,  by  the  initiated — that  the  soul  of  Isis  had  been  transferred 
to  the  Dog-star :  this  was  looked  upon  in  the  same  light  as  the  ^ 
connection  between  the  god  Thoth  and  the  moon,  who  in  one  oSi 
his  characters  answered  to  the  Lunus  of  the  Egyptians,  and  iX^ 
another  corresponded  to  Mercury.    In  like  manner,  Isis  and  oth^'^ 
deities  assumed  on  different  occasions  various  characters;   an.^ 
Sothis,  the  Dog-star,  was  one  of  those  assigned  to  the  sister  c^ 
Osiris.    This  adaptation  of  Isis,  and  other  deities,  to  the  planetar^ 
system,   led  to  the  remark  of  Eusebius,*  'that  the  Egyptian.--^ 


'  Plut  de  Isid.  s.  44.  »  PUt«  XXVI.,  hierog.  No.  5. 

*  Ibid.  88.  21  and  61.  *  fiueb.  Pnep.  Evang.  iii.  &  4. 


Ghap.XIIL] 


ISIS  AND  THE  DOG-STAB. 


103 


esteem  the  son  to  be  the  demiurgus,  and  hold  the  legends 
about  Osiris  and  Isis,  and  all  their  other  mythological  fables,  to 
have  reference  to  the  stars ;  and  their  appearances  and  occulta- 
tions,  and  the  periods  of  their  risings,  or  to  the  increase  and 
decrease  of  the  moon,  to  the  cycles  of  the  sun,  to  the  diurnal  and 
nocturnal  hemispheres,  or  to  the  river.'  Plutarch^  also  gives 
one  explanation  of  the  history  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  taken  from  the 
phenomena  of  ecUpses. 

The  great  importance  attached  to  Sothis  was  owing  to  the 
peculiar  period  of  the  year  when  the  heliacal  rising  of  that  star 
took  place ;  and  the  influence  it  was  supposed  to  exercise  upon 
the  commencement  of  the  inundation,  which  was  typified  by 
Osiris,  very  naturally  led  the  Egyptians  to  connect  it  with  Isis.^ 
I  have  already  noticed,  in  a  former  work,^  the  use  made  of  this 
star  in  their  astronomical  calculations,  in  speaking  of  the  two 
Egyptian  years ;  from  which  I  shall  extract  a  few  observations. 
'The  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Bomans  had  acquainted  that 
people  with  the  existence  of  the  arch,  and  its  utility  as  a 
substitute  for  wood,  to  which  it  probably  owed  its  invention ;  nor 
can  anyone  for  a  moment  imagine  that  the  vanity  of  that  nation 
would  have  allowed  to  remain  concealed  the  name  of  its  inventor, 
had  he  been  a  Boman.    The  same  remark  applies  to  the  inter- 
calated year ;  and  surely  the  Bomans  were  at  no  time  celebrated 
for  astronomical  knowledge.    The  Boman  Calendar  was,  indeed, 
put  in  order  by  Julius  Caesar,  but  with  the  assistance  of  Sosigenes, 
an  Egyptian ;  who,  to  supply  the  defect  of  67  days,  that  had 
been  lost  through  the  inattention  of  the  Pontifices,  and  in 
Older  to  bring  the  beginning  of  the  year  once  more  to  the  winter 
solstice,  as  was  instituted  by  Numa,  made  that  year  consist  of  15 
months,  whence  called  '^the  year  of  confusion."    The  ensuing 
yean  were  formed  of  365  days ;  and  every  fourth,  a  day  was 
added,  making  366.    The  27th  of  August  at  that  time  coincided 
with  Hie  1st  of  Thoth.*    The  Egyptian  civil  solar  year  consisted 
of  365  days,  divided  into  12  months  of  30  days  each,  at  the  end  of 
which  were  added  the  5  days  called  epact,^  or  intercalated.    This 


'  Pkt  de  Isid.  t.  44. 

*  For  t  figure  of  kU-Sothis  lee  Plate 
UVL  fg,  5.  She  WM  called  <  Sothis, 
^  grcai  lady  of  the  commencement  of 
^  year,*  and  ahining  orer  the  hearens 
^  the  opening  *or  determination  of  the 
T«>r;*  ako  aa  canting  the  rise  of   the 

aiW  tt  iU  proper  time,  *or  abundance  of 

*tUr  to  innndate  the  had,'    (Brug^h 


*  Mat^riaaz  pour  le  Calendrier.'    Leipzig, 
4to,  1864,  p.  27).— S.  B. 

•  *  Materia  Hierog.,'  Appendix  No.  1. 

•  *The  Canicula  regularly  rises  in  Egypt 
on  the  1st  of  Thoth.'  This  corresponded  to 
the  20th  of  July  in  the  year  B.a  1322, 
which  was  the  commencement  of  the 
Canicular  period.    (Censor,  de  Die  Natali.) 

•  Censor,  de  Die  NatalL    Cory,  p.  323. 


m 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Ohap.XHL 


civil  year  was  always  used  by  the  Egyptians,  for  the  common 
epochas  and  calculations  of  the  people ;  as  the  dates  of  their 
kings,  ages  of  men,  and  the  like.  That  used  by  the  priests  for 
ibstronomical  purposes  was  different,  and  was  calculated  from  the 
heliacal  rising  of  the  Dog-star  (Sothis)  to  that  of  the  ensuing 
year,  and  consisted  of  365^  days  :  that  is,  every  fourth  year  a 
day  was  intercalated,  as  in  the  Julian  year,  making  it  to  consist 
of  366  days.  Hence,  as  the  Egyptian  solar  y^ar,  in  every  four 
years,  loses  a  day  of  the  Sothic,  and  the  Ist  of  Thoth  vague,  or 
solar  Thoth,  runs  through  every  part  of  that  year,  in  the  space 
of  1460  Sothic  years,  before  it  again  coincides  with  the  1st  of 
Thoth  of  the  Sothic  year,  this  period  is  called  ^the  Sothic 
period."  The  intercalated  year  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the 
Copt  inhabitants  of  Egypt,  as  their  common  civil  year,  and  the 
solar  was  no  longer  used :  but  as  the  real  year  merely  contains 
365  days  5  hours  48  minutes  45^  seconds,  this  year  of  365^  days 
exceeds  the  true  solar  year  by  upwards  of  11  minutes,  amounting 
to  a  day  in  about  131  years;  and  as  the  Copts  have  never 
corrected  the  year,  the  1st  of  Thoth,  at  the  present  time,^  falls  on 
the  10th  of  September ;  on  which  day  they  celebrate  a  festival, 
and  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the  rising  Nile.  The  first  correction 
for  this  excess  of  the  Julian  year  was  made  in  Europe  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.,  in  1582  (a  correction  which  was  adopted  in 
England  in  1752),  and  is  called  the  New  Style,  as  that  of  the 
Copts  and  Greeks,  the  Old. 

*  To  satisfy  the  reader  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  had  two 
years,  I  shall  first  call  his  attention  to  the  origin  and  derivation 
of  the  expression  ^^  Sothic  period,"  which  I  before  mentioned ; 
secondly,  to  the  authority  of  ancient  writers. 

*  Horapollo  expressly  tells  us,  the  Egyptian  Sothic  year  was 
called  the  squared  year,  from  the  intercalation  of  the  quarter- 
day,  or  fourth  year.  Diodorus^  says  they  make  their  month  of 
thirty  days,  and  add  five  days  and  a  fourth  to  the  12th  months ; 
but  does  not  allow  it  to  have  been  a  Eoman  innovation : '  and 


*  This  was  written  in  1828. 

*  Diodor.  i.  50.  He  rUited  Egjpt  in  the 
rei^  of  Ptolemj  Nens  Dionjsus  (i.  44). 

'  Strabo  also  mentions  it  as  an  Egjptinn 
cnstom,  when  he  says  (lib.  irii.  p.  561), 
'  Thej  (the  Ei^jptians)  do  not  divide  their 
year  according  to  the  course  of  the  moon, 
but  of  the  sun :  and  to  the  twelve  months, 
each  of  thirty  days,  they  add  At®  ^'^Y*  <^^ 
thfi  end  of  the  year.    Bat  to  make  up  the 


complete  sum  of  the  whole  year,  which 
has  an  excess  of  a  portion  of  a  day,  they 
put  together  the  whole  surplus  of  each 
year,  until  it  makes  a  whole  day.  All 
which  calculation  they  attribute  to  Her- 
mes.' And  in  another  place  (zrii.  p. 
554)  he  states,  that  they  had  the  same 
knowledge  in  the  early  time  of  Plato  and 
Eudoxus,  when  the  year  was  unknown  in 
Qreece. 


CHAP.XIIL] 


THE  SOTHIC  YEAR 


105 


Macrobius^  actually  affirms   that  **  Julius  Caesar  derived  firom 
the  Egyptian  institutions  the  motions  of    the  coDstellations, 
oonceming  which  he  left  some  very  learned  papers^  and  also 
borrowed  from  the  same  source  the  mode  of  regulating  the  extent 
of  the  year  with  the  course  of  the  sun."    In  another  place  he 
saySy  ^^Csesar,  imitating  the   Egyptians,  the    only  people  ac- 
quainted with  all  divine  matters,  attempted  to  regulate  the  year 
according  to  the  number  required  by  the  sun,  which  completes 
its  course  in  365^*  days."    Had  this  been  due  to  the  care  and 
skill  of  the  Boman  astronomers,  the  Bomans  would,  with  their 
usual  vanity,  have  informed  us  of  a  fact  they  could  have  had  no 
object  in  concealing,  and  which  they  would  have  been  proud  to 
acknowledge.     But  the  regulation  of  the  Boman  year  awaited 
the  conquest  of  Egypt :  and  the  uniform  mode  of  calculating 
the  extent  of  the  annual  revolution,  adopted  by  the  Egyptian 
priests,  hinted  the  propriety  of  employing  an  Egyptian  mathe- 
matician to  settle  the  errors  which,  through  time  and  the  neglect 
of  the  PontificeSy  had  been  suffered  to  accumulate  in  the  year  of 
Numa.     It  does  not  appear  whether  the  Egyptians  omitted  the 
intercalary  day  every  130  years  in  the  Sothic  system,  which  we 
might  expect  from  the  usual  accuracy  of  their  calculations,  or 
were  contented  with  the  approximation  of  the  quarter-day ;  for 
though  the  Copts  do  not  reject  this  increase,  and  are  satisfied 
with  the  regular  intercalation  of  one  day  every  fourth  year,  this 
might  have  been  from  their  finding  it  perplexing,  and  that 
additional  accuracy  might  have  been  rejected  in  later  times, 
when  Christianity  took  the  place  of  the  pagan  institutions  of 
Egypt    If,  however,  their  solar  year  exactly  coincided  with  the 
Sothic,  every  1460  years,  it  is  evident  that  neither  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  nor  the  Copts,  ever  rejected  the  intercalary  day; 
whence  these,  like  the  common  civil  years,  went  forward  at  the 
Uicreasing  ratio  of  one  day  in  130  or  131  years.    The  point, 
Wever,  in  question  is,  I  think,  sufficiently  clear, — that  the 
^tercalary  day  *  every  fourth  year  was  of  Egyptian  origin,  and 


'  XacroV.  Sfttnrn.  i.  IS. 

'  Tht  question  of  the  use  of  the  6xed 
ycv  W  been  lo  often  discuwed  thmt  it  is 
**^^to  reopen  it.  The  existence  of  it 
v>^  Um  Middle  Empire  has  been  sup- 
Pwtri  hj  M.  Bmgsch  (*  Mat^riauz  pour 
»•  Cslendrier,'  Leipsig,  1866).  The  dis- 
J»^«ry,  howerer,  of  the  tablet  of  Canopns 
W  Profoior  Lepsins  (*  Das  bilingne  Dekret 
▼«ft  Caaopiu,'  foL  Bexiin,  1866),  proyes  that 


at  the  time  of  Energetes  II.,  B.a  238,  the  ase 
of  the  yagne  year  both  for  sacred  and  civil 
purposes  had  so  disturbed  the  year,  that 
the  festivals  were  celebrated  at  the  wrong 
seasons,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to 
reform  the  calendar  by  the  introduction  of 
a  leap-year,  with  the  intercalary  day  afler 
the  five  epagomenae — a  proof  that  the  Hxed 
rear  was  not  previously  in  use,  although 
no  doubt  abortive  attempts  had  been  mi^e 


106  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

used  by  the  priests  long  before  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the 
Bomans.  The  name  of  ^*  the  Sothic  period  "  would  alone  prove 
this;  and  the  particularly  minute  observations  made  by  the 
priests  respecting  the  future  state  of  their  river,  from  prognostics 
drawn  from  the  aspect  of  the  star  at  rising,  and  the  anxiety  with 
which  they  expected  its  first  appearance,  are  well  known.  Nor  is 
it  at  all  compatible  with  reason  to  suppose  that  all  this  was  of  a 
late  time,  and  owed  its  origin  to  the  conquest  of  the  country  by 
the  Eomans.  The  rising  pf  the  Nile  had  always  been  looked 
upon  as  the  moment  of  rejoicing ;  the  heliacal  rising  of  this 
star  happened  when  it  was  beginning  to  leave  the  confinement 
of  its  banks,  to  overflow  the  lands,^  and  promise  abundance  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Egypt ;  and  its  first  appearance  had  alwayu 
been  the  signal  for  the  priests  to  ascertain  the  favourable  or  un- 
favourable prospects  its  aspect  was  said  to  forebode.  Nor  could 
the  time  of  its  coincidence  with  the  sun  have  been  ascertained, 
unless  the  period  of  its  return  were  calculated.  And  were  all 
this  anxiety,  all  this  rejoicing  at  (he  rise  of  their  river^  and  all 
these  peculiar  institutions  of  Egypt,  to  await  the  late  epoch  of 
the  Boman  conquest  ?  If  we  admit  the  accounts  of  every  his- 
torian who  has  mentioned  the  Egyptians  and  Romans,  we  cannot 
for  one  moment  suppose  that  Egypt  was  indebted  to  her  conqueror 
for  any  skill  or  hint  in  astronomy  or  mathematical  science.' 

The  introduction  of  Isis-Sothis  at  the  Memnonium  is  remark- 
able, not  only  from  its  illustrating  the  connection  between  that 
goddess  and  the  Dog-star — instances  of  which  occur  elsewhere — 
but  in  a  chronological  point  of  view.  In  the  astronomical 
subject  there  introduced,  the  twelve  Egyptian  months  are 
represented,  each  in  a  separate  compartment,  under  the  usual 
heads,  of  the  four  months  of  the  water-plants,  the  four  of  plough- 
ing, and  the  four  of  the  waters — ^making  the  three  seasons  of 
which  their  year  consisted.^  In  the  first  season  were  Thoth, 
Faopi,  Athor,  Choeak ;  in  the  second,  Tobi,  Mechir,  Fhamenoth, 
Pharmuthi ;  in  the  third,  Fachons,  Faoni,  Epep,  and  Mesor& 
Between  this  last  and  the  first,  or  Thoth,  a  space  is  left,  corre- 
sponding, as^I  imagine,  to  the  five  days  of  the  epact  (introduced 
between  the  end  of  Mesor6  and  the  commencement  of  Thoth 
of  the  ensuing  year),  and  beneath  this  is  the  figure  of  Sothis, 
representing  the  heliacal  rising  of  that  star.    This,  then,  must 

to  reform  it  as  early  as  the  12th  Dynasty,      20th  dynasties. — S.  6. 

by    marking    the    festival    of    Sothis    or  >  JElian,  x.  45.    Tibnll.  L  Eleg.  rii.  21. 

Sirios,  and  at  the  time  of  the  19th  and         *  Woodcnt  No.  463. 


Chap,  XHL] 


ISIS  AND  THE  DOO-STAB. 


107 


have  occurred  eitlier  at  the  beginning  of  Thoth,  or  in  the  middle 
of  the  five  da je  of  the  epact ;  and  it  serves  to  point  out  the  period 
when  the  bnilding  was  erected.  For,  since  the  Canicular  period 
commenced  when  the  Ist  of  Thoth  fell  on  the  20th  of  July,  in 
the  year  1322  6.0.,  we  may  assign  this  date  to  Bameses  the  Great, 
in  whose  reign  it  was  built ;  and  it  may  not  be  presumption  to 
consider  that  it  justifies  me  in  fixing  his  accession  to  the  year 


'  Iilft,  prnUcur  cf  ber  brolber. 
1.  ■  lata  UBatlng  btr  bivtbcr.' 

*  •lita.KlnronTrt.dnlliiiRLnllonib.UiiAbitanofPhllM.' 
1.  ■  IM,  dnr  ol  UK  Udr  ol  tb*  AbUoD.- 

1355  B.C.,  which  I  had  already  concluded  from  other  data 
pteriooa  to  observing  this  astronomical  fact.  The  appearance  of 
Iiis^thia  in  a  boat  confirms  the  statement  of  Plutarch,*  that  the 
Wrenly  bodies  '  were  not  represented  by  the  Egyptians  drawn 
u>  chariots,  but  sailing  round  the  world  in  boats,  intimating, 
uttt  to  the  principle  of  moisture  they  owe  not  only  their  power 
(^moving,  but  even  their  support  and  nourishment.'    According 

'  Plut.  de  iiid.  1.  34. 


10»  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

to  Herodotosy^  Isis  was  the  greatest  of  all  the  Egyptian  goddesses. 
This  remark  must,  however,  be  limited  to  her  mysterious 
character,  as  husband  and  sister  of  Osiris,  and  attending  him 
in  his  ofSce  of  judge  of  the  dead :  as  Ceres,  in  a  similarly 
mysterious  character,  enjoyed  greater  honours  among  the  Greeks 
than  other  deities  who  held  a  far  higher  rank  in  their  Pantheon. 
It  appears  that  she  enjoyed  a  more  general  worship  at  a  late 
period  than  in  the  early  Fharaonic  ages:  and  the  almost  ex- 
clusive repute  she  obtained  among  the  Greeks  may  have  been 
partly  owing  to  their  attributing  to  her  many  of  the  honours 
which  really  belonged  to  other  deities,  as  I  have  already  observed. 
This  last  may  also  have  been  from  her  mysterious  character  then 
acquiring  more  general  celebrity ;  from  the  great  ambition  felt 
by  numerous  individuals  to  be  admitted  to  the  mysteries ;  and 
from  the  readiness  of  the  Egyptian  priests  to  flatter  the  preju- 
dices and  ignorance  of  those  strangers  who  showed  a  desire  to 
uphold  the  worship  of  their  gods,  and  build  temples  in  their 
honour.  For  since  no  Egyptian  discouraged  the  wish  to  erect  a 
shrine  to  Isis  or  Osiris,  on  the  score  of  the  right  of  other  deities, 
these  two,  who  were  almost  the  only  deities  known  to  the  Greeks, 
supplied  at  length  the  place  of  others ;  and  few  teniples  in  late 
times  were  erected  or  endowed  by  the  Greeks  in  honour  of  any 
other  than  Isis  or  Osiris,  except  to  some  particular  deity  who 
had  been  for  ages  the  patron  of  the  city  where  that  monument 
happened  to  be  erected.  The  worship  of  Isis  was,  indeed, 
universal  throughout  Egypt ^  at  all  times;  and,  according  to 
Herodotus,  her  festival  at  Busiris  was  more  conspicuous  than 
any,  except  that  of  Diana  at  Bubastis.'  *The  festival,'  says 
Herodotus,  ^  which  they  celebrate  at  Busiris,  in  honour  of  Isis,  is 
magnificent.  After  having  prepared  themselves  for  it  by  prayers 
and  fasting,  they  sacrifice  a  bull.  They  first  take  off  the  skin, 
and  remove  the  intestines,  leaving  the  inner  parts  and  the  fat. 
They  then  cut  off  the  legs,  the  upper  part  of  the  haunches,  the 
shoulders,  and  neck ;  and  this  being  done,  they  fill  the  rest  of 
the  body  with  cakes  of  pure  flour,  honey,  dried  raisins,  figs, 
incense,  myrrh,  and  other  aromatic  substances.  In  this  state, 
they  bum  it,  pouring  a  quantity  of  oil  upon  the  fire.  Whilst 
the  victim  is  consuming,'  *  the  votaries  of  the  goddess,  who  are 
assembled  in  great  nimibers,  of  both  sexes,  strike  themselves  in 
honour  of  one  (Osiris)  whom  I  am  not  permitted  to  mention ;'  * 


>  Herodot.  ii.  40.  «  Ibid.  ii.  42.  »  Ibid.  ii.  59.  *  Ibid.  ii.  61. 


CKAv.  xm.] 


WOBSHIP  OF  ISIS. 


109 


uid  *  when  they  cease  doing  this,  they  eat  what  remains  of  the 

sacrifice.'    '  The  Carians  who  are  preeeut  on  this  occasion  make 

themselves  very  conspicuous,  by  wounding  their  foreheads  with 

knives ;  by  which  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  are  strangers  and 

not  Egyptians' — that  civilised  people  not  adopting  ao  barhaiouB 

a  custom.'    '  All  the  Egyptians  offer  clean  bolls  and  calves ;  but 

they  are  not  allowed  to  immolate  heifers, 

because  these  are  sacred  to  Isis,  who  is 

represented  in  her  statues  under  the  form 
.  of  a  woman  with  horns,'  as  the  Greeks 

fignre  lo.^     All  the  Egyptians  have  far 

more  consideration  for  heifers  than  any 

other  cattle ;  and  there  is  not  an  Egyptian 

nun  or  woman  who  would  consent  to  kiss 

ft  Greek  on  the  mouth,  nor  even  to  use  his 

knife,  his  spit,  or  his  boiler,  nor  taste  the 

meat  of  a  clean  bull  which  had  been  cot 

by  a  Greek's  knife.*    If  a  bull  or  a  heifer 

happens  to  die,  their  funeral  is  performed 

in  the  following  manner :  the  heifers  are 

thrown  into  the  river ;  and  the  bulls  &re 

bnried  in  the  suburbs,  with  one  horn  or 

both  above  gronnd,  to  mark  the  spot. 

Here  the  body  remains  till  it  is  decom- 
posed ;  and  a  boat,  despatched  from  the 
Ue  of  FrosSpitis,  comes  round  to  each 
town  at  a  particular  period. 

'  Prosopitis  ia  an  island  in  the  Delta,* 
^amaehcenoi'm  circumference,  containing 
leveral  towns ;  one  of  which,  called  Atarbechis,  sends  the  boats 
ileitmed  to  collect  the  bones,  and  employs  several  persons  to  go 
(nnn  town  to  town  to  exhumate  them,  and  take  them  to  a  par- 
ticular spot,  where  they  are  buried.  They  inter  in  like  manner 
^  other  cattle  which  die.    Such  ts  their  law,  for  they  do  not  kill 


'  It  b  Uierarare  eTJdtnt  tlut  whan  ths 
*MlilB  w«Te  eomnundcd  not  to  cat 
^■^■Itm,  hot  to  m»k»  a  baldaau  b«tw«CD 
w  *jm,  tlluion  vu  not  InUadod  to 
■  ttyftiui,  bat  to  uica  SnUu  eutoni. 
(*«.  rir.  1.) 

■niiutheiuulfiiTinofAtkor.    Conf. 


'A,'tkiCo«,'  of  tlu 


itlr  eoutwcti 


wu  ^rta  to  on*  of  their  goddeoM*.— G.  W.] 
'  [Tha  Egj'ptiani  eonaidered  all  foreign- 
en  DDclaan,  with  whom  tfa«y  would  not 
eat,  and  particnlsrly  the  Onekt.—O.  W.] 
■  [Soma  luppoH  the  town  of  PnxSpitii 
to  have  been  alio  ailed  Niciam.  The 
iiland  wan  between  tha  Canopfo  and  S»- 
bcBnjtic  hnnchei,  at  tht  fork,  and  on 
the  wait  aide  of  the  apex  of  tha  Delta.— 
G.W.] 


110 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa 


[Chap.  XIIL 


them.    At  Atarbechis  ^  is  a  temple  sacred  to  Athor^  the  Egyptian 
Venus.*  ^ 

In  this  statement  of  Herodotus,  the  connection  between  Isis 
and  Athor  is  eyident,  both  from  the  description  of  the  goddess 
with  cow's  homsy  and  from  the  mention  of  the  city  bearing  her 
name,  ^lian,^  after  stating  that  the  cow  was  particularly 
appropriated  to  Venus,  says,  ^  The  Egyptians  also  represent  Isis 
with  tfot^'d  horns ;'  and  in  the  sculptures,  when  these  two  divinities 
occur  with  each  other's  attributes,  they  are  so  closely  allied,  that 
it  is  sometimes  difScult  to  distinguish  between  them.  Athor 
seems  even  to  take  the  place  of  Isis ;  and  Plutarch  ^  expressly 
states,  that  ^  Isis  is  called  Athyri,  signifying  '*  Orus'  mundane 
habitation,"  or,  as  Plato  expresses  it,  **  the  place  and  receptacle 
of  generation."  She  was  also  styled  "  Muth,"  or  "  Mother ;"  and 
Methuer,  a  name  implying  **  fulness  and  cause,"  denoting  not 
only  the  fulness  of  the  matter  of  which  the  world  consists,  but 
also  its  intimate  conjunction  with  the  good,  the  pure,  and  the 
well-ordered  principle.'  The  interpretation  he  gives  to  Athyr 
(or  Athor)  is  confirmed  by  the  hieroglyphic  legend  of  that 
goddess,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  remark  :  *  Muth '  is  the  well- 
known  word  Maut,  ^  mother,'  and  in  Methuer  we  trace  the  Coptic 
jtJL£^9  lfe%,  signifying  ^  full.'  The  remainder  of  this  word  is 
probably  the  same  name  of  Athor,  or  Thy-or ;  or  its  termina- 
tion m,  ^to  make,'  may  complete  the  interpretation  given 
by  Plutarch. 

Herodotus  ^  supposes  that  Latona,  who  was  Buto,  performed 
the  ofSce  of  nurse  to  Horus  (or  as  he  calls  him,  Apollo),  the  son 
of  Isis ;  but  the  sculptures  plainly  prove  that  Isis  nursed  the 
child  herself;  and  when  Athor  is  represented  with  the  infant, 
she  is  the  member  of  another  triad. 

The  Greeks  and  Bomans  seem  to  have  at  once  adopted 
the   emblems  of  Athor  in  their  representations  of  Isis,   and. 


*  [Athor  being  the  Venus  of  Egypt, 
Atarbechis  was  translated  Aphroditopolis. 
It  was  composed  of  atar  or  athor,  and  bechi 
or  beky  *  city.'  Aphroditopolis  is  supposed 
to  have  been  at  the  modem  Shibbeerij  in 
the  Isle  of  Prosdpitis,  between  the  Canopic 
and  Sebennjtic  branches  of  the  Nile,  on 
an  offset  of  the  latter,  called  Thermathiac, 
which  formed  the  western,  as  the  Seben- 
nytic  did  the  eastern,  boundary  of  the  Isle 
of  Natho.  There  were  other  towns  called 
Aphroditopolis  in  Upper  Egypt—G.  W.] 

*  [Herodotus  sometimes  confounds  Isis 


with  Athor  (book  ii.  c  4).  This  is  not 
surprising,  since  the  attributes  of  these 
two  goddesses  are  often,  more  especially  in 
later  times,  so  closely  connected  that  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  them  in  the  sculp- 
tures, unless  their  names  are  directly 
specified  ;  and  at  Denderah  Athor  has  rery 
nearly  the  appearance  of  Isis,  though  that 
they  were  distinct  goddesses  is  shown  by 
each  of  them  having  a  temple  at  that 
place.— G.  W.] 

*  JEliau,  Mat.  Anim.  z.  27. 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  a.  56.       *  Herod.  U.  156. 


Caw.  XHL] 


ISIS  AND  ATHOR. 


Ill 


mucqiiaintoil  as  ihej  were  with  tbe  Egyptian  Venus,  to  have 
asaigned  exclusively  to  IsIb  the  sacred  cow,  with  whose  homa 
she  was  represented  in  the  celebrated  festival  in  her  honour, 
described  by  Ovid.' 

It  most  indeed  be  admitted,  that  Isis,  even  in  olden  times, 
was  sometimes  figured  in  Egyptian  sculpture  with  a  cow's  head, 
as  well  as  with  a  head-dieas  surmounted  by  the  horns  of  Athor ; 


bot  ghe  then  assumed  the  attributes  of  that  goddess — a  custom 
"hich  I  have  shown  to  be  common  to  many  Egyptian  deities, 
'1)0  frequently  appeared  with  the  emblems  and  even  under  the 
Cwm  of  other  members  of  the  Pantheon.    The  general  form  of 


^ '  Oitl,  Met-  li.  685 : —  SincUqu*  Babutia,  variasquv  eolorlbiu 

'^  mtdia  Doctii  ipitio,  lob  imagine  Apia ; 

■od,  Qaiqa*  prsmit  Tocem,  digltaqni  •ilcDtia 

•*dii   ant*  tornm,   popipl    «"-<•-►■  ..-J.. . 

^  Mitil,  ant  (in  ut.    iMrut  IdbuU 


Inui 

<^vMa,  cam  iptdi  nitido   flaTaatibni 

"  npla  ittfu:   earn   qui    Utntoi 


Siitriiqae  aniit,  nuoqui 
Pt(DaqD«    aomnifsri    ii 


imqus  ulls  qiut- 
srpens    peiegriiui 


The  namber  of  nron   in   thest  li 

rcnurksblt. 


112 


THE  AMCIEKT  EGIFTIANa 


[Chat.  Xm. 


IsU  was  that  of  a  female  with  a  throne  npon  her  head,  particularly 
in  her  capacity  of  the  presiding  goddess  of  Amenti.  Her  ofiBce 
then  related  principally  to  the  Bonis  of 
men  in  a  future  state,  where  she  formed 
the  second  member  of  a  triad  composed  of 
Osiris,  herself,  and  Kephthys,  and  assisted 
at  the  ordeal  which  took  place  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  her  brother  and  hos- 
band.  Isis  was  also  the  second  member 
of  another  triad,  particularly  wor- 
shipped at  Fhilfe,  consisting  of  Osiris, 
Isis,  and  Horns.  She  was  said  to 
he  the  '  protector  (or  defender)  of  her 
brother,*  in  which  capacity  they  repre- 
""■ '"'  sented  her  covering  Osiris '  with  her  out- 

spread wings.  She  was  styled  the  '  royal  consort  and  sister  of 
Osiris,' '  Goddess-Mother,'  the  Muth  of  Flutarch ;  and  sometimes 
Hekte — on  which  account  she  may 
be  thought  to  answer  to  Hecate  or 
Froserpine,  as  before  obserred.  She 
was  occasionally  figured  with  the  head 
of  a  cat,  or  with  the  attributes  of 
Bubaetis ;  and  I  hare  once  found  her 
represented  with  the  throne  of  Neph- 
thys  on  her  head,  in  the  character  of 
her  sister.'  In  addition  to  the  globe 
and  homs  of  Athor,  Isis  has  sometimes 
the  flowers  of  water-plants  rising  from 
her  head,  particularly  when  repre- 
sented as  the  mother  of  the  infant 
Horns,  and  the  second  member  of 
the  triad  of  Fhilie.  She  often  wears 
a  cap  representing  the  sacred  vulture; 
its  bead  projecting  from  her  forehead, 
its  body  covering  her  head,  and  its 
wings  extending  downwards  at  the 
side  of  her  face  to  her  shoulder; 
""■  ™-  though  this   is  not  confined  to  Isis, 

as  ^lian  supposes,'  but  is  given  equally  to  other  goddesses, 


deiti«  Pub  ud  OiirU. 


CHAP.xm.] 


WORSHIP  or  ISIS. 


113 


and  even  to  the  qneens  of  Egypt.  The  title  *  royal  wife  and 
sister '  was  derived  from  her  having  married  her  brother  Osiris ; 
and  this  fabulous  notion  was  supposed  to  have  been  the  origin 
of  a  custom  prevalent  in  Egypt  from  the  earliest 
to  the  latest  periods,  which  permitted  brothers  and 
sisters  to  marry;  such  an  alliance  being  considered 
fortunate,  in  consequence  of  the  example  set  by 
Isis  and  Osiris.^ 

Many  individuals,  even  among  the  priesthood 
of  early  Pharaonic  periods,  are  found,  from  the 
sculptures  of  Thebes,  to  have  married  their  sisters;  ,„._^ 
and  the  same  authorities  agree  with  the  accounts  Aheadi^ofWs. 
of  ancient  Greek  and  Eoman  writers,  in  proving  ^°'  *'®-  ^*""- 
that  some  of  the  Ptolemies  adopted  this  ancient  custom.  The 
principal  temple  of  Isis  was  in  the  Sacred  Island  of  Philte, 
where  she  was  worshipped  as  the  second  member  of  the  triad, 
already  mentioned;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  most  solemn 
performance  of  the  great  mysteries  took  place  there,  which,  as  at 
Sais  and  Busiris,  had  been  instituted  to  commemorate  the  im- 
portant secret  of  Osiris's  death.  Coptos  also,  according  to  ^Elian,^ 
distinguished  her  worship  with  peculiar  rites ;  which,  if  we  may 
believe  Plutarch,  were  connected  with  the  memory  of  Osiris,  and 
the  grief  of  the  goddess.  The  festivals  of  Isis  were  magnificent, 
and  celebrated  with  all  the  pomp  which  religion  and  super- 
stition could  invent ;  and  particular  ceremonies  were  exclusively 
appropriated  to  her.' 

An  epigram  in  the  Anthology  of  Constantino  Cephalus,* 
mentioning  certain  offerings  made  to  Isis,  thus  addresses  her : 
*  0  goddess  clad  in  linen,  who  govemest  the  fertile  black  land  of 
Egypt,  honour  these  offerings  with  thy  presence ;  this  cake,  this 
couple  of  geese,  this  ointment,  these  wild  figs,  these  dried  raisins, 
wid  this  incense  are  already  on  the  altar.    Thou  hast  protected 


'  Diodor.  i.  27. 
'  MMam,  Nat.  Anim.  z.  23. 
'  Some  of  the  principal   eventi  of  the 
^**w  of  Im  are  mentioned  in  the  texts, 
<ip(ciallj  the  tearing  awaj  of  her   head 
^  Horitt,  and  its  replacement  bj  Set  on 
^  2eth   of  Thoth,    in    the    battle    of 
^nt  4ays  and  nights  between  Set  and 
Bonn,  when  it  was  replaced  bj  that  of  a 
cow.  (Chabas, '  Calendner  Sallier/  p.  31.) 
Her  titl«s  on  the  monuments  are,  *  The 
P*>t  molher  or  mother-goddess,  mistress 
^  Wren,  mlei  of  earth,  queen  of  the  Two 

Tou  HI. 


Countries.'  Her  principal  types  were  her 
celestial  one,  crowned  with  a  cylindrical 
cap  of  nnei,  surmounted  by  the  dislc  and 
horns,  and  her  terrestrial  or  chthonic  one, 
represented  by  her  wearing  the  seat  or 
throne,  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  Obiris  laid 
out  on  the  bier ;  at  a  later  period  winged, 
and  on  the  symbol  of  gold  following  Osiris 
and  corering  him  with  her  wings.  She 
was  supposed  to  be  the  moon.  (Birch, 
«  Gall,  of  Antiq.,'  p.  31.)— S.  B. 

*  In  Reiske.   Giren  by  Larcher,  Ilerodot. 
ToL  ill.  p.  567. 


116  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Ceap.  XTU. 

behind  the  mountain^  was  thought  to  be  receiyed ;  and  in  this 
character  she  answered  to  Nighiy  who  presided  oyer  the  West, — 
though^  as  already  observed,  she  was  distinct  from  that  primeval 
nighty  or  primitive  darkness,  from  which  all  things  proceeded 
into  existence. 

While  mentioning  this  subject^  I  cannot  but  pay  a  just 
tribute  to  the  diligent  inquiry  of  the  learned  Jablonski,  who, 
though  wrong  in  his  etymology  of  Athor,  and  in  not  observing 
the  distinction  between  the  two  NigJUs  of  their  mythology, 
claims  the  greatest  credit  for  that  research  and  accurate  percep- 
tion which,  without  the  aid  of  hieroglyphical  discovery,  enabled 
him  to  ascertain  one  of  the  most  important  characters  of  the 
Egyptian  Venus.  We  may  also  see  in  the  name  of  the  cow, 
aha,  the  origin  of  the  Greek  lo,  who,  according  to  the  mytho- 
logical tales  of  the  ancients,  was  supposed  to  have  visited  Egypt 
in  her  wanderings,^  and  to  have  been  '  changed  into  Isis,'  in  the 
city  of  Coptos,  where  she  was  worshipped  under  that  name.' 
The  third  Egyptian  month  was  called  after  Athor,  in  which  the 
death  of  Osiris  was  fabled  to  have  happened ; '  and  it  was  at  this 
season  that  the  shrines  of  the  goddess  (Ceres  or  Isis)  w^e 
carried  in  procession;  *the  common  time,' says  Plutarch,*  *for 
the  solemnisation  of  the  feasts  in  her  honour,  falling  within  the 
month  in  which  the  Pleiades  appear,  and  the  husbandmen  begin 
to  sow  their  com,  called  by  the  Egyptians  Athyr.*' 

She  was  held  in  particular  veneration  at  Aboccis,  or  Aboo- 
simbel,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  hieroglyphic  legends,  Abushak, 
Abshak,  where  she  appears  as  the  second  member  of  the  great 
triad  of  that  place.  In  the  temple  dedicated  to  her  there,  she 
is  represented  under  the  form  of  a  cow,  to  which  the  king  and 
queen  offer  flowers  and  libations,  as  it  stands  in  a  sacred  boat 
surrounded  by  water-plants ;  and  in  a  niche  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  adytum  is  the  fore-part  of  a  cow,  bearing  on  its  head  the 
globe  and  feathers  of  Athor.  In  the  hieroglyphic  legends  at  the 
side  she  is  styled,  'Athor,  the  lady  of  Abushak,  the  foreign 
land  * — the  town  being  out  of  Egypt,  though  within  the  territories 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Strabo  *  tells  us,  that  '  at  Momemphis,  where 
the  Egyptian  Venus  was  adored,  a  sacred  cow  was  kept  with  the 

1  JabloDski,  itt.  1.  p.  11,  and  ii.  1.  p.  vii.  '  Plat,  de  laid.  •.  39. 

'  Diodor.  i.  24.     Conf.  Orid.  Met.  i.  and  *  Ibid.  s.  69. 

Propert.  ii.  Eleg.  xxviii.  17  : —  »  Hetychitii  aayi, « One  of  the  months, 

'  lo  Tena  caput  primoe  mugiverat  annos :  and   the  cow,  are  called  Ath jr  bj  the 

Nunc  Dea,  qote  Nili  flumina  Tacca  bibit.'  Egyptians.' 

Of  lo,  see  Herodot.  i.  1.  •  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  652. 


C5HAP.  XnL]  ATHOB.  117 

same  religions  feeling  as  the  Apis  at  Memphis,  or  the  Mneyis 
at  Heliopolis ;'  and  the  sacred  animal  of  Momemphis  was  the 
same  which  received  divine  honours  at  Atarbechis,  and  other 
places  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Athor.  The  geographer  ^  also 
speaks  of  the  sacred  cow  of  *  Aphroditopolis,  the  capital  of  a 
nome  of  the  same  name  on  the  Arabian  side  of  the  river,'  which 
he  describes  of  a  white  colour ;  and  ^lian  ^  says,  that  ^  at  the 
small  but  elegant  village  of  Chusse,  in  the  Hermopolitan  nome, 
they  worshipped  Venus  under  the  name  Urania  or  heavenly,  and 
paid  honours  to  a  cow,  which  animal  was  thought  to  appertain 
more  particularly  to  that  goddess/  It  must,  however,  be  observed 
that  the  *  latuit  nivea  Satumia  vacca,'  ^  of  Ovid,  does  not  suffice 
to  establish  any  analogy  between  Juno  and  the  Egyptian  Venus ; 
and  the  monuments  disprove  the  opinion  of  the  learned  Prichard, 
that  '  the  goddess  NepJUhya  was  sometimes  called  Urania,  or  the 
dark  or  nightly  Ventis,  at  other  times  Juno  or  Satumia,  and 
that  a  white  cow  was  the  sacred  animal  or  living  symbol  of  that 
goddess/  * 

Atarbechis,  or  the  city  of  Athor,  a  part  of  Thebes  called 
Pathyris,  already  mentioned,  and  several  other  places,  vied  with 
each  other  in  the  honours  paid  to  the  Egyptian  Aphrodite ;  and 
at  Denderah,  the  ancient  Tentyris,  a  magnificent  temple  still 
remains,  erected  to  her  in  the  reigns  of  the  last  Ptolemies,  and 
completed  under  Tiberius,  where  she  is  represented  nursing  her 
son,  the  third  member  of  the  triad  of  the  place.    This  is  the 
temple  of  Aphrodite  mentioned  by  Strabo.    The  name  of  Tentyris 
may  have  signified  the  abode  of  Athor,  and  have  been  corrupted 
ftom  Tei-n-athor,  or  Tynatyr,  to  Tentyra.      She  is  generally 
lepresented  as  a  female  with  a  head-dress  surmounted  with  long 
boms,*  and  a  solar  disk ;  and  between  the  horns  of  the  spotted 
oow,her  emblem,  are  the  same  disk  and  two  feathers.     She  some- 
tunes  bears  on  her  head  a  perch,  upon  which  is  seated  a  hawk, 
^th  an  ostrich-feather  before  it,  being  the  head-dress  of  the 
genius  or  goddess  of  the  West.    She  is  then  in  the  character 
of  President  of  the  Western  Mountain,  and  in  an  office  particularly 
^xmnected  with  the  dead.    In  temples  of  a  Ptolemaic  epoch, 
Athor  is  often  represented  with  the  long  feathers  in  addition  to 
^  horns  and  globe ;  but  this  is  rarely  the  case  on  monuments 


'  Stnbo,  xriL  p.  556.  «  Prichard,  p.  148. 

'  £IUb,  Kat.  Anim.  z.  27.  »  The  figure  1  of  Plate  XXVII.  is  from  a 

'  *  Sttamian  Juno  laj  hid  under  the  tjpe  Ptolemaic  Temple, 
•'•whiucow.' 


Chap.  XIIL]  ATHOB.  119 

of  early  Pharaonic  date,  where  that  head-dress  is  appropriated 
to  the  queens,  and  only  given  to  Athor  when  under  the  form 
of  a  cow. 

[Athor,  in  fietct,  was  identified  with  Nnt,  as  the  goddess  of  the 
celestial  water  or  ether,  and  as  such  gives  the  bread  and  water 
of  life,  out  of  the  sycamore,  to  the  soul  which  thirstily  drinks  the 
living  waters  flowing  from  her  vase.  She  is  also  supposed  to 
represent  Isis  in  her  cow  form,  when  she  suckles  the  young  Horus, 
and  as  such  the  kings  are  often  seen  nursed  by  this  goddess. 
That  she  presided  over  the  passion  of  love  will  be  seen  by  the 
inscriptions  at  Denderah,  in  which  she  states  that  she  gives  the 
love  of  women  to  the  king.  Like  Isis,  too,  she  becomes  Sothis, 
or  the  Dog-star,  and  is  also  Truth  itself,  representing,  in  the 
deepest  sense,  the  female  reproductive  power  of  nature,  and  the 
dual  element,  from  which  the  £osmo8  proceeded.  Her  connec- 
tion with  the  West  allied  her  with  the  setting  sun,  or  the  god 
Atom,  also  one  of  the  demiurgic  deities,  another  form  of  the  god 
Ba,  of  whom  she  was  the  wife ;  while,  as  her  name  signified  the 
'abode  of  Horus,'  it  intimately  connected  her  with  the  final 
habitation  of  the  great  luminary.  Hence  she  is  found  inside 
coffins,  on  the  board  on  which  the  mummy  was  laid,  receiving 
him,  as  it  were,  into  her  arms,  as  the  earth,  or  West ;  while  Nut, 
as  the  heaven,  on  the  inner  part  of  the  lid,  covers  the  body  of 
the  deceased— or  the  two  symbolise  the  day  and  night. — S.  B.] 

The  Persea  was  sacred  to  her,  as  the  sycamore  to  Nut ;  and  in 

the  funeral  subjects  of  the  Theban  tombs  she  is  seen  performing 

the  same  office  to  the  deceased  and  his  friends  as  that  goddess— 

giying  them  the  fruit  and  drink  of  heaven.     But  the  title 

*Lady  of  Het,'  bestowed  on  Athor  at  Thebes,  Memphis,  and 

other  places,  appears  to  signify  *  Lady  of  the  Tree,'  and  not 

^usively  *  of  the  Persea ;'  the  same  being  applied  to  Nut,  to 

whom  the  sycamore  was  sacred.     That  the  Persea  and  peach 

^ere  often  confounded  by  ancient  authors,  is  very  evident ;  and 

the  foct  of  the  former  being  the  sacred  tree,  on  whose  fruit  (which 

hi  the  sculptures  resemble  the  human  heart)  the  gods  inscribed 

the  name  of  a  favourite  king,  sufficiently  proves  that  Plutarch  ^ 

W  in  view  the  Persea,  or  at  least  the  sacred  tree  of  Athor, 

when  he  speaks  of  the  fruit  of  the  peach-tree  resembling  the 

Wt,  and  the  leaves  being  emblematic  of  '  the  human  tongue.' 

'Hie  analogy  seems  also  to  be  increased  by  the  circumstance  of 


'  Plat  de  hid.  a.  68. 


120 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  Xin. 


the  goddess  of  speech  (language,  or  letters)  being  present  on 
the  same  occasion,  and  assisting  to  write  the  name  of  the  prince 
on  the  fruit. 

Athor  sometimes,  under  the  form  of  a  cow,  gives  milk  to  an 
infant  king — ^the  hieroglyphic  legend  accompanying  the  picture 
stating  that  she  treats  him  ^as  a  mother.'  The  female  heads 
with  cows'  ears,  which  form  the  capitals  of  columns  at  Aboo- 
simbel,  Denderah,  and  other  temples,  usually  ascribed  to  Isis,  are 
of  the  Egyptian  Aphrodite ;  and  many  shrines,  arks,  and  sacred 
emblems  are  ornamented  with  the  head  of  Athor.  These  heads 
are  certainly  the  most  beautiful  which  the  Egyptian  artists  have 
inyented.  They  argue  in  favour  of  Athor  being  the  goddess  of 
beauty,  like  the  Venus  of  the  Greeks ;  and  some  of  the  sculp- 
tures of  Denderah  may  show  her  to  have  been  the  patron  of 
laughter  and  amusements.  From  some  subjects  represented  in 
the  sculptures  it  appears  that  this  goddess  was  considered  to  be 
the  patroness  of  ornaments  and  dress,  symbolically  designated 
by  a  necklace.^  A  peculiar  neck-ornament  is  sometimes  sur- 
mounted by  a  head  of  Athor ;  being  a  form  of  that  placed  on 
the  neck  of  sacred  cows  and  bulls,  and  worn  by  some  deities. 
The  worship  of  the  cow^  in  Egypt  has  led  many  persons  to 
suppose  an  intimate  connection  between  the  religions  of  India 
and  of  that  country ;  and  the  fact  of  some  Sepoys  in  our  Indian 
army,  who  crossed  from  the  Eed  Sea  to  the  Nile,  haying,  on  a 
visit  to  the  temple  of  Denderah,  prostrated  themselves  before 
the  cow  of  Athor,  has  been  considered  a  decisive  proof  of  their 
resemblance.  The  mere  circumstance,  however,  of  a  cow  being 
sculptured  on  the  walls  of  an  Egyptian  temple,  and  respect 
being  paid  to  it  by  those  strangers,  proves  nothing  beyond  the 
accidental  worship  in  two  countries  of  the  same  animal.  Had 
it  been  an  arbitrary  emblem  of  some  peculiar  form,  which  only 
existed  in  the  imagination,  the  case  might  have  been  diiSerent ; 
but  the  cow  being  chosen  by  two  agricultural  people,  as  the 
sword  or  any  other  arm  by  two  military  nations,  as  a  fit  emblem 
of  the  deity,  does  not  imply  the  necessity  of  any  intercourse 
between  them.    Nor  was  it  as  a  mere  emblem  that  the  cow  and 


'  As  *  mistress  of  sports  and  dancing/ 
she  is  represented  holding  the  tambourine. 
(Birch,  *Gall.  of  Antiq./  p.  20.) 

'  It  appears  from  the  tale  of  the  *  Two 
Brothers'  that  there  were  seren  cows  of 
Athor,  and  that  they  were  maleficent,  like 
the  fairies  of  modem  folk-lore.  In  this 
tale  it  says,  <The  seven  Hathors  oame  to 


see  her,  and  they  said  with  one  month, 
that  she  should  die  a  violent  death.' 
These  seven  cows  are  represented  in  chap> 
ter  czlviii.  of  the  Ritual,  along  with  the 
bull,  perhaps  Mnevis,  or  the  bull  of  Turn. 
Each  has  a  name.  (  Lepsius,  *  Todtenbnch.' 
*  Records  of  the  Past,'  ri.  p.  145.)--S.  B. 


Chap.  XIH.]  COW-WORSHIP—HORUS.  121 

ox  were  selected  by  the  Egyptians,  in  consequence  of  their 
utility  in  the  tillage  of  the  land ;  another  and  a  more  forcible 
reason  subsisted  for  the  honours  paid  to  the  former,  which  is 
explained  by  Porphyry.*  *  The  utility  of  cattle,  and  the  small- 
ness  of  their  herds,  induced  the  Egyptians  to  prohibit  the 
slaughter  of  cows ;  therefore,  though  they  killed  oxen  for  the 
altar  and  the  table,  they  abstained  from  the  females,  with  a 
view  to  the  preservation  of  the  race,  and  the  law  deemed  it  a 
sacrilege  to  eat  their  meat.'  *  The  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians,' 
he  adds,  *  would  rather  feed  on  human  flesh  than  the  flesh  of  a 
heifer,'  in  consequence,  as  St.  Jerome  observes,  of  the  small 
stock  of  cattle  in  Palestine  and  the  valley  of  the  Nile ;  and  a 
similar  motive  may  originally  have  induced  the  Hindoos  to 
venerate  the  cow. 

Instances  sometimes  occur  of  the  cow  with  a  human  head, 
wearing  the  asp  and  horns  of  Athor.  The  goddess  is  also  re- 
presented as  a  bird  with  a  human  head,  wearing  her  disk  and 
boms.  She  is  then  in  a  character  connected  with  the  virtuous 
souls  who  have  been  admitted  to  the  regions  of  Amenti.  To 
Athor  also  appears  to  have  been  dedicated  one  of  the  sacred 
fish  of  Egypt,  which  even  bears  her  name  in  the  hieroglyphic 
legend  that  accompanies  it.^ 

The  name  of  Younger  Horus  was  given  to  Horns,  son  of  Isis 
and  Osiris,  to  distinguish  him  from  Aroeris,  the  brother  of  Osiris, 
who  was  styled  the  Elder  Horus.  He  was  supposed  to  have  come 
into  the  world  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  parents,  and  on  the  death 
of  Osiris  to  have  stood  forth  as  the  avenger  of  his  father,  de- 
feating Typho  in  several  battles,  and  enabling  Isis  to  thwart  his 
evil  intentions.  It  was  probably  in  consequence  of  his  victories 
over  the  enemy  of  mankind,  that  he  was  so  often  identified  with 
Apollo,  the  story  of  whose  combat  with  the  serpent  Pytho  is 
evidently  derived  from  the  Egyptian  mythology ;'  and,  indeed, 
the  evU  genius  of  his  adversary  is  frequently  figured  under  the 
form  of  a  snake,  whose  head  Horus  is  seen  piercing  with  a 
spear.  But  this  is  not  confined  to  Egyptian  and  Greek  mytho- 
logj.  The  same  fable  occurs  in  the  religion  of  India,  where  the 
malignant  serpent  Caliya  is  slain  by  Yishnoo,  in  his  avatar  of 

*  Porplk.  d«  Abtt.  ii.  11.  the  breath  which  came  ont  of  her  mouth. 

'  Sometimes  Athor  wears  on  her  head  Her  other  children  were  Ahi-nr,  Har-semt- 

the  embWm  of  the  West,  of  which  she  was  ta,  and  Kamutef,  all  types  of  Hona8.->S.  B. 

'refcat;  and  her  other  titles  called  her  '  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  19,  p.  131,  for  thU 


^ '  or  *  ladj  of  the  hearens.'  She  was      fable,  which  he  explains  by  the  rays  of  the 

also  notlMr  of  tha  god  Shu,  who  Ured  by     ran  oyercoming  the  humidity  of  the  earth. 


GB4P.  xm.]  HOBUa  123 


Criihna;  and  the  Soandinayian  deity  Thor  was  said  to  have 
braiaed  the  head  of  the  great  serpent  with  his  mace.  The 
origin  of  this  may  be  readily  traced  to  the  Bible  history.  The 
serpent  pierced  by  the  spear  of  Horns  is  evidently  the  Apophis 
alluded  to  by  Plutarch^^  which,  from  the  signification  it  bears  in 
the  Egyptian  language,  *  the  giant,'  appears  to  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  fable  of  the  wars  of  the  gods  and  giants.  Horns 
generally  stands  in  a  boat  accompanied  by  other  deities,  while 
piefcing  the  evil  being  in  the  water,  who  is  sometimes  repre- 
sented under  the  form  of  a  man,  though  generally  as  a  long 
serpent;  calling  to  mind  ^the  dragon  in  the  sea'  mentioned 
by  laaiah.' 

The  hawk  of  Horns  is  sometimes  perched  on  the  back  of  an 
otyx,  whilst  Tarious  gods  approach  it  in  an  attitude  of  prayer ; 
bst  this  is  apparently  of  late  date,  and  perhaps  connected  with 
Htiological  speculations.  Aroeris,  or  tiie  Elder  Horns,  may 
vifth  equal  reason  be  supposed  to  correspond  to  Apollo,  if  we 
mmj  judge  from  the  Greek  dedications  at  Ombos  and  ApoUin- 
ipolis  Panra,  inscribed  to  *  Aroeris,  the  great  Apollo.'  But  the 
Jjihiion  of  Herodotus,'  that  Horus  the  Younger  answered  to  that 
leity,  is  of  greater  weight,  from  the  connection  subsisting 
belwiiien  the  deity  of  the  floating  Isle  of  Buto  and  Apollo,  who 
■  ahown  by  the  fabulous  history  attached  to  him  to  be  the  son 
if  Ins.  *  Latona,'  says  the  historian,  *  who  lived  at  Buto,  where 
ear  oracle  now  is,  having  been  charged  by  Isis  with  the  care  of 
Apollo,  concealed  him  in  this  island.  She  preserved  him  there 
B  aafety,  while  Typho  was  searching  everywhere  for  the  son  of 
3ilrisL  For  they  say  that  Apollo  and  Diana  are  bom  of 
3aoehas  (Osiris)  and  Isis,  and  that  Latona  was  their  nurse  and 
er.  Apollo  is  called  Orus  (Horus)  in  Egyptian ;  Ceres, 
and  Diana,  Bubastis.'  This  appears  to  have  been  the 
of  the  fiftble  respecting  the  Delos  of  the  Greek  Apollo, 
»:bich  floated  on  the  sea  till  it  was  made  stationary  by  Neptune 
K  Older  to  receive  Latona,  who  was  on  the  eve  of  being  delivered 
tf  Apolla 

Diodorus^  tells  us  that  Apollo  is  the  same  as  Horus,  that  the 
taught  the  art  of  medicine  by  his  mother  Isis,  and  that 
the  last  of  the  gods  who  were  fabled  to  have  reigned  on 


"  Pht.  4«  Ifid.  ML  M  umI  35.  i  Hen^dot.  ii.  144,  156. 

*  tarii  iiTii.  1:  •UrUfibu,  t Jb«C crookwl         «  I>iodor.  i.  25.     M»crob.  Satare.  t  21. 


124  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  yttt. 


earth, — a  figurative  tale,  which  I  have  already  explained  by  the 
historical  fact  of  the  priesthood  of  different  gods  having  ruled 
Egypt  before  the  monarchical  form  of  government  was  estab- 
lished in  the  person  of  Menes  and  his  successors. 

Little  reliance,  however,  is  to  be  placed  on  what  the  Greeks 
tell  us  of  the  deities  of  Egypt.  The  authority  of  Greek  inscrip- 
tions in  the  temples  should  be  preferred  to  that  of  Herodotus, 
Diodorus,  Macrobius,  or  any  other  writers;  but,  unfortunately, 
some  difficulty  arises  from  the  uncertainty  of  the  hieroglyphic 
legends  themselves, — and  these  even  leave  undecided  the  claims 
of  Horus  and  Aroeris  to  the  name  of  Apollo. 

Plutarch^  would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  the  city  of  Apollo 
was  sacred  to  Horus ;  since  *  the  solemn  hunting  of  the  crocodile, 
annually  held  there,  commemorated  the  escape  of  Typho  from 
the  pursuit  of  Horus  under  the  form  of  that  animaL'  And  as 
there  is  evidence  of  that  city  having  been  Apollinopolis  Magna, 
now  Edfoo,  it  is  probable  that  the  god  worshipped  there,  who 
answered  to  the  Greek  Apollo,  was  another  character  of  Horns 
the  son  of  Osiris,  having  the  additional  title  and  attributes  of' 
Hat,  or  Agathodsemon.  Such  is  the  uncertainty  on  this  pointy 
that  the  deities  of  the  two  cities  of  Apollo  do  not  appear  to  be 
the  same, — one  being  Aroeris,  and  the  other  Har-Hat,  or  Aga- 
thodeemon  :  Strabo  even  appears  to  mistake  Mentu  for  Aroeris ; 
and  there  is  great  confusion  between  the  elder  and  younger 
Horus.  This  last  and  Harpocrates  are  not  always  easily  sepa- 
rated, nor  has  Plutarch  maintained  a  proper  distinction  between 
the  elder  and  younger  Horus ;  and  he  not  only  gives  to  both  of 
these  the  name  of  Apollo,^  but  even  to  Harpocrates,'  whom  he 
confounds  with  the  elder  Horus. 

Horus,  Aroeris,  and  Har-Hat,  are  all  represented  with  the 
head  of  a  hawk^  crowned  with  the  pahenty  or  double  crown  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  But  the  peculiar  and  distinguishing 
titie  of  the  younger  Horus  is  *the  support  or  defender  of  his 
father,  Osiris ; '  *  and  to  him  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  likened, 
when,  in  the  proclamation  issued  at  the  coronation,  they  were 
said  to  ^  put  on  the  crown  of  Egypt  like  Horus,  the  son  of  Isis.' 
A  similarly  complimentary  formula  is  used  in  the  Bosetta  Stone, 


'  Pint,  de  Itfid.  s.  50.  *  In  the  fabulous  interpretation  of  thi» 

'  Ibid.  R.  12.  '  Ibid.  8.  54.  atory,  Horus  may  be  supposed  to  assiat  hi» 

^  The  hawk's  head  is  also  given  to  Ra,  father,  the    inundation,  hj  forming   the 

Mentu,  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,  Khonsu,  and  clouds  carried  to  the  souroet  of  the  riyer 

Qabsenof.  '  whence  it  proceeded. 


Chap.  XHT.]  HOBUS.  126 

relatiye  to  the  benefits  conferred  on  the  country  by  Ptolemy 
Epiphanes, — the  king  being  compared  to  *  HoniSy  who  assisted 
his  father  Osiris ;'  and  these,  with  numerous  other  legends,  show 
that  Horus  was  the  prototype  of  royalty,  and  the  representative 
of  divine  majesty.  It  was  this  idea  which  obtained  for  him  the 
post  of  director  of  the  sacred  boats ;  under  which  form  was  indi- 
cated 'the  governor  of  the  world/  as  we  are  told  by  lamblichus:^ 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  from  his  occupation  of  steers- 
man in  the  barts  of  the  dead,  were  borrowed  the  name  and  office 
of  Charon  in  the  mythology  of  Greece.  The  hieroglyphic 
legend  accompanying  the  figure  of  Horus  is  the  hawk,  some- 
times with  a  Uney  sometimes  with  the  flageUum  of  Osiria,  over 
it, — ^the  same  signs  which  are  given  to  the  child  Harpocrates. 
It  is  probable  that  an  additional  reason  for  supposing  the  Apollo 
of  the  Greeks  to  be  the  same  as  Horus,  was  owing  to  his  being 
the  son  of  Jupiter  and  grandson  of  Saturn,  as  the  latter  was  son 
of  Osiris,  the  son  of  Seb ;  and  the  connection  of  the  two  deities 
is  confirmed  by  the  name  'HorapoUo'  borne  by  individuals; 
though  it  is  true  that  this  might,  with  equal  justice,  apply  to 
the  elder  as  to  the  younger  Horus. 

Plutarch,^  on  the  authority  of  Manetho,  says,  *  The  loadstone 
was  called  by  the  Egyptians  the  bone  of  Horus,  as  iron  was  the 
bone  of  Typho:'  he  also  tells'  us,  that  'the  constellation  of 
Orion  was  sacred  to  Horus,^  as  the  dog-star  to  Isis;'  and  in 
another  place,^  he  mentions  the  allegorical  and  fanciful  notion 
of  *  Horus  being  of  a  fair,  as  Typho  was  of  a  red,  and  Osiris  of 
a  black,  complexion.'  The  same  author  states  that  Horus  sig- 
nified that  just  and  seasonable  temperature  of  the  circum- 
ambient air  which  preserves  and  nourishes  all  things;*  and 
that  the  festival  celebrated  on  the  30th  day  of  Epiphi,  when 
the  sun  and  moon  were  supposed  to  be  in  the  same  right  line 
with  the  earth,  was  called  the  birthday  of  Horus's  eyes, — both 
those  bodies  being  looked  upon  equally  as  the  eyes  or  light  of 
Homs.^  This  deity  was  also  reputed  to  have  instituted  the 
sacrifice  to  the  sun,  which  was  celebrated  on  the  4th  day  of 
every  month  in  honour  of  that  luminary;  and  HorapoUo  even 
says  that  Horus  was  the  sun.*     It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 


^  lambL  de  Mjst.  ch.  i. :   '  When  they  *  The  name  of  the  constellation  Orion  is 

ttlTodoM  the  deit  J  as  pilot  of  a  ship,  they  supposed  to  have  been  Sah,  the  *  Traverser,' 

BMiii  gorenment,  or  the  mJer  of   the  or  Sek.    (Lepsios,  *  Einleit.,' p.  109.)~S.  B. 

wwVd.'  »  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  22.        •  Ibid.  s.  8. 

*  W«L  da  liid.  s.  62.           »  Ibid.  s.  22.  »  Ibid.  s.  62.        •  Horapollo,  i.  317. 


126 


THE  ANCIENT  EQYPTIANa 


[Chap.  Xm. 


obeenrey  that  the  remark  of  Smdas,^  who  says  Horns  was  iden- 
tical with  Priapus,  can  only  apply  to  a  character  given  him  at 
a  late  period;  an  instance'  of  which  occurs  at  Denderah  in 
scnlptnres  of  Roman  time.  Bnt  these  are  of  little  authority 
respecting  the  real  forms  of  the  Egyptian  deities ;  several  in- 
novations in  the  forms  and  attributes  of  the  gods  having  been 
introduced  on  the  monuments  of  that  era,  totally  unauthorised 
by  the  sculptures  of  an  ancient  Pharaonic  age. 

One  of  the  principal  duties  of  Horus  was  that  of  introducing 
the  souls  of  the  dead  into  the  presence  of  Osiris,  after  they  had 
passed  the  ordeal  of  their  final  judgment.  He  also  assisted 
Anubis  in  weighing  and  ascertaining  their  good  conduct  during 

life,  previous  to  their  admission  into  the 
august*presence  of  his  father,  in  the  blessed 
regions  of  AmentL  The  hawk  placed  on 
the  wooden  tablets  in  the  tombs,  and 
sometimes  on  the  mummy  case  itself,  was 
an  emblem  of  Horus. 

The  warlike  character,  as  well  as  the 
name  of  Horus,  may  also  suggest  a  re- 
semblance to  Ajres,  the  Mars  of  Greek 
mythology ;  and,  indeed,  Horapollo  seems 
to  have  in  view  either  Horus  or  Ajoeris, 
when   he  says,'   'To   denote    Ares   and 
Aphrodite,  ike  Egyptians  delineate  two 
hawks,' — since  the  hawk  is  the  emblem 
both  of  Horus  and  Athor,  the  Egyptian 
Venus.    This,  however,  could  only  be  a 
partial  analogy;   since   the  god  of  war  is  represented  under 
another  distinct  form,  with  the  name  Besppu ;  and  the  weapons 
put  into  the  hand  of  Horus  only  serve  to  prove  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Apollo  of  Greece,  the  patron  of  the  bow,  and 
the  destroyer  of  the  serpent.    If  the  Greeks  assigned  to  Mars, 
Apollo,  and  Minerva,  the  use  of  destructive  weapons,  which 
might  appear  exclusively  to  belong  to  the  gods  of  war,  the 
Egyptians  in  like  manner  extended  the  privilege  to  several 
deities  independent  of  their  god  Eeshpu.    The  spear  was  given 
to  Horus  and  to  Shu ;  the  bow  and  arrows  to  Neith,  to  Sati,  and 
to  Khemi,  who  also  holds  the  battle-axe  and  spear;  and  the 


Tablet  ■urmoaDted  by  hawk* 
niummtfd.    axetHf   perhaps    em- 
blem of  Horus. 
So.  529. 


»  Snidai,  voc,  npitaeos.  '  Burton's  Excerpta,  plate  26. 

*  Horapollo,  Hierog.  i.  8. 


Chap.  Xm.]  HOBUS  AND  ABOEBIS.  127 

shield  and  arrows  were  not  denied  as  an  emblem  to  a  goddess 
who  has  the  office  of  nnrse. 

The  fanciful  notion  of  Diodoros,  Macrobius,  HorapoUo,  and 
others,^  that  the  Jiorai^  Jiorss^  ^  hours '  and  *  seasons/  received  their 
name  from  Horus,  because  the  sun  was  so  called  by  the  Egyp* 
tianSy  is  on  a  par  with  many  other  Greek  etymologies,  with  this 
difference — ^that  the  Greeks  usually  derived  the  words  of  other 
languages  from  their  own.  The  analogy  between  Horus  and 
ouro^  *  king/  mentioned  by  Salmasius,^  is  remarkable,  as  Horus 
was  the  representative  of  majesty  among  the  gods,  and  the  hawk 
is  put  to  designate  a  Pharaoh.  But,  as  I  have  frequently  had 
occasion  to  observe,  it  is  from  Ba  or  Phra  and  not  from  Horus, 
or,  as  Josephus  supposes,  from  ourOf  that  the  word  Phrah,  Pharaoh, 
was  derived.'  The  close  affinity  in  some  instances  between  Ba, 
the  sun,  and  Horus,  makes  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
them,  especially  as  the  hawk  is  an  emblem  of  both.  But  the 
hawk  bearing  on  its  head  the  disk  of  the  sun  belongs  to  Ba ;  and 
that  which  wears  the  pshent^  to  Horus,  the  son  of  Osiris  (who, 
like  Ba,  was  the  type  of  majesty) ;  though,  as  already  stated, 
this  crown  is  sometimes  appropriated  by  other  hawk-headed 
deities,  as  Aroeris  and  Har-Hat. 

I  have  noticed  the  difficulty  which  presents  itself  in  deciding 
which  of  these  deities,  the  elder  or  younger  Horus,  corresponds 
to  the  Greek  Apollo. 

It  is  true  that  Aroeris^  is  mentioned,  in  the  Greek  dedication 

at  ApoUinopolis  Parva,  as  the  deity  of  the  place,  answering  to 

Apollo;  and  the  same  occurs  again  at  Ombos,   where  he  is 

figured  as  Horus,  though  not  as  the  son  of  Osiris.    But  the  many 

points  of  resemblance  brought  forward  by  Herodotus,  Plutarch, 

and  others,  between  Apollo  and  the  son  of  Osiris,  argue  strongly 

in  fikvour  of  the  opinion  that  the  younger  Horus   answers  to 

Ae  Greek  Apollo.     Aroeris  was  son  of  Seb  and  Nut ;  and  in  a 

hieroglyphic  legend  at  Philae  he  is  styled  son  of  Nut,  and  repre- 

wnted  under  the  singular  form  of  a  hierafcosphinx.    Plutarch 

tlunb  him  to  have  had  the  sun  for  his  father,  and  to  have  been 

bom  on  the  second  day  of  the  epact.     Little  more  is  related 

^^^Mwseming  him,  nor  does  he  appear  to  have  acted    a  very 

'  ttodor.  i  26.    Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  26.  *  Uaroeria,  in  Egyptian  Har-ur,  means 

TPS^  *•  ^'''  *  *h«  greater  '  or  *  elder  Horus.'  He  was  the 

^  J|^«ttkl,  II.  4,  p.  222.  brother  of  Osiris,  and  personified  divine 

Thi  ttxU  show  that  it  is  derired  from  pre-ezistence,  and  was  adored  at  Ombos, 

rr^  *th«  great  house*  or  «court,'  or  and  so  united  with  Set  or  NubtL— 5.  B. 

«•  Cmt  two  booses'  or  *oourts.'— S.  B. 


128  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap,  tttt 

prominent  part  in  the  mythological  history  of  his  brother  Oaiiis. 
In  a  papyrus  publbhed  by  ChampoUion,  he  is  styled  *  Haroeiris^ 
lord  of  the  solar  spirits,  the  beneficent  eye  of  the  snn ; '  and  it  is 
in  this  last  sense  that  he  appears  to  bear  some  analogy  to  ApoHo^ 
who,  according  to  Plato,  received  his  name  from  *  the  emisaLoii  of 
the  rays  of  light.'  Apollo  and  the  snn  were  distinct  in  the 
mythology  of  Greece ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Egyptians 
separated  the  light  from  the  heat,  and  perhaps  even  from  the 
splendour  of  the  sun  ;  considering  it  in  the  various  characters  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded.  Har^oeri,  or  Aroeris,  may  be 
considered  the  eye  and  light,^  or  the  splendour  and  brightness 
of  the  sun,  like  the  Greek  Phoebus ;  and  if  his  connection  with 
Ba  is  not  sufiSciently  obvious,  the  statements  of  Greek  wiiten, 
added  to  the  testimony  of  dedicatory  inscriptions  at  Ombos 
and  Apollinopolis  Parva,  authorise  this  opinion,  while  the 
younger  Horus  may  enjoy  an  undisputed  claim  to  the  character 
of  Apollo. 

Harpocrates^  was  bom  of  Isis  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
and  is  therefore  distinct  from  Horus,  her  elder  son  by  Osiris,  who 
is  said  at  that  time  to  have  been  engaged  in  war  with  Tjrpha 
Plutarch  tells  us,^  that  '  Harpocrates,  being  the  offspring  of  the 
intercourse  of  Osiris  with  Isis  after  his  death,  and  having  oome 
into  the  world  before  his  time,  was  lame  in  his  lower  limbs.' 
This  allegorical  fable  he  explains^  by  interpreting  ^  HarpocxateSi 
whom  she  brought  forth  about  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice^  to 
be  those  weak  and  tender  shootings  of  the  com  which  are  as 
yet  feeble  and  imperfect;  for  which  reason  the  Egyptians 
dedicate  the  firstfruits  of  their  lentils  to  this  god,  and  celebrate 
the  feast  of  his  mother's  delivery  just  after  the  vernal  equinox.' 
*  We  must  not,  however,'  he  adds,' '  really  look  upon  Harpocrates 
as  an  infant  and  imperfect  deity,  or  as  the  young  and  tender 
shoots  of  the  pulse,  but  rather  as  the  governor  and  rectifier  of 
those  weak,  incomplete  notions,  which  we  are  apt  to  form  of  the 
divine  nature.  For  which  reason,  we  see  him  described  with  his 
finger  pointing  to  his  mouth — a  proper  emblem  of  that  modest 
and  cautious  silence  we  ought  to  observe  in  these  matters.  So, 
when  they  offer  him  the  firstfruits  of  their  lentils  in  the  month 


>  This  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  the  child  *  or  '  germ/  (Pierret,  Vocab.  p.  247.) 

aor,  '  light,'  of  the  Hebrews ;  though  not  — S.  B.] 

resembling  the  Egyptian  word  of  the  same  '  Pint  de  Isid.  s.  19. 

meaning.  *  Ibid.  s.  65. 

'  His  name  was  Harpaxrat,  '  Horns  the  '  Ibid.  s.  68. 


130  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

Mesor^,  they  at  the  same  time  exclaim,  ^^  The  tongne  is  fortune, 
the  tongue  is  god : "  and  hence  it  is  that,  of  aU  Egyptian  plants, 
the  peach-tree  is  looked  upon  peculiarly  sacred  to  Harpocrates, 
because  of  the  resemblance  observed  between  its  fruit  and  the 
heart,  and  between  its  leaves  and  the  human  tongue/  There  is, 
however,  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  one  of  the  many  errors 
with  which  the  accounts  of  Greek  writers  abound.  The  peach- 
tree,  unless  it  be  the  same  as  Persea,  was  not  sacred  to  any  deity ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  he  had  in  view  the  holy  tree  of  Athor, 
whose  fruit,  as  represented  in  the  sculptures,  so  strongly  resembles 
the  heart. 

Harpocrates  is  represented  as  an  infant  nursed  by  Isis,  or 
with  his  finger  to  his  mouth,  having  a  lock  of  hair  falling  from 
the  side  of  his  head.  The  same  figure  is  commonly  employed 
by  the  Egyptians  to  indicate  a  child.  He  is  generally  in  a  sit- 
ting posture ;  instances,  however,  occur  of  his  standing  upright, 
and  walking  alone,  or  at  the  side  of  his  mother.  The  lock  of 
hair,  the  distinguishing  mark  of  a  child,  though  one  of  his 
principal  characteristics,  is  not  confined  to  Harpocrates:  it  is 
given  to  the  younger  members  of  other  Egyptian  triads,  as  Ahi, 
Har-semt-ta,  Pneb-ta,  Har-para,  Harka,.and  Hak^  who  in  form 
and  general  attributes  are  similar  to  the  child  of  Lds.  It  is  also 
worn  by  Khonsu,  the  offspring  of  Amen  and  Mut,  in  the  great 
Theban  triad ;  and  the  priest  who  ofiSciates  in  the  leopard-skin 
dress,  even  though  he  be  the  king  himself,  assumes  this  badge 
of  youth,  probably  emblematic  of  that  spotless  innocence  with 
which  it  became  the  supreme  pontiff  to  approach  the  presence 
of  the  gods.  I  have  occasionally  met  with  Harpocrates  wearing 
round  his  neck  a  vase,  the  emblem  of  Ma,  the  goddess  of  tmth ; 
which  probably  refers  to  *  the  amulet '  said  by  Plutarch*  to  have 
been  ^  worn  by  Isis  at  the  time  she  brought  him  into  the  world, 
which  was  reported  to  mean  "speaking  the  truth.*'*  As  the 
child  of  Isis,  he  may  represent  ycnUh  in  general:  and  when 
seated  in  Hades  before  Osiris,  or  in  the  sepulchral  chambers 
containing  the  sarcophagi  of  the  dead,  he  is  the  symbol  of 
resuscitation,  or  new  birth.  This  alludes  to  the  change  of  state 
which  every  one  undergoes  at  his  death,  purporting  that  dis- 
solution is  only  the  cause  of  reproduction  ;  that  nothing  perishes 
which  has  once  existed;^  and  that  things  which  appear  to  be 


^  Pint,  de  Iiiid.  9.  68.  Phcdo:   *The  liring  are  generated  fnm 

'  ei^^jcci  8*  offScr  r&r  ytyyofU^mw,  of     the  dead,  no  less  than  the  dead  from  the 
the  Chrjiippns  of  Enripides;  and  Plato,     liring' (p.  280,  tram.  Taylor). 


Chap.  Xm.]  HARPOCRATE&  131 

destroyed,  only  change  their  natures  and  pass  into  another  form. 
The  same  idea  is  probably  repeated  in  the  triad  (so  often  found 
in  the  tombs  made  of  blue  pottery  or  other  composition)  con- 
sbting  of  Isis,  Nephthys,  and  Harpocrates,  which  I  suppose  to 
signify  the  beginning,  the  end,  and  reproduction  after  death.^ 
It  may  also  be  traced  in  what  Macrobius  says  of  the  mode  of 
representing  the  sun  ^  by  an  image  having  a  lock  of  hair  on  the 
right  side  of  its  head/ ^  which  was  emblematic  of  the  reappearance 
of  that  luminary  ^  after  it  was  concealed  from  our  sight  at  its 
setting ;  or  of  the  return  of  the  sun  to  the  solstice.'^  But  this 
seems  rather  to  apply  to  the  god  Ahi.  In  some  monuments  of 
the  late  date  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Caesars,  Harpocrates  is  repre- 
sented seated  on  a  throne,  supported  by  lions,  and  even  placed 
upon  the  backs  of  those  animals  ;^  which  cannot  fail  to  call  to 
mind  the  remark  of  HorapoUo,'  that  ^  the  Egyptians  put  lions 
under  the  throne  of  Horns — ^this  being  their  name  for  the  sun : ' 
though  he  is  wrong  in  supposing  the  sun  to  be  the  same  as  Horus. 
The  notion  respecting  his  being  the  god  of  silence  appears  to  be 
of  Greek  origin :  for,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  Egyptians 
did  not  indicate  it  by  the  finger,  but  by  placing  the  whole  hand 
oyer  the  mouth.*  The  position  of  Harpocrates'  finger,  therefore, 
appears  rather  to  refer  to  a  habit  common  to  children  in  all 
times  and  in  every  country  :  and  that  the  form  of  his  body,  with 
a  prominent  abdomen,  was  aptly  chosen  to  indicate  extreme 
youth,  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  appearance  of  Egyptian 
children  at  the  present  day.  Instances  occur  of  Harpocrates 
with  the  cap  and  feathers  of  Amen;  but  as  these  are  bronze 
statues,  and  unaccompanied  by  hieroglyphics,  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  ascertaining  the  exact  character  he  bore  when  so 
represented.^ 

The  connection  between  Harpocrates,  as  well  as  other  of  these 
iniant  deities,  and  the  god,  generally  called  Typhonian,  whom 
I  have  supposed  to  represent  death,  is  very  remarkable.  But 
I  sliall  treat  of  it  more  fully  in  another  place,  when  describing 
the  attributes  and  character  of  that  deity. 


'  Tbt  rappoted  ooonection  in  Hebrew         *  Bosellini,  plate  18. 
^weea  mout,  *  denth,'  and  mut, '  mother/  *  Horapollo,  i.  17. 

'^ «  •fTODeoua  notion ;  finoe  the  latter  U         *  In  the  bronze  figures  the  finger    is 

^  aad  not  mart.  raised  to  the  level  of  the  chin. — S.  B. 

'  lUcrobtns,  Satnm.  i.   26 :   *  Rnrsnm  ^  They  represent  Har  as  the  eldest  son 

*">OKeDdi  nti  capillos  habere  snbstantiam.'  of  Amen,  perhaps  a  variety  of  the  type  of 

*Ibid.  L  26:    'Rnnna    emergens    ad  Khonsn.     (Birch,  <  GalL  of  Antiq./ p.  38.) 

fs^m  hemisph«rium  tanqnam  enascens  — S.  B. 
ii  tapneau  porrigitur.* 

K    2 


132  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIU. 

The  form  and  attributes  of  the  jonthfiil  deity  Ahi  are  similar 
to  those  of  HarpocrateSy  from  whom  the  hieroglyphic  legends 
alone  distinguish  him.  He  is  the  third  member  of  the  triad  of 
Denderah,  and  son  of  Har-hat  and  Athor,  by  whom  he  is  nursed. 
This  goddess,  in  the  character  of  mother  of  an  infant,  appears 
to  have  borrowed  the  attributes  of  Isis ;  but  the  same  office  is 
assumed  by  other  goddesses. 

Athor  occurs  again  at  Edfoo  as  the  mother  of  EJArHsemt-ta, 
her  son  by  Har-Hat ;  and  Nebuu,  a  form  of  Neith,  is  at  Esndi 
the  mother  of  the  young  Hak6.  Like  Harpocrates,  and  other  of 
these  infant  deities,  he  is  represented  with  his  finger  raised  to 
his  mouth,  the  sign  of  extreme  youth ;  and  he  is  sometimes 
represented  sitting  on  the  flower  of  a  lotus.  He  is  then  supposed 
to  signify  the  sun  in  the  winter  solstice,  or  the  rising  sun ;  and 
the  crook  and  flagellum,  the  emblems  of  Osiris,  which  he  some- 
times carries,  may  be  intended  to  indicate  the  influence  he  is 
about  to  exercise  upon  mankind.  The  vase  from  which  the  plant 
grows  is  a  lake  of  water,  and  the  usual  initial  of  the  word  ma  or 
moOy  *  water.'  *  They  do,  indeed,'  says  Plutarch,*  *  characterise 
the  rising  sun  as  though  it  sprang  every  day  afresh  out  of  the 
lotus-plant ;  but  this  implies,  that  to  moisture  we  owe  the  first 
kindling  of  this  luminary.'  I  may,  however,  venture  to  offer 
another  interpretation,  suggested  both  by  the  allegory  itself,  as 
well  as  by  his  hieroglyphical  name  Ahi, — that  he  corresponds 
to  the  day  or  morning  ;  and  in  this  character  he  may  answer  to 
Aurora.  Some  might  perhaps  apply  to  him  the  name  Phos- 
phorus, which  seems  to  accord  with  an  inscription  mentioned  by 
Jablonski;^  but  he  was  distinct  from  Venus,  or  the  morning 
star. 

The  resemblance,  indeed,  between  Ahi,  or  Pa-hru,  *  the  day,' 
in  Egyptian,  and  Eos,  the  Greek  Aurora,  is  sufficiently  striking : 
and  if  for  the  *  sun '  rising  every  morning  from  a  lotus-flower, 
we  substitute  the  *  day,'  we  find  the  remark  of  Plutarch  justly 
applies  to  this  deity :  and  we  may  readily  pardon  his  error  in 
mistaking  him  for  Harpocrates,  whom  he  so  much  resembles. 
It  may,  then,  be  supposed  that  he  represents  the  day  ;  and  he 
is  with  justice  considered  the  child  of  Athor,  or  niffhi,  from  which 
every  new  day  was  supposed  to  spring.  I  must,  in  conclusion, 
make  this  remark  on  the  lotus-plant  on  which  he  is  represented 


*  Plot  de  bid.  s.  11.  '  Bono  Deo, 

*  Jablonskt,  ii.  6,  p.  256  :—  Ftteio  Phosphoro.* 


Chap.  Xm.] 


AHI— HAR-HAT. 


133 


seated, — that  It  is  always  the  Nymphtea  totaa,  and  in  do  instance 
the  Nelnmbo.  And  though  this  last  ia  mentioned  by  several 
ancient  authors  among  the  planta  of  Egypt,  it  is  never  intro- 
duced into  the  Bculptnres  as  a  sacred  emblem,  or,  indeed,  as  a 
prodaction  of  the  country ;  a  fact  which  goes  far  to  disprove  one 
of  the  sapposed  analogies  of  the  Egyptian  and  Indian  objects 
of  Teneeation.  With  regard  to  the  common  lottis,  so  frequently 
represented  as  a  bvourite  flower  in  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians 


.  '  Hir-kat.  (ml  gad.  Inn)  of  bHnn.' 

.  •lUr-U(,fn»L|gd.lar 

■*.  -Uit'CEdfti]. 


lord  of  Dendcnli.' 


(u  the  rose  or  others  might  be  in  the  hands  of  any  modem 
people),  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  having  been  sacred,  much 
W  an  ol^ect  of  worship,  though  it  is  an  emblem  of  the  god 
Itefer-Atmn. 

&a  there  appears  to  be  some  connection  between  the  deity  Eat 
»4  Honis,  I  introduce  him  with  the  members  of  the  family  of 
Seb.    Hat  wia  the  Good  Genius,  or  Agathodsemon,  under  whose 


134  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIH. 

protection  the  persons  of  the  kings  and  the  temples  of  the  gods 
were  placed.  In  the  form  of  a  sun  supported  by  two  asps  and 
outspread  vultures'  wings,  he  occurs  over  the  doorways  and 
facades  of  buildings.  Sometimes  he  is  represented  as  a  winged 
scarabaeus,  supporting  a  globe  or  sun  with  its  fore-feet;  as  a 
hawk,  he  hovers  over  the  monarch  while  offering  sacrifices  in  the 
temples,  or  on  other  occasions ;  and  as  a  deity  of  human  shape, 
with  a  hawk's  head,  he  pours  alternate  emblems  of  life  and  power 
over  the  prince  at  his  coronation.  In  this  office  he  is  assisted 
by  the  god  Nilus,  Thoth,  or  Nubti;  one  of  whom,  placed 
opposite  him,  pours  a  stream  of  similar  emblems  from  another 
vase  over  the  king  who  stands  between  them.  His  place  is 
sometimes  taken  by  one  of  those  deities.  When  opposed  to 
Nubti,  he  appears  to  represent  the  Upper,  as  tiie  latter  the  Lower, 
Country.  He  also  assists  in  binding  the  throne  of  the  monarch 
with  the  stalks  of  water-plants,  in  company  with  Nilus,  or  with 
Thoth,^-one  using  those  emblematic  of  the  Upper,  the  other  of 
the  Lower,  Country.  The  ceremony  itseK  refers  to  the  dominion 
of  the  king  over  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt. 

When  represented  as  a  man,  with  a  hawk's  head,  he  appears 
to  be  related  to  the  AgathodsBmon  of  the  Phoenicians ;  which, 
according  to  Eusebius,  was  supposed  (tiiough  erroneously)  to  be 
the  same  as  Neph,  with  '  the  head  of  a  hawk.'  In  the  character 
of  the  winged  globe,  he  unites  the  attributes  of  Ba,  E!hnum,  and 
Mut,  the  sun,  asp,  and  vulture's  wings.  He  may  then  be  said 
more  particularly  to  deserve  the  name  of  the  Good  Genius; 
though,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  Agathodaemon,  which 
presided  over  the  affairs  of  men  as  the  guardian  spirit  of  their 
houses,  was  the  asp  of  Bannu ;  according  with  another  state- 
ment of  Eusebius,^  that  Agathodaemon  was  figured  under  the 
form  of  a  serpent.  The  winged  globe  may  perhaps  call  to  mind 
the  Mand  shadowing  with  wings  ;'^  as  the  figures  kneeling  at 
either  end  of  the  sacred  arks,  or  boats,  recall  the  winged 
seraphim.  The  name  of  this  deity  is  written  Hat,  when  under 
the  form  of  a  hawk,  and  of  the  winged  globe,  in  attendance  on 
the  kings ;  and  when  under  the  name  and  character  of  Har-Hat, 
he  usually  wears  the  pshent,  or  crown  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt,  which  seems  to  connect  him  with  Horus.  He  is  some- 
times represented  with  wings,  holding  a  spear,  and  crowned  with 
the  pshent  of  Horus;    but  this  is  in  temples  of  a  Ptolemaic 


>  Eiueb.  Pnepar.  Erang.  i.  10.  '  Isaiah  zTiii.  1. 


dHiT.zm.] 


NtTBTL 


1S5 


era.  He  frequently  appears  at  Denderali,  aod  also  in  tlie  oldest 
temples,  in  all  these  chaiacteia ;  and  the  temple  of  Edfoo,  or 
Apollinopolis  Magna,  being  dedicated  to  him,  aeems  to  give  him 
a  claim  to  the  name  of  Apollo.  At  this  last  place,  an  instance 
occiirs  of  the  god  Har-Eat  with  the  head  of  a  lion  and  the  solar 
dish,  holding  a  monkey  in  his  hand.  He  stands  in  a  boat ;  and 
before  him  Thoth,  Isis,  Nephthys,  and  two  other  goddesses,  raise 
their  hands  in  an  attitude  of  prayer,  while  Horns  pierces  the 
head  of  Apophis  with  a  spear.* 


■.  Sir^-wn.    I.  Tte  two-h«ded  god  Horu  or  Hu  of  Hat  ui]  SM  nnltid. 

The  deity  NnbH  is  sometimes  represented,  as  already  observed, 
I^J**""^^  with,  and  in  the  same  office  as,  the  last-mentioned 
^^  pooimg  the  emblems  of  life  and  power  over  the  kings,  in 
™«  place  of  Thoth;  and  as  teaching  them  the  use  of  the  bow, 
••Sether  with  the  same  bawk-headed  god,  Har-Hat    It  might 

•W  th!  *^^  ^*^  **  ■"PpoMii  <«  »pra-      igdnit  tha  eonaplnton  of  5«t.     (NmrUI*, 
Hit  1/ d*"*  P"^  throiuh  tti<  hMTBDa.       •HTtbs  d'Honu.'   Piamt,  Voub.,  p.  1S7.) 
"  M«  titl,  tjpe  Qf  Horn  fighting      — S.  B. 


136  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XIIL 

appear  that  Nubti  was  connected  with  the  Lower  Conntry,  as 
Har-Hat  with  Upper  Egypt,  to  whom  he  was  opposed.  For,  in 
the  ceremony  of  the  Panegyries,  where  the  king  is  represented 
ranning  to  the  temple  to  perform  the  accustomed  rites,  we  find 
this  deity  introduced  on  the  side  of  the  picture,  corresponding 
to  Lower  Egypt,  with  all  the  emblems  of  that  part  of  the  country, 
as  tho  asp,  the  northern  water-plant,  and  the  genius  of  Lower 
Egypt;  the  king  also  wearing  the  cap  of  that  district.  But 
Nubti  generally  has,  in  his  hieroglyphic  legend,  the  title  '  Lord 
of  the  region  of  the  Upper  Country,'  as  is  the  case  even  in  the 
subject  to  which  I  have  above  alluded,  though  accompanied  by 
the  emblems  of  Lower  Egypt.  This,  then,  may  be  intended  to 
indicate  the  combined  protection  of  the  deities  of  both  regions. 
In  the  cartouches  of  Osirei  and  other  Pharaohs,  his  figure  is 
introduced  as  a  substitute  for  Osiris.  In  the  hieroglyphic 
legends  on  the  monuments,^  he  is  shown  to  have  been  the  son  of 
Nut;  on  the  wooden  cubits  found  at  Memphis,  the  names  of 
Seb  and  Nut  are  followed  by  Osiris,  Isis,  Nubti,'  Nephthys,  and 
Aroeris ;  and  I  have  met  with  a  group  of  figures  representing 
the  family  of  Nut,  in  which  he  occurs  with  Osiris,  Aroeria,' 
Isis,  and  Nephthys,  as  the  third  son  of  that  goddess.  This 
agrees  with  the  statement  of  Plutarch,^  that  Osiris  was  bom  on 
the  first,  Aroeris  on  the  second,  Typho  on  the  third,  Isis  on  the 
fourth,  and  Nephthys  on  the  fifth  day. 

Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  deity  before  us  was  one  of  the 
characters  of  Typho,  and  the  reason  of  his  figure  being  erased  on 
almost  all  the  monuments  where  it  occurs  was  owing  to  the 
hatred  with  which  they  viewed  the  Evil  Being  he  represented : 
though,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  show,  the  good  and  bad 
principles  were  viewed  with  a  different  feeling  by  the  philosophers 
of  early  times.  He  is  figured  under  a  human  form,  having  the 
head  of  a  quadruped  with  square-topped  ears,  which  some  might 
have  supposed  to  represent  an  ass  with  clipped  ears,  if  the 
entire  animal  did  not  too  frequently  occur  to  prevent  this 
erroneous  conclusion.  That  it  was  an  imaginary  creature  is 
evident  from  its  form,  and  from  being  placed  at  Beni-Hassan 
with  sphinxes  ^  and  other  fanciful  animals ;  all  conjecture  is 


>  An  instance  of  this  occurs    on    the  Horus.  *  Plat,  do  Isid.  •.  12. 

Obelisk  of  Luxor,  at  Thebes.  *  The  sphinx  was  chosen  as  an  emblem 

'  Nubti  means  the  town  of  Ombos,  and  of  the  king,  and  was  intended  to  impl  j  tk« 

he  is  the  *  Set  of  Mubti,'  when  so  mentioned,  union  of  physical  and  intellectnal  forot,  hj 

— S.  B.  its  bodj  of  a  lion  and  its  human  head ;  or, 

'  This    deit J    wean    the  pthent^    like  as  Clemens  of  Alexandria  lajs,  *  the  union 


138 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XTTT. 


therefore  useless,  both  regarding  its  name  and  the  reason  for 
which  it  was  selected. 

Had  the  head  of  this  deity  been  that  of  the  ass,  its  adoption 
would  have  suited  the  character  of  the  Evil  Being,  and  have 
accorded  with  the  statement  of  Plutarch,  who  says  the  Egyptians 
considered  that  animal  emblematic  of  Typho.  'Hence  the 
Coptites  have  the  custom  of  throwing  an  ass  down  a  precipice ; 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Busiris  and  Lycopolis  carry  their  detesta^ 
tion  of  it  so  far  as  never  to  make  use  of  trumpets,  fancying  that 
their  sound  is  similar  to  the  braying  of  an  ass.  Indeed,  this 
animal  is  generally  regarded  by  them  as  unclean,  on  account  of 
its  supposed  resemblance  to  Typho ;  for  which  reason,  the  cakes 
offered  with  their  sacrifices,  during  the  two  months  Pauni  and 
Phaophi,  have  the  impression  of  an  ass,  bound,  stamped  upon 
them.'  ^  Even  if  the  entire  quadruped  itself  were  not  present  to 
decide  this  point,  their  mode  of  representing  animals  was  too 
accurate  to  admit  of  such  a  misconception ;  and  a  figure  with  the 
head  of  an  ass  represented  among  the  numerous  genii  in  the 
temple  of  Tuot,  or  Tuphium,  suffices  to  show  the  marked  distino- 
tion  between  it  and  the  one  before  us.  The  inaccuracy  of  Greek 
writers  presents  considerable  difficulty  in  deciding  upon  any 
point  not  elucidated  by  the  Egyptian  monuments.  We  are  told 
that  Typho  was  the  name  of  the  Evil  Being,  who  was  the  son  of 
Nut,  and  brother  of  Osiris.  But,  judging  from  the  hieroglyphio 
legends,  there  is  reason  to  belieye  Typho  to  be  a  female  deity, 
apparently  distinct  from  the  Evil  Being  who  was  the  persecutor 
of  Osiris ;  and  we  are  unable  to  trace  in  the  name  of  Nubti  any 
of  the  titles,  Seth,^  Bebo,^  Babys,*  or  Smy,*  given  by  Plutarch  to 
Typho.  On  this  last  point,  however,  I  shall  not  insist,  sinoe 
the  force  of  the  hieroglyphics*  composing  it  is  not  positively 
ascertained ;  but  we  may  be  certain  that  the  name  Typho  was 
not  applied  to  this  deity,  though  he  fulfilled  the  office  of  the 
Evil  Being  opposed  to  the  good  Osiris,  his  brother,  and  answered 
in  every  respect  to  the  character  of  the  third  son  of  Nut. 

It  appears  that  the  Egyptian  mythology  acknowledged  two 


of  force  with  prudence  or  wiwlom/  &Xic^t 
rh  at  fi4ra  awter4ws  ri  a^ly^  (Strom,  v.). 
He  roDs  into  the  osnal  error  of  considering 
the  sphinx  female ;  the  Egyptians  making 
it  inyariablj  male,  which  is  consistent 
with  its  being  a  representative  of  the  king. 

1  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  80. 

'  Set  and  Sntekh  constantly  occur  on 
the  monuments.-^.  B. 


'  Buba  or  Bebon  is  mentioned  i&  tKa 
Ritual,  xvii.  and  zciii.  (Pierret,  'Dict^' 
p.  80.)— S.  B. 

**  Athen.  Deipn.  lib.  xr.  p.  680. 

*  Plat,  de  Isid.  ss.  62,  49.  [Smy  is  pro- 
bably the  Egyptian  Smu,  or  SemUf  mentioned 
as  the  *  conspirator  *  against  Osiris. — S.  &] 

•  He  sometimes  seems  to  hare  a  titlft 
similar  to  S6th. 


Chap.  Xm.]  NUBTI,  THE  EVIL  BEING.  139 

deities  who  answered  to  the  description  given  by  the  Greeks  of 
Typho :  one,  who  was  the  son  of  Nut,  and  was  opposed  to  his 
brother  Osiris,  as  the  bad  to  the  good  principle;  the  other 
bearing  the  name  of  Typho,  and  answering  to  that  part  of  his 
character  which  represents  him  as  the  opponent  of  Horus. 

From  the  constant  and  almost  universal  erasure  of  his  figure, 

the  Egyptians  seem  to  have  looked  upon  this  deity  as  a  hateful 

being,  the  enemy  of  mankind.    But  the  offices  he  sometimes 

bore,  the  presentation  of  prayers  and  offerings,  and  the  respect 

frequently  paid  to  him  in  temples  of  the  oldest  periods,  where  he 

occurs  as  one  of  the  contemplar  gods,  show  that  his  character 

was  not  always  the  same  as  ascribed  by  us  to  the  wicked  Satan ; 

but  an  abstract  notion  of  what  was  hurtful  and  bad,  acting  in 

opposition  to  the  good,  yet  still  necessary  to  mankind,  and  part 

of  the  system  ordained  by  the  divine  intellect.    '  For  the  harmony 

of  the  world,'  as  Heraclitus  observes,^  ^  like  that  of  a  harp,  is 

made  up  of  discords,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil ; ' 

and  Euripides  says,  ^Good  and  evil  cannot  be  separated  firom 

each  other,  though  they  are  so  tempered  as  to  produce  beauty 

and  order.'    If  such  was  the  opinion  of  the  Egyptians,  we  are  not 

surprised  to  find  that  sacrifices  were  offered  to  the  bad  principle, 

as  though  his  votaries  considered  themselves  benefited  by  his 

interposition.     And  it  is  probable  that  they  so  viewed    the 

connection  between  the  good  and  bad,  as  to  consider  that  nothing 

injurious  to  mankind  was  not  ordained  for  a  good  purpose ;  that 

virtue  even  was  a  vice,  when  carried  to  an  extreme ;  and  that  no 

bad  quality  of  the  mind  could  not  be  turned  to  a  good  purpose, 

if  properly   tempered   by  the    judgment  and  understanding. 

These  ideas  may  be  obscurely  hinted  at  in  the  emblematic  figure 

ofthis  deity  with  the  head  of  a  hawk  added  to  his  own,  as  though 

it  represented  the  union  of  his  attributes  with  those  of  Horus,  or 

rfOriris.* 

The  same  may  also  be  traced  in  the  office  performed  by  this 
deity,  in  company  with  Horus,  of  placing  the  crown  on  the 
head  of  the  king ;  or  with  Har-Hat,^  Agathodaemon,  of  pouring 
OTer  him,  from  a  vase,  the  emblems  of  life  and  purity.  This 
<^mony  might  imply,  that  during  his  life,  and  the  dis- 
^ii^ished  career  he  had  entered  upon,  even  the  monarch  himself 
could  only  expect,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  an  alternation 


*  Plvt  d«  Uid.  1. 45.  Horns  (the  lord)  of  Edfu  or  Apollinopolis 

'  Woodcut  Ho.  531,  fig,  2.  Magna.— S.  B. 

•Har-Hat  U    luWj  tho  ffar^en-Bdt, 


140  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

of  good  and  bad  fortune ;  and  that  he  ought,  therefore,  unceas- 
ingly to  appeal  to  the  protection  of  the  gods,  who  alone  could 
arert  calamities  and  insure  his  happiness.  In  the  mythological 
history  of  Osiris,  there  is  one  person  who,  from  haying  the  double 
character  of  a  friend  and  an  enemy  of  the  gods,  bears  a  re- 
semblance to  the  deity  before  us.  According  to  Diodorus,^  when 
Osiris  undertook  his  expedition  from  Egypt,  in  order  to  visit  and 
dispense  benefits  to  the  different  countries  of  the  world,  he  left 
Isis  in  charge  of  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom,  aided  by  the  counsels 
of  Mercury.  Hercules  waa  appointed  generalissimo  of  Egypt; 
Busiris,  of  the  sea-coast,  with  the  parts  adjacent  to  Phoenicia ; 
and  Antaeus,  of  the  Ethiopian  and  Libyan  districts.^  After  the 
death  of  Osiris,  his  murderer  Typho  was  defeated  by  Isis  and 
Horus,  at  a  spot  on  the  Arabian  side  of  the  river,  near  to  the 
village  of  Ajitseus,  ^o  called  from  the  Antaeus  whom  Hercules 
punished  during  the  lifetime  of  Osiris.  Whence  it  appears  that 
Typho  and  Antaeus  were  the  enemies  of  the  good  deities  Osiris 
and  Hercules.  Antaeus,  however,  was  admitted  into  the  Egyptian 
Pantheon ;  temples  were  erected  to  him ;  and  the  city  of  Ant«eo- 
polis,  the  capital  of  a  nome  of  the  same  name,'  and  the  successor 
of  the  village  mentioned  by  Diodorus,  acknowledged  the  god 
whose  name  it  bore.  In  this  we  perceive  the  origin  of  the  fable 
respecting  the  giant  Antaeus,  in  Greek  mythology ;  *  of  which, 
however,  I  do  not  stop  to  inquire  the  meaning.  It  is  of  little 
moment,  if  Aintaeus,  according  to  one  of  the  many  allegories 
devised  for  explaining  the  story  of  the  wars  of  the  gods,  re- 
presented the  sand  of  the  desert,  and  was  thence  reputed  to  be 
the  offspring  of  the  earth.  The  only  point  of  importance  for  my 
present  object  is  the  double  character  of  Antaeus,  like  that  of  the 
god  Nubti,  which  I  think  clearly  established  ;  and  the  error  of 
the  Greeks,  who  confounded  the  latter  deity  with  Typho,  may  be 
readily  accounted  for,  by  the  connection  between  Typho  and 
Antaeus,  in  the  account  given  by  Diodorus.  At  Gau,  the  ancient 
Antaeopolis,  a  temple  till  lately  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile ; 
but  the  last  standing  column  was  swept  away  by  the  river  in 
1821 ;  and  we  have  now  lost  the  only  monument  which  could 
decide  this  interesting  question,  to  confirm  or  disprove  the 
identity  of  Nubti  and  Antaeus. 

*  Diodor.  i.  17,  21.  RomAn  period. 

«  The  chief  god  of  AnUeopolis  is  Horns,  *  Juv.  iii.  89.     Pindar,  Pyth.  ix.  18S  - 

who  is  supposed  to  be  Antiens  in  one  of  his  Luc.  Phars.  ir.  615.     Strabo,  xvii.  p.  570« 

forms  or  types. — S.  B.  ed.  Gas.    Plin.  r.  1. 

'  Plin.  V.  9.    It  is  of  the  Greek  and 


Chip,  Xm.]  GOOD  AND  EVIL.  141 

Sufficient  proof  exists  of  the  possibility  of  the  same  deity 
being  looked  upon  in  two  different  characters ;  and  Plutarch  has 
given  some  of  the  various  theories  respecting  the  two  principles. 
*  Some/  he  says/  *  assert  that  there  are  two  gods  of  two  contrary 
offices, — one  the  cause  of  all  that  is  good  in  the  world,  the  other 
of  all  that  is  evil.  Others,  again,  call  the  good  principle  only 
God— giving  the  name  of  Diemon  to  the  Evil  Being— in  which 
number  is  Zoroaster  the  Magos,  who  is  reported  to  have  lived 
5000  years  before  the  Trojan  War.  That  philosopher  named  the 
good  principle  Oromazes  (Ormusd),  and  the  evil  one  Arimanes 
(Ahriman) ;  between  whom  he  supposed  another  intermediate 
being,  called  Mithras,  considered  by  the  Persians  the  Mediator. 
He  also  taught  that  sacrifices  for  future  or  thanks  for  past 
benefits  were  to  be  offered  to  the  Good  Being,  as  those  for  the 
purpose  of  averting  misfortunes  to  the  evil  one. 

*  In  the  writings  of  Empedocles,  the  good  principle  is  some- 
times defined  by  the  name  of  Love  and  Friendship,  and  frequently 
by  that  of  sweet-looking  Harmony  ;  the  evil  one  being  denomi- 
nated pernicious  Enmity  and  Strife.     By  the  Pythagoreans,  the 
good  one  is  called  ^*  the  Unit,  the  Definite,  the  Fixed,  the  Straight, 
the  Odd,  the  Square,  the  Equal,  the  Dexterous,  and  the  Lucid ;  " 
and  the  evil  one,  "  the  Duad,  the  Indefinite,  the  Movable,  the 
Crooked,  the  Even,  the  Oblong,  the  Unequal,  the  Sinistrous,  the 
Dark."  Anaxagoras  styles  the  one  Intelligence,  the  other  Infinity ; 
and  Aristotle  describes  them  by  the  names  of  Form  and  Privation. 
Plato  in  his  Books  of  Laws  observes  that  *'  this  world  is  not  moved 
by  (me  soul  only,  but  perhaps  by  many — certainly  not  fewer 
than  two :  one  of  whom  is  of  a  benevolent  disposition,  and  the 
author  of  everything  that  is  good ;  whilst  the  other  is  of  a  con- 
trary turn  of  mind,  and  the  author  of  everything  that  is  evil." 
h,  the  Egyptian  theory,  we  are  to  understand  by  Osiris,  the 
^ulties  of  the  universal  soul,  such  as  intelligence  and  reason ; 
Mid  in  the  general  system  of  matter,    whatever   is    regular, 
pennanent,  and  salutary,  such  as  orderly  seasons,  a  due  tempera- 
ment of  the  air,  and  the  stated  revolutions  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
^ut  those  powers  of  the  universal  soul  which  are  subject  to  the 
^uence  of  passions,  and  in  the  material  system,  whatever  is 
iioxiotis — as  irregular  seasons,  bad  air,  eclipses  of  the  sun  and 
Dioou— are  ascribed  to   Typho.'    *Upon  the   whole,  however, 
^iris,   or    the    good    principle,    has    the  superiority;    which 


1  Plat  de  laid.  s.  46,  et  seq. 


142  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

seems  likewise  to  have  been  the  opinion  botli  of  Plato  and 
Aristotle.'  ^ 

Looking,  therefore,  upon  the  bad  as  a  necessary  part  of  the 
universal  system,  and  inherent  in  all  things  equally  with  the 
good,  the  Egyptians  treated  the  Evil  Being  with  divine  honours, 
and  propitiated  him  with  sacrifices  and  prayers.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, impossible  that  they  may  have  looked  upon  this  deity  with 
different  feeUngs  in  later  times,  and  have  ceased  to  pay  him  the 
respect  he  formerly  enjoyed.  Dunng  the  18th  and  19th 
Dynasties^  and  perhaps  long  after  that  period,  he  continued  to 
receive  the  homage  of  numerous  votaries ;  but  subsequently  a 
general  feeling  of  hatred  seems  to  have  sprung  up  against  him, 
and  his  figure  was  erased  from  the  sculptures.  This  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  done  in  a  systematic  manner,  as  the  result 
of  a  general  order  given  by  the  priesthood  to  that  effect,  but  in  a 
moment  of  anger,  as  would  be  the  case  when  the  people  acted 
from  sudden  impulse  or  excitement.  It  therefore  happens  that 
the  figure  sometimes  escaped  this  indignity;  which  could  not 
have  been  the  case,  had  the  careful  scrutiny  of  the  priesthood 
been  employed  to  detect  and  deface  it. 

There  is  some  difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  exact  time  when 
the  erasure  took  place.  The  monuments  of  the  later  dynasties 
offer  few  of  the  subjects  in  which  this  deity  usually  took  part. 
It  is  not  therefore  right  to  conclude  that  he  had  then  ceased  to 
be  worshipped  as  in  olden  times ;  and,  indeed,  there  is  so  much 
imcertainty  on  this  head,  that  we  are  not  sure  if  the  erasure  was 
the  work  of  the  Egyptians  or  of  the  early  Christians.  But  this 
last  is  far  from  probable,  since  they  could  have  had  no  reason  to 
respect  or  hate  any  particular  deity  of  a  Pagan  temple. 

If  so  marked  an  aversion  for  his  figure  really  indicates  a 
change  in  the  feelings  of  the  Egyptians  towards  this  deity,  it  is 
possible  that  it  may  have  had  some  connection  with  the  invasion 
of  Persia — the  god  having  fallen  into  disgrace  in  consequence  of 
that  event ;  as  the  Boman  deities  were  sometimes  punished  for 
their  supposed  neglect  of  the  interests  of  their  votaries.^  But 
it  is  evident  that  it  could  not  date  from  the  early  period  of  the 
Exodus,  since  the  temple  of  Barneses  III.  alone  suffices  to  show 
he  was  in  favour  long  after  that  event. 

Whether  owing  to  a  change  in  the  religious  fancies  of  the 


1  Plat,  de  hid.  s.  59.  Plutarch  (de  hid.  t.  73)  tells  ns,  with  the 

'  This  was  alto  the  case  ia  Egypt,  as      sacred  animals. 


CtoAP.  XIIL]  THE  EVIL  PBINCIPLE,  143 

Egyptians,  or  to  any  other  oansOy  it  is  not  a  singular  instance. 
We  haye  already  noticed  the  erasure  and  substitution  of  hiero- 
glyphics in  the  name  of  Amen :  and  though  the  Egyptians  were 
great  conservatiyes  in  their  religious  institutions,  some  innoya- 
tions  were  introduced  during  the  long  period  of  their  history. 
Nor  can  anyone  suppose  that  the  accessories  of  their  religion 
underwent  no  modifications,  that  the  simplicity  of  the  early 
worship  had  not  many  new  ideas  engrafted  upon  it,  and  that 
speculatiye  theories  did  not  from  time  to  time  increase  the 
number  of  the  Egyptian  gods. 

I  am  eyen  disposed  to  think  that  a  change  of  this  kind  might 

proceed  from  another  cause:  that  good  and  bad,  which  were 

viewed  abstractedly  at  one  period,    were    afterwards    treated 

literally;  nothing  then  remaining  but  the  mere  opposition  of 

Osiris  and  Typho,  the  positiyely  good  and  the  positiyely  bad 

being,  the  one  all  that  was  beneficial,  the  other  all  that  w£ks 

noxious  to  mankind.    If  the  one  was  the  Nile,  which  fertilised 

the  country,  the  other  was  the  desert,  which  destroyed  all 

yegetable  life :  and  they  no  longer  entertained  the  opinions  of 

those  earlier  philosophers,  who  contended  that  good  and  bad 

formed  part  of  one  great  principle ;  that  eyil  proceeded  from 

good,  as  good  from  eyil ;  and  that  both  were  intended  for  the 

benefit  of  mankind. 

It  was  not  until  men  considered  the  bad  distinctly  separate 

from  the  good,  in  a  positiye  and  literal  sense,  that  Typho  was 

treated  as  the  enemy  of  man.    Such  was  the  idea  entertained  by 

the  Boman  yotaries  of  Osiris.    There  is  eyen  reason  to  belieye 

^  a  similar  change  in  the  sentiments  of  the  Egyptians  towards 

tiiig  deity  is  hinted  at  by  Plutarch,^  when  he  says,  *  It  is  eyident 

ttiey  hold  Typho  in  great  abhorrence,  though  they  still  make 

offerings  to  him,  as  if  to  console  him  for  the  loss  of  his  power, 

which  had  become  less  formidable  than  formerly.'    ^  It  was  in 

oonaequence,*   he  iwids,  *of  their  hatred  of  Typho,  that  they 

^i^ated  with  ignominy  those  persons  who,  from  the  redness  of 

^eir  complexions,  were  imagined  to  bear  a  resemblance  to  him ;' 

^d,<from  a  similar  notion,  they  made  choice  of  red  oxen  in 

^ir  sacrifices.'    The  ^  ass'  was  also  selected  as  an  appropriate 

emblem  of  the  eyil  deity,  from  its  being  usually  of  that  colour.' 

Diodorus'  eyen  asserts,  that  *men  of  red  complexions  were 

lonnerly  sacrificed  to  Osiris,  in  consequence  of  tiieir  supposed 

!  "»^  ^^  ^^  ».  so.  bat  of  •  kind  of  gryphoiL— S.  K 

The  hmd  of  Set  ii  not  tKtt  of  an  m,  »  Diodor.  i.  88. 


144  THE  ANCIENT  EaYPTIANa  [Chap.  Xm. 

resemblance  to  Typho ; '  though  this  may  be  reasonably  doubted, 
as  so  many  tales  related  by  the  Greeks  respecting  the  customs  of 
the  Egyptians.  The  supposed  birthday  of  Typho  was,  in  like 
manner,  looked  upon  as  inauspicious ;  and  *  accordingly,  on  the 
third  day  of  the  epact,  the  kings  neither  transacted  any  business, 
nor  even  suffered  themselves  to  take  any  refreshment  till  the 
evening.'^  If  it  appears  singular  that  this  hatred  of  the  Evil 
Being  did  not  prevent  their  propitiating  him  on  certain  occasions, 
the  custom  is  not  confined  to  the  Egyptians ;  fetr  less  speculative 
people  have  adopted  it  even  to  the  present  day  ;  and  philosophers 
have  offered  many  conflicting  opinions  on  the  abstract  theory  of 
the  good  and  bad,  the  origin  of  sin,  and  the  power,  cause,  and 
nature  of  evil. 

The  fact  of  the  figure  of  this  deity  being  so  generally  erased, 
and  the  change  in  the  name  of  Amen,  go  far  to  prove  that 
certain  innovations  took  place  in  the  religious  theories  of  the 
Egyptians;  and  if  we  could  discover  earlier  monuments  than 
those  which  now  remain,  we  might  find  the  number  of  deities 
more  limited  than  in  the  time  even  of  the  18th  Dynasty. 

[The  myth  of  Set  has  attracted  from  an  early  period  the 
attention  of  Egyptologists,  and  has  been  treated  at  great  length. 
He  appears  on  the  monuments  as  early  as  the  6th  Dynasty,  and 
is  treated  with  the  same  honour  as  the  other  members  of  the 
family  of  Seb.  His  subsequent  titles  are  *the  great  god,  lord 
of  heaven,  the  very  valiant,'  and  in  the  Bitual  he  is  mentioned 
in  connection  with  Horus,  of  whom  he  was  the  great  antagonist. 
The  great  contest  between  Set  and  Horus  after  the  death  of 
Osiris  lasted  three  days  and  nights,  and  the  gods  changed  them- 
selves into  two  animals,  probably  lions.  This  battle  took  place 
at  the  back  of  the  sea,  and  after  the  defeat  of  Set  the  companions 
of  the  god  were  changed  into  animals.  Set  was  supposed  to 
have  been  stabbed  by  Horus  in  the  heart,  and  part  of  his  organs 
torn  away.  He  also  injures  the  eye  of  Horus  in  the  shape  of  a 
pig.  In  the  Egyptian  mythology  he  appears  as  the  evil  prin- 
ciple, and  also  the  sun-god.  But  the  great  interest  of  the  god 
Set  was  his  connection  with  the  Hykshos  and  Canaanites,  when 
he  generally  bears  the  name  of  Sutekh  or  Sut.  As  such  he  was 
worshipped  during  the  Shepherd  rule  in  Amaris  ;  after  which  his 


*  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  12.     It   is  feingiilar  and  that  Tuph&n  is  the  Arabic  name  of 

that   the  name   *  Typhon '  (Tiphoon)  i^as  the  Deluge.    [It  is  the  Chinese  Tai  fung, 

applied  to  a  *  sudden  whirlwind '  in  former  *  great  wind.'---S.  B.] 
times  (Plin.  ii.  28),  as  at  the  present  day  ; 


Chap.  Xin.] 


TYPHO. 


145 


worship  still  continnedy  apparently  in  connection  with  Baal,  and 
he  was  the  type  of  Northern,  as  Horus  of  Southern,  Egypt.  Two 
of  the  monarchs  of  the  19th  Dynasty  bore  his  name ;  and  his 
worship  as  Set-ra,  from  which  it  is  supposed  may  be  deriyed 
the  Sethroites,  was  kept  up  by  Osorkon  IL  He  was  the  chief 
god  of  the  E^ta,  and  at  a  later  period,  for  reasons  unknown, 
either  religious  or  political,  his  name  was  erased  from  the  public 
monuments.  The  chief  seat  of  his  worship  was  at  Ombos, 
where  he  had  the  name  Nubti,  or  Ombos,  and  Set-Nubti,  or  Set, 
Lord  of  Ombos.  One  idea  is,  that  his  name  was  the  most  ancient 
one  of  Grod  amongst  the  Semitic  races.  He  assumed  the  form 
of  a  man,  of  a  lion,  or  beast,  perhaps  a  hippopotamus,  a  boar, 
and  a  serpent,  in  the  war  of  the  gods.  His  name  Set  means 
'limestone'  and  *fire.'^— S.  B.] 

I  haye  already  obserred,  that  there  is  reason  to  consider  the 
evil  being,  the  son  of  Nut,  distinct  from  Typho ;  and  this  last  to 
be  a  female  rather  than  a  male  deity.    The  son  of  Nut  whom, 
m  the  uncertainty  which  still  attends  the  reading  of  his  name, 
I  consider  to  be  Nubti,  has  evidently  no  office  in  connection 
with  Horus;  but  the  figure  in  the  accompanying  plate  is  re- 
presented opposed  to  the  son  of  Osiris,  and  holds  a  conspicuous 
place  in  those  temples  and  sculptures  which  refer  to  his  mysterious 
history.    Taur  appears  to  be  the  principal  personage  amidst  the 
tightful  and  capriciously  formed  figures  which  appear  as  the  evil 
genii  of  the  Egyptian  mythology ;  and  in  astronomical  subjects 
she  may  be  supposed  to  represent,  as  Plutarch  says  of  Typho,  the 
eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  occultations  of  the  stars, 
or  to  preside  over  the  birth  of  the  sun.    She  has  the  body, 
apparently,  of  a  hippopotamus,  or  of  a  bear,  with  the  head  some- 
times of  a  hippopotamus,  sometimes  of  a  crocodile,  the  tail  of  the 
l&tter,  and  the  hands  and  breasts  of  a  woman ;  and  she  frequently 
^ears  on  her  head  the  globe  and  horns  of  Athor,  with  two  long 
^'^theis.    Her  hand  reposes  on  an  emblem  not  very  unlike  a  pair 
of  shears ;  and  she  sometimes  rests  one  hand  upon  a  crocodile's 
head,  standing  on  its  tail.' 

At  the  quarries  of   Silsilis  she  is  worshipped  as  a  deity. 


/  H.  Ea.  Meyer,  *  Set-Typhon,*  Leipz. 
!»7S.  Pleyte, '  Die  Religion  der  Pre-Iirael- 
"^'  Utrecht,  1862. 

'  Tlie  lame  of  this  goddess  is  Tanr  or 
]ooMm,  snd  she  is  said  to  be  the  ooDcubine 
^  Typhon ;  she  also  had  the  name  of  She- 

^  S?/^  ^  ^P«*»  *  ^*  hippopotamui/ 
Ai  Ombos  these  deities  pnsided  over  the 


months.  Taur  has  the  title  of  'resident 
in  the  pure  waters  belonging  to  the  abyssal 
heights  of  heaven,  regent  of  gods.'  Apet  is 
called  *  the  great  one  who  has  given  birth 
to  the  boy,  companion  of  the  great  one  who 
reside  in  Thebes,  the  great  mother  of 
Eamntf.'  (Birch,  '  Gall,  of  Antiq.,'  p.  41. 
Pierret,  *Dict.,'  p.  52.)— S.  B. 

L 


Chap.  XHI.]  TYPHO.  147 

accompanied  or  followed  by  Thoth  and  a  goddess,  apparently 
Nuty  before  whom,  as  a  triad,  the  queen  of  Barneses  the  Great 
holds  two  sistra.  She  has  a  human  head,  with  the  usual  body  of 
a  monster  standing  erect  on  its  hind-legs ;  and  I  have  met  with 
the  same  deity  with  a  hvmanfigwe  and  head  of  a  hippopotamus, 
on  a  tablet,  where  she  is  the  first  person  of  a  triad  made  up  of 
Eileithyia  and  Athor.  She  sometimes  appears  to  be  connected 
with  the  idea  of  parturition,  or  gestation — ^which  may  account 
for  her  being  introduced  with  the  Egyptian  Lucina.  Her  figure 
in  the  hieroglyphic  legends  of  Isis^  and  Nut^  appears  to  refer 
to  her  capacity  of  protectress  of  mothers.  I  haye  also  found  an 
instance  of  this  goddess  with  the  name  Isis  over  her,  in  an  astro- 
nomical subject  on  a  mummy-case  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  hippopotamus  and  tiie  crocodile  were  emblems  of  Typho, 
except,  perhaps,  in  those  towns  where  they  happened  to  be 
worshipped :  as  at  Papremis,  the  city  of  Mars,  which  held  the 
former  among  the  animals  dedicated  to  its  protecting  deity ;  and 
at  Ombos,  and  other  places,  where  the  crocodile  was  sacred.    ^  At 
Heimopolis,'  says  Plutarch,"  *  there  is  shown  a  statue  of  Typho, 
which  is  a  hippopotamus  with  a  hawk  upon  its  back  fighting 
with  a  serpent.    By  the  hippopotamus  is  meant  Typho ;  and  by 
the  hawk,  the  power  he  frequently  assumes  by  violence,  and  then 
employs  to  his  own  annoyance  and  to  the  prejudice  of  others.    So, 
again,  the  cakes  they  offer  on  the  7th  day  of  Tybi,  to  celebrate 
the  return  of  Isis  from  Phoenicia,  hare  the  impression  of  a  hippo- 
potamus, bound,  stamped  upon  them.    The  solemn  hunt  of  the 
crocodile  in  the  city  of  Apollo,  when  every  one  is  obliged 
to  eat  of  its  flesh,  is  in  like  manner  established  to  show  their 
aUiorrenoe  of  Typho,  whose  emblem  it  is.    The  same  feeling  is 
the  origin  of  their  hatred  of  the  ass.' 

The  connection  of  Typho  and  Mars,  of  both  of  whom  the 
Uppopotamus  was  said  to  be  an  emblem,  is  singular ;  and  there 
^n^ears  to  be  a  great  analogy  between  Hercules  and  other  of 
the  reputed  Typhonian  figures. 

In  the  buildings  called  by  some  Typhonia,  and  in  many 
rf  the  mysterious  subjects  above  alluded  to,  she  is  accompanied 
hy  another  figure  of  hideous  shape,  which  has  also  been  con- 
ndeied  Typhonian.  This  monster  forms  the  ornamental  part 
o(  the  capitals  of  the  columns  around  the  Mammeisi  Temples, 
fcnaetly  called  Typhonia,  as  at  Denderah  and  other  places. 


*  ^UU  XXVL,  binog.  8.        «  PkU  XXIV^  bitrog.  2.  »  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  50. 

L  2 


148 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTFTIAHa 


[CBu-.xm. 


The  name  of  Typhonium  has  been  improperlj  applied  to  these 
monaments,  since  thej  were  not  conBecrated  to  Typho,  bnt  are 
rather  connected  with  the  mysterious  rites  of  Harpocrates  and 
other  iniJEUit  deities,  relating  to  their  birth,  or  generally  to  the 
principle  of  regeneration.  The  ingenious  Champollion  has  as- 
signed to  them  the  appellation  of  MammeiBi,  the  '  lying-in 
places,'  where  the  third  member  of  the  triad,  worshipped  in  the 
adjoining  temple,  was  bom,  and  nursed  by  the  deitiee  who  were 
supposed  to  perform  that  office  in  Egyptian  mythology. 

[The  next  deity  to  consider  is  the  god  Bes,  a  god  not  of 
Egyptian  origin,  but  coming  from  Arabia, 
and  Bubseqnently  identified  with  Set. 
Like  the  Fataikos  or  Ftah,  he  has  the 
appearance  of  deformity,  but  is  an  unborn 
child  of  Hercolean  proportions  of  limbs, 
covered  with  the  skin  of  a  lion  entirely 
concealing  his  face,  and  giring  it  a  Gror- 
gonian  appearance. — 8.  B.]  Hi  a  appear- 
ance  is  of  a  short  deformed  man,  with  a 
tail,  a  curly  beard,  and  a  head-dress  of 
long  feathers :  but  little  is  known  of  his 
oflice  and  attribntes,  nor  hare  I  been 
able  to  ascertain  if  he  be  the  hnaband  of 
Typho.  The  story  of  Nephthys  being 
the  wife  of  Typho,  even  if  Typho  were  a 
god,  is  not  authorised  by  the  scuiptures ; 
and  the  origin  of  this  notion  is  probably 
owing  to  Nephthys  being  placed  in  con- 
tradistisction  to  Isia,  as  the  end  to  the 
beginning,  and  in  the  funeral  rites  being 
Vc  uj.       Ru.  in  an  ofGee  opposed  to  that  of  her  sister. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  re- 
presented '  Death,'  in  a  bad  sense,  as  the  dissolution  of  the  animal 
part  of  man,  and  the  decay  of  all  things,  applied  to  animals  as 
well  as  to  mankind :  and  this  will  readily  account  for  the  presence 
of  the  peculiar  demonstrstive  sign — the  hide  of  an  animal  with 
the  tail  attached  to  it — which  always  follows  the  legends 
denoting  'a  beast.'  He  is  also  said  'to  adore  his  lord' — alluding 
to  the  attitude  in  which  he  stands  before  Harpocrates,  who  in  th^ 
character  of  renovation,  or  new  life,  might  properly  be  adored  b^ 
the  god  of  death.    He  occurs,  as  already  stated,  on  the  coin 


of  the  Mammeisi  of  Denderah  and  other  places ;  and  he  presents- 


Cbap.  xm.]  BEa  149 

the  same  appearance  in  some  of  the  temples  of  Southern  Ethiopia. 
He  is  foand  at  the  distant  Kermesat,  in  Wady  Kerbeean,  beyond 
Wady  Sen&t;  and  in  the  sculptures  of  the  supposed  hunting 
palace  of  Wady  Ben&t,  where  he  is  represented  armed  with  a 
shield  and  sword,  slaying  the  captives  he  grasps  in  his  hand.* 
Images  of  this  deity  are  also  found  at  Thebes  and  other  places, 
armed  in  the  same  manner  with  the  emblems  of  war,  which  may 
argae  his  being  death  in  the  sense  of  destruction  ;  and  an  in- 
stance occurs  of  his  having  the  dress  of  a  Soman  soldier  ;*  which 


Kerns  to  connect  him  with  the  god  of  war,  in  the  same  sense 
the  destooying  power.     In  a  papyrus  of  M.  R^urens,  he  ap- 
pnachea  near  to  the  figure  of  Hercules,  whom  I  shall  presently 
I»Te  occasion  to  notice ;  and  we  might  even  suppose  him  to  be 
^  deity  of  strength. 


'  ^«Ua  tbo*  wullka  tj^ti,  ha  ii  mcd 
■  »««  tMn  nood  pUriDS  on  th»  tri- 
r»«  tiiBcilu  lyt«,  or  on  tha  Umbour- 
■^•tWiaiiMdiM.  cyDocephiliB  wftt, 
***_™«'  «i«!l».     Ha  li  often    found 

*"'™»  ■  itiUnn-poU,  on  tha  hudlaa 


of  mirrora  ud  part*  of  haul-reata,  aDiI  )iia 
■ppamnca  inggeato  thai  he  had  aril  attri. 
batea.— S.  B. 

*  Woodcut  No.  534.  The  ahrine  he 
bean  on  hia  head  ii  remarkable.  But 
thla  ti(ara  b  of  Ute  data — Ranuu  period. 


150 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[CHAP.Xni. 


If  he  represented  Death,  his  frequent  occuirence  in  company 
with  the  infant  Honu  m&j  readily  be  explained  by  the  con- 
nection supposed  to  BQbeist  between  death  and  reproduction ; 
and  I  have  seen  a  statue  which 
combines  the  attributes  of  both 
those  godfi,  under  the  form  of  a 
yoath  with  the  lock  of  childhood 
descending  horn  his  head,  and  the 
beard  and  nnseemly  features  of 
this  aged  monster.  Sometimes, 
and  indeed  more  generally,  the 
head  of  the  latter  is  placed  over 
that  of  the  youthful  deity  (as  in 
the  cippus,  Plate  XXXIII.),  who, 
holding  in  one  hand  two  snakes 
with  a  scorpion  and  capricom,  in 
the  other  similar  snakes  with  a  lion 
and  scorpion,  stands  upon  two  cro- 
codiles, and  is  surrounded  by  the 
emblems  and  figures  of  different 
gods.  Though  most  of  these  are 
well  known,  I  do  not  pretend  to 
offer  an  explanation  of  the  whole 
subject,  which  appears  to  bear  an 
astrological  as  well  as  a  mytho- 
logical sense.'  The  three  principal 
figures — the  crocodile,  the  yonng 
Horns,  and  the  monster  head — may  signify  darkness,"  the  origin 
of  aU  things,  existence  or  production,  and  death.*  They  may  also 
explain  an  apparent  resemblance  between  this  deity  and  a  repre- 
sentation of  Ptah  the  Creative  Power.*  These  groups  are,  I  believe, 
of  late  date — of  Ptolemaic  or  Roman  time ;  and  it  is  generally 
obserrable  that  similarly  complicated  subjects  are  of  aperiod  when 
the  religion  of  Egypt  was  overgrown  with  fanciful  speculation, 
which  the  simplicity  of  earlier  sculptures  had  not  adopted. 


'  HicroblDt,   Siituni.   i.   26.     Clement      mystical 
(Strom.  T.)  uf s,  ■  Ths  Egjptiuu  (ometimei      th<  god, 
raprsMDt  tbe  «ud  Id  a  bout,  *o 
i:rocodile.'  '  Horapollo,  i 

*  Theu  e<ppl  (one  of  which 
pag«  153)  an   all   of  a    lata    period,  and      U  giTeu   bj  Hi 
ta*  covered  with   reprtMntationt  of   the      'Zeitsch.  f.  Hgypt.  Spi., 
principal  daitta  of  the  Egyptian  Pantbron      — S.  B. 
in  adoration  or  praacot  «rith  Uonu.    The 


iption,  atatiDg  Horat  to  b« 

,    .  agod,  ahMp,  aonof  aahatpt 

ieding  Trom  Oeirii,  and  that  he  i>  the 

old  one  who  becomn  fousg,  and  the  dinc- 

:n>cDdilai  to  abut  their  monthly 


i,  PPL  9»-136. 


Chab 


•  WoodonU  No.  S3e  and  So.  49S. 


CBAP.xm.] 


1^1 


Hay  this  deity  have  been  Besa,  whose  oracle  is  placed  by 
andent  writers  in  the  vicinity  of  Abydna  or  of  Antinoe  ?'  His 
name  in  some  of  the  hieroglyphic  legends  resembles  that  of  the 
unknown  Besa;  and  if  his  character  appears  little  likely  to 
jngtify  the  notion  of  his  possessing  an  oracle,  it  will  cease  to 
present  an  objection,  when  we  recollect  that  in  Greece  even 
the  monster  Geryon,  alain  by  Hercules,  was  deemed  worthy  of 


r  hononr.  Professor  Benvens '  gives  an  invocation  to 
Tjphon  Seth,  'who  destroys  and  renders  desert,  and  is  but- 
Buned  "he  who  agitates,  and  is  invineible;"'  which  seems  to 
nit  the  character  of  this  destroying  deity,  and  to  acconnt  for  his 
ptBOmed  connection  with  Typho.  The  fact  of  his  being  thus 
ioToked  corresponds  with  his  amhignons  title  and  appearance ; 
Ud  the  learned  Professor's*  opinion,  that  he  was  derived  ftom 
hah  or  from  Chnoomis,  is  snfGciently  plausible.  But  I  should 
odnde  the  name  of  Chnoumis,  and  for  Ptah  should  substitute 


»  pImm  tUi  Abrdu  at  Aboo  Huiaca  (■  Chriitlu  rill^a)  to  th«  S.  of  A 
%  Utt»  i  p.  89.  »  Littra  Ui.  pp.  78,  7B. 


152 


THK  AHCIEHT  EOTFTIANS. 


[GhaF.  TtTTT 


ttiat  of  the  pigmy  Ptali-Socliaria-Osiria,  to  which  I  hare  already 
alluded.  This  also  calls  to  mind  the  connection  between  the 
operation  of  the  Creator  and  of  the  Destroying  Power. 

Having  mentioned  the  bad  principle,  and  shown  the  dis- 
tinction between  Typho  and  the  son  of  Nat,  it  may  not  be  out 
of  place  to  introduce  another  character  of  the  Evil  Being ;  in 
which  we  cannot  fail  to  recognise  the  serpent  the  enemy  of 
mankind,  and  from  which  the  Pytho  of  G-reek  mythology  was 
evidently  derived.  Aphftphis,  or  Ap6p,  which  in  Egyptian 
Bignifies  a  giant,  was  the  name  given  to  the  serpent  of  which 
Horns  is  represented  as  the  destroyer.  From  this,  the  Greeks 
borrowed  the  story  of  Apollo's  destruction  of  the  serpent  Pytho  v 
as  from  the  name  AphSphis,  the  wars  between  the  giants,  or* 


Titans,  and  the  gods.  'For,*  as  Plutarch  observes,*  'those 
wars,  which  are  so  much  spoken  of  by  the  Qreeks,  the  detestable 
actions  of  Saturn,  and  the  combats  between  Apollo  and  Pytho^ 
the  Sights  of  Bacchus,  and  the  wanderings  of  Oeres,  are  of  th* 
same  nature  as  the  adventures  of  Osiris  and  Typbo.'  In  to- 
other place,'  he  speaks  of  *  Apopis  as  a  prince,  who  was  brother 
to  the  sun,  and  made  war  upon  Jupiter,  by  whom  he  was  de- 
feated through  the  assistance  of  Osiris,'  which  tends  to  the  same 
point;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  combat  of  the  gods  and 
giants  occurs  under  various  forms  in  many  religions. 

The  destruction  of  the  serpent  by  Horus,  who,  standing  in 
a  boat,  pierces  his  head  with  a  spear,  as  he  rises  above  the  water, 
frequently  occurs  in  the  sculptures ;  and  whether  it  has  the  body 

■  Pint.  d«  Iild.  (.  25.  *  lUd.  •.  38. 


154  THE  ANCIENT  SaiPTIANa  [Chap.  Xm. 

of  a  snake  with  the  head  of  a  man,  or  assumes  the  entire  human 
form,  it  appears  to  be  the  same  monster.  The  representation  of 
Typhoy  mentioned  by  Plutarch^  at  HermopoliSy  evidently  refers 
to  this  conflict  of  Horus  and  Aphdphis. 

I  will  not  decide  whether  the  serpent  Aphdphis  has  any 
relation  to  *  the  snake  which,  when  ThoueriSy  the  concubine  of 
Typho,  deserted  to  Horus,  was  killed  by  his  soldiers'  as  it 
pursued  her;  'an  event/  says  Plutarch/  'still  commemorated 
by  the  ceremony  of  throwing  a  rope  into  the  midst  of  their 
assemblies,  and  then  chopping  it  in  pieces/ 

Nephthys,  the  sister  of  Isis,  and  youngest  daughter  of  Nut, 
was  supposed  by  the  Greeks  to  have  been  the  wife  of  Typho; 
but,  as  I  have  already  observed,  this  notion  probably  arose  from 
her  being  placed  in  opposition  to  Isis,  particularly  in  funeral 
subjects,  where  Isis  stands  at  the  head  and  Nephthys  at  the  feet 
of  the  deceased.  She  represented  the  end,  as  Isis  the  beginning, 
of  all  things ;  but  she  was  not  opposed  to  her  sister  in  a  bad 
sense,  as  Typho  to  Osiris.  In  the  regions  of  Amenti,  a  triad 
was  composed  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Nephthys;  and  another  con- 
sisted of  Isis,  Nephthys,  and  Harpocrates. 

In  the  fabulous  history  of  Osiris,^  she  may  have  been  con- 
sidered as  the  sea-shore,  and  the  confines  of  Egypt,  from  being 
opposed  to  Isis,  who  was  that  part  of  the  land  irrigated  by  the 
inundation  of  the  Nile ;  without  the  idea  of  her  possessing  the 
injurious  nature  which  was  attached  to  Typho.  Even  in  this 
character  her  inferiority  might  be  of  a  negative  kind,  not  that 
of  a  positive  agent  of  evil,  being  merely  the  representative  of  a 
barren  soil,  whose  unproductiveness  was  owing  to  its  not  having 
received  the  fertilising  influence  of  the  inundation.  Like  Isis  in 
her  mysterious  character,  Nephthys  was  principally  employed  in 
offices  connected  with  the  dead  ;  and  she  is  represented  assisting 
her  sister  to  perform  the  last  rites  to  Osiris,  when  he  quitted  the 
earth  to  assume  his  duties  in  Amenti  as  judge  of  the  dead.  She 
is  therefore  appropriately  styled  'rectrix  of  the  lower  regions.* 
Her  name,  written  Neb-thy,  or  Neb-tei,  signifying  '  the  lady  of 
the  abode/  consists  of  a  bowl  or  basket,  called  neb,  placed  upon 
a  house,  answering  to  ei  or  tei.  These  she  wears  upon  her  head ; 
as  Isis  has  the  throne,  her  hieroglyphic  emblem. 

She  is  frequently  styled  the  sister-goddess,  referring  to  her 
relationship  to  Isis  and  Osiris ;  and  I  have  met  with  an  instance 


>  Plat,  de  Isid.  f.  19.  '  Ibid.  s.  38. 


156 


THE  ANCIENT  EaTPTlANS. 


[Chap,  XnL 


of  her  being  called  'Nepiithys,  the  Bavioor  Bistw-goddeaa, 
Andoka.'  This  cotmeots  her  with  Anonkis  the  Egyptian  Testa, 
and  accords  with  the  Greek  notion  of  Vesta  being  the  daughter 
of  Satnm  and  Bhea,  who  answered  to  the  Seb  and  Nut  of  the 
Egyptian  Pantheon.  In  another  hieroglyphic  inscription  oyer  a 
door  at  Dakkeh,  the  Ethiopian  king  Ergamen  is  said  to  be '  a 
son  of  Osiris,  bom  of  Isis,  and  nursed  by  Nephthys;'  and  the 
two  triads  of  which  she  was  a  member  frequently  occur  in  the 


1,1.  ■  Ncphlhja  0>t,  tlatpr-goddm  AIKnkl^  diggbter  ot  tbe  nin,  nielli  of  Uu  Uiid.' 

3.  '  Kfpblliy>,  OHt  ilalcr-gaddna  Mi  oi  Tmlti.' 

4.  'Ntpblbj*,  Ud^  ofbHTen.  rcgenl  of  the  tHocoDDtrlH.' 

Egyptian  tombs.  She  is  sometimes  called.' a  daughter  of  tl" 
sun,'  though  Plutarch'  supposes  her  begotten  by  Saturn;  &xa 
the  same  author  gives  to  her  the  names  of  Teleute,  or  the  evx- 
Aphrodite,  and  Nik6.  He  considers  her,*  in  one  of  her  cl»  - 
racters,  '  the  loner  and  invisible,  as  Isis  was  the  upper  »^ 
visible,  parts  of  the  world ; '  and  he  says,'  that  '  the  t 
having  the  face  of  Isis  on  one  side  and  of  Kephthys  on  ' 

>  Plat,  it  Isid.  *.  12.  •  IbU.  (.44.  'Ibid.  1.  S3. 


Chap.  XUL] 


NEPHTHYa 


157 


other,  symbolically  represents  generation  and  corruption.'    This 
idea,  like  that  previously  expressed  respecting  the  contradistinc- 
tion of  Isis  and  her  sister,  did  not  convey  the  impression  of  a 
malevolent  deity;   corruption  or  the  termination  of  life  not 
being  looked  upon  as  annihilation,  as  I  have  already  had  occa- 
sion to  observe.    All  persons,  therefore,  who  died,  were  thought 
to  pass,  through  the  influence  of  Nephthys,  into  a  future  state ; 
and  the  presence  of  Nut  on  the  coffins  of  the  dead  also  pur- 
ported that,  being  bom  again  and  assuming  the  title  of  Osiris, 
each  individual  had  become  the  son  of  Nut,  even  as  the  great 
Buler  of  Amenti,  to  whose  name  he  was  entitled  when  admitted 
to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed.    But  though  Nephthys  was  the 
*  End,'  she  was  distinct  from  '  Death,'  whom  I  have  mentioned 
as  a  separate  deity.     I  have  once  met  with  an  instance  of 
Nephthys  with  the  adjunct  Sothis,  connecting  her  with  the  dog- 
star.    This  is  perhaps  an  assumption  of  the  attributes  of  her 
sister,  or  may  refer  to  that  star  at  the  end  instead  of  the  begiiP' 
ning  of  the  year,  from  which  its  heliacal  rising  was  usually 
calculated :   but,  being  of  rare  occurrence,  it  is  not  important, 
nor  does  it  suffice  to  connect  the  dog-star  with  the  sister  of  Isis. 
According  to  Hesychius,  *  the  Egyptians  worshipped  a  goddess, 
called  by  the  Greeks  Aphrodite  skoitay  **  the  dark  or  nocturnal 
^enus," '  whom  Priohard  supposes  to  be  Nephthys ;  *  but  this 
lather  applies  to  the  Egyptian  Athor. 

The  jackal-headed  god  was  one  of  the  principal  deities  of 
AmentL  He  was  *son  of  Osiris,'  not  by  Nephthys,  as  Greek 
^ters  state,  but,  according  to  the  positive  authority  of  the 
hieroglyphics,  *  by  Isis,'  as  is  shown  in  a  legend  given  by  Salt, 
from  a  mummy-case  in  his  possession,  where  *  Anubis '  ^  is  called 
*the  son  of  Isis.'  This  suffices  to  disprove  the  opinion  of 
-Plutarch*  respecting  Nephthys;  though  the  same  author 
^ows  that  '  Isis  was  also  reputed  his  mother,  though  bom  of 
Nephthys.**      Another   notion,   which  assigns  to  Anubis  the 


'  Pridiaid,  p.  146. 

'  Aanbit  was  the  god  of  embalming,  and 
ioch  ia  represented  as  the  divine  em- 
of  hit  father  Osiris.  At  the  earliest 
Um  stpulchral  dedications  at  Mem- 
it  were  addressed  to  him,  and  not  Osiris ; 
'  his  titles  are '  president  of  embalming ' 
*  chief  of  the  mountain,'  referring  to 
wcstcni  hills  where  the  dead  were  de- 
*^  He  was  also  guide  of  the  roads  of 
^^  north  sad  sonth,  and  opener  of  those 
^^tiieh  ltd  to  Bnsat,  the  gatewaj  of  Hades. 


In  connection  with  the  legend  of  Osiris,  he 
is  called  conqueror  of  the  enemies  of  his 
father.  (Pierret,  *  Diet.,' p.  50.)  At  a  later 
period  an  Anubeum  or  temple  of  Anubis 
is  found  attached  to  the  Serapeum  at 
Memphis,  which  was  kept  by  Pastophori, 
priests  who  had  charge  of  the  libations. 
Under  the  Roman  Empire  he  formed  one  of 
the  personages  of  the  universallj  dissemi- 
nated Isiac  worship.  (Rhon^  *  L'£g^te,' 
p.  256.)— S.  B. 
'  Plat,  de  Isid.  ss.  14,  38.    *  Ibid.  b.  44. 


.  Xm.]  AKUBIS.  159 


of  a  dog  instead  oi  a  jackal,  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
BpeDerally  accredited  errors  which  the  ignorance  of  the  Greeks 
laiid  Romans  has  set  forth  respecting  the  gods  of  Egypt ;  and 
Brrerj  writer,  whether  in  poetry  or  prose,  who  has  mentioned  this 
deity,  has  described  him  with  the  head  of  a  dog.  Even  altars 
erected  to  him  nnder  this  form  by  his  yotaries  at  Bome ; 
so  unirersal  was  the  belief  in  the  canine  character  of  the 
is,^  that  the  fabulons  history  of  Osiris  was  perverted 
<»der  to  accord  with  this  established  notion.  The  unques- 
^aanable  authority,  howerer,  of  the  Egyptian  sculptures,  has 
Corrected  this  misconception,  and  we  there  find  that  he  was  not 
osdj  represented  with  the  head  of  a  jackal,  but  also  under  the 
of  the  entire  animal.  And  lest  scepticism  and  the  force  of 
opinion  should  still  retain  a  doubt,  or  suppose  this 
to  be  intended  for  a  peculiar  species  of  dog,  it  may  not 
^  irrelerant  to  remark,  that  the  same  jackal  is  introduced  at 
fiflu-Hassan  with  the  wolf  and  other  unld  animals  of  Egypt, 
^ad  that  the  dogs  are  nerer  figured  in  the  paintings  of  a  form 
^Aich  ooold  justify  a  similar  conclusion.  According  to  the  ex- 
plinition  giren  by  Plutarch '  of  the  history  of  Osiris  from  the 
fknomena  of  the  heaTons,  Anubis  was  supposed,  in  one  of  his 
chtucters,  *  to  represent  the  horizontal  circle  which  divides  the 
isfiiible  part  of  the  world,  called  by  the  Egyptians  Nephthys, 
6oB  the  visible,  which  they  term  Isis.  In  short,  Anubis  seems 
to  be  of  the  same  power  and  nature  as  the  Grecian  Hecate,  a  deity 
ttmon  both  to  the  celestial  and  infernal  regions.'  This  last, 
kosever,  I  have  shown  to  apply  to  Isis  rather  than  to  Anubis. 
'(Mms,*  he  adds,  'are  of  opinion,  that  by  Anubis  is  meant  Time^ 
sUch  begets  all  things  out  of  itself;  but  this  is  one  of  the 
Met  doctrines  known  only  to  those  who  are  initiated  into  his 
vvriiip.  •  •  •  •  The  universal  reason,  moreover,  is  called  by 
An  Anabis,  and  sometimes  Hermanubis;  the  first  of  these 
mes  expressing  the  relation  it  has  to  the  superior,  as  the  latter 
to  the  'udetUxt  world*'  The  oflBce  of  Anubis  was  to  superintend 
Ae  passage  of  the  souls  from  this  life  to  a  future  state,  in  which 
ks  inswered  to  the  Mercury  of  the  Greeks  in  his  capacity  of 
I^jchopompos,  or  *  usher  of  souls.*^  He  presided  over  tombs, 
ad  at  the  final  judgment  he  weighed  the  good  actions  of  the 
in  the  scales  of  truth,  and  was  thence  styled  *  director 


>  ffvpOTi.  UK.  iU.  EUf .  iL  41.        *  riot,  dt  Uid.  s.  61. 

•  rtas.  4*  liU.  a.  U.  *  Bom.  OdjM.  !▲',  1,  aad  Hor.  OO.  i.  is,  17. 


160  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  tttt. 

of  ttie  weight.'     He  is  frequently  introduced  on  coffins,  standing 
over  a  bier  on  which  a  corpse  is  deposited.     [He  appears,  too, 


So.  Ml.  JkIuI  ot  AddUi  praMeUng  >  dtoeavd  fotaa. 

in  the  vignette  of  the  eighty-ninth  chapter  of  the  Bitual,  laying 
ont  the  body  on  its  sepulchral  bier,  which  the  soul  revisits  in  tiie 
shape  of  the  human-headed  hawk,  and  in  the  preceding  plate'  it 
is  seen  holding  life  in  one  hand,  and  a  sail,  the  emblem  of  breath, 
in  the  other.^S.  B.] 

Aonbis  may  be  considered  to  answer  to  death,  in  a  good 
sense,  as  the  departure  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  on  its  way  to 
a  better  state,  and  applied  only  to  mankind  ;  death  in  another 
sense,  as  the  decease  of  the  animal  portion  of  man,  being  figured 
by  the  Egyptians  under  a  different  form,  as  I  have  already 
shown.  It  is  probably  from  this  his  character,  that  Plutarch 
was  led  to  the  notion  of  Anubis  being  Time,  the  Tempua  edax 
rerum. 

Apuleius '  calls  Anubie  '  the  interpreter  of  gods  of  heaven 
and  of  Hades,  sometimes  with  a  black,  at  others  with  a  golden 
face, .  . .  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  caduceus,  and  in  his  right 
shaking  a  palm-branch.'  But  in  this  description  we  discover  the 
union  of  Anubis  and  Thoth,  both  of  whom  bear  analogy  and  cor- 
respond to  the  Mercury  of  Greece.  The  ofBce  of  interpreter  in 
heaven  and  in  Hades  applies  to  Thoth.  Anubis  and  Thoth  were 
both  deities  of  Hades,  and  the  former  had  sometimes  a  blacki 
sometimes  a  golden  face ;  but  the  palm-branch  belonged  to 
Thoth,  and  the  caduceus  to  neither  of  them.    And  if  Greek  and 

>  PUU  XXXV.,  hierog.  3.  '  Apol.  Ustam.  11. 


Cktf.  XnL]  ANUBia  161 

AoBiB  bis-reliefr  give  to  Anubia  a  character  according  with  the 

description  of  ApuleinSy  they  are  at  direct  yarianee  with  the 

tcolptnresy  and  show  that  they  are  not  taken  from  Egyptian 

aotliority  of  an  ancient  date,    I  have  once  met  with  an  instance 

of  Annbis  with  the  head  of  a  ram  in  lien  of  that  of  the  jackal ;  on 

vbich  occasion  he  had  assumed  the  attributes  of  Chnoumis. 

Diodoms^  relates  that  Anubis  accompanied  Osiris  in  his 

Eastern  expedition,  together  with  Pan  and  Macedo,  who  were  his 

generals.    Mercury  held  the  office  of  counsellor  to  the  Queen 

Ina,  flercules  was  viceroy  during  his  absence,  Busiris  governor 

of  the  provinces  on  the  sea-coast  towards  Phoenicia,  and  Antaeus 

of  these  bordering  on  Ethiopia  and  Libya.    Anubis  and  Macedo, 

•ooording  to  Diodorus,  were  sons  of  Osiris ;   and  the  latter  is 

dcKribed  by  him  dressed  in  the  skin  of  a  wolf,  as  Anubis  in  that 

of  a  dog.    Of  Macedo  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  anything 

bom  the  sculptures ;  though  it  is  possible  that  he  may  also  have 

tlie  form  of  a  jackal-headed  deity  similar  to  Anubis,  with  the 

koQi  and  other  devices  as  his  hieroglyphic;   and  it  is  not 

iapoinble  that  these  horns  may  in  some  way  refer  to  the  idea 

of  punishment  which  Horapollo'  tells  us  was  denoted  by  a  cow's 

^onu    It  is  also  remarkable  that  this  deity  is  styled  the  *  Lord 

of  Lycopolis,*  8io6ut. 

[It  will  be  as  well  here  to  introduce  the  account  of  the  de« 
itnetion  of  mankind  by  the  gods,  although  it  forms  part  of  an 
Mriisr  myth  than  that  of  Osiris,  and  strictly  belongs  to  the  solar 
■ytfii.  According  to  the  legend,  the  god  Ba  tells  Nu  to 
a  certain  number  of  his  companions,  and  the  sun-god 
mankind  of  speaking  against  him,  and  demands  counsel 
rf  the  gods.  The  god  Nu  refers  the  question  back  to  Ba.  The 
nnlt  is,  that  Tefnu  proceeds  to  slaughter  the  human  race,  and 
Sekhel  the  avenging  goddess  makes  the  blood  of  mankind  flow  to 
Hencleopolis.  Ba  then  orders  that  fruit  should  be  sought  to 
•ike  a  drink,  and  seven  thousand  jugs  are  filled  with  the  liquid, 
vUeh  rejoices  the  god.  At  night  water  was  put  in  the  vastus,  and 
ths  flelds  inundated.  Subsequently  Ba,  tired  of  mankind,  and 
uble  to  proceed,  makes  Nu  call  Shu  and  Nut  to  his  assistance, 
9mi  the  god  is  carried  by  Nut,  or  the  celestial  waters,  into  the 
nctuary  of  the  mystical  cow,  either  Neith  or  Athor.  Un- 
neeessful  in  his  attempt  to  destroy  mankind,  the  god  deiMirts  to 
Wavm,  and  creates  there  the  Aah-lu  or  Elysium,  and  the  people 


*  Diodor.  i.  17.  •  Uorapollo,  Hierog.  ii.  1 

TOL.  ni. 


162  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHT. 

of  the  stars,  and  Shti  and  Nut  are  placed  over  them  as  protectors. 
Ba  then  tells  Thoth  to  call  the  god  Seb  into  his  presence,  and 
confides  reptiles  to  his  care,  while  Hades  is  placed  under  the 
charge  of  Thoth  and  the  Ibis,  the  Cjmocephalus  ape,  and  the  two 
storks  of  Thoth,  and  the  wings  of  the  same  birds  are  produced. 
This  remarkable  myth,  apparently  derived  from  an  ancient  Bitnal, 
forms  part  of  the  mystical  cosmogony,  portions  of  which  are 
found  in  the  Bitual  of  the  Saite  period.^ — S.  B.] 

Having  now  mentioned  the  different  members  of  the  fEunily 
of  Seb  and  Nut,  who  are  Osiris,  Aroeris,  the  Evil  Being,  Isis,  and 
Nephthys,  with  their  children  Horus,  Harpocrates,  Anubis,  and 
Macedo,  and  in  connection  with  them  Typho  and  the  serpent 
Aphophis,  I  proceed  to  notice  the  remaining  deities  of  the 
Pantheon,  which  will  form  a  second  part  of  this  chapter.  I  shall 
not  stop  to  inquire  respecting  their  rank  or  right  to  priority ; 
nor  shaJl  I  distinguish  between  those  of  the  second  and  third 
order,  the  former  of  whom  are  limited  by  Herodotus  to  the 
number  of  twelve.  And  if  any  preference  is  shown  in  their 
arrangement,  it  is  solely  in  consequence  of  their  being  of  mate 
frequent  occurrence,  or  represented  on  older  monuments*  The 
monuments  indeed  afford  no  proof  of  this  arrangement;  and  the 
number  of  genii  or  inferior  deities  suggests  that  those  excluded 
from  the  second  rank  were  not  all  comprehended  in  the  aame 
class  of  tertiary  gods. 

It  might  even  be  difficult  to  fix  upon  the  twelve  of  the  second 
order.  The  most  important  are  doubtless  Ba  the  sun,  Atum, 
Thoth  the  moon,  Eileithyia,  Shu,  Ma,  Athor,  Thriphis,  Amenta  or 
Tamen,  Mentu,  Seb,  Nut,  Tefnu,  Bannu,  Sfe^:  but  of  these 
fifteen,  Shu,  Ma,  and  Tefnu  are  born  of  Ba,  and  should  therefore 
be  of  the  third  order ;  and  Seb  and  Nut  only  seem  to  claim  a 
rank  in  the  same  class  with  Ba,  Atimi,  and  the  others,  from  being 
the  parents  of  Isis  and  Osiris.  I  should  perhaps  have  placed 
Atum  before  Thoth,  from  the  rank  he  holds  on  the  monuments 
of  Thebes  as  well  as  of  Lower  Egypt ;  but  the  duties  of  Thoth 
bringing  him  into  frequent  communication  with  Osiris,  and  his 
character  of  the  moon  connecting  him  with  Ba  the  sun,  may 
serve  to  claim  for  him  prior  notice. 

Thoth,^  the  god  of  letters,  had  various  characters,'  acooi 


^  M.  Naville, '  La  Destruction  des  Hommes  — S.  B. 
par  lea  Dieux/  in  the  Trans,  of  the  Soc.  Bibl.  '  It  is  remarkable  that  tht  Ganli  caUtd 

Archcol.  1875,  vol.  iv.  pp.  1-19.  their  Mercury  Theutates. 

'  His  correct  Egyptian  name  was  Tahuti. 


164  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIIL 

to  the  ftinctions  he  was  supposed  to  fulfiL  In  his  ofiSce  of  scribe 
in  the  lower  regions,  he  was  engaged  in  noting  down  the  actions 
of  the  dead ;  and  in  presenting  or  reading  them  to  Osiris,  the 
jndge  of  Amenti :  ^  the  dead  being  judged  out  of  those  things 
which  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works.'  He 
also  overlooked  and  registered  the  actions  and  life  of  man  while 
on  earth ;  holding  then,  instead  of  his  tablet,  a  palm-branch,  em- 
blematic of  a  year,  to  which  were  attached  the  symbol  of  life  and 
a  firog.^  Thoth  was  the  *  frst  Hermes  *  mentioned  by  Manetho ; 
the  same  who  was  reputed  to  have  been  the  preceptor  of  Isis,  and 
the  Hermes  of  Plutarch,'  whom  an  idle  fiftble  represented  with 
one  arm  shorter  than  the  other.^  Plato,  in  his  'Phiedrus,'^  makes 
Socrates  relate  the  following  fable  of  this  deity : — *I  haye  heard 
that  about  Naucratis,  in  Egypt,  there  was  one  of  their  ancient 
gods,  to  whom  a  bird  was  sacred,  which  they  call  Ibis ;  but  the 
name  of  the  daemon  '^  himself  was  Theuth.  According  to  tradi- 
tion, this  god  first  discovered  numbers  and  the  art  of  reckoning, 
geometry  and  astronomy,  the  games  of  chess  and  hazard,  and 
likewise  letters.  Thamus  was  at  the  time  king  of  all  the 
country,  and  resided  in  that  great  city  of  Upper  Egypt  which 
the  Greeks  call  Egyptian  Thebes':  the  god  himself  being 
denominated  Ammon.  Thoth,  therefore,  going  to  Thamus, 
showed  him  his  arts,  and  told  him  that  he  ought  to  distribute 
them  amongst  the  other  Egyptians.  Thamus  asked  him  con- 
cerning the  utility  of  each ;  and  when  they  had  been  explained 
to  him,  he  approved  what  appeared  reasonable,  and  blamed  that 
which  had  a  contrary  aspect.  After  Theuth  had  fully  unfolded 
to  Thamus  many  particulars  respecting  each  art,  he  proceeded  to 
discourse  upon  letters.  **  These,  0  king,"  said  he,  **  will  render 
the  Egyptians  wiser,  and  increase  their  powers  of  memory :  for 
this  invention  may  be  regarded  as  the  medicine  of  memory  and 
wisdom."  "O  most  learned  Theuth,"  replied  Thamus,  **one 
person  is  inore  adapted  to  artificial  operations,  and  another  to 
judge  of  the  detriment  or  advantage  arising  from  their  use. 
Thus  it  happens  that  you  who  are  the  father  of  letters,  through 
the  benevolence  of  your  disposition  have  a£Srmed  just  the  con- 
trary of  what  letters  are  able  to  effect :  for  these,  causing  the 
memory  to  be  neglected,  will  produce  oblivion  to  the  mind  of 
the  learner;   because  men,  trusting  to  the  external  marks  of 


*  These  emblemi  are  mentioned  by  UorapoUo.  *  Phadr.,  TajU  transl.,  p.  864. 

*  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  19.  '  Ibid.  s.  22.  *  Aalfimp,  in  a  good  sense. 


Our.  xra.]  THOTH.  165 

writing,  will  not  exercise  the  internal  powers  of  recollection.  So 
tkat  T(»n  have  not  discovered  the  medicine  of  memory,  but  of 
admonition.  Yon  will  likewise  deliver  to  your  disciples  an 
opinion  of  wis<lom,  and  not  truth." '  Psellus  confounds  Thoth 
vitk  Hermes  Trismegistus,  whom  he  makes  posterior  to  Moses,  and 
iaiginea  to  be  the  Argeiphontes  of  the  Greeks.  But  he  applies 
to  Trismegistus  the  characteristics  of  Mercury,  instead  of  to 
Thoth.  This  Argeiphontes  Macrobius  supposes  to  be  the  sun,  at 
vhoie  rising  the  kundre<l  eyes  of  Argus,  or  the  light  of  the  fixed 
itii%  were  put  out.  The  first  month  of  the  Egyptian  year,  says 
the  lonner  writer,  was  called  after  Thoth,  as  also  the  city  of 
Hcnnopolis ;  where,  as  we  learn  from  the  sculptures  of  the  portico, 
the  cynocepbalus  shared  with  this  deity,  of  whom  he  was  the 
tjpe,  the  honours  of  the  temple.  The  few  columns  which 
Miined  of  the  portico  at  Oshmoonein,  or  Hermopolis  Magna, 
*ae  thrown  donn  in  1822  by  the  Turks,  and  burnt  for  lime ; 
Miering  the  same  fate  as  the  ruins  at  Antinoopolis,  and  other 
iiacitoQe  relics :  and  though  strictly  forbidden  by  Mehemet  Ali, 
feiaj  sandftone  monuments  have  been  since  used  as  convenient 
fivries  for  the  construction  of  modem  buihlings. 

To  retaro  to  Thoth.  The  cynocepbalus  is  synonymous  with 
the  hieroglyphic  of  letters ;  and  we  even  find  it  holding  the 
tahiet,  and  fulfilling  the  oflBce  of  Thoth ;  which  shows  that  it  was 
lol  only  the  emblem,  but  also  the  representative  of  that  deity. 
bBhliehos  says  that  certain  physical  properties  were  common  to 
kind  to  the  moon ;  and,  according  to  Hora{X)llo,  the  latter  was 
icpnwnted  in  hieroglyphic  writing  by  a  cynocepbalus.  This 
Mement  is  perfectly  borne  out  by  the  sculptures,  Thoth  and 
the  ape,  bis  emblem,  being  both  introduced  in  the  character  of 
the  maosiL  Indeed,  the  crescent  is  found  followed  by  the  figure 
rf  Thoth  in  several  hieroglyphic  legends,  with  the  phonetic 
me  Aah  or  loh,  signifying  the  *  moon/  This  last  word  occurs 
ii  Plate  XXXVI.,  accompanied  by  the  ibis,  the  sacred  bird 
rf Thoth;  and  Plutarch^  states  that 'Mercury  was  supposed  to 
JWnmpany  the  moon  round  the  world,  as  Hercules  did  the  sun.' 
Iholh,  therefore,  in  one  of  his  characters,  answers  to  the  moon, 
ind  in  another  to  Meroury.  The  Egyptians  represented  their 
teoa  as  a  male  deity,  like  the  German  Mond  and  Monat^  or  the 
Unns  of  the  Latins ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  same 
of  calling  it  male  is  retained  in  the  East  to  the  present 

>  Plat,  de  Uid.  1.  41. 


166  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  Xm 

day,  while  the  sun  is  considered  female^  as  in  the  language  of 
the  Gennans. 

Thoth  is  usually  represented  as  a  human  figure  with  the 
head  of  an  ibis,  holding  a  tablet  and  a  pen,  or  a  palm-branch,  in 
his  hands;  and  in  his  character  of  Lunus  he  has  sometimes  a 
man's  face  with  the  crescent  of  the  moon  upon  his  head,  support- 
ing a  disk,  occasionally  with  the  addition  of  an  ostrich-feather ; 
which  last  appears  to  connect  him  with  Shu  or  with  Ma.  Plutarch 
says  the  Egyptians  *  call  the  moon  the  "  mother  of  the  world," 
and  hold  it  to  be  of  both  sexes ; — ^female,  as  it  receives  the 
influence  of  the  sun ;  male,  as  it  scatters  and  disperses  through 
the  air  the  principles  of  fecundity.'  ^  He  also  supposes  ^  Osiris  to 
be  the  power  and  influence  of  the  moon,  and  Isis  the  generative 
faculty  which  resides  in  it.'^  But  this  is  evidently  at  variance 
with  the  authority  of  the  sculptures,  which  fully  establish  the 
claims  of  Thoth,  and  disprove  any  connection  between  Isis  and 
the  moon.  Nor  is  there  any  authority  for  the  opinion  of  Spar- 
tianus,^  who  says  that,  although  the  (Greeks  or)  Egyptians  call 
the  moon  a  goddess,  they  really  consider  it  in  a  mystical  sense  a 
god,  both  male  and  female. 

*  The  sun  and  moon,'  observes  Plutarch,  '  were  described  by 
the  Egyptians  as  sailing  round  the  world  in  boats,  intimating 
that  these  bodies  owe  their  power  of  moving,  as  well  as  their 
support  and  nourishment,  to  the  principle  of  humidity  ;'^  which 
statement  is  confirmed  by  the  sculptures  :  and  some  have  thought 
that  a  species  of  scarabaBus  was  sacred  to  Thoth  or  the  moon.^ 

The  ibis-headed  deity  was  called  *  Lord  of  the  Eighth  Begion,' 
the  name  of  the  city  where  he  was  particularly  worshipped,  which 
is  now  called  Oshmoonein,  the  Shmon®  of  the  Copts.    There  is, 
indeed,  an  evident  connection  between  his  title,  'Lord  of  the 
Eighth  Begion,'  and  Oshmoonein,  the  modern  name  of  Hermopolis, 
which,  derived  from  Shmen  or  Shmon,  signifying  eiffht,  implies 
the '  two  eights ;'  and  if  some  have  been  disposed  to  think  it 
refers  to  the  eight  books  of  law  which  Menes  ^  pretended  to  have 
received  from  the  Egyptian  Mercury,  the  demonstrative  sign  of 
'land,'  following  this  group,  sufficiently  refutes  this  opinion- 
His  title  'twice-great'  frequently  occurs  on  the  monuments^ 
as  in  the  inscription  of  the  Bosetta  Stone,  where  the  Greek  styl 
him  '  the  great  and  great,'  or  twice-great. 

»  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  43.  *  Pint,  de  Isid.  g.  84.         »  Horap.,  i.  1< 

*  Ibid.  88.  43,  52.  •  cUXILOnfi.* 

'  Spartian.  Vit.  Antonini  Caracall.  cap.  ^ 

Tii.,  quoted  by  Jablonaki,  i.  cap.  iu.  6.  '  IHodor.  i.  94.  He  calls  the  king  MneT-i 


CteAP.  Xm.]  THOTH.  167 

The  ibis  was  particularly  sacred  to  him,  and  standing  on  a 
peich,  followed  by  a  half-circle  and  two  lines/  indicated  the 
name  of  the  god.  It  was  thought  to  bear  some  relation  to  the 
moon,  *  fix)m  its  feathers  being  so  mixed  and  blended  together, 
&e  black  with  the  white,  as  to  form  a  representation  of  the 
moon's  gibbosity.'  ^  ^  The  space  between  its  legs  while  walking 
was  observed  to  form  an  equilateral  triangle ;'  and '  the  medicinal 
use  it  makes  of  its  beak '  was  thought  to  be  connected  with  the 
ofiSoe  of  Thoth,  who  taught  mankind  the  art  of  curing  diseases, 
and  communicated  all  intellectual  gifts  from  the  deity  to  man. 
Such  was  the  respect  paid  to  this  bird,  fix)m  its  destroying  the 
Tenomous  reptiles  which  infested  the  country,  that  any  person 
killing  one  was  punished  with  instant  death  f  and  *  those  priests 
who  were  most  punctual  in  the  performance  of  their  sacred  rites, 
fetched  the  water  they  used  in  their  purifications  from  some 
place  where  the  ibis  had  been  seen  to  drink.' ^ 

According  to  Plutarch,*  a  sow  was  sacrificed  '  to  Typho  once 
a  year  at  the  full  moon :'  and  the  animal  is  sometimes  represented 
in  a  boat,  in  the  paintings  of  the  tombs,  accompanied  by  one  or 
more  monkeys.    This  appears  to  connect  it  with  Thoth,  or  the 
god  Lunus ;  and  if,  as  I  suppose,  the  subject  refers  to  the  com- 
mencement of  a  new  period,  being  the  beginning  of  the  future 
state  of  a  soul  condemned  for  its  sins  to  migrate  into  the  body 
of  a  pig,  the  relation  it  bears  to  the  office  of  Thoth  is  readily 
looounted  for.    The  impression  that  the  animal  was  offered  to 
Typho  may  proceed  from  its  having  been  chosen  as  an  emblem 
of  nn.    J^AxBJi  says,  *  They  sacrifice  a  sow  to  the  moon  once  a 
year ;'  which  statement  is  confirmed  by  Herodotus,  who  asserts 
thit  *  the  only  deities  to  whom  the  Egyptians  are  permitted  to 
offer  the  pig  are  the  moon  and  Bacchus.'    But  he  makes  no 
ntention  of  Typho,  and  the  supposed  *  discovery  of  the  body  of 
OiiriB  by  Typho,  while  hunting  a  wild  boar  at  the  full  moon,'  * 
voold  rather  lead  them  to  offer  it  to  Osiris  than  to  Typho :  for, 
tt  Plutarch  himself  confesses,  *  the  opinion  of  the  Egyptians  was 
^  eacrifices  ought  not  to  be  of  things  in  themselves  agreeable 
to  the  gods,  but,  on  the  contrary,  of  creatures  into  which  the  souls 
of  the  wicked  have  passed ;''  and  the  pig  was  an  emblem  of  Evil. 


^Tl»  lialf-ciTcle  hi^  the   force  of  T,  »  Diodor.  i.  83.    Cic.  Tugc  Qua»t  t.  27. 

vUck  WM  donbWd  bj  these  lines,  reading  The  same  motive  indaced  the  Thessalians 

J?  Taut.    {The  correct  form  is  Ta-huti  to  protect  the  stork.    (Plin.  x.  23.) 

•  JS***— S.  B.]  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  8.  75.        »  Ibid.  s.  8. 

Plot,  de  Isld.  i.  75.  •  Ibid.  s.  18.                     '  Ibid  s.  31. 


168  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  xm. 

I  have  observed  that  Thoth,  in  one  of  his  characters,  cor- 
responded to  the  moon,  in  the  other  to  Mercury.  In  the  former 
he  was  the  beneficent  property  of  that  luminary,  the  regulator 
and  dispenser  of  time,  who  presided  over  the  fate  of  man,  and 
the  events  of  his  life :  in  the  latter,  the  god  of  letters  and  the 
patron  of  learning,  and  the  means  of  communication  between 
the  gods  and  mankind.  It  was  through  him  that  all  mental 
gifts  were  imparted  to  man.  He  was,  in  short,  a  deification  of 
the  abstract  idea  of  the  intellect,  or  a  personification  of  the 
intellect  of  the  deity.  This  accords  well  with  a  remark  of 
lamblichus,  that  Hermes  was  the  god  of  all  celestial  knowledge, 
which,  being  communicated  by  him  to  the  priests,  authorised 
them  to  inscribe  their  own  commentaries  with  the  name  of  Hermes. 
He  may  also  be  considered  analogous  to  the  *  septenary  intel- 
lectual agents '  of  modem  philosophers.  *  These  are  called  by 
Hesiod  guardians  of  mankind,  bestowers  of  wealth,  and  royal 
daemons;  are  described  by  Plato  as  a  middle  order  of  beings 
between  the  gods  and  men,  ministering  to  their  wants,  carrying 
the  prayers  of  mortals  to  heaven,  and  bringing  down  in  return 
oracles  and  all  other  blessings  of  life.'^ 

According  to  the  fabulous  account  of  the  Egyptian  Mercury, 
*  he  was  reported  to  have  invented  letters,'  regulated  the  language, 
given  names  to  many  things,  and  taught  men  the  proper  mode 
of  approaching  the  deity  with  prayers  and  sacrifice.  He  in- 
structed them  in  the  system  of  the  stars,  and  the  harmony  and 
nature  of  voices.  He  was  the  inventor  of  the  folmdra^  and  of 
the  lyre,  to  which  he  gave  three  strings,  in  accordance  with  the 
three  seasons  of  the  Egyptian  year ;  the  treble  to  correspond  to 
summer,  the  bass  to  winter,  the  tenor  to  spring.  He  was  the 
patron  of  elocution,  whence  called  Hermes,  "  the  interpreter,**  by 
the  Greeks.  In  the  sacred  rites  of  Osiris  he  was  represented  as 
the  scribe  of  the  deity,  and  his  counsellor ;  and  it  was  to  him 
that  the  Egyptians  supposed  mankind  indebted  for  the  olive, 
and  not  to  Minerva,  as  is  the  opinion  of  the  Greeks.*'  He  was 
distinct  from  the  Mercury  who  ushered  the  souls  of  the  dead 
into  the  region  of  Hades,  answering  to  the  Anubis  of  Egypt, 
as  already  stated ;  and  also  firom  Hermes  Trismegistus,  whom 
I  shall  have  occasion  to  mention  presently. 

The  circumstance  of  the  god  Lunus  being  the  dispenser  oi 
time,  and  represented  noting  off  years  upon  the  palm-branchj 

»  Plot,  de  laid.  8.  26.  «  Plato,  Phileb.  p.  374.  »  Diodor.  L  16. 


QiAP.  xm.]  THOTH.  169 

ippetn  to  argue  that  the  Egyptians,  in  former  times,  calculated 

bj  lunar  instead  of  solar  years ;  and  the  hieroglyphic  of  a  month, 

which  is   a  lunar  crescent,  shows  their  months  to  have  been 

originally  regulated  by  the  course  of  the  moon.    I  have  once 

with  the  figure  of  an  ibis-headed  deity  as  a  female/  but  I 

nnoertain  respecting  the  character  and  office  of  that  goddess, 

is  it  certain  that  the  name  of  Thoth  was  applied  to  her. 

I*liolh  at  the  temple  of  Samneh  appears  to  be  styled  the  son  of 

dmoumis.    According  to  Cicero,^  the  Greeks  reckoned  in  their 

lythology  five  Mercuries:  ^One,  the  son  of  Heaven  and  the 

Another,  of  Yalens  and  Phoronis,  the  same  who  is  beneath 

earth,  and  called  Trophonius.    A  third,  the  son  of  Jupiter 

Maia,  and  who  is  said  to  have  begotten  Pan  by  Penelope. 

^   (borth,  the  son  of  the  Nile,  whom  the  Egyptians  consider 

It  unlawful  to  name.    A  fifth,  worshipped  by  the  Pheneatae,  who 

M  aaid  to  have  slain  Argus,  and  on  that  account  to  have  fled  to 

Egypt,  and  to  have  given  laws  and  letters  to  the  Egyptians.    He 

Vis  styled  by  them  Thoyth,  and  bore  the  same  name  as  the  first 

^ODth  of  their  year.'    Of  the  last  two  the  former  was  probably 

A&abis,  whom,  in  his  mysterious  office  connected  with  Osiris  and 

tk  final  judgment  of  the  dead,  it  may  have  been  unlawful  to  men- 

^f  and  the  latter,  the  ibis-headed  deity  Thoth,  in  his  character 

^  the  dispenser  of  intellectual  gifts  to  man,  and  the  god  of  letters. 

The  epithet  Trismegistus,  'thrice-great,*  has  been  applied  by 

to  Thoth;  but  the  deity  here  represented  is  shown  by 

Greek  inscriptions  upon  his  temple  at  Pselcis  to  have 

Wn  distinguished  from  the  god  of  letters  by  this  name,  with 

tile  additional  title,  *  Lord  of  Pautnouphis.'      Much  confusion 

W  arisen  in  consequence  of  these  two  deities  having  the  name 

fiemet;  many  having  ascribed  to  Trismegistus  the  honour  of 

isfoiling  letters,  which  in  reality  belongs  to  Thoth  alone,  as  the 

^oanments  of  Egypt  prove  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt    The 

Vaple  oi  Pselcis,^  now  Dakkeh,  in  Nubia,  was  erected  by  the 

FAiopian   king  Ergamen,  a  contemporary  of  Ptolemy  Phila- 

Uphiit,  and  completed  by  the  Lagid®,  in  honour  of  this  Hermes. 

Oi  the  towers  of  the  area,  and  in  the  portico,  are  numerous  Greek 


'  A  fiwa  peretUin  figura  fonnerly  In      Icgtitd  firen  in  pL  xt.  of  M.  ChampolHott's 
tb  fmmmUm  of  CbcTmlior  Kottoer,  for-      Pantheon. 


•vff  Hnaorvrian  ninUUr  it  Koom. 


Otmm.  d*  NaU  Dwr.  ill.  22.  T  ^OU^  O  11    ^^^^^   rSj 


Or  vvoa  Tkotk,  u  tcribt  of  AntntL  V  ^"^l/j^^  M    ■  CTI 

PWkii  vai  proUbly  nlUd  fitmi  tbo  '^^    I    ■  OJ 

Salk,  If  wt  Buj  Jadgt  from  n  •j^igaptoorttMUailoCIVik.* 


170 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTyTIANS. 


[OHAP.Xra. 


inaciiptioDB ;  the  general  purport  of  which  is  that  the  wiitoiB 
came  and  '  adored  the  very  great  god  Hermes,'  (frequently  with 
the  title)  '  Fautnouphis.' 

The  name  Fautnonphia  probably  refers  to  the  town  of  which 
he  was  the  presiding  deity,  since  the  name  in  hieroglyphica, 
Taut-n-pnoubs,  or  Taut-n-pa-noubs,  is  followed  by  the  sign  of 
land  and  the  female  sign;  which  last 
may  perhaps  be  read  as  part  of  the 
name,  making  it  Taut-n-pa-t-noubs.  A 
tree  also  seems  to  be  a  demonstrative 
sign  accompanying  the  name,  as  if  it 
ended  with  'the  land  of  the  bee.' ' 

The  ibis  was  sacred  to  him  as  to 
Tboth,  of  whtnn,  indeed,  he  may  possibly 
be  an  emanation ;  to  its  perch  is  at- 
tached an  ostrich-feather,  the  emblem 
of  Truth,  which,  like  the  head-dress  oi 
four  plumes  he  wears,  b^ongs  also  to 
the  god  Shu.  In  his  hand  he  &e- 
qnently  bears  a  staff,  sormounted  by 
the  head  of  a  hawk,  the  emblem  of  Ba, 
with  a  snake  twined  round  it,  accom- 
panied by  a  scorpion,  the  symbol  of  the 
goddess  Selk.  From  this  the  idea  of 
the  caducens  of  Mercury  may  have  been 
derived,  signifying,  as  some  suppose, 
^prudence.  In  the  opinion  of  many 
writers,  as  Eusebins,  Fsellus,  and  others, 
'  Hermes  Trismegistus  was  a  priest  and 
^"^^u   ..^j  ^  ■>.  ^      philosopher  who  lived  a  little  after  the 

1.  "Thelli,  of  the  Und  of  Penfte.  or   r  » 

pnnp..'  j.-'^ihotpmnhKHPniip^  time  ot  Moses,  and  taught  his  country- 
men mensuration,  theology,  medicine, 
and  geography,  upon  which  subjects  he  wrote  forty-two  books. 
According  to  others,  he  was  a  cotemporary  of  Osiris  ;  but  this 
fable  is  contradicted  by  the  fact  of  no  Egyptian  individual 
having  been  raised  to  the  order  of  gods.  It  is  possible  that 
the  works  of  some  philosopher  (perhaps  of  the  same  name, 
the  Egyptians  having  the  custom  of  forming  the  names  of 


■  Thew  legfndi  nad  Tavt  oi  Fnlbt,  ud  oppulti  Tiuitia  ind  tb(  4th  noDW  tif 
'  Thotbof  the  Und  of  Pn»l«.' the  town  of  Kenoni  or  Nubi..  (RragKh,  •Qmst. 
PdoqP*,  placed  bf  Ptolcmj  ia  22°  N.  Ut.,      Inichr.,'  i.  pp.  104-107 .>~-S.  B. 


CMMf.  Xin.]  BOOKS  OF  HERlfES.  171 

iiidi?idiial8  from  those  of  their  gods)  may  hare  been  ascribed  in 
after-times,  through  the  ignorance  of  the  Greeks,  to  a  deity,  who 
was  in  fact  no  other  than  the  abstract  quality  of  the  understand- 
ing, the  supposed  cause  of  that  success  which  the  human  mind 
obtained  on  the  yarious  subjects  they  ascribed  to  him.^ 

Their  motive  for  separating  this  Hermes  from  Thoth  it  is 

difficult  to  ascertain.    It  was   probably   one  of   those    subtle 

distinctions  which  philosophy  had  established,  and  religion  had 

deified  as  a  separate  attribute  of  the  divine  wisdom,  as  modem 

inquiries  hare  shown  the  difference  between  the  understanding 

and  the  reasoning  faculty. 

*  The  principal  books  of  this  Hermes,'  according  to  Clemens'  of 
Alexandria,  *  forty-two  in  number,  were  treated  by  the  Egyptians 
viththe  most  profound  respect,  and  carried  in  their  religious 
piooessions.  First  came  the  singer,  ....  holding  two  in  his 
Wd,  one  containing  hymns  in  honoor  of  the  gods,  the  other 
ceitain  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  monarch.  Next  to  him  the 
Wffoioope,  ....  whose  duty  was  to  recite  the  four  books  of 
Mology,  one  of  which  treated  of  the  fixed  stars,  another  of 
ioitr  and  lunar  eclipses,  and  the  remaining  two  of  the  rising 
rf  the  sun  and  moon.  Ten  books  contained  those  things  which 
iriated  to  the  gods  and  the  religion  of  Egypt,  as  sacrifices, 
iiM-frnits,  hymns,  prayers,  processions,  holy  days,  and  the  like. 
Lilt  of  all  came  the  prophet  with  ten  other  books,  called 
aeeidotal,  relating  to  ihe  laws,  the  gods,  and  rules  of  the 
foeiUiood.  Thus,  then,  of  the  forty-two  most  useful  books  of 
Hflmes,  thirty-six  contained  all  the  philosophy  of  Egypt,  and  the 
hit  six  treated  of  medicine,  anatomy,  and  the  cure  of  diseases.'' 
[The  next  of  the  members  of  the  Pantheon  to  be  considered 
a  the  god  Shu.]  He  bears  on  his  head  a  single  ostrich-plume, 
•  a  cluster  of  four  feathers,  and  is  always  painted  of  a  black  or 
ink  oolour.  In  the  tomb  of  Bameses  III.,  at  Thebes,  he  is  re- 
pMeuted  seated  on  a  throne,  on  either  side  of  a  small  chamber, 
vksre  it  is  possible  that  the  king's  minstrel  was  buried ;  and 
Mbfe  him  two  figures  are  playing  the  harp,  as  though  he  were 
the  pation  of  music    From  Porphyry's  description  of  Eneph, 


I  *)p«»  pu  ISS.  ftvch  ooiuUdUj  inroktd  by  tenbct  and 

I  Cbm.  Aki.  StRNB.  lib.  ri.  pw  19S.  wriUn,  of  wbom  be  wm  tb«  patron.    Ut 


'  TW  mflh  of  Tbotb  bai  boon  timmiaod      aUo  wm  ib«  god  wbo  prwidvd   ortr  all 
li  iu   dataiU    bj   Dr.    E.  FioUcbmana,      litaraturo  and  tcioBCM,  and  tbo  roroalcr  of 


TriMMCUtua,'  Sro.  Uipiig,  1875.       knowlodgt  of  different  thinp  to  mankind  ; 
TbiU  WM  lord  of  tbo  arU  and  Kianoia  of      and  all  roToalvd  or  inspired  writings  wtro 


vmag  diviM  waids  or  kkroglypbt|.nBd  m      oallad  UanDtUc,  and  tappotod  to  ba  wriUam 


172 


TEE  ANCIENT  E0TPTIAN8. 


[c^AT.  xm. 


which  Tepresents  him  of  a  black  colour,  and  wearing  a  single 
feather  on  his  head,  Shu  has  been  confounded  with  the  ram- 
headed  deity ;  but  this  has  been  already  noticed. 

The  ingenious  and  mnoh-regretted  GfasmpoUion  supposed 
him  to  be  tho  Egyptian  Hercules.  As  Hercules,  the  title  '  son  of 
the  sun,'  which  he  always  has  in  the  hieroglyphics,  would  accord 
perfectly  with  his  char 
racier :  for  Hercules 
was  the  abstract  idea 
of  sbength,  applied  to 
it  in  every  sense;  he 
was  the  power  of  the 
deity  and  the  force  ot 
the  son.'  'Agreeably 
to  which  notion,'  says 
Plutarch, '  Hercules  was 
supposed  by  the  £>gyp- 
tians  to  be  placed  in 
the  sun,  and  to  accom- 
pany him  round  the 
world,  as  Mercury  doea 
the  moon." ' 

According  to  Hero* 
dotus,*  he  was  one  of 
the  twelve  gods  bom  of 
the  eight  great  divini- 
ties of  the  country. 
Jl^  Cicero*  considetg  the 
Mile  his  father;  and 
shows  him  to  have  been 
distinct  &om  the  famous 
Hercules  of  Tyre,  the  reputed  son  of  Jupiter  and  Asterio.  The 
antiquity  of  this  deity  is  noticed  by  Herodotus  in  contradigtino- 
tion  to  the  comparatively  modem  date  of  the  Greek  h^o,'  and 


^ 

1  m 

0mr 

B  ^fe 

m4 

Py 

k 

{v, 

3,  3.  '  SIlD,  lllll  Df  tlM  (Oil.' 


bj  th<  Gngsn  or  tbe  god  himHlf.  Ha  pT«- 
Bided  DTsr  th*  aotmtioa  of  the  faatJTtti 
■Dd  tlma,  wu  t  luDir  deltr,  udjngtifledor 
pludcd  fiir  OilTi*  agiiut  hit  tnemiei,  and 
■Im  for  the  dud  In  tht  futur*  itate ;  and 
in  th<  Bitiul  a  Hrl«  of  thw  jmtiiicationt 
ii  gifCB  nndsr  tbe  nun*  of  the  '  Crown  of 
Troth.'  He  bore  tb*  name  of  the  iUt,  lub, 
ksd  wu  idcired  under  [t.  Thoth  wu  In 
hot  k  kisd  of  Logo*,  nod  !•  n  btinf  mid  to 


be  Hlf-formedi  x*f>n-  C>/,a1thongh  at  ■  lain 
time  a  ^neiUugr  maj  pntiiblT  be  found. 
~S.  B.  >  Uacrob.  Setom.  L  33. 

•  PtoL  de  laid.  ■.  41 .    •  Herodot.  U.  43. 

•  Cic  de  Nat.  Dear.  lib.  iii.  IS.  Diodonu 
uji  of  Hercnlea  that  ht  waa  bj  birth  •■ 
^tian  (i.  2*,  T.  76> 

<  Herodot.  li.  145,  146.  It  la  T«f7 
donbtfnl  if  8ha  repreaenta  Hereulca  ia 
the  mjthologj  of  Egypt,  f^  be .  wai  a 


.xm.] 


8HU. 


173 


PoroeUin  figure  of  Sba  support- 
ing tbe  aoUr  dUk. 
Brit, 


pointed  out  by  Macrobms,  who  says,  'Hercules  is 

idig^oiisly  worshipped  at  Tyre;   but  the  Egyptians  venerate 

hno    with  the  most  sacred  and  august  rites,  and  look  upon  the 

period  when  his  worship  was  first  adopted 

bj  tLem  as  beyond  the  reach  of  memory. 

He    is  believed  to  have  killed  the  giants, 

iken,  in  the  character  of  the  valour  of 

the  gods,  he  fought  in  defence  of  heaven ;' 

nUch  accords  with  the  title  of  a  work  called 

*8eiiinathis»'   written    by    ApoUonides   or 

BormpiuSy^  describing  the  wars  of  the  gods  ^^'  ^^ 

ifuiist  the  giants.    Semnuthis,  or  Semnoute,  signifies  the  *  power 

of  the  gods ; '  and  some  suppose  the  name  of  Sebenv^tus  to  be 

deriTed  from  the  same  word. 

lamblichus  calls  Hercules  *  the  force  of  nature ;' '  and  these 
^eient  authorities  tend  to  confirm  the  opinion  already  stated, 
tint  he  was  the  abstract  idea  of  valour  or  strength,  and  when 
npietented  with  the  sun,  he  was  the  force  of  that  luminary.  The 
Greeks  acknowledged  two  deities  of  this  name,  '  one  worshipped 
ii  tn  immortal  god,  the  other  as  a  hero ; ' '  and  it  is  probable 
thit  the  former  derived  his  origin  from  the  Egyptian  Gom,  or  from 
the  Tyrian  Melcarthus,  whose  temple  was  founded  in  Phoenicia 
230O  years  before  the  age  of  Herodotus.  The  Greek  mythology 
ilio  acknowledged  a  goddess  of  strength,  unconnected  with  Her- 
cdes,  who  was  the  sister  of  victory  and  valour,  and  the  daughter 
c(  FsUas,  the  son  of  Crius  and  Eurybia,  by  the  nymph  Styx. 
Champollion  at  one  time  conjectured  that  the  name  of  the 
in  woodcut  No.  542  might  read  Maue,  and  that  he  was  the 
^mdour  of  the  solar  rays;  but  there  b  no  positive  authority 
KHpecting  the  force  of  the  ostrich-feather.  [The  god  Shu 
Aequently  supports  the  solar  disk  with  his  hands,  and  appears 
to  he  the  same  as  woodcut  No.  543.  See  also  the  name  of  the 
god  at  Tel  el  Amama,  Plate  XXIII.,  where  Shu  seems  to  be  said 
*  to  reside  in  the  solar  disk.* — G.  W.] 


■far  g«d 


lb 
It 


ia  imnMdUU  conDectioD  with 
md    hb    AAOM    mMBt   Might.' 
•jmbpUa«d  bj  th«  dUk  and  emblem 
r.  th«  hiBdH|o«rten  of  an  animal 
kmd.     In   the  Ritual  Shn   U  re- 
in the  16th   chapUr  alcratinf 
4aak,  and  •arrounded  bj  cjrnoce- 
(See  the  legend  oi  the  deetniction 
ind.  Narille,  *La  Destruction  dee 
par  lee  IHcnx,'  Trana.  Soc.  Bibl. 
IT.  PL  IS.)    Tluroofhoai  the  Bitoal 


the  uta  en  SAu,  or  symbolic  eye  of  Sho,  ie 
mentioned  as  the  rital  principle.  Alon(C 
with  Tef  or  Tefnn,  his  sister,  alM>  a  pupil 
or  daughter  of  the  sun,  he  represented  the 
constellation  Gemini  at  the  Koman  period. 
Throughout  the  solar  mjths  he  plajs  a 
subordinate  part.— S.  B. 

'  In  Theophil.  Antioch.  ad  Autolte.  lih. 
ii.  c.  6. 

*  Iambi.   Vita  Pjthag.  c.   2$:    8»re^t 

•  Herodot.  ii.  44. 


174  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN&  [Chap.  Xm. 

There  is  another  deity  who  appears  to  lay  claim  to  the  name 
of  Hercules,  from  the  lion-skin  he  wears  over  his  head  and  back ; 
but  as  his  figure  and  hieroglyphics  are  not  met  with  on  the 
monuments,  I  offer  this  merely  as  a  conjecture,  from  his  having 
the  principal  attribute  of  the  Greek  Hercules.  The  only  re- 
presentations I  have  seen  are  small  terra-cotta  figures  of  Bes 
or  Besa,^  with  a  rude  beard,  not  unlike  some  of  the  Typhonian 
monsters  abeady  mentioned,  or  the  deformed  Ptah-Socharis  of 
Memphis. 

Ehonsu  was  the  third  member  of  the  great  Theban  triad,  the 
first  two,  as  already  sho¥ni,  being  Amen-ra  and  Mut.  He  was  also 
the  third  member  of  the  first  triad  of  Ombos,  composed  of  Sebak, 
Athor,  and  Ehonsu,  where  his  name  is  sometimes  accompanied 
by  the  hawk  of  Horus.  He  is  represented  under  the  form  of  a 
mummy,  holding  in  his  hands  the  emblems  of  life,  stability,  and 
purity,  with  the  flagellum  and  crook  of  Osiris ;  at  the  side  of  his 
head  falls  the  plaited  lock  of  Harpociates,  or  of  childhood,  given 
to  the  youthful  third  personage  of  the  Egyptian  triads ;  and  he 
has  the  crescent  and  globe  worn  by  Thoth  in  his  character  of  the 
moon.  He  is  also  figured  as  a  man  with  a  hawk's  head ;  and  he 
sometimes  holds  in  his  hand  the  palm-branch  of  Thoth,  on  which 
he  is  seen  marking  off  the  number  of  years  with  a  reed  or  pen, 
like  the  last-mentioned  deity.  This,  as  well  as  the  crescent  and 
the  globe,  may  appear  to  connect  him  with  the  moon ;  but  I  am 
rather  disposed  to  see  in  him  some  analogy  to  the  Egyptian 
Hercules,  or  the  representative  of  created  things.  The  name  of 
Ghon,  given  to  Hercules  by  the  author  of  the  '  Etymologicum 
Magnum,'^  is  certainly  in  favour  of  the  former  supposition, 
though  much  doubt  still  exists  respecting  the  real  character  of 
the  Egyptian  Hercules.  It  was  from  this  god  that  the  name  of 
an  individual,  Petechonsis,  mentioned  in  a  papyrus  found  at 
Thebes,  was  derived,  which  signifies  Ghonsodotus,  or  *  gifted  by 
Khonsu.'  It  is  compounded,  like  Diodotus,  Herodotus,  Am- 
monodotus,  and  others,  of  the  word  pety  *  gifted '  or  *  giver,'  and 
the  name  of  the  deity.  [Ghons  is  the  personification  of  the  moon, 
and  in  this  character  he  is  called  Ghons-aah,  or  Ghons  the  mooDi 
and  emanates  from  Han  or  Nu,  the  celestial  abyss.  He  wears  on 
his  head  the  lunar  disk,  or  has  the  head  of  a  hawk,  emblem  of  the 
deities  of  light.  As  a  lunar  deity  the  cynocephalic  apes  sacred  to 
that  luminary  were  adored  in  the  shrine  of  the  god  at  Thebee. 


^  One  in  the  collection  of  Cheyalier  Kestner.  '  Jablonski,  lib.  ii.  o.  3,  s.  S. 


Cur.XnL] 


176 


He  bote  BeTeral  names,  and  is  Bometimes  mentioned  as  'the 
god  with  two  names,'  his  second  name  being  Nefer^hetp,  under 
which  he  was  worshipped  at  Uas  or  the  Thebaid.  He  was  also 
nailed  the  coonsellor  of  Thebes  and  chaser  of  the  rebels,  and  Ms 
name  seems  to  mean  'the  chaser'  oi  'pursuer.'  The  small  temple 
attached  to  his  worship  at  Thebes  contained  a  tablet  recording 


the  miarion  of  Chona  to  exorcise  the  danghter  of  the  king  of 
B«khtan,  in  the  26th  year  of  the  reign  of  Barneses  XIV.,  his 
raccessfiil  ezpalsion  of  the  dsemon,  and  triumphal  return  in  the 
■A  in  which  he  had  set  out  for  that  country.*  He  appears  to 
We  bad  a  kind  of  oracle  at  Thebes.  His  type  resembled  that  of 
Ptah  and  Horns.— S.  B.] 

I  have  already  observed  that  several  deities  were  represented 
in  the  aame  character  as  the  youthful  Harpocrates.  Ehonsu,  the 
htt-mentioned  god,  differs  from  them  by  assuming  the  form  of  a 


1  D«  Roag^  '  SUle  figrptiumt,'  Puli,  1B58. 


176  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  {Chap.  XIH. 

mmnmyy  by  holding  in  his  hands  the  emblem  of  stability,  united 
with  the  sign  of  life  and  pniity,  and  by  his  finger  not  being 
raised  to  his  mouth.  But  he  was,  like  them,  the  third  member 
of  a  triad,  and  his  youth  was  indicated  in  a  similar  manner  by  a 
lock  of  hair,  the  symbol  of  infancy.  At  Ombos  he  has  even 
the  hawk  of  Horus  attached  to  his  name,  like  most  of  these 
youthful  deities. 

Ahi,  the  child  of  Athor,  has  been  already  mentioned,  as  well 
as  Harpocrates,  the  son  of  Isis.  It  remains  now  to  speak  of 
Heka,  PanSb-ta,  Har-pa-ra,  Har-semt-ta,  and  Harka, 

Heka  is  the  third  member  of  a  triad  at  Esneh,  proceeding 
from  Chnoumis  and  Nebaut,  a  goddess  who  is  one  of  the  forms  of 
NeitL  He  is  figured  as 'a  child,  like  Harpocrates,  having  the 
usual  lock  of  hair,  with  his  finger  to  his  mouth,  and  carrying  in 
his  hand  the  crook  and  flagellum  of  Osiris.  [He  formed  with 
these  deities  a  triad  adored  at  Esneh ;  and  with  Ehem  or  Amsi, 
and  the  goddess  Ament,  a  Theban  triad.^ — S.  B.] 

The  youthful  deity  Paneb-ta  is  the  third  member  of  the 
lesser  triad  of  Ombos.  He  has  the  usual  emblems  of  Harpocrates, 
and  is  styled  the  son  of  Horus  or  Aroeris :  his  name  signifying 
*the  lord  of  the  world.'* 

Har-pa-ra,  *  Horus  the  sun,'  a  deity  of  similar  form,  is  the 
third  member  of  the  triad  of  Hermonthis,  proceeding  firom  Menta 
and  the  goddess  Ba-ta.  [His  type  is  endowed  with  the  solar 
disk  and  ursBus. — S.  B.] 

Har-semt-ta,  whose  name  implies  '  Horus,  the  support  of  the 
world,'  is  the  third  member  of  the  triad  of  Edfoo  and  Denderab, 
composed  of  Har-Hat,  Athor,  and  this  infant  deity. 

Harka  is  the  third  member  of  the  second  triad  of  Thebes,  the 
ofispring  of  Amen-ra  Generator  and  Tamen.  He  is  evidently  of 
ancient  date,  occurring  on  monuments  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the 
18th  Dynasty.  In  form  he  resembles  Harpocrates  and  other  oi 
these  youthful  deities,  from  which  the  hieroglyphic  legends  alone 
distinguish  him. 

The  goddess  Ta-sen-t-nefer  is  the  second  person  of  the  lease] 
triad  worshipped  at  Ombos,  consisting  of  Aroeris,  Ta-sen-t-nefer. 
and  their  son  Paneb-ta.  Her  name  seems  to  apply  to  Isis,  as  i1 
signifies  *  the  sister  of  the  Good,'^  which  title  peculiarly  belong! 
to  Osiris. 


*  Pierret,  *  Diet.,*  p.  244.— S.  B.  called  son  of  Horus ;  and  in  hierog.  6,  ton  o 

«  In  Plate  XXXVII.,  hierog.  5,  he  ii      Ombos.— S.  B.  •  Or  Hhe  g^  sister. 


178  THE  ANCIENT  EGyPXIA»&  [Chap.  'SJJL 

The  remaining  deity  represented  in  this  plate  ^  is  taken  fxwn 
the  sculptures  at  Tuot  (Tuphium),  but  his  name  is  unknovn, 
and  the  absence  of  hieroglTphic  legends  prevents  our  asqpr- 
taining  his  character  and  office.  From  his  head  project  w)tat 
appear  to  be  two  ears,  which  alone  axe  remarkable  in  his  otl^r- 
wise  simple  form.  He  is  probably  of  an  inferior  class  of  deitjes, 
and  of  uncertain  date. 

Atum  was  one  of  the  principal  deities  of  the  second  order  of 
gods.  His  name  appears  to  read  Atum,  Tmu,  or  Tethmu,  being 
written  both  with  A  and  T  as  the  initial  letter.  We  may  perhaps 
trace  in  Atum  the  word  tern,  'to  complete  or  perfect,'*  but  I  am 
unable  to  decide  to  what  deity  he  corresponds  in  the  mythology 
of  Greece. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  him  the  Heron  of  Egypt,  £rpm 
whom  the  city  Heroopolis,  on  the  canal  which  communicated 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Bed  Sea,  was  called.  A  monument  still 
existing  amidst  the  mounds  of  an  old  town  near  the  site  of  tbat 
city,  which  presents  hia  figure  with  that  of  Ptah,  E^eper,  a|id 
King  Bameses  the  Great,  seems  to  confirm  this  opinion.  Chasi- 
pollion  quotes  a  passage  from  a  hieratic  papyrus,  which  says, 
*  My  right  temple  belongs  to  the  spirit  of  the  sun  in  the  day, 
and  my  left  temple  to  the  spirit  of  Atum  in  the  night;*  which 
would  seem  to  identify  him  with  Sol  Inferos,  and  recalls  the 
word  atme,  ^darkness,'  which  in  the  Arabic  language  has  that 
signification.  The  same  ingenious  savant  thinks  that  the  analogy 
between  Atum  and  Heron  is  confirmed  by  the  monumental 
inscriptions  giving  to  the  kings  the  title  *  born  of  Atum,'  siatce 
Hermapion,  in  his  translation  of  the  Obelisk  of  Ramesee,  cills 
that  monarch  the  *  son  of  Heron.'  The  expression  *Phrah,  Lord 
of  Years  like  Atum,'  common  on  obelisks  and  dedicatory  inscrip- 
tions, serves  to  maintain  the  connection  between  those  forrnvkd 
and  that  given  by  Hermapion ;  and  the  latter  appears  to  have 
reference  to  the  idea  of  completion  of  time,  which  accords  with 
the  name  of  Atum.  Though  principally  worshipped  in  Lover 
Egypt,  he  holds  a  conspicuous  place  amongst  the  contem^ar 
gods  of  Thebes ;  and  the  paintings  in  the  tombs  show  that  he 
fulfilled  an  important  office  in  the  regions  of  Amenti.  Ho  is 
there  represented  in  a  boat,  accompanied  by  Thoth,  Ma  (tiie 
goddess  of  truth  and  justice),  and  Athor ;  Horus,  *  the  son.  of 
Osiris,'  performing,  as  usual,  the  office  of  steersman.      The  boat 


»  Plate  XXX VII.  fig.  1.  «  Rather  tamh,  *  to  anraoge  or  distribute.' 


180 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  xm. 


appears  to  be  styled  *  of  Thoth,  the  Lord  of  the  Eight  Begions/ 
and  also  ^  of  the  son  of  Osiris ; '  but  this  last  is  probably  in  oon- 
sequence  of  its  being  entrusted  to  the  charge  of  Horus.  On  the 
prow  sits  a  swallow ;  but  the  rare  occurrence  of  this  bird  is  not 
sufficient  to  fix  it  as  an  anblem  of  Atum ;  and  we  even  find  it  in 


J 


I 


the  same  position  in  the  boat  of  Ba.  Atum  wears  the  crowns  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  not  however  placed  one  within,  but  at 
the  side  of,  the  other ;  and  he  is  always  figured  with  a  human 
head,  and  painted  of  a  red  colour.  Sometimes,  though  rarely,  h 
appears  with  a  simple  cap,  and  he  holds  the  staff  of  punt; 


C^UF.  Xm.]  NEFEB-ATUM— ANOUKA.  181 


to  all  the  gods  of  Egypt    [Atum,  or  Turn,  represented 

setting  sun,  and  after  his  setting  in  the  west  gave  life  to  the 

ismliabitants  of  the  lower  hemisphere.    He  was  the  setting,  as  Ba 

the  rising  son.    Besides  his  solar  character,  he  was  a  demi- 

and  a  creator  of  things  or  existences  both  visible  and 

^▼isible.     So  mingled  was  he  with  Ba  that  the  sun-god  pro- 

firom  the  abyss  is  said  to  be  his  father,  and  Turn  becomes 

turn  the  father  of  Shn,  or  the  rising  sun.    His  chief  worship 

at  An  or  Heliopolis,  of  which  he  is  called  the  powerful 

b^all,  and  he  appears  there  with  the  parhedral  gods  Hannachb, 

K'mntsas,  Athor,  and  Nebhotep.^— ^.  B.] 

Nefer-Atum  was  perhaps  an  emanation  from,  or  a  character 

<>€»  the  one  just  mentioned.    The  prefix  Nefer  signifies  '  good ;' 

aiid  he  may  possibly  be  the  abstract  idea  of  goodness,  without 

interfering  with  the  privileges  of  Osiris :  for  Osiris  was,  in  like 

banner,  distinct  from  the   goddess    Ma,   though  called  'the 

Uvd  of  GroodnesB  and  2VtiM.'     Nefer- Atum  was   styled  'the 

l^ender'  or  'Protector  of  the  World,*  or  'the  Two  Begions 

of  Egypt.'     He  bore  on  his  head  a  lotus-flower,  or  two  long 

faitheiB  upon  a  shaft,  on  either  side  of  which  was  attached  a 

paealiar  pendent  emblem ;  and  he  frequently  carried  in  his  hand 

« loeptie  with  a  summit  of  the  same  form.    I  have  sometimes 

taid  his  figure  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes  accompanied  by  a 

ajmbol  which  appears  of  particular  importance  in  relation  to  the 

^eidy  and  may  allude  to  some  office  he  held  in  the  region  of 

fiidet.    He  is  even  represented  standing  on  the  back  of  a  lion. 

[He  wis  the  son  of  Ptah  and  Bast,  and  his  functions  are  difficult 

<o  anderstand.] 

The  goddess  Anouka  was  the  third  member  of  the  triad  of 
^*orthem  Ethiopia  and  the  Cataracts,  composed  of  Chnoumis, 
^!)iti,  and  Anouka ;  and  at  Dakkeh  she  is  represented  as  the  nurse 
^  t  kingy  who  is  said  to  be  '  the  son  of  Chnoumis,  and  bom  of 
^^*  the  two  other  deities  of  the  same  triad*  She  was  the  Vesta 
^  the  Egyptian  Pantheon,  as  we  learn  from  an  inscription  at 
^Sekayl,  formerly  Set^,  an  island  inunediately  below  the  First 
^Jitanet»  which  calls  her  '  Anouka  or  Hestia.*  Herodotus'  seems 
to  think  that  Vesta  was  not  among  the  number  of  the  Egyptian 
4ifiutiei»  when  he  says,  '  Nearly  all  the  names  of  the  Greek 
|o4s  have  come  from  Egypt ;  for,  excepting  Neptune,  the  Dio- 


*  h  tk«  Qntk  iMcriptioM  ht  U  calUd  Tomoi.  (Pkrret,  *  Diet.,'  p.  77.    •  lUoords  of 
^fm;  Ti  p.  53.>-S.  B.  •  Htrodot.  li.  50. 


182 


THE  ANCIENT  E01TTIAK8. 


fCHAT.  TTTT 


Bcnri,  Juno,  Vesta,  Themis,  the  Graces,  and  Nerdds,  those  of  all 
the  other  deities  have  always  been  known  in  Egypt ;  and  this  is 
asserted  by  the  Egyptians  themselves.'  It  is  possible  that  he 
means  the  name,  and  not  the 
character,  of  this  goddess ;  for 
there  is  abundant  evidence  of 
Juno  and  Themis  being  Egyp- 
tian deities.  But  still  the  re- 
semblance betveen  the  name 
of  the  latter,  and  of  the  Egyp- 
tian goddess  (Ma),  was  greater 
than  of  any  other  in  the  two 
Pantheons;  and  in  proof  of 
this  we  have  only  to  compare 
those  of  Amen  and  Zeus,  Ehem 
and  Pan,  Thoth  and  Hermes, 
and  many  others,  which  have 
scarcely  a  single  letter  in  com- 
mon, and  directly  contradict 
the  assertion  of  Uie  historian. 
It  is,  at  all  events,  certaia  that 
JoDo,  Yesta,  and  Themis  were 
Egyptian  deities,  though  there 
is  no  evidence  of  the  others  he 
mentions  being  admitted  to 
their  Pantheon ;  and  Neptane, 
according  to  the  historian, 
'  was  only  known  to  the  Libyans.'  To  the  Greek  appellation  of 
the  ocean-god,  Po$eid6n,  it  may  not  be  too  presumptnons  to  apply 
the  meaning  of  the  '  Deity  of  Sidon,'  from  which  maritime  town 
of  Phoenicia  Greece  very  probably  derived  his  worship ;  and  the 
Latin  Neptune  may  present  a  similar  claim  to  an  Eastern  origin, 
in  the  commencement  of  his  name  NSt,  which  in  the  language 
of  Egypt  and  Syria  signified  '  Lord."  Diodonifl '  admits  Vesta 
into  the  nnmber  of  the  gods  of  Egypt,  together  with  the  Snn, 
Saturn,  Bhea,  Jupiter,  Juno,  Yulcan,  and  Mercury ;  and  the  im- 
portance of  her  office  is  shown  by  her  frequent  ooeurrence  in 
the  oldest  temples.  She  also  seems  to  bear  some  anal<^  to 
Neith,  though  in  reality  distinct  from  that  goddess. 

The  head-dress  of  Anouka,  which  is  singular,  and  ezclnsiTelj^ 


Ci4P.  TUL}    MA,  GODDESS  OF  TRUTH  AND  JUSTICE.  183 

^{Koprialed  to  her,  is  a  cap  or  ciown  sunnotmted  by  several 
^etthers  placed  in  a  circular  form.^ 

The  deity  Ma  had  a  twofold  character,  as  goddess  of  tmth 

aud  of  justice.     Her  figure  is  frequently  represented  in  the 

luads  of  the  kings,  who  present  it  as  a  fit  offering  to  the  gods ; 

mad  many,  in  their  regal  titles,  are  said  to  love,  or  to  be  loved 

by.  Ha.'    A  small  image  of  this  goddess  was  also  worn  by  the 

chief  judge  while  engaged  in  listening  to  the  cases  brought 

befbre  him  in  court ;  and  when  the  depositions  of  the  two  parties 

and  their  witnesses  had  been  heard,  he  touched  the  successful 

litigant  with  the  image,  in  token  of  the  justness  of  his  cause. 

A  similar  emblem  was  used  by  the  high  priest  of  the  Jews ;  and 

it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  word  Thummim  is  not  only 

translated  *  truth,'  but,  being  a  plural  or  dual  word,  corresponds 

to  the  Egyptian  notion  of  the  *  Two  Truths,'  or  the  double  capacity 

of  this  goddess. 

According  to  some,  the  Urim  and  Thummim  signify  *  lights 
sad  perfections,''  or  Might  and  truth,' 
"-which  last  present  a  striking  analogy  '  \;>\av\\^ 
to  the  two  figures  of  Ba  and  Ma,  in  the 
bnig(»pUte  worn  by  the  Egyptians.  And 
tliOQgh  the  resemblance  of  the  Urim  and 
the  veua,  or  basilisk,  the  symbol  of 
Bttiesly,  suggested  by  Lord  Prudhoeu  is      a  br«ii(pute  wnh  um  oguM  or 

•JL  U    Ul  T  J-  1      X         No.  Ml.  lUaodlU. 

^9tj  remarkable,    I   am    disposed    to 

tU&k  the  Mights,'  Aorim,^  or  Urim,  more  nearly  related  to 
the  sm,  which  is  seated  in  the  breast-plate  with  the  figure  of 
Tmth.*  This  goddess  was  sometimes  represented  by  two  similar 
igues  placed  close  to  each  other ;  or  by  one  figure  wearing  two 
oUrich-feathers,  her  emblem ;  and  sometimes  by  the  two  feathers 
alone,  as  in  the  scales  of  the  final  judgment.  It  is  to  these 
igves  that  Plutarch*  alludes,  when  he  speaks  of  the  two  Muses 
at  Hermopolis,  under  the  names  of  Isis  and  Justice.  Diodorus 
<kicribea  the  chief  judge  in  the  sculptures  of  the  tomb  of 
O^jmandyas,'  with  the  figure  of  Tmth  suspended  to  his  neck, 

*  B«  type  mmd  Bam*  anaoiincca  forein  '  Exod.  xxxix.  8,  10;  and  Lerit.  Tiii.  fi, 

k«t   ktr  wonhip  appian  as  carlj  *  [Coat  Aor,   Honu,  and  AoOra,   with 


mmmmiim 


Iki  1Mb   Draattj.      Slio  was  in  tht      tho  Ahora,  AoOremei  or  Ormesd,  of  tht 

lalaliaa  to  tba  tria4  of  DcpkaatiM      Ptnian  Srft-wonhipptn.— O.  W.] 
JbpftitJifB  to  that  of  Abjdoc,  aad  fwtirals  *  [A«   the    Urim    aad  Thammim  wtra 


•i  bm  vwa  calebratad  oa  tha  2Sth  of  PaophI  placed  in  tho  brrast-plato,  and  to  *  bo  unoa 

m4  iha  20ih  of  Athjr.-S.  &  Aaroa'e  heart '  (i:xod.  xzriiL  au>— <2.  W.] 

•  OmL  tha  UUefaaA4#«r  of  ihaobtlUk  •  Flat,  de  Ind.  i.  3. 

hj  Hannaptoiu  *  IHodor.  i.  4S. 


184 


THE  ANCIENT  EQTFTIIBS. 


P3HAP.2 


witli  Iier  eyes  closed ;  and  it  ia  wortiiy  of  remark  that  the  si 
mode  of  Tepiesenting  the  goddess  ocean  ia  the  paintingi 
Thebe«,  ooufirming  the  account  of  the  histman,  and  establidi 
her  claims  to  the  character  I  have  given  her.'    Her  princ 


occnpations  were  in  the  lower  regions,  and  she  was  on  earth 
great  cardinal  Tirtue  :  for  the  ancients  considered,  that  as  t 
or  justice  influenced  men's  conduct  towards  their  neighbc 


'  UtUiia  Hi*n>g.,'  p.  46. 


Chap,  xm.]     MA,  GODDESS  OP  TBUTH  AND  JUSTICE.  185 

and  tended  to  maintain  that  harmony  and  good-will  which  were 
most  essential  for  the  welfare  of  society,  it  was  of  far  greater 
importance  than  the  other  three — Prudence,  Temperance,  and 
Fortitude.  These  were  reflective  quaUties;  and  more  imme- 
diately beneficial  to  the  individual  who  possessed  them  than  to 
those  with  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of  associating. 

As  the  dead,  after  the  final  judgment  and  admission  into  the 
regions  of  the  blessed,  bore  her  emblem  (either  the  ostrich- 
feather,  or  the  vase  which  indicated  their  good  deeds,  taken  from 
the  scales  of  Truth)  and  were  considered  approved  or  justified 
by  their  works,  the  hieroglyphics  of  her  name  were  adopted  to 
signify  'deceased,'  or,  in  other  words,  *  judged'  or  'justified.' 
The  same  idea  may  be  traced  in  an  expression  of  Plato's  Gorgias, 
where,  in  speaking  of  the  judgments  of  the  dead,  Socrates  says, 
^Sometimes  Bhadamanthus,  beholding  the  soul  of  one  who  has 
passed  through  life  with  Truth,  whether  it  be  of  a  private  man 
or  any  other,  is  filled  with  admiration,  and  dismisses  that  soul 
to  the  Islands  of  the  Blessed.  The  same  is  also  done  by 
.£acu8.'  ^  Indeed,  the  modem  Persian  or  Arabic  expression  in 
idation  to  the  dead  is  not  very  dissimilar,  which  styles  them 
'pardoned,'  or  'to  whom  the  mercy  of  God  has  been  shown,' 
answering  to  our  more  simple  and  matter-of-fact  'the  late,'  or 
'the  departed.' 

Diodorus'  mentions  a  figure  of  Justice  without  a  head,^ 
standing  in  the  lower  regions, '  at  the  gates  of  Truth,'  which  I 
Jme  found  in  the  judgment  scenes  attached  to  the  funeral 
jsitoals  on  the  papyri  of  Thebes.    In  one  of  the  subjects  of  a 
^snummy-case  in  the  British  Museum,  the  goddess  occurs  under 
"^e  tona  of  a  sceptre  (surmounted  by  an  ostrich-feather),  from 
"^^hich  proceed  her  two  arms,  supporting  the  body  of  the  deceaseds 
—Another  figure  of  the  same  goddess,  issuing  from  a  mountain, 
him  at  the  same  time  two  emblems,  supposed  to  repre- 
it  water,  or  the  drink  of  heaven.    Ma  was  always  styled  the 
^^^3ttighter  of  the  sun,  and  sometimes  *  chief  or  '  directress  of  the 
From  her  name  the  Greeks  evidently  borrowed  their 
who  was  supposed  to  be  the  mother  of  DikSy  or  Justice ; 
the  name  of  the  Egyptian  city  Thmuis  does  not  appear  to 
k>Tebeen  called  from  the  goddess  of  truth.^ 
\Tliename  of  the  god  Mendes  is  supposed  to  have  been  found 


*  YViUKta^Wt  tnai^  toI.  It.  p.  458.        of  modern  times. 
^  \Mn,  i.  W.  4  The  place  of  tl 

»  T^  caUi  to  v^Bd<tke  good  woman'     ment  was  the  hall  of 


the  great  or  last  jndg- 
good  woman '     ment  was  the  hall  of  the  Two  Traths.^S.  B. 


186  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

in  that  of  Ba-en-tattn,  or  Bendidi,  as  some  read  it ;  the  inter- 
change of  the  M  and  the  B  making  it  Ma^n-tattu  or  Mendes. 
There  is  also  a  variant  Ba-neb-tat,  or  *  the  sonl,  lord  of  Tattu  or 
Abnsir/  According  to  the  inscriptions  he  was  represented  with 
the  head  of  a  sheep  or  goat,  and  the  goat  of  Mendes  was  the 
living  spirit  of  the  sun,  the  life  of  Ba,  the  generator,  the 
prince  of  yonng  women,  the  only  god,  the  original  male  power 
of  gods  and  men,  who  reveals  himself  with  fonr  heads  in  the 
region  of  light,  coming  in  the  streams  of  the  Nile  and  giving  air. 
The  enthronement  of  the  ram  of  Mendes,  and  the  completion  of 
the  temple,  is  given  on  the  tablet  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphns  found 
at  Mendes.    The  god  was  represented  ram-headed.^ — 8.  B.] 

Herodotus  considers  Mendes  the  Egyptian  Pan ;  but  I  have 
already  shown  the  deity  of  Panopolis  to  be  Khem,  and  it  is 
evident  that  he  has  mistaken  the  characters  of  both  those  deities. 

*  The  Mendesians,'  says  the  Father  of  History,*  *  abstain  from 
sacrificing  goats  for  these  reasons :  they  place  Pan  among  the 
number  of  the  eight  gods,  who  were  supposed  to  have  preceded 
the  twelve ;  and  this  deity  is  represented  by  their  painters  and 
sculptors  in  the  same  manner  as  in  Greece,  with  the  head  and 
legs  of  a  goat.  It  is  not  that  they  believe  he  really  had  that 
form ;  they  think  him  like  the  other  gods ;  but  the  reason  being 
connected  with  religion,  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  explain  it.  The 
Mendesians  have  a  great  respect  for  goats,  particularly  the 
males ;  the  same  feeling  is  extended  to  those  who  have  the  care 
of  them ;  and  when  a  he-goat  dies,  the  whole  of  the  Mendesian 
nome  goes  into  mourning.'  ^This  animal,'  he  adds,  'and  the 
god  Pan  are  both  called  in  Egyptian  Mendes;'  and  Plutarch' 
asserts  that '  the  Mendesian  goat  had  the  name  of  Apis,'  like  the 
sacred  bull  of  Memphis.  Diodorus^  says  it  was  chosen  as  an 
emblem  of  the  god  of  generation  ;  who,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
was  Khem,  the  Egyptian  Pan  :  but  this  is  not  confirmed  by  the 
monuments ;  and  though  numerous  representations  occur  of  the 
god  Ehem,  we  find  no  instance  of  the  goat  introduced  as  his 
emblem. 

The  fact  of  Herodotus  admitting  Pan  to  be  one  of  the  eight 
great  gods  leaves  no  doubt  respecting  his  identity  with  Khem, 
who,  too,  is  shown  by  the  authority  of  a  Greek  dedication  at 
Chemmis,  or  Panopolis,  to  be  the  Pan  of  Egypt.    But  tin 

'  Bmgsch-Bey,     '  Die    grosse    Mendes-         *  Herodot.  ii.  42,  46. 
Stele/  Zeitschrift  f.  iigypt.  Spr.,  1875,  s.  *  Pint,  de  Isid.  i.  73.       *  Diodor.  I 

75.    *  Records  of  the  Past,'  riii.  p.  91. 


Ctar.Xra.] 


IfESTU. 


187 


dMcription  he  gives  of  this  deity,  with  the  head  and  legs  of  a 
goat,  is  so  inconsistent  with  the  Egyptian  mode  of  representing 
thew  divinities,  that  I  do  not  scruple  to  reject  it  as  perfectly 
OTvooeons,  fully  persuaded  that  the  god  Mendes  never  had  th^ 
ftwiB,  either  in  the  Mendesiao  nome,or  in  any  part  of  the  country. 
^lat  he  bore  no  relation  to  Khem,  or  Fan,  I  have  already  shown ; 
■ttd  Hende«,  if  he  be  the  same  as  Mentu,  was  totally  distinct 
front  the  god  of  generation. 

Vain  indeed  would  be  the  task  of  endeavouring  to  reconcile 
the  opinitHBB  of  Greek  writers  with 
tbe  real  eharactors  of  the  Egyp- 
tian deities,  and  it  is  frequently  pre- 
fcrable  to  reject  them  than  to  be 
inflnenoed  by  their  doubtful  testi- 

Mentn  was  probably  one  of  the 
tefied  attributes  of  the  sun,  which 
kay  have  led  to  the  remark  of 
8tiibo,  that  Apollo  was  worshipped 
■t  Hemonthis,*  since  Mentu  formed 
<be  leading  person  of  the  triad 
*(  the  place :  he  wore  the  globe 
*(  Ra,  with  tbe  feathers  of  Amen, 
■id  was  usually  represented  with 
At  head  of  a  hawk,  the  emblem 
*f  die  son.  He  sometimeB  had  the 
■Ms  of  fia  added  to  his  own,  as  in 
tmttd  the  hieroglyphic  legends  in 
■oodrnt  No.  MO,  which  might  read 
](aita-ra,  or  '  Hentu  the  son.'  * 
lUi  may  be  adduced  in  confirma- 
tua  of  the  opinion,  that  many 
Egyptian  gods  were  originally 
ktTDwed  from  a  Halxeaa  worship 
L  in  the  countrv  at  a 


period ;  which,  modified 
^  qMcnlative  theory,  afterwards  assumed  a  metaphysical  cha- 
They  appear  to  have  retained  in  their  form  the  con- 
they  bad  with  tbe  sun  or  other  heavenly  bodies,  after 


*  ll*«la-r**w  llw|nil  sf  w. 


tm.'  H*  aUo  rt«n  th«  buk  qI  lh«  in>,  ud 
r,ud»ft«B  pl*r««TrpbDD  or  ih*  Apbftpbii.  A  rtalM 
MI^Uk*ABHB-ra,th*iiUpaA,srKlDlt*T,  In  tb*  Lenrr*  npmraU  bin  Ivo-hMdaJ. 
hyirtKhtkwd.  la  lb*  Iwcriptka  af  (PkrrM,  ■[>kt.,'p.  U8.  BInb, '  OkIUtt 
Wt—JB  It  b  nU  of  Uimmm  IL  Hut  of  Aatiq^F  34.>-&  & 
'bb^  ta  im  to  Ua  cbuM,  Uk* llMt»- 


188  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Ceap.  XIDE. 

haying  been  converted  into  representatiyes  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes. The  Pharaohs  frequently  styled  themselyes  '  Mentn  to- 
wards the  Gentiles;'  from  which  it  appears  that  he  was  the 
ayenger  or  protector  against  enemies,  the  Mars  of  Egyptian 
mythology,  with  the  additional  title  of  JTZtor,  *  ayenger/  like 
the  Boman  god  of  war.  In  this  capacity  he  might  justly  be 
considered  *  the  guardian  of  Egjrpt.'  The  god  of  war  to  whom 
the  expressions^  more  properly  apply,  is  the  god  Beshpu,  the 
actual  destroyer  of  men  and  cities ;  a  diyinity  of  inferior  rank, 
and  one  whose  character  was  not  connected  with  any  abstract 
idea  of  the  deity.  Mentu  held  a  higher  post.  He  was  the  god 
of  war  in  a  metaphysical  point  of  yiew, — a  diyine  attribute,  as 
the  ayenging  power,  and  opposed  to  the  mere  type  of  war  as 
distinctly  as  were  seyeral  metaphysical  and  physical  characters 
of  other  Egyptian  deities.  He  was  probably  the  Ares  *  of  the 
obelisk  of  Bameses,  whose  inscription,  translated  by  Hermapion, 
is  giyen  in  Ammianus  Marcellinus. 

The  name  of  Mentu  may  be  traced  in  those  of  several 
individuals,  as  Mentu-hetep,  Osymandyas,  and  others.  It  also 
appears  in  that  of  Isment^  which  is  given  to  several  towns  even 
at  the  present  day. 

Mandoulis,  or,  according  to  the  hieroglyphics,  Maloul,  is 
mentioned  in  numerous  Greek  inscriptions  at  Kalabshi  in  Nubia, 
the  ancient  Talmis,  as  the  deity  of  the  place.  From  the 
similarity  of  the  names,  I  had  supposed  him  to  be  the  same  as 
the  preceding  god ;  but  his  figure  in  the  adytum  of  the  temple 
differs  from  that  of  Mentu,  and  shows  him  to  be  a  distinct  deity. 
In  the  inscriptions  mention  is  made  of  his  horse,  an  animal  sacred 
among  some  nations  to  the  sun;  but  little  is  known  of  his 
attributes,  or  the  office  he  held  in  the  mythology  of  Egypt. 

At  Dab&d  he  occurs  as  the  third  member  of  a  triad  composed 
of  Seb,  Nut,  and  this  deity  ;  where  his  dress  and  title,  *  Lord  of 
Philse,'  appear  to  connect  him,  on  this  occasion  at  least,  with 
Osiris.  Champollion,  after  stating  that  at  Kalabshi  he  is  the 
third  person  *  of  a  triad  formed  of  Horus,  his  mother  Isis,  and 
their  son  Maloul,'  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  this  triad  was 
the  link  which  connected  the  extremity  of  the  divine  chain,  as 
the  last  of  the  incarnations  of  Amen-ra.^  It  was  therefore  the 
final  triad,  of  which  the  three  members  resolved  themselves  into 
those  of  the  first  triad,  Horus  being  called  the  husband  of  his 

*  Homer,  D.  E,  31 :  ^Apcr,  "ApcT,  /SporoXoiyi,  fuai^rc,  rtix^ertwXirra, 

*  "Apfis,  *  ChampoU.  Lettre  xi.  pp.  155,  156. 


ckuizm.] 


189 


aother,  bj  whom  he  had  Malonl.  Thas  these  three  oorreepond 
Id  Amen,  Hot,  and  Khonsn  of  the  Thebon  sanotnary.  This  is  on 
tbe  rapposition  that  Mot  was  in  like  manner  the  mother  of  Amen 
am  Ids  was  the  mother  of  Hortu.' 


ilUr,  tnU  |ad  taalat  la 


Sefaak,  tbe  crocodile-beaded  deit^  of  Ombos,  was  another 
Stifled  form  of  the  son,  as  may  be  seen  from  tbe  hieroglyphic 
legend  where  the  crocodile  is  followed  by  its  figurative  hiero- 
llyphic,  the  globe  of  Ita.  This  ammal  was  a  type  of  the  sun, 
'its  nnmber  sixty,'  according  to  lamblicbus,*  being  tbonght  to 
■eeord  with  that  luminary.  But  the  respect  paid  to  it  at  Ombos, 
mi  some  otfaer  towns  of  tbe  Tbeb^d,  was  not  universal  tbrongb- 
•>t  Egypt.  The  people  of  Apollinopolis  and  Tcntyris,  in  parti- 
calar,  held  it  in  the  utmost  abhorrence ;  and  the  enmity  conse- 
yat  upon  this  difference  of  opinion  was  carried  so  far  by  the 


«  wMdeat  No.  MO,  Jig.  1,  h*  *pp«n 
ma  tk*  b«lswt  *nnn«nDt«d  (7  th« 
t,  asy,  or  UlpU  Ob/,  Uk*  Hu-pulb. 


■  Uu  parioiL— 8.  B, 

■  lutU.  d«  Hjnur. ».  3,  c.  B. 


190 


THE  AHCIENT  EGrPTIANa 


[Cbu.  SIU 


Teatyrites  and  Ombites,  tbat  a  serions  conflict  ensoed  between 
them,  in  which  many  persons  lost  their  lives.  And,  if  we  may 
believe  Jnvenal,'  to  such  a  degree  were  the  passions  of  the  belli- 
gerents excited,  that  the  Tictorions  Tentyrites  actually  ate  the 
flesh  of  one  of  their  opponents  who  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

Thebes  acknowledged  Sebah  as  a  deity,  and  the  fignies 
represented  below  are  taken  &om  the  scnlpttires  of  the  capital  of 
Upper  Egypt.    The  hieroglyphics  in  the  foortfa  line  read, '  Sebak, 


Sehik-rm.  iDTd  of  Omtw,  gr 
I  of  tM  Soalli  ud  Nonk  Co 

the  ruler  of  the  Upper  Conntry,  and  the  Land  of  the  North ;'  which 
last  appears  to  confirm  what  I  before  obserred  respecting  the 
title  given  to  Thoth.  Cham  pollion  considers  that  he  corresponded 
to  the  Greek  EroD(»,  or  Satnm,  in  consequence  of  the  coins  <rf 
CrocodilopoUs,  or  Arsinoe,  presenting  his  figure,  and  a  medal  of 
Antoninus  struck  at  Alexandria  having  the  same  deity  with  a 
crocodile  in  his  right  hand.     Clemens  of  Alexandria,  indeed,* 


I  juTou],  su.  IT.  sa 


*  Clem.  Alai.  Strom.  i 


Guf.xm.] 


SEBAK— TEFNU. 


191 


nppoiet  the  crocodile  to  be  the  emblem  of  time ;  and  HorapoUo 
nji  the  two  eyes  indicate  the  rising  of  the  sun,  its  body  placed 
in  i  canred  posture  the  setting,  and  its  tail  ^  the  darkness  of 
light ;  but  the  fact  of  *  the  years  of  Seb '  occurring  so  frequently 
OB  the  monuments  seems  rather  to  identify  the  father  of  Osiris 
with  the  Greek  Kronos.  He  sometimes,  though  rarely,  appears 
with  the  head  of  a  ram  and  the  asp  of  Chnoumis ;  he  then 
Momes  the  attributes  of  that  deity.  The  crocodile,  his  emblem, 
tDnni  part  of  the  name  of  Sabaco,  one  of  the  Ethiopian  princes 
rf  the  25th  Dynasty :  and  at  Ombos  he  shares  with  Aroeris  the 
kmuB  of  the  sanctuary,  one  of  the  adyta  of  that  double  temple 
hong  dedicated  to  him.  I  have  once  found  an  instance  of  the 
WQidSebak  written  Sahbak,  or  Shabak  ;  and  if  we  may  follow  the 
•Bthority  of  Strabo,  Souchos,  or  rather  Sovk,'  is  another  mode  of 
wiitiBg  his  name,  which  the  geographer  tells  us  was  that  of  the 
iMred  crocodile  of  Arsinoe.' 

The  goddess  Tefnu  is  represented  with  a  lion's  head,  and  the 
globe  and  asp  of  the  sun,  of  whom  she  is  said  to  be  the  daughter ; 
or  with  a  human  head,  having  the  horns,  feathers,  and  globe, 
rtich  form  the  head-dress  of  Athor.  She  held  a  conspicuous 
flace  among  the  contemplar  deities  of  Thebes ;  but  I  am  not 
certain  what  peculiar  office  she  bore,  or  to  what  deity  she  cor- 
vapooded  in  the  Greek  Pantheon.  She  may  be  the  same  as  the 
feUmng  goddess ;  and  the  city  of  the  Pelusiac  Daphne  ^  was 
poUbly  called  after  her,  as  well  as  the  predecessor  of  the  modem 
TofiMet,  in  the  Thebaid.  The  latter  town,  which  lies  between 
tmek  and  the  Gebelayn,  is  remarkable  for  its  lofty  mounds, 
ttd  appears  to  have  been  the  Aphroditopolis  of  Greek  writers. 
Tafiii  is  represented  in  the  Oasis  holding  a  bow  and  arrow  in  her 
haad,  with  an  eye  on  her  head ;  but  this  is  of  late  time,  and  of 
tnnsoal  occurrence.* 

The  grxldess  Thriphis  is  mentioned  in  the  Greek  dedications 
of  the  temples  at  Chemmis  and   Athribis,  as  the   contemplar 


*  [IW  crocodile**  Uil  flood  f<»r  th«  word 
*  bUck,'  ud  with  th«  fign  O  *  lan^l,' 

■fBificd   *tb«    Lind   of  Kemi/  or 

Imc-G.  W  ] 

'  SubW,  ivii.  p.  .VtS. 

'  Ukmk  vfti «  Mlar  ^od,  and  id  a  paprnu 

ht  ■  criUd  ■OB  of  Ui«,  an«l  comhuts  like 

tbt  «»cini^  of  fKirii.     I'lider  thU 

W  VM  «orihip|Md  at  Ombtw.      Hit 

to  M  oUl  a«  th«  13lh  Djoaity.     In 


woodcut  No.  5:* !,/</.  1,  he  appears  idaUtUied 
with  Amen. — 8.  H. 

*  Heroilot.  ii.  30,  107.  Tehaphnehai,  or 
Tahpanheft,  nf  the  Scripture*,  and  Tdfwm  of 
tba  Septuagint. 

*  She  i«  represented  with  the  head  of  a 
lion  and  wearing:  a  di»k  an<l  nrcot  Uk«  the 
goddesses  Sekhet,  Bast,  and  Menhi.  SIm  is 
called  the  pupil,  eye,  or  daughter  of  the 
San,  and  was  the  twin  sister  of  Shaman*! 
represented  with  him  at  the  Roman  pariud 
tba  constellation  QeminL— S.  B. 


'am 


Chap.  XIIL]  UB-HEKU— MENHL  193 

companion  of  Ehem ;  and  from  the  conspicuous  post  there  held 
by  her,  it  is  evident  that  she  was  a  divinity  of  considerable  con- 
sequence. Her  exact  form  and  attributes,  however,  are  not 
ascertained,  though  it  is  probable  she  had  the  head  of  a  lion. 

Burton  has  given  another  goddess  with  the  head  of  that 
animal  in  the  26th  Plate  of  his  valuable  *  Excerpta ;'  but  being 
of  late  Boman  time,  and  of  uncertain  character,  I  have  not 
introduced  her  with  the  other  lion-headed  deities. 

There  is  a  deity  who  has  also  the  head  of  a  lion  surmounted 

b^  a  solar  disk.    She  sometimes  appears  under  a  human  form, 

with  the  head-dress  of  Athor.    Her  name  reads  Ur-heku  or  Ur- 

hek-ti,^  probably  the  origin  of  the  Grecian  Hecate;  and  it  is 

when  bearing  the  attributes  of  this  goddess  that  Isis  has  the 

Dame  of  Hekte,  or  Hecate,  attached  to  her  own,  as  I  have  already 

observed.    Even  the  goddess  Mut  is  found  sometimes  to  assume 

the  title  of  Hekte,  as  well  as  her  form  and  attributes ;  and  the 

none  are  likewise  given  to  Bast  or  Bubastis. 

Her  figure  occurs  at  Medeenet  Haboo,  and  on  other  monu- 
ments of  ancient  date,  both  among  the  gods  of  the  temples  and 
the  deities  of  the  tombs,  recalling  the  line  of  Virgil.*  Accord- 
ing to  Epiphanius,  Hecate  is  the  same  as  Tithrambo :  since  he 
ttys,  *  Some  are  initiated  into  the  rites  of  Tithrambo,  which  is 
interpreted  Hecate ;  others  into  those  of  Nephthys ;  and  some 
into  those  of  Thermuthis.' ^  But  the  deity  Tithrambo  seems 
lather  to  be  connected  with  the  Evil  Being  Nubti,  already 
Mentioned,  and  distinct  from  the  Egyptian  Hecate. 

The  form  and  attributes  of  the  goddess  Menhai  ^  are  similar 
to  those  of  Hekte :  a  lion's  head  surmounted  by  a  solar  disk,  and 
theiineus.  The  figure  in  Plate  XXXIX.  is  taken  from  the  temple 
of  Eaneh,  which  is  of  a  Boman  period.  But  Menhai  was  not  a 
ifitj  of  late  introduction,  since  she  appears  at  Thebes  on  monu- 
i&ents  of  an  early  Pharaonic  age.  From  her  name  being  attached 
to  that  of  Bast  or  Bubastis*  we  may  conclude  she  sometimes 
Muned  the  character  of  the  Egyptian  Diana,  though  at  Esneh 
•be  was  one  of  the  forms  of  Neith  or  Minerva. 

Though  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Nut  held  an  important 
station  as  the  protectress  of  mothers,  the  fact  of  the  goddess 

*  This  name  is  applied,  as  will  be  seen,  *  Or  Menhi.    She  was  a  type  of  Sexet, 
tecsrrctpond  to  Athor  and  Bast  or  Sexet.      and  especially  adored  at  Esneh. 

B«r  aMBe  pn»babl y  meant  ureas. — S.  B.  »  Cf.  woodcut  No.  508,  p.  36,  with  the 

'  Virj^.  .£0.  ri.  247  : —  type  of  the  goddess  Bast  or  Bubastis,  whose 

'Reiten  Celoque  Ereboqne  potentem.'  name  occurs  from  the   earliest   period. — 

*  I'richard,  p.  144,  who  quotes  JablonskL  S.  B. 

VOL.  III.  O 


194 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  xm. 


Nekheb  presiding  over  the  city  of  Eileithyia,  and  her  attendance 
upon  Isis  while  nursing  Horus,  assert  her  claim  to  the  name  of 
Lucina.^  It  also  seems  in  some  degree  confirmed  by  her  emblem^ 
a  vulture,'  the  hieroglyphical  representative  of  'a  mother/ 
Though  the  monxmients  show  her  to  have  performed  the  duties 
of  Lucina,  she  is  more  usually  the  protectress  of  the  kings ;  and 
she  does  not  appear,  like  the  Greek  Lucina,  to  be  connected  with 
the  moon,  or  with  Bubastis,  the  Egyptian  Diana.  At  Eileithyia 
she  was  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Seneb  or  Soven ;'  and 
there,  as  in  other  places,  she  had  the  office  of  Lucina.  Nut,  as 
already  stated,  had  also  a  claim  to  that  character,  being  the  *  pro- 
tectress of  childbirth  and  of  nurses ;'  and  the  monster  goddess 
Typho,  who  appears  to  represent  childbearing  or  gestation,  Lds, 
and  even  Bannu,  Athor,  and  other  deities,  shared  with  her  the 
duties  of  Lucina.  Here,  as  in  many  instances,  we  observe  the 
characters  of  some  of  the  Egyptian  deities  to  be  as  closely 
allied  as  those  of  the  Greek  Pantheon;  and  the  occasional 
transfer  of  the  attributes  of  one  god  to  another,  and  the  gradual 
blending  of  minute  shades  of  distinction,  tend  to  make  their 
mythology  obscure  and  uncertain.  Thus  we  have  the  goddess 
Eileithyia ;  Nut,  who  was  Bhea,  the  protectress  of  mothers  in 
childbirth;  Typho,  the  emblem  of  childbearing  or  gestation; 
Eannu,  the  nurse  of  infant  princes ;  and  Isis,  Athor,  and  other 
goddesses,  who  assisted  with  Lucina,  or  acted  as  the  nurses  of 
children. 

The  Bomans,  in  like  manner,  had  several  goddesses  who 
presided  over  parturition  and  young  children,  as  Partunda  and 
others ;  and  so  numerous  did  their  deities  become  by  this  sub- 
division of  their  nature  or  attributes,  that  Petronius  observes^ 
^  Italy  is  now  so  holy,  that  it  is  easier  to  find  a  god  than  a  man. 
The  hieroglyphical  legend  of  the  Egyptian  Lucina  reads,  Seneb^ 
Sebu,*  or  Soven ;  and  she  is  styled  *  Lady  of  the  land  of  Seneb^ 
or  Seben,*  Eileithyia,*  which  is  represented  by,  and  appears  to 
be  derived  from,  *  a  leg.'*    It  is  to  this  place  that  Diodorus' 


*  Hot.  Carm.  Sec.  13. 

*  Horapollo  may  have  in  view  Eileithyia  or 
Juno-Lucina,  when  he  says  Juno  and  Minerva 
are  both  represented  by  a  vulture  (i.  11). 

'  [In  an  inscription  at  Eileithyia  she  ap- 
pears to  be  called  2Miei2,  though  the 
letters  may  read  SNIOIN  or  even  SINeiN. 
Perhaps  EIAieiN  ?— G.  W.] 

*  The  name  of  this  goddess  is  now  r«ad 
Nekheb,  although  formerly  supposed  to  be 


Seben,  or  Sovan ;  but  the  correct  fbrai  li 
apparently  Nishem,  as  pointed  out  bj  IL 
Le  P.  Renouf,  from  a  comparison  ot  Um 
early  list  of  articles,  in  whico  it  appeurt  as 
part  of  the  body. — S.  B. 

*  That  is,  of  Eileithyia  the  city,  niUkit* 
stood  :  it  is  not  called  Eileithyiopolis. — S.  R 


or 


•  cH&i  or  cKfi.mpA.Tq  («K 

tibia  cruris),  '  Diodor.  L  12. 


196  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  xm. 

alludes  when   he  says  that  the  goddess  Eileithyia,  one  of  the 
ancient  deities  of  Egypt,  founded  a  city  called  after  her ;  as  did 
Jove,  the  Sun,  Hermes,  Apollo,  Pan,  and  many  others ;  and  this 
assertion  of  the  historian  accords  well  with  the  antiquity  of  that 
city,  which  contained  some  of  the  oldest  remains  existisg  in 
Egypt.^    The  same  credit  cannot  be  attached  to  a  statement  of 
Plutarch,  that  men  were  formerly  sacrificed  in  this  city,  as  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  observe  in  speaking  of  the  rites  of  the  Egyptiai^* 
Soven  *  may  also  be  the  genius  of  the  Upper  Country,  or  tb^ 
South,  opposed  to  the  genius  of  the  Lower  Country,  though  I  d-^ 
not  trace  that  connection  of  the  former  with  Neith,  and  tb^ 
latter  with   Sati,  which  HorapoUo  might  lead  us  to  expect^ 
However  inconsistent  may  be  the  assumption  of  two  charactet^ 
by  the  same  goddess,  we  find  that  the  Greek  Eileithyia  was  vC^ 
like  manner  confounded  with  other  deities,  as  Juno  and  Diana^^ 
though  said  to  be  daughter  of  Jupiter  and  of  Juno,  or,  accordia^^ 
to  some,  of  Latona. 

She  is  usually  represented  as  a  goddess  with  the  cap  and 
two  ostrich-feathers  of  Osiris,  or  with  the  cap  of  the  Upper 
Country,  and  occasionally  with  the  globe  and  horns  of  Athor ; 
and  she  frequently  appears  under  the  form  of  a  vulture,  which, 
with  outspread  wings,  hovers  over  the  king  as  if  to  protect  him. 
This  confirms  the  statement  of  Eusebius,^  who  observes  that  the 
image  of  the  deity  worshipped  at  the  Egyptian  city  of  '  Eilei- 
thyia had  the  form  of  a  flying  vulture,  whose  wings  were  inlaid 
with  precious  stones.'    She  has  also  the  form  of  an  asp,  which, 
like  the  vulture,  wears  the  head-dress  of  Osiris — ^the  crown  of  the 
Upper  Country  with  two  ostrich-feathers.    This  asp  is  frequently 
winged.    It  wears  the  psherU,  or  crown  of  the  Two  Regions ;  or 
the  crown  of  Upper  Egypt  only,  when  opposed  to  the  genius  of 
the  Lower  Country,  who,  under  the  same  form  of  an  asp,  has  that 
of  Lower  Egypt    The  water-plants  chosen  as  the  initials  of  the 
respective  names  of  these  two  goddesses  agree  with  the  crowns 
they  wear;  one  signifying  *  Upper,'  the  other  *  Lower  Egypt,' 

which  are  thus  written  in  hieroglyphics    mwf  *    ^  ■    >  or 


^iri 


i¥ll 


,  the  last  two  having  in  addition  the  bowl  or  basket, 


'  Destrojed  hj  the  Turks.       *  Nishem.      sphere ;  and  the  Tulture  is  the  emblem  of 
*  Horapollo,  L  11,  says   Minerva  rules      Urania,  the  eoddess  of  heayen. 
the  Upper,  and  Juno  the   Lower '  Hemi-         *  Euseb.  Prsepar.  Eyangel.  iiL  12. 


Chap,  xm.] 


EILEITHYIA- 


197 


signifying  *Lord.*  Indeed,  it  is  not  altogether  improbable 
that  the  goddess  Eileithyia  may  have  had  the  name  Sares/ 
•  the  South/  *  which  her  hieroglyphic,  sometimes  written  thus 

found  no  instance  of  the  goddess  to  whom  she  is  opposed 
haying    the    hieroglyphic    signifying    *  the    North/ 


,  appears  to  justify ;  but  I  haye 


or 


A\1' 


•    Soyen  also  appears  occasionally  with  a  yulture's 


head,  and  I  haye  found  instances 
of  this  goddess  as  an  Ophiffyps, 
with  the  body  of  a  yidture  and 
the  head  of  a  snake,  on  the  cofiSns 
of  the  dead. 

[The  goddess  Uat  or  Uati  is 

the  same    as    the  Greek  Buto, 

and  was  worshipped  at  Tep,  or 

the  city  of  Buto,  situated  at  the 

eitiemity  of  the  Bosetta  branch  of 

the  NUe.»— S.  B.]    This  goddess 

lutt  also  the  character  of  guardian  and  protectress  of  the  monarchs, 

mi  is  placed  in  opposition  to  Eileithyia,  as  the  genius  of  the 


1  9 

Other  forms  <^  the  goddeas  EUeithyia. 
No.  U2. 


Ki^SSS. 


F^.  1.  Ueli,  or  the  genius  of  the  Lower  Country,  opposed  tojlgt,  2  sod  8, 

JNIshem.  or  the  goddess  EUefthylA. 


ti 


Lower  Country.  She  is  represented  under  the  form  of  an  asp, 
frequently  with  wings,  haying  the  crown  of  Lower  Egypt, 
vUch  is  also  worn  by  her  when  figured  as  a  goddess.  She  is 
treated  as  one  of  the  contemplar  diyinities  at  Thebes  and  other 
towns  of  the  Upper  Proyinces,  with  the  same  honours  as  the  last- 
Vkentioued  deity.    She  also  occurs  under  the  form  of  a  yulture, 

^^?P«  ^CT?^  ^a»  called  Mares,  whence  or  else  ras,  the  Coptic  form.— S.  B. 

^  ^nkAc  nune  Hsi^  or  Mmre^see  ap-'  *  Brugsch  in  the  *  Zeitschrift  f.  agypt. 

» ^^  »«»*i  wind.  Sprache,'  1871,  p.  12. 
rts  wgtdfov  •ollU^llow•Ttr,  was  grnio, 


198 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XnL 


i-ig.  L  UaU.    2  and  3.  Nishem*  the  goddeu 
No.  5M.  EUAlthyU. 


alternately  with  the  vulture  of  Eileithyia,  on  the  ceilings  of  the 
temples;  being  distinguished  only  by  the  cap  of  the  Lower 
Country,  and  the  hieroglyphic  legend  which  accompanies  he? 

emblem.     She  even  attends 
I  if  If X     II  I  Isis    ^Wle    nursing   Horns, 

■^^  together    with  the  goddess 

j£tr      ^Xs^        EUeithyia. 
Wfo^  ^Bi^  Egypt,  as  might  reason- 

yW^  ^iwN^    ^^^  ^  expected,  was  among 

^  ^  ^ '  ^        the  deities  worshipped  in  the 

country.  Bhe  is  represented 
with  the  emblem  of  purity 
on  her  head,  and  another 
apparently  signifying  'cul- 
tivated land,'  which  also 
enters  into  the  names  of  the  goddess  Eahi  and  the  deity  of 
Tentyris.  In  one  hand  she  holds  a  spear  with  a  bow  and  arrows, 
and  in  the  other  a  battle-axe  and  the  sign  of  life,  illustrative  of 
the  military  power  of  the  country.  In  this  she  resembles  one 
of  the  forms  of  Neith  or  Minerva.  I  had  imagined  this  goddess 
to  be  the  genius  of  the  '  Eastern  Bank,'  opposed  to  another  of 
similar  character,  whom  I  have  called  the  'Western  Bank  of 
the  Nile ;'  but  the  hieroglyphic  legends  appear  to  authorise  the 
conclusion  of  her  representing  Egypt.  A  strong  argument  in 
support  of  this  is  also  derived  from  her  being  put  in  opposition 
to  the  foreign  nations  with  whom  the  Egyptians  were  at  war. 
The  character  forming  her  name  is  the  sceptre  seen  in  the  hands 
of  the  gods,  erroneously  said  to  be  surmounted  by  the  head  of 
the  Upupa ;  a  misconception  into  which  Horapollo  has  also  been 
led,  as  is  evident  from  his  considering  that '  bird  a  fit  ornament 
for  the  sceptres  of  the  gods,'  because  it  is  the  type  of  *  gratitude.' 
But  the  head  is  that  of  a  quadruped,^  not  of  a  bird ;  though 
easily  mistaken  for  the  Upupa  when  carelessly  sculptured,  or  of 
a  small  size.  Its  being  emblematic  of  purity  makes  it  an 
appropriate  characteristic  of  the  divine  nature,  and  it  is  very 
properly  associated  with  the  feather  of  TruiK 

The  name  of  Egypt  was  Khemi,  which,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  bore  a  strong  analogy  to  the  word  khami,  *  black ;'  and  both 
are  sometimes  written  in  the  same  manner  by  the  hieroglyphic 


*  According  to  Pierret  ('  Diet./  p.  496),  the  head  is  that  of  a  dog,  a  harrier.     It  was 
called  uas  or  t'dtn,  and  is  generally  but  not  exclusively  carried  by  gods. — S.  B» 


200  THE  ANCIENT  EOYPTIANa  [Ciiap.  XHI. 

of  a  crocodile's  tail,*  which  signified  *  black,*  or  at  least  had  the 

force  of  Khf  the  initial  of  the  word.    Egypt  was  also  called  the 

^  ^  land  of  the  tree '  and  *  of  the  eye  * 

^m  /^^^  (^^  Osiris).*      The  last  two  occur  in 

^^H    Bfc-     Bfc-     n|^  P^  the  inscription  of  the  Bosetta  Stone, 

Q     ^       w       ^i^t^  as   on  otLer  monuments,  but  the 

Ti.'crocodiie-.Jintben-ne'af    fonucr  are  morc  usual  ou  sculptOTes 
Ho.  166.     Egypt,  •  Khun.'  of  an  oarly  penod. 

It  is  singular  that  no  one  of 
these  groups  is  applied  to,  or  enters 
among,  the  hieroglyphics  of  this 
goddess.    There  is,  howeyer,  a  god 

oth.r\u*.ofwntingie  name       ^^"^  ^™  ^  represent  Egypt,  or 
No.  666.       of  igypt.  Khemi,  on  whose  head  the  crocodile's 

tail  is  placed ;  but  he  is  of  late  date,  and  only  found  in  monu- 
ments of  a  Ptolemaic  or  Boman  epoch.  He  performs  the  office 
of  steersman  of  the  boat  of  Atum,  in  the  place  of  Horus,  That 
Egypt  was  called  Eham  in  the  earliest  times  is  eyident  from  the 
sculptures :  but  the  name  Egypt  is  not  found  in  the  hieroglyphics; 
nor  do  we  find  that  of  Aeria,  by  which  some  pretend  it  was  known 
at  a  very  remote  period.* 

There  is  a  goddess  who  may  either  be  the  west  bank  of  the 
riyer,  or  the  West  generally,  opposed  to  the  goddess  who  represents 
the  East,  whose  name  is  preceded  by  the  same  signs,^ 
and  generally  followed  by  the  annexed  hierc^lyphic 
ll^jk  signifying  ^mountain.'  This  was  evidently  borrowed 
-  -T  from  the  circumstance  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile  being 
bordered  on  one  side  by  the  Libyan,  on  the  other 
by  the  Arabian  hills :  as  the  mode  of  representing  a  ^formpn 
land '  by  a  mountain  originated  in  the  distinction  of  the  level 
plain  of  the  Egyptian  valley,  and  the  hilly  country  of  Syria  or 
other  foreign  lands. 

I  have  also  met  with  the  goddesses  of  the  East  and  West, 
each  bearing  on  her  head  her  peculiar  emblem  raised  upcm  9 
perch.    In  these  the  table  of  ofierings  denotes  the  former ;  an( 
the  hawk  on  a  perch,  with  the  ostrich-feather  before  it^  f 
indicative  of  the  West. 

The  goddess  at^.  4,  Plate  XLI.,  is  styled  *  the  West,  Quer 

'  Horapollo  (Hierog.  i.  70)  says,   *  A  crocodile's  Uil    signifies  darkness ;'  in  Cof 

'  Of  the  sycamore  and  the  symbolic  eye. — S.  B. 

'  AoL  Gell.  zir.  6.  *  Set  abt.    The  name  of  land  is  mL 


Chap.  TTTT]       GODDESSES  OF  THE  EAST  AND  WEST. 


201 


of  Heaven,  Directreas  of  tlie  Gods ;'  and  she  frequently  wears  her 

araal  emblems  placed  on  another  signifying  'cultivated  land.' 

To  Athor  is  sometimes  given  the  same  hawk  seated  on  a  perch, 

in  her  ohatacter  of  President  of  the  Western  Motmtain.    Her 

office  is  evidently  connected  with  the  dead,  as  is  that  of  Athor, 

when  she  assumes  these  attribntes ;  probably  in  conaeqnence  of 

the  western  district  or  monntain,  particularly  at  Thebes  and 

Memphis,  being  looked  upon  as  the 

abode  of  the  dead.     She  may  also  be 

a  type  of  Hades  or  Amenti,  the  resem- 

blimce  between  which  name  and  the 

West,  Ement,   is   consistent  with   its 

■apposed   connection  with   the   lower 

t^ons,  as  I  have  already  had  occa- 

■ioD  to  observe.     The  funeral  rituals 

rf   the    papyri  frequently   represent 

font  rudders,  each  of  which  is  applied 

to  the  four  cardinal  points,  designated   ^o- " 

«  rodders  of  the  S.,  N..  W.,  and  E. 

This  division  was  of  thf  earliest  date  in  Egypt,  being  mentioned 

in  the  oldest  monmnents  that  exist.    The  expression  'S.,  K.,  W., 

tttd  £.'  signified  the  whole  world ;  as  in  the  Coronation  ceremony, 

*here  the  carrier  pigeons  are  ordered  to  fly  to  those  four  points, 

lo  prcNslaim  that  the  king  has  assumed  the  crown.     They  in  like 

ttiaiuier  divided  the  world  into  four  quarters :  one  being  Egypt ; 

*Qother  the  South,  or  region  of  the  Blacks ;  a  third  the  East, 

*4  the  Asiatic  country;  and  the  fourth  the  Xorth,  comprising 

^yria,  Asia  Minor,  and  probably  Europe. 

It  appears  that  the  expression  '  conqueror  of  the  nine  regions ' 
signified  'of  the  remaining  three  parts  of  the  world,*  Egypt 
^taelf  completing  the  whole  number  twelve,  and  three  being  the 
*ign  of  plurality  for  each  set,  in  the  sense  of '  the  regions.* 

The  name  of  the  goddess  in  Plate  XLIL  appears  to  read 
Setkh '  or  Sefekh ;  and  these  letters  are  followed  by  demonstra- 
"tiTe  signs,  which  are  intended  to  represent  horns.  From  her 
Qtnployment,  noting  on  the  palm-branch  of  Thoth  the  years  of 
Vmnaa  life,  and  from  her  title,  *  Lady  of  Letters,'  she  appears  also 
V>  be  the  goddess  of  writing.    She  may  perhaps  be  a  deification 


\ 


1  -pM  UT  all  U  mind  th*  Htbrev 
■"*jfc.W«').*t"C0Mll'or  'writ.,' 


th*  Sofii  of  P*ni> ;  or  tb«  OrMk  ira^fa, 
*  wudam ;'  tfaonfh  withant  being  relatad  to 
■Df  au  at  thtin. 


■v^ 


^^y^:    tttm 


L*^ 


'iJEMIs 


a:^:k-«-ir!K 


^^^ 


>g:gll 


Cktf.  Xm.]  8BFEKH,  GODDESS  OF  WBITINO. 


203 


I 

( 


of  jpasfik  or  kmguage.    Bat  her  hieroglyphics  read  sefh  or  sofkh, 
ud  not  mkk^^  *  writing  ;*  nor  does  the  word  BOffi,^  *  a  tongue/ 
ittswer  to  the  characters  they  present    Like  Thoth,  she  registers 
the  erente  of  man's  life,  and  bears  a  palm-branch  with  the 
emUenis  signifying  '  halls  of  assembly ;'  marking  on  it  at  the 
time  the  years  of  the  king's  life,  or  the  number  of  pane- 
Mi  which  he  had  been  proclaimed. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  these  assemblies  were  the  origin  of 
tl^«  title  '  Lord  of  Triakontaeterides/  given  to  Ptolemy  on  the 
Boisetta  Stone;  but  from  the  number  which  Thoth  and  this 
g^oddesB  are  sometimes  marking  upon  the  palm-branches,  it  is 
e'vident  they  could  not  refer  to  games  celebrated  every  thirtieth 
yeiar.    Nor  could  Ptolemy  have  been  entitled  to  a  jubilee  of 
timty  years,  since  he  only  reigned  twenty-one.     Indeed,  we  are 
isnorant  of  the  exact  meaning  of  the  title,  though  it  probably 
vefen  to  the  years  of  the  assemblies  recorded  by  these  deities, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  method  by  which  they  were  com- 
peted.   Ptah,  the  creative  power,  appears  to  have  been  the 
i^Xj  to  whom  they  were  particularly  consecrated ;  since  in  the 
1^^  titles  the  king  is  styled  *  Lord  of  the  Assemblies,  like  his 
Mier  PtaL'    This  goddess  is  represented  at  the  Slemnonium 
vriting  the  name  of  Rameses  the  Great  on   the  fruit  of  the 
I^«iea»tree,  und*«r  whose    shade  the  king  is   seated,    in    the 
pvetenoe  of  Thoth  an<l   Atum.'     She  is  generally  clad    in   a 
'«upard-«kin ;  an<l  on  her  head  she  bears  a  radiating  oniament, 
pecaliarly  appropriated  to  her,  over  which  are  eow*8  horns  turned 
^wnwards. 

The  goddess  S<*Ik  is  distinguished  by  the  scorpion,  her 
^^blem,  which  is  usually  bound  ujxm  her  head.  Her  oflioe 
^<«msto  have  Ix^en  principally  in  the  rcpons  of  Anienti,  where 
^ike  has  sometimes,  in  lieu  of  a  human  hea<l,  a  nymliol  very 
^Varly  resembling  the  hierop^lyphic  chanirt«*r  si<;nifying  *  wife  ;' 
\i  the  scoq)ion,  her  embh'ni,  even  <M*curs  with  the  legend 
bit  8elk.'      In  the   hi«*roglyphics  of  a  Th«*ban   mummy-case 


'  PU&caI.IH.      The  Brriiinp»Dyiot(   ID- 
are  ik€  aiMrvM^^  of  *  Srffkh,  mi*- 
«f  wntiBK.  •Iimtir««  lif  th«>  library.* 
MVK,  *t  au||^«ot  t«i  thr«  million*  tif 
Var  ifar»  v\mm  parth  all  in  the  account.' 
^ImA  tays  *  I  graat  thr  name  tu  be  fmrn 
^A*  Mm  wf  t^  heaven  |»lacvil  un  the  noble 
(^OMa.*    Tom  or  Atam,  lunl  of  UeliopulU, 


Kiys,  *  I  write  thr  name  ufton  the  noble 
iVro^a  bv  the  writini:  of  my  own  tini^rr*. 
I  arrange  thrm  to  th(>e  whilf  thou  n|ioD 
rarth  art  kin^  «»n  my  thntm*.  Thi*u  art  for 
the  time  of  thf  h**ii\fU.  Mav  thr  name 
vi»«turv  fur  erer.*  Aiiifn-ra,  lord  of  the 
|mrtiiular  chA|N*l,  mvs  *I  watrh  oTerthe 
plai-ioK  of  thy  name  f«ir  errr  tirin  on  the 
great  rcnea/'— 6.  U. 


204 


THE  ASOIENT  EaTPTIANS. 


[Cau.  Z1 


preserved  at  Bodrhydd&u,  Z  have  fonnd  tiiia  goddess  called  I 
'  daughter  of  the  son.'* 

The  name  and  form  of  the  deity  .^^Bciilapiiis  *  were  £ 
aacertained  by  Mr.  Salt,  at  Philee,  where  a  small  sanctnaiy  « 
a  Greek  inscription  is  dedicated  to  him.*  His  dress  is  ^wi 
very  simple,  though  not  one  of  the  great  gods  of  Egypt ;  agree! 


with  the  description  given  of  him  by  Synesius.*  He  is  bald 
wears  a  small  cap  fitting  closely  to  his  head,  without  any  featt 
or  other  ornament ;  and  in  his  band  be  holds  the  sceptte  i 
crvas  artaata,  or  sign  of  life,  common  to  all  the  deities, 
name  reads  Aiemhotep  ;  but  be  cannot  bear  any  relatioiu 
to  the  '  leader  of  the  heavetdy  deities '  mentioned  by  lambliol 


>  Sh«  li  loppoMd  to  turn  betu  ■  form  of  apU. — O.  W.] 

bit. — S.  B.  *  Th«r<  «u  to  AikleptloD,   or    ■ 

■  [Jkblonikt  njt  fwmUptui  wm  oUtd  temple  of  Suvfdi,  In  tbt  S«np«iim  >t ) 

Imonthei  flfu^i) ;  uid  thiuki  Um  Sar-  phii. — 3.  B.           *  SjriiM.  In  Eumb.  ( 


.  XHL]  JESCULAFIUa  205 


vvlio  WM  teoond  only  to  Eicbm^  the  great  ineffable  god  and 
m  exemplar.* 
The  Egyptian  Aaclepios  was  called  'the  8on  of  Ptah;*  he 
theiefore  greatly  reyered  at  Memphis^  and,  indeed,  throngh- 
t  the  whole  country.  The  Egyptians  acknowledged  two  of 
iAb^Is  name ;  the  first,  the  grandfather  of  the  other,  according  to 
tSm^  Greeks,  and  the  reputed  inventor  of  medicine,  who  receiyed 
pcs-^mliar  honours  on  ^  a  certain  mountain  on  the  Libyan  side  of 
Nile,  near  the  City  of  Crocodiles,'  where  he  was  '  reported  to 
TO  been  buried.'  Ammianus  Marcellinus  ^  says  that '  Memphis 
the  presence  of  the  god  iEsculapius ;'  and  the  sculptures 
•bcjw  that  he  held  a  post  amongst  the  contemplar  gods  of  Upper 
sx^d  Lower  Egypt,  from  FhilsD  to  the  Delta.  He  occurs  more 
firtequently  in  temples  of  a  Ptolemaic  than  of  a  Pharaonic  epoch. 
l>mfflAscius,  in  the  Life  of  Isidorus,  says,  ^The  Asclepius  of 
Berjtus  of  Syria  is  neither  Greek  nor  Egyptian,  but  of  Phoe- 
uciaa  origin;  for  sons  were  bom  to  Sadyk,  called  Dioscuri 
sad  CaUri,  and  the  eighth  of  these  was  Esmun,'  who  is  inter- 
pt^fdd  Asclepius.*  But  it  is  highly  improbable  that  the  Egyp- 
tian deity  was  borrowed  from  Phoenicia;  and  the  only  point 
of  resemblance  (if  we  may  belieye  the  authority  of  Herodotus 
in  10  diflScult  a  question)  is  the  fact  of  Asclepius  being  the 
«m  of  Ptah,  and  the  Cabiri  being,  according  to  Herodotus, 
iOQt  of  Vulcan. 

Aooording  to  Macrobius,'  he  was  *  the  beneficent  influence  of 
die  nm,  which  was  thought  to  penrade  the  souls  of  men ;'  but  as 
^  sooords  not  with  his  appellation  '  son  of  Ptah,'  I  am  rather 
u^liaed  to  consider  him  that  healing  and  presenring  power  of 
^  Creator  (Ptah)  which  ayerted  calamities  and  illness  from 
BMnkind.  There  is  no  appearance  of  the  serpent  haying  been 
%red  to  him,  as  to  the  Greek  god  of  medicine ;  nor  are  the  cock, 
^  riTen,  or  the  dog,  found  among  his  emblems  on  the  monuments 
of  Egypt.  It  is,  however,  prc^bable  that  the  serpent  in  after- 
tisfls  was  admitted  as  the  symbol  of  the  Egyptian  as  well  as  the 
Gtsek  .^scuUpius  ;  the  record  of  which  appears  to  show  itself  in 
the  snake  of  Sheikh  Hereedee,  a  Moslem  saint  of  Upper  Egypt, 
vito  b  still  thought  to  appear  under  that  form,  and  to  cure  the 
faasca  of  his  votaries. 

The  deity  Pe  has  sometimes  been  eonfounde<l  with  Nut,  the 
Mher  of  Osiris,  from  her  having  the  firmament  as  her  emblem. 


lUrc  ixii.  U.  •  Which  flfaifiM  tf^Al.  •  lUcroh.  Satan,  t  23. 


206 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Gh&t.  xm. 


She  was  a  deification  of  heaven  itself,  or  that  part  of  the  firmament 
in  which  the  stars  were  placed.  She  is  sometimes  represented 
nnder  the  form  of  thd  hieroglyphic  chsracter  signifying  '  the 
heavens '  studded  with  stars ;  and  sometimes  as  a  hnman  figure, 
whose  body,  as  it  bends  forward  with  oatspread  arms,  appears 
to  overshadow  the  earth  and  encompass  it,  in  imitation  of  the 
vault  of  heaven  reaching  from  one  side  of  the  horizon  to  the 


'■ 

o* 

^Ht|4^  *  -^  -k  -k   -k   -k  ^^^ 

IT  Ibe  hmrtD.  vlth  ttae  mm  ud  ) 


.    Thfl  flgon  bomth  li  Seh. 


other.  In  this  posture  she  encloses  the  zodiacs,  as  at  Esaeh  and 
Benderab. 

Her  name  Fe,  or  with  the  feminine  article,  Tpe,  signifies  in 
Coptic  '  the  heaven  ;'  which  ^rees  with  the  statement  of  Hor- 
apollo,  before  cited,  that  the  Egyptians  considered  the  heaven 
feminine,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  Greeks. 

The  uppermost  part  of  the  compartments  sculptured  on 
Egyptian  monuments  is  generally  crowned  by  her  emblem, 
representing  the  heaven,  instances  of  which  are  given  in  the 
plates  of  this  Pantheon. 

The  hieroglyphic  name  of  the  deity  Nilns  appears  to  be 


Chutf.  Xm.]  HAPI  OB  NILUa  207 

fibipi-Maii.^  The  Coptic  word  mau  signifies  ^  water/  but  the 
ifoport  of  the  prefix  Hapi  is  uncertain.  To  the  god  Nilus,  and 
to  one  of  the  genii  of  Amenti,  the  name  Ilapi,  or  Apis,  is 
eoniuimly  applied,  as  well  as  to  the  sacred  bull  of  l^Iemphis. 
Plutarch  '  thinks  '  the  Mendesian  goat  was  also  called  Apis  ;*  but 
I  cannot  suppose  that  he  has  confounded  the  river-god  with 
Egyptian  Pan ;  nor  can  we  readily  account  for  a  similar 
ption  in  regard  to  the  cynocephalus-headed  genius  of 
though  the  connection  between  Nilus  and  SaropM, 
ntioned  by  Martianus  Capella,  may  haye  originated  in  the 
El^yplian  name  of  Hapi} 

Nilns  is  frequently  represented  binding  the  throne  of  the 

ifconairhs  with  the  stalks  of  two  water-plants,  one  indicating  the 

Aomiiiioii  of  the  Upper,  the  other  of  the  Lower  Country  ;  and  in 

tlie  compartments  which  form  the  basement  of  the  sculptured 

Walls   of   the  temples  he  brings  offerings    of    yarious  kinds, 

Specially   fruits   and    flowers,  the  produce  of  the  beneficent 

influence  of  the  Nile  water.    Thoth  frequently  assists  him  on 

die  Conner  occasion ;  and  this  allegorical  subject  may  signify 

thst  the  throne  is  indebted  for  its  support  to  the  intellectual  and 

pkjiieal  gifts  of  the  deity.    He  is  figured  as  a  fat  man,  of  a  blue 

cotoUy  with  water-plants  growing  from  his  head ;  and  he  holds 

ia  his  hands  their  stalks  and  flowers,  or  water-jars,  indicative 

f'the  inundation.    It  is  remarkable  that  the  name  Nilus  accords 

*^  spUy  with  the  colour  given  him  by  the  Kgyptian  artists. 

^i,  or  ned^  is  the  word   which  still  signifies  '  blue '  in  many 

Ciiten  languages.    The  A77ghaut,  or  Hue  mountains ;  the  Nilab, 

9  Uiie  river,  applied  to  the  Indus ;  nedehj  the  name  of  indigo  in 

Egypt  and  other  Eastern  countries — sufiice  to  show  the  general 

^  of  this  word ;  and  its  application  to  the  river  of  Egypt  was 

ft«sistent  with  the  custom  of  calling  those  large  rivers  Uue^  which 

^  the  depth  of  their  water  frequently  api>ear  of  that  colour. 

I  have  elsewhere  observed  that  the  term  azrek,  applitnl  to  the 
^titeni  branch  of  the  Nile,  which  comes  from  the  lake  I)embt>a, 
ut  Abyssinia,  properly  signifies  Uaeh^  in  op{)08ition  to  the  Abiad^ 

I  ?  rri^'^!^.  or  HaM  only   that      Ar*»elou»  no«l  "then  (»«  -f:imn,  V«r.  lli^t, 
\  15=^  »^^^  Q  >v  Q  ii.  3:i,  kv.y—G.  W.] 


4itfer-otlr.  but  rradiofc  Hapi.    Thf      Onlrim.*      (t^otH    by    Prirhani.  Mrthnl. 

^•tHspi,  *Nila«/ an«I  th«  bull->;fMl  Hii|ii       p.    Hit.)     Th«p    zi|C»t:    lint^    which    J«>llow 


*  Api^  rrcall  th«  Ore«k  repreinrntatioB  of      rrcall  thi*  won!  him,  whirh   Hormpollo  mv* 
I  nttr  wmia  thm  iam  of  a  ball,  lika  tht      wm  ApplicU  U>  tba  ummJahtm, 


3ME 


I 


1-9 

u 


Chap.  XIIL]  NILUS.  209 

or  white  riyer ;  for  though  dzreh  also  implies  dark  hlue^  it  has  not 
that  signification  when  opposed  to  white.  In  proof  of  which  it 
is  only  necessary  to  add,  that  a  Uaeh  horse  is  styled  azreh  as  well 
as  cLswedf  and  the  same  term  is  applied  to  anything  in  the  sense 
of  our  *jet  black.' 

At  Silsilis  this  deity  was  worshipped  as  the  third  member  of 

a  triad  composed  of  Ba,  Ptah,  and  Nilus — the  sun,  the  creatiye 

power,  and  the  riyer;   the  last  being,  as  the  third  person  in 

these  triads  always  was,  the  result   of  the  other  two.    It  is 

probable  that  the  marked  respect  with  which   he  was  tiiere 

inyoked  arose  from  the  peculiar  protection  they  desired  of  him, 

when  the  blocks  hewn  in  the  quarries  of  Silsilis,  for  the  temples 

of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  were  committed  to  the  charge  of 

the  stream  that  was  to  conyey  them  to  their  different  destina* 

tions.    In  the  Temple  of  Luxor  at  Thebes  are  two  figures  of 

this  deity,  one  of  a  blue,  the  other  of  a  red  hue,  to  whom  the 

edacation  of  the  infant  Amenophis  III.,  the  son  of  Queen  Mut- 

em-Sua,  and  another  child,  are  supposed  to  haye  been  entrusted. 

The  children  are  carried  in  the  arms  of  the  red-coloured  deity ; 

ttid  the  other  follows  behind,  carrying  the  sacred  taus,  or  emblems 

of  life.      The  former  is  probably  intended  to  indicate  the  turbid 

appearance  of  the  Nile  during  the  inundation  (rather  than,  as 

I  had  supposed,  the  land  it  irrigates) ;  and  the  latter,  of  a  blue 

colour,  the  limpid  stream  of  the  riyer  when  confined  within  its 

banks.    At  Phil®  a  figure  of  the  god  Nilus  is  represented  seated 

beneath  the  rocks  of  the  cataract,  holding  hydriee^  or  jars,  in  his 

bands,  from  which  he  pours  forth  water,  emblematic  of  the 

inundation.    A  snake  surrounds  his  abode,  and.  on  the  rocks 

aboTe  are  perched  a  hawk  and  yulture.      That  the  water-jar  was 

iikdieatiye  of  the  inundation  we  learn  from  HorapoUo ;  and  in 

oonaeqaence  of  the  Nile  being  considered  '  the  efBux  of  Osiris,' 

Plutarch  says,  'a  water-pitcher  was  always  carried  first  in  the 

>acied  processions  in  honour  of  that  god.'^    The  connection 

between  the  god  Nilus  and  Osiris  probably  led  to  the  notion,  as 

the  {wm  of  the  corpulent  deity  of  the  Egyptians  to  the  figure, 

rf  the  Greek  Silenus,  the  nurse  of  Bacchus.    At  the  city  of 

«ilopoUg,*  situated  in  the  proyince  of  Arcadia,  a  splendid  temple 

^tt  defeated  to  the  god  Nilus.    Other  towns  of  Egypt  also 

^hwted  his  worship  with   proper    honours;    and    from    an 

^•emtion  of  Herodotus  it  is  eyident  that  in  all  those  situated 


*  n^t.  4t  Uid.  1.  63w  «  Stephan.  de  Urb.  in  voce  Ktlkot. 

^OUUI.  p 


210 


THE  ANCIENT  EOYPTIANa 


[CHAP.xin 


on   the  banks  of   the  riyer,  certain  priests  weie  exclusiyeL^ 
appointed  to  the  service  of  this  deity.      *  If/  says  the  historian  ^ 
*  the  body  of  an  Egyptian  or  eyen  of  a  foreigner  is  found  at  tlw 
riyer-side,  whether  carried  away  by  a  crocodile  or  drowned  in  th 
stream,  the  neighbouring  town  is  obliged  to  embalm  it  in  th 
most  splendid  manner,  and  deposit  it  in  the  sacred  sepulchres 
No  one,  not  eyen  a  friend  or  relation  of  the  deceased,  is  allowed 
to  touch  it :  the  priests  of  the  Nile  alone  haye  this  privilege 
and  they  bury  it  with  their  own  hands,  as  if  it  were  something 
more  than  a  human  corpse/  ^ 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  the  name  of  Thebes  in  thi 
hieroglyphic  legends  of  its  temples,  led  to  the  discovery  of  thi 
goddess  of  the  city ;  and  during  my  stay  there  in  1828,  whili 
examining  the  various  contemplar  deities  in  the  temple  of  Amei 
at  £amak,  I  observed  that  Thebes  had  a  guardian  genius  o: 
goddess  of  the  same  name.  She  was  called  '  Ap,  or  Ap^  th< 
potent  Mother  of  the  Gods/  The  name  Ap,  Aph,  or  Ap^ 
written  phonetically,  is  followed  by  a  symbolic  character,  of  tii< 
same  sound,  which  is  no  other  than  tiie  demonstrative  sign  o 
the  preceding  word ;  and  the  goddess  sometimes  wears  this  las 
on  her  head,  together  with  the  globe  and  horns  of  Athor,  he 
usual  head-dress.  Sometimes  she  holds  in  her  hands  the  staff  o 
purity,  sometimes  the  water-plant  sceptre  common  to  all  th* 
goddesses. 

The  symbolic  character  above  mentioned  firequently  occur 
in  the  names  of  individuals,  as  in  Fetamenop^,  or  FetamenopJ 


and  is  also   put  alone  for  Thebei 


followed  by  the  sign  of '  land.'  The  formation  of  the  name  of  th 
city  and  its  corruption  into  Thebes  are  singular.  The  origins 
word  is  Ap  or  Ap6,  like  the  Coptic  apSy  *  head '  or  *  capitaL' 
With  the  feminine  article  t,  by  which  in  the  hieroglyphics  it  i 
always  followed,  it  becomes  Tape,  or  *  the  Ap^ ;  *  and  this  bein 
pronounced  by  the  Egyptians,  as  by  the  Copts,  Taba,*  and  i 


>  Herodot.  ii.  90. 

'  Hymns  in  honour  of  the  Nile,  besides 
mentioning  the  special  benefits  he  confers 
on  £gypt,  in  bringing  corn  and  other 
things,  also  state  that  no  temple  is  dedi- 
ca^  to  him,  and  identify  him  with  Amen. 
Ptah  and  Kabes  are  identified  with  him. 
Sacrifices  were  offered  to  him.  (Canon 
Cooke,  in  *  Records  of  the  Past,'  iv.  p.  14.) 


But  the  house  of  the  Kile  is  mentioiMd 
the  great  papyrus  of  Ramesea  IIL  (<  B«oor 
of  the  Past,*  ri.  p.  66,  riii.  p.  39);  m  al 
the  *  statues  of  Repa,  the  wife  of  the  NU 
(vi.  p.  69).— S.  B. 

■  It  means  *  crib '  or  *  manger.' — S.  B. 

*  It  is  possible  that  the  name  of  Tapl 
in  Nubia  was  taken  from   the   capital 
Upper  Egypt. 


Chap.  Xm.]  GENIUS  OP  THEBES.  211 

Lower  Egypt  Thaba,  the  Memphitic  dialect  substituting  th  for 
ty  was  readily  oonyerted  into  Thebes.  For  this  dialect  being 
preyalent  in  the  part  of  the  country  mostly  frequented  by  the 
Greeks,  Thaba  was  the  name  by  which  the  city  was  usually 
known  to  them ;  and  Thaba  was  too  near  the  Greek  not  to  be 
oonyerted  into  their  ThebaL 

The  idea  that  Thebes  was  deriyed  from  Theba  or  Thebh,^  the 
'ark/  is  eyidently  erroneous,  and  on  a  par  with  those  etymo- 
logical fancies  which  trace  from  Noah  the  word  naus^  nauta,  and 
navy ;  or  with  that  of  the  learned  in  Soodan,  who  find  in  their 
Semoo  the  Bur-nooh^  or  *  the  land  of  Noah.' 

Pliny'  and  Juyenal^  haye  both  giyen  Thebe  as  a  singular 

^ord,  adhering  more  closely  to  the  Egyptian  original.    Amunei, 

^the  abode  of  Amen/  has  been  translated  Diospolis;  and  the 

Scriptural  name  No,  or  No  Amun,  appears  to  haye  the  same 

import,  unless  No  was  applied  to  the  whole  of  the  Thebaid.    I 

Xiad  formerly  imagined  that  Papa  was  corrupted  from  Tap^, 

pedally  as  the  Itinerary  places  it  only  on  the  western  bank, 

d  that  it  was  confined  to  the  Necropolis;  but  the  frequent 

^sccurrence  of  the  name  on  either  side  of  the  riyer  leayes  no 

«3oubt  of  the  city  of  Thebes  being  all  called  Tap^.    The  title 

^^hich  follows  the  name, '  land  of  thrones,'  probably  refers  to  its 

l^eing  the  royal  seat  from  olden  times,  as  well  as  the  capital 

i  Upper  Egypt    Of  Pathyris,  the  western  portion  of  Thebes, 

haye  already  spoken. 

Other  cities  as  well  as  Thebes  had  their  peculiar  genius ;  and 

subtle,  as  I  haye  already  shown,  were  the  diyisions  of  the 

XHiyine  Spirit  which  was  thought  to  peryade  the  uniyerse,  that 

^^ery  month  and  day,  as  Herodotus  obseryes,  were  consecrated 

^  a  particular  deity ;  or,  more  properly  speaking,  eyery  month, 

^ay,  and  hour  had  its  own  genius  or  spirit,  which  was  looked 

^pon  as  a  diyine  emanation.     It  was  according  to  the  fayourable 

ot  unJEtyourable  influence  of  these,  that  they  predicted  concem- 

Vig  the  future  eyents  of  the  life  of  an  indiyidual  from  the  day 

^  his  birth :  '  his  good  or  bad  fortune  were  thence  foretold,  as 

^ell  as  the  part  he  was  about  to  perform  in  after-life,  and  the 

^  of  death  which  would  terminate  his  career.'^    We  are  there- 

^  not  surprised  to  find  eyery  city  of  Egypt  with  its  peculiar 


'r\^  Til.  word  is  the  same  as  the      ^JJ*^^*:     J'^^    radicaUy    different  from 

HTpUaB,  whkli  meant  a  box,  basket,  or         '  Plin.  r.  9.  *  Jar.  Sat.  xr,  6. 

^aad  ia  tkawM  as  «96,  a  seal  or  closed         *  Herodot.  ii.  82. 

P  2 


^ 


M. 


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I 


ktf.  Xm.]  GENIUS  OF  THE  LAND.  213 


as  well  as  a  presiding  deity ;  though  the  respect  paid  to 
I  did  not  extend  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  town,  or  the 
\fomB  to  which  it  belonged. 

The  name  of  Tentyris,  where  Athor  was  particularly  wor- 
hi^Md,  was  probably  a  modification  of  Thy-n-athor  (shortened 
ilo  Tynator  and  Tentore),  signifying  the  abode  of  Athor.  The 
SofpCic  name  is  Tentore.  The  hieroglyphic  legend  of  the  god- 
Im»  the  genius  of  the  place,  presents  the  name  of  the  town ; 
■d  this  group  is  generally  added  to  her  head-dress,  followed 
nm  by  the  sign  *  land.* 

The  genius  of  the  Mand'^  was  represented  as  a  goddess, 
Wiring  on  her  head  the  symbolic  hieroglyphics  signifying 
'Ind '  and  *  cultiyated  country.'  She  was  styled  *  Mother  of  all 
the  Regions,'  and  may  therefore  be  considered  an  abstract  notion 
ifplying  to  the  earth  generally,  or  to  Egypt  as  the  mother  and 
ckitfofalL 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Earth,  the  great  mother,  ought  to 
Ud  a  more  important  post  in  the  mythology  of  Egypt  than  the 
kkf  before  us,  howeyer  low  might  be  the  rank  of  physical 
Ejects  compared  to  that  of  the  great  gods  of  their  Pantheon. 
Ik  Greeks  considered  the  earth  as  the  mother,  as  the  heaven 
Wthe  Cither  of  all;*  and  Varro'  supposes  them  to  have  been 
fts  chief  deities.  But  when  he  tells  us  they  were  the  same  as 
hngiB  and  Isis  in  Egypt,  he  betrays  great  ignorance  of  the 
•I^^OD  of  that  country.  It  is  probable  that  the  Greeks  paid 
much  greater  honours  than  they  received  in  Egypt,  where 
is  reason  to  believe  the  earth  was  only  revered  as  the 
idea  of  a  combination  with  the  divine  power  for  the 
of  the  creative  agency. 
The  goddess  Rannu,  represented  with  the  head  of  an  asp,  is 
mumn  in  the  oldest  temples.  She  is  frequently  employed  as 
be  nrse  of  the  young  princes,  whose  early  education  was 
to  be  entrusted  to  her  care,  and  she  presidetl  over 
as  well  as  the  god  Khem.  Athor  and  Mut  are  also  re- 
ted  suckling  the  young  princes  in  temples  of  the  oldest 
;  and  instances  occur  of  the  former  under  the  form  of  a 
her  emblem,  performing  the  same  ofiice  for  the  young 
But  this  was  more  particularly  the  part  of  the  asi>- 


^  Ihi  kmf  Ijpkk  lappoMd  to  be  «  kind  of  the  wonl  imta^  *  town '  or  *  Tillage.*  The 

'flfeier  bHOUt  u  foand  In  the  teit*  at  word  bak  ie  nrely  fuund. — S.  H. 
of  the  name  of  all  Efjptian  •  Plat,  de  IMac.  l*hiliiK»ph.  i.  C. 

It  ia  aiao  dettrminatire         *  Varro,  da  Liag.  Lat.  lib.  ir.  Ac 


214  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAKS.  [Chap.  XHI. 

headed  Bannu.  This  goddess  was  also  represented  under  the 
form  of  an  asp,  crowned  with  long  feathers  and  a  disk  and 
horns,  or  as  a  female  figure  bearing  an  asp  npon  her  head,  which, 
as  I  have  abeady  observed,  was  sacred  to  her,  as  to  the  god 
Ghnoumis,  and  which  was  probably  the  Agathodaemon  of 
Eusebius. 

There  is  another  asp-headed  goddess,  whose  name  is  written 
Hoph,  or  T-hoph,  which  calls  to  mind  the  snake  EejL  The 
Coptic  word  hof  signifies  the  viper,  analogous  to  the  hye  of  the 
Arabs.  She  has  some  office  in  Amenti,  but  does  not  appear  to 
be  related  to  the  deity  before  us. 

The  snake  Bai  also  appears  to  have  been  figured  as  a  goddess, 
and  sometimes  under  its  own  form,  as  guardian  of  the  doorways 
of  those  chambers  of  the  tombs  which  represent  the  mansions 
of  heaven. 

Another  snake-headed  goddess  has  the  name  Heh,  or  Hih.^ 
She  occurs  at  Denderah  and  Fhilse.  I  am  not  aware  of  her  o£Bce. 
Other  goddesses  with  the  head  of  a  snake  occur  in  the  chamber 
of  Osiris  at  Philse ;  but  as  their  office  relates  to  the  dead,  they 
may  only  be  connected  with  the  genii  of  AmentL 

From  the  palm-branch  which  the  goddess  Benpi  bears  on 
her  head,  I  have  supposed  her  to  denote  the  year,  which  in 
Egyptian  is  called  Benpa,  and  in  Coptic  rompi,  though  from  the 
comparison  of  different  legends  it  appears  that  her  name  in  the 
hieroglyphics  does  not  read  Benpa,  but  Bpe,  which  resembles 
the  word  erpe,  *  a  temple.'  The  palm-branch,  however,  favours 
the  conjecture  that  she  represented  the  deified  notion  of  the 
year. 

In  her  hand  she  holds  the  usual  sceptre  of  the  goddesses, 
and  sometimes  a  pakn-branch,  with  the  emblems  of  a  hundred 
thousand  years,  as  well  as  the  figurative  sign  of  the  assemblies, 
which  marked  fixed  periods  of  time. 

The  deity  of  a  month  may  very  properly  be  considered  Thoth, 
or  the  moon ;  but  the  figures  representing  some  other  divisions 
of  time,  as  well  as  the  three  seasons,  are  still  unknown. 

The  goddess  Ament,  who  frequently  occurs  at  Thebes,  has 
been  considered  a  female  Amen ;  the  only  difference  between 
her  name  and  that  of  the  Egyptian  Jupiter  being  the  addition  ol 
the  female  sign,  or  article,  t.    She  is  also  styled  *  the  President 

*  The  name  of  this  goddess  means  « long       She  is  called  '  maker  of  inrisible,  erettor  (M 
period  of  time,  more  than  a  cycle  and  less       visible  beings.' — S.  B. 
than  eternity,  such  as  an  aion  or  *  age.' 


216  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XHL 

of  Thebes.'  She  wears  the  crown  of  the  Lower  Country,  like  the 
goddess  Neith,  and  she  sometimes  bears  in  either  hand  the  sign 
of  *  water.'  From  her  name  she  might  be  mistaken  for  the  West, 
Ement,  or  the  lower  regions,  AmentL  But  the  absence  of  the 
demonstrative  signs  indicating  either  of  them  8u£Sciently  contra- 
dicts this  opinion :  and  from  her  rank  as  second  member  of  the 
second  Theban  triad,  composed  of  Amen  Generator,  Tamen,  and 
Harka,  it  is  evident  that  her  character  and  office  were  very 
different  from  either  of  those  two.  She  may  be  one  of  the  forms 
of  the  Egyptian  Minerva.* 

From  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  goddess  Nebhotep  we  may 
suppose  her  to  represent  the  abstract  idea  of  dominion ;  and  the 
presence  of  the  vulture  and  asp  together  on  her  head-dress  may 
perhaps  tend  to  confirm  this  opinion,  though  they  were  not  ex- 
clusively appropriated  to  her.  She  also  wears  the  globe  and 
horns  of  Athor  in  common  with  many  other  goddesses.  Her 
name  occurs  in  the  temple  of  Bameses  III.  at  Medeenet  Haboo : 
she  is  therefore  of  an  early  Pharaonic  age.^ 

Besides  the  sacred  cow  of  Athor,  was  another,  supposed  by 
the  learned  Kircher  to  be  dedicated  to  the  moon,  whom  he 
considers  the  same  as  Isis ;  but  from  the  hieroglyphic  legend 
given  by  ChampoUion,  in  which  she  is  styled  '  Genetrix  of  the 
Sun,'  she  seems  rather  to  be  the  darkness  of  Chaos,  *  which  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep,'  and  from  which  sprang  the  light  of 
the  sun.      He  therefore  supposes  her  to  be  one  of  the  characters 
of  Buto,  though,  from  a  legend  accompanying  another  figure  he 
gives  of  the  same  cow,  it  appears  that  she  was  sometimes  identi- 
fied with  Neith,  whose  name  precedes  that  of  Aha.     She  is  some- 
times represented  as  a  female  figure  with  a  cow's  head,  and  the 
globe   and  horns  of  Athor  surmounted  by  two  ostrich-plumes ; 
and  her  name  Aha,   *the  Cow,'   is  followed   by  its  figurative 
hieroglyphic,    or    demonstrative    sign.      The    name    Aha  was 
evidently  the  origin  of  the  Greek  lo,  though  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  persecuted  wanderer  to  be  derived  from  the  history 
and  emblem  of  Athor,  or  from  Isis,  rather  than  from  the  goddess 
before  us.* 

The  consecration  of  every  month  and  day  to  a  particular 
deity,  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  is  more  than  confirmed  by  the 


»  Her  tjrpe  is  that  of  Neith.— S.  B.  of  offering/— S.  B. 

'  This  goddess  is  one  of  the  parhedral  '  Enstathins  says,  <  To,  in  the  Uiig«jig«of 

deities  of  Heliopolis  associated  with  Ra  and  the  Argires,  is  the  moon.'  (Jablonski,  ii.c.  1, 

Turn.     Her  name  means  *  lady  of  peace,  or  p.  7 ;  and  supru^  p.  166,  on  Thoth.) 


GiAP.  Xni.]  GENH  OF  THE  HOURS.  217 

&ct  of  our  finding  the  hours  themselves  treated  as  divinities. 
Bat  it  is  possible  that  the  statement  of  the  historian  may  only 
refer  to  the  ahnanaes,  where,  according  to  GhsBremon,  the  names 
of  the  gods  appeared  affixed  to  each  day,  in  the  same  manner  as 
those  of  saints  in  modem  calendars.    According  to  the  Egyptian 
system,  the  hours  were  not   merely  dedicated    to    particular 
deities:   each  was  considered  a  peculiar  genius    in    itself,  a 
minute    fraction    of  the   divine   essence    which   pervaded   it; 
and,  if  not  worshipped  with  the  same  honours  as  the  superior 
gods,    prayers    were    addressed    to    them    with    the   hope    of 
rendering  them  favourable  to  the  individual  who  invoked  their 
fldd.    The  hours  are  frequently  found  in  tombs  and  on  sarco* 
phagi,  where  the  deceased  is  represented    either  praying  or 
making  an  offering  to  each  in  succession,  beginning  with  the 
first  and  terminating  with  the  twelfth  hour,  both  of  day  and 
night     From   not   finding   them  in  any   temple,   I   suppose 
that  their  introduction  implies  a  review  of  the  hourly  occupa- 
tions of  the  individual  during  his  life,  and  that  these  deities 
or  genii  were  principally  connected  with  the  final  ordeal  of 
the  dead. 

[The  hours,  Plate  XL VII.,  were  called  in  Egyptian  Unnu,  a 
word  meaning  'apparent,  visible,  or  actual,'  and  the  word  is 
^ttoi  in  various  manners.  Each  hour  of  the  day  and  night 
had  a  name,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  accompanying  plate  of  those 
there  represented.  They  bore  on  their  heads  stars,  showing  that 
the  division  of  time  was  sidereal,  and  they  held  the  tMS,  or 
Keptie,  and  emblem  of  life. — S.  B.] 

The  first  of  those  here  introduced.  No.  7,  is  the  eighth  hour  of 
^,  No.  6  the  twelfth  hour,  No.  5  the  tenth  hour,  and  No.  8  the 
tenth  hour  of  nighi  ;  which  last  is  written  phonetically  Jcurh^  the 
Coptic  eijark^  'night.'  Macrobius'  supposes  that  Apollo,  being 
called  Horas  by  the  Egyptians, '  gave  his  name  to  the  twenty- 
foor  Aourt  of  day  and  night,  as  to  the  four  seasons,  during  which 
he  completes  his  annual  course;'  and  the  same  is  stated  by 
IKodoms'  to  be  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  Greeks. 

The  three  figures  of  hawk  and  jackal-headed  deities  on  Plate 
XLVn.,  No.  4,  are  common  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes,  but  I  do  not 


*  62l(A)p^.  The  Coptic  letter  jS,,  is  ftlwaTs  soft.    It  is,  however,  supposed 

|i"|»,  b  a  hwd  ^,  mnd  not  dj ;  and  from  *I;»*JV ^"  originally  hard  in  Arabic,  Uke 

^  the  Cairenea  hare  probably  derired  ***!  Hebrew  (^. 

te  kaid  prtmnneUtioD  of  the  Arabic  g-  l  ^^r^'.^J^"^'  ^'^'  *'  ^  26. 

IK  or  g,  whidi  in  AzabU  and  other  placa  '  ^<^°'-  »*  ^6. 


Chap.  XIII.]  THE  FOUB  QENn  OF  HADEa  219 

know  their  oflSce.    Two  large  figures  of  the  hawk-headed  deity, 

with  similar  hieroglyphic  legends,  are  conducting,  together  with 

the  jackal-headed    and  other  deities,  Barneses  III.   into  the 

presence  of  the  god  of  the  temple  at  Medeenet  Haboo.    These 

kneeling  figures  seem  to  be  beating  themselves  in  the  manner 

tlie  Egyptians  arc  said  by  Herodotus  to  have  done  (in  honour  of 

Oairis),  and  as  Athenagoras  tells  us  was  the  custom  at  all  the 

great  festivals  celebrated  in  the  temples.    They  are  sometimes 

represented  in  the  same  attitude  before  the  god  Atum ;  and  from 

their  hieroglyphic  legend  we  may  suppose  them  to  be  the  spirits 

who  pervaded  the  earth.^ 

The  four  genii  of  the  lower  regions  on  Plate  XLYIII.  perform 
^  oiHispicuuus  {Nirt  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  dead.  They  are  present 
heiiire  Osiris  while  presiding  in  judgment,  and  every  individual 
vko  pafl8e<l  into  a  future  state  was  protected  by  their  influence. 
When  a  luidy  was  embalmed,  the  intestines  were  taken  out  and 
dirided  into  several  portions,  each  being  dedicated  to  one  of 
dtte  deities ;  and  they  were  either  deposited  in  vases,'  which 
kre  their  res{H.H;tive  heads,  or  were  returned  into  the  body 
•eeumpanie<l  by  these  four  figures.  Amset,  Hapi,  Tuaut- 
Mntf,  and  Qabhsenuf,  were  their  names.  The  first  had  the 
keid  of  a  man,^  and  was  sometimes  represented  holding  the  stafi*, 
ad  having  the  form  of  the  other  deities,  but  only  in  the  tombs ; 
the  second  had  the  head  of  a  cynocephalus  a))e,  the  third  of  a 
JKkal,  and  the  fourth  of  a  hawk ;  and,  though  differing  from 
Ihem  in  form,  thev  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  the  four  beasts  of 
the  Revelation.^  They  were  generally  in  the  form  of  mummies ; 
Vol  they  sometimes  occur  as  human  figures  walking,  and  even 
€vrying  the  hxly  of  the  dead,  as  in  the  chamber  of  Osiris  at 
JULb,  where  they  bear  the  deity  to  his  tomb  undor  the  form  of 
Sodiaris.  To  Amset  were  dedicateil  the  stomach  and  large  intes- 
tines;  to  Hapi  the  small  intestines  ;  to  Tuautmutf  the  lungs  and 
Ittrt ;  and  to  Qabhsenuf  the  liver  and  gall-bladder.  This  point 
long  a  dt*sideratum ;  an<l  though  it  was  known  that  the  four 
placed  in  the  Egyptian  tombs  with  the  sarcc^pliagi,  each 


'  TWw  spiriU    are    »Mr^«h**-l    in    tht  pr«*t««Dc«   of  th«   tun.     Their   name    Wft« 

^Ilti  Mmk  llJth  chipt«r«  *>(  tht  Kituul.  Ammu — S.  U. 

tU^vt.     'Tti-ii./    liii.-xliii.,     c.     Ill-  '  TheM    tasm    have     b««n    ini|iro|iflrlT 

lli)  Th«  •I'lnt*  of  r«  "r  liutn  an  II(»rus  ttrled  canopi. 


aad  ll«pi ;   thini*  of  Meni,  Hi»ru!i,  *  1  hare  fi<uD>l   one   Initanc^  of  Anufi 

7intm-itf.    an-l    Qaibh^nuf.      Acc«>nlin|{  In  the  fi*rfii  «tf  .1  woman,  on  a  munimy-caa* 

^  M.  4*  Rou^.  the  hawk-hea«lf  1  rppre-  in  the  lirituh  Museum. 
■Mtd   tk»    aiahta    of  tarth    adoring  ia         *  IUt.  iT.  7. 


Ckir.  XUL]  THE  rOUB  OENH  OF  HADES.  221 

of  vhiek  bore  the  head  of  one  of  these  genii,  contained  the 
intertiiies  of  the  dead,  no  one  had  examined  them  with  sufficient 
care  to  ascertain  the  exact  portion  in  each.  To  Pettigrew  we  arc 
indebted  for  this  interesting  £eu;t ;  and  in  introducing  it  I  have 
much  pleasure  in  paying  a  just  tribute  to  the  patience  and  zeal  with 
which  he  conducted  the  examination,  and  in  returning  him  my 
thanks  for  his  communication  upon  the  subject.  I  have  already 
noticed  the  assertion  of  Plutarch,  that  the  lilendesian  goat  had 
the  same  name  as  the  sacred  bull  Apis ;  and  have  shown  that 
the  only  deities  so  called  were  the  Memphite  bull,  the  god  Nilus, 
and  one  of  the  genii  of  Amenti.  Though  we  may  find  a  difficulty 
in  accounting  for  such  a  misconception,  it  is  more  probable  that 
this  last,  which  was  represented  with  the  head  of  a  cynocophalus, 
should  have  been  mistaken  for  the  animal  he  mentions  than  the 
god  Nilus.  And  as  he  doubtless  speaks  from  a  vague  report, 
originating  in  the  ignorance  of  the  Greeks,  it  is  possible  that 
the  form  of  the  ape-headed  figure,  added  to  the  similarity  of 
name,  led  to  his  error ;  which,  indeed,  is  not  more  inconsistent 
with  truth  than  the  belief  of  Herodotus  that  the  god  Pan  was 
represented  with  the  head  and  legs  of  a  goat.^  One  inference 
:3iiay  perhaps  be  drawn  from  these  erroneous  statements — that 
Ithe  name  Apis,  Hapi,  signifies  a  'genius'  or  'emblem;'  Apis 
"Aeing  the  'genius,'  or,  as  Plutarch  calls  it,  'the  image  of  the 
^nnl'  of  Osiris.  Hapimau  may  therefore  be  the  genius  of  tlu) 
"Crater,  or  the  Nile;  and  the  cynocephalus-hearl^  Hapi,  i\ui 
iUem  of  the  terrestrial  nature  of  man.  This  conjecture, 
verer,  I  ofier,  with  great  diffidence,  to  the  opinion  of  the 
earned  reader. 

When  the  body  of  a  person  of  quality  was  emlialme<l,  the 

itestines  were  deposited  in  four  rases  of  alal>aster,  or  otbr^r 

ly  materials,  according  to  the  expense  which  the  fri^fU'Is  of 

deceased  chose  to  incur.    Some  were  contentefl  with  thtmti  of 

heaper  materials,  as  limestone,  painted  wood,  or  [Mitt^rry;  but 

ail  cases  the  eoTer  of  each  vase  was  surmounted  by  th^f  h<^a/i 

hs  own  peculiar  deity,  according  to  its  cont^^nts.     In  <'fij- 

the  bodies  of  poorer  people,  who  eould  nuA  affonl  thin 

the  intestines,  when  properly  cleans^^,  were  reinruti^l 

the  boiT  br  the  usual  incision  in  the  left  sid<f,  throu^rh 

■"^udi  they  had  been  extracted ;  and  the  fig-uret*  of  th'r  four  y^^^-uVi, 

^^nttallr  of  wax.  or  aromatic  ccmiposition,  eureloped  \u  cloth, 


i 


'  BauAifA.  iL  4». 


222  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XHT. 

were  introduced  into  the  cavity.    This  was  done  with  the  same 
view  of  protecting  the  parts  under  their  peculiar  influence  as 
when  they  were  deposited  in  the  vases.      The  aperture  was  after- 
wards closed,  and  covered  with  a  leaden  plate,  on  which  they 
represented  the  symbolic  eye,  or  sometimes  the  same  four  genii 
who  were  thought  to  preside  within.      But  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  mention  this  hereafter  in  describing  the  funeral  rites  of  the 
Egyptians,  where  I  shall  also  notice  the  error  of  Porphyry 
respecting  their  throwing  the  intestines  into  the  Nile.     The 
hieroglyphic  legends  painted  on  the  exterior  of  the  vases  alluded 
to  the  deity  whose  head  they  bore,  and  it  is  principally  from 
these  that  their  names  have  been  ascertained.^     The  goddess 
Selk  is  sometimes  found  accompanying  the  four  genii,  in  the 
paintings  of  the  tombs,  and  I  have  once  found  an  instance  of 
Tuautmutf  with  a  human  head.      The  name  of  Amenti,  ^that 
subterraneous  region  whither  they  imagined  the  souls  of  the 
dead  to  go  after  their  decease,'^  signified,  according  to  Plutarch, 
*  the  receiver  and  giver ;'  in  which  we  may  perhaps  trace  a  proof 
of  its  being  considered  a  temporary  abode.    The  burial  of  arms 
and  different  objects  of  use  or  value  with  the  body  may  also 
indicate  their  belief  of  a  future  return  to  earth,  after  a  certain 
time,  which  is  said  by  Herodotus  to  have  been  fixed  at  3000 
years;    though  Plato  gives  this  period  to  a  philosopher,  and 
10,000  to  an  ordinary  individual.     The  resemblance  of  the  names 
Amenti,  *  Hades,'  and  Ement,  *  the  West,'  is  remarkable.     This 
last  was  looked  upon  as  the  end,  as  the  east  was  the  beginning, 
of  the  world.     There  the  sun  was  buried  in  the  darkness  of  night, 
and  there  he  was  supposed  allegorically  to  die  and  pass  through 
another  state,   previous  to  his  regeneration  and  reappearance 
upon  earth,  after  each  diurnal  revolution.     This  analogy  between 
them  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  the  similarity  of  the  Hebrew 
word  Ereby  or  Gharb,^  signifying  *  sunset,'  or  *  the  West,'  and  the 
Erebus  of  Greece. 

Clemens  *  says  that  ancient  temples  were  turned  towards  the 
West ;  but  this  was  not  the  case  in  Egypt,  where  the  points  of 
the  compass  do  not  appear  at  any  time  to  have  been  points  of 
religion,  at  least  as  regards  the  position  of  their  sacred  buildings, 
no  two  of  which  are  made  to  face  exactly  in  the  same  direction. 


*  In  these  sepulehral   vases  having  the  *  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  29. 

shape   of    the   deities   the    deceased  was  '  The  Oharby  *  West,'  of  the  Arabs  ;  andtf 

supposed  to  be  in  the  shape  of  each  deity.  Europe  is  Arb  or  Qharb,  *  the  West.' 
— S.  B.  *  Clem.  Strom,  vii. 


t: 


Chap.  XIEL]      FORTY-TWO  ASSESSORS  OF  THE  DEAD.  223 

Nor  does  his  assertion/  that  temples  were  formerly  styled  tombs, 
apply  to  those  of  the  Egyptians.^ 

The  number  of  the  assessors  who  attended  at  the  final  judg- 
ment was  forty-two.  They  frequently  occur  in  funeral  rituals, 
on  sarcophagi,  tombs,  and  papyri.  I  have  also  found  them 
complete  in  the  side  adytum  of  a  temple  at  Thebes,  which,  from 
the  subjects  there  represented,  appears  to  have  been  appropriated 
to  funeral  purposes.  Diodorus^  speaks  of '  Osiris  and  the  assessors 
seated  below  him,'  whose  approbation  King  Osymandyas  hoped 
to  obtain  after  death  by  his  piety,  in  presenting  to  the  gods  of 
Egypt  such  offerings  as  were  peculiarly  acceptable  to  them  ;  and 
the  forty-two  judges  he  mentions,^  at  the  sacred  lake  of  the  dead, 
were  a  type  of  those  who,  in  the  region  of  Amenti,  pronounced 
their  acquittal  or  condemnation  of  the  soul,  when  it  sought 
admittance  to  the  Regions  of  the  Blessed. 

These  assessors  were  similar  to  the  bench  of  judges  who 

attended  at  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  the  Egyptians,  and  whose 

prendentt  or  archjudge,  corresponded  to  Osiris.      They  may 

perhaps  call  to  mind  the  four-and-twenty  elders  mentioned  in 

Beyelation,*  as  the  four  genii  of  Amenti  appear  to  bear  some 

analogy  to  the  four  beasts  who  were  present  with  them  before 

the  judgment-seat.    The  assessors  were  represented  in  a  human 

form  with  different  heads.    The  first  had  the  head  of  a  hawk,  the 

second  of  a  man,  the  third  of  a  hare,  the  fourth  of  a  hippo- 

potamnSy  the  fifth  of  a  man,  the  sixth  of  a  hawk,  the  seventh 

of  a  fox,  the  eighth  of  a  man,  the  ninth  of  a  ram,  the  tenth  of 

a  snake,  and  the  others  according  to  their  peculiar  character. 

But  to  avoid  a  tedious  detail,  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  plate, 

from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  they  varied  in  different  rituals, 

though  the  number,  when  complete,  was  always  the  same. 

They  are  supposed  to  represent  the  forty-two  crimes  from 
wUch  a  virtuous  man  was  expected  to  be  free  when  judged  in  a 
fotore  state,  or  rather  the  accusing  spirits,  each  of  whom 
examined  if  the  deceased  was  guilty  of  the  peculiar  one  which 
it  was  his  province  to  avenge.  They  were  distinct  from  the 
thirtynrix  dsemons  mentioned  by  Origen.  These  presided  over 
the  human  body,  which  was  divided  into  the  same  number  of 
partfl^  each  appropriated  to  one  of  them ;  and  they  were  often 


'  OmL  Oni,  Adhort.  p.  19.  *  One  (the  Codex  Coisliniantu)  reading 

'  ThcM  fr«n  tha  children  of  Osiris. —  gives  8^1  tAc(«  tAv  rt<r<rapdHorra  (i.  29). 

^K  *  Rev.  iv.  4,  xix.  4,  &c. 
>  Diod.  L  49,  92. 


224 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Ghap.XIIL 


invoked  to  cure  the  infirmities  of  the  peculiar  member  imme- 
diately under  their  protection.^ 

There  is  a  monster  supposed  to  be  the  guardian  of  the  Lower 
Regions,  or  the  accusing  spirit.  It  is  more  probably  the 
former,  being  seated  near  the  entrance  to  the  abode  of  OnnSf 
and  called  Am-t-en-Amenti,  Uhe  Deyourer  of  Amenti,'  and 'of 
the  wicked.'^  It  has  the  form  of  a  hippopotamus,  a  peculiarly 
Typhonian  animal ;  sometimes  with  the  head  of  a  fancifol 
creature,  partaking  of  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile; 
and  it  is  frequently  represented  as  a  female.  Seated  at  the 
entrance  of  Amenti,  it  watches  the  arrival  of  those  who  present 
themselves  for  judgment,  and,  turning  its  hideous  head  with 
angry  looks,  appears  to  menace  the  wicked  who  dare  to  ap- 
proach the  holy  mansion  of  Osiris.  This  monster  was  the 
prototype  of  the  Greek  Cerberus;  but  the  lively  imaginatioaof 
the  Greeks  improved  upon  or  exaggerated  the  deformity:  its 
neck  was  said  to  bristle  with  snakes ;  it  was  represented  with 
three,  or  with  fifty  heads;  and  Virgil'  and  others  describe  its 
rapacity,  and  the  terror  it  was  supposed  to  cause. 

I  now  proceed  to  examine  the  form  or  attributes  of  thoae 
deities  whose  names  are  unknown. 

The  first  of  these  is  a  goddess  (Plate  JA.fig.  1),  whose  hienh 
glyphics  appear  to  read  Tanen.  She  wears  the  globe  and  bona 
of  Athor,  and  is  styled  the  Daughter  of  the  Sun ;  but  her  office 
is  not  defined.  She  is  found  in  the  old  temples  of  a  Phaxnonic 
age.  Her  function  is  obscure.  Her  name  was  the  same  aa  one 
of  the  god  Ptah. 

The  next  two  figures  of  this  plate  (2  and  8)  contain  thoae  of 
Tusaas,  daughter  of  the  sun,  regent  of  Heliopolis,  and  allied  with 
the  worship  of  Ba  and  Tum. 

The  name  of  the  deity  at  fig.  4  reads  Hu.  His  form  and 
office  are  unknown.  He  occurs  in  temples  of  a  Pharaonie  age, 
the  annexed  figure  being  from  Medeenet  Haboo  at  Thebes.  [He 
personifies  food  or  taste,  and  is  often  seen  in  the  boat  of  the  son, 
allied  with  the  god  Sa. — S.  B.] 


'  These  forty-two  daemons  formed  part 
of  the  yij^ette  of  the  128th  chapter  of  the 
Ritnal,  and  were  present  at  the  great 
judgment  in  the  Hall  of  the  Two  Truths. 
Each  of  the  forty-two  had  an  appropriate 
name  ■  as,  1.  *  Uammt,  or  devourer,  pro- 
ceeding from  Panopolis ;'  18.  '  Nahabnefer, 
goodneck,  proceeding  from  Heliopolis ;'  16. 
*■  Hi,  aasistant,  proceeding  from  the  Nu,  or 


Han,  celestial  ether;'  21.  <Aiirei;  MigiBf 
the  month,  proceeding  frx>m  Kanetar  or 
Hell.*  To  each  the  deceased  annoiiiieed  he 
had  not  committed  some  sin.»  S.  Bw 

'  The  sign  *  wicked '  is  a  man  kflling 
himself  by  beating  his  own  head  witk  a 
hatchet  or  clob,  according  to  GkanpoU 
lion's  ingenions  interpretation. 

»  Virg.  JEsk.  Ti.  421. 


226 


m 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XITT, 


The  name  of  the  god  at  Plate  LL,  fig.  5,  is  [Kabak,  oi  Sebok, 
of  whom  he  appears  to  be  a  fonn  as  a  representative  of  Seb, 
whose  title  he  bears  as  ^Kabak,  heir  of  the  gods,' — S.  B.]  I  have 
only  met  with  him  in  temples  of  a  late  date,  as  at  Denderah. 

[The  following  deity  is  a  form  of  Tahuti-Aah,  or  Thoth  Lunns, 
Thoth  the  Moon.— S.  B.]  He  has  the  title  *  Euler  of  the  Eighth 
great  Kegion/  or  Hermopolis,  which  seems  to  imply  some  con- 
nection with  Thoth ;  and  he  bears  on  his  head  the  disk  and 
crescent  given  to  the  moon. 


a^+=  \^ 


1^ 


// 


4- 


nj' 


n? 


2(0.  600.  Form  of  Thoth. 

*  Sheps'  in  Hennopolis,  lord  of  Heaven.' 


No.  6tfl. 


SAtem. 


'Satem  in  the  abode  of  Shu  Um  boll, 
powerful  lord.' 


The  bull-headed  deity  (No.  561)  appears  to  have  the  name 
Satem  or  Au ;  which  last  signifies  '  a  bull/  since  it  frequently 
occurs  over  oxen,  as  the  word  Aha  over  cows.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, suppose  him  to  be  connected  with  the  god  Au,  previously 
mentioned.* 

Sept,  or  Soptet,  appears  to  be  the  name  of  the  deity  in  woodcut 


'  He  represents  Saiem,  or  *  Hearing'  personified,  the  one  resident  in  the  houM  of  Sho, 
and  has  the  title  '  Lord  of  Victory.'— S.  B. 


THE  ANCIENT  EaTFTUNa 


[Our.  xnr. 


No.  562.  His  office  is  nnceitain.  This  flgnie  is  bom  one  of  the 
tombs  of  the  kings  at  Thebes.  His  hieroglyphics  cell  to  mind 
those  which  follow  the  name  of  the  god  Eheba,  the  totU  and  the 
BpirUt  01  rvlert  of  the  land.  [This  deity,  Sapti  or  Sapfr-har,  is 
a  form  of  Osiiis  or  Horns,  principally  adored  in  the  Egyptian 
possessions  in  Arabia,  where  he  is  called  Lord  of  the  East.  He 
is  supposed  to  be  the  entire  Osiris,  before  his  destrcction  by 
Typhon,  and  is  called  in  the  texts  of  the  tablets  'the  greatest 
of  the  spirits  of  Heliopolis.' — S.  B.] 


'llDpDllL- 


The  goddess  in  woodcut  No.  563  is  represented  norsing  a 
child ;  not  as  Tsis  and  Athor,  but  merely  holding  it  on  her  hwid, 
as  though  it  were  entrusted  to  her  charge.  Her  hieroglyphic 
consists  of  a  shield  crossed  by  two  arrows,  which  she  also  bears 
on  her  head ;  but  I  am  ignorant  of  her  name  and  office.^ 

The  goddess  represented  in  Plate  111.,  fig.  1,  has  the  attri- 
butes of  the  goddess  Ma,  or  Truth ;  Jiff.  2  is  one  of  the  characters 


t  Mat  or  Naith,  tha  Uring,  giTing  Ufa,  tha  datiBhtcT 


230 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XmZK 


of  Isis,  as  the  protecting  deity  who  averts  misfortunes  fironi=fl 
mankind.  Her  hieroglyphic  legend  signifies  defender/ and  h 
the  first  line  is  the  phonetic  name  of  '  Isis.'  She  holds  th< 
ostrich-feathers,  the  emblem  of  truth  and  justice,  and  her  posi*  J 
tion  with  outspread  wings  is  similar  to  that  of  Isis  when  pro— ^ 
tecting  her  husband  Osiris.^ 

Of  the  deity  at  Plate  LII.  fig.  3, 1  have  been  unable  to  ascer — " 
tain  the  name  and  office ;  but  from  his  having  an  emblem  o^  « 

strength  as  his  hieroglyphic,  which  he  also  bears  upon  his  head 

he  may  be  one  of  the  forms  of  Gom,  the  Egyptian  Hercules.' 

The  name  of  the  goddess  at  fi^s.  4  and  5  appears  to  les^iSM 
Naham-ua.    She  is  styled  ^  Mistress  of  the  Eighths 
Begion  [or  Hermopolis],  Dominatrix  of  Tentyris^^ 
from  which  place  her  figure  and  hieroglyphics  ari^ 
copied.      She  is  called  *  daughter  of  the  sun.'    Her 
head-dress  consists  of  a  shrine,  from  which  water- 
plants  are  sometimes  represented  to  rise,  her  head 
being  covered  by  the  body  and  wings  of  a  vulture. 
In  her  hand  she  holds  the  usual  sceptre  of  the 
goddesses.    At  the  quarries  of  the  Troici  Lapidis 
Mons  she  occurs  as  the  second  member  of  a  triad 
composed  of  Thoth,  this  goddess,  and  Horns  or 
Aroeris.    Mention  is  also  made  of  the  goddess  Merti  or  Milt. 

The  goddess  at  Plate  LIII.  fig.  1,  is  from  one  of  the  tombs  of 
the  kings  at  Thebes.    Her  name  appears  to  read  Mersekar,  and 

I  she  is  styled  'Buler  of  the 

fILs     iPHCjt  West,'   or    of   Amenti,    the 

lower  regions.  She  wears 
the  globe  and  horns  of  Athor, 
in  common  with  many  other 
goddesses ;  and  I  have  found 
an  instance  of  her  under  the 
form  of  a  winged  asp,  with  the  cap  of  the  Lower  Country,  having 
the  same  appearance  as  the  genius  of  Lower  Egypt,^  and  opposed 
in  like  manner  to  Eileithyia. 

The  goddess  Mert  (fiff.  2)  is  frequently  met  with  in  the  oldest 
temples,  where  she  always  accompanies  the  king  when  repre- 
sented running  with  a  vase  and  the  flagellum  of  Osiris  in  his 

*  The  legend  reads,  '  protectress  of  her 


No.  664. 

NAliam-ua. 


No.  5M.   Fig.  1.  MerMkar  opposed  to  EUeitbyU, 

fig.  2. 


son. 


'  He  is  called  Heka,  the  great  god  resi- 
dent in  some  place. — S.  B. 

'  Her  name  means  *  loring  to  silence/  and 


she  is  often  represented  as  a  snake  with  a 
human  head,  wearing  a  disk  and  pliunM, 
and  is  called  Regent  of  the  West,  and  *  the 
forehead  of  the  western  hearen,  the  plact 
of  silence/  (Pierret,  *  Dict^  p.  346.)-S.  B. 


232 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[GHAP.xm. 


hands,  amidst  various  emblems.  Hei  name  appears  to  be  Milt, 
or  Mert.  In  the  lower  regions  she  has  sometimes  the  miited 
heads  of  a  lion  and  crocodile,  with  the  globe  of  Ba  and  the  two 
long  feathers  of  Amen ;  but  this  figure  is  of  rare  oocunence^  and 
I  believe  only  in  funeral  subjects,  among  the  genii  or  minor 
deities  connected  with  the  dead. 

She  usually  bears  on  her  head  a  cluster  of  the  northern  or 
southern  water-plants,  upon  a  cap  terminating  in  a  peculiar  fim, 
at  the  back ;  from  which  it  might  seem  that  she  was  more  piiy 
ticularly  connected  with  the  Lower  Country,  those  water-pliiitl 
being  emblematic  of  that  part  of  Egypt.  Sometimes,  however, 
she  has  those  of  Upper  Egypt ;  but  the  more  frequent  assump* 
tion  of  the  former  sufficiently  proves  that  her  name  was  not 
Mares,^  one  of  the  appellations  of  the  Thebaid. 

The  name  of  the  deity  at  Plate  LIII.  fig.  3,  is  uncertain.  I 
had  supposed  her  to  represent  Phut,  or  Libya ;  but  this  opimon 
does  not  seem  to  be  supported  by  subsequent  observations.  9ie 
was  one  of  the  contemplar  deities  of  Tentyris,  and  occurs  also 
at  Thebes ;  but  at  Esneh  her  hieroglyphics  are  totally  differeiii» 
or  may,  indeed,  be  of  another  goddess  who  has  assumed  her  form 
and  attributes.^ 

The  snake-headed  god  at  PL  LIY.  fi^.  1,  seems  to  be  idaied 
to  Horus.  His  figure  seldom  occurs.  This  is  from  DendeiaL* 
I  have  seen  some  bronzes  of  the  same  god. 

The  deity  named  Bas  or  Sas  was  probably  one  of  the  dtt- 
racters  of  Osiris.  His  name  is  sometimes  followed  by  tha 
emblem  of  stability,  sometimes  by  that  of  goodness— bodi 
belonging  to  Osiris,  whose  head-dress  he  wears.  I  have  only 
met  with  him  at  Philae  and  Dendoor,  in  sculptures  of  a 
Ptolemaic  or  Boman  period. 

The  name  of  the  goddess  Ba-ta  is  composed  of  Ba, '  the  sun,* 
and  Ta,  'the  world.'  She  is  called  'Begent  of  the  Gk)d89'  and 
occurs  in  the  oldest  temples,  wearing  the  globe  and  horns  of  Athor. 
At  Tuot  or  Tuphium  and  Hermonthis  she  is  the  second  member 
of  the  triad,  of  which  Mentu  is  the  principal  divinity. 

^  Whence  the  modem  Egyptian  name 
M9r€eiy  or  Mereesee,  given  to  the  south 
wind. 

'  Her  name,  as  also  that  of  fg,  4,  Plate 
LIII.,  is  Ani  or  Peti.  She  is  called  *  resident 
in  Tentyris,  mother-goddess,  divine  mother 
of  Horus  her  son,'  and  *  Ani  the  great  pupil 
or  eye  of  the  sun  in  Tentyris.'  She  was  a 
form  of  Hathor.  The  other  goddess  with 
spiral  is  tht  distinct  Tap&eii,  'danghter  of 


the  sun,  pupil  of  the  sun,  lady  of 
— S.  B. 

'  His  titles  describe  him  as  *  Horn  \ 
of  the  North  and  South  Couniriei, 
in  Aahen[ru],  the  lord  dwelling  fa-  ||m 
. . . ,  shining  in  the  hills,  placed  in  ilie.haflA 
Mat,  taking  his  place  in  the  boat  MnL* 
He  is  <son  of  Ba,  the  first  residtni  ia «Im 
region  of  the  tomb,  great  god  ia  •  •  .  , 
ordering  night  and  day.'— S.  & 


^yruiB 


234  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  HE 

The  name  of  the  god  in  Plate  IN. y  figs.  1,  4,  5,  is  l^eehpii: 
his  form  is  very  peculiar,  and  from  his  at^butes  he  claims  the 
title  of  God  of  War.  He  is  sometimes  represented  with  a  spear 
in  his  hand ;  sometimes  bearing  in  his  left  hand  a  speai  and 
shield,  while  with  the  other  he  wields  a  battle-axe,  as  if  in  the 
act  of  striking ;  a  quiver  full  of  arrows  being  suspended  at  his 
back.  He  wears  the  helmet  or  crown  of  the  Upper  Country,  in 
front  of  which  projects,  in  lieu  of  the  usual  asp,  the  head  <tf  an 
oryx,  a  gazelle,  or  a  goat.  He  sometimes  occurs  with  a  goddesB, 
who,  standing  on  a  lion  or  on  two  crocodiles,  holds  out  toiraids 
him  two  emblems  resembling  snakes  with  one  hand,  and  with 
the  other  a  bundle  of  lotus-flowers,  apparently  as  an  offeiing 
to  the  god  E^em.  Connected  with  this  group  are  figures  in 
the  act  of  fighting,  which  would  imply  that  the  subject  was 
emblematic  of  war. 

It  may  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the  Egyptian  Han  did 
not  hold  a  very  high  rank  in  their  Pantheon.    His  chaiaoter  was 
not  connected  with  the  operations  of  the  deity ;  nor  did  a  god  of 
war  present  any  abstract  notion  of  a  divine  attribute,  unless  it 
were  as  the  avenging  power.    This,  indeed,  appears,  as  already 
stated,  to  have  been  represented  by  Mentu — ^in  which  character 
he  probably  answered  to  the  Mars  Ultor  of  Bome,  and  to  the 
Ares  mentioned    by  Hermapion  in  his  inscription  translated 
from  the  obelisk  of  Bameses.    Beshpu  occurs  on  tablets,  but  not 
in  any  of  the  temples  of  Egypt.* 

[The  Asiatic  goddess  of  war,  Anta,  Anath,  and  perhaps 
Anoutis  (Plate  LVI.,  fig.  1),  was  introduced  at  the  time  of  the 
18th  Dynasty,  for  none  occur  older  than  Amenophis  L,  and  her 
worship  chiefly  flourished  at  that  period.  She  formed  part  of  a 
group  of  foreign  deities  introduced  at  the  period.  Amongst 
them  was  Baal,  probably  a  form  of  Besa,  as  the  Egyptian  Besa 
is  of  common  occurrence  on  the  Phoenician  scarabsei,  and  appears 
on  the  coins  of  the  Island  of  Gaulos.  Another  deity  mentioned 
in  the  papyri  and  texts  is  Astaruta  or  Ashtaroth,  but  her  form 
has  not  been  found  represented  on  the  monuments. 

Amongst  the  other  varieties  of  inferior  types  is  that  of  Sapt, 
lord  of  the  land  of  Sat  or  Eastern  foreigners,  Uie  desert,  and  lord 


^  The  god  Resbpu  was  an- Asiatic  god,  Ken  or  Eet,  and  Anta,  the  goddess  of  war. 

and  represented  the  Reseph  of  the  Phoeni-  His  titles  are  '  great  god,  lord  of  heaTen,' 

cians,  and  as  Reseph   Michal   the  Apollo  and  in  this  capacity  he  wears  the  Uppa 

Amyclsens  of  the  Greeks.     He  is  repre-  crown,  hut,^S,  B. 
sented  in  the   company  of  the   goddess 


236 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS 


[Chap.  XUL 


of  the  East  (Plate  LYL,  fig.  2).  The  figure  is  from  a  stone 
tablet  of  the  time  of  XTsertesen  11.,  found  at  the  temple  of 
Wddy  GasooSy  in  the  desert  near  Eossayr. 

The  deity  who  is  next  represented  is  probably  Anhar,  or, 
as  his  name  is  given  in  the  Greek  papyri,  Onouris.  His  name 
means  'conductor  of  the  heaven/  and  he  generally  wears  a 
plume  of  four  hawk's  feathers  on  his  head.  He  often  has  a 
cord  in  his  hand.  He  is  called  by  the  Greeks  Mars,  and  as 
a  form  of  Shu  is  seen  in  conflict  with  the  Aphdphis,  the  daily 
enemy  of  the  sun,  finally  divided  into  birds,  beasts,  and  fishes. 
— S.  B.] 

The  fourth  figure  has  the  name  Menq,  or  Menqt,  in  her 
peaceable  occupation  of  presenting  two  vases.  She  is  probaUy 
a  form  of  Sekhet  or  Bast. 

The  lion-headed  god  in  Plate  LVll.  is  seldom  met  with  in  the 
Egyptian  sculptures,  and  never,  I  believe,  in  temples  of  a  yery 
early  epoch.  The  first  figure  is  from  the  temple  of  Dendrash, 
which  is  of  Ptolemaic  and  Boman  date;  the  second  is  ficom 
Dab6d,  where  he  accompanies  the  god  Amen,  to  whom  a  Cmnr 
is  making  offerings.^  He  has  a  lion  as  his  hieroglyphic.  The 
second  figure  is  called  'the  great  lion-god,  very  valiant.'  The 
third  [of  Shun]  has  not  a  lion's  head,  but  that  animal  is  intro- 
duced as  a  demonstrative  sign  after  his  hieroglyphic  name, 
which  reads  Shuu  or  Mui,  signifying  'Lion.'  The  fourth  has 
also  a  lion  as  the  demonstrative  sign,  and  may  be  the  same  as 
the  last  deity  [and  is  called  'XTu,  perhaps  for  Shuu,  great  son 
of  Neith'].  They  are  of  late  time ;  and  being  copied  fcom 
monuments  imperfectly  preserved,  the  legends  are  uncertain. 

The  name  of  the  goddess  with  a  lion's  head,  fi^.  5,  appears 
to  read  Ba.t;  but  I  am  ignorant  of  her  character  and  o£Bo6. 
[She  is  called  the  *  very  great,  the  female  Horus.'] 

The  name  of  the  goddess  in  Plate  LYIII.^.  1,  is  uncertain. 
She  has  an  eye  upon  her  head ;  and  she  sometimes  stands  in  an 


*  The  name  of  this  god  is  Mat'et,  and  he 
was  one  of  the  dflemons  of  the  Egyptian 
Karneter  or  Hades.  In  chapter  zvii.  of  the 
Ritual  (Lepsius,  *Todtenbuch/  iz.  c.  17, 
1.  58),  there  is  the  following  description  of 
Mat'et  on  the  night  of  the  great  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked,  when  they  are  dragged 
to  the  block  and  decapitated.  Mat'et  is 
stated  to  haye  one  head  with  [the  feather 
of]  Truth,  and  another  with  a  hawk  or  three 
heads.    His  name  is  said  to  be  Mat'et,  and 


that  he  is  in  the  house  of  Osiris,  iliootli| 
with  his  hand,  and  invisible.  He  fo« 
round  the  world  invisible,  but  with  fin,  m 
Hapi  or  the  Nile  has  ordered  him.  Hi 
face  is  said  to  be  that  of  a  dog,  wttl 
human  eyebrows;  also  that  he  livee  el 
the  condemned,  that  at  the  pool  of  fire  In 
poured  forth  the  hearts  and  thmst  out  tk> 
corpses  of  the  dead,  and  that  hia  name  vi 
Eater  of  Millions  in  the  waters  of  Poiut  o 
SomaU.— S.  B. 


a^;git]tz 


<le/lX 


^m\ 


Chap.  XHT,]  TAT-UN,  NEBUQ,  ETC.  239 

attitude  of  prayer,  before  other  deities.  She  occurs  iu  temples 
of  a  Bomau  aud  Ptolemaic  date,  as  at  Edfoo.  Though  her  office 
is  unknown,  she  may  have  been  a  deity  of  some  importance. 
[Her  name  is  Sat,  the  same  as  that  of  the  Eastern  foreigners,  and 
she  is  perhaps  a  form  of  Sati.  She  wears  the  right  symbolic  eye 
of  the  sun,  Horus,  or  Shu. — S.  B.]  The  eye  she  bears  on  her 
head  is  the  same  which  enters  into  the  name  of  Egypt,  and 
holds  a  distinguished  post  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  dead.  It  is 
frequently  found  in  the  tombs,  made  of  stone  or  blue  pottery ; 
and  is  painted  on  sarcophagi,  boats,  and  fancy  ornaments. 

[The  deity  Tat-un  (Plate  LVIII.  fig.  2)  is  from  the  temple  of 
Samneh,  at  the  third  cataract  of  the  Nile,  of  the  early  time 
of  Usertesen  11.  He  is  called  *  Tat-un,  who  dwells  in  Eens  or 
Kenous.'— S.  B.] 

The  name  of  the  following  goddess  (Jiff.  3)  is  Nebuu.  She  is 
one  of  the  contemplar  deities  of  Esneh  or  Latopolis,  and  the 
lecond  member  of  the  triad  worshipped  there,  which  consisted  of 
Chnomnis,  this  goddess,  and  their  son  Hake.  She  is  a  form 
ot  Neith,  the  Egyptian  Minerva,  like  the  lion-headed  goddess 
Xenhi,  already  mentioned.  [She  is  styled  in  the  inscriptions 
'Nebnu,  pupil  of  the  sun,  over  the  great  place  and  mistress 
rf  Toierah.*— S.  B.] 

The  name  and  character  of  the  next  god  (Jiff.  4)  are  of  late 
date;  [and  from  the  titles  following,  his  name  appears  to  be 
A  fonn  of  the  god  '  Seb,'  as  he  bears  the  same  titles,  *  heir  of  the 
gods,  great  god,  maker  of  men.' — S.  B.] 

The  two  gods  si  Jigs,  5  and  6  are  forms  of  the  youthful  deity 
Ahi  or  Ahi-ur,  the  son  of  Athor,  and  the  third  member  of  the 
triad  of  Denderah,  who  has  been  already  described. 

There  is  a  god  with  the  head  of  a  hippopotamus,  who  may  be 

one  of  the  characters  of  the  Egyptian  Mars,  the  animal  itself 

being  worshipped  at  Papremis,  the  city  of  that  deity.^    I  have 

only  found  him  so  represented  in  small  pottery  figures,  but 

neyer  in    the   sculptures;     though   the    hippopotamus-headed 

goddess  occurs   on   monuments  of   early   date.     The  connec- 

tioB,  indeed,  of  the  god  Mars  and  this  Typhonian  animal  is 

remarkable. 

Heron  I  have  supposed  to  correspond  to  Atum,  and  Antaeus 
to  be  Nubti,  but  of  Perseus  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  form 
any  conjecture.     Nor  do  I  know  if  Busiris  is  a  character  of 


>  Herodot.  u.  59,  63,  and  71. 


Chap.  XIIL] 


THE  MINOB  DEiriES. 


241 


OsiriSy  or  a  separate  deity.  Of  the  form  of  Thoueris,  the  con- 
cubine of  Typho,  of  Canopus,  and  of  his  supposed  wife  Menuthis, 
worshipped  in  a  town  of  the  same  name,^  I  am  also  ignorant  ;^ 
as  well  as  of  the  two  deities  of  winter  and  summer,  whose 
statues  are  said  by  Herodotus  to  have  been  erected  by 
Bhampsinitus. 

I  have  not  introduced  the  minor  diyinities  who  held  vatious 

offices  in  the  regions  of  the  dead,  their  attributes  and  functions 

being  as  yet  imperfectly  ascertained,  or  altogether  unknown; 

and   many  were   only  inferior  emanations   of  some  of  those 

already  described.    Others  were   genii  or  daemons ;   and  some 

were  of  that  class  of  beings  who  were  thought  to  people  every 

part  of  the  universe,  and  to  be  present  unseen  amongst  mankind, 

aometimes  influencing  their  actions,  and  sometimes  themselves 

acting   in  obedience  to  their  commands.    They  were   mostly 

represented  under  a  human  form,  with  the  heads  of  different 

quadrupeds,  birds,  reptiles,   or  fishes;   among   which   may  be 

mentioned  the  cat,  lion,  ape,  fox,  cow,  ram,  hare,  hawk,  duck, 

crane,  crocodile,  tortoise  (generally  the  entire  animal  in  the 

place  of  a  head),  and  the  garmdot  ^  fish.    Some  were  figured 

as  mere  emblems ;  and  one  even  assumed  the  form  of  the  usual 

sceptre  of  the  gods. 

In  concluding  this  notice  of  the  Egyptian  deities,  whatever 

opinion  I  have  ventured  to  express  is  offered  with  great  diffidence, 

owing  to  the  intricacy  of  the  question,  and  the  doubtful  authority 

of  Gieek  writers.    I  have  therefore  given  little  more  than  the 

tonns  of  the  gods,  and  their  principal  characters  whenever  they 

^d  be  ascertained ;   and  I  conclude  in  the  words  of  Seneca,^ 

applied  to  an  observation  of  Aristotle, — *Egregie  Aristoteles 

^t,  nimquam  nos  verecundiores  esse  debere,  quam  cum  de  diis 

•giUir.' 

*  Jtblomki,  Tol.  iv.  p.  153.  *  See  Taur,  pp.  145-147. 

*  39tna  Carmuth,  or  Heterobranchw  hidorsalis.        *  Seneca,  Nat.  Qosest.  vii.  30. 


mmmmimmmm 


Pectoral  pUte.    Obelisk  between  Ra  and  Ma. 


voum. 


CHAPTEB  XIV. 

Tho  Sicreil  Animals—Care — Ezpmue — ADimslB  ia  the  AdjtQm — Embolmiiig  of  tben 
— BurUI— Origio  uid  Bsmod  of  Wonhip— Bank— List— Apet  and  Monkeja— Bat 
—  Hedgehog  —  Shrew-monse  —  Bear  —  Wea»el  —  Otter— Dog—  Wolf  —  Foi  — 
Jackal — lubnenmon—  Hjnna — Cat  — Dog —  Lion — Pantlier —  Leopard — Oban* 
— Honae — Rat — Jerboa — Forenplae — Hare —  Elephant  —  Hippopotamui — Uyrax 
— Hone— Am— Camel — Oinffe — Oryx^  Ibex  —  Sheep  —  Kebab  —  Oxbq — Apia 
—MneTia—Baoia—Bn^lo—ZebD—Dolphtn— Sphinx— Valtnre— Eagle— Hawk 
— Raven— Swallow — Hoopoe — Fowl — Hgeon— Dots  —  Quail  —  Oatriob- Ibi^~ 
HeroD— PbTer — Ooou— Duck — Phcenix — Tortoiae — Crocodile — Liiard  — Aap^ 
Honse«iake— Homed  Snake —  Frog — Osyrhynchna — Phagma — Lepfdotua — 
Idtna  — Hnotia — Scorpion — Spider — ScaralNBna  — Fwaea  — Aoanthoa — lotu  — 
Garlio— Onions — Palm — Ivy— Emblems. 

I  NEXT  proceed  to  mention  the  sacred  *  animals,  of  which  many 
different  grades  existed.  Some  were  looked  upon  as  deities, 
others  were  merely  emblems  of  the  gods.  The  worship  of  some 
was  general  throughout  Egypt,  that  of  others  was  confined  to 
particular  districts ;  and  the  same  animal  which  received  divine 
honours  in  one  part  of  the  country  was  often  execrated  and  held 
in  abhorrence  iu  another.  la  one  city  a  sacred  fish  was  venerated, 
in  another  it  was  served  up  among  the  delicacies  of  the  table ;  and 
many  serious  quarrels  ensued  between  whole  towns  and  provinces, 
owing  to  the  circumstance  of  a  sacred  animal  having  been  killed^ 
either  from  accident  or  design,  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  neigh- 
bouring district  where  its  worship  was  not  acknowledged.' 

It  is,  however,  very  improbable  that  such  lawless  disputes 
took  place  in  the  early  periods  of  Egyptian  history  during  the 
reigns  of  the  Pharaohs,  when  a  vigorous  government  had  the 
power  of  maintaining  order,  and  when  a  wise  priesthood  watched 

'  [JflUn,  Hilt.  An.  lib.  X.—0.  W.]  >  Jut.  Sat.  it.  3S. 


C«A».  XIV.]  THE  SACRED  ANIMAIA  243 

^Qallj  oTer  tbe  interests  of  all.  No  opinion,  indeed,  is  more 
l^ble  to  error  than  one  which  judges  the  customs  and  character 
of  tbe  Egyptians  from  the  degraded  state  of  the  country  under 
the  role  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Caesars :  for,  as  Dc  Pauw*  justly 
observes,  there  is  no  more  reason  to  believe  such  excesses  were 
perpetrated  at  that  period,  than  to  expect  the  modern  towns  of 
Karope  to  make  war  on  each  other  in  order  to  maintain  the 
pre-eminence  of  their  saints  and  patrons. 

Herodotus'  says,  'They  are  obliged  by  law  to  feed  the  sacred 

imals,  and  certain  persons  of  both  sexes  are  appointed  to  take 

of  each  kind.    The  employment  is  an  honourable  one,  and 

descends  from  father  to  son.*    And  '  so  far,'  observes  Diodonis,' 

*  mie  they  from   declining,  or  feeling  ashamed,  openly  to  fulfil 

this  office,  that  they  pride  themselves  upon  it ;    going  in  pro« 

c««ion  through  the  to^ns  and  country,  with  the  distinguishing 

tturk  of  their  occupation,  as  if  they  were  partakers  of  the  highest 

l^oiioiiiB  of  the  gods.    And  being  known  by  a  peculiar  emblem 

Wlonging  to  each,  the  people  perceive,  on  their  approach,  of 

^iktt  animal  they  have  the  care,  and   show  them  respect  by 

boving  to  the  ground,  and  by  other  marks  of  honour.' 

'When  parents,  living  in  towns,  perform  vows  for  the 
^'ecovery  of  their  children's  health,^  they  ofler  prayers  to  the 
4«itv  to  whom  the  animal  is  sacred,  and  then  shaving  a  portion, 
or  half,  or  the  whole  of  the  child's  head,  they  put  the  hair  into 
«Qe  scale  of  the  balance  and  money  into  the  other,  until  the 
litter  outweighs  the  former ;  they  then  give  it  to  the  person 
*iio  takes  care  of  the  animal,  to  buy  fish  (or  other  AhmI).' 

It  wan  not,  however,  on  accidental  bounty  that  the  nourish* 
•mt  of  thc*8e  creatures  depended.  The  value  of  a  whole  head 
of  child's  hair,  even  when  they  paid  its  weight  in  gold,  or  any 
<itlier  gift  depending  u|)on  accidental  vows  (fre<|U(*ntly  |H*rfonniHl 
iftcr  a  long  inter\'al),  would  have  been  a  pn^carictus  means  of 
npport  for  the  unremitting  appetite  of  the  divine  In^asts;  it 
VM,  therefore,  wist^ly  managed,  that  a  fixtnl  revenue  slumld  be 
piorided  for  the  purpose;  and  each  ha<l  a  piei*e  of  land  l>o« 
longing  to  it,  the  pnnluce  of  which  was  sold  for  its  maintenance, 
ttd  fofficed  for  the  payment  of  the  curators.' 

The  custom  of  U^aring  the  emblems  of  the  difTen^nt  sacred 
cRStares  to   whose  service  they   were   devote<l,   may   still   be 


■  Dn  Pmv,  *Kech.  tur  let  £g.  et  ChiD.,'  *  IH<Mlor.  i.  83. 

k  I4S.  *  llertKliituB  iiD<l  IHodorus,  loe.  cit. 

*  BuUi^  U.  S5.  •  IHodur.  i.  S:i. 

B   2 


244  THE  ANCIENT  BOTPTlANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

traced  in  the  banners  borne  by  the  gnardiana  of  the  Sheikhs* 
tombs,  who  travel  throughout  Egypt  in  quest  of  charitable 
donations;  and  though  seldom  differing  from,  or  inferior  to 
each  other  in  the  discordant  and  deafening  noise  of  drums  and 
clamorous  instruments,  they  are  as  readily  distinguished  by  the 
peculiar  emblems  of  the  saint  to  whose  service  they  belong. 
But  the  duty  is  not  wholly  gratuitous ;  being  performed  partly 
from  a  prospect  of  rewards  in  paradise,  and  partly  from  the  love 
of  the  tangible  benefits  they  obtain  on  earth,  by  means  of  his 
useful  name.  Vows  are  also  made,  as  in  former  times,  by  the 
credulous  and  the  devout,  for  the  recovery  of  health  or  the 
accomplishment  of  a  wish ;  but  the  accuracy  of  the  balance  is 
no  longer  required  to  regulate  the  extent  of  the  donor's  piety. 
or  to  adjust  the  quantity  of  his  gratitude  to  the  nice  precision 
of  a  hair. 

The  expense  incurred  by  the  curators  for  the  maintenance  oi 
the  sacred  animals  was  immense.  Not  only  were  necessary  pro- 
visions procured  for  them,  but  imaginary  luxuries  which  they 
could  neither  understand  nor  enjoy.  They  were  treated  with  the 
same  respect  as  human  beings:  warm  baths  were  prepared  foi 
them,  they  were  anointed  with  the  choicest  unguents,  and  per- 
fumed with  the  most  fragrant  odours.  Bich  carpets  ^  and  orna- 
mental furniture  were  provided  for  them,  and  every  care  was 
taken  to  consult  their  natural  habits.  Females  of  their  own 
species  were  kept  for  them,  and  fed  with  the  utmost  delicacy 
and  expense ;  those  only  being  selected  which  were  remarkable 
for  their  beauty.  When  any  died,  the  grief  of  the  people  could 
only  be  equalled  by  that  felt  at  the  loss  of  a  child ;  and  in  so 
sumptuous  a  manner  were  their  funeral  rites  performed,  that 
they  frequently  cost  more  than  the  curators  had  the  means  of 
paying.^  The  same  respect  was  extended  to  those  which  died 
in  foreign  countries ;  and  when  engaged  in  distant  wars,  they 
did  not  neglect  '  the  cats  and  hawks,  or  leave  them  behind,  but 
even  when  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  the  means  of  transport,  they 
were  brought  to  Egypt,'  that  they  might  be  deposited  in  holy 
ground. 

Geese  were  kept  for  some  of  the  sacred  animals.  Meat  wa£ 
cut  into  pieces  and  thrown  to  the  hawks,'  who  were  invited  by 


^  Carpets  are  frequently  mentioned  by  '  Of.   the  inscription  given  by  Lepsins 

ancient   writers,  as   I  have  already   had  *Abh.  Kon.  Akad.  Berlin/ 1871,  of  the  field 

occasion  to  observe.      Vide  also  Theocrit.  assigned   for   the   support  of  the  8acr«< 

Id.  XT.  125.  *  Diodor.  i.  84.  hawks.— S.  B. 


C«\r.  XIV.]        RESPECT  FOB  THE  SACRED  ANIMALS.  243 

velUknown  cries  to  their  repast ;  cats  and  ichneumons  were  fed 

^  bread  soaked  in  milk,  and  with  certain  kinds  of  fish  cant^ht 

^  purpose  for  them ;  and  every  animal  was  provide<l  with  food 

suited  to  its  habits.^    Whenever  any  one  of  them  ditxl,  it  was 

trapped  up  in  linen,  and  carried  to  the  embalmers,  attended  by 

A  pitxsession  of  persons  of  both  sexes,  beating  their  breasts  in 

token  of  grief.    The  body  was  then  prepared  with  oil  of  cedar 

And  such  aromatic  substances  as  tended  to  preserve  it,  and  was 

de|Miiiited  in  a  sacred  tomb. 

The  res|)ect  \md  to  the  sacred  animals  was  not  confined  to 

the  outward  ceremony  of  their  funeral,  or  to  the  external  marks 

of  grief  the  mourners  voluntarily  imposed  upon  themselves,  by 

shaving  their  eyebrows  on  the  death  of  a  cat,  and  their  whole 

^^y  for  the  loss  of  a  dog :  all  the  provisions  which  happened 

to  lie  in  the  house  at  the  time  were  looked  upon  as  unlawful 

^ml,  and  were  forbidden  to  be  applied  to  any  use.^    And  so 

Remarkable  was  the  feeling  of  veneration  in  which  they  were 

^M  by  the  Egyptians,  that,  in  time  of  severe  famine,  when 

i^imger  compelled  them  to  eat  human  flesh,  no  one  was  ever 

^novn  to  touch  the  meat  of  any  of  them,  even  on  the  plea  of 

preienring    life.      To    destroy  one    voluntarily   subjected    the 

^kffender  to  the  penalty  of  death :  but  if  any  i)er8on  even  un- 

iatentionully  killed  an  ibis  or  a  cat,^  it  infallibly  cost  him  his 

iife ;  the  multitude  immediately  collecting,  and  tearing  him  in 

pieces,  often  without  any  form  of  trial.     For  fear  of  such  a 

cslamity,  if  any  |M?rsim  found  one  of  those  animals  dead,  he 

ttocxl  at  a  distance,  and,  calling  out  with  a  loud  voice,  maide 

eterv  dunionstration  of  grief,  and  protested  that  it  was  found 

lifel^ 

'This  superstitious  regard  for  the  sacre<l  aniniali^,'  observes 
Djodoms, '  is  thoroughly  rooted  in  their  minds,  and  every  Kgy|>« 
tian  has  his  [lassions  strongly  bent  upon  their  honour.  For  at 
tke  time  when  Ptolemv  had  not  vet  been  called  a  kincr  bv  the 
Bonans,  and  the  |»eople  were  using  every  ]»«is8iblo  eflfort  to 
iatter  the  Italians  who  visite<l  the  country  us  strang(*rs,  and 
itndious  ti»  avoid  everything  that  could  exrite  disputes  or  leaid 
lo  war.  a  Ibmian  having  killed  a  cat,  and  a  <Towd  being  col- 
kcte<l  ttlM»ut  his  residence,  neither  the  magistrates  who  were 
•ent  by  the  king  to  a]»]H*ase  their  rage,  nor  the  general  terror 
of  the  lloman  name,  were  able  to  save  the  oiTi^ndcr  from  ven- 

>  iHudor.  L  S4.  *  Ibid.  *  ItiJ.  i.  S3. 


246  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS  [Chap.  XIV. 

geance,  although  he  had  done  it  unintentionally.  And  this 
we  relate  not  from  the  testimony  of  others,  but  from  what  we 
ourselves  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  during  our  journey  in 
Egypt.'  *  Never,*  says  Cicero,^  *  did  any  one  hear  of  a  croco- 
dile,^ an  ibis,  or  a  cat  haying  been  killed  by  an  Egyptian.' 
'Bather  would  they  submit  to  suffer  death  than  destroy  an 
ibis,  an  asp,  a  cat,  or  a  crocodile ;  and  if  anyone  accidentally 
injured  One  of  those  animals,  he  would  object  to  no  kind  of 
punishment.'^ 

I  have  stated  the  reasons  assigned  by  Diodorus  for  the 
worship  of  sacred  animals,  and  have  noticed  the  ridicule  with 
which  the  Greeks  delighted  to  treat  this  strange  custom  of  the 
Egyptians.  We  are  not,  indeed,  surprised  that  it  should  have 
struck  any  people  as  absurd  and  inconsistent ;  and  the  Hebrew 
legislator  felt  the  necessity  of  preventing  the  Jews  from  falling 
into  this,  the  most  gross  practice  of  which  idolatry  was  guilty. 
The  worship  of  the  golden  calf,  a  representation  of  the  Mneyis 
of  Heliopolis,  was  a  proof  how  their  minds  had  become  imbued 
with  the  superstitions  they  had  beheld  in  Egypt,  which  the 
'  mixed  multitude  had  practised  there : '  and  it  frequently 
happened  that  the  Egyptians  were  more  attached  to  such 
emblems  than  to  the  gods  themselves.  This  was  the  natural 
result  of  idolatrous  feelings,  which  have  in  all  times  forgotten 
the  deity  in  a  blind  respect  paid  to  the  type  that  chanced  to 
represent  him. 

*  In  Egyptian  temples,'  says  Clemens,*  *  the  porticoes,  vesti- 
bules, and  groves  are  constructed  with  great  splendour;  the 
halls  are  adorned  with  numerous  columns ;  the  walls  are  per- 
fectly splendid  with  rare  stones  and  brilliancy  of  colour ;  the 
sanctuary  ^  shines  with  gold,  silver,  and  amber,  and  with  a  variety 
of  glittering  stones  from  India,  or  Ethiopia,  and  the  adytum  is 
hung  with  curtains  of  gold  tissue.  If  you  enter  the  circuit  of  the 
holy  place,  and  hastening  to  behold  what  is  most  worthy  of  your 
search  you  seek  the  statue  of  the  deity,  one  of  the  priests  who 
perform  the  rites  there  steps  forward  to  introduce  you  to  the 
object  of  his  worship,  looking  upwards  with  a  grave  and  reverent 
face,  as  he  chants  the  Paean  hymn  in  his  native  tongue.    But  no 


*  Cic.  de  Nat.  Deor.  i.  29.  *  Clem.  Alex.  PsMlagog.  iii.  c  2. 

*  Cicero  would  have  been  more  correct  *  The  body  of  the  temple,  or  mdm, 
in  sabstituting  a  hawky  or  a  q/nooephalui,  whither  the  profane  did  not  penetrate,  tlie 
for  a  crocodiUf  which  last  was  not  sacred  adytum  being  the  most  holy  part  of  the 
throughout  Egypt.  «des. 

*  Cic  Tusc  Ksput.  T.  27. 


0«A».  XIV.]      FUXISHMENT  OP  THE  SACRED  ANIMAL&  247 

xxnier  does  he  draw  aside  a  portion  of  the  veil,  as  if  to  show  a 
IfCMl,  than  you  find  ample  reason  for  smiling  at  the  mysterious 
deity.  For  the  god  you  sought  is  not  there;  but  a  cat,  or  a 
csooodile,  or  a  native  serpent,  or  some  such  animal,  which  is  more 
suited  to  a  cave  than  a  temple ;  and  you  behold  an  Egyptian 
grod  in  a  beast  ^  lying  before  you  on  a  purple  carpet.'  The  same 
ides  b  conveyed  in  the  two  lines  of  Juvenal.^ 

It  sometimes  happened  that,  like  the  gods  of  Rome  or  the 
its  of  modem  Italy,  the  sacred  animals  fell  into  disgrace,  in 
[ueace  of  the  wishes  of  their  votaries  not  having  been 
iplied  with ;  and  this  supposed  neglect  was  resented  with  the 
feelings  which  subject  the  image  of  a  saint  to  the  basti- 
v^ado,  or  to  the  ignominy  of  having  a  string  tied  round  its  neck, 
^sd  being  lowered  for  a  time  into  a  well.     Plutarch '  tells  us, 
^ftst  whenever  any  great  drought,  or   pestilential   disease,  or 
^Hher  extraordinary  calamity,  happened,  it  was  customary  for  the 
Egyptian  priests  to  select  some  of  the  sacred  animals,  and  having 
^Wocted  them  with  all  silence  and  secrecy  to  a  dark  place,  to 
^^nify  them  with  threats,  and  afterwards,  if  the  disorder  still 
^QBtinnedf  to  devote  them  to  death.'    And  Porphyry  relates  that 
^Jiey  were  in  the  habit  of  using  threats,  not  only  to  the  sacred 
^liiiHilt,   but  even  to  the  gods   themselves — *  declaring   that, 
Unless  they  did  what  they  desired,  or  if  they  acted  contrary  to 
^heir  wishes,  they  would  **  disclose  the  mysteries  of  Isis,  divulge 
Xhe  lecrets  hidden  in  the  abyss,  stop  the  Baris  (the  sacred  boat)," 
or  ** scatter  before  Typho  the  members  of  Osiris."* 

The  above-mentioned  ceremony,  adds  Plutarch,  of  putting 
tliose  animals  to  death,  *  being  performed  in  secret,  and  at  no 
tied  season  of  the  year,  but  as  occasion  requires,  is  wholly 
uaknown  to  the  generality  of  the  people,  except  at  the  time  they 
cdebrate  the  funeral  of  some  |Mirticular  species ;  when  openly, 
•ad  in  sight  of  all,  they  throw  them  into  the  grave,  to  be  buried 
ilire  with  those  whose  obsequies  th(*y  are  performing.  They 
ittigine  that  by  this  means  they  shall  vex  Typho,  and  cut  off 
the  pleasure  they  suppose  he  enjoys  from  the  sad  event  before 
them.'  *  iiut  the  animals  at  whose  funeral  the  above-mentioned 
rite  is  practised,  are  such  as  are  honoured  and  worshipjted  by  the 

'  Is  tkt  iaocr  vr  minor  MoctoArj  of  the  '  Jut.  SaI.  it.  7  :— 

pm  t<ypU  of  Kariuk  U  the  .Utue  of  a  .  n,j^  c.rule.*,  hie  piacem  flumiDia,  illk- 


U 


■d  hawk  OB  a  H«taU  though  the  <.     ^^j^   ,„,  ^   ^^^^^  renerantur.  nemn 

f'it  waft  d^licatei  to  Auieo  ao-1  out   to  iHauam  ' 


*  Flut.  Ue  Uid.  ».  73. 


248  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

whole  nation,  as  the  ibis,  the  hawk,  the  cynocephalus,  and  the 
Apis ; '  and  the  selection  of  the  others  depended,  of  course,  upon 
the  character  of  the  gods  and  of  the  peculiar  emblems  worshipped 
in  the  place  where  those  ceremonies  took  place. 

Peculiar  sepulchres  were  frequently  set  apart  for  certain 
species,  and  animals  of  different  kinds  were  not  generally  buried 
in  the  same  place.  But  in  large  populous  places,  the  mummies 
of  oxen,  sheep,  dogs,  cats,  serpents,  and  fishes  were  deposited  in 
the  same  common  repository ;  though  the  more  usual  custom  was 
to  bury  one  or  more  of  each  species  in  a  tomb  exclusiyely 
appropriated  to  them  ;  which  was  usually  a  small  square  cayity 
hewn  in  the  rock,  and  sometimes  of  considerable  dimensions. 

The  promiscuous  admission  of  different  animals  into  one 
sepulchre  may  have  been  from  their  enjoying  less  consideration 
there  than  in  other  towns  where  their  worship  prevailed.  For 
even  those  which  were  held  sacred  throughout  the  country  were 
not  equally  esteemed  in  every  place ;  and  the  exclusive  privileges 
they  enjoyed  in  one  town  might  have  been  denied  in  another, 
without  depriving  them  of  the  title  they  claimed  to  the  name  of 
sacred  animals.  At  Thebes,  however,  Signer  Passalacqua  dis- 
covered birds,  rats,  shrewmice,  toads,  snakes,  scarabsei,  and  flies, 
embalmed  and  deposited  in  the  same  tomb ;  and  I  have  seen  one 
there,  in  which  were  found  the  mummies  of  cats,  snakes,  and  cows. 
But  in  the  same  cemetery  I  observed  a  sepulchre  appropriated 
solely  to  cats,  another  to  hawks,  and  another  to  fish. 

Some  were  buried  in  the  district  where  they  died;  others 
were  transported  to  the  nome  or  city  where  they  were  particularly 
sacred — except,  perhaps,  when  the  place  in  which  they  had  been 
kept  paid  them  similar  honours.  For  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  city  of  Thebes  would  willingly  suffer  the  embcdmed 
bodies  of  the  ibis  it  had  fed,  and  highly  venerated,  to  be  trans- 
ported to  Hermopolis ;  though  this  last  was  the  place  more 
peculiarly  appointed  to  the  worship  of  that  bird,  and  of  Thoth, 
the  deity  to  whom  it  was  sacred.  Indeed,  the  fact  of  our  finding 
the  embalmed  bodies  of  the  ibis  both  at  Thebes,  Memphis,  and 
other  places,  sufficiently  establishes  this  conjecture,  and  shows 
that  the  animals  removed  to  the  patron  city  were  only  taken  from 
places  where  their  worship  was  not  particularly  regarded,  and 
probably  only  from  towns  or  villages  in  the  vicinity.  And  when 
Herodotus  ^  says,  *  They  carry  the  cats  which  die  to  certain  holy 


'  Herodot.  ii.  67. 


Chap.  XIV.]    DEATH  AND  BUEIAL  OP  SACRED  ANIMALS.       249 

places,  where  tliey  are  embalmed,  and  thence  removed  to  Bubastis/ 
we  may  infer  that  the  historian  only  alludes  to  those  that  died 
in  places  where  the  cat  and  the  goddess  Bnbastis  did  not  enjoy 
any  conspicuous  share  of  the  honours  of  the  sanctuary.  The  same 
applies  to  his  obserrations  respecting  other  sacred  animals  of 
Egypt,  as  ^  the  shrew-mouse,  the  hawk,  and  the  ibis,'  though  he 
says  *  the  two  former  ^  were  transported  to  the  city  of  Buto,  and 
the  latter  to  Hermopolis.' 

The  fact  of  the  sacred  animals  having  been  embalmed  and 
buried  in  the  tombs  at  Thebes,  shows  that  Plutarch  ^  is  wrong  in 
.jBtating  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Thebsdd  were  exempt  from 
^the  taxes  levied  throughout  the  country  for  the  maintenance  of 
'^e  sacred  animals ;  and  we  can  only  explain  this  by  supposing 
le  Thebans  to  have  had  the  privilege  of  providing  separately 
>r  the  animals  they  kept,  without  contributing  to  the  eommon 
^^^^wnd  levied  for  that  purpose  on  the  rest  of  the  Egyptians. 

*Dog8  were  buried  in  their  own  town,  being  deposited  in 
^Biu^  coffins;'  and  'bears  (which  Herodotus  states  to  have 
l>eeii  rare  in  Egypt)  and  wolves  were  interred  in  the  place 
"where  they  were  found  dead.' 

The  same  author  ^  says,  *  When  a  bull  or  a  heifer  dies,  the 
^^^  is  thrown  into  the  river,  and  the  former  buried  in  the 
suhforbs,  with  one  or  both  of  its  horns  above  the  ground  to  mark 
the  spot.    Here  the  body  remains  till  it  is  decomposed,  and  a 
Wt  despatched  from  the  Isle  of  Prosopitis  comes  round  to  each 
town  at  a  particular  period.    This  Prosopitis  is  an  island  in  the 
Ddta,  nine  whoenoi  in  circumference,  containing  several  towns — : 
<Hie  of  which,  called  Atarbechis,  sends  the  boats  destined  to 
^ect  the  bones,  and  employs  several  persons  to  go  from  town 
to  town  to  exhumate  them,  and  take  them  to  the  particular 
ipoi  where  they  are  buried.     They  inter  in  like  manner  all  other 
cattle  that  die ; '  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  Egyptians  defiled 
their  sacred  stream  by  throwing  into  it  the  body  of  any  animal 
thit  had  been  found  dead,  unless  it  were  in  those  places  where 
the  crocodiles  were  fed.    The  discovery  of  the  bodies  of  cows  or 
lieifers  embalmed  and  buried  in  the  tombs  disproves  this  state- 
ment ;  and  the  remark  above  made,  respecting  the  interment  of 
Miimitlg  in  the  place  where  they  died,  applies  equally  to  bulls, 
whoae  embalmed  bodies  are  discovered  in  the  sepulchres  of 
Thebes  and  other  places. 

*  This  miut  b«  an  error ;  the  hawk  being  sacred  to  Ra,  not  to  Buto. 
s  Pint,  de  Ifid.  a.  21.  *  Herodot.  ii.  41. 


250  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

The  law  which  obliged  them  to  bury  the  bodies  of  animals 
when  found  dead  in  the  field,  or  elsewhere,  owed  its  origin  to 
a  wise  sanitary  precaution ;  and  the  respect  paid  to  certain  birds 
arose  from  their  great  utility  in  removing  those  impurities  which, 
in  a  climate  like  Egypt,  necessarily  arose  from  the  decomposition 
of  animal  substances  exposed  to  a  burning  sun.  The  same 
consideration  induces  the  modem  Egyptians  to  abstain  from 
molesting  the  Vvttur  percnopterus^  the  kite,  and  others  of  the 
falcon  tribe. 

The  mode  of  preserving  and  interring  different  animak 
depended  on  circumstances.  Those  which  were  sacred  were 
embalmed  with  great  care,  and  at  a  considerable  expense: 
particular  tombs  were  set  apart  for  them  ;  and  funeral  ceremonies 
were  performed,  according  to  the  consideration  they  enjoyed  in 
the  temples  of  the  town  where  they  died.  Some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  enormous  sums  occasionally  expended  on  those 
occasions  from  the  statements  of  Diodorus,^  who  afiirms  that 
the  guardians  of  the  sacred  animals,  in  his  time,  laid  out  no 
less  than  100  talents  at  a  single  funeral ;  and  when  Apis  died, 
in  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Lagus,  the  curator  spent  the  whole 
of  the  money  collected  for  the  purpose,  and  borrowed  from 
the  king  50  talents  in  addition  to  defray  the  expenses  of  its 
burial. 

Many  and  various  theories  have  been  suggested  to  account 
for  the  origin  of  animal- worship  in  Egypt;*  which,  according  to 
Manetho,  was  introduced  in  the  reign  of  the  second  king  of  the 
2nd  Dynasty.  *  It  is  difficult,'  says  Diodorus,*  *  to  ascertain  their 
motive  for  so  singular  a  custom.  The  priests,  indeed,  assign  a 
peculiar  and  hidden  reason  for  it ;  but  three  others  are  commonly 
reported  amongst  the  people.  The  first  of  these,  altogether 
fabulous,  and  in  character  with  the  simplicity  of  primitive  notions, 
is,  that  the  gods,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  being  in  fear  of 
the  numbers  and  wickedness  of  mankind,  assumed  the  form  of 
animals,  in  order  to  avoid  their  cruelty  and  oppression.  And 
having  at  length  obtained  the  dominion  of  the  world,  they 
decreed,  as  a  reward  to  those  animals  by  whom  they  had  been 


>  The  Rokham,  or  Rakham ;  called  also  to  be  proved  by  Manetho,  who  saya  thai 

*  Pharaoh's  hen/  or  '  the  scavenger  of  the  the  Apis,  &c.,  were  ordered  to  be  treated  aa 

Kile.*  *  Diod.  i.  84.  gods   in   the   reign  of  XHOS,  the  secoiid 

'  [It  seems  really  to  have  been  an  African  king    of   the   2nd   Dynasty,  according   to 

custom,  vestiges  of  which  still  remain  in  Eusebius,  the  KAIEXfiS  of  Africanos*  ver- 

the  interior  of  Soodin  :  it  was  probably  sion. — G.  W.]  *  Diodur.  i.  86. 

adopted  by  the  Egyptians  also.    This  seems 


C«A».  XIV.]  BEA80N8  FOB  ANIMAL-WORSHIP.  1^51 

i^ved,  that  mankind  should  ever  after  respect  and  nourish  them 
*bile  alive,  and  perform   funeral   honours  to  them   at   their 


*  The  second  is,  that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Egv pt,  having 
mfiered  several  signal  defeats  from  their  neighbours,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  confusion  and  want  of  discipline  in  their  army, 
derised  the  plan   of  carrying  standards,  and  for  this   purpose 
•elected   the  tigures  of  animals.     These,  being  placed  upon  a 
•pear  and  raised  to  a  sufficient  height,  served  as  a  rallying-point 
for  the  soldiers,  and  enabled  them  to  keep  their  ranks  in  the 
cunfiisioD  of  battle.    And  by  this  means  having  obtained  the 
▼ictory  over  their  enemies,  they  attributed  their  success  to  the 
•aimals  whose  figures  they  bore,  and  out  of  gratitude  abstained 
&niii  killing  any  of  the  same  species,  treating  them  afterwards 
^th  religious  veneration. 

*The  third  reason  is,  gratitude  for  the  benefits  conferre<l  by 

^em  on  mankin<l.    For  the  cow  not  only  ploughs  the  land  itself, 

^t  produces  those  which  perform  the  same  useful  office ;  sheep 

t^g  forth  lambs  twice  (in  the  year^),  and  from  their  wool  are 

^k»de  clothes  and  ornamental  furniture,  while  their  milk  is  an 

Article  of  food,  hath  itself  and  the  cheese  made  from  it.     The  dog 

i«  required  both  for  the  chase  and  as  a  guard  ;^  .  .  .  the  cat  is 

^  protection  against  the  approach  of  the  venomous  asji  and  other 

^^tplilet ;  and  the  ichneumon  is  useful  in  destroying  the  eggs  of 

^ht  crocodile,   which  would  otherwise  multiply  so  much  as  to 

^^ender  the   river  unapproachable.     The  ichneumon  even  wars 

^th  that   animal    itself,    and   overcomes   it    by   a    wonderful 

Matagem.     Having   enveloped  itself  in   mud,  it  watches  its 

opportunity,  while  the  cnxxxiile  slee|>s  with  its  mouth  oi>en  on 

the  shore,  and  then  adroitly  glides  through  its  mouth  into  its 

ttonMch,  and,  eating  its  way  out,  escapes  unhurt,  at  the  same 

tone  that  it  kills  its  enemy.     The  hawk  is  worshipiKHl  bt^cause 

it  destroys  scorpions,  honied  snakes,  and  noxious  ercatun^s  which 

nMianger  human    life;   though  some  sup|Nis«'  the  roiLson  to  be 

ka  its  being  the  bird  selected  by  augurs  for  predicting  future 

•reiits.' 

These  remarks  agree  with  an  observation  of  Cicero, '  that  the 
EfTvptians  only  hold  those  animals  sacred  which  an^  of  use  to 
as  the  ibis,  from  its  being  the  tlustroyer  of  scriN^nts ;  and 


*  Cmi.  alio  Dioiior.  i.  36.     This  U  the      Aoubi*  with  a  «l»cN  h^i'l.'     I  har«   el««- 
ow  ■!  ih«  fTCMBt  liiir.  where  ni»tic«J  thi>  crr<ir,  in  »|H'aking  ot 

'  *  ThtrwUm,*  bt  addA,  '  thcr  rcprttent      the  dog. 


252  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIT 

much  might  be  added  respectmg  the  utility  of  the  ichneumon 
the  crocodile,  and  the  cat.' 

*  Goats,  bulls,  wolves,  and  others,'  continues  DiodoruSy  *an 
reported  to  have  been  venerated  for  similar  motives.'  The 
historian  then  proceeds  to  give  other  reasons,  one  of  which 
though  highly  improbable,  deserves  to  be  mentioned — ^  that  ii 
the  early  period  of  the  Egyptian  monarchy,  the  people  beinj 
prone  to  rebellion  against  the  government,  one  of  the  kingi 
devised  this  method  of  sowing  the  seeds  of  discord  among  then 
and  preventing  their  union.  He  divided  the  country  intc 
several  parts,  to  each  of  which  he  assigned  a  peculiar  animal 
establishing  its  worship  there,  and  forbidding  it  to  be  eaten 
By  which  means,  the  same  animal  that  was  adored  in  one  plac< 
being  regarded  with  no  respect,  and  even  despised,  in  another 
all  community  of  feeling  was  destroyed,  and  the  animosit] 
arising  between  neighbouring  provinces  prevented  their  uniting 
against  their  rulers.' 

The  historian  also  refers,  in  another  place,^  to  the  supposec 
sojourn  of  the  gods  on  earth  ;  when,  in  their  visits  to  different 
places,  they  assumed  the  form  of  various  animals — 'a  notioi 
which,'  he  adds,  Uhe  poet^  introduced  into  his  verses,  having 
learnt  it  during  his  stay  in  Egypt.' 

Plutarch,  in  mentioning  the  same  subject,  says,'  ^  That  ihi 
gods,  through  a  dread  of  Typho,  metamorphosed  themselves  int< 
animals,  lying  concealed  in  the  bodies  of  ibises,  dogs,  and  hawks 
is  more  extravagant  than  the  most  fanciful  tales  of  fable.  It  i 
equally  incredible,  that  the  souls  of  those  who  survive  thei 
bodies  should  return  to  life  again  only  through  such  animals 
Of  those,  therefore,  who  wish  to  assign  a  political  reason  for  thei 
worship,  some  assert  that  Osiris,  having  divided  his  army  intt 
several  divisions,  assigned  to  each  a  separate  standard,  distin 
guished  by  a  particular  animal,  which  afterwards  became  sacred 
and  was  worshipped  by  the  troops  to  whom  it  had  been  given 
Others  maintain  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  some  of  the  late 
kings,  who  wished  to  strike  terror  into  their  enemies,  havin{ 
decked  themselves  with  gold  and  silver  figures  of  those  AnimftU 
Others,  again,  attribute  it  to  the  artifice  of  a  crafty  prince,  whc 
perceiving  the  Egyptians  to  be  of  a  volatile  disposition,  alway 
inclined  to  change  and  novelty,  and,  from  their  numbers,  in 
vincible  as  long  as  they  were  guided  by  wise  counsels  and  actet 


>  Diodor.  i.  12.  *  Homer.  *  Plat.  d«  bid.  s.  72. 


CttAr.  XIV.]  CHOICE  OF  8ACBED  ANIMALS.  253 

in  onoert,  devised  this  sort  of  superstition,  whilst  they  were  yet 

dispersed  up  and  down  in  their  several  habitations,  as  a  means  of 

proptfirating  discord  amongst  them.    For,  amongst  the  different 

fpecies  of  animals  ho  enjoined  them  to  worship,  many  bore  a 

natnrd  antipathy  to  each  other,  and  some  were  eaten  in  one  part 

of  the  country  and  some  in  another.    He  therefore  foresaw  that, 

ta  each  party  would  defend  its  own  favourite  animals,  and  resent 

whatever  injuries  they  suffered,  this  must  im{)erceptibly  engender 

ft   h(«tile   feeling  amongst  them,  and  prevent  their  plotting 

ipainst  the  government.'    These   were,  of  course,  merely  the 

(ukcifal  notions  of  the  uninstructed,  as  Diodoms  justly  observes. 

Uany  of  the  animals  were  worshipped,  not  from  a  particular 

Mpect    paid  to  them,  or  on  account  of  any   qualities  they 

pc«Kflsed,  but  solely  because  they  had  been  chosen  as  emblems 

<rf  certain  deities;   and   their  selecticm   for  this   purpose  is  a 

•vpuate  and  independent  questicm.    That  the  reasons  for  it  were 

(rften  as  capricitius  and  ridiculous  as  those  stated  by  the  historian 

U  Tery  probable ;  and  what  could  be  more  arbitrary  than  the 

^ioptiun  of  the  ibis  to  represent  the  god  Thoth,  or  the  S{)otted 

^mto  he  the  emblem  of  Athor?    For,  if  they  l<M)kod  upon  the 

ilii  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  on  account  of  its  utility  in 

divtniying  8er])ents,  the  re^is^m  for  its   being  chosen   as  the 

l^rcoliar  tyi)e  of  the  Egyptian  Hermes  could  not  originate  there  ; 

ttor  dfies  a  cow,  however  useful  to  mankin<l,  ap|>ear  to   be  a 

repn-si^ntative  of  the  goddess  Venus. 

It  is  therefon*  evident  that  neither  the  benefits  derived  bv 

from  the  habits  of  certain  animals,  nor  the  rejmt^Ml  reasons 

ior  their  peculiar  choice  as  emblems  of  the  gocls,  were  sufficient 

Waecfiunt  for  the  reven^nce  paid  to  many  of  those  they  held 

ikihL     S*ime,  no  doubt,  may  have  b<M»n  indebted  to  the  first- 

[      ttenli^me^l   cauM* ;   and,   however   little  connection   appears   to 

Hhtiat  betw<-**n  thos«*  animals  and  the  gods  of  whom  they  wen* 

tfcp  typifi,  w«  may  believe  that  the  ox,  cow,  hIkm'p,  dog,  cat, 

Vttlliire,   hauk,  ibis,  an<l  some  others,  wen^  chosen   from   their 

llility  to  man.     We  may  als4>  see  sufficient  reasons  for  making 

loaie  others  saenMl,  in  (»rder  to  prevent  their  Ixung  killtMl  for 

tiod«  becauM*  their  fl«>sh  was  unwholesome,  as  was  tht*  cas4»  with 

ttftain  fish  of  tht*  Nile — a  precaution  which  exten<l(Hl  to  S4inie 

of  thf  veg«'tablt'jt  of  th(*  country.     But  this  will  not  mrount  for 

ike  choietf  th«*v  nnnh*  in  nianv  instances ;  for  whv  should  not  the 

«aiiiel  and  horse  havt?  b<H*n  wlfctinl  fi>r  the  first,  ami  many  oth(*r 

CDQunun  animals  and  n*ptiK*s  for  the   List-mentioned   reascm? 


254  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

There  was,  as  Porphyry  observes,  some  other  hidden  motive, 
independent  of  these ;  and  whether  it  was,  as  Plutarch  supposes, 
founded  on  rational  grounds,  *  with  a  view  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  community,'  on  accidental  or  imaginary  analogy,  or  on 
mere  caprice,  it  is  equally  difficult  to  discover  it,  or  satisfactorily 
to  account  for  the  selection  of  certain  animals  as  the  exclusive 
types  of  particular  deities.  Porphyry  gives  another  reason  for 
the  worship  of  animals,  which  is  consistent  with  the  speculative 
notions  of  the  Egyptians ;  but  still  it  offers  no  elucidation  of  the 
question  respecting  the  preference  shown  to  some  before  others, 
nor  does  it  account  for  one  or  other  being  chosen  to  represent  a 
particular  attribute  of  the  deity.  '  The  Egyptian  priests,*  says 
that  writer,^ '  profiting  by  their  diligent  study  of  philosophy,  and 
their  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  nature  of  the  gods,  have 
learnt  that  the  Divinity  permeates  other  beings  as  well  as  man ; 
that  he  is  not  the  only  creature  on  earth  possessed  of  soul ;  and 
that  nearly  the  same  spiritual  essence  pervades  all  the  tribes  of 
living  creatures.  On  this  account,  in  fashioning  images  of  the 
gods,  they  have  adopted  the  forms  of  aU  animals,  sometimes 
joining  the  human  figure  with  those  of  beasts ;  at  others,  com- 
bining the  shapes  of  men  and  of  birds.  Wherefore  some  of  their 
images  have  the  form  of  a  man  up  to  the  neck,  with  the  face  of  a 
bird,  or  a  lion,  or  any  other  creature :  others,  again,  have  the  head 
of  a  man,  with  the  remainder  of  the  body,  either  the  upper  or 
lower  parts,  shaped  like  some  other  animal.  Thus  we  find  the 
lion  adored  £is  a  god ;  and  there  is  a  part  of  Egypt  called  the 
Z^ecwtopolite  nome,  from  the  lion,  another  called  the  -Bii«irite,' 
from  the  bull,  and  a  third  the  Lycopolitan,  from  the  wolf.  Under 
these  semblances  they  adore  the  universal  power  which  the  gods 
have  severally  displayed  in  the  various  forms  of  living  nature.* 
If,  as  he  supposes,  all  animals  had  been  admitted  by  them,^  this 
notion  of  the  universal  participation  of  the  divine  essence  would 
account  for  the  adoption  of  each  member  of  the  animated  creation 
as  the  representative  of  its  own  particular  portion  of  the  divinity 
from  whom  it  emanated.  But  the  difficulty  is  not  solved  by  this 
statement,  or  by  that  of  Plutarch,*  who  says,  *  Many  suppose  the 
soul  of  Typho  to  have  been  divided  amongst  those  animals^ — 


*  Porphyr.  de  Abstin.  iv.  c.  9.  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  73. 

*  Bovaipinis,    This  is  a  Greek  fancy.  ^  As  in  the  account  of  the  Aph6phi«,  a 
'  Cicero  is  also  wrong  in  saying,  *  Omne  form  of  Typhon,  being  cut  up  into  •nim»^ 

fere   genus   bestiarum   iEgyptii   consecra-  — S.  B 
Terunt,'    (De  Nat.  Deor.  iii.) 


.  XIV.]  DOCTRINE  OF  EMANATION.  255 

ii|riiifyin^  that  the  irrational  and  brutal  nature  proceeds  from 

tb©  Evil  Principle ;  and,  consequently,  all  the  reverence  paid  to 

theae  creatures  is  with  a  desifpi  to  pacify  him.*     Plutarch*  and 

Porphyry  attach  p:rcat  importance  to  the  doctrine  of  emanation, 

•ft    the  tviurce  of  animal-worship;  and  the  statements  of  those 

two  writers  tend  to  show  the  princi])le  which  gui<led  the  Ep^yp- 

tiiuss  in   their  speculations  respecting;]:  the  connection  between 

tbe  Creator  an<l  His  creatures.    The  doctrine  of  emanations  from 

one  great  soul,  to  which  all  returned  again,  after  having  been 

mfficiently  purified  from  the  contaminations  to  which  each  soul 

««■  subject  during  its  earthly  career,  formed  a  principal  feature 

of  their  religion ;  and  not  only  was  man,  or  the  human  soul, 

(tmsidercil  an   emanation   from   the  same  great  and  universal 

^rce,  but  every  animated  creature  was  supposed  to  partake  of 

it!  divine  essence.    This  idea  extended  even  to  '  herbs  and  stones,* 

^hich  were  thought  to  *  have  within  them  the  natural  property 

of  the  Divinity.*' 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe,'  that  the  idea  of  the 
hmnan  wiul.  which  was  an  emanation  from  the  great  soul  that 
Koremed  and  pervaded  the  universe,  returning   to  its  divine 
^ungiu  after  certain  purifications,  led  to  the  doctrine  of  the  trans- 
migration.    The  evil  propensities  of  man,  an<l  the  sinful  actions 
^  which  he  was  frequently  guilty,  were  thought  so  to  taint  the 
tariginal  purity  of  the  divine  nature  of  the  soul,  that,  on  leaving 
tibe  borly,  it  was  no  longer  in  a  fit  state  to  n^unite  itself  with  the 
taunaculate   Source   from   which   it   prociH.Mle<l :    they  therefore 
—ppomd  that  it  underwent  a  proportionate  degree  of  purification, 
%DeoidtDg  to  the  nature  of  the  impieties  each  in<livi<lual  had 
Committed.     For  this  purpose  it  was  condemne<l  to  a  state  of 
pargatory,  by  passing  through  the  bodies  of  various  animals.^ 
The  most  wicketl  were  confined  in  those  of  the  most  (Mliims  des(*rii>- 
tion,  as  the  ]>ig  and  others,  which  for  this  reasim  they  ItelievtMl  to 
W  fit  embli-ms  of  the  Evil  Iteing  ;*  nn<l  '  tht)8(',*  as  Plato*  makes 
Soermtes  say,  *  who  were  guilty  of  injustice,  tyranny,  and  rapine, 
mtered  into  the  tribes  of  wolves,  hawks,^  and  kites.* 

Hence  it  ap{»ear8  that  the  animals  they  hehl  sacreil,  whi(*h 
pvtook  more  immediately  of  the  divine  natun\  were  distinct 
fnan  those  into  which  the  *  souls  of  wicke<l  |H'rsons  |mssed  during 

'  fimt.  dc  Ui-i.  «.  77.  *  Ihi.l.  «.  M. 

'  Mvrciir.    Tritm^f;..  iHaUigiie  with  At-  '  lMftt«i,  Pllia^iii.  fi.  'J'J4  ;  tnin«.  Tavlor. 

rfa^  '  »^^pra^  loc  cit.  '  Tbii  wm  aixuriltDg  ti>  tti«  idtxt  %>(  thf 

*  riml.  d«  bid.  u  7J.  Greeks. 


256  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

the  period  of  their  transmigration ;  *  and  that  it  was  imparted 
to  some  in  a  direct  manner,  while  others  only  receiyed  it  through 
the  medium  of  other  influences. 

It  also  appears  that  intermediary  agents  and  daemons  were 
supposed  to  inhabit  the  bodies  of  certain  animals,  in  which  they 
visited  the  earth ;  and  conformably  to  this  notion,  the  numerous 
genii  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon  were  figured  with  the  heads  oi 
different  animals  distinct  from  the  deities  to  whom  those  ATiimRlfl 
were  peculiarly  sacred.  The  custom  of  representing  the  gods 
under  a  human  form  was  owing  to  their  considering  man  the 
intellectual  representatiye  of  the  Deity,  who  bore  the  stamp  oi 
the  mind  of  the  Creator,  and  the  only  created  being  who  was 
worthy  of  being  considered  a  likeness  of  the  Divine  Original ; 
and  in  adding  the  heads  of  particular  animals  they  probably 
alluded  to  certain  properties,  of  which  they  were  deemed  suitable 
emblems.  From  what  has  been  stated  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  sacred  animals  enjoyed  different  gradations  of  rank  ;  and 
the  same  respect  was  not  paid  to  the  crocodile,  whose  worship  was 
confined  to  particular  parts  of  the  country,  as  to  the  universally 
adored  ibis,  or  the  cow  of  Athor.  Some  were  in  themselves  sacred 
— ^being  looked  upon,  as  Strabo  and  Porphyry  say,  *  really  to  be 
gods ' — as  the  bull  Apis  and  others ;  some  were  adored  as  represen- 
tatives of  the  deities  to  whom  they  were  sacred ;  and  others  were 
only  emblems.  It  is  not,  however,  always  easy  to  ascertain  to  what 
degree  the  animals  were  held  sacred  by  the  Egyptians,  since  ancient 
authors  disagree  on  this  point.  Thus  we  find  that,  though  Strabo 
supposes  the  Oxyrhynchus  to  have  been  worshipped  throughout 
the  country,  Plutarch  says  the  Cynopolites  eat  this  fish ;  and  the 
dog,  which  the  geographer  considers  universally  sacred,  was  in 
like  manner,  out  of  revenge,  killed  and  eaten  by  the  people  of 
Oxyrhynchus.  Strabo's  words  ^  are,  *  All  the  Egyptians  venerate 
the  Oxyrhynchus  fish.  For  there  are  some  animals  which  every 
Egyptian  worships:  as  for  instance,  of  quadrupeds,  three — the 
ox,  the  dog,  and  the  cat ;  of  birds,  the  hawk  and  ibis ;  of  fish, 
two — the  Lepidotus  and  Oxyrhynchus.  Some  are  adored  in 
particular  places :  as  the  sheep,  by  the  Saites  and  Thebans ; 
the  Latus,  a  fish  of  the  Nile,  by  the  people  of  Latopolis ;  the 
wolf,  by  the  Lycopolites ;  the  Cynocephalus,  at  Hermopolis ; 
the  Cepus,  by  the  Babylonians  who  live  near  Memphis ;  .  .  .  . 
the  eagle,  by  the  Thebans ;  the  lion,  at  Leontopolis ;  the  goat. 


*  strabo,  xvii.  p.  559. 


Csu>.  XIT.]       SACBED  AND  NON-^ACBED  AMIMALa 


257 


by  the  MendeeiaQs;  the  U;^gald,  at  Athribis;  and  others  in 
different  places.'  The  bodies,  howevet,  of  all  animals  which 
were  found  dead  were  remoTed  and  buried,  as  might  be  reason- 
ftblf  expected,  since  this  regulation   arose    irom    a    sanitary 


pnesntion;  and  it  therefore  appears,  from  the  most  common 
kiitda,  u  horses,  asses,  and  others,  not  being  discoTered,  that  the 
fiabmnff  process  was  confined  to  certain  animals,  and  rarely 
extended  to  those  which  were  not  sacred  to  some  deity. 


In  order  to  enable  the  reader  to  distinguiah  the  sacred 
numals  of  Egypt,  I  shall  introduce  a  list  of  those  known  there 
ID  fiKmer  dmes,  and  point  out  such  as  appear,  from  the  aathority 
rf  competent  writera,  or  trom  being  found  embalmed  in  the 
tonbi,  to  hare  a  claim  to  that  title ;  arranging  them  under  their 
nqwctkTe  heads  of  mammalia,  birds,  reptiles,  fishes,  and  insects, 
lo  which  I  shall  add  some  of  the  holy  members  of  the  vegetable 
tangnfwii- 


268 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYFTXANS. 


[Chap.  X 


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THE  ANCIENT  EaTFTIANS. 


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THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa 


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LIST  OP  ANIMAIiS. 


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204 


THE  AKOIENT  EQYPTIANa 


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CJhap,  XIV.]  THE  CYNOCEPHALUS.  267 

Some  fSEtbulous  insects  may  also  be  cited,  as  well  as  fabulous 
nadnipeds,  which  were  chiefly  emblems  appropriated  to  parti- 
ular  gods,  or  representative  of  certain  ideas  connected  with 
ligion,  the  most  remarkable  of  which  were  scarabaei  with  the 
eads  of  hawks,  rams,  and  cows.     Of  these  many  are  found  made 
dT  pottery,  stone,  and  other  materials,  and  the  sculptures  represent 
e  beetle  with  a  human  head«     This  change  did  not  render 
em  less  fit  emblems  of  the  gods:  the  scarabaeus  of  the  sun 
spears  with  the  head  of  a  ram  as  well  as  a  hawk ;  and  the  god 
was  sometimes  figured  with  the  body  of  a  scarabaeus  and 
e  head  and  legs  of  his  usual  human  form. 
Haying  now  stated  the  name  of  the  deity  to  whom  they  were 
,  and  the  town  where  divine  honours  were  particularly 
id  to  them,  it  remains  to  add  a  few  remarks  on  the  comparative 
liums  of  each,  in  order  to  distinguish  the  animals  worshipped  as 
ities,  those  held  sacred  throughout  Egypt,  those  whose  worship 
confined  to  particular  districts,  and  those  which  were  revered 
eidy  out  of  respect  to  the  gods  of  whom  they  were  emblems. 
The  Cynocephalus  ape,^  which  was  particularly  sacred  to 
^^loth,  held  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  sacred  animals  of 
fjpt,  being  worshipped  as  the  type  of  the  god  of  letters,  and 
the  moon,  which  was  one  of  the  characters  of  Thoth.    It  was 
^^en  introduced  in  the   sculptures  as  the  god  himself,  with 
^llioth^  Lord  of  Letters,'  and  other  legends  inscribed  over  it ; 
^■^  in  astronomical  subjects  two  Cynocephali  are  frequently 
^^^piesented  standing  in  a  boat  before  the  sun  in  an  attitude  of 
t^tayer,  as  emblems  of  the  moon.'    Their  presence  in  a  similar 
yoit  with  a  pig  probably  refers  to  them  as  types  of  the  divinity 
^  whose  honour  that  animal  was  sacrificed ;    ^  the  moon  and 
'^Stochus,'  according  to  Herodotus,^  being  the  sole  'deities  to 
^hom  it  was  lawfcd  to  immolate  swine,  and  that  only  at  the  full 
^kiooQ.'  ^     But  their  presence  was  not  confined  to  Thoth  or  the 
^tMniL    On  two  sides  of  the  pedestals  of  the  obelisks  of  Luxor, 
Coor  CSynocephali  stand  in  the  same  attitude,  as  if  in  adoration  of 
tlie  deity  to  whom  those  monuments  were  dedicated ;  a  balustrade 
o^er  the  centre  doorway  of  the  temple  of  Amen  at  Medeenet 
fiaboo  is  ornamented  with  figures  of  these  animals ;  and  a  row  of 
tSiem  forms  the  cornice  of  the  exterior  of  the  great  temple  dedi- 


*  U  WM  eallad  aani,  and  came    from  ^  Plutarch  (de  Isid.  s.  8)  says,  'A  sow 

^^  «r  EtMopto,  Punt  or  Somali.  was  sacrificed  to  Typho  once  a  jear,  at 

'  BsiapoUo,  L  14, 15.       >  Herod,  ii.  47.      the  fall  moon.' 


268  THE  ANCHENT  BQYPTIANa  [Chap.XJK 

cated  to  Ba  at  AboosimbeL  Sometimes  a  CynocephaltiSy  placed 
upon  a  throne  as  a  god,  holds  a  small  ibis  in  his  hand ;  and  in 
the  judgment  scenes  of  the  dead  it  frequently  occurs  seated  on 
the  summit  of  the  balance,  as  the  emblem  of  Thoth,  who  had  an  , 
important  o£Sce  on  that  occasion,  and  registered  the  account  of 
the  actions  of  the  deceased. 

Horapollo  ^  states  some  curious  reasons  for  Cynocephali  being 
chosen  as  emblems  of  the  moon.     lamblichus  also  speaks  of 
certain  physical  analogies  common  to  them  and  to  ,that  lumi* 
nary ;  and  the  former  supposes  that  they  were  brought  up  in  the 
temples  in  order  to  enable  the  priests  to  ascertain  from  ihdr 
habits  the  exact  instant  of  the  conjunction  of  the  sun  and  moon. 
Several  equally  ridiculous  reasons  are  giyen  for  their  rebtion 
to  Thoth,  and  to  other  hieroglyphic  symbols.    The  place  where 
this  animal  was  particularly  sacred  was  Hermopolis,  the  dty  of 
Thoth.    Thebes  and  other  towns  also  treated  it  with  the  respect 
due  to  the  representative  of  the  Egyptian  Hermes ;  and  in  the 
Necropolis  of  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt  a  particular  spot  m 
set  apart  as  the  cemetery  of  the  sacred  apes.    There  were  lifing 
Cynocephali  attached  to  the  temple  of  the  god  Ehons  at  Eanak. 
Mummies  of  the  Cynocephalus  are  put  up  in  a  sitting  postue, 
which  is  that  usuaQy  given  to  the  animal  in  the  sculptoies 
when  representing  the  god  Thoth ;  and  its  head  forms  one  ol 
the  covers  of  the  four  sepulchral  vases  deposited  in  the  tomlia 
of  the  dead.    It  was  then  the  type  of  the  god  Hapi,  one  of  the 
four  genii  of  Amenti,  who  was  always  figured  with  the  head  of  s 
Cynocephalus.     Many  of  this  species  of  ape  were  tamed  and 
kept  by  the  Egyptians,  and  the  paintings  show  that  they  were 
even  trained  for  useful  purposes,  as  I  have  already  had  ocoaaon 
to  observe. 

It  was  a  native  of  Ethiopia,  as  Pliny'  and  other  anthon 
state,  where  it  is  still  common ;  and  many  are  brou^t  down  to 
Cairo  at  the  present  day  to  amuse  the  crowds  in  the  streets,  by 
exhibiting  the  antics  they  are  taught,  to  the  sound  of  drums 
and  other  noisy  instruments;  but  the  constant  application  of 
the  stick  shows  the  little  respect  now  paid  in  Egypt  to  the 
once  revered  emblem  of  Hermes. 

Strabo  agrees  with  other  writers  '  in  stating  that  the  Henn<>* 
politans  worshipped  the  Cynocephalus.    He  afterwards  mentions 


1  Horapollo,  i.  14 ;  and  Piin.  viii.  54.  <  Plin.  vii.  2,  and  riii.  54. 

*  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  559. 


ICONKETa 


269 


«%'  which  was  sacred  in  Babylon,'  near  Memphis;  but 
I  description  of  that  animal,  '  with  a  face  like  a  satyr, 
mt  between  a  dog  and  a  bear,*  we  may  suppose  he  had 
the  sacred  ape  of  Thoth,  as  no  animal  worshipped  in 
mawers  his  description  so  well  as  the  Cynocephalns.' 
it  is  possible  that  he  mistook  the  Cynocephalns  of 
olis  for  one  of  the  smaller  kind  of  monkeys,  and  applied 
16  Cebus  to  the  sacred  type  of  the  £g3rptian  Hermes. 
father  confirmed  by  the  account  given  by  Pliny  ^  of  '  the 
riioae  hind-feet  resembled  human  feet  and  thighs,  and 
ttti  were  like  human  hands,*  and  by  its  being  '  a  natire 
ypuL  Some  might  suppose  that  he  had  in  view  the 
ian  figure  which  occurs  so  often  in  the  astronomical  sub- 
it  this  is  generally  represented  with  the  head  of  a  hippo- 
I  and  the  body  of  a  b^,  or  of  some  fisnciful  monster.* 
green  monkey  of  Ethiopia  was  frequently  brought  to 
rith  the  Cynocephalus  by  those  who  paid  tribute  to  the 
r  Egypt :  there  is,  howeveri  no  evidence  of  its  having 
nd  to  any  deity. 

ft  writers  mention  the  Ceroopithecus,  which  seems  to  have 
■arkable  for  the  length  of  its  tail.*  This  might  even 
•  the  green  monkey  of  Ethiopia.  Indeed,  Pliny's  descrip- 
Ae  Cercopithecus  with  a  black  head  accords  with  one 
ilill  found  there.^  They  seem  to  have  been  embalmed 
m  and  other  places,  and  may  therefore  have  some  claim 
ik  among  the  animals  revered  by  the  Egyptians ;  and  if 
believe  Juvenal,*  the  Cercopithecus  was  worshipped  in 
tad  of  the  Thebaid.  It  was  frequently  represented  as  an 
i  in  necklaces,  in  common  with  other  animals,  flowers, 
siftal  devices;  and  the  neck  of  a  bottle  was  sometimes 
d  with  two  sitting  monkeys. 


■embliDg  •  CjDocephmlns  foand  at  Hem- 
o|iolii.  (PettigrcwoD  Mammie*,  p.  184; 
and  PiMilaogna'a  CaUlo^ne,  p.  14i^.) 

*  riia.  Tiii.  19.  £lun,  Nat.  An. 
iTii.  8. 

*  Tb«  mookfj  vith  the  nnme  knf,  *  mon- 
key/ ap|M-ar4  un<ler  th«  chair  nf  a  |ierMin 
who  llrtd  i:i  the  nign  of  ('hei>pft  (1^|i»ia», 
*  Denkn..'  Abth.  it.  Bl.  :)(>),  pruTinie  that 
the  wurd  i«  mnch  older  than  the  .Siin«crit 
form,  and  ap|»arently  Kgrptian. — S.  B. 

*  *  St  mihi  Cauda  forrt  «:rrrti|>itbrcui 
«ram.* 

'  PI  in.  (riii.  21)  doe«  not  plare  the  iVr- 
copithecnt  among  the  munkeT  tribe. 

*  Jut.  Sat.  it.  4. 


I  trident  1 J   the  (Igrptian  ^af 
.,    though   applied   to  the 


a  fo  the  )«iboon  or  Crnoce- 
Wtkm  eridentlr  »np|MMea  the 
M  to  be  diAVreot  from  t  he  Cebnt, 
Ib  «Tor.  The  worl  *a|>e/  in 
.SI,  ia  kyf  {kttfim),  and  the  Mm<» 
ftkam  ka/.      Bat    the   wi>rd    u 

lien  town  tif  <M>1  Cain>  ^taniU 
■#  Babjlun.  of  which  the  pno- 
V  an  th«  kunian  ktatmn  men- 
(ivii.  |i.  5.'i5). 
l«n  MeatiMns   a  monster  re- 


270  THE  ANCIENT  BOYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

The  bat  is  represented  in  the  paintings  of  Beni-Hassan.  It 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  sacred,  nor  do  I  know  any  instance 
of  its  being  fonnd  embalmed.  Egypt  produces  several  species, 
some  of  which  are  of  great  size.  The  ancient  Egyptians  classed 
it  among  birds ;  but  this  was  probably  in  reference  to  the  element 
in  which  it  moved,  in  the  same  manner  as  they  introduced  the 
crocodile  and  hippopotamus  with  the  fish  of  the  Nile. 

Small  figures  of  the  hedgehog  were  sometimes  made  of 
earthenware  and  other  materials  to  senre  as  ornaments.  Lamps 
of  terra-cotta  are  also  met  with  in  the  tombs  haying  the  form  of  , 
this  animaL  They  do  not,  howeyer,  appear  to  haye  been  con-  i 
nected  with  a  religious  feeling;  but,  like  the  small  porcelain 
figures  of  the  ibex,  hippopotamus,  fly,  frog,  and  others,  frequently 
found  in  Egypt,  were  probably  intended  for  ornamental  purposes, 
and  frequently  used  as  toys  or  trinkets.^ 

The  Mygdls^  or  shrewmouse  held  a  conspicuous  place  amongst 
the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt;   but  I  neyer  obseryed  any  repre- 
sentation of  it  in  sculptures  relating  to  the  religion  or  the  natural 
history  of  the  country.     It  has  been  found  embalmed  in  the 
tombs  of  Thebes,  and  Passalacqua  has  thence  brought  specimens 
of  two  species.    It  is  remarkable  that  one  of  these  is  la^r  thaB 
any  with  which  we  are  acquainted.     Herodotus'  tells  us  that 
they  remoyed  the  shrews  which  died  to  Butos,  where  they  wer0 
buried,  in  consequence  of  their  being  sacred  to  Buto  or  Latona* 
the  goddess  of  that  city ;  and  Plutarch^  asserts  that  it  receiye^ 
diyine  honours  from  being  blind,  and  was  therefore  looked  upofi 
as  a  proper  emblem  of  darkness,  which  was  more  ancient  thafi 
light    The  notion  of  its  blindness  they  doubtless  deriyed  froi^ 
its  habit  of  coming  forth  only  at  night,  when  all  was  darkness 
and  from  their  impression  that  no  animal  who  had  the  power  & 
sight  could  neglect  to  take  adyantage  of  so  yaluable  a  gift ;  ba^ 
however  we  may  ridicule  the  Egyptians  for  belieying  the  blind- 
ness of  the  Mygale,  we  find  a  parallel  in  the  proverbial  stigmi 
we  have  attached  to  the  mole  and  the  bat. 

I  have  already  noticed  the  character  of  the  goddess  Buto  al 
Latona,  of  whom  it  was  the  emblem.  According  to  the  meta- 
physical notions  of  the  priesthood,  she  was  that  primordia] 
'darkness  which  covered  the  deep,'  represented,  according  to 
their  custom,  by  the  name  and  under  the  form  of  a  deity.     The 


*  It  is  seen  as  an  animal  of  the  fields  or  chase. — S.  B.         '  Sorex  myoaunu.  Pall. 
»  Hcrodot.  ii.  67.  *  Pint.  Symp.  It.  quest.  6. 


Got.  XIV.]  THE  MTOALE— THE  BEAB.  271 

gods  of  Egypt  consisted,  as  I  have  frequently  shown,  of  abstract 

ideas,  as  well  as  those  things  on  which  the  divine  intellect  operated. 

Of  this  system  an  idea  may  be  obtained  from  many  parts  of  the 

Mbnic  acconnt  of  the  Creation ;  and  the  second  verse  of  (renesis 

aiglit  present  to  an  Egyptian  at  least  six  members  of  his  Fan- 

thaon,  in  the  Earth,  Chaos,  Darkness,  the  Deep,  the  Spirit  of 

God,  and  the  Waters.    Bnt  a  similar  abstruse  notion  was  beyond 

the  teach  of  the  uninstmcted.    They  were  contented  to  see  in 

Lfltooa  the  nnrse  of  Horns  ;^  and  the  Mygale  was  said  to  be  the 

Munud  whose  form  she  assnmed  to  elade  the  pursuit  of  Typhon, 

mh&a  he  sought  to  destroy  the  son  of  Osiris,  who  had  been  com- 

■itted  to  her  charge.    I  have  already  shown  that  the  Mygale  is 

ioud  embalmed  at  Thebes,  and  that  the  burying-place  of  this 

aumal  was  not  confined  to  Butos.^    Strabo,  indeed,  would  lead 

m  to  infer  that  Athribis  vied  with  that  city  in  the  honours  it 

beitowed  upon  the  emblem  of  Latona ;'  and  if  he  is  correct  in 

lUs  assertion,  the  relationship,  or  perhaps  the  identity,  of  Buto 

ad  the  lion-headed  goddess  Thriphis  may  be  established.    The 

Athribis  mentioned  by  the  geographer  was  the  capital  of  a  nome 

cf  the  same  name,  lying  between  Bubastis  and  the  Nile.   Another 

Athribis  stood  in  Upper  Egypt,  in  the  nome  of  Aphrodit<>|)oli8, 

to  the  Libyan  range  of  hills,  where  extensive  mounds  and 

of  a  temple  still  mark  its  site.    It  was  also  called  Croco- 

dih^lis ;  but  tradition  has  retained  the  name  of  Athribis  in  the 

Coptic  Athrebi.    The  inmates  of  the  White  Monastery,  which 

sIbkIs  in  the  vicinity,  designate  it  by  that  of  Atrib,  or  Medeenet 

Asheysh ;  and  the  inscription  on  one  of  the  fallen  architraves  of 

tte  temple  distinctly  shows  that  the  goddess,  as  well  as  the  city, 

bon  the  name  of  Thriphis. 

Herodotus  ^  says  *  bears  are  rare  in  Egypt,'  but  there  is  little 
denbt  that  this  animal  was  always  unknown  there ;  and  the  only 
■stance  of  it  in  the  paintings  or  sculptures  is  when  brought  by 
iofeigners  to  Egypt  among  the  gifts  annually  presented  to  the 
Fhenohs.  It  is  therefore  singular  that  l^rospcr  Alpini^  of 
Fidiia  should  assert  it  to  be  a  native  of  that  oountrv,  and 
deenibe  it  *  as  not  larger  than  our  sheep,  of  a  whitish  colour, 
easilv  tamed  and  less  fierce  than  our  own.' 


'  HcrwlM.  ii.  ]r»6.  Kh^tn.*  or  S«'khem,  ami  do  out  mention  Uat 

*  TV*   lOK-riptioDii   pl.ic«<l  br  th#  d«*iU  or  Uuto. — 8.  Ii. 

••  tke  pcd««talt  of  th«  tmall  broDXit  '  Stnibts  xvti.  p.  h'tO. 

of  th<   Mt^a)^  call   it  //otki  x<^'  *  Hcntilot.  ii.  67. 

*Hvnu,    who   dwell*    io   th^  re^^ion  *  Prosper  Alpious  Hist.  Nat.  .f-'^..  ir.  9. 


272  THE  ANCIENT  BGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

According  to  Plutarch,^  the  soul  of  Typho  was  fabled  by  the 
Egyptians  to  have  been  translated  into  the  constellation  of  the 
Bear.^  This  notion  is  probably  derived  from  the  frequent  repre> 
sentations  of  a  Typhonian  monster  in  astronomicfld  subjects; 
which  are  the  more  remarkable,  since  they  date  from  the  early 
period  of  the  18th  Dynasty.  That  writer  also  asserts'  that '  the 
weasel  was  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians,  as  well  as  the  asp  and 
beetle,  on  account  of  certain  resemblances  (obscure  as  they  are) 
which  those  creatures  are  thought  to  present  to  the  operations 
of  the  divine  power,  like  the  image  of  the  sun  seen  in  drops  of 
rain.  For  there  are  many  who  think,  and  are  ready  to  assert, 
that  the  weasel  engenders  at  the  ear,  and  brings  forth  her 
young  at  the  mouth,  and  they  consequently  look  upon  it  as  a 
just  symbol  of  the  divine  reason.'  From  his  having  already 
mentioned  the  Ichneumon,  it  is  evident  he  does  not  allude  to 
that  animal ;  and  we  are  therefore  bound,  on  his  authority,  to 
give  the  weasel  a  place  among  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt. 
Porphyry  says,  that  *  the  weasel,  the  beetle,  and  the  crocodile 
were  emblems  of  the  sun ; '  and  lamblichus  ^  considers  *  the  dog, 
Cynocephalus,  and  ipecuel  common  to  the  moon.' 

It  is  on  the  authority  of  Herodotus  *  that  the  otter  is  men- 
tioned amongst  the  animals  of  Egypt;  but  I  have  already 
observed  that  it  is  unknown  in  Egypt,  and  that  he  probably 
had  in  view  the  large  Laceria  NUotica  or  monitor  of  the  Nile, 
— the  name  enhydris,  or  '  water  animal,'  being  too  vague  to  be 
exclusively  applied  to  the  otter.  Whatever  this  was,  he  asserts 
it  to  have  been  sacred ;  and  had  he  not  mentioned  the  Ichneu- 
mon,"  we  might  feel  certain  that  he  had  taken  it  for  the  otter 
(if  by  enhydris  he  meant  to  designate  that  particular  inhabitant 
of  the  water),  and  I  have  known  the  same  mistake  to  have  been 
made  by  modem  travellers.  Indeed,  though  Herodotus  was 
aware  of  the  existence  of  the  Ichneumon  in  Egypt,  he  may 
have  been  led  into  this  error  on  seeing  it  in  the  river ;  and  it 
is  more  likely  that  the  Ichneumon  should  be  mistaken  for  an 
otter  than  the  monitor  of  the  Nile. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  find  my  last  opinion  fully  con- 
firmed by  Ammianus  Marcellinus,^  who  says  it  is  *  the  Hydru$,  a 
"kind  of  Ichneumon,'  which  attacks  the  crocodile ;  and  the  name 

»  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  21.  '  Plut.  de  hid.  s.  74. 

*  The  only  bear  seen  in  the  sculptures  *  lamblichus,  de  Myster.,  sect.  r.  c  8. 

is  the  cinnamon-coloured  bear,  Ursus  Syri-  *  Herodot.  ii.  72. 

acus,  brought   as  tribute  by  the  Rutennu  •  Ibid.  ii.  67. 

or  Syrians. — S.  B.  '  Ammian.  Marcell.  xxii.  14,  p.  336. 


aiAT.  ZIY.]  THE  DOG.  273 

f  Enhydrua,  given  it  by  Sol  inns  and  Isidonifl,  adde<l  to  the 
hwrration  of  Hesychius,  who  describes  ^the  Enhydrus  as  an 
DBphibioos  animal,  like  the  beaver/  may  suffice  to  show  that 
le  £nhvdris  of  Herodotus  is  no  other  than  the  ichneumon. 

The  dog  was  held  in  great  veneration  in  many  parts  of 
Igypt,  particularly  at  the  city  of  Cynopolis,  where  it  was 
seated  with  divine  honours.  Strabo  tells  us  a  stated  quantity 
r  provisions  was  always  supplied  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  city 
IT  the  maintenance  of  their  favourite  animals ;  and  so  tenacious 
they  of  the  respect  due  to  them,  that  a  civil  war  raged  fur 
time  between  them  and  the  people  of  Oxyrhynchus,  in 
omcqnence  of  the  latter  having  killed  and  eaten  them.  This 
lad  been  dune  in  n*venge  for  an  insult  they  had  received  from 
he  Cynopolites,  who  had  brought  to  table  their  sacred  fish.^  *  In 
lacient  times,'  says  I'lutarch,^  *  the  Egyptians  paid  the  greatest 
reverence  and  honour  to  the  dog ;  but  by  reason  of  his  eating 
of  the  flesh  of  Apis,  after  Cambyses  had  slain  it  and  thrown  it 
oat,  when  no  other  animal  would  taste  or  even  come  near  it, 
We  kst  the  first  rank  he  had  hitherto  held  amongst  the  sacred 
saimals.* 

Bach  is  the  opinion  of  Plutarch ;  but  it  may  lie  doubted  if 

Ae  dog  ever  enjoyed  the  same  exalted  rank  among  the  sacred 

ttiBiaU  as  the  cat  and  many  others,  however  much  it  was  es- 

tacmed  by  the  Egyptians  fur  its  fidelity.     It  was  sacred,^  but 

M  onivenuilly  wurship{)ed.   It  was  not  held  in  the  same  repute  in 

cwj  part  of  Egypt,  as  we  have  already  seen  from  the  disputt^s 

btlween  the  Cyn(i|>ulites  and  Oxyrhynchites ;  nor  was  it  looked 

iponaaone  ofthusc' whi(*li  were  worshipiHMl  by  the  whole  nation, 

II vera  the  ibis,  the  hawk,  the  Cynoi*ephalu8,  and  the  Apis.'* 

Tke  assertion  of  Plutarch  re8])ecting  the  disgmce   into   which 

the  dog   fell  may   l»e  justly  duubtinl ;   and    Ilerudotus,   nhose 

Mthority  is  to  be  preferreil,   in   his   acrount   of  Apis's  death, 

aad  the  care  taken  by  the  priests  to  bury  its  ImhIv,  disproves 

kii  statement,  and  stanijis  it  with  the  fabulouR  chanR*ter  which 

belongs  t4»  iMi  many  of  the  stories  contained   in  the  treatise  of 

*Us  and  Osiris.'     Indee<I,  the  idea  seems  S4)  neurlv  conm^cteil 

with  the  group  of  th«*  god  Mithras,  where  the  dog  is  represented 

iseding  on  the  hloml  (»f  the  slaughtered  ox,  that  there  is  reason 

to  believe  the  story  derived  its  origin  fn»ni  the  Persian  idol. 

■  Pl«t.d«  Itid.  II.  72.     Strabo  (irii.  p.  *  VUu*  (CinrcM*.  p.  '^^A,   traaO.)  ralU 

M>  HTt  the  OxrrhvDi  hu!»  ti-h  wan  lacred  it  'nn«  lY  th»  •li?itiv»  i>l  r.kCTpt.'  I'lut.  ilr 
•  aU  Ec7pC        '   *  i'lut.  a«  kill.  i.  44.  hid.  u.  7J,  70.  *  Ibi.l.  •.  73. 

VOL.  III.  T 


274  THE  ANCIENT  EQYPTIANa  [Ohaf.  XTV. 

Among  those  who  acknowledged  the  sacred  character  of  the 
dogy  the  respect  it  received  was  very  remarkable ;  for  whenever 
one  of  those  animals  died  a  natural  death,  all  the  inmates  of 
the  house  shaved  their  heads  and  their  whole  body;^  and  if 
any  food,  whether  wine,  com,  or  anything  else,  happened  to 
be  in  the  house  at  the  time,  it  was  forbidden  to  be  applied  to 
any  use. 

According  to  some  ancient  authors,  the  dog  was  fietbled  to 
have  been  the  guard  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  and  to  have  been  revered 
on  account  of  its  assisting  Isis  in  her  search  after  the  dead  body 
of  her  husband ;  ^  for  which  reason,'  they  add,'  *  dogs  are  made  to 
head  the  procession  in  the  ceremonies  of  Isis,  as  if  to  record  their 
utility  on  that  occasion.' 

Herodotus  does  not  confine  the  burying-place  of  the  dog  to 
any  particular  district.  *  Every  one,'  he  says,  *  inters  them  in 
their  own  town,  where  they  are  deposited  in  sacred  cheats ;'* 
and  if  their  funeral  rites  were  performed  with  greater  honour  in 
the  Gynopolite  nome,  it  is  evident,  from  the  mummies  found  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  that  great  care  was  taken  in  the 
mode  of  embalming  them  in  other  places.  We  are  told  ^  that, 
having  been  properly  prepared  by  the  embalmers  of  ftninni^  and 
wrapped  in  linen,  they  were  deposited  in  the  tombs  allotted  to 
them,  the  bystanders  beating  themselves  in  token  of  grief,  and 
uttering  lamentations  in  their  honour. 

According  to  Clemens  of  Alexandria,*  two  dogs  were  the 
emblems  of  the  two  hemispheres.  HorapoUo  *  pretends  that  the 
dog  represents  '  a  scribe,^  a  prophet,  laughter,  the  spleen,'  and 
other  things  equally  improbable ;  and  lamblichus  *  supposes  a 
certain  physical  analogy  in  the  dog,  as  well  as  the  Cynocephalus 
and  the  weasel,  with  the  moon.  But  the  latter  evidently  con- 
founds the  moon  or  Thoth  with  the  other  Mercury,  Anubis,  to 
whom  the  dog  was  thought  to  be  sacred.  The  greatest  number 
of  dog-mummies  that  I  met  with  in  Egypt  were  at  the  small 
town  of  El  Hareib,  a  little  below  the  modem  Manfal6ot,  at 
Thebes,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Shar6na.  But  it  is  probable  that 
every  town  had  a  place  of  interment  set  apart  for  them,  as  for 
other  animals  that  died  and  were  buried  at  the  public  expense, 


'  Herodot.  ii.  66.     Diod.  i.  84.  the  dog    he  means  the  so-called  jackal, 

•  Diod.  i.  87.  and  is  right.— S.  B.] 

'  Herodot.  ii.  77.  '  Perhaps  a  mistake  arising    from    the 

*  Diod.  i.  84.  Cynocephalus  being  the  sym^l  of  Thoth 

*  Clemens,  Strom,  lib.  t.  and  of  letters: 

•  HorapoUo,  I.  39,  40,  and  ii.  22.  [By          •  Iambi,  de  Myst.  sect.  y.  c.  8. 


CsAP.xiy.] 


ANUBIS  NOT  DOG-HEADED. 


275 


which,  having  accidentally  escaped  the  researches  of  modem 
excayators,  remain  unknown. 

The  different  breeds  of  dogs  in  Egypt  I  have  already  men- 

tionedy  which  were  kept  by  chasseurs  and  others  for  the  same 

purposes  as  at  the  present  day.    According  to  JElian,  they  were 

the  most  fleet  in  pursuit  of  game ;  and  the  same  quickness  seems 

tx>  have  taught  them  a  mode  of  avoiding  the  crocodile  while 

drinking  at  the  Nile.    'For,  fearing  to  stop  in  one  spot,  lest 

-fcliey  should  be  carried  off  by  one  of  those  animals,  they  run  by 

-the  edge  of  the  stream,  and,  licking  the  water  as  they  pass,  they 

xnay  be  said  to  snatch,  or  even  to  steal,  a  draught,  before  their 

^nemy  lurking  beneath  the  surface  can  rise  to  the  attack.'^ 

Iliis  is  not  the  only  remarkable  peculiarity  mentioned  by 

lian,'  who  had  heard  (for  the  naturalist  always  defends  him- 

tU  with  the  words  '  I  hear' )  that  socialism  already  existed 

a,ziiong  the  dogs  of  Memphis,  who,  depositing  all  they  stole  in 

oxi.e  place,  met  together  to  enjoy  a  common  repast. 

I  now  proceed  to  notice  an  error  which  has  been  repeated  by 

ancient  Greek  and  Boman  writers,  respecting  the  god  Anubis, 

wlio  is  universally  represented  by  them  with  the  head  of  a  dog. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  names  of  those  who  have 

repeated  this  fable.     The  dog  was  universally  believed  by  all 

^t  the  Egyptians  themselves  to  be  the  peculiar  type  of  Anubis. 

Boman  sculptors  went  so  far  as  to  represent  him  with  the  dog's 

^^  they  thought  he  bore  in  the  temples  of  the  Nile ;  and  the 

igiummce  of  poets  and  others  who  persisted  in  describing  Anubis 

^  a  dog-headed  god,  is  only  equalled  by  that  which  led  them  to 

giTe  a  female  character  to  the  sphinx.    It  was  the  jackal,  and 

not  the  dog,  which  was  the  emblem  of  Anubis ;  and  if  this  god 

VBi  really  worshipped  as  the  presiding  deity  of  Cynopolis,  as 

Knne  have  maintained,^  it  was  probably  in  consequence  of  the 

jidcBl  and  the  dog  having  been  included  under  the  same  generic 

denomination.    But  no  representation  occurs  of  Anubis  with  the 

liaad  of  that  animal.    The  dog  is  rarely,  if  ever,  found  except  as 

a  domestic  animal  in  Egyptian  sculpture :   the  only  one  I  re- 

nember  to  have  seen,  which  had  any  reference  to  a  sacred 

mbjecty  was  in  a  mutilated  statue  representing  a  man  seated 

beneath  the  animal's  head,  in  the  attitude  common  to  figures 

finmd  in  the  tombs;   and  the  hieroglyphics  accompanying  it 

plainly  show  it  to  have  been  a  funeral  group.    But  it  is  possible 


*  jEIUb,  Nat.  An.  ri.  53. 


•  Ibid.  vii.  19. 


'  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  558. 
T   2 


i 


276  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [C^ap.  XIV. 

that  eyen  this  was  intended  to  represent  a  jackal ;  for  unless  the 
exact  character  of  the  latter  has  been  carefully  maintained,  it  is 
difficulty  in  a  mutilated  statue,  to  distinguish  between  it  and  the 
Egyptian  fox-dog;  and  from  its  forming  part  of  a  funeral  group, 
and  therefore  connected  with  Anubis,  it  is  more  likely  to  have 
been  intended  for  the  jackal  than  the  dog.  I  have  restored  the 
lost  portions  of  it  in  the  drawing  given  in  woodcut  No.  540.  The 
hieroglyphics  are  eyidently  of  early  time ;  and  if  it  was  really 
intended  to  represent  a  dog,  it  only  goes  to  prove  that  this 
animal  was  also  dedicated  to  Anubis. 

The  fidelity  of  the  dog  and  its  utility  to  man  were  no  doubt 
the  original  causes  of  its  being  admitted  amongst  the  sacred 
animals  of  Egypt;  and  it  is  evident  from  the  paintings  that 
it  enjoyed  great  privileges  as  a  domestic  animal,  being  the 
constant  companion  of  persons  of  all  classes,  as  in  European 
countries  at  the  present  day.  It  accompanied  them  in  their 
walks,  assisted  them  in  the  chase,  and  was  kept  as  a  favourite 
in  the  house. 

A  similar  regard  is  not  extended  to  it  by  the  modem  Egyp- 
tians, whose  Moslem  prejudices  consider  it  an  unclean  animaL 
Even  a  MdleM,  the  most  liberal  of  the  four  sects  in  favour  of  the 
dog,  would  not  touch  the  nose  or  the  wet  hairs  of  this  animal 
without  thinking  himself  defiled  and  bound  to  submit  to  purifica- 
tion from  the  contact.  The  dog  is  therefore  seldom  admitted 
into  the  houses  of  the  Moslems,  who  even  believe  that,  indepen- 
dently of  its  being  unclean,  its  presence  within  doors  keeps  away 
the  good  spirits  from  their  abode.  But  it  is  not  ill-treated,  and 
those  which  are  wild  in  the  streets  are  fed  by  morsels  occa- 
sionally thrown  to  them  during  a  repast ;  and  small  tanks  of 
water  placed  at  the  comers  of  the  streets  are  regularly  filled  for 
their  use.  The  name  of  dog  applied  to  any  man  is,  as  might  be 
supposed,  a  great  term  of  reproach  among  the  Moslems,  *  a  Jew's 
dog,'  the  lowest  caste  of  dog,  being  the  unapproachable  climax ; 
but  it  appears  somewhat  inconsistent  in  us  to  choose  the  dog  as 
the  most  uncomplimentary  designation,  when  we  are  disposed  to 
speak  so  favourably  of  that  faithful  animal.  This,  however,  may 
be  accounted  for  by  early  impressions  received  from  the  Bible,^ 
and  some  other  causes. 

The  name  of  the  wolf,  in  Coptic  ouonsh,  is   satisfactorily 


»  With  the  Jews  a  '  dead  dog '  was  the  greatest  term  of  reproach.     Cf.  2  Sam.  xvi.  9, 
2  Kings  viii.  13,  for  the  term  *dog.* 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  WOLF.  277 

flhown  from  the  hieroglyphics  to  hare  been  the  same  in  olden 
times ;  the  figure  of  the  wolf,  like  the  other  wild  beasts,  being 
iuxx>mpanied  by  its  phonetic  name^  in  the  paintings  of  Beni- 
JBEassan.     It  was    peculiarly  sacred   at   Lycopolis,^  in  Upper 
JElgypty  where  wolf -mummies   are   found    in  small  excavated 
^ihambers  in  the  rock,  behind  the  modern  town  of  E'Sioot ;  and 
-^he  coins  of  the  Lycopolite  nome,  in  the  time  of  the  Empire, 
on  their  reverse  a  wolf,  with  the  word  Lyco.    *In  that 
Lome  alone  of    all  Egypt,'  says  Plutarch,^  'the    people  eat 
}f  because  the  wolf  does,  whom  they  revere  as  a  god;' 
id  Diodorus^  includes  the  wolf  among   the  animals  which 
)r  death  were  treated  with  the  same  respect  as  during  their 
J  -jfetime^  like  the  cat,  ichneumon,  dog,  hawk,  ibis,  crocodile, 
others. 

Herodotus  *  observes  that  the  wolves  of  Egypt  were  scarcely 

^r  than  foxes ;  Aristotle  ^  considers  them  inferior  in  size  to 

of  Greece ;  and  Pliny '  says  they  were  small  and  inactive, 

'hich  is  fully  proved  by  modem  experience.     In  their  habits 

ley  are  also  unlike  the  wolves  of  Europe,  as  they  never  range 

packs,  but  generally  prowl  about  singly ;   nor  do  I  ever  re- 

L^mber  having  seen  more  than  two  together,  either  in  the  desert 

in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.    Sonnini's  erroneous  assertion,  that 

"•^e  wolf  and  fox  are  not  found  in  Egypt,  I  have  already  noticed ; 

^i^iid,  as  the  learned  Larcher  justly  observes,  the  historian  of  Hali- 

^^massus,  'an  Asiatic  by  birth,  must  have  known  the  jackal^ 

y\dck  was  common  to  all  Asia  Minor,  as  well  as  the  wolf;  and 

tf  lie  knew  them  both,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  have  mistaken 

^jackal  for  a  wolf.' 

Herodotus  mentions^  a  festival  which  still  continued  to  be 
^hrated  during  his  visit  to  Egypt,  and  which  was  reported  to 
hre  been  instituted  to  commemorate  the  descent  of  King  Bhamp- 
onitus  to  the  lower  regions,  where  he  played  at  dice  with  Ceres. 
'On  this  occasion,'  says  the  historian,  *  one  of  the  priests  being 
elad  in  a  cloak  of  tissued  stuff,  made  on  the  very  day  of  the  cere- 
mony, and  having  his  eyes  covered,  is  conducted  to  the  road 
JeadLig  to  the  temple  of  Ceres,  and  there  left.    Two  wolves  then 
take  him  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess,  distant  about  20  stades 
(2jk  miles)  from  the  city,  and  afterwards  bring  him  back  to  the 


*  An$k :  it  wat  also  applied  to  a  kind  of         *  Herodot.  ii.  67. 

B.  *  Aristotle,  Hist.  Anim.  lib.  viii.  28. 


»  Stnbo,  xTii.  p.  559.  '  Pliny,  viii.  22. 

*  Plat,  dc  laid.  a.  72.        «  Diodor.  i.  83.         •  Herodot  ii.  122. 


278  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

same  spot/  Herodotus'  very  naturally  treats  this  idle  story  as 
it  deserves.  But  we  may  infer,  from  the  wolf  being  mentioned 
with  the  goddess  Ceres,  that  the  animal  was  connected  with  some 
of  the  rites  of  Isis;  and  Eusebius^  states  that  the  wolf  was 
honoured  in  Egypt  because  Isis  with  her  son  Horns,  being  on 
the  point  of  encountering  Typho,  was  assisted  by  Osiris  under 
the  form  of  a  wolf. 

Diodorus,^  after  saying  '  that  some  suppose  the  wolf  to  have 
been  honoured  on  account  of  the  affinity  observed  between  it 
and  the  dog/  states  that  *  they  give  another  but  more  fabulous 
reason/  which  is  similar  to  that  mentioned  by  Eusebius.  *  They 
pretend/  says  the  historian,  *  that  Osiris  came  from  Hades  in  the 
shape  of  a  wolf,  to  assist  Isis  and  her  son  Horns,  when  preparing 
to  give  battle  to  Typho;  and  the  latter  being  defeated,  the 
conquerors  paid  religious  respect  to  the  animal  to  whose  appear* 
ance  they  attributed  the  victory.  Others  affirm  that  during  an 
invasion  of  the  Ethiopians,  a  large  body  of  wolves  having  routed 
the  enemy  and  driven  them  out  of  Egypt,  beyond  the  city  of 
Elephantine,  their  worship  became  established  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  which  received  the  name  of  the  Lycopolite  Nome.' 
With  this  fable  may  be  connected  the  statement  of  Macrobius,' 
that '  the  Thebiuc  city  Lycopolis  venerates  Apollo  (Horns)  and 
the  wolf  with  similar  honours ;'  though  his  etymological  sug- 
gestions abound  with  the  combined  fancies  of  the  Bomans  and 
the  Greeks. 

Fabulous  as  are  these  tales,  they  tend  to  show  that  the 
worship  of  this  animal  had  reference  to  some  of  the  festivals 
of  Isis ;  and  future  researches  at  Lycopolis  may  enable  us  to 
discover  the  relation  between  the  goddess  and  the  sacred  animal 
of  that  city.  According  to  Herodotus,*  the  bodies  of  wolves 
which  died  in  different  parts  of  Egypt  were  not  transported  to 
Lycopolis,  but  were  buried  in  the  place  where  they  happened 
to  be  found ;  but  it  is  probable  that  they  did  not  receive  the 
same  honours  throughout  the  country,  and  those  places  where 
the  sheep  was  particularly  sacred  could  scarcely  be  expected  to 
venerate  the  enemies  of  their  favourite  animal. 

^lian,^  indeed,  confines  the  worship  of  the  wolf  to  certain 
parts  of  the  country  in  the  expression  *  those  Egyptians  who 
venerate  the  wolf.*     But  his  idea  of  their  rooting  up  the  wolf- 


*  Euseb.  Prappar.  Evang.  ii.  1.  *  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  19. 

«  Diodor.  i.  83  and  88.  «  Herodot.  ii.  67.        »  iElian,  ix.  18. 


0 

-SI 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  JACKAL— ICHNEUMON.  279 

hejie  is  one  of  the  many  idle  tales  of  ancient  writers,  who  paused 
not  to  inquire  if  a  plant  bore  the  same  name  in  other  countries 
by  which  it  was  known  to  them,  or  even  if  it  was  a  production  of 
the  soiL  The  worship  of  the  wolf  was  perhaps  connected  with 
that  of  the  fox  and  jackal ;  and  the  caves  of  Lycopolis  present 
the  mommies  of  these  last,  as  well  as  of  the  animal  whose  name 
it  bore. 

The  jackal  is  the  invariable  emblem  of  Anubis.  The  deity 
the  head  of  that  animal,  and  it  even  occurs  in  the  place  of  the 
od  himself.  For  some  mysterious  reason  it  is  always  of  a  black 
<?olonr ;  and  the  length  of  its  legs,  and  generally  elongated  form, 
^liow  that  their  mode  of  representing  it  was  conventional.  This 
probably  owing  to  their  confining  themselves  to  the  imita- 
ion  of  an  early  style,  from  which  later  artists  were  forbidden  to 
^party  as  was  usually  the  case  in  the  religious  subjects  of  the 
tians.  The  head  of  the  jackal  was  even  given  to  one  of 
e  four  genii  of  Amenti,  whose  figures  were  attached  to 
portions  of  the  viscera  of  human  mummies,  and 
liose  heads  form  the  covers  of  the  four  vases  deposited 
the  tombs.  Foxes  and  jackals  are  very  common  in  Egypt, 
ey  are  inferior  in  size  to  the  generality  of  those  in  Europe 
d  Asia,  which  accords  with  a  remark  of  Denon,  that  the 
Riumals  of  Egypt  are  a  smaller  variety  them  in  some  other 
^^ountriea;  but  their  habits  are  similar.  Every  evening,  about 
BHiiset^  the  jackals  issue  from  their  caves  or  lurking-places. 
"I^heny  calling  each  other  together  by  loud  and  continued 
^Umlings,  accompanied  by  an  occasional  bark,  they  leave  the 
fountains,  and  scatter  themselves  over  the  plains  in  quest 
^  food;  and  it  is  amusing  to  see  them  enjoy  a  plentiful 
tepast  of  locusts,  whenever  a  swarm  of  those  insects  settles  in 
tbe  country. 

The  Ichneumon*  was  particularly  worshipped  by  the  Hera- 

deopolites,^  who  lived  in  a  nome  situated  in  the  valley  of  the 

Xile,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  entrance    to    the   modem 

prcrrince  of  the  Fyo6m.    It  was  '  reputed  sacred  to  Lucina  and 

Latona.' 

The  principal  cause  of  the  respect  paid  to  this  animal  was 
sapposed  to  be  its  hostility  to  the  crocodile,  an  animal  held  in 


>  ViTtm  ichneumon,  Linn, ;  the  If  an*  hawk,  like  the  Apis,  occur.    The  story  that 

irusta,  Cuo, ;  or  Herpestet,  lUig,     [Bronze  it  cannot  be  killed  by  the  bite  of  a  snake 

figures  of  the  Ichneumon,  which  hare  on  is  uncertain. — S.  B.] 

xiai  back  the  raie,  disk,  Tulture,  and  '  £lian,  z.  47. 


L 


280  THE  ANCIENT  EGYFTIANS.  [Chap. 

great  abhorrence  by  the  people  of  Heracleopolis.     It  destroy^K 
its  eggs,  and  some  believed  that  it  attacked  the  crocodile  its^I] 
Diodorus  ^  affirms  that  it  broke  the  eggs  of  the  crocodile,  i^l^-c 
for  the  sake  of  food,^  but  from  a  benevolent  motive  towacr^ 
mankind,   whose  welfare  it  sought  to  promote  by  killing  t^Ae 
offspring  of  that  odious  animal.    But  this  idea  probably  aroM 
from  its  having  been  observed  not  to  eat  the  young  when  o:^a 
large  size  and  ready  to  leave  the  egg,  preferring,  as  no  doubt    it 
did,  with  the  taste  of  an  epicure,  a  fresh-laid  egg,  or  at  least  one 
which  had  not  so  far  undergone  a  change  as  to  contain  withia  it 
the  hard  and  scaly  substance  of  a  full-formed  crocodile.     'Were 
it  not/  adds  the  historian,  'for  the  service  it  thus  renders  to 
the  country,  the  river  would  become  unapproachable,  from  the 
multitude  of  crocodiles ;  and  it  even  kills  them  when  fuU-groim, 
by  means  of  a  wonderful  and  almost  incredible   contrivance. 
Covering  itself  with  a  coat  of  mud,  the  ichneumon  watches  the 
moment  when  the  crocodile,  coming  out  of  the  river,  sleeps  (as 
is  its  custom)  upon  a  sand-bank,  with  its  open  mouth  (turned 
towards  the  wind),  and,  adroitly  gliding  down  its  throat,  pene- 
trates to  its  entrails.    It  then  gnaws  through  its  stomach,  and, 
having  killed  its  enemy,  escapes  without  receiving  any  injury.' 
However  unworthy  of  credit  this  story  may  be,  the  destruction 
of  the  crocodile's  eggs  by  the  ichneumon  is  not  improbable,  both 
on  account  of  its  preferring  eggs  to  every  kind  of  food,  and  from 
its  inhabiting  the  banks  of  the  river  where  those  animals  deposit 
them  in  the  sand.     And  though  the  part  of  the  country  in  which 
the  ichneumon  abounds  lies  more  to  the  north  than  the  usual 
abode  of  the  crocodile  at  the  present  day,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  in  former  times  the  latter  frequented  Lower  Egypt;  and 
this  is  proved  by  the  fact  of  its  having  been  the  sacred  animal 
of  the  Arsinoite  nome. 

It  is,  indeed,  fortunate  for  the  crocodiles  of  the  present  day 
that  ichneumons  no  longer  abound  in  the  same  districts,  and 
that  their  degenerate  descendants  have  not  inherited  the  skill 
of  those  mentioned  by  Diodorus.  The  chivalrous  adventures  of 
the  ichneumon  have  ceased  to  be  recorded  by  the  more  matter- 
of-fact  researches  of  modem  naturalists;  and  the  interests 
of  the  two  animals  no  longer  clash,  as  in  the  days  of  their 
adoration. 

The  nome  of  Heracleopolis,  the  Fyoom,  and  the  vicinity  of 


1  Diodor.  i.  87.  «  Ibid.  i.  35. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  ICHNEUMON.  281 

CSairOy  still  continue  to  be  the  chief  resorts  of  the  ichneumon ;  and 
it  is  sometimes  tamed  and  kept  by  the  modem  as  by  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  to  protect  their  houses  from  rats.    But  from  its  great 
predilection  for  eggs  and  poultry,  they  generally  find  the  injury 
it  does  far  outbalances  the  good  derived  from  its  services  as  a 
sabstitute  for  the  cat.    In  form  it  partakes  of  the  weasel ;  with 
which  it  was  formerly  classed,  under  the  head  of  Yiverra.    It  is 
the  Mangousta  of  Buffon,  and  the  Nims,  Tiffeh,  and  Kot  Pha- 
laoon,  or  'Pharaoh's  Gat,'  of  the  Arabs.    Its  length  is  2  feet 
7  inches,  measuring  from  the  end  of  the  tail  to  the  tip  of  the 
nose,  the  tail  being  1  foot  4  inches,  and  it  is  covered  with 
long  bristly  hair.     Though  easily  tamed,  ichneumons  are  seldom 
naed  by  the  modem  Egyptians,  for  the  reasons  already  given. 
Unless  taken  very  young,  and  accustomed  to  the  habits  of  a 
domestic  life,  they  always  prefer  the  fields  to  the  confinement 
of  the  house ;  and  those  I  kept  at  Cairo,  though  perfectly  tame 
Mid  approachable,  were  ever  ready  to  escape  to  the  garden  when 
Ml  opportunity  offered.     And,  whether  from  a  jealousy  common 
^  two  of  the  same  profession,  or  from  some  natural  hostility, 
I  always  found  an  irreconcilable  hatred  to  exist  between  the 
^eomons  and  the  cats  of  the  mSnagey  which  last  generally 
avoided  a  second  rencontre  with  a  full-grown  ichneumon.     Much 
^tioversy  has  existed  on  the  question  whether  ichneumons 
*^  tamed,  and  used  in  the  houses  of  modem  Egypt.    Some 
we  affirmed  that  they  were  frequently  domesticated,  others 
^  this  was  incompatible  with  their  nature.     The  truth,  as  in 
^y  similar  instances,  lies  between  both.     Some  have  most 
Questionably  been  reared,  and  have  served  the  purpose  of 
<^  as  I  know  from  positive  experience,  as  well  as  from  the 
Ksports  of  others.    The  two  in  my  own  possession  at  Cairo  were 
^  imperfectly  tamed,  being  caught  when  full-grown ;  but  I 
ttw  one  in  the  house  of    Lavoratori  perfectly  domesticated, 
against  which  the  only  complaint  was  its  propensity  to  appro- 
priate the  eggs  and  poultry.    On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be 
oherved  that  the  custom  of  keeping  them  is  by  no  means 
general,  and  the  few  which  are  accidentally  met  with  are  rather 
objects  of  curiosity  than  utility. 

The  paintings  of  Thebes,  Memphis,  and  other  parts  of  Egypt 
frequently  represent  this  animal  clandestinely  searching  for 
eggi^  or  carrying  off  young  birds  from  their  nests  amidst  the 
water-plants  of  the  lakes ;  and  some  representations  of  it  in 
hnmze  confirm  the  authority  of  those  ancient  writers  who  place 


282  '  THE  ANCIENT  EG1TTIAN&  [Chap.  XIV. 

it  among  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt  Plntarch^  attributes  the 
religious  respect  of  the  Egyptians  for  the  ox,  sheep,  and  ichneu- 
mon, to  their  utility  to  mankind.^  *  The  people  of  Lemnos  in 
like  manner  venerate  the  lark,  from  its  finding  out  and  breaking 
the  eggs  of  the  caterpillar ;  and  the  ThessaUans  ^  the  stork,  because 
on  its  first  appearance  in  their  country  it  destroys  the  numeions 
serpents  with  which  it  is  then  infested.  They  have  therefore 
made  a  law  that  whoever  kills  one  of  these  birds  should  suffer 
banishment.'  '  The  asp,  the  weasel,  and  the  beetle,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  worshipped  on  account  of  certain  resemblances,  obscure 
as  they  are,  which  those  creatures  are  thought  to  present  to  the 
operations  of  the  Divine  Power.' 

Herodotus  says  little    respecting   the    ichneumon,^  except 
that  it  received  the  same  honours  of  sepulture  as  the  domestic 
animals.    But  iEUan*  tells  us  that  it  destroyed  the  eggs  of 
the  asp,  and  fought  against  that  poisonous  reptile,  which  appears 
the  most  plausible  reason  for  the  veneration  in  which  it  was 
held  by  the    Egyptians.    Pliny,*  Strabo,  and  ^lian^  relate 
the  manner  in  which  it  attacked  the  asp,  and  was  protected 
from  the  effect  of  its  poisonous  bite,    ^lian  says  it  covered 
itself  with  a  coat  of  mud,  which  rendered  its  body  proof  against 
the  fangs  of  its  enemy;  or  if  no  mud  was  near,  it  wetted  its 
body  with  water  and  rolled  itself  in  the  sand.    Its  nose,  whidb 
alone  remained  exposed,  was  then  enveloped  in  several  folds  of 
its  tail,  and  it  thus  commenced  the  attack.    If  bitten,  its  death 
was  inevitable ;  ^  but  all  the  efforts  of  the  asp  were  unavailing 
against  its  artificial  coat  of  mail,  and  the  ichneumon,  attacking 
it  on  a  sudden,  seized  it  by  the  throat  and  immediately  killed  it 

Strabo^  gives  a  similar  account  of  its  covering  itself  with 
mud  in  order  to  attack  the  crocodile ;  and  adds,  that  its  mode  of 
killing  the  asp  was  by  seizing  it  by  the  head  or  tail,  and  drag- 
ging it  into  the  river.  In  Pliny  and  Aristotle's  description  ^*  of 
the  ichneumon,  we  find  the  same  story  respecting  the  coat  of 
mud  in  which  it  was  clad  for  an  encounter  with  the  asp ;  and 
the  former  adds,  that  on  perceiving  its  enemy,  it  deferred  the 
attack  until  it  had  called  to  its  assistance  other  ichneumons. 
But  modem  experience  proves  that,  without  having  recourse  to 


'  Plat,  de  laid.  s.  74.  *  Contrary  to  the  common  storj  of  its 

'  Cicero,  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  i.  eating  a  particular  herb  as  an  antidote, 

'  Conf.  Plin.  z.  23.      *  Herodot.  ii.  77.  like  the  vdran  subsequently  mentioned. 

*  ^lian,  Nat.  An.  Ti.  c.  38.  *  Strabo,  ivii.  p.  558. 

*  Plin.  viii.  c  24.        '  iGlian,  iii.  22.  >^  Aristot.  Hist.  Anim.  iz.  6. 


CteAF.  XIV.]  SNAKE-DESTEOTING  ANIMALS.  283 

a  coiraas  of  mud,  the  ichneumon  fearlessly  attacks  snakes ;  and 
the  moment  it  peiceives  them  ^  raise  their  head  from  the  ground, 
it  seizes  them  at  the  back  of  the  neck,  and  with  a  single  bite  lay  a 
them  dead  before  it 

IModorus  affirms^  that  the  cat  was  regarded  as  the  destroyer 

of  the  asp  and  other  deadly  serpents.    But  though  the  cat  is 

known  to  attack  them,  its  habits  are  not  such  as  to  ensure  its 

raooess  in  these  encounters.    Eyen  in  attacking  the  scorpion, 

few  hare  the  address  to  kill  that  reptile,  till  it  has  been  acquired 

by  experience,  which  with  the  asp  would  be  far  too  dearly  bought. 

The  way  in  which  cats  attack  the  scorpion  is  curious.     They 

torn  it  over  on  its  back  by  a  blow  of  their  claws  upon  its  side, 

^d  then  placing  one  foot  on  the  body  they  tear  off  the  tail  with 

the  other ;  and  thus  deprived  of  its  weapon  of  offence,  it  is  killed, 

ttid  sometimes  eaten,  without  further  risk. 

The  Arabs  relate  that  when  the  imran,  or  lizard  monitor, 
attacks  a  snake,  and  is  bitten  by  its  yenomous  fangs,  it  immediately 
i^  to  a  particular  herb  which  grows  in  the  desert ;  and  eating 
i^e  of  it,  and  rubbing  the  wounded  part  upon  the  leayes,  it 
layers  from  the  effect  of  the  poison  and  returns  to  the  fight. 
One  assured  me  that  he  had  witnessed  an  encounter  of  this  kind, 
^  which  he  perceiyed  the  effects  of  the  herb  wheneyer  the 
hard  was  wounded  by  its  adversary ;  and  having  plucked  it  up 
Coring  their  continued  encounter,  he  saw  the  wounded  lizard 
^  in  vain  this  antidote,  and  die  of  the  bite.  But  the  tales  of 
tile  Arabs  are  not  always  true ;  and  this  cannot  fail  to  recall 
tile  ancient  belief  in  the  properties  of  the  Elaphoboscon  ^  and 
Kctamnus. 

Pliny  mentions  several  plants  said  to  be  remedies  against  the 
hitea  of  serpents ;  ^  and  Cicero*  asserts  that  'the  wild  goats  of 
Cnte,  wheal  wounded  by  poisonous  arrows,  fled  to  a  herb  called 
IKctamnus,  which  they  had  no  sooner  tasted  than  the  arrows 
iotthwith  fell  from  their  bodies.'  This  is  repeated  in  other  words 
by  Aristotle  and  Pliny,*  and  by  Virgil.' 


^  PUbj  (Tiu.  24)  sayt,  it  only  eats  the  '  Virg.  Mn.  zii.  412: 

~^  _      .   ^.  '  DictamDum  genitrix  Cretea  carpit  ab 

*  Diodor.  i.  87.  I^^            **                              ^ 

Jg^  ""*^  thii  to  be  the  pmnnip.  p^beribiw     caulem     foliU,     et     flora 

""       .'J  comantem 

«  nil.  xriL  22,  e<  ofiW.  Purpureo:     non    ilia    fens    incognita 

»  Ckero,  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  ii.  ^^^                                         * 

•  Plin.  xxT.   8:     «SUtim  decidentlbue  Oramina,  cum  Urgo   volucre.   h»«ere 
tdii.*    Arittot.  Amm.  iz.  6.  sagitti.' 


i 


284  THE  ANCaDENT  BGTPTIAKS.  [Cbap.  Xiy. 

With  regard  to  Allan's  remark^  of  the  ichnemnon  being 
both  male  and  female,  we  may  conclude  that,  like  the  notion 
respecting  the  spotted  hyaena  (or  Marafeen  of  Ethiopia),  it 
originated  in  a  peculiarity  common  to  both  those  animals ;  and 
the  ludicrous  statement  afterwards  given  by  the  naturalist  was 
supplied  by  a  misguided  imagination.  The  yioinity  of  the 
Heracleopolite  and  Arsinoite  nomes,  where  two  ftnimiila  the  most 
hostile  to  one  another  were  revered,  seems  to  have  led  to  serious 
and  repeated  disputes.  And  to  such  a  point  was  their  animosity 
carried,  that  even  the  respect  with  which  the  national  vanity  of 
an  Egyptian  might  be  expected  to  regard  a  monument  so 
universally  celebrated  as  the  Labyrinth,  was  not  sufficient  to 
restrain  the  fanaticism  of  the  Heracleopolites  in  maintaining  the 
cause  of  their  favourite  animal.' 

The  representations  of  the  hyaena  in  the  paintings  of  Thebes 
show  it  to  have  been  looked  upon  as  an  enemy  to  the  flocks  and 
fields,  and  to  have  been  hunted  by  the  peasants,  who  either  shot 
it  with  arrows  or  caught  it  in  traps.     No  sculpture  in  the 
temples,  and  no  emblem  in  the  tombs  furnish  the  least  authority 
for  supposing  it  sacred,  though  some  have   thought   it  was 
dedicated  to  the  Egyptian  Mars.^    It  is  very  common  throughont 
^gyp^ ;  Ai^d  the  paintings  of  Thebes,  Beni-Hassan,  and  the  tombs 
near  the  Pyramids,  show  it  to  have  frequented  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Country  in  ancient  times  as  at  the  present  day.    Its 
Coptic  name  is  hoite^ — in  Egyptian  Jiet  or  heti,  and  the  same 
by  which  the  hieroglyphics  prove  it  to  have  been  known  in  the 
ancient  Egyptian  language. 

The  favourite  food  of  this  animal  seems  to  be  the  ass.  It 
sometimes  attacks  cattle  and  men,  and  is  particularly  dreaded  by 
the  modem  peasants ;  but  I  never  found  one  which  ventured  to 
attack  a  man  who  fearlessly  advanced  towards  it»  except  when 
rendered  savage  by  a  wound,  or  by  the  desire  natural  to  all 
animals  of  defending  its  young.  On  these  occasions  it  is  a  rude 
and  dangerous  antagonist.  Its  general  mode  of  attacking  a  man 
is  by  rushing  furiously  against  him,  and  throwing  him  do?ni  by  a 
blow  of  its  large  bony  head  ;  and  in  a  sandy  place  it  is  said  first 
to  throw  up  a  cloud  of  dust  with  its  hind  legs,  and  then  to 
close  with  its  opponent,  while  disconcerted  by  this  wily  artifice. 


^  iElian,  An.  x.  47.       '  Plio.  xxxvi.  13.  lists  of  food  of  the  time  of  Cheops    it  is 

'  At  the  time  of  the  4th  Dynasty  the  registered   as  eaten.    (Lepains,  *  Denkm.,' 

,hy»na  is  represented  as  a   domesticated  Abt.  II.  Bl.  25.) — S.  B. 

animal,  or  kind  of  game ;  and  in  one  of  the         «  p  OI*TC« 


OuF.  XIV.]  THE  EYXSA.  285 

The  AbysBinians  have  an  extraordinary  fancy  respecting  the 

linena.    They  affirm  that  a  race  of  people  who  inhabit  their 

coantry,  and  who  usoally  follow  the  trade  of  blacksmiths^  have 

the  power  of  changin^^  their  form  at  pleasure,  and  assuming  that 

of  the   hva*na.     I   had  often   heard  this  talc  from  natives  of 

Jkbyasinia  living  in  Kgypt,  and  having  been  told  many  equally 

extravagant  I   was  not  surprised  at  their  credulity.    Meeting 

accidentally  with  an  Englishman  who  had  lived  about  thirty  years 

tliere,  and  who  on  his  way  to  Europe  was  staying  a  few  days  at 

Cairo,  I  mentioned,  in  the  course  of  conversation,  this  singular 

wylion,  with  an  evident  demonstration  of  my  own  disbelief,  and 

with  an  inquiry  whether  it  was  generally  credited.    Looking  at 

we  with  an  unequivocal  expression  of  pity  for  my  ignorance,  he 

answered  that  no  Abyssinian  ever  doubted  it,  and  tliat  no  one  at 

iU  acquainted  with  that  country  would  think  of  asking  such  a 

question.    *  Every  one,'  he  added,  *  knows  that  those  blacksmiths 

have  the  power  of  assuming  the  form  of  a  hyo^ua,  which  as 

tttmmlly  belongs  to  them  as  that  of  a  man.     I  had  a  proof  of  it 

i  few  days  before  I  left  Abyssinia.    For  while  walking  and 

eoBTersing  with  one  of  them,  I  happened  to  turn  my  head  aside 

far  i  few  instants,  and  on  looking  round  again  I  found  that  he 

hi  changed  himself,  and  was  trotting  away  at  a  little  distance 

fiuB  me  under  his  new  form/ 

The  Uymna  eroeuta,  or  spotted  hyaena,^  differs  from  the  former 

n  iti  form  and  colour,  as  well  as  its  habits,  which  are  gregarious. 

h  appears  to  answer  to  the  Chaus  of  Pliny ,^  which  I.inna*UR 

phoes  in  the  Felis  tril>e.    It  is  the  Crocuta  of  Strabo,'  which  he 

eoanders  a  hybrid  of  the  wolf  and  the  dog.    I^irgc  pai*ks  of  them 

isfest  the  country  in  many  parts  of  Upper  Ethiopia,  but  they  do 

101  extend  their  visits  to  Nubia  or  Egypt ;  and  in  former  times 

also    they   seem  to  have  been  unknown   in   Egypt :    for  the 

Koiplared   representations  of  them  show  that  they  were  only 

koi^ht  out  of  curiosity  as  presents  to  the  Pharaohs,  to  be  pliii*e<l 

SBMing  the  strange  animals  of  foreign  countries  in  the  vivaria, 

or  aoological  gardens,  of  the  royal  domain.    Nor  is  there  any 

pofaability   of  their   having  held  a  place  amongst  the  sacn^d 

either  of  Egypt  or  Ethiopia. 

The  respect  with  which  the  cat  was  tn^ate^l  in  Egypt  was 

h   as   few  of  the  sacred  animals  enjoyeil.     Its  worship  was 


'  TVf  MftnfMO  or  Manfcfb  of  Berber  '  \*\in.  viii.  W*:  *YtT\^u»  liipi,  |ii\r«|tiruiu 

|4  <wmBMr.  niAculis.*  '  Mrab",  avii.  \*.  6J3. 


i 


286  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

universally  acknowledged  thronghont  the  country  ;*  and  thougli, 
in  some  districts,  the  honours  paid  to  it  were  less  marked  than 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Bubastis,  its  sanctity  was 
nowhere  denied ;  and  the  privileges  accorded  to  the  emblem  of 
the  Egyptian  Diana  were  as  scrupulously  maintained  in  the 
Thebwd  as  in  Lower  Egypt.    *  Never/  says  Cicero,^  *  did  anyone 
hear  tell  of  a  cat  having  been  killed  by  an  Egyptian ;'  and  so 
bigoted  were  they  in  their  veneration  for  this  animal,  that  neither 
the  influence   of  their  own  magistrates,  nor  the  dread  of  the 
Boman  name,  could  prevent  the  populace  from  sacrificing  to 
their  vengeance  an  unfortuniate  Boman  who  had  accidentally 
killed  a  cat.^    When  one  of  them  died  a  natural  death,  all  the 
inmates  of  the  house  shaved  their  eyebrows  in  token  of  mourn- 
ing, and,  having  embalmed  the  body,  they  buried  it  with  great 
pomp;  so  that,  as  Diodorus^  observes,  ^they  not  only  respected 
some  animals,  as  cats,  ichneumons,  dogs,  and  hawks,  during 
their  lifetime,  but  extended  the  same  honours  to  them  after 
death.' 

All  writers  seem  to  agree  about  the  respect  shown  to  the  cat 
throughout  the  country ;  we  can  therefore  with  difficulty  credit 
the  assertion  of  a  late  author,^  who  states,  *  that  in  Alexandria, 
one  of  these  animals  was  sacrificed  to  Horus,*  even  though  the 
city  was  inhabited  by  a  mixed  population,  in  great  part  composed 
of  Greeks.  Those  which  died  in  the  vicinity  of  Bubastis  •  were 
sent  to  that  city,  to  repose  within  the  precincts  of  the  place 
particularly  devoted  to  their  worship.  Others  were  deposited  in 
certain  consecrated  spots  set  apart  for  the  purpose  near  the  town 
where  they  had  lived.  In  all  cases  the  expense  of  the  funeral 
rites  depended  on  the  donations  of  pious  individuals,  or  on  the 
peculiar  honours  paid  to  the  goddess  of  whom  t&ey  were  the 
emblem.  Many  were,  no  doubt,  sent  by  their  devout  masters  to 
Bubastis  itself,  from  an  impression  that  they  would  repose  in 
greater  security  near  the  abode  of  their  patron ;  and  to  the  same 
feeling  which  induced  their  removal  to  a  choice  place  of  burial 
may  be  attributed  the  abundance  of  cat-mummies  in  the  vicinity 
of  Sheikh  Hassan,  where  a  small  rock  temple  marks  the  site  of 
the  Specs  Artemidos.'^ 

Those  cats  which  during  their  lifetime  had  been  worshipped 


1  Strabo,  zrii.  p.  559.  iii.   24,  quoted  hy  Larcher.    Herodot.  ii. 

«  Cic.  de  Nat.  Deor.  i.  29.  301.                       •  Herodot.  ii.  67. 

»  Diodor.  i.  83.                       «  Ibid.  »  'Egypt  and  Theb**,'  p.  379. 
*  Steztni  Empiricus,  Pyirhon.  Uypotyp. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  CAT.  287 

in  the  temple  of  Bast,  as  the  living  types  of  that  goddess,  were 
doubtless  treated  after  death  with  additional  honours,  and  buried 
in  a  far  more  sumptuous  manner.  This  distinguished  post  raised 
them  from  the  rank  of  emblems  to  that  of  representatives  of  the 
ddty  herself.  The  Cynocephalus  kept  in  the  temple  of  Herm- 
opolis,  or  the  sacred  hawk  adored  at  Heliopolis,  enjcjyed  in  like 
manner  a  consideration  far  beyond  the  rest  of  their  species, 
though  all  were  sacred  to  Thoth  and  Ba,  the  gods  of  those  cities ; 
and  this  remark  equally  applies  to  all  the  sacred  animals  of 
Egypt. 

I  have  already  observed,  that  in  places  where  the  deities  to 

ivhom  particular  animals  were  consecrated  held  a  distinguished 

post  in  the  sanctuary,  the  ceremony  of  removing  them  after 

death  to  another  city  was  dispensed  with.    We  consequently  find 

that  the  bodies  of  cats  were  embalmed  and  buried  at  Thebes  and 

other  towns,  where  the  rites  of  Bast  were  duly  observed :  and  if 

some  individuals,  as   already  stated,  preferred,  from  a  bigoted 

fuicy  or  extravagant  affection,  to  send  the  body  of  a  favourite  to 

the  Necropolis  of  Bubastis,  it  was  done  with  the  same  view  as 

when  a  zealous  votary  of  Osiris  requested,  on  his  death-bed,  that 

his  body  should  be  removed  from  his  native  town  to  the  city  of 

Abydus.    This,  as  Plutarch  says,*  *  was  in  order  that  it  might 

appear  to  rest  in  the  same  grave  with  Osiris  himself;'  but  it  was 

inerely  a  caprice,  in  no  way  arguing  a  common  custom.    A  few 

instances  of  a  similar  kind  probably  induced  Herodotus  to  infer 

the  general  practice  of  removing  the  cats  which  had  died  in 

other  places  to  Bubastis,  as  the  ibis  to  Hermopolis.^ 

After  showing  how  prolific  Egypt  was  in  domestic  animals, 
Herodotus  mentions  ^  two  peculiarities  of  the  cats,  by  which  he 
Mounts  for  their  numbers  not  increasing  to  the  extent  they 
otherwise  would.  But  these,  like  other  prodigies  of  the  good  old 
times,  have  ceased  in  Egypt,  and  the  actions  of  cats,  like  other 
things,  have  been  reduced  to  the  level  of  commonplace  realities. 
He  tells  us  that, '  when  a  house  caught  fire,  the  only  thought  of 
the  Eg3^tians  was  to  preserve  the  lives  of  the  cats.  Banging 
themselves  therefore  in  bodies  round  the  house,  they  endeavoured 
to  rescue  those  animals  from  the  flames,  totally  disregarding  the 
destruction  of  the  property  itself ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  their 
precautions,  the  cats,  leaping  over  the  heads  and  gliding  between 


>  Pint  de  Isid.  s.  20.  *  Herodot  ii.  67. 

*  Herodot.  ii.  46 ;  and  XXitoi,  rii.  27. 


I 


288  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  fCHAP.  XH^ 

the  legs  of  the  bystanders^  rushed  into  the  flames,  as  if  impell&«/ 
by  divine  agency  to  self-destruction.*  Were  this  true,  the  love  of 
their  domestic  animals  must  frequently  have  sacrificed  seyera/ 
contiguous  houses  during  their  exertions  to  prevent  the  suicide 
of  a  cat;  but  however  great  the  grief  of  the  Egyptians  in 
witnessing  .  these  wonderful  cases  of  a  feline  felo  de  sejyfe 
may  make  some  allowance  for  the  exaggeration  of  a  Greek,^  and 
doubt  the  neglect  of  their  burning  dwellings  stated  by  the 
historian. 

That  their  numbers  do  not  diminish  in  Egypt  is  perceptibly 
felt  by  the  present  inhabitants  of  Cairo,  who  are  frequently  obliged 
to  profit  by  the  privilege  of  sending  their  surplus  cat  population 
to  the  house  of  the  Eadi,  where  a  fund  is  charitably  provided  for 
their  maintenance.    When  they  are  found  to  have  increased,  as 
is  often  the  case,  to  a  troublesome  extent  in  a  house,  the  inmates 
send  a  basketful  of  cats  to  be  set  loose  in  the  Eadi's  courtyard, 
without  much  regard  to  the  feelings  of  the  neighbours,  who 
happen  to  live  in  so  disagreeable  a  vicinity.    Daily,  at  the  asset* 
a   person  employed  for  this  purpose  brings  a  certain  quantity 
of  meat,  cut  into  small  pieces,  which  is  thrown  into  the  middle 
of  the  courtyard,  and  a  prodigious  number  of  cats  is  seen 
about  that  hour  coming  down  from  the  walls  on  all  sides,  to 
partake  of  their  expected  repast.    The  weak  and  the  newly- 
arrived  fare  but  badly,  the  whole  being  speedily  carried  off  by 
the  veterans  and  the  most  pugnacious  of  the  party — the  former 
excelling  in  rapidity  of  swallowing,  the  latter  in  appropriating, 
and  many  only  obtain  a  small  portion  while  the  claws  and  teedi 
of  their  stronger  competitors  are  occupied. 

A  similar  feeling  in  favour  of  this  animal  provides  food  for 
other  communities  of  cats  in  various  parts  of  the  city;  and 
though  they  no  longer  enjoy  the  same  honours  as  their  pre* 
decessors,  they  are  invariably  well  treated  by  the  modem 
Egyptians,  from  their  utility  in  freeing  the  houses  from  the 
numerous  rats  and  reptiles  which  so  often  infest  them.  Such 
favourites  are  they,  that,  while  the  dog  is  looked  upon  as  an 
unclean  animal,  whose  touch  is  carefully  avoided  by  the  Moslem, 
the  cat  is  often  allowed  to  partake  of  the  same  dish  with  its 


'  I  haye  had  occasion  to  observe  that  instances  of  this  may  be  pointed  out  in  his 

Herodotus  has  sometimes  sacrificed  truth  Euterpe,  35  and  36. 

to  the  pleasure  of  setting  forth  an  amusing  '  In  the  afternoon,  between  midday  and 

contrast  to  Greek  customs,  and  striking  his  sunset, 
readers  or  hearers  with  surprise.     Sereral 


r 


Qqp.  XIV.]  THE  CAT.  289 

master,  unless  there  be  reason  to  suppose  it  has  been  con- 
taminated hj  eating  a  scorpion  or  other  unclean  reptile. 

The  origin  of  the  respect  paid  to  the  cat  by  the  ancient 

Egyptians,  was  owing  to  the  benefits  it  was  thought  to  confer  on 

mankind  by  destroying  various  noxious  reptiles.^    And  though, 

as   I  have  already  observed,  Diodorus,  in  considering  it  as 

the  enemy  of  the  asp  and  other  serpents,  gives  it  more  credit 

than  it  really  deserved,  its   utility  in  a  country  like  Egypt 

must  have  been  universally  allowed.    This  predilection  for  it 

is  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  paintings,  where  a  favourite 

eat  is  represented  accompanying  the  master  of  the  house  in 

his  fowling  excursions,  or  when  seated  at  home  with  a  party 

d  friends. 

'The  care  they  took  of  the  cat  and  other  sacred  animals,' 
says  Diodorus,^  *  was  remarkable.  For  these  and  the  ichneumons 
they  prepared  bread  sopped  in  milk,  or  fish  of  the  Nile  cut  up 
into  small  pieces,  and  each  was  supplied  with  the  kind  of  food 
hest  suited  to  its  habits  and  taste.  As  soon  as  they  died  they 
^W  carried  amidst  bitter  lamentations  to  the  embalmers,  and 
^^  bodies  having  been  prepared  with  oil  of  cedar,  and  other 
^lomatic  substances  capable  of  preserving  them,  were  deposited 
in  sacred  vaults.* 

Numerous  embalmed  cats  are  found  in  tombs  at  Thebes  and 
<Aer  places  in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.*  They  are  frequently 
ieoompanied  by  the  mummies  of  dogs — probably  from  these  two 
l^eing  looked  upon  as  the  favourite  domestic  animals  of  the 
ftwntry.  They  are  generally  enveloped  in  the  same  manner — 
the  legs  bound  up  with  the  body,  and  the  head  alone  left  in 
its  real  shape.  This,  from  the  ears  and  painted  face,  readily 
indicates  the  animal  within  the  bandages  ;  which  are  sometimes 
of  Tarious  colours,  arranged  in  devices  of  different  forms.  Cat- 
amnmies  were  sometimes  deposited  in  wooden  boxes  or  coffins  ; 
hit  in  all  cases  they  were  wrapped  in  linen  bandages,  which,  as 
Uodorus  observes,*  were  employed  for  enveloping  the  bodies  of 
cats  and  other  sacred  animals.^ 

According  to  Plutarch,^  the  cat  was  placed  upon  the  top  of 


*  Di«ior.  L  87.               *  Ibid.  i.  83.  *  There  was  aUo  a   favourite  or  more 

*  Tbej  are  found  bandaged  in  different  expensive  way  of  depositing  their  mummies 
***Bert,  and  generally  with  much  care,  in  calves  of  wood  or  bronze,  which  had  the 
MMetimes  made  up  with  the  bandage  re-  form  of  a  cat,  and  the   pedestal  in  shape 

the  shape  of  the  head  of  the  animal  of  the   hieroglyph   of  the  name   Bast  or 


» it— S.  B.  Bubastis.— S.  B. 

*  Diodor.  L  83.  •  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  63. 

VOL.  in.  u 


290  THE  ANCIENT  EOYPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

the  sistrum,  *to  denote  the  moon;^  its  variety  of  colour,  its 
activity  in  the  night,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  attending 
its  fecundity,  making  it  a  proper  emblem  of  that  luminary.*  For 
it  is  reported,  that  at  first  it  brings  forth  one,  then  two,  afterwards 
three,  and  so  on ;  adding  one  to  each  former  birth  till  it  reaches 
seven ;  so  that  it  brings  forth  twenty-eight  in  all,  corresponding 
to  the  several  degrees  of  light  which  appear  during  the  moon  s 
revolutions.  ^And  though,'  he  adds,  'such  things  may  appear 
to  carry  an  air  of  fiction  with  them,  yet  it  may  be  depended  upon, 
that  the  pupils  of  her  eyes  seem  to  fill  up  and  to  grow  larger 
upon  the  full  of  the  moon,  and  to  decrease  again  and  diminish  in 
their  brightness  on  its  waning.'  The  notion  of  the  cat  haying 
been  emblematic  of  the  moon  was  probably  owing  to  the  Greeks 
supposing  Bast  or  Bubastis,  the  Egyptian  Diana,  to  be  related 
to  the  moon,  as  in  their  own  mythology.  That  it  was  erroneous 
is  evident,  from  the  fact  of  the  moon  being  represented  in  the 
Egyptian  Pantheon  by  the  god  Thoth;  but  it  may  be  more 
readily  pardoned  than  many  of  the  misconceptions  of  the  Greeks. 
According  to  the  fable  which  pretended  to  derive  the  worship  of 
animals  from  the  assumption  of  their  various  shapes  by  the  gods* 
when  striving  to  elude  the  pursuit  of  Typho,  or  the  wicked 
attacks  of  mankind,^  the  goddess  Diana  was  said  to  have  takei^ 
the  form  of  a  cat. 

The  worship  of  the  lion  was  particularly  regarded  in  th^ 
city  of  Leontopolis  ;^  and  other  cities  adored  this  animal  a5 
the  emblem  of  more  than  one  deity.  It  was  the  symbol  of 
strength,*  and  therefore  typical  of  the  Egyptian  Hercules.  With 
this  idea  the  Egyptian  sculptors  frequently  represented  » 
powerful  and  victorious  monarch  accompanied  by  it  in  battle ; 
though,  £ts  Diodorus^  says  of  Osymandyas,  some  suppose  the 
king  to  have  been  really  attended  by  a  tame  lion  on  those 
occasions. 

Macrobius,'  Proclus,'  Horapollo,*  and  others,  state  that  the 
lion  was  typical  of  the  sun — an  assertion  apparently  borne  out 


'  There  is  no  reason    for  believing  the  '  Diodor.  i.  86.    Conf.  Plut.  de  Isid.  s. 

cat  represented  the  moon,  but  it  did  the  72.     Ovid.  Met.  v.  323. 

sun,   for  the  reason  of  the   dilatation  of  •  Diodor.  i.  84.    Strabo,  xvii.     Porphyr. 

the  pupil  of  the  eye.   The  male  cat  symbol-  de  Abstin.  iv.  9.     £lian,  Hist.  An.  xiL  7. 

ised  the  sun,  or  Ka,  and  as  such  is  repre-  Plin.  v.  10.                 *  Clem.  Strom,  lib.  r. 

tented  in  the  vignettes  of  the  17th  chapter  *  Diodor.  i.  48. 

of    the     Ritual,    destroying  the    serpent  *  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  26. 

Aphdphis.   The  female  cat  was  emblematic  '  Proclus,  de  Sacrific. :   '  Soma   ftoimali 

of  BajBt  or  Bubastis,  also  a  solar  deity. —  are  solar,  as  lions  and  cocks.' 

S.  B.  •  HorapoUo,  i.  17. 


.]  THE  LION.  291 


f  the  sculptures,  which  sometimes  fig:uro  it  borne  u]K)n  the 
leks  of  two  lions.  It  is  also  combined  with  other  emblems 
ipeitaiuing  to  the  god  Ba. 

I  have  had  occasion  to  mention  a  god  and  several  goddesses 
bo  bore  the  head  of  a  lion,  independently  of  the  Egyptian 
Bast  or  Bubastis.  This  deity  had  the  head  of  a  cat,  or  of  a 
;^  and  the  demonstrative  sign  following  her  name  whs  some- 
's the  hitter,  in  lieu  of  the  cat,  her  ])eculiar  emblem.  Hence 
evident  that  the  Egyptians  not  only  incIud<Ml  those  two 
limals  in  the  same  family,  but  considen^d  them  analogous  ty]>es. 
hiflt  howfvt'r,  seems  only  to  a]>ply  to  tlie  female,  and  not  to 
ive  ezti'ndfMl  to  the  male  lion,  which  was  thought  to  partake 
r  a  different  character,  more  peculiarly  emblematic  of  vigour 
lid  strength. 

Macn>bius  pretends  that  the  Egyptians  employed  tlie  lion  to 
vpiesent  that  {uirt  of  the  heavens  where  the  sun,  during  its 
uiial  revolution,  was  in  its  greatest  forci*,  '  the  sign  Lc^  lieing 
edled  the  alKMln  of  the  sun;'  and  the  differtait  ])urts  of  this 
Moud  are  n^puted  by  him  to  have  indicated  various  s<*asons,  and 
tte  incr^-asing  or  d(K:reusing  ratio  of  the  solar  power.^  Tlie  head 
k  rap]Mises  to  ha V(f  denoted  the  'present  tinu*;'^  which  Honi- 
|q11o  intfrrprets  as  the  type  of  vigilance ;  and  thr  fire  of  its  ey(*s 
vai  considered  analogous  to  the  liery  look  which  the  sun  con- 
tatlv  directs  towanls  the  world. 

In  the  temple  of  Dakkeh  the  lion  is  n^presi'nted  uptm  tlie 
iame  or  sacred  table  of  the  ibis,  the  bird  of  Hermes:  and  a 
■oakey,  th«*  emblem  of  the  same  deity,  is  seen  praying  to  a 
ioi  with  the  disk  of  the  sun  U{H)n  its  head. 

Some  also  lN*lieve<l  the  linn  to  lie  sacred  to  the  KL'vptian 
EmTu :  and  .Klian  siiys  the  Egyptians  consecrated  it  to  Vulean,* 
'Mributinir  the  f(»n*-purt  of  this  animal  to  fire,  and  th«'  hinder 
put!  ti#  water.*  Simetimes  the  Hon,  the  t*niblt>iti  nf  strength, 
mafrlopted  us  a  type  of  the  king,  and  sul>stituted  for  the  more 
mml  n'pn-sentative  of  royal  {Miwer,  the  sphinx :  which,  when 
kgmfd  by  th«*  human  head  and  lion*s  Uxly,  signified  the  union 
of  intft*llei*tiial  and  physical  strength. 

Ib  Siuthern  Ethiopia,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  nuMlern  tnwn  of 
Ehady,    tht*   linii-li«-adtHl  deity   seems  t4i  have   U-t-n  the  chief 

'  Sh  Ii"S*-»— ih**  ni.in«;  is  iodicatei. —  the  nun   '\*  th*-  *h.'ir!   of  h^n-rn.*  ml  !*»«• 

&  Bk.  *  mind  ••flht*  wnil  1.*     Iv^i  U«  n^hiT  niiii*-«i 

•  Mtrr  K   '*it  —n.  1    .••'■  hi*  hni  ihil  •frnin^^d.  l-i. 

*  li»i-  I.  J<j.     M^iTi'biu*  (I.  JO)  aImiiii}^,  *  .KliAb.  N«t.  Aa.  iii.  7. 

c  2 


292  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

object  of  worship.  He  holds  a  conspicaous  place  in  the  great 
temple  of  Wady  Owateb,  and  on  the  sculptured  remains  at  Wady 
Benat ;  at  the  former  of  which  he  is  the  first  in  a  procession  of 
deities,  consisting  of  Ba,  Chnoumisy  and  Ptah,  to  whom  a  monarch 
is  making  offerings.  On  the  side  of  the  propylseum  tower  ia  a 
snake  with  a  lion's  head  and  human  arms,  rising  from  alotna; 
and  in  the  small  temple  at  the  same  place,  a  god  with  thiee 
lions'  heads  and  two  pair  of  arms  holds  the  principal  place  in  the 
sculptures.  This  last  appears  to  be  peculiarly  marked  as  a  tjpe 
of  physical  strength ;  which  is  still  farther  expressed  by  the 
choice  of  the  number  three,  indicative  of  a  material  or  physical 
sense.  The  lion  also  occurs  in  Ethiopia,  devouring  the  prisonen 
or  attacking  the  enemy,  in  company  with  a  king,  as  in  the 
Egyptian  sculptures.^ 

According  to  Plutarch,'  'the  lion   was  worshipped  by  the 
Egyptians,  who  ornamented  the  doors  of  their  temples  with  the 
gaping  mouth  of  that  animal,  because  the  Nile  began  to  rise 
when  the  sun  was  in  the  constellation  of  Leo.'      Horapollo' 
says  lions  were  placed  before  the  gates  of  the  temples  as  tb6 
symbols  of  watchfulness  and  protection.     And  *  being  a  type  d 
the  inundation,  in  consequence  of  the  Nile  rising  more  abund" 
antly  when   the  sun  is  in  Leo,  those  who  anciently  presided 
over  the  sacred  works  made  the  waterspouts  and  passages  of 
fountains  in  the  form  of  lions.'  *    The  latter  remark  is  in  perfect 
accordance  with  fact — many  waterspouts  terminating  in  lions' 
heads  still  remaining  on  the  temples,     ^lian '  also  says,  that 
*  the  people  of  the  great  city  of  Heliopolis  keep  lions  in  the 
vestibules  or  areas  of  the  temple  of  their  god  (the  sun),  con- 
sidering them  to  partake  of  a  certain  divine  influence,  according 
to  the  statements  of  the  Egyptians  themselves;'  ^and  temples 
are  even  dedicated  to  this  animal.'     But  of  this,  and  the  state* 
ment  of  HorapoUo  respecting  the  deity  of  Heliopolis,  under  the 
form  of  a  lion,  I  have  already  spoken. 

The  figure  of  a  lion,  or  the  head  and  feet  of  that  animal,  were 
frequently  used  in  chairs,  tables,  and  various  kinds  of  furniture, 
and  as  ornamental  devices.  The  same  idea  has  been  common  in 
all  countries,  and  in  the  earliest  specimens  of  Greek  sculpture. 

^  At  Beitoualliy  ia  the  reign  of  Rameses  Plutarch   (Sjmpos.    iv.  5)  speaks  of  the 

II.,  an   actual  lioness,  or  lion,  called  Antu-  Egyptian  fountains  ornamented  with  lions' 

etn-nekht,  or  *Anath  in  strength,'  accom-  heads  for  the  same  reason, 

panied  the  king  to  the  war  as  is  said  of  '  Horapollo,  i.  19. 

Sesostris.— S.  B.  *  Ibid.  i.  21. 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  38.    Pliny,  xviii.  18.  •  JElian,  Nat.  Hist.  xii.  7. 


r.]  SACRED  UONS-THE  LEOPARD.  293 

■  over  the  gate  of  Mycenae  are  similar  to  many  of  those 
icar  on  the  monnments  of  Egypt.^ 

nammies  of  lions  have  been  found  in  Egypt.  They 
t  indigenous'  in  the  country,  and  were  only  kept  as 
9i»  or  as  objects  of  worship.  In  places  where  they  were 
jiey  were  treated  with  great  care,  being  'fed  with 
r  meat,  and  provided  with  comfortable  and  si>acious 
« — particularly  in  Leonto{K)Iis,  the  City  of  Lions ;  and 
ire  sung  to  them  during  the  hours  of  their  repast' '  The 
VM  even  permitted  to  exercise  its  natural  propensity  of 
its  prey,  in  order  that  the  exercise  might  preserve  its 
br  which  purpose  a  calf  was  put  into  the  enclosure. 
ring  killed  the  victim  thus  offered  it,  the  lion  retired 
len,  proUibly  without  exciting  in  the  spectators  any 

of  the  cruelty  of  granting  this  indulgence  to  their 
I  animal.  Wo  naturally  censure  them  for  sacrificing 
inanity  to  a  religious  prejudice ;  but  while  we  do  so,  let 
bfget  to  anticipate  the  reply  of  an  Egyptian,  by  calling 
the  fact  that  many  keepers  of  animals  in  mo<Iem  KuroiMs 
the  plc^  of  religious  feeling,  commit  a  similar  act  of 

living  creatures  being  given  as  food  to  snakes  and  other 
firequt*ntly  for  the  sole  purpose  of  amusing  or  astonishing 
pectator. 

panther,  loripard,  and  Felis  Chaus  do  not  ap]>ear  to  have 
md  in  K^ypt,  and  the  first  two  only  are  represented  in 
ptures.  It  id  evident  that  they  were  merely  brought  to 
I  curiosities ;  and  their  skins,  which  were  in  great  re^piest 
mental  pur[M)!M's,  were  among  the  objects  presented  by 
Dpians  in  their  annual  tribute  to  the  Egyptian  monarchs. 

the  Felis  Chaus  d(K*s  not  occur  in  the  sculptun^s,  it  is  a 
r  Egypt,  inhAl)iting  principally  the  hills  on  the  western 
be  Nile,  ancl  sometimes  extending  its  predatory  rambles 
cinity  of  the  Pyraniids.  In  api)earance  it  is  like  a  largo 
I  a  tuft  of  long  black  hair  on  the  extremity  of  its  ears,  in 

■  in  its  size,  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  the  Ivnx. 


m  vu  DJinril  mill,  and  a|i|i«*an  S«t,  or  Sha  and  Jttnn.    (Picrret,  *  I»i«  t..* 

tkol«i(v  !••   «Tnil-li.«<!  thr  ^un,  p.  :i03.>— 8.  B. 

Clkia|rtaii   ^imI,  !!)>«•«,   or    lleh».  *  Ud   Miai«  of  the    rarlif^t    ti>niU   thf 

■rt  rpiir^-^rotc'l  Mi|>|>t>rtm<,;  the  lii»ii  a|i|ieani   rriirf»i-nte«l   «ilh   the    a«ual 

laatml   of  tho  in<>iiQt.«m4.  a|>-  animaU  in  th«  nilU  w  hoDte^l,  aD<l  *•  n«<'- 

rflvriog  to  the  x"*  ^'f  Il«'ri£«in  qumtly  th«  lion  vm  intliKennti*.  thiiu.'h 

Wr«t.     Thf  iwiu  )ii>n«  aJMi  |in>b«blj  later  driven  out  uf  thi»  rtiuntry. 

I  arafit  vithrr  IIuru»  and  — S.  U.                         "  •tllLm,  &u.  7. 


294  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XTV. 

The  injuries  caused  by  mice  and  rats,  in  a  country  like  Egypt, 
were  far  from  suggesting  any  sanctity  in  these  destructive 
animals;  though  jerboas,  from  their  more  secluded  habits  and 
smaller  numbers,  might  not  have  excited  the  same  animosity, 
either  among  the  peasantry  or  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns.  Two 
species  of  jerboa  inhabit  the  country.  They  are  the  same  which 
Pliny  and  iElian^  mention  as  'mice  walking  on  two  legs,' 

*  using/  as  the  latter  observes,  *  their  fore-feet  for  hands/  and 

*  leaping,  when  pursued,  upon  their  hind-legs.*  Those  with 
bristles,  like  the  hedgehog,  described  by  Pliny ,^  are  still  common 
in  Egypt,  principally  in  the  desert,  where  their  abode  is  among 
stones  and  fallen  rocks.  The  mummies  of  mice  and  rats  are  said 
to  have  been  found  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes. 

The  rat  is  figured  in  the  paintings  among  the  animals  o^ 
Egypt ;  and  at  Beni-Hassan  it  is  very  consistently  placed  ne»^ 
its  natural  enemy,  the  cat.'  The  number  of  these  destructive 
animals  in  some  parts  of  Egypt  is  beyond  belief.  The  fields,  tit  * 
banks  of  the  riv6r,  and  the  boats  themselves,  swarm  with  rat^ 
frequently  of  immense  size ;  and  even  in  the  deserts  I  have  occa^ 
sionally  found  a  small  kind,  which  Nature  enables  to  live,  thougfl 
far  removed  beyond  the  reach  of  water,  and  apparently  with  verj 
little  means  of  subsistence. 

The  porcupine  is  also  represented  in  the  Egyptian  paintings 
among  the  wild  animals  of  the  desert.  But  it  does  not  appeal^ 
whether,  like  the  modem  Italians  and  others,  the  ancient  Egyp^ 
tians  ate  its  flesh ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  having  beeic 
sacred,  or  even  kept  by  them,  and  embalmed  after  death. 

The  hare  was  probably  lawful  food  to  the  Egyptians,  though 
forbidden  to  the  Jews  ;*  and  it  is  frequently  shown  by  the  sculp- 
tures to  have  been  among  the  game  caught  by  their  chasseurs. 
It  differs  in  appearance  from  our  own ;  and  though  frequently 
exaggerated  by  the  Egyptian  artists,  the  length  of  its  ears  and 
general  form  show  it  to  be  distinct  from  the  European  species. 
Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  it  from  the  paintings  in  the  tombs, 
one  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  Though  not 
sacred,  it  was  admitted  as  an  emblem  of  some  of  the  genii,  or 

'  .1*!Iian,  xy.  26.  Tourest  the  abominable  rat  of  Ra,'  or  the 

*  Plia.   X.   65.      Those  which  walk  on  sun;   and  again,  *Thou   eatest  the  filthy 

two    legs    should    be    distinct    from   the  cat,'  mau,   or    *  beast* — the   rignettes   of 

bristly-haired  mice.  some  papyri  giving  a  sow  to  this  chapter. 

■  The  name  of  the  rat  was  pennuy  and  — S.  B. 

it  appears  in  the  hieroglyphs.      In  chap-  *  Lerit.  xi.  6 :  *  And  the  hare,  because 

ter  xxxiii.    1.  2,  of  the    Ritual,  the  text  he  cheweth  the  cud  and  dividcth  not  the 

says  of   the  rfr,  or    snake,    *  Thou    de-  hoof ;  he  is  unclean  unto  you.' 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  ELEPHANT— HIPPOPOTAMUS.  295 

lower  order  of  gods,  who  were  figured  in  the  funeral  subjects 
with  the  head  of  this  animaL  In  the  hieroglyphics  it  signified 
*  to  open/  as  Horapollo  tells  us — being  the  beginning  or  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  word  tin. 

The  elephant  is  represented  in  the  sculptures,  together  with 
^he  bear,  among  the  presents  brought  by  an  Asiatic  nation  to  the 
^Egyptian  king.  Ivory  is  also  frequently  shown  to  have  been 
sent  to  Egypt  from  Ethiopia  and  the  interior  of  Africa ;  ^  and 
"Ehe  Ptolemies,  at  a  subsequent  period,  established  a  hunting-place 
^>n  the  confines  of  Abyssinia,  for  the  chase  of  the  elephant. 

It  does  not  appear  at  any  time  to  have  held  a  post  among 
-^6  sacred  animals  of  the  country ;  even  at  the  island  of  Elephan- 
"dne,  which  took  its  name  from  it,  nothing  indicates  the  worship 
f  the  elephant.  It  only  occurs  there  in  the  name  of  the  place, 
hich  in  hieroglyphics  ^  is  styled  *  the  Land  of  the  Elephant.'  * 

for  does  it  appear  as  an  object  of  adoration  in  the  

mnerous  subjects  which  cover   the  walls  of   the      ^^^J-^ 
eighbouring    island,  Philse,   where,  had    it    been  ^   O 

in   the  vicinity,  it  would  not    have    been      E^pSlaLe. 
omitted ;  and  the  only  instance  of  it  is  in  a  side    ^°'  ^***' 
entrance  to  the  front  court  of  the  temple  of  Isis,  where  the  god 
'Kilns  brings  an  elephant  among  the  presents  to  be  offered  for 
the  king  to  the  deity  of  the  place.    In  Ethiopia  the  elephant  is 
once  found  in  a  temple  at  Wady  Bendt,  near  Shendy,  with  various 
deities  and  sacred  devices ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  having 
V)een  worshipped  there,  or  even  ranked  among  the  sacred  animals 
of  that  country. 

The  hippopotamus  was  sacred  to  the  god  Mars,  and  wor- 
dupped  at  Papremis.  In  former  times  it  seems  to  have  been  a 
Ditive  of  Egypt,  and  to  have  lived  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Niles,  The  city  where  it  is  reputed  to  have  been  principally 
kmcmred  stood  in  the  Delta;  and  Herodotus,^  Diodorus,^  and 
others  mention  it  among  the  animals  of  Egypt.  But  it  is  now 
confined  to  the  upper  parts  of  Ethiopia,  being  seldom  known  to 
come  into  Nubia,  or  that  part  lying  between  the  Second  and 
FiiBt  Cataracts ;  and  if  ever  it  is  seen  in  Egypt,  its  visit  is  purely 
toddentaly  and  as  contrary,  as  I  have  already  had  occasion  to 


*  Tbu  maj  hATe  b«en  the  teeth  of  the  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature. 
Up|N»potainiis,   as   well    as   the   tusks    of  '.  Probably  from  its   being  the  depot  of 
<l«plaats,  which  are  mentioned  as  early  as  ivory. — S.  B. 

Tiwtliines  III.— S.  B.  *  'Herodot.  ii.  59,  63,  and  67. 

*  Vidt  PUU  59  of  the  Hieroglyphics  of  *  Diodor.  i.  35.    Aristot.  Hist.  An.  ii.  7. 


296  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Ceap.  JIY. 

remark,  to  its  own  expectations  as  to  those  of  the  astonished 
natives  who  witness  its  migration.  I  have  also  mentioned  the 
mode  of  catching  it,  and  the  uses  to  which  its  hide  was  applied, 
both  in  ancient  and  modem  times. 

Herodotus  says,  that  though  the  hippopotamus  is  sacred  in 
the  Papremitic  nome,  they  have  not  the  same  respect  for  it  in 
the  rest  of  Egypt ;  and,  according  to  Plutarch,  ^  it  was  reckoned 
amongst  the  animals  emblematic  of  the  Evil  Being.    At  Her* 
mopolis,*  he  adds,  *  is  shown  a  statue  of  Typho,  which  is  a  river- 
horse  with  a  hawk  upon  its  back,  fighting  with  a  serpent;  th^ 
river-horse  signifying  Typho,  and  the  hawk  that  power  an^ 
sovereignty  which  he  frequently  gets  into  his  hands  by  violence^ 
and  then  employs  in  works  of  mischief,  both  to  his  own  annoy- 
ance and  to  the  prejudice  of  others.     So,  again,  those  sacred 
cakes  offered  in  sacrifice  upon  the  seventh  day  of  the  month 
Tybi,  when  they  celebrate  the  return  of  Isis  from  PhoBnicia,  have 
the  impression  of  a  river-horse  bound  stamped  upon  them.' 
From  the  representations  of  this  animal  in  the  sculptures,  both 
in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  it  is  evident  that  the  respect  paid 
to  it  was  far  from  being  general  in  the  country ;  and  figures  of  a 
Typhonian  character  in  religious  subjects  on  the  monuments  are 
frequently  portrayed  with  the  head  of  a  hippopotamus.    Even 
the  Cerberus,  or  monster  of  Amenti,  is  sometimes  represented 
under  the  form  of  this  animal.    I  have  nowhere  found  a  male 
deity  with  the  head  of  a  hippopotamus,  or  accompanied  by  it  as 
an  emblem,  in  any  of  the  sculptures  of  Egypt;  and  the  only 
instances  of  a  hippopotamus-headed  god  are  in  some  figures  of 
blue  pottery,  probably  from  the  vicinity  of  Papremis,  to  which, 
as  Herodotus  observes,  its  worship  was  confined. 

According  to  Plutarch,  the  ^  river-horse  *  was  the  emblem  of 
*  impudence.'  *  This  he  endeavours  to  show  by  a  hieroglyphic 
sentence  in  the  porch  of  the  temple  of  Sals,  composed  of  an  infaniy 
an  old  matif  a  hawk,  a  fsh,  and  a  hippopotamus,  which  he  thus 
interprets :  '  Oh  I  you  who  are  coming  into  the  world,  and  who 
are  going  out  of  it  (that  is,  young  or  old),  God  hateth  impu- 
dence.'^ And,  indeed,  if  the  reason  he  gives'  for  its  having  been 
chosen  as  this  symbol  were  true,  or  even  believed  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  that  he  was  considered  to 
be  sufSciently  unamiable  to  be  a  Typhonian  animal.     Clemens 


>  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  32.  «  Which  is  quite  correct.— 5.  B. 

'  Conf.  JEIian,  Hi.n.  An.  rii.  19. 


Gbap.  XIV.] 


THE  HIPPOPOTAMUS-THE  PIG. 


297 


snbstitutes  the  crocodile  for  the  hippopotamus  in  this  sentence, 
which  he  gives  ^  from  a  temple  of  Diospolis ;  and  HorapoUo  ^ 
assigns  to  the  claws  of  the  hippopotamus  the  signification  of 
'injustice  and  ingratitude/  as  to  the  whole  animal  the  force 
of  *  time  *  or  *  an  hour/ 

The  injury  done  by  this  animal  to  the  corn-fields^  might 

suffice  to  exclude  it  from  the  respect  of  the  agricultural  popula- 

'tion ;  and  the  Egyptian  peasants  were  probably  called  upon  to 

:frighten  it  out  of  their  fields  on  many  occasions  with  brass  sauce* 

jMins  and. other  utensils,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  modem 

JBthiopians.    But  it  probably  never  abounded  in  that  part  of  the 

^ile  south  of  the  First  Cataract ;  ^  and  its  worship  was  confined 

-^o  places  beyond  the  reach  of  its  intrusion. 

The  hippopotamus  was  also  said  to  have  been  a  symbol  of 
*^e  western  pole,  or  the  region  of  darkness  * — distinct,  of  course, 
-tjtom  that  primeval  darkness  which  covered  the  deep,  and  from 
rhich  sprang  the  light,  supposed  to  have  been  typified  by  the 
lygale,  the  emblem  of  Buto.  I  have  already  explained  the 
opinions  of  the  Egyptians  on  this  point ;  and  on  the  supposed 
analogy  of  the  West,  which  buried  the  sun  in  darkness,  and  the 
gloomy  mansions  of  the  dead ;  the  former  being  termed  Ement, 
^d  the  latter  Amenti.  I  have  also  noticed  the  resemblance 
l>etween  Erdb,  or  Oharb,  the  West,  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the 
tiKimi  of  Greece. 

Hommies  of  the  hippopotamus  are  said  to  have  been  found  at 
^ebes,  and  a  figure  of  one  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  horror  in  which  the  pig  was  held  in  Egypt  I  have  had 
occasion  to  mention.*  According  to  Herodotus,^  the  same  aversion 
extended  to  the  people  of  Cyrene,  who  abstained  from  the  meat 
of  swine,  as  well  as  ^  of  the  cow  out  of  respect  to  Isis.'  Hero- 
dotos'  says  it  was  unlawful  for  the  Egyptians  to  sacrifice  the  pig 
to  any  gods  but  to  the  moon  and  Bacchus,  which  was  only  done 
^  the  full  moon — a  sacred  reason  forbidding  them  to  offer  it  on 


'  Ckm.  Strom,  r.  p.  159.  [Which  has 
tkt  HSM  mesning. — S.  B.] 

'  HonpoUo,  i.  56,  and  iL  20. 

'  JQkM,  ▼.  53. 

*  Tktre  ia,  however,  reason  to  believe 
^  it  descMided  the  Nile  at  the  time  of 
^  4t]i  Djiiast J  as  far  as  Memphis,  where 
it  •ppean  in  the  hierogljrphs,  and  a  female 
•f  tilt  time  of  Chephren  U  called  Teb,t,  <  the 
^»lc  Uppopotamns.'  It  is  also  called 
^9tbtAam,  and  represented  the  god* 


desses  Thoneris  and  Apet,  both  connected 
with  the  waters.  In  the  planisphere  it  is 
called  rer^  the  hog.  (Lepsius,  'Einleit.,' 
p.  10.)  It  also  designated  that  which  was 
abominable. — S.  B. 

*  Enseb.  Prcep.  Evang.  iii.  12. 

*  It  has  been  stated  that  the  eating* of 
its  flesh  produced  leprosj,  and  that  the 
Jews  who  do  not  eat  it  never  have  cancer. 

'  Herodot.  iv.  186.  •  Ibid.  ii.  47. 


298 


THE  ANCIENT  BGTPTIANa 


[Chap.  XIV. 


any  other  festival.^  It  was  on  the  former  occasion  alone  that  the 
people  were  permitted  to  eat  its  flesh — a  wise  sanitary  regulation 
having  made  it  unclean  in  the  hot  climate  of  Egypt.  A  similar 
prohibition  was  denounced  against  it  by  the  Jewish  legislator, 
and  the  Abyssinian  Christians  continue  to  think  it  a  religious 
duty  to  abstain  from  this  unwholesome  food.  From  the  aversion 
felt  by  the  Egyptians  to  the  pig,  we  can  readily  account  for  their 
choosing  it  as  an  emblem  of  uncleanness,^  and  a  fit  abode  for  the 
souls  of  wicked  men.  The  prejudices  of  other  people  have  to  the 
present  day  followed  its  name,  even  to  a  proverb,  however  wel- 
come its  meat  may  be  at  table ;'  and  though  we  may  not  enter 
into  all  the  horror  of  an  Egyptian  on  seeing  the  great  predilec- 
tion of  a  Oreek  for  the  pig,  we  may  ourselves  feel  surprised  at 
Homer's  respect  for  a  feeder  of  pigs,  who  had  the  title  *  divine,' 
and*  prince  of  men.'* 

In  the  fgte  of  Bacchus,  the  historian  tells*  us,  they  did  not 
eat  the  pig  which  was  sacrificed  before  their  door,  but  gave  it 
back  to  the  person  of  whom  it  had  been  purchased.  Plutarch,* 
however,  says  that  *  those  who  sacrifice  a  sow  to  Typho  once  a 
year  at  the  full  moon,  afterwards  eat  its  flesh ;  giving  as  a  reason 
for  the  ceremony,  that  Typho,  being  in  pursuit  of  that  animal 
at  this  season,  accidentally  found  the  chest  wherein  was  deposited 
the  body  of  Osiris.'  But  it  does  not  appear  whether  he  had  in 
view  the  festival  of  Bacchus,  Osiris,  or  that  of  the  full  moon 
previously  mentioned  by  Herodotus ;  and  it  is  possible  that  both 
writers  intended  to  confine  the  custom  of  eating  swine's  flesh  to 
one  single  day  in  the  year,  ^lian,  indeed,  affirms,  that  they 
only  sacrifice  the  sow  (which  they  consider  an  animal  most  hateful 
to  the  sun  and  moon)  07ice  a  year,  on  the  festival  of  the  moon, 
but  on  no  other  occasion  either  to  that  or  any  other  deity. 

Though  the  pig  may  not  properly  be  classed  among  the 
sacred  animals,  it  w£ts  an  emblem  of  the  Evil  Being ;  and  this 
may  account  for  Plutarch's  supposing  it  to  have  been  connected 
with  the  history  of  Osiris  and  Typho.'   Several  instances  occur 


*  The  celebration  of  this  rite  I  shall 
mention  in  treating  of  the  ceremonies. 

'  Horapollo,  ii.  37.     ^lian,  x.  16. 

*  Cicero  does  not  pay  a  compliment  to 
pigs,  when  he  says  they  have  '  animam  pro 
sale  ne  putrescant.'  (De  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  ii.) 
ih^lian,  on  the  authority  of  Agatharcides, 
gives  the  pigs  of  Ethiopia  horns  (v.  27). 

*  Hom.  Od.  lA,  22  and  48;  IE,  350, 
388,  &c. 


*  Herodot.  ii.  4S. 

*  Plut.  de  laid.  s.  8. 

'  The  boar  was  called  rer,  probably 
from  the  onomatopoeia  of  its  ^mnt.  The 
BOW  was  called  sau.  Many  small  porcelain 
figures  of  sows,  sometimes  with  their  little 
pigs,  are  found  of  a  later  period,  althoogli 
it  is  unknown  in  what  sense.  In  thi 
legends  of  Horus,  Set  transformed  himsell 
into  a  black  boar,  and  attempted  to  dntroj 


Cbat.  XIV.] 


THE  PIG— THE  HOBSE. 


299 


of  the  pig  in  sacred  subjects,  principally  in  the  tombs,  where  the 
•ttendance  of  monkeys  might  be  supjxised  to  connect  it  with  the 
■Mion*  But  these  seem  chiefly  to  refer  to  the  future  state  of  the 
wickeU,  whose  souls  were  thought  to  migrate  into  that  unclean 
i&inial ;  and  the  presence  of  Anubis  confirms  this  opinion. 

Pigs  were  kept  by  the  Egyptians,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
to  be  employed  for  agricultural  purposes ;  and  yElian/  on  the 
tothority  of  Eudoxus,  pretends  that  *  they  were  s^mring  in  their 
ttcrifioes  of  swine,  because  they  were  required  to  tread  in  the 
pmin,  pressing  the  seed  with  their  feet  from  the  surface  into  the 
•ail,  and  securing  it  from  the  ravages  of  birds.' 

It  does  not  ap|)ear  whether  the  wild  boar  was  hunted  by  the 

chasseur — those  {Mirts  of  Egypt  where  hunting  scenes  are  repre- 

■ented  not  being  frequented  by  that  animal,  wliose  resorts  were 

probably,  as  at  present,  confined  to  the  banks  of  the  Birket  el 

Kijm*  and  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Menzaloh. 

As  the  Ilvrax  did  not  hold  a  rank  amon<2:  the  sacred  animals, 
I  need  only  refer  to  what  has  already  been  stated  respecting  it 
in  enumerating  the  animals  of  Egypt. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  utility  of  the  horse,^  it  did  not 

^vijoy  sacred  honours,^  nor  was  it  the  ouiblem  of  any  deity. 

l^kii  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  the  breed  of  horses  was  con- 

n<Iered  of  the  highest  imi>ortance  in  Egypt;  and  even  among 

^e  Greeks,  hws  scrupulous  regarding  the  sanctity  of  animals,  it 

*^  dedicated  to  one  of  the  principal  gotls  of  tlieir  Pantheon. 

P«»r  though  Neptune  was  unknown  in  Egypt,  and  the  sea  was 

^^dioQs  to  the  Egyptians,  the  warlike  horse  might  well  have  found 

*<^e  deity  of  eminence  to  adopt  it  as  a  tyi^o ;  and  surely  few 

Vuuld  stand  less  in  need  of  so  |»ecuHarly  a  terrestrial  animal 

than  the  god  of  the  Ocean,  and  few  be  less  consistently  chosen 

•I  the  patron  of  the  horse. 


at  »Tt  of  Honi»,  pmbftblv  th«  niooo,  aoJ 
ii«'nit  »T«D]C*^t  hiin««-lf  hy  inotitiitin^  th« 
Mrnbot  i»!"  th*»  pig.  (L^ft-Jmr**.  •  I.»"«  \*'ux 
^H'lni*,*  I'-  ^  ^)  Thf  U».ir  i"  ii'j.i-t%tut.-| 
a  t  t'linb  at  Th^^x^  |ir(K*«wliD(  in  a  ImmI, 
ia«ft«b  »rm  i»i>  cvDuifph.ili.  moii  i*  c'all«*ti 
Am^  vr  *  gluttf'uv  *  i^numitiiHl.  CVry, 
lUnpilJo,  IMi*.  pl.it^  J.— S.  li. 

'  ISiaB.  I    I*i. 

'  la  thm  Ktuuiii.  fi-rmtrlr  I^ke  M>rri«. 

*  Th%  hoT*»  or  «t.lilli<D  W.IH  ia11«i1  Afir, 
tf  tkat.  itt«lM<l.  d'-^*  D"t  iDrao  the  (Mir.  *>T 
*  fMtt '  of  th»  chariot,  a*  ih«  two  hiifM^n  ooly 
km9  vm9  Baiiic.  Th«  iMin«  of  tht*  frmaU 
«a»  fet'-mutf  th«  la«t   won!  either 


expri-HHim;  *ini>thf r,'  lik**  th*  KnicHth  *  niar**/ 
ur  thf  piiirAl,  anil  U  S'liutu-.  Iifiiii;  the 
«ain4*  H«  tlu*  Hi-)in'W  fujt-im.  It  ilt*e<«  not 
H|i|>r;ir  ill  t-ii^  nioniMiifnt^  till  th«  time 
of  the  It^th  iM'Daity,  an«t  after  that  wa% 
an  im|KirtaDt  an*!  hi^hly-cHtfviii«>il  aniuiiil. 
J*ri'»r  to  thf  Sln-|ihfrt  inva^inn  th*-  a**  wa-* 
xitvd  fur  pur|tu<ke!«  *.»(  trauo}Nirt,  but  there  io 
D'*  rfl«prf«4'Dtatiiin  ut  it<k  Iwin^;  riiMva 
a'ttritle,  althiiui^h  prior  t4i  thi*  rnvt-ntioD  of 
ihariotft  a  kiuil  t-f  «<'at  or  pillion  wii% 
uci actional Ir  um-.1  on  it«  Uiil. — S.  U. 

•  Tr.u'i**  ft  w<  r-'itip  ;iri'  >u|'|hi'.in|   to  be 
louo'l. — i«.  U. 


800 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Chap.  XIV. 


But  an  evident  distinction  was  conferred  on  the  less  dignified 
ass ;  and  if,  as  some  have  though  t,  it  is  a  greater  disgrace  to 
pass  unobserved  than  to  be  noticed,  even  in  an  unfavourable  or 
equivocal  manner,  the  ass  enjoyed  the  marked  but  uncompli- 
mentary honour  of  being  sacred  to  Typho.  This  distinction 
entailed  upon  it  another  less  enviable,  though  more  positive 
mark  of  their  notice,  *  the  Coptites  being  in  the  habit  of  throw- 
ing  an  ass  down  a  precipice,  considering  it  unclean  and  impure, 
from  its  supposed  resemblance  to  Typho.*  ^  ^The  inhabitants  of 
Abydusy^  Busiris,  and  Lycopolis  carried  their  detestation  of  this 
animal  still  farther ;  so  that  they  even  scrupled  to  make  use  of 
trumpets,  because  their  sound  was  thought  to  be  like  the  braying 
of  an  ass.'* 

It  was  from  *  the  idea  entertained  by  the  Egyptians  of  the 
stupidity  and  sensuality^  of  its  disposition,  that  they  gave  the 
Persian  Prince  Ochus  the  name  of  the  Ass,  in  token  of  their 
execration  of  so  detestable  a  tyrant.*  Even  the  colour  of  this 
animal  was  thought  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  the  Evil  Being ; 
and  with  a  similar  prejudice,  whenever  any  individual  happened 
to  have  a  red  complexion  or  red  hair,  they  considered  him  con- 
nected with  Typho.  For  this  reason  they  offered  red  oxen  in 
their  sacrifices ;  and  in  consequence  of  its  supposed  resemblance 
to  Typho,  *  those  cakes  offered  in  sacrifices,  during  the  two 
months  Fauni  and  Pheiophi,  had  the  impression  of  an  ass  bound 
stamped  upon  them ;  and  for  the  same  reason,  when  they  sacri- 
ficed to  the  sun,  they  strictly  enjoined  all  who  approached  to 
worship  the  god,  neither  to  wear  any  gold  about  them,*  nor  to 
give  provender  to  an  ass.'  Another  superstitious  reason  was  also 
assigned  by  them,  according  to  Plutarch,  for  their  contempt  of 
the  ass :  '  that  Typho  escaped  out  of  battle  upon  that  animal, 
after  a  flight  of  seven  days,  and  after  he  had  got  into  a  place 
of  safety  begat  two  sons,  Hierosolymus  and  Judaeus.'*  But 
this,  he  adds,  *  is  evidently  told  to  give  an  air  of  fable  to  the 
Jewish  history.' 


>  Plut.  de  Isid.  ».  30. 

•  iElian  (x.  28)  says,  Busiris,  Abydus, 
and  Lycopolis. 

'  Most  people  will  agree  in  the  un- 
melodious  voice  of  this  animal;  but  the 
Pythagoreans  had  a  curious  idea,  that  '  it 
was  not  susceptible  of  harmony,  being  in- 
sensible  to  the  sound  of  the  lyre.*  (iElian, 
X.  28.) 

*  This  quality  of  the  ass  was  called  in 
hieroglyphics  oa,   and   is    alluded   to    by 


Ezeiciel  xxiii.  20.— S.  B. 

*  We  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  such 
superstition;  but  an  old  Egyptian  might 
smile  at  the  scruples  of  many  persons  who 
object  to  commence  a  journey  on  a  Friday, 
dine  thirteen  at  table,  or  look  upon  a  new 
moon  without  silver  in  their  pocket.  A 
modern  Egyptian  avoids  visiting  a  friend 
suffering  from  ophthalmia  with  *■  any  gold 
about  him,'  lest  he  should  increase  the 
malady.  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  a.  31. 


Chap.  XIV.] 


THE  ASI^THE  CAM£L. 


301 


Some  instances  occur  of  an  ass-headed  deity.^  He  is  rarely 
met  withy  and  is  apparently  of  the  order  of  daemons  or  an  inferior 
class  of  gods  connected  with  a  future  state  in  the  region  of 
AmentL  The  only  place  where  I  have  seen  the  Onocephalus  is 
at  Tuoty'  the  ancient  Tuphium;  but  the  head  of  the  ass  is 
sometimes  introduced  among  the  hieroglyphics. 

The  prejudice  against  the  ass^  appears  to  have  been  universal 
in  all  ages.  Egypt  and  the  East,  however,  seem  to  have  looked 
upon  it  rather  as  an  emblem  of  perverseness  than  of  stupidity ; 
and  in  this  character  it  is  still  viewed  by  the  Arabs/  as  the 
bull  is  considered  by  them  the  symbol  of  stupidity,  ^lian  ^ 
pretends  that  'Ochus,  king  of  Persia,  in  order  to  afiUct  the 
Egyptians,  slew  the  Apis,  and,  consecrating  an  ass  in  its  stead, 
commanded  them  to  pay  it  divine  honours ; '  and  even  if  not 
looked  upon  with  the  same  detestation  at  Memphis  as  at  Lyco- 
imlis  and  Busiris,  we  may  suppose,  if  iBlian's  story  be  true,  how 
folly  the  tyrant's  intention  was  gratified  by  the  substitution 
of  this  animal  for  their  god.  Neither  the  mummies  of  the 
pig,  hyraz,  horse,  or  ass,  have  been  found  in  the  tombs  of 
Egypt 

Of  the  camel,*  stag,  giraffe,  gazelle,  and  other  antelopes, 
I  have  already  treated.  I  have  also  remarked  the  singular  fact 
of  the  camel  not  being  represented  in  the  hieroglyphics,  either 
in  domestic  scenes  or  in  subjects  relating  to  religion. 

Though  its  flesh  was  forbidden  to  the  Jews/  it  is  probable 
that  religious  scruples  did  not  prevent  the  Egyptians  from  eating 
it;  and  the  modem  inhabitants,  as  well  as  the  Arab  tribes, 
flight  in  this  light  and  wholesome  food.  But  the  wisdom  of 
forbidding  so  valuable  an  animal  is  evident,  from  the  great  pro- 
hability  of  its  being  killed  when  about  to  die  a  natural  death  ;• 
ttd  the  Arabs  are  so  scrupulous  on  this  point,  that  few  can  be 
indaced  to  eat  the  meat  of  the  camel,  unless  certain  of  its  having 


*  Honpollo  (i.  23)  supposes  the  Onoce- 
P^u  to  signify  one  who  has  never  tra- 
TtUed  oat  of  his  own  country. 

*  Toot,  or  Selein^h,  is  in  the  Thebald, 
Mtriy  opposite  Hermonthis,  or  Erment,  on 
^  cast  bank.  '  Jerem.  zxii.  19. 

*  8m  the  introdnctory  tale  in  the 
inlittt  Mights. 

'  iQian,  HUt.  An.  z.  28. 

'  Plin.  Tiii.  18,  of  the  camel  and  giraffe, 
^^nibo,  zrii.  533.  [The  camel  is  men- 
^Mied  hj  its  name  katna!Uf  in  the  texts 
^  MDe  papyri.     (Chabas,   *  Etudes,'  p. 


400.)  At  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  it  was 
introduced  into  Egypt,  but  not  before,  and 
is  represented  on  coins  of  the  Arabian 
nome  under  the  Romans. — S.  B.] 

'  Levit.  zi.  4. 

*  [A  wise  precedent  as  regards  the  Jtorsi- 
fiesh  of  Europe!  We  might  learn  other 
hygienic  lessons  from  the  ancients :  the 
Greeks,  as  Athenieus  shows,  forbade  fish- 
mongers to  lower  the  price  of  their  fish  as 
the  day  went  on,  lest  the  poor  people 
should  be  induced  by  the  fall  of  price  to 
buy  stale  fish  in  the  evening. — G.  W.] 


I 


802  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

been  killed  when  in  a  healthy  state.  The  giraffe  frequently 
occurs,  both  in  the  paintings,  as  a  rare  animal  brought  from 
Ethiopia  to  Egypt,  and  as  a  hieroglyphic  in  monumental  sculp- 
tures. But  there  is  no  appearance  of  its  having  been  sacred, 
though  an  instance  is  mentioned  of  its  having  been  found  em- 
balmed. It  is  introduced  as  an  emblem  connected  with  the 
religion  in  the  sculptures  of  Hermonthis,  where  it  accompanies 
the  figure  of  Death,  some  apes,  and  a  jackal  in  adoration  of  the 
winged  scarabaeus,  the  emblem  of  the  sim.  Pliny  says  it  was 
called  by  the  Ethiopians  Nabin,  or  Nabis. 

Of  the  antelopes,  the  oryx  was  the  only  one  chosen  as  an 
emblem,  but  it  was  not  sacred;  and  the  same  city  on  whose 
monuments  it  was  represented  in  sacred  subjects,  was  in  the 
habit  of  killing  it  for  the  table. 

The  head  of  this  animal  formed  the  prow  of  the  mysterious 
boat  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,  who  was  worshipped  with  peculiar 
honours  at  Memphis,  and  who  held  a  conspicuous  place  among 
the  contemplar  gods  of  all  the  temples  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt.  This  did  not,  however,  prevent  their  sacrificing  the 
oryx  to  the  gods,  or  slaughtering  it  for  their  own  use,  large 
herds  of  them  being  kept  by  the  wealthy  Egyptians  for  this  pur- 
pose ;  and  the  sculptures  of  Memphis  and  its  vicinity  abound,  no 
less  than  those  of  the  Thebaid,  with  proofs  of  this  fact.  But  a 
particular  one  may  have  been  set  apart  and  consecrated  to  the 
deity — being  distinguished  by  certain  marks  which  the  priests 
fancied  they  could  discern,  as  in  the  case  of  oxen  exempted  from 
sacrifice.^  And  if  the  law  permitted  the  oryx  to  be  killed 
without  the  mark  of  the  pontiff's  seal  (which  was  indispensable 
for  oxen  previous  to  their  beings  taken  to  the  altar),  the  pri- 
vilege of  exemption  might  be  secured  to  a  single  animal, 
when  kept  apart  within  the  inaccessible  precincts  of  a  temple. 
In  the  zodiacs  the  oryx  was  chosen  to  represent  the  sign 
Capricornus. 

Champollion  considers  it  the  representative  of  Set;  and 
Horapollo^  gives  it  an  unamiable  character,  as  the  emblem  ot 
impurity.  It  was  even  thought  *  to  foreknow  the  rising  of  the 
moon,  and  to  be  indignant  at  her  presence.'  Pliny  is  disposed 
to  give  it  credit  for  better  behaviour  towards  the  Dog-star,' 
which,  when  rising,  it  looked  upon  with  the  appearance  of  adora- 


I  Herodot.  ii.  38.  *  Horapollo,  i.  49.     jElian,  Hist.  An.  z.  28. 

*  Plin.  ii.  40.     JEW&n,  Hist.  An.  rii.  8. 


Qbap.XIV.] 


THE  GOAT— THE  IBEX. 


803 


tion.  But  the  natuialist  was  misinfonned  respecting  the  growth 
of  its  hair/  in  imitation  of  the  bull  Pacis.  Such  are  the  fables 
of  old  writers ;  and,  judging  from  the  important  post  it  held  in 
the  boat  of  Sochans,  I  am  disposed  to  consider  it  the  emblem  of 
a  good'  rather  than  of  an  evil  deity,  contrary  to  the  opinion 
of  GhampoUion.' 

According  to  Herodotus/  the  goat  was  sacred  in  the  Men- 
dosian  nome»  where  great  honours  were  paid  to  it,  particularly  to 
the  male.^  In  that  province,  eyen  the  goatherds  themselyes 
were  respected,  notwithstanding  the  general  prejudice  of  the 
Egyptians  against  every  denomination  of  pastor.  The  same 
consideration  was  not  extended  to  these  animals  in  every  part  of 
the  country ;  and  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Upper  Egypt  sacri- 
ficed them :  as  the  Mendesians  offered  to  their  god  sheep,  which 
were  sacred  in  the  Thebaid/  ^lian^  states  that  at  Coptos  the 
flhe-goat  was  sacred,  and  religiously  revered,  being  a  favourite 
animal  of  the  goddess  Isis,  who  was  particularly  worshipped 
there;  but  this  feeling  did  not  prevent  their  sacrificing  the 
males  of  the  same  species. 

Herodotus  also  tells  us  that  the  goat  was  sacred  to  Pan,  who 
was  worshipped  in  the  Mendesian  nome. 

When  a  he-goat  died,  the  whole  Mendesian  nome  went  into 
mourning ;  and  Strabo^  and  Diodorus  *  also  mention  the  venera- 
tion in  which  it  was  held,  in  some  parts  of  Egypt,  as  the  emblem 
of  the  generative  principle.  It  is,  therefore,  singular  that  the 
horns  of  the  goat  were  not  given  to  Khem,  who  answered  to  that 
•ttribute  of  the  Divine  Power.  Plutarch  pretends  that  the  Men- 
dMan  goat  was  called  Apis,  like  the  sacred  bull  of  Osiris ;  but 
this  is  very  questionable,  as  I  have  already  observed. 

The  ibex,  or  wild  goat  of  the  desert,  occurs  sometimes  in 
>itronomical  subjects,^®  and  is  frequently  represented  among  the 
i&unals  slaughtered  for  the  table  and  the  altar,  both  in  the 
Thebald  and  in  Lower  Egypt.^^ 


'  PUo.  Tiu.  53. 

'  Boras  is  sometimes  represented  hold- 
^  t  ftieUe  in  the  hAod,  supposed  to 
(^lat  his  Tictory  over  Set;  but  a 
feianued  gazelle,  snowing  that  it  was  a 
■lerid  animal,  is  in  the  collection  of  the 
British  Museum,  No.  6778a,  Antilope 
Ihrm.    It  was  called  kahas.—^,  B. 

*  Tha  lencoryx,  often  seen  in  the  hiero- 
(lyphs,  was  called  ma  het,  or  'white 
*Mt,'— S,  B. 

*  Herodot.  ii.  46. 


*  The  goat  appears  to  hare  been  called 
ba  in  the  hieroglyphics,  and  was  used  to  ex- 
press the  idea  *  soul.'  In  Coptic  it  was  6a- 
em-pe^  *  goat  of  heaven.' — S.  B. 

•  Herodot.  ii.  42. 
'  iElian,  z.  23. 

•  Strabo,  xTii.  p.  559. 

*  Diodor.  i.  84  and  88. 
»•  iElian,  xir.  16.  ; 

11  On  one  tablet,  in  the  Belmore  Col- 
lection, it  appears  as  an  emblem,  or  sacred 
to  the  god  Amen-ra. — S.  B. 


304  THE  ANCIENT  EGYFEIAN8.  [Chap.  XIV. 

The  sheep  was  sacred  in  Upper  Egypt,  particiilarly  in  the 
vicinity  of  Thebes  and  Elephantine.  The  Lycopolites,  however, 
sacrificed  and  ate  this  animal,  *  because  the  wolf  did  so,  whom 
they  revered  as  a  god  ;*  ^  and  the  same  was  done  by  the  people 
of  the  Mendesian  nome ;  though  Strabo  '  would  seem  to  confine 
the  sacrifice  of  sheep  to  the  nome  of  Nitriotis.  In  the  Thebaad 
it  was  considered  not  merely  as  an  emblem,  but  ranked  among 
the  most  sacred  of  all  animals.  It  was  dedicated  to  Chnoumis, 
one  of  the  greatest  deities  of  the  Theb^d,  who  was  represented 
with  the  head  of  a  ram,  for,  as  I  have  already  observed,  this  was 
not  given  to  Amen,  as  the  Greeks  and  Bomans  imagined ;  and 
the  inhabitants  of  thal^  district  deemed  it  unlawful  to  eat  its 
flesh,'  or  to  sacrifice  it  on  their  altars.  According  to  Herodotus, 
they  sacrificed  a  ram  once  a  year  at  Thebes,  on  the  festival  of 
Jupiter  * — the  only  occasion  on  which  it  was  permitted  to  kill 
this  sacred  animal ;  and  after  having  clad  the  statue  of  the  god 
in  the  skin,  the  people  made  a  solemn  lamentation,  striking 
themselves  as  they  walked  around  the  temple.  They  afterwards 
buried  the  body  in  a  sacred  coffin. 

The  sacred  boats  or  arks  of  Chnoumis  were  ornamented  with 
the  head  of  a  ram ;  and  bronze  figures  of  this  animal  were  made 
by  the  Thebans  to  be  worn  as  amulets,  or  kept  as  guardians  of 
the  house,  to  which  they  probably  paid  their  adorations  in  pri- 
vate, invoking  them  as  intercessors  for  the  aid  of  the  deity  they 
represented.  Their  heads  were  often  surmounted  by  the  globe 
and  urceus,  like  the  statues  of  the  deity  himself.  Strabo,* 
Clemens,®  and  many  other  writers,  notice  the  sacred  character  of 
the  sheep;  and  the  two  former  state  that  it  was  looked  upon 
with  the  same  veneration  in  the  Saite  nome  as  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Thebes.  The  four-horned  sheep  mentioned  by  jEliari,' 
which,  he  says,  were  kept  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  are  still 
common  in  Egypt. 

Numerous  mummies  of  sheep  are  found  at  Thebes ;  and,  as 
I  have  already  observed,  large  flocks  were  kept  there.  For  though 
it  was  neither  required  for  sacrifice  nor  for  the  table,  the  wool 
was  of  the  highest  importance  to  them ;  and  much  care  seems 
to  have  been  bestowed  upon  this  useful  animal,  whose  benefits  to 


>  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  72.  *  Herodot.  ii.  42. 

*  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  552.  *  Strabo,  xvii.  pp.  552,  559. 

•  Plutarch  seems  to  think  all  the  priests  •  Clemens,  Orat.  Adhort.  p.  17. 
abstained  from   it,  as  from    swine's  flesh  '  .fClian,  Hist.  An.  xi.  40. 

(ss.  5,  74). 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  OX  AND  THE  COW.  305 

mankind  Diodorns^  supposes  to  have  been  the  cause  of  its  hold- 
ing so  high  a  post  among  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt. 

The  ram  was  chosen  to  represent  the  sign  Aries  in  the  zodiacs 
of  Egypt ;  but  these  partake  too  little  of  the  mythology  of  the 
country  to  be  of  any  authority  respecting  the  characters  of  the 
animals  they  contain.  Of  the  Kebsh,  or  wild  sheep  of  the  desert, 
I  have  already  spoken  in  treating  of  the  animals  chased  by  the 
Egyptians. 

The  ox  and  cow  were   both   admitted  among  the  sacred 

AtiiTOftlfl  of  Egypt    All,  however,  were  not  equally  sacred ;  and 

it  was  lawful  to  sacrifice  the  former  and  to  kill  them  for  the 

table,  provided  they  were  free  from  certain  marks,  which  the 

priests  were  careful  to  ascertain  before  they  permitted  them  to  be 

slaughtered.    When  this  had  been  done,  the  priest  marked  the 

animal  by  tying  a  cord  of  the  papyrus-stalk  round  its  horns, 

fastened  by  a  piece  of  clay,  on  which  he  impressed  his  seal.    It 

was  then  pronounced  clean,  and  taken  to  the  altar.    But  no  man, 

on  pain  of  death,  could  sacrifice  one  that  had  not  this  mark.^ 

*  All  the  dean  oxen  were  thought  to  belong  to  Epaphus,' '  who 

was  the  same  as  the  god  Apis.    Herodotus  says  that  a  single 

Uack  hair  rendered  them  unsuitable  for  this  purpose;    and 

Plutarch*  affirms  that  red  oxen  were  alone  lawful  for  sacrifice. 

But  the  authority  of  the  sculptures  contradicts  these  assertions, 

tud  shows  that  oxen  with  black  and  red  spots  were  lawful  both 

for  the  altar  and  the  table  in  every  part  of  Egypt    This  I  shall 

haTe  occasion  to  notice  more  fully  in  treating  of  the  religious 

oeremonies.   It  will  suffice  for  the  present  to  observe  that  certain 

Dttrks  were  required  to  ascertain  the  sacred  bulls,  as  the  Apis, 

Muevis,  and  Facis ;  and  that  the  cow  of  Athor  was  recognised  by 

peculiar  signs  known  to  the  priests,  and  doubtless  most  minutely 

Ascribed  in  the  sacred  books. 

The  origin  of  the  worship  of  the  bull  was  said  to  be  its  utility 
iu  agriculture,"  of  which  Clemens  considers*  it  the  type,  as  well 
*t  of  the  earth  itself;  and  this  was  the  supposed  reason  of  the 
M  being  chosen  as  the  emblem  of  Osiris,  who  was  the  abstract 
idea  of  all  that  was  good  or  beneficial  to  man. 

Though  oxen  and  calves  were  lawful  food,  and  adapted  for 
■Krifioe  on  the  altars  of  all  the  gods,  cows  and  heifers  were  for- 


*  Diodor.  L  87.  *  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  31. 

'  Hcrodoi.  iL  38.     Vidt  infrhy  on  the  *  Ibid.  s.  74.     Diodor.  i.  88. 

■Mrifiets.  *  Clem.  Strom,  r. 

'  IbkL  U.  38,  and  iU.  27. 

VOL.  UL 


306  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN&  [Chap.  XIV. 

bidden  to  be  killed,  being  consecrated,  according  to  Herodotus 
to  Isis ;  ^  or  rather,  as  he  afterwards  shows,  and  as  Strabo,  i 
perfect  accordance  with  the  sculptures,  states,  to  Athor.    Th^^ 
was  a  wise  regulation,  in  order  to  prevent  too  great  a  diniinutic^27 
in  the  cattle  of  the  country ;  and  the  prohibition  being  ascribfsic/ 
by  the  priests  to  some  mysterious  reason,  was  naturally  looked 
upon  in  process  of  time  as  a  divine  ordinance,  which  it  would  be 
nothing  less  than  sacrilege  to  disregard.    According  to  Strabo,' 
many,  both  male  and  female,  were  kept  in  different  towns,  in 
and  out  of  the  Delta ;   but  they  were  not  worshipped  as  deities, 
like  the  Apis  and  Mnevis,  which  had  the  rank  of  gods  at 
Memphis  and  Heliopolis.    Nor  did  they  enjoy  the  same  honouis 
that  were  paid  to  the  sacred  cow  at  Momemphis,  where  Venus 
was  worshipped. 

Bull  and  cow  mummies  are  frequently  met  with  at  Thebes 
and  other  places ;  and  though  Herodotus  states  that  the  bodi^ 
of  the  former  were  thrown  into  the  river,  and  the  latter  ^ 
removed  to  Atarbechis  in  the  Isle  of  Prosdpitis,  there  is  stii' 
ficient  evidence  of  their  having  being  buried  in  other  parts    ^^ 

Egypt." 

The  god  Apis  has  been  already  mentioned.  *Mnevis,  tJ^ 
<  -  O  sacred  ox  of  Heliopolis,*  was  honoured  by  tl^® 
j)  A  0  ^gyp*^*^^  ^*^  *  reverence  next  to  the  Apfe 
T ^  A  whose  sire  some  have  pretended  him  to  be.  ^® 
668.  Nameof  Apto.  ^00  was  dedicated  to  Osiris,  and  represented  ^^ 
a  black  colour,  like  the  god  himself,  by  whom  his  worship  w^ 
instituted  ;^  and  though  inferior  to  Apis,  the  respect  shown  hiP^ 
was  universal  throughout  the  country.' 

In  the  Coronation  Ceremony  at  Thebes  he  appears  to  be  in- 
troduced under  the  name  of  *  the  whiie  bull,'  which  is  specified 
by  the  same  character  used  to  denote  silver,  or,  as  the  Egyptians 
called  it  in  their  monumental  inscriptions,  *  whiie  gold.'  If  this 
really  represents  the  Mnevis,  Plutarch  and  Porphyry  are  mis- 
taken in  stating  its  colour  to  be  black ;  and  from  what  the  latter 
says  of  the  hair  growing  the  wrong  way,  it  seems  that  he  had  in 
view  the  Pacis  or  black  bull  of  Hermonthis.  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus,*  Porphyry,  and  ^lian  suppose  that  Mnevis  was  sacred  to 
the  sun,  as  Apis  to  the  moon ;  Macrobius  states  that  Mnevis,  Apis, 

*  Herodot.  ii.  41.  up  in  the  form  of  the  animal. — S.  B. 

'  Strabo,  zvii.  p.  552.  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  33.     Diodor.  L  S4. 

*  As  at  Thebes,  parts  of  the  bodies,  in-  *  Diodor.  i.  88. 

eluding  the  skull,  were  dried  and  wrapped  *  Ammian.  Marcell.  zzii.  14,  p.  332. 


^^^1?.  XIT.]  SACKED  BULLS.  307 

Md  Pacifl  were  all  oonfleciated  to  the  sun ;  and  Platarch  con- 
ftden  MneYiB  to  be  sacred  to  Osiris.^  Strabo  merely  says,  in 
Ike  Heliopolitan  prefecture  is  the  city  of  the  sun,  raised  on  a 
lofty  moandy^  having  a  temple  dedicated  to  that  deity,  and  the 
boll  Mnevis,  which  is  kept  in  a  certain  enclosure,  and  looked 
■pon  by  the  Ueliopolites  as  a  god,  like  the  Apis  in  Memphis. 
The  bull  of  Ueliopolis  appears  to  have  been  called,  in  the 
kieroglyphic  legends,  Mena.^  It  had  a  globe  and  feathers  on 
iti  head ;  but  tliough  found  on  the  monuments  of  Upper  Egypt, 
it  is  evident  that  it  did  not  enjoy  the  same  honours  as  Apis 
beyond  the  precincts  of  its  own  city. 

It  was  from  this,  and  not  the  Apis,  that  the  Israelites  bor- 
rowed their  notions  of  the  golden  calf;  and  the  offerings, 
dsncingy  and  rejoicings  practised  on  the  occasion,  were  doubtless 
in  imitation  of  a  ceremony  they  had  witnessed  in  honour  of 
Mnevis  during  their  sojourn  in  Egypt. 

^lian  mentions  a  story  of  Bocchoris  introducing  a  wild  bull 
to  euntend  against  Mnevis,  which,  having  rushed  at  him  without 
effect,  and  having  fixed  its  horns  into  the  trunk  of  a  Persea, 
vu  killed  by  the  sacred  animal.  The  king  was  said  to  have 
bciirred,  by  this  profane  action,  the  hatred  of  all  his  subjects. 
But  the  story  is  too  improbable  to  be  credited,  though  related 
to  him  by  the  Egyptians  themselves.  Basis  or  Pakis  was  the 
iMed  bull  worshipiied  at  Hermonthis.  ^Ilian^  calls  it  Onuphis. 
'The  Egyptians,'  he  says,  'worship  a  black  bull,  which  they  call 
Oiiaphis.  The  name  of  the  place  where  it  is  kept  may  be  learnt 
bom  the  bcx^ks  of  the  Egyptians,  but  it  is  too  harsh  both  to 
Mention  and  hoar.'  '  Its  hair  turns  the  contrary  way  from  that 
rf  other  animals,  and  it  is  the  largest  of  all  oxen.' 

Mmcrobius  relates  the  same  of  the  sacred  bull  of  Hermonthis, 
kit  gives  it  the  name  of  Ilacchis.  *  In  the  city  of  Hermonthis,' 
he  says,  '  they  adore  the  bull  Bacchis,*  which  is  consirrated  to 
the  siin,  in  the  niugniticent  temple  of  Apollo.  It  is  rt*murkable 
ior  certain  extraordinary  appearances,  according  with  the  nature 
of  the  sun.     For  every  hour  it  is  reported  to  change  its  C(»lour, 


'  !■  •  fmpyra*  ineDtii'Drtl  hj  Prufrwor      poMd  to  be  the  inrarDatitiD  of  the  nun,  Mtil 
Lrttrif  111.,  p.  .'ii',  iiirotiuD  u  niftdt      wore  the  »olar  duk  oo  it«  hrail  •uruiuiiDled 


€M»r-A|>i«,  anil  <Kiir-Morri«.  bj  |tlnineii  nf  two  hawk'i  feathrn  on  the 

*  lu   \uftj  niounJ.    Aii«l    the  ob4-li»k  of     ntiu   of  the    llrliu)H>|itaB    Dt>iiif    at    the 


rMiUMO    I.,    »till     mark     the     mte     of  iConiJUi  perittJ.     SuniftiiiiM  it  has  ooir  the 

Bcli0pulk».  tolar  disk  and  urarus. — i».  U. 
*  Tais  u  uac-rrtain  :  th^  word  mm  rather  *  .l-^lian.  Nat.  An.  in.  11. 

mmtMB  «-attie  than   an    in-livhlual   animal.  *  Sune  MSS.  read  Uatis  and  Paci*. 

h  *■•  called  in  hicr<  ^[Uj-hics  L'r'mer,  su|^ 

X  2 


308  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIY.  ^ 

and  to  have  long  hairs  growing  backwards,  contrary  to  th^^ 
nature  of  all  other  animals ;  whence  it  is  thought  to  be  an  imag^^ 
of  the  sun  shining  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  world/ ^ 

Strabo^  mentions  the  sacred  bull  of  Hermonthis,  but  withoc::^/ 
stating  its  name ;  and  the  Onuphis,  mentioned  by  .^Slian,  a;^ 
pears  rather  to  have  been  a  title,  signifying  *tike  opener  v/ 
good/   or  Ouonnofri,  which  properly  belonged  to  Osiris.'     If 
indeed,  this  name  was  really  given  to  the  bull  Facis,  we  may 
conclude  that,  like  Apis,  it  was  sacred  to,  or  an  emblem  o( 
Osiris ;   as  was  Mnevis,  according  to  Plutarch  and  Diodoms:^ 
and  thus  the  three,  instead  of  being  emblems  of  the  sun,  as 
Macrobius  supposes,  were  consecrated  to  Osiris. 

The  other  bulls  and  cows  mentioned  by  Strabo^  did  not  hold 
the  rank  of  gods,  but  were  only  sacred :  and  this  distinction  may 
be  applied  to  other  animals  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians. 

I  have  met  with  no  representation  of  the  buffalo;  though* 
from  its  being  now  so  common  in  the  country  and  indigenous 
in  Abyssinia,  it  was  probably  not  unknown  to  the  ancient 
Egyptians. 

The  Indian  or  humped  ox  was  common  in  former  times,  and 
is  abundant  in  Upper  Ethiopia,  though  no  longer  a  native  of 
Egypt.  Like  other  cattle,  it  was  used  for  sacrifice  as  for  the 
table ;  and  large  herds  were  kept  in  the  farms  of  the  wealthy 
Egyptians,  by  whom  the  meat,  particularly  the  hump  on  the 
shoulder,  was  doubtless  esteemed  as  a  dainty.  It  is  sometime 
represented  decked  with  flowers  and  garlands  on  its  way  to  the 
altar ;  but  there  is  no  appearance  of  its  having  been  emblematic 
of  any  deity,  or  of  having  held  a  post  among  the  sacred  animals 
of  the  country. 

The  dolphin,  a  native  of  the  sea,  was  not  likely  to  command 
the  respect  of  the  terrestrial,  or,  if  they  adopted  the  same 
epithet  as  the  modem  Chinese,  the  celestial  Egyptians.  It  is, 
indeed,  difficult  to  account  for  its  selection  by  the  Greeks  as  the 
companion  of  Venus :  for,  however  little  we  may  object  to  its 
presence  with  her  statue,  under  the  guise  of  white  marble  and 
the  classical  name  of  dolphin,  it  recalls  too  strongly  our  ideas  of 
the  porpoise  to  appear  to  us  a  suitable  attendant  on  the  goddess 
of  beauty. 

^  Macrob.  Saturn,  i.  26.  «  Diodor.  i.  88. 

*  Strabo,  zrii.  p.  361.  '  Strabo,  zrii.  p.  552.    He  appliei  his 

*  The  Omphis  of  Platarch  (de  bid.  t.     remark  only  to  Apia  and  Mneria. 
42)  ia  eyidently  thia  name. 


Chu.  XIV.] 


THE  DOLPHIN— THE  SPHINX 


Fliny,'  Beneca,*  and  Strabo'  speak  of  the  conteats  of  the 
dotphin  and  the  crocodile ;  in  which  the  former,  woonding  the 
CRModile  with  the  tpine  of  its 
dcnd  fin  in  the  abdomen, 
giined  an  easy  victcoy  over  it, 
na  in  its  own  riTer.  But 
iti  aedit  seems  principally  in- 
debted to  &ble,  its  weapons, 
like  its  beauty,  being  imagi- 
ntj;  and  whatever  may  have 
beai  the  prestige  in  its  favour 
tatag  the  classic  writers  of 
Onece  and  Bcmie,  the  Egyptians  do  not  appear  to  have  noticed 
it  M>  &r  as  to  give  it  a  place  in  their  paintings  or  their  alphabet. 

The  moat  distingniahed  post 
moogst  faboloos  ftnimula  mnst 
be  conceded  to  the  sphinx. 
It  «is  of  three  kinds, — the 
min^liinas,  with  the  head  of  a 
■u  and  the  body  of  a  lion, 
dnotmg  the  nnion  of  intel- 
il  and  physical  power ;  the 
I,  with  the  head  of  a 
na  ttd  the  body  of  a  lion; 
■d  the  hieraeoBj^inx,  with  the  same  body  and  the  head 
<t  a  hawk.  They  were  all  types  or  representatives  of  the  king, 
lb  kat  two  were  probably  so 
%snd  in  token  of  respect  to 
the  two  deities  whose  heads 
^  bene,  Chnomnis  and  Ba ; 
Ibt  other  great  deities.  Amen, 
&em,Ptah,  and  Osirisihaving 
ham  heads,  and  therefore 
■U  emmected  with  the  form 
rf  the  androsphinx.*  The 
^aag  «iB  not  only  represented 
nder  the  mysterions  figure  of  a  sphinx,  but  also  of  a  ram 


'  Fill.  Tiii.  36.  droaphini  irmballMd  th>  nnion  of  intcllcc- 

'  Sa«n,  Kit.  QomL  It.  p-  886.  tuil  and  ph7>>«I  »trengtli ;  »nd  Clemeu 

'  tMbo,  iTlL  p.  MT.  and  Platarcb  nj  thcr  *«'*  pl««d  bcfora 

'  l^williim  knaaliDg  mm  wen  nib-  UietcniplMutjpcioftluinifitcriaiuiutnra 

*l«id  tar  udriMphiBiM,  u  at  Kknwk,  of  the  Dcitj.     (Strom.  T.  5,  p.  664,  and  7, 

«<l  Bffkd,  aad  atbar  plaew.    Tlu  an-  p.  671 ;  and  Plat,  de  Ind.  ■.  9.) 


810 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


and  of  a  hawk;    and    this  laat  liad,  moreoTer,  the  peculiar— ; 
signification  of  Phrah,  or  Pharaoh,  the  mm,  personified  by  the^ 

monarch.'    [Sometimea  the  paintings  re 

presented  an  asp,  or  some  other  snab^^ 
(woodcut  No.  572).      Egyptian  sphinze^H 
were  not  composed  of  a  woman  and  1=^= 
lion,  like  those   of  Greece;    and  if  aMnn 
instance   occurs  of  this,   it  was  a    mer  ^ 
caprice,  and  probably  a  foreign  innoT^a^ 
tioa,  justified  by  its  representing  a  qneei^n, 
the   wife    of    King    Honis   of   the    ISt^l 
Dynasty;  and  they  are  sometimes  seen  Lxi 
the  sculptures  that  portray  the  spoil  taken  from  Asiatic  nations- 
One  sphinx  has  been  found  of  the  early  time  of  the  Qt-l 
Dynasty  (in  the  posaesaion  of 
Mr.  Larking,  of  Alexandria.), 
having  the  name  of  King 
Merenra ;  and  another  of  tbe 
12th  Dynasty  (on  a  scarabeus 
of  the  LouTre);    which    at 
once  decide  the  priority  ot 
those  of  Egypt.    Sometimfi* 
an  androephbix,  instead  cf 
the  lion's  paws,  has  hnmsii 
hands,  with  a  ^ise  or  censer 
between  them.     The  winged  sphinx  is  rare  in  Egypt,  bat  a  fe* 
solitary  instances  of  it  occur  on  the  monuments  and  on  scaiaboi; 
as  well  as  of  the  hawk-headed  sphinx 
called  se/er,  which  is  winged  (wood- 
cut   No.   575).      There    are    othM 
fanciinl  creatures,  one  of  which  hu 
the  spotted  body  of  a  leopard,  with 
a  winged  human  head  on  ita  back 
resembling  a  modem  cherub ;  and  another  ia  like  a  gazelle  witii 
wings  (woodcut  No.  576).    There  is  also  the  sqnare-eared  quad- 
ruped, the  emblem  of  Seth  (woodcut  No.  577).    The  Egyptian 
unicorn,  even  in  the  early  time  of  the  12th  Dynasty,  was  the 
rhinoceros ;  and  though  less  known  then  than  afterwuds,  it  had 


<  TliB^pUnx  wu  thtMubltm  of  th*  god  , 

Hmrauchlj,  uid  npnNnUd  the  king  in      Sphinxea  wtn  C4llsd  Ba  or  Jjks-: 

that  ch*TWt«r.    Iti  Mrliett  appMnnca  ii  hi«niEln>l>'e  thcf  MpTMa&t«d  tba  idM  wt 

at  tha  tlma  of  tha  4tb  Djiuutr,  tha  graat  or  '  lonL'— S.  B. 


CmAF.  XIV.] 


FABULOUS  ANIMALS. 


311 


.ZL 


Sfftr^  or  liAwk-beailvd  ^llhlllz. 
No.  675. 


ihe  pointed  nose  and  small  tail  of  that  animal,  of  which  it  is 
%  rude  representation.  Over  it  is  a&Uy  a  name  applied  also 
to* ivory/  and  to  any  large  beast.  The  winged  Greek  sphinxes, 
•0  common  on  vases,  are  partly  Egyptian,  partly  rhcenician 
in  their  (character,  the  recnrved  tips  of  the 
wings  being  evidently  taken  from  those  of 
Artarte.— G.  W.] 

Sphinxes  were  frequently  placcil  be- 
foie  the  temples,  on  either  side  of  the 
'romof,  c»r  approach  to  the  onter  gate. 
Sometimes  lions,  and  even  rams,  were 
nbstituted  for  them,  and  formed  the  same 
kind  of  avenues,  as  at  the  great  temple 
of  Ktmak  at  The))es ;  a  small  figure  of 
tiw  king  hf'ing  occasionally  attache<l  to  them,  or  placed  be- 
tween their  {niws.  When  represented  in  the  sculptures,  a  deity 
ii  often  seen  presenting  the  sphinx  with  the  sign  of  life,  or  other 
diriiie  gifts  usually  vouchsafed  by  the  gods 
to  s  king,  as  well  as  to  the  ram  or  hawk, 
*ken  in  the  same  ca|)acity,  as  an  emblem 
^  s  Pharaoh.  Instances  of  this  occur  on 
*^eral  of  the  obelisks  and  dedicatorv  in- 
^ijitions. 

Pliny '  mentions  sphinxes  and  other 
Umloos  monsters,  who  were  supposed  to 
lire  in  Ethiopia;  and  the  Egyptian  sculi>-  Na67f"**  *^  *' 
tttct,  as  I  have  already  shomn,  are  not  behindhand  in  relating 
the  marvellous  pnxluf^tions  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Plutarch'' 
and  Clemens'  are  satisfied  with  the  enigmatical    intention   of 


W 


tkete  compound  animals :  the  former  saying 
that  sphinxes  were  '  placecl  before  the  temples 
as  types  of  the  enigmatical  nature  of  their 
theology  ;*  the  latter  supposing  them  to 
■gnify  that  'all  things  which  treat  of  the 
Deity  must  b(>  mysteri(»us  and  obscure.* 

The  Egyptian  sculptures  also  represent 
tam%  with    human    heads,    lions    with    the 
heads  of  snakes  and  hawks  or  with  wings,  ^'>-^^'^' 
vinged    cr<»e<Mlil(>s   with    hawks'   heads,    and    (»ther    monsters, 

le  of  whi(*h  (»ccur  on  monuments  of  the  early  |K*rio<l  of  the 


ska,  an  *  int4rin  vf  ^«ib. 


*   Plifi.  Till.  '1\  \  Strabo,  ITU.  p.  &;i3.     .tlliaD  (lii.  7)  ri>ii^ii!rn  it  f.iluluui. 
>  riut.  dc  lud.  ft.  y.  ■  CUn.  Sln»m.  r.  p.  i:»G. 


312  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIASS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

17th  Dynasty.  One  of  these,  with  the  winged  body  of  »  qoad- 
luped  and  the  head  of  a  hawk,  was  called  ax^  >  ^^  '^^  named 
»dk  united  a  bird,  a  quadmped,  and  a  vegetable  prodootion  in 


its  own  person.  It  had  the  head  of  a  hawk,  the  body  of  a  lion, 
and  a  tail  terminating  in  a  full-blown  lotn^;  and,  being  a  female, 
threatened  to  produce  other  monsters  as  homd  as  itself,  with  a 
facility  unknown  to  ordinary  hybrids. 

The  targe  vulture  of  Egypt  was  said  to  have  beeq  emblematic 
of  Neith,  or  Minerva;*  and  the  sculptoies  show  it  to  have  been 
connected  with  more  than  one  deity  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon. 
It  enters  into  the  name  of  Mut,  though  it  does  not  appear  to  be 
an  emblem  of  that  goddess,  signifying  only,  as  the  wtnd  m/ut  or 
tmn  implies,  'mother.'  .^^lian'  supposes  that  'vultures  were 
all  females,'  as  if  to  account  for  their  character  as  emblems  of 
maternity.  He  even  believes  that  a  black  vulture  of  Egypt  was 
produced  from  the  union  of  an  eagle  and  a  vultore ;  and  he 
reports  other  tales  with  equal  gravity. 

Another  deity  to  whom  it  was  particularly  sacred  was  the 
Egyptian  Lucina;^  and  as  her  emblem  it  seems  to  protect  the 
kings,  whom  it  is  represented  overshadowing  with  its  wings, 
•whilst  they  offer  to  the  gods  in  the  temples,  or  wage  war  with 
an  enemy  in  the  field  of  battle.*  Under  this  form  the  goddess 
is  portrayed  with  outspread  wings  on  the  ceilings  of  the 
temples,'  particularly  in  those  parts  where  the  monarch  and 
the  officiating  priests  were  destined  to  pass  on  their  way  to 
celebrate  the  accustomed  rites  in  honour  of  the  gods.  For  this 
reason  the  vulture  is  introduced  on  the  ceiling  of  the  central 
avenues  of  the  portico,  and  the  under  side  of  the  lintels  of^ 
the  doors,  which  lead  to  the  sanctuary.     Sometimes  in  lien— 

•  HompolbO.  II)  Mr..'of  Miners*,  or  '  Ptobubly  on  ■cntiLt  of  Um  suit  •— 
of  Juno,  or  huTen,  ITranis,  t  /tar,  ■  the  vulture,  tirm,  being  tha  um*  u  tb^ 
mother,'  fcc,                  '  lEIian,  ii.  46.  word  umu,  'victory,' in  (he  hiwoeWpht. 

*  [^:iiaa   call!  it  the   bitd   of  Jddd.—  S.  B. 

G.  W.]  '  [Conf.  ^liMi,  I.  22,— a.  W.] 


r 


tn 


^ 


1i 


Chap.  XIV.]       THE  VULTUBE,  EAGLE,  AND  HAWK. 


813 


of  its  body  is  placed  a  human  eye  with  the  same  outspread 
wings. 

The  goddesses  and  queens  frequently  wear  the  vulture  with 
outspread  wings  in  lieu  of  a  cap,  the  heads  projecting  from 
their  foreheads,  and  the  wings  falling  downwards  on  either 
side  to  their  neck.^  Mummies  of  this  vulture  have  been  found 
embalmed  at  Thebes.  The  vulture  Percnopterus  was  probably 
r^arded  with  great  indulgence  by  the  Egyptians ;  but  though 
frequently  represented  in  the  sculptures,  there  is  no  evidence 
of  its  having  been  worshipped,  or  even  considered  the  peculiar 
emblem  of  any  deity. 

Tradition,  however,  seems  to  record  its  having  enjoyed  a 
considerable  degree  of  favour,  in  former  times,  by  one  of  the 
names  it  now  bears,  *Pharaoh*s  hen.'  Even  the  Moslem  in- 
luibitants  of  Egypt  abstain  from  ill-treating  it  in  consequence 
of  its  utility,  together  with  the  kites  and  other  birds  of  prey, 
ui  removing  those  impurities  which  might  otherwise  be  pre- 
judicial in  so  hot  a  climate.  It  is  generally  known  in  Arabic 
^7  the  name  rdkham,  which  is  the  same  it  bore  in  Hebrew, 
^*i«m,  translated  in  our  version  of  Leviticus  ffier-eoffle;^  where 
it  is  comprised  among  the  fowls  forbidden  to  be  eaten  by  the 
Israelites. 

Diodorus^  and  Strabo*  tell  us  that  the  eagle  was  worshipped 
^  Thebes.  But  it  is  evident  that  they  ought  to  have  substi- 
^iei  the  hawk,  which  the  sculptures,  as  well  as  ancient  authors, 
•fcnndantly  prove  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  all  the 
•^als  of  Egypt.  Diodorus,  indeed,  shows  the  connection  he 
■Apposes  to  have  subsisted  between  the  latter  bird  and  that  city, 
*hen  he  says,*  *  The  hawk  is  reputed  to  have  been  worshipped, 
**cau8e  augurs  use  them  for  divining  future  events  in  Egypt ; 
^i  some  say  that  in  former  times  a  book  or  papyrus,  bound 
'^d  with  red  or  purple*  thread,  and  containing  a  written 
•^nnt  of  the  modes  of  worshipping  and  honouring  the  gods, 
^  brought  by  one  of  those  birds  to  the  priests  at  Thebes.  For 
^hich  reason  the  hierogrammats  or  sacred  scribes  wear  a  (red) 


fi  J\^  indicat*  that  they  were  mothers. — 
^f)  Conf.  iElian,  x.  22. 

Urit.  xi.  18.  »  Diodor.  i.  87. 

I  Strabo,  xvii.  »  Diodor.  toe.  cit. 

The  words  ^tpiiAs  and  purp%ureua  are 
JUJ^Uted  *  purple/  bnt  it  is  evident  that 
JJjy  originally  signified  firensolonr,  or 
'4;  tad  the  *  pnrpnrens  late  qui  splendeat 
*■••  tt  alter  assnitar  pannns '  of  Horace 


will  translate  very  badly  a  *pnrple  patch  ;' 
though  it  is  evident,  from  the  *  certantem 
et  nvam  purpnrse,'  that  the  Latin  as  well 
as  the  Greek  word  signified  also  the  colour 
we  call  purple.  (Hor.  An  Poet.  18 ;  and 
Epod.  iL  20.)  The  pnrple  continued  to 
change  in  colour  at  di£ferent  times  till  it 
arrived  at  the  imperial  hue,  and  that 
adopted  by  the  modem  cardinals. 


i 


314  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

purple  band  and  a  hawk's  feather  in  their  head.^  The  Thebans 
worship  the  eagle  because  it  appears  to  be  a  royal  animal  wortliy 
of  the  Deity.*  But  though  the  eagle  was  not  worshipped,  it 
frequently  occurs  in  the  hieroglyphics,  where  it  has  the  force  of 
the  letter  a,  the  commencement  of  the  word  akhSm,  its  name 
in  Coptic, 

Plutarch,'  Clemens,^  and  others,  agree  in  considering  the 
hawk  the  emblem  of  the  Deity;  and  the  sculptures  clearly 
indicate  the  god  to  whom  it  was  particularly  sacred  to  be  Ba, 
or  the  sun. 

Other  deities  also  claimed  it  as  their  emblem;  and  it  is 
shown  by  the  monuments  to  have  belonged  to  Ptah-Sochans- 
Osiris,  to  Aroeris,  to  the  younger  Horus,  to  Mento,  to 
Khonsu,  to  Har-Hat,  and  to  Qabhsenuf,  one  of  the  four 
genii  of  Amenti;  all  of  whom  are  represented  with  a  hawk's 
head.  There  is  also  a  goddess  who  bears  on  her  head  a  hawk 
seated  upon  a  perch,  supposed  to  be  the  deity  of  the  west  bank 
of  the  Nile.  The  same  emblem  is  given  to  Athor;  and  the 
name  of  the  Egyptian  Venus  is  formed  of  a  hawk  in  a  cage  or 
shrine.  The  boat  or  ark  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris  is  covered  by 
the  hawk,  and  several  of  those  birds  are  represented  rowing  it, 
while  others  stand  upon  the  pillars  which  support  its  canopy; 
and  the  hawk  is  frequently  introduced  overshadowing  the  king 
while  offering  to  the  gods  or  engaged  in  battle,  in  lieu  of 
the  vulture  of  Eileithyia,  as  an  emblem  of  Har-Hat  or  Agatho- 
deemon. 

-^lian*  says,  *The  hawk  was  sacred  to  Apollo,  whom  they 
call  Horus.'  The  Tentyrites,  he  also  states,^  have  them  in  great 
honour,  though  hated  by  the  Coptites;  and  it  is  probable  that 
in  some  ceremonies  performed  in  towns  where  the  crocodile  was 
particularly  revered  the  presence  of  the  hawk  was  not  permitted, 
being  the  type  of  Horus,  whose  worship  was  hostile  to  that 
animal.  But  this  did  not  prevent  the  hawk-headed  Aroeris 
and  the  crocodile-headed  Sebak  from  sharing  the  same  temple 
at  Ombos. 

The  hawk  was  particularly  known  as  the  type  of  the  sun,  and 
worshipped  at  Heliopolis  as  the  sacred  bird  and  representative 


^  Clem.  Strom,  vi.  p.  196.  go  to   certain  desert  islands  near  Libja^ 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  32.  recalls  the  modem  Arab  story  of  the  Gebel 
'  Clem.  Strom,  y.  p.  159.  e'  Tayr  or   *  mountain  of  the  bird/  near 

*  iElian,  vii.  9,  z.  14.     He  makes  them  Minieh.     (iElian,  ii.  43.) 
live  700  years.     iElian's  account  of    the  *  ^ian,  z.  24. 

two  hawks  being  deputed  by  the  others  to 


Ohap.  XIV.]  SACRED  HAWKS.  315 

of  the  deity  of  the  place.  It  was  also  peculiarly  revered  at  the 
island  of  Philse,  where  this  sacred  bird  was  kept  in  a  cage,  and 
fed  with  a  care  worthy  the  representative  of  the  deity  of  whom 
it  was  the  emblem. 

It  was  said  to  be  consecrated  to  Osiris,  who  was  buried  at 
FhilfiB;  and  in  the  sculptures  of  the  temples  there  the  hawk 
frequently  occurs,  sometimes  seated  amidst  lotus-plants.  But 
this  refers  to  Horus,  the  son  of  Osiris,  not  to  that  god  himself, 
as  the  hieroglyphics  show  whenever  the  name  occurs  over  it. 

The  hawk  of  Phike  is  the  same  kind  as  that  sacred  to  Ba, 
and  not,  as  some  have  imagined,  a  different  species.  It  is 
therefore  difficult  to  account  for  Strabo's  assertion^  that  the 
bird  worshipped  at  Philse,  though  called  a  hawk,  appeared  to 
him  unlike  those  he  had  been  accustomed  to  see  in  his  own 
country,  or  in  Egypt,  being  much  larger  and  of  a  different 
character.  The  only  mode  of  accounting  for  his  remark  is  to 
suppose  he  alludes  to  the  hawk  I  have  named  Falco  Aroeris, 
which  is  larger  than  the  ordinary  kinds  of  Europe  and  Egypt, 
and  is  seldom  seen  even  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 

At  Hieraconpolis,  or  the  City  of  the  Hawks,  which  stood 
nearly  opposite  Eileithyia,  on  the  west  bank,  and  at  Hieracon, 
opposite  Lycopolis,  this  bird  likewise  received  divine  honours; 
lod  the  remains  at  the  former,  of  the  time  of  the  first  Usertesen, 
pR)Ye  the  antiquity  of  that  place,  and  argue  that  the  worship  of 
the  hawk  was  not  introduced  at  a  late  period. 

The  universal  respect  for  the  gods,  of  whom  it  was  the  type, 
i^dered  the  honours  paid  to  the  hawk  common  to  all  Egypt; 
^  though  the  places  above  mentioned  treated  it  with  greater 
diitmction  than  the  rest  of  the  country,  no  town  was  wanting  in 
le^tect  to  it,  and  no  individual  was  known  to  ill-treat  this  sacred 
wid.  It  was  one  of  those  *  confessedly  honoured  and  worshipped 
•y  the  whole  nation,'  ^  and  *  not  only  venerated  while  living,  but 
^fter  death,  as  were  cats,  ichneumons,  and  dogs ; '  ^  and  if,  says 
Herodotus,*  *  any  one,  even  by  accident,  killed  an  ibis  or  a  hawk, 
i^ettung  could  save  him  from  death.'  JElian,^  indeed,  asserts 
that  the  Cioptites  showed  great  hatred  to  hawks,  as  the  enemy 
^  their  favourite  animal  the  crocodile,  and  even  nailed  them  to 
Across;  but  this  appears  improbable,  since  the  sun  and  other 
deities,  of  whom  they  were  emblems,  were  worshipped  at  Coptos  as 
throughout  Egypt.    

>  Stnbo,  zrii.  p.  563.  <  Plat,  de  Istd.  s.  73.  '  Diodor.  L  83. 

«  Herodot  u.  65.  •  iEliao,  Nat.  An.  z.  24. 


316 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANS. 


[GsAP.  XIV. 


These  sacred  birds  were  maintaiiied  at  the  public  expense. 
Every  possible  care  was  taken  of  them,  by  certain  persons 
especially  entrusted  with  that  honourable  duty,^  who,  calling 
them  with  a  loud  yoice,  held  out  pieces  of  meat  cut  up  into 
small  pieces  for  the  purpose,  until  they  came  to  take  them. 
And  whenever,  like  the  curators  of  the  other  sacred  animals, 
they  travelled  through  the  country  to  collect  charitable  dona- 
tions for  their  maintenance,  the  universal  veneration  paid  to  the 
hawks  was  shown  by  the  zeal  with  which  all  persons  contributed. 
A  hawk  with  a  human  head  was  the  emblem  of  the  human  soul. 


No.  680. 


Sttcred  hawk. 


Brititk 


the  bateih  of  HorapoUo.  The  goddess  Athor  was  sometimes 
figured  under  this  form,  with  the  globe  and  horns  of  her  usual 
h^ad-dress.  Hawks  were  also  represented  with  the  head  of 
a  ram. 

Several  species  of  hawks  are  natives  of  Egypt,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  decide  which  was  really  the  sacred  bird.  But  it 
appears  that  the  same  kind  was  chosen  as  the  emblem  of  all  the 
different  gods  above  mentioned,  the  only  one  introduced  into  the 
sculptures  besides  the  sacred  hawk  being  the  small  sparrow- 
hawk,^  or  Falco  tenunctUoides,  which  occurs  in  certain  myste- 
rious subjects  connected  with  the  dead,  in  the  tombs  of  the 
kings.  The  sacred  hawk  had  a  peculiar  mark  under  the  eye, 
which,  by  their  conventional  mode  of  representing  it,  is  much 
more  strongly  expressed  in  the  sculptures  than  in  nature ;  and 
I  have  met  with  one  species  in  Egypt  which  possesses  this 


'  Diodor.  i.  83. 

'  The  origin  of  this  inconsistent  name 
may  be  a  corruption  of  spervierOf  ^pervier, 


*  a  hawk  ;'  or,  as  Johnson  supposes,  of 
Saxon  spearhafoc. 


the 


ClHAP.  XIV.] 


THE  KITE— THE  OWL. 


317 


])ecnliarit7  in  so  remarkable  a  degree  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
j^pecting  the  actual  bird  called  sacred  in  the  country.  I 
Jiaye  therefore  ventured  to  give  it  the  name  of  FaJco  Aroerts. 
Numerous  hawk-mummies  have  been  found  at  Thebes  and  other 
places.  And  such  was  the  care  taken  by  the  Egyptians  to 
preserve  this  useful  and  sacred  bird,  that  even  those  which 
^ed  in  foreign  countries/  where  their  armies  happened  to  be, 
^^irere  embcdmed  and  brought  to  Egypt  to  be  buried  in  conse- 
c^rated  tombs.' 

The  kite  was  also  treated  with  consideration,  because  it 
c3estroyed  rats  and  noxious  reptiles,  and,  like  the  VuUur  percno- 
J  aided  in  freeing  the  country  of  impurities  which  might 
injurious  to  man.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  to  have 
l3een  worshipped  as  a  sacred  animal ;  though  it  is  probable  that, 
like  the  sparrow-hawk  and  others,  it  was  thought  to  belong 
-^4)  Ba,  the  patron  deity  of  all  the  falcon  tribe,  the  various 
sxiembers  of  which  were  represented  by,  or  included  under  the 
ame  and  form  of,  the  sacred  hawk. 

The  homed  and  white  owl  are  frequently  represented  in  the 
ulptures ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  their  having  been  sacred, 
hich  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  this  bird  has  been  chosen  in 
countries  as  the  emblem  of  a  deity,  or  connected  with 
mysterious  notion.  Its  constant  occurrence  on  the  monu- 
ents,  where  it  stands  for  the  letter  m,  and  bears  the  sense  of 
•  in,'  *with,'  and  *for,'  together  with  the  eagle,  vulture,  hawk, 
ohicken,  and  swallow,  led  to  the  name  *bird  writing,' '  which 
lias  been  applied  to  hieroglyphics  by  the  modem  Egyptians.^ 

There  is  no  reason  for  supposing  the  owl  to  have  been  an 
emblem  of  the  Egyptian  Minerva,  as  some  have  imagined. 
And  if  it  obtained  any  degree  of  respect  for  its  utility  in 


'  Diodor.  i.  84. 

*  The  hawk  was  called  hak,  the  emblem 
^•11  the  solar  gods,  Ra,  Mentu,  Amen, 
^^diaris,  Horns,  and  eren  Osiris.  It  also 
*>fv«Md  sometimes  the  idea  <  god.'  It 
^*pnMnted  likewise  the  lunar  god  Khonsn. 
*>  the  future  state  the  deceased  turned 

• 

^  1  hawk,  and  a  *  gold  hawk/  which  last 
^  the  author  of  time  and  also  one  of  the 
IWioQic  titles.— S.  B. 

'  The  Greeks  and  Romans  applied  to 
^^  the  name  of '  animal  writing.  Hero- 
^01  speaks  of  'the  causeway  of  the 
PT^imids,  with  the  figures  of  animals 
omd  upon  it '  (IL  124).    Lucan  sajs^- 


<  Sax  is  tantum  yolucresque  fersque, 
Sculptaque  servabant  magicas  animalia 
linguas.' 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  in  describing  the 
hieroglyphics  on  the  sculptured  walls  of  the 
Egyptian  excavated  monuments,  observes, 
*  Excisis  parietibus  yolucrum  ferarumque 
genera  multa  sculpserunt,  et  animal  ium 
species  innumeras,  quas  hierogljphicas 
literas  appellarunt '  (xxii.  c  15,  p.  339). 

*  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  the 
owl,  accompanied  by  the  crook  and  the 
whip,  occurs  in  certain  silver  coins  sup- 
posed to  have  been  struck  by  the  Persians. 
— S.  S. 


318 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Chap.  XIV. 


destroying  noxious  animals,  the  return  for  those  benefits  was 
thought  to  be  su£Sciently  repaid  by  the  care  with  which  it  was 
embakned  after  death.  Several  mummies  of  owls  have  been 
found  in  the  Necropolis  of  Thebes. 

According  to  Horapollo,^  the  sparrow  *  was  used  by  the  Egyp- 
tians to  denote  *  a  prolific  man/  and,  according  to  others,  *  the 
revolution  of  a  year.*  But  neither  the  swallow,  sparrow,  raven, 
crow,  nor  upupa,  received  divine  honours  among  the  Egyptians ; 
and  though  the  Moslems  distinguish  the  raven  by  the  name  of 
*  Noah's  crow,'  and  often  consider  it  wrong  to  kill  it,  no  peculiar 
respect  appears  to  have  been  paid  it  in  ancient  times. 

According  to  Horapollo,'  the  Egyptians  represented  Mars 
and  Venus  by  two  hawks,  or  by  two  crows ;  and  the  latter  were 
chosen  as  the  emblems  of  marriage.  The  same  author  assigns 
to  the  representation  of  a  dead  crow  the  idea  of  a  man  who  has 
lived  a  perfect  life,^  and  to  young  crows  the  signification  of  a 
man  passing  his  life  in  movement  and  anxiety.'  .£lian  pretends 
that  this  bird  was  sacred  to  Apollo,  two  only  which  belonged  to 
his  temple  being  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Coptos.*  The  naturalist 
adds,  that  the  Bomans  employed  at  the  emerald  mines  observed 
the  same  number  there  also — ^a  remark  which  originated  in  the 
circumstance  of  ravens^  being  almost  the  only  birds  seen  in  that 
tract ;  and  their  habit  being  to  live  in  pairs.  They  go  a  very 
short  distance  from  their  usual  haimts ;  but  different  valleys  are 
visited  by  a  different  couple. 

iElian^  also  states  that  the  sepulchre  of  a  raven  was  shown 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Myris  (Moeris) ;  and  relates  a  story  of 
King  Marras,  who,  having  employed  a  raven  to  carry  his  letters, 
buried  it  there  at  its  death  in  token  of  his  esteem  for  its  fidelity. 
From  what  he  mentions  in  another  place,*  it  appears  that  the 
race  of  crows  and  ravens  has  wofuUy  degenerated,  though  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  the  modem  inhabitants.  For  those  birds, 
as  soon  as  they  saw  a  boat  passing  on  the  river,  in  a  supplicating 
manner  approached,  and  petitioned  for  whatever  they  required : 
if  given,  they  departed  quietly ;  but  if  refused,  they  settled  on 


*  Horapollo,  Hierog.  ii.  115. 

*  [Probably  a  peculiar  species,  or  a 
variety,  as  the  sparrow  of  Tunis  is,  difiering 
slightly  from  that  of  Europe. — G.  W.] 

'  Horapollo,  i.  8,  9,  and  ii.  40. 

*  Ibid.  ii.  89.  What  he  says  of  its 
living  thirteen  years,  and  the  Egyptian 
year  being  equal  to  four  years,  is  obscure. 


*  Horapollo,  ii.  97.         •  iElian,  vii.  18- 
'  He   calls  them  crows,  but   I   believe 
that    both    Mlian,  and   Herodotus    meao 
ravens;  the  Egyptian  being    the   Royston 
crow,   or    Conma  comix,      I    believe  the 
latter  to  be  sometimes  represented  in  the 
Egyptian  paintings,  and  even  on  papyri. 
<  iElian,  vi.  7.  •  Ibid.  ii.  48. 


Cbap.  XIV.]  FOWLS-COOKS.  319 

the  prowy  and  pulling  to  pieces  the  ropes,  revenged  themselves  on 
the  offenders.  His  well-known  story  of  the  Libyan  crows  dropping 
pebbles  into  jars  until  the  water  rose  within  reach  of  their  bills 
is  also  on  a  par  with  the  animal  sagacity  of  those  times. 

The  swallow^  often  occurs  in  hieroglyphics,  where  it  some- 
times signifies  ^  great '  and  *  valuable ;'  but  it  does  not  occur  as 
an  emblem  of  any  deity,  and  the  only  instance  of  its  occurrence 
in  religious  subjects  is  on  the  boat  of  Atum.  Isis  was  not  wor- 
shipped under  the  form  of  a  swallow,  as  some  have  supposed ; 
and  if  a  group,  of  which  this  bird  forms  the  principal  feature, 
accompanies  her  name,  it  is  only  in  the  sense  above  mentioned, 
and  applied  to  her  in  common  with  other  deities.  The  swallow 
is  found  embalmed  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes. 

Another  bird,  which  is  generally  mistaken  for  the  swallow, 
and  has  been  conjectured  by  ChampoUion  to  represent  a  sparrow, 
is  figured  in  the  hieroglyphic  legends  as  the  type  of  an  impure 
or  wicked  person.  I  believe  it  to  be  the  wagtail,  or  Mota- 
cilla ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  bird  is  still  called 
in  Egypt  *Aboo  fussdd,'  *the  father  of  corruption,*  as  if  in 
memorial  of  the  hieroglyphical  character  assigned  to  it  by  the 
ancient  Egyptians. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  upupa  was  sacred,  ^lian^ 
itates  that  the  Egyptians  respected  this  bird  and  the  Yul- 
panser  goose  ^  for  their  love  of  their  young,  and  the  stork  for 
its  tenderness  to  its  parents,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  any  one  of  these  was  sacred. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  though  fowls  aboimded  in  Egypt, 
they  are  never  represented  in  the  sculptures.  Plutarch^  tells  us 
they  sacrificed  white  and  saffiron-coloured  cocks  to  Anubis,  but 
^thout  saying  that  they  were  the  emblems  of  any  god.  Indeed, 
the  Tudversal  use  of  fowls  as  an  article  of  food  argues  against 
the  probability  of  their  having  been  sacred ;  nor  are  they  found 
embalmed  in  the  tombs.  It  is  not,  however,  impossible  on  this 
>oooimt  that  they  might  have  been  emblems,  as  the  goose, 
though  so  universally  adopted  as  an  article  of  food,  was  the 
symbol  of  the  god  Seb ;  and,  were  it  not  for  the  absence  of  all 


*  Gtllad  AMU.     The  word  for  *  great '  is  called  sa^  seb  ia,  seb  apt,  and  khenen  or 
V|  the  Latin  htr-wido. — S.  B.  x^  li^«  the  Greek  x^*"-    See  the  list  of 

*  Aian,  Nat.  An.  z.  16.  these    found    in    the    tombs.     (Rosellini, 
'  The  gooie  was  sacred  to,  and  the  liying  *  Mon.  Ciy./  torn,  i.,  p.  189.)--S.  B. 

««blnnof  Seb.  (Prisse,  *Rer.  Arch./  1845,  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  61. 
^  729.)   There  were  seTarml  kinds  of  geese, 


L 


320  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

proof  of  it  in  the  sculptures,  we  might  believe  that  the  assertion 
of  Proclus  respecting  the  cock  applies  to  the  religion  of  Egypt 
That  author  says  it  held  a  rank  among  *  solar  animals^  because 
it  appears  to  applaud  the  sun  at  its  rising,  and  partakes  like  the 
lion  of  the  solar  influence :  for  though  so  inferior  in  size  and 
strength,  the  cock  is  said  to  be  feared  by  the  lion,  and  almost 
revered  by  it,  the  virtue  of  the  sun  being  more  suited  to  the 
former  than  to  the  latter :  and  daemons  with  a  lion's  head,  when 
the  cock  is  presented  to  them,  are  known  to  vanish  instantly.' 

This  notion  of  the  lion  and  cock  being  analogous  emblems, 
and  the  latter  possessing  power  to  contend  with  his  powerful 
competitor,  probably  led  to  the  design  engraved  by  a  Boman 
artist  on  a  stone  I  found  in  the  Fyo6m,  representing  a  lion  and 
cock  fighting,  whilst  a  rat  carries  off  the  bone  of  contention. 
This,  besides  the  obvious  moral  it  conveys,  shows  that  the  two 
animals  were  chosen  as  the  types  of  strength  or  courage.  It 
also  recalls  the  assertion  of  Pliny ,^  that  ^  cocks  are  a  terror  to 
lions,  the  most  generous  of  animals.' 

Pigeons  are  not  generally  represented  in  the  sculptures; 
but  an  instance  occurs  of  their  introduction  at  the  Coronation 
Ceremony,  which  is  particularly  interesting,  as  it  shows  the  early 
custom  of  training  carrier-pigeons,  and  adds  one  more  confirma- 
tion of  the  truth  of  Solomon's  remark,  ^  there  is  no  new  thing 
under  the  sun.'  The  king  is  there  represented  as  having  as- 
sumed the  pshent  or  double  crown  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt ; 
and  a  priest  lets  fly  four  pigeons,  commanding  them  to  announce 
to  *  the  south,  the  north,  the  west,  and  the  east,  that  Horns,  the 
son  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  has  put  on  the  splendid  crowns  of  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Country — that  is,  that  the  king  Barneses  III. 
has  put  on  the  two  crowns.' 

The  pigeon^  is  also  noticed  as  a  favourite  food  of  the 
Egyptians;  and  so  pure  and  wholesome  was  it  considered  by 
them,  that  when  the  country  was  visited  by  epidemic  diseases^ 
and  all  things  were  aflected  by  the  pestilential  state  of  tha 
atmosphere,  they  believed^  that  those  alone  who  contented, 
themselves  with  it  were  safe  from  the  infection.  Indeed,  during 
that  period,  no  other  food  was  placed  upon  the  tables  of  the 
kings  and  priests,  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  themselves  pure 
for  the  service  of  the  gods.    There  is,  however,  no  appearance 


'  Plin.  lib.  X.  c  21.  heaven/  are  also  applied  to  birds.— S.  B. 

*  It  was  called  kctr-mirpe,  '  the  bird  of         '  Horapollo,  Hierog.  i.  57. 
heaven.'    The  word  ari-^m-pef  *  keepers  of 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  IBIS.  321 

of  pigeons,  or  eyen  doves,^  having  been  sacred ;   and  neither 
these  nor  the  qnail  are  found  embalmed. 

The  quail  is  represented  among  the  offerings  to  the  gods  in 
the  tombsy  and  was  eaten  by  the  Egyptians,  but  it  was  not  the 
emblem  of  any  deity.  Nor  did  the  ostrich  hold  a  place  among 
the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt,  though  much  esteemed  for  its 
plumes.  This  is  the  more  singular,  as  the  ostrich-feather  was 
a  symbol  of  the  goddess  of  Truth  or  Justice.  It  belonged  also 
to  the  head-dress  of  Shu ;  it  was  adopted  by  Hermes  Trisme- 
gistus,  as  well  as  some  other  deities;  and  it  was  worn  by  the 
soldiery  and  the  priests  on  certain  religious  festivals.  Ostrich 
eggs  were  highly  prized  by  the  Egyptians,  and  were  part  of  the 
tribute  paid  to  them  by  foreigners  whose  coimtries  it  inhabited ; 
and  it  is  possible,  as  I  have  already  observed,  that  they  were 
considered,  as  at  the  present  day,  the  emblems  of  some  divine 
attribute,  and  suspended  in  their  temples,  as  they  still  are  in  the 
churches  of  the  Copts. 

The  ibis  was  sacred  to  Thoth,'  who  was  fabulously  reported  to 

have  eluded  the  pursuit  of  Typho  under  the  form  of  this  bird. 

It  was  greatly  revered  in  every  part  of  Egypt ;  and  at  Herm- 

opolis,  the    city  of    Thoth,  it  was  worshipped  with  peculiar 

bonours,  as  the  emblem  of  the  deity  of  the  place.    It  was  on 

this  account  considered,  as  Clemens  and  ^lian^  tell  us,  typical 

of  the  moon,  or  the  Hermes  of  Egypt.    Its  Egyptian  name  was 

Bah;  from  which  ChampoUion  supposes  the  town  of  Nibis  to 

have  been  called,  being  a  corruption  of  Jfo-n-Atp,  or  n-hip,  *  the 

place  of  the  ibis.'    This  name  was  applied  to  the  Ibeum,  where 

it  received  the  same  honours  as  at  the  city  of  Thoth. 

Such  was  the  veneration  felt  by  the  Egyptians  for  the  ibis, 
^  to  have  killed  one  of  them,  even  involuntarily,  subjected 
4e  offender  to  the  pain  of  death ;  *  and  *  never,*  says  Cicero,* 
'^  such  a  thing  heard  of  as  an  ibis  killed  by  an  Egyptian.' 
80  pure  did  they  consider  it,  that  *  those  priests  who  were  most 
icmpolous  in  the  performance  of  the  sacred  rites,  fetched  the 
^ter  they  used  in  their  purifications  from  some  place  where  the 
ibia  had  been  seen  to  drink  ;  it  being  observed  of  that  bird  that 
tt  neyer  goes  near  any  unwholesome  and  corrupted  water.'  •    The 


'  The  dores  represented  on  the  monn-         '  Clem.  Strom.  lib.  y.  p.  242.     Ji)lian, 

*^  called  men,  appear  to   hare  been  Nat.  An.  ii.  38. 
'iH'^loTea.— S.  B.  *  Herodot.  ii.  65,  and  Diodor.  i.  83. 

J  PUtoin  Pncdone.     -filian,  Nat.  An.  x.  »  Cic  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  i.  29. 

^.   HorapoUo,  i.  10  and  36.  *  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  75.    Mii&Uy  vii.  45. 

VOL.  III.  Y 


322  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  Xlirn 

particular  respect  paid  to  it  was  supposed  to  be  owing  to    its 
destroying  venomous  reptiles,  which,  as  Cicero  says,  its  height, 
its  hard  legs,  and  long  homy  beak  enable  it  to  do  with  great 
ease  and  safety;   thus  averting  pestilence  from  Egypt,  when 
the  winged  serpents  are  brought  by  the  westerly  winds  from 
the  deserts  of  Libya.^    Pausanias,^  Cicero,  and  others,*  think  the 
existence  of  these  serpents  not  impossible ;  and  Herodotus  says 
he  only  saw  their  bones  and  wings.     But  we  may  readily  pardon 
their  credulity,  when  we  find  it  asserted  by  a  modem  trayeller 
that  they  still  exist  in  Egypt. 

The  account  of  Herodotus  is  this :  *  *  In  Arabia  (the  eastern 
or  Arabian  side  of  the  Nile),  very  near  to  the  city  of  Bute,  is  a 
place  to  which  I  went  to  inquire  about  the  winged  serpents.  On 
my  arrival  I  saw  a  great  quantity  of  bones  and  backbones  of 
serpents  scattered  about,  of  all  sizes,  in  a  place  where  a  narrow 
gorge  between  two  hills  opens  upon  an  extensive  plain  contignoua 
to  the  valley  of  Egypt.    These  serpents  are  reported  to  fly  from 
Arabia  into  Egypt  about  the  beginning  of  spring,  when  the  ibis? 
meeting  them  at  the  opening  of  this  defile,  prevents  their  passing) 
and  destroys  them :  in  gratitude  for  which  service,  the  Arabs  sa."3 
that  the  Egyptians  have  great  veneration  for  the  ibis ;  and  th^3 
themselves  allow  it  is  for  this  reason  they  honour  that  bird. 

*  There  are  two  kinds  of  ibis.  The  first  is  of  the  size  of  * 
erexy^  with  very  black  plumage ;  the  legs  like  those  of  the  craa  ^» 
and  the  beak  curved.  This  kind  attacks  the  serpents.  Tb^-® 
other  ibises  are  more  common,  and  often  seen.  They  have  H^  ^ 
head  and  all  the  neck  without  feathers ;  their  plumage  is  whit^^' 
except  the  head,  neck,  and  extremity  of  the  wings  and  tail,  af^ 
which  are  quite  black ;  the  legs  and  beak  being  the  same  as  if^ 
the  other  species.  The  winged  serpent  is  in  figure  like  a  water-^ 
snake ;  its  wings  are  without  feathers,  and  exactly  like  those  o^ 
a  bat.' 

Among  the  many  fanciful  animals  of  the  Egyptian  sculptures, 
the  winged  serpents  mentioned  by  Herodotus  are  nowhere 
found.  Even  among  the  many  monsters  in  the  mythological 
subjects  of  their  tombs,  none  are  represented,  as  he  describes 
them,  with  the  wings  of  bats,  though  some  occur  with  the 
feathered  wings  of  birds.  Had  the  Egyptians  themselves 
believed  the  existence  of  that  kind  of  serpent,  we  may  reasonably 

^  Cicero,  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  L    Herodotus         '  iElian,  Nat.  Ad.  ii.  38.    Amm.  Hftrc 
sajs  they  came  from  Arabia.  zxii.  15,  p.  338.  *  Herodoi.  ii.  75. 

'  Pausan.  z.  21.  *  MaUui  crex. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  IBIS.  323 

suppose  they  would  not  have  omitted  it  in  the  numerous  scenes 
connected  with  the  Evil  Being,  of  whom  this  hateful  monster 
urould  have  been  an  appropriate  type.  We  may  therefore 
<xmclude  that  Herodotus  was,  imposed  upon  by  some  deceitful  or 
credulous  Egyptian,  who  showed  him  the  backbones  of  serpents 
mixed  with  the  wings  and  bones  of  bats ;  which  last  abound  in 
great  numbers  in  Egypt,  and  many  have  been  found  in  the 
gorge  near  Buto.^ 

The  common  ibis  mentioned  by  Herodotus  correspojids  with 

the  Numenius  Ibis,  or  Ibis  rdiffiosa,  of  modem  naturalists,  as 

Cuvier  has  shown ; '  but  this  is  not  the  ibis  famed  for  its  attack 

on  the  serpents,  which  was  less  common,  and  of  a  black  colour. 

Those  we  find  embalmed  are  the  Numenius.    They  are  white, 

with  black  pinions  and  tail :  the  body  measures  12  inches,  and 

4^  in  diameter,  and  the  beak  about  half  a  foot.    The  leg,  from 

the  knee  to  the  plant  of  the  foot,  is  about  4^  inches,  and  the 

foot  the  same  length;  the  wing,  from  the  pinion-joint  to  the 

extremity  of  the  feathers,  being  nearly  10  inches.    The  Ardea 

Ibis  of  Hasselquist,  which  is  a  small  heron  with  a  straight  beak, 

has  no  claim  to  the  title  of  ibis  of  the  ancients.    The  black 

and  the  common  Egyptian  ibis  were  related  to  the  curlews, 

both  having  curved  beaks.    The  Tantalus  Ibis  of  Linnaeus  is 

indefinite,  from  its  comprehending,  as  Cuvier  says,  *  four  species 

of  three  different  genera.*^ 

That  the  ibis  was  of  great  use  in  destroying  locusts,  serpents, 
scorpions,  and  other  noxious  creatures  which  infested  the  country, 
is  readily  credited.  And  its  destruction  of  them^  led  to  the 
legpect  it  enjoyed;  in  the  same  manner  as  the  stork  ifas 
honoured  in  Thessaly,'  where  it  was  a  capital  offence  to  kill  one 
of  those  birds.*  Some  have  doubted  the  bill  of  the  ibis  having 
snfficient  power  to  destroy  serpents ;  and  therefore,  questioning 
tile  accuracy  of  Herodotus's  description  of  the  birds  which 
attacked  them  in  the  desert  near  Bute,  have  suggested  that  they 
^^  of  the  Ardea  kind.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  bill  of  the 
ibis  is  sufficiently  strong  for  attacking  serpents^  of  ordinary  size. 


^  fnm   his  oerer  mentioning  locusts,  *  Jameson's    Cnvier's    ^  Theorj  of   the 

^  might  inppose    he  had    made  this  Earth/  p.  300,  et  aeq.         '  Ihid.  p.  329. 

">>teke  on  sedng  the  hones  and  wings  of  *  Pint,  de  Isid.  s.  75.     *  Ibid.  s.  74. 

^W  insecta  ;  bnt  the  form  of  the  snakes,  *  Plin.  x.  23. 

kbit's  wings,  and   what  he  afterwards  '  Some  birds,  as  the  secretary  and  others, 

**!•  of  their   liTing    in  Arabia,   prevent  attaclc  snakes  by  striking  them  with  the 

^i*  eonclnsioD.    (Herodot.  ii.  75,  and  iii.  edge  of  their  pinions,  and,  having  stunned 

1^,  109.)  them,  then  use  their  beaks. 

Y  2 


324  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XT! 

and  well  suited  for  the  purpose.    With  regard  to  the  statemo^ 
of  Herodotus,  nothing  concluslYe  can  be  derived  from  it ;    2i^ 
whole  testimony,  as  Cuvier  observes,  only  proving  that  he  saw  a 
heap  of  bones,  without  having  ascertained,  beyond  report,  how 
they  were  brought  to  the  spot. 

Bronze  figures  of  the  ibis  represent  it  attacking  snakes; 
which,  if  not  of  ancient  Egyptian,  but  of  Boman  time,  suffice 
to  show  the  general  belief  respecting  it;  and  Cuvier  actoallf 
found  the  skin  and  scales  of  a  snake,  partly  digested,  in  the 
intestines  of  one  of  these  mummied  birds.  The  food  of  the 
common  ibis  also  consisted  of  beetles  and  other  insects ;  and  in 
the  body  of  one  were  several  Coleoptera,  two  of  which  have  been 
ascertained  by  Mr.  Hope  to  be  Pimdia  pUasa^  and  Akit  np» 
of  Fabricius,  common  in  Egypt  at  the  present  day.  Insects, 
snakes,  and  other  reptiles  appear  to  have  been  the  food  of  both 
kinds  of  ibis. 

Plutarch  and  Cicero  pretend  that  the  use  it  made  of  its  bill 
taught  mankind  an  important  secret  in  medical  treatment.* 
The  form  of  the  ibis,  when  crouched  in  a  sitting  position,  with 
its  head  under  its  feathers,  or  when  in  a  mummied  state,  wa^ 
supposed  to  resemble  the  human  heart : '  *  the  space  between  \^ 
legs,  when  parted  asunder  as  it  walks,  was  observed  to  make  9^ 
equilateral  triangle,'*  and  numerous  equally  fanciful  peculiflu^ 
ities  were  discovered  in  this  revered  emblem  pf  Thoth. 

Pettigrew  says,'  *  The  heart  was  looked  upon  by  the  Egyg^ 
tians  as  the  seat  of  the  intellect ;  and  in  this  way  it  has  bee  ^ 
attempted  to  explain  the  attribute  of  the  ibis,  which  was  no  les^ 
than  to  preside  over  and  inspire  all  sacred  and  mystical  learning 
of  the  Egyptian  hierarchy.'  HorapoUo  describes  the  Egyptiat^ 
Hermes  as  '  the  president  of  the  heart,  or  a  personification  of  th^ 
wisdom  supposed  to  dwell  in  the  inward  parts.'  Elian's  story  of 
the  length  of  its  intestines,  ascertained  by  those  who  presided 
over  the  embalming  of  this  bird  to  be  96  cubits  long,*  and  its 
obstinate  refusal  to  eat  any  food  when  taken  out  of  Egypt,  are 
among  the  number  of  idle  tales  respecting  the  ibis.^ 

I  have  stated  that  it  was  particularly  sacred  to  Thoth,  the 

^  M.  Latreille's  genus  Trachjderma — 60  *  *  History   of  Egyptian   Mammies,'  p. 

named  from  their  thick  elytra.  205. 

*  The  bill  is  not  a  tube.     (Pint,  de  Isid.  *  Larcher  says  they  were  ascertained  a1 

s.  75.   Cicero,  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  ii.     iElian,  the  Acad^mie  des  Sciences  to  be  4  ft.  8  in 

Nat.  An.  ii.  35,  &c.)  French.    (Herod.  Larch,  p.  231.     iEUan,  x 

»  Horapollo,  i.  10,  36.     iElian,  x.  29.  29.) 

<  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  75.    The  expression  '  Larcher  has  also  freed  it  from  the  im^ 

and  the  beak '  is  very  miintelligible.  putation  of  a/eA>  de  te. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  IBIS.  825 

moon,  or  the  Egyptian  Hermesy  and  that  Hermopolis  was  the 
city  in  which  it  received  the  greatest  honours.  As  an  emblem 
of  Thoth  it  was  represented  standing  on  a  perch ;  and  the  god 
himself  was  almost  invariably  figured  with  the  head  of  this  bird. 
There  was  another  Hermopolis,  distinguished  by  the  adjunct 
Parva,  where  it  was  also  revered  as  an  emblem  of  the  same  god  ; 
and  the  town  of  Ibeum,  situated,  according  to  the  Itinerary  of 
Antoninus,  24  miles  to  the  north  of  Hermopolis,  was  noted  for 
the  worship  of  the  ibis.  But  all  Egypt  acknowledged  its  sacred 
character ;  and  there  is  no  animal  of  which  so  many  mummies 
have  been  found,  particularly  at  Thebes,  Memphis,  and  Hermo- 
polis Magna.  In  the  former  they  are  enveloped  in  linen 
bandages,  and  are  often  perfectly  preserved ;  at  Memphis  they 
are  deposited  in  earthenware  vases  of  conical  shape,  but  nearly 
always  decomposed ;  and  at  the  city  of  Hermes,  in  wooden  or 
stone  cases  of  an  oblong  form.  Some  have  been  found  mummied 
in  the  human  form ;  one  of  which,  in  the  collection  of  Passa- 
Licqua,  is  made  to  represent  the  god  Thoth.^ 

Both  kinds  of  ibis  mentioned  by  Herodotus  were  doubtless 
nered  to  the  Egyptian  Hermes. 

The  ibis  is  rarely  found  in  Egypt  at  the  present  day,  though 
laid  sometimes  to  frequent  the  Lake  Menzaleh,  and  occasionally 
to  be  seen  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  Cuvier  and  others  have 
made  considerable  researches  respecting  it ;  and  that  celebrated 
itttnralist  brings  forward  a  curious  proof  of  its  having  been 
domesticated,  from  the  discovery  of  a  mummied  ibis,  whose  *  left 
htunems  had  been  broken  and  joined  again.'  For,  he  observed, 
*it  is  probable  that  a  wild  bird  whose  wing  had  been  broken 
vodd  have  perished  before  it  had  healed,  from  being  unable  to 
ponue  its  prey  or  escape  from  its  enemies.' '  It  is  probable 
tlukt  many  of  the  heron  or  crane  tribe  were  looked  upon  with 
Inspect  by  the  Egyptians,  though  they  did  not  receive  the  same 
Wours  given  to  the  ibis ;  and  some  were  chosen  as  emblems  of 
other  gods,  distinct  from  every  connection  with  Thoth.  Some 
vere  killed  for  the  table  and  the  altar;  and  the  Egyptian 
chasseur  is  frequently  represented  felling  them  with  the  throw- 
itick '  in  the  thickets  of  the  marshes.^ 
Several  occur  in  the  hieroglyphics,  and  in  the  paintings: 


*  Pcttigrew,  plate  13,  fig.  6.  of  coming  back  to  the  thrower,  did  not 

'  CaTier^f  *  Theory  of  the  Earth,'  p.  307.  belong  to  the  Egyptian  throw-itick,  which 

'  Thi«  caUt  to  mind  the  boomerang  of  New  was  also  more  straight. 

BtOa&d;  bot  the  pecoliaritj  of  this  last,  *  Woodcut  No.  366. 


i 


326  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap. 

among  which  we  may  distinguish  the  Ardea  cinerea  or  heron,^  '^le 
Platalea  or  spoonbill,  the  stork,  charadrius,  and  others.'    Craxies 
and  other  wading  birds  are  found  in  the  winter  in  Upper  Egyj^ 
but  far  more  in  Ethiopia,  and  in  spring  immense  flights  of  storis 
(Giconia  alba)  collect  together,  which,  after  soaring  round  in  cir- 
cles at  a  great  height,  return  for  the  summer  to  the  north.    From 
the  migration  of  cranes  to  Ethiopia  arose  the  fable  of  the  Crtniea 
and  Pygmies.     The  Ardea  cinerea  and  garzetta^  the  Platalea  or 
spoonbill,  the  pelican,  and  some  others  remain  the  whole  je&r 
in  Egypt.    The  Grua  cinerea,  a  crane,  winters  in  Ethiopia  about 
Gebel  Berkel.    This  last  has  been  strangely  mistaken  for  an 
ostrich  at  Beni-Hassan,  and   is    probably  the   Grus   undeter- 
mined by  Pickering.'    The  ibis  is  rarely  seen  except  near  the 
Lake  Menzaleh,  where  ducks,  coots,  and   numerous  water-fowl 
aboimd.    The  avocet  was  a  native  of  Egypt  as  early  as  the  r2tkv 
Dynasty.     The  Numidian   demoiselle,  Anthropoidea    VirgOy  i^^ 
found,  but  not  common,  in  Upper  Egypt.    Kites  remain  all  th^^ 
winter,  and  swallows  also,  though  in  small  numbers,  even  a^^ 
Thebes.* 

That  which  held  the  next  rank  to  the  ibis  was  the  tufted 
Bennu,^  one  of  the  emblems  of  Osiris,  who  was  sometimes  figured 
with  the  head  of  this  bird.    It  was  distinguished  by  a  tuft  of 
two  long  feathers  falling  from  the  back  of  its  head;  and  this 
peculiarity  seems  to  point  out  the  small  white  ahoofferdan,  which 
I  have  often  seen  with  two  similar  plumes.    Its  pure  white* 
colour,  its  custom  of  following  the  plough,  and  living  in  the  cul- 
tivated fields,  from  which  the  French  have  given  it  the  name  of 
ffardebceufy  as  well  as  its  utility  in  eating  the  worms  and  insects 
in  newly-tilled  lands,  argue  in  favour  of  this  conjecture,  and 
suggest  it  to  be  an  appropriate  emblem  of  the  beneficent  Osiris. 
It  is  the  Ardea  bubvleus  of  Savigny. 

More  than  one  Charadrius  was  a  native  of  Egypt.  The 
Charadrius  oedienemtfs,  the  modem  Karawan,  the  Cristatus  or 
crested  plover,  and  the  Armatus  or  spur-winged  plover,  were  very 
common.  But  the  most  remarkable,  from  the  tale  attached  to  it, 
was  the  Trochilus.^    Sicard  is  right  in  saying  that  it  is  called 


*  Vol.  ii.  woodcut  No.  369,  fig.  15.  *  I  belieye,  howerer,  that  th*  Bcnan  U 

*  Vol.  ii.  p.   114,  and  woodcuts   Noi.  represented  of  a  bluish  grej  or  slate  oolonr. 
d68f  369  ;    also  Plate  LIX.  '  iElian,  xii.  15,  says  there  were  *ieyerml 

*  Page  169.  species  of  Trochilus  (U,  CharadrivsX  with 

*  [I  haye,  howeyer,  found  a  swallow  at  hard  names/  to  whicn  he  teems  always  to 
Thebes  which  had  died  of  cold. — 6.  W.]  hare  a  great  objection. 

»  Woodcut  No.  578. 


Chip.  XIV.]  THE  TEOCHILnS— THE  GOOSE.  327 

8ii$ak  by  the  Arabs,  though  this  name  is  also  applied  to  the 
Bptii>winged  and  crested  plovers.  The  benefit  it  confers  on  the 
docodile,  by  apprising  it  of  the  approach  of  danger  with  its  shrill 
riHce,'  doubtless  led  to  the  iable  of  the  friendly  offices  it  was  said 
to  perform  for  that  animal,  as  I  hare  already  observed. 

ArnmianiiH  Marcelliuus  Calls  the  Trochilua  a  small^  bird, 
which  does  not  disagree  with  the  dimensions  of  the  Siksak,  being 
only  9}  inches  long.  It  is  of  a  slate  colour,  the  abdomen  and 
neck  being  white.  The  head  is  black,  with  two  white  stripes 
nnmiog  from  the  bill  and  meeting  at  the  nape  of  the  neck, 
and  a  black  mantle  extends  over  the  shoulders  to  the  tail.    The 


XiML  Tilt  TrocUtoa,  or  aiaradriiM  wlaiHcvhilW.Lliin. 

feet  are  blue,  and  the  beak  black.  The  wings  are  also  black, 
with  a  broad  transveTse  white  band.  It  is  the  Ckaradrim 
*»ta«oeephal%a  of  Linnieus.' 

The  Egyptian  goose  was  an  emblem  of  the  god  Seb,*  the 
ntker  of  Osiris.  It  is  not,  however,  among  the  sacied  animals 
(tf  Egypt  which  were  forbidden  to  be  eaten  ;  as  is  evident  from 
there  having  been  a  greater  consumption  of  geese  than  of  any 


'  £li>n,  *iU.  25.  growl  in  turn :  1   live,  it  li<rei  id  tuni ;  1 

*(h  'ihort,'  brtnit:   Ammiui.  Uarccll.  breathe,  it  bruthei  in  turn.'     Thu  Dr. 

I>IL  pk  336.  Birch  tboira  to  be  lued  on  cqSiu  of  tha 

'  Lbunii  hu  taken  the  Trochiitu  u  a  perii>d  abant  the  12th  D^noaty.   (S«e  Glid- 

pMric  nam*  for  tha  huminiiig  bird,  par-  doa's  '  Otia  Egjpt.'  p.  83.)    On  the  Orphic 

'■nlwif  for  tbou  wilbcurvsd  bilU.  Coamogonj  aad  the  conaection  between  the 

•  [Ai  (A  emblem  of  Seb  It  wu  coonected  egg  and  Chroaiu  (Saturn,  the  Seb  of  llgypt), 

^_                      with   the  great   muo-  see     Damaecim    id    Cory'»    '  Fragmente,' 

^y                     daiie    egg,    in    which  p.313.   Ariitophuie>(Uirdi,  TOO)  tnention* 

M                         form  the  chaotic  mau  the  eg|  produced  by  'black-winged  KigbU' 

^^^^              ot  the  world  wat  pro-  (Cory,   p.   293,  nod   eee   Orphic  Hymn  to 

^H^^^       duod.       Part    of   the  Protogonus,  p.    294.)      As   Seb   and    Nat 

yi                 aeth    chapter    of    the  answered  to  Saturn  and  Rhea,  their  chll- 

foneral    Ritual    tranii-  dran  Osiri"    and    lais,    being    brother   and 

•^f*-                  lated    by    Dr.  Uincki  liiter,    answered    U>    Jupiter   and    Jnuo, 

(MMIbb  thii  dofma,  alluded  to    in    the  though  they  did  not  really  tiear  any  other 

Oiphic  CoamogoDT :  *  1  am  the  Egg  of  the  raemblance  to  them.     Seb  and  Nut  were 

Orat  CKklar.     I  have  protected  the  Great  the  earth  and  the  heaven  above.— 0.  W.] 

£|t  l>id  by  Stb  io  the  world :  1  grow,  it 


328  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

other  bird,  even  in  those  places  where  the  god  Seb  was  parti- 
cularly adored.  And  if  Herodotus^  says  *it  was  sacred/  he 
probably  refers  to  its  having  been  the  emblem  of  the  husband 
of  Nut,  the  Egyptian  Saturn.  It  signified  in  hieroglyphics  *a 
child  ;'^  and  HorapoUo  says, '  It  was  chosen  to  denote  a  son,  from 
its  love  to  its  young,  being  always  ready  to  give  itself  up  to  the 
chasseur  in  order  that  they  might  be  preserved :  for  which  reason 
the  Egyptians  thought  it  right  to  revere  this  animal.' 

The  goose  was  very  common  in  every  part  of  Egypt,  as  at 
the  present  day ;  but  few  mummies  have  been  found  of  it,  which 
is  the  more  readily  accounted  for  from  its  utility  as  an  article  of 
food,  and  as  an  offering  for  the  altar. 

Among  the  minor  deities  or  genii  of  the  tombs  a  duck-headed 
god  is  sometimes  represented  ;  but  this  bird  does  not  appear  to 
have  held  a  rank  among  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt 

HorapoUo  says,  *  The  pelican  was  the  type  of  a  fool ; ' '  and 
relates  a  ridiculous  story  of  the  reason  for  this  unenviable  dis- 
tinction. But  he  adds,  ^  Since  it  is  remarkable  for  the  defence 
of  its  young,  the  priests  consider  it  unlawful  to  eat  it,  though  the 
rest  of  the  Egyptians  do  so,  alleging  that  it  does  not  defend 
them  with  discretion  like  the  goose,  but  with  folly.'  This  reason, 
however,  at  once  impugns  the  truth  of  a  statement  which  leads 
us  to  infer  that  they  abstained  from  eating  geese,  since  we  know 
they  were  served  at  the  tables  of  the  priests  themselves,  and 
constituted  one  of  the  principal  articles  of  food  throughout  the 
country.  The  pelican  is  sometimes  eaten  by  the  modem  Egyp- 
tians ;  but  it  is  very  coarse  and  strong,  and  requires  much 
cooking  to  overcome  the  greasy  properties  of  its  flesh,  and  we 
cannot  be  surprised  at  the  ordinance  which  forbade  it  to  the 
Israelites.*  Its  Hebrew  name  is  Kath ;  and  it  is  now  com- 
monly known  in  Egypt  as  the  GemmcU  el  lahvy  or  '  camel  of  the 

river.' 

Among  fabulous  birds,  the  Phoenix  ^  holds  the  first  place ;  but 
this  I  have  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  Baieth,  and  the 
vulture  with  a  snake's  head. 

Hawks  were  often  represented  with  the  heads  of  rams  and 
men. 

»  Herodot.  ii.  72.  riii.  12). 

*  HorapoUo,  i.  53.  It  answered  to  the  *  [This  bird  I  formerly  supposed  to  b€ 
letter  s,  of  s<?,  *  a  child.*  the   one   represented    on   the    moDumenti 

•  HorapoUo,  Hierog.  i.  54.  with  human  hands,  and  often  with  a  man\« 

♦  Levit.  xi.  18.  Deut.  xiv.  17.  Pliny  head  and  legs,  in  an  attitude  of  prayer; 
also  tells  a  strange  tale  about  the  pelican,  but  it  appears  to  be  the  *pure  soul  of  th< 
which  he  calls  Platea  (x.  40  ;  and  Aristot.  king.^G.  W.") 


CiAP.  XIV.]  THE  CROCODILE.  329 

A  tortoifM^-headcd  p:od^  occurs  as  one  of  the  genii  in  the 
tombs;  but  it  does  not  api^car  that  the  tortoise  held  a  rank 
tnion<r  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt. 

The  crocodile,  as  has  been  already  sho^-n,  was  peculiarly 
sacrr-il  to  the  go<l  »Sebjik.  Its  worship  did  not  extend  to  every 
part  tif  Ejrypt :  some  places  considering  it  the  representative  of 
the  Evil  Ik'ing,  and  Ix^aring  the  most  dea<lly  animosity  to  it, 
which  le<l  to  siTious  feuds  between  neighbouring  towns.  Such 
was  th»»  cause  nf  the  quarrel  of  the  Onibites  and  Tentyrites  de- 
icriU-iI  ))y  Juvenal :'  and  the  same  animal  wlii<*h  was  worshipjMMl 
At  OniUiS  '  was  kille<l  and  eaten  by  the  inhabitants  of  Ap<dlin- 
opiiliM.  Inde<Ml,  on  a  {»articular  day,  they  harl  a  solemn  chase 
of  the  croc(>dih%^  when  they  put  to  death  as  many  as  they  could, 
and  afti^rwanls  threw  their  bcnlies  before  the  temple  of  tlieir  g^nl ; 
assigning  this  reason,  that  it  was  in  the  shape  of  a  crocodile  that 
Typhii  elurled  the  pursuit  of  Horus.* 

It  enjoyed  great  honours  at  Coptos,  OmlMts,^  and  Athril>is  or 
Croc4Nlilo{Ndis  in  the  Tlielmid.  In  Lower  Egypt  it  was  {mrticu- 
larly  sacn^I  at  a  phice  also  called  the  City  of  Crocodiles,  and 
aftfTwanIs  Arsinot's  in  honour  of  the  wife  an<l  sister  of  Ptolemy 
Philailfdphus,  whi<*h  was  the  capital  of  a  n<»me,  now  the  pn>vince 
of  Fyouni.  Th(.'  animals  were  there  kept  in  the  I>ake  ^[teris, 
and  w»*re  buri«*d,  according  to  Hen»dotus,*  in  the  undergnmnd 
dianiliers  of  the  famous  Labvrinth.  There  was  another  CnKMH 
dilopolis  in  the  ThelMii'd,  placeil  by  Stnilto  on  the  west  Ixink, 
next  in  onlerto,  and  on  the  south  of,  Hermonthis;  \ihirh  I  suit- 
pose  to  ha VI*  MtfMMl  at  the  (lelielayn,  whrn*  th«'  vestig«*s  of  a  town 
appear  on  the  hill  ni^arest  the  river.  Judging  from  the  numerous 
]nnmmi(*s  of  cnK*<Nlih'S  in  thf  extensive  cavf*s  of  Maalwlrh,  op|N>- 
iite  3[anfa1o«>t,  another  town  jmrticularly  drvotinl  to  their  worship 
also  stfNMl  in  that  n<*ighlN)urho«Ml. 

From  the  acrount  of  /Elian*  it  aj>j)4nirs  that,  in  places  where 
they  w<*re  worshipiNMl,  their  numlNTs  increnstnl  to  su(*h  an  extent 
'that  it  was  not  safe  for  anvone  to  wiLsh  his  fcrt  or  dniw  water 
it  thf  riviT ;  and  no  ono  could  walk  near  the  <H]ge  of  th«*  stn*am 
either  in  the  vii'inity  of  OmlxM,  ("optos,  or  Arsinot*,  without 
extreme  caution.' 

X«*ar  one  of  the  «»ities  called  CnKVMlilojMilis  was  the  place  of 
interment  of  the  first  Asfdt*pius,  tht«  n'puted  inventor  of  nietli- 

■  Jur.  Sat.   iviii.  :M.  *  Hof^U.  li.  UM. 

*  Plot,  de  liiJ.  ■.  60.     Stralio,  irii.  p.  *  .Kluiu  i.  '-'4. 


330  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

cine;  to  whom  a  temple  was  said  to  have  been  dedicated  on 
the  Libyan  hills  in  the  vicinity.^  That  city  was  probably 
Athribis,  noted  for  the  peculiar  honours  paid  to  its  presiding 
deity  Thriphis,  the  contemplar  companion  of  Khem. 

Strabo  ^  speaks  of  the  great  respect  shown  to  the  crocodile 
in  'the  nome  of  Arsinoe,  or,  as  it  was  formerly  called,  Croco- 
dilopolis.  He  states  that  one  was  sacred  there,  and  kept  apart 
in  a  particular  lake,  which  was  so  tame  that  it  allowed  itself  to 
be  touched  by  the  priests.  They  called  it  Souchos,  or  Suchus. 
It  was  fed  with  bread,  meat,  and  wine,  which  were  brought  by 
those  strangers  who  went  to  see  it.  Strabo's  host,  a  man  of  con- 
sideration, when  showing  the  geographer  and  his  party  the 
sacred  curiosities  of  the  place,  conducted  them  to  the  brink 
of  the  lake,  having  taken  with  him  from  table  a  cake,  some 
roast  meat,  and  a  cup  of  wine.  The  animal  was  lying  on 
the  bank;  and  while  some  of  the  priests  opened  its  mouth, 
one  put  in  the  cake,  and  then  the  meat,  after  which  the  wine 
was  poured  into  it.  The  crocodile,  upon  this,  taking  to  the 
water,  passed  oyer  to  the  other  side;  and  another  stranger, 
haying  come  for  the  same  purpose,  made  similar  offerings  to 
it  as  it  lay  there. 

The  Suchus  of  Strabo  appears  to  agree  with,  and  to  be  taken 
from,  the  name  of  the  god  Sebak ;  and  it  was  probably  applied 
exclusively  to  those  which  were  sacred.  Herodotus  says  the 
Egyptians  called  crocodiles  Champses;  a  corruption  of  the 
Coptic  or  Egyptian  name  7nsahy  or  emsoohy  from  which  the 
Arabs  have  derived  their  modem  appellation  iemsah.  The  croeo- 
deUos^  of  the  Greeks  was  merely  the  Ionian  term  for  all  lizards, 
as  our  alligator  is  the  Portuguese  o  lagarto,  *  the  lizard.' 

Herodotus  agrees  with  Strabo  in  saying  they  were  rendered 
so  tame  as  to  allow  themselves  to  be  touched  with  the  hand; 
their  ears  were  decked  with  earrings,*  and  their  fore-feet  with 
bracelets ;  and  as  long  as  they  lived  they  were  fed  with  the  flesh 
of  victims,  and  other  food  ordained  by  law. 

Thebes  did  not  refuse  divine  honours  to  the  crocodile,  as  the 
emblem  of  Sebak,  who  was  admitted  among  the  contemplar 
deities  of  that  city;  and  we  learn  from  the  sculptures  that  many 
other  towns  acknowledged  it  as  a  sacred  animal. 


*  Mercur.   Trismegistus'  dialogue   with  not  think  themselves  bound  by  any  religious 
Asclepius.                '  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  558.  feeling  to  bore  their  ears ;  if  so,  the  office 

*  KpoK69€i\os.  of   curator  of  the   crocodiles   must   have 
^  Herodot.  ii.  69.  We  may  hope  they  did  been  no  sinecure. 


CiAF.  XIV.]  THE  CROCODILE.  331 

Herodotus  mentions  the  respect  paid  to  tliem  at  Thebes  and 
the  Lake  Moeris ;  and  observes  that '  some  of  the  Egyptians  con- 
nder  them  sacred,  while  others  do  all  they  can  to  destroy  them : 
among  which  last  are  the  people  of  Elephantine  and  its  vicinity, 
who  have  no  scruple  in  eating  their  flesh.'  Diodorus^  makes 
the  same  remark  of  their  having  been  \vorshii)i>ed  by  some  only 
of  the  Egyptians. 

*  3Iany,'  says  the  historian,  '  nutumlly  ask  h(»w  an  animal 
which  devours  men  can  have  been  considered  worthy  of  the 
respect  shown  to  the  gods.  They  answer,  that  not  only  the  Nile, 
bat  the  cn>codiles  are  a  defence  to  the  country.  For  the  robbers 
of  Arabia  and  Africa,  who  would  pillage  the  lands,  <lare  not  swim 
icruss  the  river  from  the  number  of  these  aniniuU;  and  one 
gttat  impediment  would  be  removed  if  they  wurc  hunted  and 
destroyed.  An  historical  tale  relates  that  ^lenas,''  one  of  their 
Ancient  kings,  being  driven  by  his  own  dogs  into  the  Ijiike  Mwris, 
^wai  miraculously  taken  up  by  a  croco<lile,  and  curried  to  the 
other  shore :  in  commemoration  of  which  bi*neAt  the  king  built 
•be  "City  of  the  Crocodiles"  in  that  district,  ordering  divine 
liuaours  to  be  \md  to  them,  and  assigning  the  lake  for  their 
aiaintenance.  Near  it  he  built  a  tomb  for  himself,  with  a  four- 
«ded  pyramid  and  a  labyrinth,  which  are  the  admiration  of  all 
*iu>  behold  them.' 

The  crocoilile  was  supposed  by  some  to  Ix*  an  emblem  of  the 
its  number  sixty  being  thought  to  agree  with  that  lumi- 
;'  and  Clemens  tells  us^  the  sun  wus  sometimes  {ilaced  in  a 
boiat,  at  others  on  a  crocodile.^ 

On  the  subject  of  the  crocodile  M.  Pauw*  makes  a  very  judi- 
cious remark,  'that  on  his  examining  the  t(i]M)grai)hy  of  Egypt, 
to  observi^d  Coptos,  ArsintM*,  and  CnM-iHlil<)|M)lis,  Athribis,  the 
Vvwns  most  remarkable  for  the  a<loration  of  ertRHMliles,  to  be  all 
Btnated  on  canals  at  siune  distance  from  the  Nile.     Thus,  by  the 
kail  negligence  in  allowing  the  ditches  to  be  tilled  up,  those 
inimals,  from  l>eing  inca{Mible  of  going  far  i»n  dry  land,  could 
Kver  have  arrived  at  tlit»  very  places  where  tiiey  vere  eonsiden^l 
Mthe  symliols  of  pure  wat^T.     For,  as  we  learn  from  ^Elian,  and 


*  iHmlnr.  i.  35.  "f  n  man**  h-ly  on  .1  «  r»Ki-lili-*»  Uck,  wilh 

*  from  what  fulKiw*.  of  hi«  tomb  ao-l  othvr    niiliitiir*-*    pitrmij;   to    the    »un, 
Ihf  UbrnDth.  he  evident  Ir  uiran*  Mirri«.  mifn.  mn>l  «t;ir«.     Ttii  y  .ire  iif  late  ttme. 

■  Uublich.  de  Mv.t.  Met.  0,  c.  S.     I'.ir-  *  I'mw,  *  K«-'  h'^r. »». -  l*nil.u».'  toJ.  ii.  part 

f«rr  Oe  Abetm.  :i,  Mfcl.  7.  j..    IJ.'.     'lhl^  h;u  b«vn  quote^l 

*  Clemea*,  Strom,  lib.  r.  bj  r«tti^u«. 

*  TWrt   is   a   cuhuus  •ubjei:t  at  PhiU 


332  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV, 

more  particularly  from  a  passage  in  Eusebius/  the  crocodile 
signified  water  fit  for  drinking  and  irrigating  the  lands.  As 
long  as  their  worship  was  in  vogue,  the  Goyemment  felt  assured 
that  the  superstitious  would  not  neglect  to  repair  the  canals  with 
the  greatest  exactness.'  Thus  was  their  object  gained  by  this 
religious  artifice. 

I  also  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  of  introducing  an 
ingenious  suggestion  of  Mr.  Salt,  that  in  Juvenal's  account  of 
the  dispute  between  Ombos  and  Tentyris,  Coptos^  should  be 
substituted  for  the  former;  this  town  being  much  nearer,  and 
consequently  more  likely  to  be  engaged  in  a  feud  caused  by  the 
injuries  done  to  an  animal  it  held  sacred  in  common  with  the 
more  distant  Ombos. 

The  towns  where  it  was  looked  upon  with  particular  execra- 
tion were  Tentyris,^  ApoUinopolis,  Heracleopolis,  and  the  island 
of  Elephantine ;  and  the  same  aversion  was  common  to  all  places 
where  the  Evil  Being  was  typified  by  the  crocodile. 

Of  the  mode  of  hunting  the  crocodile  by  the  Tentyrites,  and 
the  skill  they  possessed  in  overcoming  so  powerful  an  animal, 
I  have  already  spoken ;  and  have  mentioned  the  method  adopted, 
according  to  Herodotus,  of  catching  it  with  a  hook,  to  which  a 
piece  of  pork  was  attached  as  a  bait.  But  I  ought  not  to  omit 
another  mode  practised  at  the  present  day.  They  fasten  a  dog 
upon  a  log  of  wood,  to  the  middle  of  which  is  tied  a  rope  of 
suflScient  length,  protected  by  iron  wire  or  other  substance,  to 
prevent  its  being  bitten  through ;  and  having  put  this  into  the 
stream,  or  on  a  sandbank  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  they  lie  con- 
cealed near  the  spot,  and  await  the  arrival  of  the  crocodile.  As 
soon  as  it  has  swallowed  the  dog  they  pull  the  rope,  which  brings 
the  stick  across  the  animal's  throat.  It  endeavours  to  plunge 
into  deep  water,  but  is  soon  fatigued  by  its  exertions,  and  is 
drawn  ashore ;  when,  receiving  several  blows  on  the  head  with 
long  poles  and  hatchets,  it  is  easily  killed.* 

It  is  now  seldom  eaten,  the  flesh  being  bad ;  but  its  hide  is 
used,  especially  by  the  Ethiopians,  for  shields  and  other  pur- 
poses; the  glands  are  taken  from  beneath  the  arm  or  fore-leg 
for  the  musk  they  contain ;  and  some  parts  are  occasionally  dried 
and  used  as  filters.    In  former  times  it  seems  rather  to  have 


*  Euseb.  Prsp.  Evang.  iii.  11.  *  They  were  also  probably  harpooned,  as 

'  *  Barbara  hsc  Copies.'  the  ends  of  harpoons  with  a  single  barbed 

'  Plin.    Tii.    25.      Of  the   skill   of  the  hook,  surmounted  by  a  crocodile  and  baring 

Tentyrites    in   catching  this    animal,  see  beneath  a  ring,  are  in  collections.    (Brit. 

iElian,  z.  24.  Mus.  Guide  to  Egypt  Rooms,  p.  40.)--S.  B. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  CEOCODILE.  333 

been  eaten  as  a  mark  of  hatred  to  the  Evil  Being,  of  whom  it 
was  the  emblem,  than  as  an  article  of  food ;  ^  but  those  who  by 
religions  scruples  were  forbidden  to  eat  its  flesh,  were  not  thereby 
deprived  of  a  delicacy  of  the  table. 

I  have  mentioned '  the  fable  of  the  trochilns  and  the  croco- 
dile, and  the  animosity  said  to  subsist  between  the  latter  and  the 
ichneumon,  as  well  as  the  supposed  security  against  the  crocodile 
to  those  who  used  a  boat  made  of  the  papyrus. 

Herodotus  says,^  'Of  all  animals,  none  that  we  know  of 
becomes  so  large,  after  haying  been  so  small:  its  eggs^  are 
scarcely  larger  than  those  of  the  goose,  but  by  degrees  it  reaches 
17  cubits  (25 J  feet)  in  length,  and  even  more.'  Plutarch* 
relates  other  tales  of  this  oviparous  animal,  to  which  he  attributes 
a  plausible  reason  for  paying  it  divine  honours.  'It  has  no 
tongue,  and  is  therefore  looked  upon  as  an  image  of  the  Deity 
Himself;  the  divine  reason  needing  not  speech,  but  going 
through  still  and  silent  paths,  whilst  it  administers  the  world 
with  justice.'  *  Another  peculiar  property  of  the  crocodile  is, 
that  ^ough  in  the  water  its  eyes  are  covered  by  a  thin  pellucid 
membrane  which  comes  down  from  the  forehead,®  yet  it  is  able 
to  see,  at  the  same  time  that  it  cannot  be  perceived  to  do  so ;  in 
which  respect  likewise  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  the  first 
god.  It  is  further  remarked,  that  in  whatever  part  of  the  country 
the  female  lays  her  eggs,  so  far  will  be  the  extent  of  the  inunda- 
tion for  that  season, ....  showing  that  it  is  imbued  with  an 

accurate  knowledge  of  what  will  come  to  pass Moreover 

the  eggs  it  lays  are  sixty  in  number,  as  are  the  days  which 
pass  before  they  are  hatched,  and  the  years  of  those  which  live 
the  longest — a  number  of  great  importance  to  those  who  occupy 
themselves  in  astronomical  matters.'  ^lian^  mentions  the  same 
number  of  eggs,  the  sixty  days  before  they  are  laid,  and  the  same 
period  before  they  are  hatched.  He  also  gives  them  sixty  ver- 
tebne  in  their  spine,  and  as  many  nerves,  a  life  of  sixty  years, 
a  mouth  with  this  proportion  of  teeth,  and  a  period  of  annual 
torpidity  and  fasting  during  the  same  number  of  days.  It  is 
from  this  number  that  lamblichus  thinks  the  crocodile  connected 
with  the  sun.    The  mummies  of  crocodiles  are  found  at  Thebes, 


*  Diodor.  L  35.  eggs  of  Crocodiles. 

s  Herodoi.  ii.  68.    iElian,  iii.   11,  riii.  *  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  75. 

25.    AmmiaiL  Marcell.  zxii.  p.  336.  *  From  the  side— the  nictating,  or  nicti- 

*  Hcrodot.  ii.  68.  tating,  membrane. 

*  lUcroh.  Saturn,  lib.  r\L  c.  16,  on  the  '  iElian,  z.  21.     Cf.  Aristot  Hist.  An.  t. 


L 


334 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


Maabdeh,  and  other  places,  many  of  which  are  of  full  size  and 
perfectly  preserved.^ 

Of  the  lizard  tribe'  none  but  the  crocodile  seems  to  have 
been  sacred.  Those  which  occur  in  the  hieroglyphics  are  not 
emblematic  of  the  gods,  nor  connected  with  religion. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  choice  of  this  serpent  as  an 
emblem  of  Chnoumis,  and  as  a  symbol  of  royalty,'  on  which 
account  it  received  the  name  of  basilisk.* 

Diodorus  says  the  priests,  of  Ethiopia  and  Egypt  had  the  asp 
coiled  up  in  the  caps  they  wore  on  religious  ceremonies ;  but 
this  should  rather  have  been  applied  to  the  kings,  being  a 
royal  emblem,  given  only  to  the  sovereign  or  -to  the  gods. 
Plutarch  *  states  that  *  the  asp  is  worshipped  on  account  of  a 
certain  resemblance  between  it  and  the  operations  of  the  divine 
power ;  and  being  in  no  fear  of  old  age,  and  moving  with  great 
facility,  though  it  does  not  seem  to  enjoy  the  proper  organs  for 
motion,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  proper  symbol  of  the  stars.'  It 
was  one  of  those  creatures  which  were  sacred  throughout  the 
country,  though  it  enjoyed  greater  honours  in  places  where  the 
deities  of  whom  it  was  the  type  presided,  and,  if  we  may  believe 
Pausanias,  particularly  *at  Omphis,*  in  Egypt.'  Phylarchus^ 
relates  that  great  honours  were  paid  to  the  asp  by  the  Egyptians, 
and,  from  the  care  they  took  of  it,  that  it  was  rendered  so  tame 
as  to  live  with  their  children  without  doing  them  any  harm.  It 
came  from  its  place  of  retreat  when  called  by  the  snapping  of 
the  fingers ;  and  after  dinner  some  paste  mixed  with  honey  and 
wine  being  placed  upon  the  table,  it  was  called  to  take  its  repast. 
The  same  signal  was  used  when  anyone  walked  in  the  dark  at 
night  to  warn  the  reptile  of  his  approach. 

This  serpent  was  called  Thennuthis,  and  with  it  the  statues 
of  Isis  were  crowned  as  with  a  diadem.®  *  Asp-formed  crowns* 
are  frequently  represented  on  the  heads  of  goddesses  and  queens 


*  The  crocodile  was  called  in  Egyptian 
em  stihu,  *  sprung  of  an  egg.*  They  were 
sacred  to  Sebak,  but  also  considered  male- 
volent and  personifications  of  evil  actions, 
as  the  Egyptians  had  a  great  dread  of  the 
crocodile,  which  they  exorcised.  In  the 
future  state  the  deceased  had  to  repulse 
the  crocodiles,  which  had  different  mystical 
names. — S.  B.  '  Plin.  viii.  25. 

'  It  was  called  in  Egyptian  drdy  the 
Greek  ouraios.  It  was  the  determinative 
or  emblem  of  all  goddesses,  and  placed  on 
the  disk  or  head-dresses  of  all  the  principal 


solar  deities,  probably  on  account  of  its 
representing  NA.t  unnu,  *the  lady  of 
the  hours/  attached  to  Ra  or  the  sun. — 
S.  B. 

•  iElian  considers  it  different  from  the 
asp ;  and  thinks  it  so  deadly  that  if  it  bit 
a  stick  it  would  cause  the  death  of  him 
who  held  it.     (Nat.  An.  ii.  5.) 

»  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  74. 

•  Pausanias  (B<eot.  c.  21)  says,  *  The  asps 
of  Ethiopia  are  black,  like  the  people.' 

'  iElian,  Nat.  An.  xvii.  5. 

•  Ibid.  X.  31. 


Chap.  XIV.]  THE  ASP.  335 

in  the  Egyptian  sculptures.  The  statues  of  the  mother  and  wife 
of  Amenophis  (the  vocal  Memnon)  in  the  plain  of  Thebes  have  a 
crown  of  this  kind  ;  and  the  Bosetta  Stone  mentions  '  asp-formed 
crowns/  though  this  last  might  refer  to  the  single  asp  attached  to 
the  front  of  the  cap  usually  worn  by  the  king.  Instances  some- 
times occur  of  a  fillet  of  asps  bound  round  the  royal  crown,  and 
I  have  once  seen  the  same  encircling  the  head-dress  of  Osiris, 
^ian^  mentions  a  custom  of  '  the  Egyptian  kings,  to  wear  asps 
of  different  colours  in  their  crowns,  this  reptile  being  emblematic 
of  the  invincible  power  of  royalty.'  Some,  he  adds,  ^are  of  a 
greenish  hue,  but  the  generality  black,  and  occasionally  red.' 
I  am  however  inclined  to  think  that  this  idea  arose  from  the 
different  colours  given  to  the  asp  in  the  paintings,  rather  than 
from  any  real  variety  in  the  living  animal.  The  asp  was  also 
the  emblem  of  the  goddess  Bannu.  It  was  then  supposed  to 
protect  the  houses  or  the  gardens  of  individuals,  as  well  as  the 
infancy  of  a  royal  child,  in  the  character  of  guardian  genius. 
Sometimes  an  asp  was  figured  with  a  human  head. 

.^ian^  relates  many  strange  stories  of  the  asp,^  and  the 
respect  paid  to  it  by  the  Egyptians ;  but  we  may  suppose  that 
in  his  sixteen  species^  of  asps  other  snakes  were  included.  He 
also  speaks^  of  a  dragon,®  which  was  sacred  in  the  Egyptian 
Halite  (Metelis),  and  another  kind  of  snake  called  Farias,  or 
Paruas,  dedicated  to  ^sculapius.^  The  serpent  of  Melite  had 
priests  and  ministers,  a  table  and  a  bowl.  It  was  kept  in  a 
tower,  and  fed  by  the  priests  with  cakes®  made  of  flour  and 
honey,  which  they  placed  there  in  the  bowl.  Having  done  this, 
they  retired.  The  next  day,  on  returning  to  the  apartment,  the 
food  was  found  to  be  eaten,  and  the  same  quantity  was  again 
pot  into  the  bowl,  for  it  was  not  lawful  for  anyone  to  see  the 
aacred  reptile.  On  one  occasion  a  certain  elder  of  the  priests, 
being  anxious  to  behold  it,  went  in  alone,  and  having  de- 
posited the  cake  withdrew,  until  the  moment  when  he  sup- 
posed the  serpent  had  come  forth  to  its  repast.'  He  then 
entered,  throwing  open  the  door  with  great  violence;  upon 
which,  the  serpent  withdrew  in  evident  indignation,  and  the 


>  iSlian,  Nat.  An.  vi.  33.  that  the  dragon  of  the  Greeks  wai  onlj  a 

'  Ibid.  ir.  54,  x.  31,  and   xi.  32.     He     large  kind  of  snake  with,  as  he  says,  *  scales 


makes  it  in  love,  without  being  com-     like  a  pine-cone.'  '  MMan,  viii.  19. 

pUmantarj  to  Egyptian  beauty.  *  Cakes  seem  to  hare  been  nsually  giren 


*  Plin.  riii.  23.  *  iElian,  x.  31.        to  the  snakes  of  antiquity — as  to  the  dragon 

*  iElian,  xi.  17.  of  the  Hesperides.    (Virg.  Mn.  ir.  4S3.) 

*  It  is  erident  from  Pausanias  (Att.  21)         *  Orid,  lib.  ii.    Amor.  Eleg.  13,  to  Isis. 


i 


336 


m 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


priest  shortly  after  became  frantic^  and  having  confessed  his 
crime  expired. 

According  to  Juvenal,^  the  priests  of  Isis,  in  his  time,  oon- 
trived  that  the  silver  idols  of  snakes,  kept  in  her  temple, 
should  move  their  heads  to  a  supplicating  votary;  and  ex- 
travagant notions  connected  with  serpents  are  not  wanting  in 
the  paintings  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings  at  Thebes,  and  are 
traced  in  the  religions  of  all  nations  of  antiquity. 

The  Egyptian  asp  is  a  species  of  Cobra  da  capello,^  and  is 
still  very  common  in  Egypt,  where  it  is  called  Ndshirj  a  word 
signifying  '  spreading,'  from  its  dilating  its  breast  when  angry. 
It  is  the  same  which  the  Hdwee,  or  snake-players,  the  Psylli^ 
of  modem  days,^  use  in  their  juggling  tricks,  having  previously 
taken  care  to  extract  its  fangs,  or,  which  is  a  still  better  pre- 
caution, to  bum  out  the  poison-bag  with  a  hot  iron.  They  ar^ 
generally  about  three  or  four  feet  long,  but  some  are  consider- 
ably larger,  one  in  my  possession  measuring  exactly  six  feet  in 
length;  and  ^lian^  scmples  not  to  give  them  five  cubits. 
They  are  easily  tamed.  Their  food  is  mice,  frogs,  and  various 
reptiles;  and  they  mostly  live  in  gardens  during  the  warm 
weather,*  where  they  are  of.  great  use — the  reason,  probably, 
of  their  having  been  chosen  in  ancient  times  as  a  protecting 
emblem.'  In  the  winter  they  retire  to  their  holes,  and  remain 
in  a  torpid  state,  being  incapable  of  bearing  cold,  as  I  had 
reason  to  observe  with  two  I  kept  in  the  house  at  Cairo,  which 
died  in  one  night,  though  wrapped  up  in  a  skin  and  protected 
from  the  air. 

The  size  of  the  asp  necessarily  suggests  the  question,  why 
should  Cleopatra  have  chosen  so  inconvenient  a  serpent?* 
This  name  was  perhaps  sometimes  applied,  like  our  term  viper, 
to  many  venomous  serpents  of  different  species;  and  another 
kind  of   poisonous   snake  of  a   much    more    convenient   and 


»  Juv.  Sat.  vi.  537. 

*  ColubeTy  or  Naja  ffaje, 
»  iElian,  i.  57. 

*  MiiAn,  speaking  of  the  power  of  the 
Egyptians  over  snakes  and  birds,  says, 
*  They  are  said  to  be  enabled  by  a  certain 
magical  art  to  bring  down  birds  from 
heaven,  and  to  charm  serpents,  so  as  to 
make  them  come  forth  from  their  lurking- 
places  at  their  command  '  (lib.  vi.  c  33). 
He  thinks  that  no  one  ever  recovered  from 
the  bite  of  an  asp  (vi.  38);  though  he 
modifies  this  opinion  in  anotherplace  (ii.  5). 

*  iElian,  Nat.  An.  vi.  38.    He  mentions 


dragons  of  thirteen  and  fourteen  cubits 
(20  feet),  brought  from  Ethiopia  to  Alex- 
andria. This  was  for  jEsculapius.  '  Dens 
intersit  *  (xvi.  39).  •  iEUan,  t.  53. 

'  Ammian.  Marcell.  (xxii.  15,  p.  33S) 
says,  *  The  asp  exceeds  all  others  in  siit  ain 
beauty.'    His  acontia  is  perhaps  the  lyor, 

*  flyer,'  of  modem  Egypt.      Plin.  TiiL  XS : 

*  Jaculum  ex  arborum  ramis  vibrari.' 

*  The  reason  assigned  is  that  from  ob- 
servation or  experiment  she  had  found  fhn\ 
the  bite  of  the  a«p  caused  death  attended 
by  the  least  apparent  pain.  It  was  *1««? 
more  easily  introduced  to  her. — S.  B. 


.  XIV.]  THE  SNAKE.  337 


portoUe  sixe,  common  in  Lower  Egypt,^  may  have  been  the 
ovi«  used  by  her,  and  have  been  miscalled  by  the  Greeks  an 
^^pj    Mammies  of  the  asp  are  discovered  in  the  Necropolis  of 


The  harmless  house-snake,  from  its  destroying  mice  and 

ions  reptiles  in  their  dwellings  and  outhouses,  was  looked  upon 

^rith  great  respect  by  the  Egyptians.    Though  used  to  represent 

Eternity,  and  sometimes  occurring  in  the  mysterious  subjects 

of  the  tombs,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  sacred  to  any  of 

the  great  deities  of  Egypt ;  and  if  it  belonged  to  any,  it  was 

probably  only  to  those  of  an  inferior  order,  in  the  region  of 

AiaentL    It  is  doubtful  if  the  snake  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth 

was  really  adopted  by  the  Egyptians  as  the  emblem^  of  Eternity. 

It  oocnrs  on  papyri,^  encircling  the  figure  of  Harpocrates ;  but 

tlieve   is  no  evidence  of  its  having  that  meaning,  and  I  do 

net  ranember  to  have  seen  it  on  any  monuments  of  an  ecurly 

Egyptian  epoch. 

The  snake  in  former  times  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 

BiTateries  of  religion:  many  of  the  subjects,  in  the  tombs  of 

<lie  kings  at  Thebes  in  particular,  show  the  ini{N)rtancc  it  was 

^i^Hight  to  enjoy  in  a  future  state;  and  JElian^  seems  to  speak 

^  a  '  sobterraneous  chapel  and  closet  at  each  comer  of  the 

^Syptian  temples,  in  which  the  Thermuthis  asp  was  kept,'  as 

^  it  were  the  universal  custom  throughout  the  country  to  keep 

^  tacred  serpent.      That  the  asp  was  universally  honoured  a{>- 

P^ars  to  be  highly  probable;  but  other  serpents  did  not  enjoy 

^^  same  distinction,  and  one  was  looked  ujion  by  the  Egyptians 

M  i  type  of  the  evil  being,  under  the  name  of  Aphophis,  *  the 

ftiiiit*     It  was  represented  to  have  been  kille<l  by  Horns ;   an<l 

^  this  fable  may  be  traced  that  of  Apollo  and  Pytho,  as  well 

^  the  war  of  the  giants  against  the  gcnls,  in  Greek  niytholopry. 


'  TW  &Atf  JMTO.  |m»iie<l,  and  Platmrrli  (Vit.  Antun.)  «hnw9 

*  [Tkat    ii,    if   CleofMtra**   death   had  that   the  storj  of  the   a^p   was   doutaeii. 

caoMd    hj    aoT    aerjieiit,    hot    the  Nur    U   the   statue   cirrii-*!   iu   Auf;u»tu>i* 

li  diaproTed  by  her  harinfi;  decked  triumph,  which  had  an  a-.p  uj^m  it,  anr 

f  IB  *  the  rojal  omaments,*  and  being  pnivft»f  hit  b«rlirf  in   it,  oince  that  unnlKe 

dead  'without  anj  mark  of  suapicion  wa5  the  emMvm  i>f  K^ypti.iQ  royalty:  the 

M«  !«   her   body.*      lH*ath    fn>m   a  statue  (or   the  rrown)  v(  <'li"«p.itr.t  coulil 

I'f  bite  rould  nut  be  mintaken :  and  not  hare  be«>n  without  od*-,  an*!  tht«  wa» 

hm  TaBity  would  not  hart  alhiwed  her  to  pmhabljr  the  ori|;io  t>f  th<^  whi<le  >it>n-. — 

<kMn  Mt   which  would  hare    di«H);ured  G.  W.] 

ter   i»    M>    frightful    a    manner,      inhrr         '  Macrobiu*  (Snt.  i.  h)  ^^rt   it  wa^  a 

fmmmm  were  wvU  undenttKul  awl  eajijr  of  I'ha-birian  m«*il«*  i>f  r^prr^t-ntic^  th**  WurM. 
■eana,  mad  no  boy  would  have  Trotured  to         *  A  |upTruii  in  the  ikrlin  Mu*eum  has 

carry  aa  asp  in  a  basket  of  ti|;s  somr  of  this  rmblrm. 
wfeick  he  eTra  oflertd  to  the  guards  as  he         *  .Klun,  i.  31. 

VOL.  IIL  Z 


338  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

By  the  serpent  the  Jews  also  typified  the  enemy  of  mankind. 
And  such  is  the  aversion  entertained  for  snakes  by  the  Moslems, 
that  they  hold  in  abhorrence  everything  which  bears  a  resem- 
blance to  them  ;  and  a  superstitions  fancy  induces  them  to  break 
in  two  every  hair  that  accidentally  falls  from  their  beards,  lest 
it  should  turn  to  one  of  these  hateful  reptiles. 

The  notion  mentioned  by  Pliny ,^  of  snakes  being  produced 
from  the  marrow  of  the  human  spine,  is  not  less  ridiculous  and 
unaccountable ;  and  no  animal  has  enjoyed  so  large  a  share  of 
the  marvellous  as  the  snake,  which,  from  the  earliest  times, 
excited  the  wonder,  the  respect,  or  the  abhorrence  of  mankind. 

Some  venerated  it  with  unbounded  horrors:  it  was  an  emUem 
of  the  world,  which  Eusebius  says  was  sometimes  described  by  a 
circle  intersected  by  a  serpent  passing  horizontally  through  it : 
some  gods  were  accompanied  by  it  as  a  type  of  wisdom ;  "and 
several  religions  considered  it  emblematic  both  of  a  good  and 
bad  deity.  The  Hindoo  serpent  Caliya,  slain  by  Vishnoo,  in 
his  incarnation  of  Crishna  (which  corresponded  to  the  Python 
and  Aphophis  of  the  Greek  and  Egyptian  mythologies),  was  the 
enemy  of  the  gods,  though  still  looked  upon  with  a  religious 
feeling ;  the  Mexicans  and  Scandinavians  considered  the  snake 
the  type  of  an  evil  deity ;  and  the  Tempter  of  mankind  was 
represented  under  the  same  form.  Gods  and  heroes  obtained 
credit  for  ridding  the  world  of  these  hateful  creatures;  and 
humble  individuals  were  sometimes  made  to  partake  of  this 
honour,  ^lian'  speaks  of  snakes  expelled  by  Helen  from  the 
isle  of  Pharos,  on  planting  a  herb,  called  after  her  Helenium,' 
which  she  had  received  from  Polydamna,  the  wife  of  Thonis; 
and  a  similar  kind  office  is  attributed  to  some  Christian  saints.^ 

A  remnant  of  superstitious  feeling  in  favour  of  the  serpent 
still  exists  in  Egypt  in  the  respect  paid  to  the  snake  of  Sheikh 
Hereedee,  which  is  supposed  to  perform  cures  for  the  credulous 
and  devout,  when  propitiated  through  the  pockets  of  its  keepers. 

The  winged  serpents  of  Herodotus  have  been  already  men- 
tion ed,**  whose  existence  was  believed  by  Aristotle*  and  many 
other  writers  of  antiquity.     Those  introduced  into  the  paintings 


^  PI  in.  X.  66  ;  ;Elian,  i.  52.    £lian  seems  *  Possibly    the    horned    snake    is    the 

to  consider  snakes  the  food  of  the  stag,  as  emblem  of  the  goddess  Nahab  or  Nahab-qa. 

asses  of  the  wolf,  bees  of  the  merops,  cicadas  — S.  B. 

of  the  swallow  (viii.  6,  and  ii.  9).  •  Herodot.  ii.  75,  iii.  107.     Cicero  brings 

*  iElian,  ix.  21.  them  from  Libya  (de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  L), 

*  Ibid.    ix.    20,   where   he    mentions   a  Herodotus  from  Arabia, 
stone  of  similar  efficacy.  *  Aristot.  Anim.  i.  5. 


CWA»-.  XIV.]  THE  HOBNED  SNAKE.  339 

oC  £g7pt  are  of  a  different  kind,  and  merely  emblematic  reprc- 
■^^tations  connected  with  the  mysterious  rites  of  the  dead,  or 
^e  fables  of  Amenti. 

*  In  the  environs  of  Thebes/  says  Herodotus/  *  is  a  species  of 
■•cied  snake  of  a  very  small  size,  on  whose  head  are  two  horns. 
^^^j  do  no  harm  to  man ;  and  when  they  die,  they  are  buried 
u^  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  to  whom  they  are  reputed  to  be  sacred.* 
I*li<se  homed  snakes  (Cerastes)  are  very  common  in  Upper 
Egrypt,  but  are  seldom  found  as  &r  north  as  Cairo.  I  have, 
however,  seen  one  in  the  Fyo6m,  even  in  the  island  in  the  middle 
of  Lake  Mceris,  which  is  very  remarkable,  as  they  are  not  in  the 
kmbit  of  entering  the  water,  like  the  asp  and  some  other  serpents. 
n»«  female  alone  has  horns,  the  male  resembling  it  in  every 
oCber  respect.  They  are  both  exceedingly  venomous ;  and  from 
ir  habit  of  burying  themselves  in  the  sand,  which  is  of  their 
colour,  they  are  extremely  dangerous.  It  is  perhaps  to 
these  that  Strabo'  alludes  when  he  says  that  the  desert  between 
Pelusiom  and  Heroopolis  is  infested  by  numerous  reptiles,  which 
iMiry  themselves  in  the  sand;  unless,  indeed,  ho  refers  to  the 
Lttoerta  monitor  and  other  lizards,  which  live  in  holes  in  the 
Mady  soil,  and  which  still  abound  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
Bnt  Pliny*  distinctly  points  out  their  habit  of  burying  them- 
•eWes,  when  he  says, '  The  cerastes  have  small  horns  rising  from 
itkeir  bodies  (heads),  often  in  two  pairs,  by  which  they  entice 
tards  to  them,  the  rest  of  their  body  being  concealed.'  It  is 
fattunate  that  Herodotus  was  not  convinced  of  his  error,  re- 
specting their  harmless  nature,  by  {>ersoual  experience;  and 
iKodorus^  properly  ranks  them  among  reptiles  particularly 
dettmctive  to  man.  They  are  called  by  the  Arabs  ILje  bil 
-foro^  or  the  homed  snake;  Cerastes  by  Tliny;  and  Viper 
(tut  Coluber)  cerastes  by  Linureus.  There  is  no  evidence  from 
Ike  sculptures  of  their  having  been  sacrtHl  to  the  god  of  Thebes ; 
^nd  LKodonis  thinks  the  hawk  was  e8t<*emed  from  its  hostility  to 
Vhcae  as  well  as  to  other  noxious  n*ptiles.  They  were,  however, 
honoured  with  sepulture  there,  as  the  Father  of  History  tells  us ; 
wid,  on  his  authority,  I  have  rankeil  them  among  the  sacriMl 
of  Egypt.^ 


'  Btrodoi.  ii.  74.  is  braealh  the   ncmles.     Some  are  oflereil 

'  Sirmbn,  iTii.  p.  552.  fvr  Mie  with  Iodk  riowing  hair. 

*  Flan.  Till.  23.     Arictotle  aUo  ncBtion*  *  I>i<«lor.  i.  87. 

tht   cwrasiet  (ADim.   iL    1).    The  Make-  *  The  L|CT|itiaii  iMine  wm  //iI.  uid  thev 

oliea  bring  the  ccraitca  with  foar  vert  U!ie«l  in  hieroglyphics  fnr   th«  nA«- 

tkt  ciUa  |iAir  b«iBg   clererlj  pat  culiat  affiled  pronoun   f.      They    do  not 

z  2 


840 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


The  frog  was  an  emblem  of  man  in  embryo,  as  we  are  in- 
formed by  HorapoUo.^  There  are  also  a  frog-headed  god  and 
goddess;^  the  former,  probably,  a  form  of  Ptah,  the  CreatiYe 
Power,  though  in  some  inferior  capacity.  The  importance  at- 
tached to  the  firog,  in  some  parts  of  Egypt,  is  shown  by  its 
having  been  embalmed  and  honoured  with  sepulture  in  the 
tombs  of  Thebes. 

The  fabulous  reptiles  mostly  consist  of  snakes  with  the 
head  of  a  man,  a  lion,  or  a  hawk,  frequently  with  legs,  or  with 
wings;  and  the  head  of  a  snake  is  sometimes  attached  to  the 
body  of  a  lion,  or  a  vulture. 

Of  the  sacred  fish^  the  most  noted  were  the  Oxyihynchus, 
the  Phagrus,  and  the  Lepidotus.  They,  however,  appear  not 
to  have  been  worshipped  throughout  the  country,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  war  between  the  Oxyrhynchites  and  the  people 
of  Cynopolis.^  Plutarch'  tells  us  these  three  fish  were  unlawful 
food  to  the  Egyptians,  in  consequence  of  their  having  devoured 
a  part  of  the  body  of  Osiris,  which  Isis  was  unable  to  recover 
when  she  collected  the  scattered  members  of  her  husband. 
They  were  therefore  particularly  avoided.  In  another  place 
he  says,  ^The  Egyptians,  in  general,  do  not  abstain  fix>m  all 
fish,  but  some  from  one  sort  and  some  from  another.  Thus, 
for  instance,  the  Oxyrhynchites  will  not  touch  any  taken  by  a 
hook;  for  as  they  pay  an  especial  reverence  to  the  Oxyrhynchus, 
from  which  they  borrow  their  name,  they  are  afraid  the  hook 
may  be  defiled  by  having,  at  some  time  or  other,  been  em- 
ployed in  catching  their  favourite  fish.  The  people  of  Syene, 
in  like  manner,  abstain  from  the  Phagrus ;  for,  as  it  is  observed 
by  them  to  make  its  first  appearance  just  as  the  Nile  begins  to 
overflow,  they  pay  especial  regard  to  the  voluntary  messenger 
of  such  joyful  news.  The  priests,  indeed,  abstain  entirely*  from 
all  sorts;  and  therefore  on  the  ninth  day  of  the  first  month, 
when  all  the  rest  of  the  Egyptians  are  obliged  by  their  religion 


appear  to  have  been  worshipped,  but  some- 
times were  sculptored.  The  other  snakes 
were  the  viper,  used  as  the  consonant  i ;  the 
mehenj  a  very  long  snake ;  and  the  Apap 
or  Aph5phis,  abo  of  large  size. — S.  B. 

*  Horapollo,  i.  25;  Diodor.  i.  10;  and 
^lian,  ii.  56,  who  '  was  once  caught  in  a 
shower  of  rain  mixed  with  imperfect  frogs, 
near  Naples,  on  his  way  to  Dicsarchia.' 
He  was  an  eye-witness  of  it ;  but,  as  Gibbon 
says  of  Abu-Rafe,  'who  will   be  witness 


for '  iElian  ?    (JElian,  yi.  41,  of  Mice.) 

'  Nu  or  Nun,  and  Nut,  the  male  and 
female  principle  of  water  and  the  celestial 
water  or  abyss.  Another  frog-h«tded  god- 
dess, Heqa,  the  wife  of  Num  or  Khnnm, 
also  presided  orer  the  same  element. — S.  B. 

*  For  the  fish  of  the  Nile,  see  Strabo,  lib. 
xTii.  p.  566. 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  72. 
»  Ibid.  8.  18. 

*  Clemens  Alex.  Strom,  ni.  p.  240. 


Chap.  XIV.]        SACBED  FISH— THE  OXYRHYNCHUa 


341 


to  eat  a  fried  fish,  before  the  door  of  their  houses,  they  only 
bnm  them,  without  tasting  them  at  all.  They  assign  two 
reasons  for  this:  one  connected  with  the  sacred  account  of 
Osiris  and  Typho  (already  mentioned);  the  second,  that  fish 
IB  neither  a  dainty,  nor  even  a  necessary  kind  of  food.  And 
this  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  the  writings  of  Homer,  who 
never  mentions  either  his  delicate  Phaeacians,  or  the  people  of 
Ithaca,  though  both  islanders,  feeding  upon  them ;  nor  even 
Ulysses'  companions  themselves,  during  their  long  and  tedious 
voyage,  till  reduced  to  it  by  extreme  necessity.'^ 

I  have  already  stated  my  belief  that  the  Oxyrhynchus  was 
the  Mizdeh  of  modem  Egypt,  a  species  of  Mormyrus.  It  was 
remarkable  for  its  pointed  nose,  whence  its  name,  a  peculiarity 
easily  recognised  in  one  of  those  represented  in  the  sculptures ; 
though,  from  the  fins  (if  really  intended  to  be  a  faithful  repre- 
sentation), it  would  appear  that  several  kinds  were  comprehended 
under  the  same  denomination  by  the  Egyptians.^ 


90.B83. 


The  OxjrhTnchos  fish,  in  bTX>nxe. 


It  is  singular  that  the  Oxyrhynchus  should  be  commonly 
^gored  amongst  the  fish  caught  by  the  Egyptians,  in  the 
jMdntings  of  Thebes,  of  Beni-Hassan,  and  of  Memphis.  This 
"^rould  seem  to  confine  its  worship  to  the  nome  and  city  of 
^hiyrhynchus,  where,  as  already  stated,  the  people  were  so  scru- 
JmlonSy  that  they  could  not  be  induced  to  eat  any  other  fish 
'^hich  had  been  taken  by  a  hook,^  lest  it  should  at  any  time 
luve  been  defiled  by  catching  their  favourite.  ^Even  when 
icnany  different  kinds  were  taken  by  them  in  a  net,  they  looked 
>)M)st  carefully  for  any  Oxyrhynchus  that  might  accidentally  be 
^^aoght^  preferring  to  have  none  rather  than  the  most  abundant 
^laught^  if  a  single  one  were  found  in  it.'    But  it  is  probable 


>  Pint,  dt  Iiid.  s.  7. 

*  That  with  a  pointed  nose  cnrred  down- 
vdf  ii  the  Mormyrua  oxyrhjfnchu$.  Its 
^«Md  fin  extends  nearly  along  the  whole 
^^•ck,  which  is  the  case  with  the  M,  ooBcMve, 
'^host  nose  is  much  less  prominent.  Other 
^omyH,   as   the   ZabkOuSf  AngtOMdes, 


and  Dorsalis,  hare  not  the  dorsal  fin  like 
that  of  the  Jf.  oxyrhynchus,  and  a  less 
pointed  nose ;  which  last  in  the  M.  eypri- 
noltdez  is  abmpt  or  round. 

*  £lian,  Nat.  An.  z.  46.    Plat,  de  Isid. 
8.  7. 


^- 


842  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XIV. 

that  many  other  places  extended  to  this  fish  a  feeling  of  yeneiar 
tion ;  small  bronze  figures  of  it  being  often  disoovered  in  Egypt, 
some  of  which  have  the  horns,  globe,  and  nraeus  of  Athor. 

In  the  temple  of  the  Great  Oasis  is  also  a  representation  of 
this  fish,  accompanied  by  the  name  of  the  goddess,  which  leaves 

no  doubt  of  its  having  been  her  emblem ;  and 
^  ^  ^^  this  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  coincides 
■^^-^^^      with  the   metamorphosis   of  Venus,  who  was 

said  to  have  changed  herself  into  a  fish,  and 
shows  the  Egyptian  origin  of  that  fable. 
At  the  Oasis.   <Hatbor        Its  roputod  sauctity  was  perhaps  owing  to 
SKT"  "^  ^"^  ^""^  ^  its  being  thought  less  wholesome  than  other 
***•  kinds ;  for  it  is  still  an  opinion  in  Egypt  that 

smooth-bodied  fish  are  less  proper  for  food  than  those  with  scales 
[and  the  Oxyrhynchus,  from  the  smaUness  of  its  scales,  may  have 
been  reckoned  among  the  former. — G.  W.].  It  is,  however, 
probable  that  the  prejudice  in  its  favour  was  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  careful  maintenance  of  the  canal  which  took 
the  water  from  the  river  to  the  city  where  it  was  particularly 
worshipped. 

The  Fhagrus  or  eel  was  sacred  at  Syene^  and  the  Cataracts. 
It  also*  gave  its  name  to  the  nome  and  city  of  Fhagroriopolis, 
near  to  Eeroopolis ;  where  its  worship  was  doubtless  introduced 
with  a  view  to  secure  the  preservation  of  the  canal "  of  fre^ 
wateVy  which  passed  from  the  Nile  to  the  Bed  Sea.  The  eel  is 
once  represented  at  Beni-Hassan  among  the  fish  of  the  Nile; 
but  I  have  not  seen  it  in  the  sculptures  as  a  sacred  fish.*  There 
is,  however,  no  reason  to  doubt  the  assertion  of  Plutarch  and 
other  writers ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Egyptians  generally 
abstained  from  eating  it  on  account  of  its  unwholesome  qualities. 
The  name  of  Lepidotus  (which,  from  the  meaning  of  the  word, 
is  shown  to  have  been  *  a  scaly  fish ')  has  been  given  to  the  Eelb 
el  Bahr,  Salmo  dentex,^  the  Eisher  or  Gisher,  Perca  Niloticay  and 
the  Binny,  OypriniM  lepidotus.  I  have  previously  stated  the  pro- 
bability of  the  first  of  these  having  been  the  Lepidotus ;  yet  the 


1  Clemens,   Orat.  Adhort.  p.  17.     Eue-  pshent  and  the  body  of  an  eel,  are  found 

nitie  should  evidently  be  Suenitse.     (iElian,  in  collections.     (British  Maseam,  Guide  to 

Nat.  An.  x.  19.)  Egyptian  Gall.,  p.  62,  No.  6880a.)    They 

'  Strabo,  lib.  xvii.  pp.  533  and  566.  should  from  the  head-attire  represent  the 

*  It  was,  however,  deified  and  apparently  goddess    Mut.      The    eel    was    sacred    to 

embalmed,   as   bronze    boxes   for   holding  Hapi  or  the  Nile. — S.  B. 

the  mummies,  surmounted  by  the  figure  *  Or  CharoGinus  dentex  of  Sarigny. 
of    the   head    of  a   goddess   wearing  the 


Cbap.  XIT.] 


OTHEB  SACBED  FISH. 


la  LrpUHiu. 


form  of  wliat  I  believe  to  be  this  sacied  fish,  represented  ia 
htotaea  found  at  Thebes,  accords  rather  with  the  last ;  though 
the  modem  name  hiaher,  signi- 
fying 'scaly,'  may  tend  to 
strengthen  the  claim  of  the 
seoond  of  the  three.  But  the 
indefinite  ikame  of  kisher  appears 
to  be  often  applied  to  other  fish, 
beudea  the  Perca  NUotica  ;  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  Binny  is 
also  called  by  the  Arabs  hisher. 
The  Binny  is  the  Cypriniu  Iqaidoim  of  the  'Description  de 
r^f^^ypte,'  and  the  same  as  represented  in  the  bronze  of  the 
preceding  woodcnL 

De  Fanw'  supposes  the  Latos  to  be  the  Perea  NUotiea,  but  I  do 
not  know  on  what  authority.  Were  it  not  for  the  circumstance 
of  the  bronze  fish  bearing  a  stronger  resemblance  to  the  Binny 
than  to  any  other  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  I  should  not 
■oppose  it  to  have  been  a  forbidden  fish,  since  it  is  one  of  the 
b^  and  most  wholesome  the  Kile  produces,  and  should  still 
liave  preferred  giving  the  name  of  Lepidotus  to  the  Eelb  el  Bahr, 
whose  appearance  might  serve  to  prejudice  them  against  it. 

The  uncertainty  respecting  the  sacred  fish  of  Egypt  neces- 
Mrily  leads  to  many  doubtful  conjectures ;  but  the  appearance 
of  the  bronzes  induces  me  to  renounce  the  opinion  I  had  formed 
leapecting  the  Kelb  el  Bahr,  and  to  give  to  the  Binny,  or 
Girprinos,  the  name  of  Lepidotus. 

Another  fish,  the  Latns,  was  worshipped  at  Latopolis,'  now 
&ueh.  In  the  sculptures  several  repre- 
sentations occur  of  fish,  particularly  one 
kind,  which  may  possibly  be  the  peculiar 
■pecies  held  sacred  in  that  city,  as  it  is 
frroonded  by  an  oval  usually  given  to  the  &  fl*ii  u  tmcb. 

mines  of  kings  and  gods. 

The  Mieotes  is  said  by  Clemens  of  Alexandria  to  have  been 
■Kied  at  Elephantine ;  *  but  I  am  ignorant  of  its  species  and 
Seneial  character.  It  is  possible  that  it  may  have  been  the 
^fmoot,  a  species  of  Silurns,*  which,  if  not  worshipped  in  the 
^bdd,  was  connected  with  one  of  the  genii  of  the  Egyptian 

'  T«L  L  Met.  3,  p.  136. 
I  Stnbcs  lib.  iTii.  p.  559. 
Climcw  Alei.  Ont.  Adhort.  p.  IT. 


344 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


Pantheon,  who  appears  under  a  human  form,  with  the  head  of 
this  fish,  in  the  sculptures  of  the  Diospolite  tombs.  In  Lower 
Egypt  the  karmoot  was  caught  for  the  table ;  but  there  is  no 
evidence  of  its  having  been  eaten  in  the  Thebiud,  and  this  may 
be  an  argument  in  favour  of  its  having  held  a  place  among  the 
sacred  animals  in  that  part  of  the  country,  ^lian/  however, 
states  that  the  Phagrus,  the  sacred  fish  of  Syene,  was  the  same  as 
that  called  by  the  people  of  Elephantine  Mseotes.  The  reason 
assigned  by  him  for  the  veneration  there  paid  to  it,  is  the  inti- 
mation it  gave  of  the  rising  Nile ;  ^  and  he  gives  it  the  additional 
credit  of  being  exempt  from  the  cannibal  propensity  common  to 
other  fish,  of  eating  those  of  its  own  kind.  Several  fish  have 
been  found  embalmed  in  the  tombs;  but  their  forms  are  not 
easily  distinguished,  and  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  species  to 
which  they  belong.' 

The  scorpion  was  an  emblem  of  the  goddess  Selk;  though 
we  should  rather  expect  it  to  have  been  chosen  as  a  type  of  the 
Evil  Being.^  ^lian'  mentions  scorpions  of  Coptos,  which, 
though  inflicting  a  deadly  sting  and  dreaded  by  the  people,  so 
far  respected  the  goddess  Isis,  who  was  particularly  worshipped 
in  that  city,  that  women,  in  going  to  express  their  grief  before 
her,  walked  with  bare  feet,  or  lay  upon  the  ground,  without 
receiving  any  injury  from  them.*  Many  extravagant  fables  are 
reported  by  the  same  author  of  these  as  of  other  animals,  and  he 
even  furnishes  scorpions  and  pigs  with  wings.^ 

No  representation  has  yet  been  found  of  the  Solpuga  spider,* 
which  is  common  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  which  from  its  venomous 
qualities  is  looked  upon  as  a  noxious  reptile  ;  though  some  think 
it  of  great  use,  from  its  enmity  to  scorpions,  which  it  is  said  to 
destroy.  To  its  power  of  doing  so  I  can  bear  ample  testimony, 
having  witnessed  more  than  one  contest  between  them,  in  which 
the  Solpuga  was  victorious ;  though,  when  stung  by  its  adversary. 


*  JFAi&n^  Nat.  An.  x.  19. 

*  Plutarch  applies  the  same  to  the 
Phagrus. 

'  Besides  the  first  mentioned,  there  are 
some  others  described  in  the  papyri,  some 
of  which  are  foreign  and  were  introduced 
into  the  country ;  as  the  lU,  the  baka  or 
fahaka  of  the  Nile  of  the  Arabs,  the  ra, 
two  sorts  of  harui  or  mullets,  the  amesku 
(conjectured  to  be  a  kind  of  mormyrus  or 
oxyrhynchus),  the  hauana  and  the  khep-nen 
of  the  Euphrates,  the  at  and  khept-pennu, 
*  rat's  tail,'  perhaps  eel  of  the  ditches  of 
the  inundation.  ('Select  Papyri,' Plate  xcvi. 


6-9;  Birch,  *Pat*re  Egyptienne,'  p.  39.) 
The  Synodontis  Sehal  was  the  sacred  fish 
of  the  goddess  Hathor. — S.  B. 

*  jElian,  vi.  23 :  he  even  produces  them 
from  a  dead  crocodile  (ii.  33). 

»  iElian,  x.  23. 

*  A  bronze  figure  of  a  scorpion  in  the 
British  Museum  (No.  6680a)  with  a  human 
head  surmounted  by  a  female  head  with 
head-dress,  unfortunately  broken,  has  on 
the  pedestal  the  name  of  the  goddess  Isis. 
— ^.  B.  '  iElian,  xri.  41,  and  xiL  38. 

*  The  Solpuga  araneoldes,  Plin.  riiL  29, 
xix.  4,  and  xxii.  25. 


Cup.  XIY.]  the  SGARABiBUS.  345 

it  grenerally  dies  on  the  spot.  But  this  seldom  linppens,  owing 
to  tho  f^reat  quickness  of  its  movements ;  and  whenever  the  place 
in  which  the  contest  takes  place  is  sufficiently  spacious,  the 
vmpidity  with  which  it  runs  round  its  adversary  and  seizes  it  by 
the  head  (when  the  sting  of  the  scorpion  can  only  reach  the  hard 
alielly  head  of  the  Solpuga)  always  ensures  its  success. 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  the  scarabtcus  in  the  sculptures, 
no  lesA  than  the  authority  of  numerous  ancient  writers,  shows 
the  grrat  consequence  attached  by  the  E<;:yptians  to  this  insect. 
•  A  grreat  ]M)rtiun  of  Egypt/  says  Pliny/  '  worship  the  scarabocus 
one  of  the  gods  of  the  country ;  a  curious  reason  for  which 
griven  by  Apion,  as  an  excuse  for  the  religious  rites  of  his 

ion — that  in  this  insect  there  is  some  resemblance  to  the 
operations  of  the  sun.' 

It  was  an  emblem  of  the  sun,  to  which  deity  it  was  particu- 
larly (iai*nNl ;  and  it  oft«n  occurs  in  a  boat  with  extended  wings, 
liokling  the  globe  of  the  sun  in  its  claws,  or  elevated  in  the 
firmament  as  a  type  of  that  luminary  in  the  meridian.'  Figures 
of  c»ther  deities  are  often  seen  praying  to  it  when  in  this  character. 
£Tho  Nubians,  transferring  the  idea  of  the  worshipi)or  to  the 
^ing  worshipped,  call  the  scarabsus  '  infidel.' — G.  W.J 

It  was  also  a  symbol  of  the  world,  which  it  was  chosen  to 
migtiify  in  the  hieroglyphics ;  and  it  was  ]>robably  in  connection 
^irith  this  idea  that  Ptah,  the  Creative  Power,  claimed  it  as  his 
Emblem,  being  the  demiurge,  or  maker  of  the  world.  By  Ptah- 
Socharis-Osiris,  the  pigmy  deity  of  3Iemphis,  it  was  adopted  as  a 
distinctive  mark,  lieing  placed  on  his  head  ;  and  Ptah  was  even 
x^preseuted  under  the  figure  of  this  insect.  It  l)elonged  likewise 
to  IHah-Ton?,  another  character  of  the  Creative  P4)wtT. 

lMutan*h  sup])0se8  that,  from  being  emblenuitic  of  virility  and 
liiAnly  force,  it  was  engraved  U{)on  the  signets^  of  the  Egyptian 
Soldiers,  their  opinion  being  '  that  no  females  existe<l  of  this 
«peoi(?s.  but  all  males  ;'  and  some  have  supiMiscd  that  its  ]N)sition 
upon  the  ft*male  figure  of  the  heavens,  which  encin»les  tho 
iinliacs,  n*ferM  to  the  same  idea  of  its  generative  influence 
lnentitine«I  bv  Plutarch. 

It  has  always  been  a  matter  of  doubt  to  what  purpose  tho 
no^le^lns  m^anilMei  of  all  sizes  and  qnalitii^s  f(»und  in  Egypt 
verr*  appliitl.     Some  suppose  them  t4)  have  In'i'U  money;    but 

*  P\.n.  111.  r.  11.  from  n***tk  t«i  ^Tt-nini;;  «o4  VUhnoo  in  tht 

*    With     Ul«    HidIimi*     th«     lUO    U    MlU<i         Wr««t  AB'l  At   Hl^ht. 

bnkm«   IB    th«  wut  w  muintng ;   Sira         *  Tlut.  «i«  Uid.  u.  10  and  73. 


346 


THE  ANCIENT  EOTFTUNS. 


[Ohap.XIV. 


this  conjecture  is  not  supported  by  fact,  nor  indeed  by  proba- 
bility, in  coQBeqnence  of  their  great  dissimilarity  in  size,  weight, 
and  many  particulars  required  for  establishing  the  value  of  a 
coin.  They  were  principally  used  for  rings,  necklaces,  and  other 
ornamental  trinkets,  as  well  as  for  funeral  purposes.  Some  of  a 
larger  size  frequently  had  a  prayer,  or  legend  connected  with 
the  dead,  engraved  upon  them ;  and  a  winged  Bcarabiens  was 
generally  placed  on  those  bodies  which  were  embalmed  according 
to  the  most  expensive  process. 

It  is  probably  to  their  being  worn  as  rings  that  Platarch 
alludes,  in  speaking  of '  the  beetle  engraved  upon  the  signets  of 
the  soldiers.'  The  custom  is  mentioned  by  ^liim ;'  and  some 
have  been  found  perfect,  set  in  gold  with  the  ring  attached. 

The  scarabffios  may  then  be  considered,  1,  an  emblem  of  the 
sun  ; '  2,  of  Ptah,  the  Creative  Power,  and  of  Ptah-^^per ;  3,  of 
Ptah  Socharis-OsinB  4  of  the  world  5  connected  with  astro- 
nomical subjects  ^  and  6  with  timor^  ntes 

The  scarabfeus  was  not  only  venerated  when  abve,  but  em 
balmed  after  death  and  some  have  been  foond  in  that  state  at 
Thebes.  But  the 
cities  where  it  re- 
ceived the  greatest 
honours  were  proba- 
bly Memphis  and 
Heliopolis  of  which 
Ptah  and  the  sun 
were  the  chief  dei 
ties 

Considerable  inge- 
nuity has  been  exer 
cised  in  order  to  dis- 
cover the  real  sacred 
beetle  of  Egypt,  and 
to  ascertain  to  what 
extent  other  species 
partook  of  the  honours  paid  to  that  insect.  I  do  not  intend  to 
detain  the  reader  by  any  examination  of  this  intricate  question, 
which  I  leave  to  naturalists  more  capable  than  myself  to  settle,* 

■  JOIIan,  I.  15.  '  It  occura  ia  >ome  zodUa  in  the  place 

*  A  wiaged  icaraWai  bearing  the  diik  of  Cancer, 

of  R«iru  alio  pat  for  the  winged  globe  of  *  Pettigrew'i  'Hittorf  of  U  ammie*,' pp. 

Har-Hit;   but   this  wu   odI/  in   Ueo  of  323-225. 


GkiAP.XIV.] 


THE  8CARABJECa 


347 


•ad  thall  only  obflenre  that  the  ono  so  frequently  represented 
in  the  sculptures  appears  to  be  the  beetle  still  common  in 
eTery  part  of  Egypt^  And  if  HorapoUo  mentions  a  beetle 
'  iritli  two  horns/  the  Copris  liidis,  consecrated  to  the  moon,  his 
■tatement  is  not  confirmed  by  the  sculptures,  where  it  is  neyer 
introduced.' 

HorapoUo  '  says, '  There  are  three  species  of  beetles.  One  has 
the  form  of  a  cat,  and  is  radiated,  which  from  supposed  analogy 
they  hare  dedicated  to  the  sun  (the  statue  of  the  deity  of 
Heliopolls  haying  the  form  of  a  cat) ;  and,  from  its  haying 
thirty  fingers,  corresponding  to  the  thirty  days  of  a  solar  month. 
The  second  species  has  two  horns,  and  the  character  of  a  bull, 
^rhich  is  consecrated  to  the  moon;  whence  the  Egyptians  say 
that  the  bull  in  the  heayens  is  the  eleyation  of  this  goddess. 
The  third  has  one  hom,^  and  a  peculiar  form,  and  is  supposed, 
like  the  ibis,  to  refer  to  Mercury.' 

The  mode  of  representing  the  scarabffii '  on  the  monuments  is 

frequently  yery  arbitrary,  and  some  are  figured  with  or  without  the 

Mcmtsllum.    But  I  do  not  belieye  they  denoted  a  difierent  genus ; 

d  the  characteristic  of  another  kind  of  beetle  appears  rather 

be  introduced  to  show  that  they  were  all  comprehended  under 

one  general  denomination,  and  was  intended  rather  to  combine 

Uian  to  distinguish  separate  genera.     That  it  was  not  with  a 

"^iew  to  indicate  a  distinct  diyision  of  this  class  of  insects  is 

mhown   by  their  sometimes   introducing  two  scutclla,  one  on 

either  clypeus,  no  example  of  which  occurs  in  nature;*  and 

it  seems  that  the  scarabseus,  Buprestis,  Ateuchus,  and  Copris, 

Were  all  used  by  the  Egyptians  as  synonymous   emblems  of 

the   same  deities.     This  is  further  confirmed   by  the  fact  of 

Paaaalacqua  having  found  a  species  of  Buprestis  embalmed  in 

%   tomb  at  Thebes.     But  the   scarabffius,  or  Ateuchus  iaceVy  is 

the   beetle  most  commonly  represented,  and  the  type  of  the 

whole  class. 

Fabulous  insects  did  not  hold  a  less  conspicuous  place  on  the 


*  Hie  ScarahoHM  Morr  (LioB.X  »r  AUu- 
neer  (Olir.),  which  U  bUck,  like  that 
if  th»  nMBQineDU.  Th«  |n^«ii  AUucKmi 
^ggpiwnun  11  not  the  ub«  ther*  rcpre- 


•  U  the  Brituh  Ma  warn  ii  the  broait 
lg«re  of   A   Kanbruii   with    two   horni. 


t4>  the  First  And  SecuDd  Egyptian 
'  p.  20,  204241.)— S.  b. 

*  HonpullOf  I.  10. 

*  SomII  figarM  of  the  OBt-honed  •cara* 


beat  ocgauoimUt  occur. — S.  B. 

*  The  priBci|al  rarietir*  on  the  nonn- 
nents  are  aa  tnllnw :  scarabvi  with  plaim 
elytra,  indicate-l  by  a  tioKle  diriaion;  ica- 
rab«i  with  plain  rlytra  and  a  donble  diri- 
•ion  or  line  betw««n  the  elytra ;  tcarabsi 
with  itriateii  rlytra  an-i  tingle  or  double 
diritioDs.  These  rarietiea  occur  in  all 
materials  an*!  siaet. — S.  Ii. 

*  An  initance  of  thii  occnrt  in  the  large 
■carabaoa  of  the  Bhtiah  MoMnm. 


348 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


Egyptian  monuments  than  fanciful  animals  and  birds;  and 
beetles  with  the  heads  of  hawks,  rams,  cows,  and  even  men,^  are 
represented  in  the  sculptures.  This  change  of  form  did  not 
make  them  less  fit  emblems  of  the  gods :  the  scarabseus  of  the 
sun  appears  with  the  head  of  a  ram  as  well  as  of  a  hawk  ;  and  a 
scarabseus  with  the  head  and  legs  of  a  man  was  equally 
emblematic  of  the  god  Ptah.^ 

Of  other  insects  I  shall  only  obsenre,  that  flies  are  said  to 
have  been  preserved  in  the  same  tombs ;  but  doubtless  without 
any  idea  of  sanctity  being  attached  to  so  odious  and  troublesome 
an  insect.^  Indeed  they  still  continue  to  be  one  of  the  plagues 
of  Egypt ;  and  the  character  of  a  tarmentery  applied  to  the  Evil 
Being,  seems  to  have  been  aptly  designated  by  the  title 
Beelzebub/  or  *  the  lord  of  flies.' 

The  ant  is  also  one  of  the  plagues  of  the  country,  as  in  most 
hot  climates.  Horapollo^  says  it  represented  in  hieroglyphics 
'knowledge;'  but  the  consideration  of  its  wisdom  did  not 
prevent  the  Egyptians  from  being  fully  sensible  of  the  in- 
convenience it  caused  them,  'having  the  art  of  discovering 
whatever  is  most  carefully  concealed ;'  and  the  origanum  plant 
was  used  in  order  to  drive  away  this  industrious  and  tiresome 
insect. 

Few  insects  of  ancient  Egypt  have  come  down  to  us  either 
in  the  paintings  of  the  monuments,  or  preserved  by  accident : 
the  former  being  confined  to  the  butterfly,  beetle,  wasp,  dragon- 
fly, locust,  and  housefly ;  and  the  latter,  to  those  which  have 
been  found  in  the  bodies  or  heads  of  mummies.* 

I  have  stated  that  the  Fersea  was  sacred  to  Athor,  as  the 


*  The  principal  varieties  are  as  follow : 
scarabiei  with  human  heads ;  scarabeei  with 
the  heads  of  rams,  emblems  of  the  god 
Khnum  or  Chnoumis ;  scarabsei  with  the 
heads  of  hawks,  always  of  lapis-lazuli,  em- 
blems of  the  god  Ha  ;  and  haematite  scara- 
baei  with  the  head  of  a  bull,  probably 
emblematic  of  Apis.  These  were  probably 
sepulchral  amulets. — S.  B. 

'  The  scarabffios  was  called  kheprar  or 
MtepreTf  and  was  the  emblem  of  type, 
shape,  or  metamorphosis.  It  was  also 
named  ab  or  a/,  *  fly.' — S.  B. 

*  The  fly  was  used  as  a  honorary  emblem 
and  applied  to  certain  decorations  bestowed 
for  the  reward  of  military  honour,  ap- 
parently as  the  order  of  the  fly:  it  was 
then  made  of  gold.  Small  flies  of  steatite 
glazed  were  used  for  necklaces. — S.  B. 


*  The  x^}ub  or  dthebdb  of  the  Arabs  is 
the  noted  fly  of  the  desert,  which  causes  a 
disease  to  camels  called  by  the  same  name. 

*  Horapollo,  i.  52,  and  ii.  34. 

*  Pettigrew  has  enumerated  all  that 
have  been  ascertained  by  Mr.  Hope,  to 
whom  those  in  one  of  the  heads  brought 
by  me  from  Thebes  were  submitted  for 
examination : — 

1.  Corynetes  violaceus,  Fab, 

2.  Necrobia  mumiarum,  Hope. 

3.  Dermestes  vulpinus.  Fab, 

4.  pollinctos,   I 

5.  roei,  \  Hope. 

6.  elongatos,  ) 

7.  Pimelia  spinulosa,  King  f 

8.  Copris    sabseus?     'found    by   Passa- 

lacqua ;  so  named  on  the  testimony 
of  Latreille.'  [9. 


Cmat.  XIT.]  SACBXD  TBEBS  and  plants.  849 

■yeaiDore  to  Xat.  I  htm  also  obseirecl  that  Flatarch  sappoees 
tiie  peach  to  hare  been  sacred  to  Harpocrates  ;*  though  there  is 
reaaon  to  beliere  that  bis  opinion  is  erroueous,  and  that  he  has 
dvnfoanded  it  with  the  tree  of  Athor. 

AthenKtis,  on  the  authority  of  HellanicaB,*  mentions  some 
acftnthns  (acacia)  trees,  which  blosaomed  all  the  year,  at  a  place 
cmlled  Tindium,  where  certain  celebrated  assemblies  were  held ; 
mad  this  town  had  a  large  temple,  surrounded  with  black  and 
«rhite  acanthus-trees,  on  which  chaplete  made  of  their  flowers, 
and  pomegranate  -  blossoms  entwined  with  vine -leaves,  were 
placed.  But  this  seems  rather  to  indicate  a  local  respect  for 
the  acanthus  of  Tindimn  than  any  adoration  generally  paid  to 
those    trees    by  the 

Egyptians.  Tl^-^  :=-^. 

The  acanthus  ■  was  ^-^  -^ .. 

the  wtii,  or  Mifootn 

IfHotiea,  of    modem 

Ep)-pt.     Its    flowen 

were  firequently  used 

fur     chaplets  ;    and 

it*  pod,  which  repro- 

•ented    a    letter    in 

hieroglyphics,    was, 

We    find,   sometimes 

placed    among    the 

offerings  on  the  altars 

of  the  gods.    There 

i»  no  evidence  of  its 

tkaring  been  sacred. 

The  tamarisk  was  a  holy  tree,  from  having  been  chosen  to 

orenhadow  the  sepulchre  of  Osiris,  in  commemoration  of  the 

Ikble  of  the  chest  containing  his  body  having   lodged  in   the 

liraiicbes  of  one  of  those  trees  on  the  coast  of  Byblus,  where, 

diiTen  ashore  by  the  waves  tA  the  sea,  it  was  discovered  by  Isis.* 

TThe  tree  is  represented  in  the  sacred  chamber  dedicated  to  that 

god  at  Philn,  and  in  a  small  sepulchre  at  How  (Diuspolis 

yarra).  

>  Pint.  d«  Ud.  I.  88. 

■  AthiB.  It.  )ip.  C79.  SSO. 

■  It    pTDbubly   IbcIdiIcJ    ethcn  of  th* 
Mimoia   or  Acula   fcuu   which   fnw   ia 

f  I'iat.  di  bid.  u.  tS  ud  31. 


t 

)l>d»,/IA 

10 

httiKig.,  Fab. 

A    •[«><■   of    eutluru    iB 

P»»- 

l«.iu.-.CuU«rti«i.No.443. 

(P«Ui- 

nplMi 

iBbjtciormunumw.) 

liwOtrnftterttmhtttrv^ 


850  THE  AKCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

In  the  latter  the  bird  Bennn  is  Beated  in  its  branches,  ac- 
companied by  the  name  of  Osiris,  of  whom  it  waa  an  emblem ; 
and  in  the  fonner  two 
priests  are  represented 
watering  the  tree,  as  it 
grows  beneath  a  canopy. 
This  confirms  in  a  r^nark- 
able  manner  the  account 
of  PIntarch,'  who,  in  de- 
scribing '  the  tomb  of 
Osiris  at  Fhike,  crowned 
with  flowers  at  the  solem- 
nisation of  hifl  funeral  ritea 
by  the  priests,'  says,  'it 
is  overshadowed  by  the 
branches  of  a  tunarisk- 
tree,  whose  size  exceeds 
that  of  an  olive.' 
Of  the  lotns  I  have  already  spoken,  as  also  of  the  papyrus 
and  other  plants  of  the  coun^.  The  agrotiU,  alladed  to  by 
Diodoros,  was  not  related  to  the  grass  called  tigroriU  by  modem 
botanists,  bat  seems  rather  to  be  a  name  applied  to  tiie  lotos, 
which  was  so  commonly  held  in  the  hands  of  gaests  in  the 
conTiTial  meetings  of  the  Egyptians. 

Proclus  pretends  that  the  lotos  wss  peculiarly  typical  of  the 
son,  '  which  it  appeared  to  honour  by  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  its  leaves.'  It  was  an  emblem  of  Nefer-Atum,  and 
introduced  with  the  infant  deity  Ahi. 

'  Garlic  and  onions,'  according  to  Pliny,'  '  were  treated  as 
gods  by  the  Egyptians  when  taking  an  oath ;'  and  Juvenai ' 
derides  them  for  their  veneration  of  these  garden-bom  deities. 
Plutarch  says,  being  held  in  abhorrence,  the  priests  abstained 
from  them  *  as  onlawful  food ;  the  reason  of  which  was  probably 
derived  irom  a  sanitary  precaution,  as  in  the  case  of  beans  and 
'  other  hinds  of  pulse.'  •  But  there  is  no  direct  evidence  from 
the  monuments  of  their  having  been  sacred;  and  they  were 
admitted  as  common  offerings  on  every  altar.  Onions  and 
other  vegetables  were  not  forbidden  to  the  generality  of  the 
people,   to   whom  they   were   a   principal  article  of  food:   for. 


Chap.  XIT.]  EMBLEMS.  351 

whateyer  leligious  feeling  prohibited  their  use  on  certain  occa- 
sionSy  this  was  confined  to  the  initiated,  who  were  required  to 
keep  themselves  more  especially  pure  for  the  senrice  of  the  gods. 

The  palm-branch  I  have  shown  to  haye  been  adopted  to 
represent  a  year,  as  Horapollo  also  states ;  ^  and  Clemens  ^  con- 
siders it  the  symbol  of  astrology.  Plutarch  tells  us '  the  iyy 
was  styled  by  the  Egyptians  Chenosiris ;  that  is,  as  some  in- 
terpret it, '  the  plant  of  Osiris ;'  and  Diodorus,^  after  saying  '  it 
was  consecrated  to  that  god,  and  called  in  the  Egyptian  tongue 
the  plant  of  Osiris,'  affirms  that '  it  was  carried  before  the  yine 
in  consecrations,  because,  while  this  loses  its  leaves,  the  ivy 
continues  to  retain  them.'  Many  instances  occur  of  the  pre- 
ference shown  by  the  ancients  for  evergreen  plants ;  and  for  a 
similar  reason  they  dedicated  the  myrtle  to  Venus,  the  laurel 
(bay-tree)  to  Apollo,  and  the  olive  to  Minerva. 

But  we  may  doubt  if  the  ivy  was  at  any  time  a  native '  of 
Eg^t.  The  Periploea  secamane  may  have  been  mistaken  for 
that  plant  in  the  representations  given  of  it  in  the  paintings, 
both  from  its  climbing  nature  and  even  the  form  of  its  leaves ; 
though  it  must  be  confessed  that  a  plant  having  so  acrid  a  juice 
oould  scarcely  have  been  used  for  garlands,  if  even  it  were 
tolerated  in  the  hand. 

Plutarch  mentions  a  garland  of  the  melilotus,*  which  fell 
iiom  the  head  of  Osiris.  This  plant  may  therefore  have  been 
deemed  sacred  by  the  Egyptians.  Clemens  mentions  thirty-six 
plants,  dedicated  to  the  thirty-six  decans  or  genii,  who  presided 
over  portions  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  f  but  the  symbols 
of  those  mysterious  beings  had  no  claim  to  sanctity. 

The  most  remarkable  emblems,  independent  of  the  types  of 
the  deities,  were  the  signs  of  life,  of  goodness,  of  purity,  of 
majesty  and  dominion  (the  flail  and  crook  of  Osiris),  of  royalty, 
of  stability,  and  of  power,  which  were  principally  connected 
with  the  gods  and  kings. 

Many  others  belonged  to  religious  ceremonies,  a  long  list 
o(  which  may  be  seen  in  the  chamW  of  Osiris  at  Phil®,  and  in 
die  Coronation  Ceremony  at  Medeenet  Haboo. 

The  sign  of  life,  tou,  or  crux  amata,^  I  have  mentioned  else- 
^teie.    The  sign  of  goodness  is  the  initial  of  the  word  ne/er, 

\  S*"P^^*^,*-  S.        _,  *^*  ^^  ^f^^^  **^"»  eommoD  now  in 

'  Cl€iD«ni  Alex.  Strom.  t\,  UmIj.—Q  W  1 

•  Wat.  d«  Uid.  i.  37.        *  Dlodor.  i.  17.  •  Pint.' d«  liid.  s.  86.    ThU  ilrnlfied  the 

\JhMX  is  to  «ay,  indigenoni.     It  may  pUnU  prodoood  br  the  inundation  nt  the 

i^it^  i«tood«jed  there.    The  iry  of  ed^  of  the  deeert.        '  Prichwd.  p.  329. 

tU  Qneks  nad  BemMie  it  snppoeed  to  be  •  CnUed  mx,  perhnpe  nn  enrringf 


352 


THE  ANCIENT  EQITTIANa 


[Chap.  XIV. 


*  good/  a  guitar ;  and  the  sceptre  with  the  head  of  a  harrier^  uas 
or  t'am^  which  the  gods  hold  in  their  hands,  has  been  shown  to 
enter  into  one  of  the  groups  signifying  '  Thebes.'  This  has  been 
styled  the  upupa-headed  sceptre ;  but  I  have  shown  the  head  to 


Hii^f^yy  I 


4Ill'»'» 


ySA^VSAA 


i't 


1334  5678  9  10  11 

No.  690.     Emblems  of  Life  (1),  Goodn««  (2, 3),  Poritj  (4),  Bojalty  (6-10).  and  8laMli(j  (11> 

be  that  of  an  animal,  and  not  of  a  bird,  as  usuaUy  supposed.  The 
lower  end  is  forked ;  and  this,  as  well  as  the  head  itself,  has 
been  found  in  the  excavations  at  Thebes.  A  similar  staff  seems 
to  have  been  used  by  the  Egyptian  peasant^  perhaps  as  a  crook ; 
and  the  Arabs  to  the  present  day  make  their  mahgin  of  this 
form,  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  the  fedlen  bridle  of  their 
dromedaries.^  It  is  even  represented  in  the  hands  of  labourers 
engaged  in  the  corn-fields ;  an  instance  of  which  occurs  in  one  of 

the  ancient  paintings 
from  Thebes  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum.' 
This,  with  the  tau^  are 
^  *  •  *  »         the    principal   gifts    of 

The  gifts  of,  1,  life  and  parity;  %  with  stabilitj;  3,  power;    xv  j        x 

4,  victory ;  and  6,  royal  mijesty,  or  dominion  of  the  world.  tnO     gOQS     tO      maU^     lU 

^*  ^^^'  the  hieroglyphic  legends 

where  the  deity  thus  addresses  the  kings :  *  We  give  you  life  and 
purity,'  or  '  a  pure  life/  with  *  stability/  *  power/  '  victory/ 
*  majesty/ '  dominion/ '  and  other  good  things/  similar  to  which  are 
the  favours  said  to  be  bestowed  by  the  deity  on  King  Bameses, 
in  the  inscription  of  the  obelisk  translated  by  Eermapion. 

The  flagellum  ^  and  crook  *  of  Osiris,  the  emblems  of  majesty 
and  dominion,  were  presented  by  the  gods  to  the  king,  sometimes 
with  the  falchion  of  victory  or  vengeance,  when  he  was  about  to 
undertake  an  expedition  against  the  enemies  of  his  country ;  and 
in  some  instances  the  monarch  is  represented  holding  the  phcenix 
in  his  hand,  emblematic  of  his  long  absence  from  Egypt  in  a 
foreign  land.  In  the  following  woodcut  we  observe  a  singular 
proof  of  a  flagellum  of  Osiris  being  really  a  handle  and  thong, 
and  not,  as  it  usually  appears,  both  in  the  hands  of  statues  and 
in  the  sculptures,  with  the  two  limbs  of  a  hard  substance.* 

*  It  is  so  called  from  hdgin,  the  name  of         •  »»*X'X  ^^  X'X*         *  ^<  or  oL 
a  dromedary.  *  The  whip  of  Osiris  is  three- thonged,  or 

'  In  the  Egyptian  Room,  marked  Ko.  176.     else  repreienta  a  flaiL — S.  B. 


The  sign  of  royalty  is  a  reed ;  which  is  also  the  emblem  of 

Upper  Egypt,  and  the  initial  of  the  word  tuien,  'king.'    But 

this,  and  the  pthent,  ot  cap 

of  the  Upper   and  Lower 

Country,  which  is  the  union 

of  the  two  crowns,  the  Bymbol 

of  stability,  the  palm-branch 

of  Thoth,  and  the  sign  of 

the   great    assemblies  over 

which  the    king    presided, 

have  been  already  noticed. 

The  eye  of  Osiris — or  sym- 
bolic eye,  vta — was  one  of 

the  most  important  emblems. 

It  was   generally  given  to 

that  deity,  and  to  Ptah  when 

nnder  the  form  of  the  em- 
blem  of   stability.     It   was   I 

placed  on  boats  (but  origin-  ' 

ally  and   properly  only  on 

the  boats  of  the  dead),  on  coffins,  and  in  other  conspicuous 

positioDS,  as  if  to  indicate  the  all-seeing  presence  of  the  dlTinity, 

and  it  was  a  symbol  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

The  fix)g  was  the  symbol  of  kefnu,  100,000,  or  an  immense 

mimbei.     It  sat  on  a  ring,  or  seal,  a  sign  occasionally     l( 
nsed  in  lieu  of  the  iau,  or  '  life ;'  and  from  its  back  rose     U,-^ 
a  palm-branch,  which  sometimes  appeared  in  the  state  of  (oA 
a  tender  leaf  rising  from  the  date-stone,  ^3 

The  lotas  was  introduced  into  all  subjects,  particularly  n„.  ita. 
«  an  ornament,  and  as  the  favourite  flower  of  the  country, 
W  not  with  the  holy  character  usually  attributed  to  it,  though 
■dopted  as  an  emblem  of  the  god  Nefer-Atum. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FESTIVALS — 8AGRIFICS8. 


No  nation  took  greater  delight  in  the  pomp  of  ceremonies  tlian 
the  Egyptians — a  partiality  which  the  priests  did  not  fail  to 
encourage,  as  it  tended  to  increase  their  own  consequence,  and 
to  give  them  a  great  moral  ascendency  over  all  classes.  Grand 
processions  constantly  took  place  to  commemorate  some  fanciful 
legendary  event ;  the  public  mind  was  entertained  by  the  splen- 
dour of  impressive  and  striking  ceremonies;  and  a  variety  of 
exhibitions  connected  with  religion  were  repeated,  to  amuse  that 
lively  and  restless  people.  Respect  for  the  priesthood  was  also 
induced  by  the  importance  of  the  post  they  held  on  those  occa- 
sions ;  and  the  superior  abilities  of  that  powerful  body  iiad  ample 
means  of  establishing  its  authority  over  credulous  and  8Uj>er- 
stitious  minds.  The  priesthood  took  a  prominent  part  in  every- 
thing ;  there  was  no  ceremony  in  which  they  did  not  partici- 
pate, and  even  military  regulations  were  subject  to  the  influence 
of  the  sacerdotal  caste.  Nothing  was  beyond  their  jurisdiction: 
the  king  himself  was  anhject  to  the  laws  established  by  them  for 
his  conduct,  and  even  for  his  mode  of  living ;  and,  independently 


IhB  king  ei''* 


U  flpConfDp&ni 
.IniM  lbs  king  i 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  RHIIIXE3. 


355 


i  by  duty  t«  obey  these  unlinnnera,  ho  wns  uliliirHl 
the  tbnmc  fc>  bi-ccmir  a  mombfr  of  their  tuxly. 
moBt  im[H>rtHiit  i>CT<Mnoiiu<s  wita  '  thi-  pMccssioii  of 
1  ii  nw!iitionc<l  on  tlie  Itoftfttu  SloiU',  niul  it*  fn^ 
imted  on  tlie  walU  of  the  tcin|>les.  Tht>  vhriiics 
ndfl  ;  the  on<.>  n  mrt  nf  canoiiy,  tlic  other  an  urk  or 
rhicb  may  Ih;  tenneil  thi>  (irfut  tihrine.  This  wa* 
rnuid  pom))  )>y  the  pricHtH,  h  certuin  nuinlier  boinf; 
lat  duty,  who,  mtpiHirtiii};  it  on  their  ahimld<T!i  by 
;  itikTOH  {Hissing;  thMii^li  int-tal  riufrit  at  the  lii'le  of 
1  which  it  Ktiiod,  bntti^ht  it  into  the  t('ni|)h',  wht-ru 
opun  a  Htand  or  table,  in  ortb-r  that  the  prvaenlit-d 
ght  \m!  {terformed  IxTforc  it. 

was  also  fitixied  in  the  procfssioii  by  iinothtT  set  of 
ng  the  ghriiie  by  ine4tns  of  siinibir  ftavea ;  a  method 
d  for  tran8[Kirting  lur(;e  Rtatues  and  aacred  etnblemti, 
w  im]Hirtant  to  W  Iwirne  by  one  person.  The  saino 
•▼e  been  thr;  ciistum  of  thu  Jews  in  some  of  their 
Mions,*  as  in  earTyiii;r  the  ark  '  to  its  pbice,  into  the 
OOK,  to  tlie  most  holy  phtee,'  when  the  teioiiU-  was 
ion.* 

sr  of  shrines  in  these  professions,  and  the  splendour 
my  performetl  on  the  oecosion,  depended  on  the 
ival  tliey  intendtt)  to  (.■oniineniorate.  In  many 
ihrine  of  the  deity  of  the  temple  was  rarriLtl  abme, 
t  of  other  deities  aeiiinijutnied  it,  and  sometimes 
inj;  was  addi-<l — a  privile<;e  ^nintei]  as  a  {Hvuliar 
1  for  some  ffDitt  iN-netit  emiferret]  by  bini  n|ii>H  his 
r  his  pii'ty  in  havinji  iN-antitied  the  tenipb-s  of  the 
ii  the  motive  nientii<ni-il  in  the  inseription  of  the 
;  whieh,  after  enunieritlin;;  the  benelits  ennferred 
ntry  l>v  I'toli'my,  ibM-recH,  an  a  n-tuni  for  tlieni. 
f  of  the  kin;r  sliall  Im-  erei-titl  in  every  tenipb-  in 
liouitns  pluci':  that  it  xhall  )>•  ealb-d  the  statue  of 
lefender  of  K[ry]it :  ami  that  ni^'ar  it  shall  In-  pltieml 
di'ity  pn-rtt-ntin;;  to  him  the  weajNin  of  vielory. 
.  the  )irii-Hts  fliali  miuisK-r  thnt-  tiniex  evrr^-  day  to 
id  prepitn-  for  tlu-ni  the  wn-rcd  dn-M!*,  and  |H-rfunn 


.|.:...'r>I.TU'.iad  '»•  n 


856  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

the  accustomed  ceremonies,  as  in  honour  of  other  gods  at  feasts 
and  festivals :  that  there  shall  be  erected  an  image  and  goldeii 
shrine  of  King  Ptolemy  in  the  most  honourable  of  the  temples, 
to  be  set  up  in  the  sanctuary  among  the  other  shrines :  and  that 
on  the  great  festivals,  when  the  procession  of  shrines  takes  place, 
that  of  the  god  Epiphanes  shall  accompany  them ;  ten  royal 
golden  crowns  being  deposited  upon  the  shrine,  with  an  asp 
attached  to  each,  and  the  double  crown,  pshent,  which  he  wore 
at  his  coronation,  placed  in  the  midst/ 

It  was  also  usual  to  carry  the  statue  of  the  principal  deity  in 
whose  honour  the  procession  took  place,  together  with  that  of  the 
king  and  the  figures  of  his  ancestors,  borne  in  the  same  manner 
on  men's  shoulders,  like  the  gods  of  Babylon  mentioned  by 
Jeremiah.^ 

Diodorus  ^  speaks  of  an  Ethiopian  festival  of  Jupiter,  when 
his  statue  was  carried  in  procession,  probably  to  commemorate 
the  supposed  refuge. of  the  gods  in  that  country:  which  may 
have  been  a  memorial  of  the  flight  of  the  Egyptians  with  their 
gods  at  the  time  of  the  Shepherd  invasion,  mentioned  by  Jose- 
phus^  on  the  authority  of  Manetho.     This  does  not,  however, 
appear  to  be  the  reason  assigned  by  Diodorus,  who  says, '  Homer 
derived  from  Egypt  his  story  of  the  embraces  of  Jupiter  and 
Juno,  and  their  travelling  into  Ethiopia,*  because  the  Egyptians 
every  year  carry  Jupiter's  shrine  over  the  river  into  Africa,  and 
a  few  days  after  bring  it  back  again,  as  if  the  gods  had  returned 
out  of  Ethiopia.    The  fiction  of  their  nuptials  was  taken  from 
the  solemnisation  of  these  festivals ;  at  which  time  both  their 
shrines,  adorned  with  all  sorts  of  flowers,  are  carried  by  the 
priests  to  the  top  of  a  mountain.' 

The  usual  number  of  priests  who   performed  the  duty  of 
bearers  was  generally  twelve  or  sixteen  to  each  shrine.     They 
were  accompanied  by  another  of  a  superior  grade,  distinguished 
by  a  lock  of  hair  pendent  on  one  side  of  his  head,  and  clad  i^  ^ 
leopard-skin,  the  peculiar  badge  of  his  rank,  who,  walking  B^ 
them,  gave  directions  respecting  the  procession,  its  positioX^^ 
the  temple,  and  whatever  else  was  required  during  the  ceremcF^I ' 
which  agrees  well  with  the  remark  of  Herodotus,*  that  *^^ 
deity  had  many  priests,  and  one  high  priest.'     Sometimes         . 
priests  of  the  same  peculiar  grade  attended,  both  during 


>  Epistle  of  Jeremiah  in  Baruch  vi.  4,  '  Joseph,  contr.  Ap.  i.  27.  7: 

26.    taiah  xlvi.  7.  •  Diodor.  i.  97.  *  Horn.  11.  A,  423.        •  Herodot.  iU 


Cbw.  XV.] 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  SHBINES. 


357 


prooMnon,  and  after  the  sbrine  had  been  deposited  in  the  temple. 
Tbi-ae  were  the  poiidfls,  or  highest  order  of  priests :  they  had  the 
title  of  '  Sem,'  and  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  offering  sacrifices  ou 
all  grand  occasions. 

When  the  shrine  reached  the  temple,  it  was  received  with 
ererr  demonstration  of  respect  by  the  officiating  priest,  who  was 
appointed  to  do  dnty  npoti  the  day  of  the  festival ;  and  if  the 
king  happened  to  be  there,  it  was  his  privilege  to  perform  the 
appointed  ceremonies.  These  consisted  of  sacrifices  and  prayers; 
and  the  shrine  wiis  decked  with  fresb-gathered  flowers  and  rich 


gwUuds.  An  endless  profusion  of  offerings  was  plarril  tiefore  it 
on  several  Be|>arate  altan;  and  the  hing,  frequently  accompanied 
by  his  qnoen,  who  held  a  sutmm  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  a 
boaqaet  of  flowera  maile  up  into  the  partiridar  form  required  for 
these  religious  ceremonies,  presented  incense  and  liluition.  This 
part  of  the  ceremony  being  finished,  the  king  proceeded  to  the 
presence  of  the  got],  represented  by  his  statne,  from  whom  he 
was  suppoBol  to  rt>ci-ive  a  blessing,  typified  by  the  sacred  taUy 
the  sifm  of  life.  Sometimes  the  principal  contemplar  deity 
was  aimi  pnwnt,  usually  the  second  membi-r  of  the  triad  of 
the  place;   and  it  is  probable  that  the  posititm  of  the  statue  was 


358 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XV. 


near  to  the  shrine  alluded  to  in  the  inscription  of  the  Boeetta 
Stone. 

Some  of  the  sacred  boats  or  arks  contained  the  emblems  of 
life  and  stability,  which,  when  the  yeil  was  drawn  aside,  were 
partially  seen ;  and  others  presented  the  sacred  beetle  of  the 
sun,  overshadowed  by  the  wings  of  two  figures  of  the  goddess  Ma 
or  Truth,  which  call  to  mind  the  cherubim  of  the  Jews.^ 

The  dedication  of  the  whole  or  part  of  a  temple  was,  as  may 
be  reasonably  supposed,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  solemnities 
at  which  it  was  *  the  prince's  part '  to  preside.  And  if  the  actual 
celebration  of  the  rites  practised  on  the  occasion,  the  laying  of 


No.  594. 


One  of  the  Mcred  boats  or  arin,  with  two  fluureK  resembUnff  cberuMm.    a  and  b 
represent  the  king ;  th«  former  under  the  thKpt  of  a  sphinx. 


the  foundation  stone,  or  other  ceremonies  connected  with  it,  are 
not  represented  on  the  monuments,^  the  importance  attached  to 
it  is  shown  by  the  conspicuous  manner  in  which  it  is  recorded  ^ 
the  sculptures,  the  ostentation  with  which  it  is  announced  in  th^ 
dedicatory  inscriptions  of  the  monuments  themselyes,  and  ^^ 
answer  returned  by  the  god  in  whose  honour  it  was  erected. 

Another  striking  ceremony  was  the  transport  of  the  d^j^ 
catory  offerings  made  by  the  king  to  the  gods,  which  were  canT^ 
in  great  pomp  to  their  respective  temples.    The  king  and  all 
priests  attended  the  procession,  clad  in  their  robes  of  ceremo: 
and  the  flag-staffs  attached  to  the  propylsea  of  the  vestibules  wi 
decked,  as  on  other  grand  festivals,  with  banners. 


he 
re 


'  Clemens,  Strom,  t.  p.  243,  on  the  Ark  in  the  king's  hand  on  these  occasions 

•f  the  Hebrews  and  the  Adytum  of  the  the  same  as  those  used  in  the  chase  of 

Egyptians.  hippopotamus. 

*  It  is  singular  that  the  mace  and  rod 


he 


cur.  XT.] 


CEHEHONIB& 


359 


The  coioDation  of  the  king  waa  a  peculiarly  imposing  cere- 
mony. It  wu  one  of  the  principal  subjecta  represented  in  the 
eoart  of  the  temples  ;*  and  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  pomp 
dijpUyed  on  the  occasion  even  from  the  limited  scale  on  which 
the  monaments  are  capable  of  describing  it.  I  have  already 
mentioned  the  remarkable  manner  in  which  this  subject  is  treated 
in  the  temple  of  Mefleenet  Haboo,  and  therefore  refer  the  reader 
to  a  previous  jmrt  of  this  work,  where  I  have  described  the  pro- 
oeHion  given  in  Plate  LX. 

Clemens  introduces  an  account  of  an  Egyptian  procession, 


which,  as  it  throws  some  light  on  similar  ceremonies,  and  mar  be 
of  interest  from  having  some  jxiinta  of  resemblance  with  the  one 
before  us,  I  here  transcribe. 

*  In  the  solemn  jiomps  of  Bgypt  the  singer  usually  goes  first, 
bearing  one  of  the  symbols  of  music  They  say  it  is  Iiii«  duty  to 
euiy  two  of  the  bonks  of  Hermes ;  one  of  which  contains  hymns 
of  the  grMU,  the  other  precepts  relating  to  the  life  of  the  king. 
The  singer  is  foUowHl  by  the  boroscopiis,  bearing  in  his  liuud 
the  measure  of  time,  hour-gUss,  and  the  palm-bmnch,*  the 
•ymbols  of  anlrology,  astnuiomy,  whose  duty  it  is  to  U-  versed 
in  or  recite  the  four  Uniks  of  Hermes,  which  treat  of  that  wience. 


MiBMiBiuB  n  KamrMtum  ai 


'360  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

Of  these  one  describes  the  position  of  the  fixed  stars,  another  the 
conjunctions,  eclipses,  and  illuminations  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  the  others  their  risings.  Next  comes  the  hierogrammateus, 
or  sacred  scribe,  haying  feathers  ^  on  his  head,  and  in  his  hands 
a  book,  papyrus,  with  a  ruler*  (palette)  in  which  is  ink  and  a 
reed  for  writing.  It  is  his  duty  to  understand  what  are  called 
hieroglyphics,  the  description  of  the  world,  geography,  the 
course  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets,  the  condition  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  and  the  Nile,  the  nature  of  the  instruments  or  sacred 
ornaments,  and  the  places  appointed  for  them,  as  well  as  weights 
and  measures,  and  the  things  used  in  holy  rites.  Then  follows 
the  stoKsteSy  bearing  the  cubit  of  justice  and  the  cup  of  libation. 
He  knows  all  subjects  relating  to  education,  and  the  choice  of 
calves  for  victims,  which  are  comprehended  in  ten  books.  These 
treat  of  the  honours  paid  to  the  gods  and  of  the  Egyptian  reli- 
gion, including  sacrifice,  first-fruits,  hymns,  prayers,  processions, 
holydays,  and  the  like.  Last  of  all  comes  the  prophet,  who  car- 
ries in  his  bosom  a  water-jar,  followed  by  persons  bearing  loaves 
of  bread.  He  presides  over  all  sacred  things,  and  is  obliged 
to  know  the  contents  of  the  ten  books  called  sacerdotal,  relating 
to  the  gods,  the  laws,  and  all  the  discipline  of  the  priests.' ' 

One  of  the  principal  solemnities  connected  with  the  corona- 
tion was  the  anointing  of  the  king,  and  his  receiving  the  emblems 
of  majesty  from  the  gods.  The  sculptures  represent  deities 
themselves  oflSciating  on  this  as  on  other  similar  occasions,  in 
order  to  convey  to  the  Egyptian  people,  who  beheld  these  records, 
a  more  exalted  notion  of  the  special  favours  bestowed  on  their 
monarch. 

We,  however,  who  at  this  distant  period  are  less  interested  in 
the  direct  intercourse  between  the  Pharaohs  and  the  gods,  may 
be  satisfied  with  a  more  simple  interpretation  of  such  subjects, 
and  conclude  that  it  was  the  priests  who  performed  the  cere- 
mony, and  bestowed  upon  the  prince  the  title  of  *  the  anointed 
of  the  gods.' 

With  the  Egyptians,  as  with  the  Jews,*  the  investiture  to  any 
sacred  oflBce,  as  that  of  king  or  priest,  was  confirmed  by  this 
external  sign  ;  and  as  the  Jewish  lawgiver  mentions  *  the  ceremony 


*  The  feathers  are  of  the  ostrich,  not  of  *  *  Thou  shalt  take  the  garments,  and 
the  hawk,  as  already  observed.  put  upon  Aaron  the  coat,  and  the  robe  of 

'  The  usual  palette  represented  in   the  the  ephod,  and  the  ephod,  and  the  breast- 
hands  of  scribes.  plate,    and    gird   him    with    the    curious 
'  Clemens  Alex.  Strom,  yi.  p.  196.  girdle  of  the  ephod ;   and  thou  shalt  put 

*  Ezod.  xxviii.  41.  the  mitn  upon  his  head,  and  put  the  holj 


.  XV.]        CORONATION  CEREMONY.  361 

jf  pouring  oil  upon  the  head  of  the  high  priest  after  he  had  put 
>ii  his  entire  dress,  with  the  mitre  and  crown,  the  Egyptians 
represent  the  anointing  of  their  priests  and  kings  after  they 
irere  attired  in  their  full  robes,  with  the  cap  and  crown  upon 
dieir  head.  Some  of  the  sculptures  introduce  a  priest  pouring 
nl  over  the  monarch,^  in  the  presence  of  Thoth,  Har-Hut,  or 
NFilos ;  which  may  be  considered  a  representation  of  the  cere- 
mony before  the  statues  of  those  gods.  The  functionary  who 
jflBciated  was  the  high  priest  of  the  king.  He  was  clad  in  a 
leo{)ard-8kin,  and  was  the  same  who  attended  on  all  occasions 
irhich  required  him  to  assist,  or  assume  the  duties  of,  the  monarch 
in  the  temple.  This  leopard-skin  dress  was  worn  by  the  high 
priests  on  all  the  most  important  solemnities,  and  the  king 
bimself  adopted  it  when  engaged  in  the  same  duties. 

They  also  anointed  the  statues  of  the  gods ;  ^  which  was  done 
irith  the  little  finger  of  the  right  hand. 

The  ceremony  of  pouring  from  two  vases  alternate  emblems 
of  life  and  purity  over  the  king,  in  token  of  purification,  previous 
to  his  admittance  into  the  presence  of  the  god  of  the  temple, 
was  performed  by  Thoth  on  one  side  and  the  hawk-headed  Har- 
Hat  on  the  other ;  sometimes  by  Har-Hat  and  Nubti,  or  by  two 
hawk-headed  deities,  or  by  one  of  these  last  and  the  god  Nilus. 
The  deities  Nubti  and  Horus  are  also  represented  placing  the 
crown  of  the  Two  Countries  upon  the  head  of  the  king,  saying, 
*  Put  this  cap  upon  your  head  like  your  father  Amen-ra :'  and 
the  palm-branches  they  hold  in  their  hands  allude  to  the  long 
series  of  years  they  grant  him  to  rule  over  his  country.  The 
emblems  of  dominion  and  majesty,  the  crook  and  flagellum  of 
Osiris,  have  been  already  given  him,  and  the  asp-formed  fillet  is 
bonnd  upon  his  head. 

Another  mode  of  investing  the  sovereign  with  the  diadem  is 
figured  on  the  apex  of  some  obelisks,  and  on  other  monuments, 
where  the  god  in  whose  honour  they  were  raised  puts  the  crown 
upon  his  head  as  he  kneels  before  him,  with  the  announcement 
that  he  ^  grants  him  dominion  over  the  whole  world.'  ^  Goddesses 
in  like  manner  placed  upon  the  heads  of  the  queens  the  peculiar 


crown  upon  the  mitre.     Then  shalt  thoa      li.  p.  63.) — S.  B. 

take  the  anointing  oil,  and  ponr  it  upon  his         '  Obelisk  of  Karnak  and  othen,  and  the 


(Exod.  xxix.  5-7.)  translation  of    Hermapion,    in    Ammian. 

1  8  Kings  ix.  3.  Marcellin.  xWi.  s.  4,  p.  108,  ed.  OronoT.: 

*  The  king  was  anointed :  Amenophis  II.  MAprtfuii  aoi  iufd  wdaup  olxcvfUrriw  /urd 

m  anointed  king.  (*  Records  of  the  Past,'  x^'  fia^iXtvuv, 


Chap.  XV.]  CORONATION  CEREMONY.  363 

insignia  they  wore ;  which  were  two  long  feathers,  with  the  globe 
and  horns  of  Athor ;  and  they  presented  them 
their  peculiar  sceptre. 

The  custom  of  anointing  was  not  confined 
to  the  appointment  of  kings  and  priests  to  the 
sacred  offices  they  held :  it  was  the  ordinary 
token  of  welcome  to  guests  in  every  party  at 
the  house  of  a  friend  ;  and  in  Egypt,  no  less 
than  in  Judaea,  the  metaphorical  expression,  n©.  ^u.  ^  **"**^ 
*  anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness,'  was  fully 
understood,  and  applied  to  the  ordinary  occurrences  of  life. 
It  was  not  confined  to  the  liying :  the  dead  were  made  to  par- 
ticipate in  it,  as  if  sensible  of  the  token  of  esteem  thus  bestowed 
upon  them ;  and  a  grateful  suryivor,  in  giving  an  affectionate 
token  of  gratitude  to  a  regretted  friend,  neglected  not  this 
last  unction  of  his  mortal  remains.  Even  the  head  of  the 
bandaged  mummy,  and  the  case  which  contained  it,  were 
anointed  with  oils  and  the  most  precious  ointments. 

Another  ceremony  represented  in  the  temples  was  the  blessing 
bestowed  by  the  gods  on  the  king,  at  the  moment  of  his  assuming 
the  reins  of  government.  They  laid  their  hands  upon  him ;  and 
presenting  him  with  the  symbol  of  life,  they  promised  that  his 
reign  should  be  long  and  glorious,  and  that  he  should  enjoy 
tranquillity,  with  certain  victory  over  his 
enemies.  If  about  to  undertake  an  expe- 
dition against  foreign  nations,  they  gave 
him  the  fedchion  of  victory,  to  secure  the 
defeat  of  the  people  whose  country  he  was 
about  to  invade,  saying,  ^  Take  this  weapon, 
and  smite  with  it  the  heads  of  the  impure 
Gentiles.' 

To  show  the  special  favour  he  enjoyed  ^ 

from  heaven,  the  gods  were  even  repre-  Tfta.orsignofiife. 

sented  admittmg  him  mto  their  company, 
and  communing  with  him;  and  sometimes  Thoth,  with  other 
deitieSt  taking  him  by  the  hand,  led  him  into  the  presence  of  the 
great  tiiad,  or  of  the  presiding  divinity,  of  the  temple.  He  was 
welcomed  with  suitable  expressions  of  approbation ;  and  on  this, 
as  on  other  occasions,  the  sacred  tau,  or  sign  of  life,  was  presented 
to  him — a  symbol  which,  with  the  sceptre  of  purity,  was  usually 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  gods.  These  two  were  deemed  the 
greatest  gifts  bestowed  by  the  deity  on  man. 


364  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

The  origin  of  the  tau  I  cannot  precisely  detennine ;  nor  is  it 
more  intelligible  when  given  in  the  sculptures  on  a  large  scale. 
A  remarkable  fact  may  be  mentioned  respecting  this  hienn 
glyphic  character — that  the  early  Christians  of  Egypt  adopted 
it  in  lieu  of  the  cross,  which  was  afterwards  substituted  for 
it,  prefixing  it  to  inscriptions  in  the  same  manner  as  the  cross 
in  later  times* 

The  triumph  of  the  king  was  a  grand  solemnity.  Flattering 
to  the  national  pride  of  the  Egyptians,  it  awakened  those  feelings 
of  enthusiasm  which  the  celebration  of  yictory  naturally  inspires, 
and  led  them  to  commemorate  it  with  the  greatest  pomp.  When 
the  victorious  monarch,  returning  to  Egypt  after  a  glorioos 
campaign,  approached  the  cities  which  lay  on  his  way  from  the 
confines  of  the  country  to  the  capital,  tiie  inhabitants  flocked  to 
meet  him,  and  with  welcome  acclamations  greeted  his  arrival  and 
the  success  of  his  arms.  The  priests  and  chief  people  of  each 
place  advanced  with  garlands  and  bouquets  of  flowers;  the 
principal  person  present  addressed  him  in  an  appropriate  speech; 
and  as  the  troops  defiled  through  the  streets,  or  passed  without 
the  walls,  the  people  followed  with  acclamations,  uttering  earnest 
thanksgivings  to  the  gods,  the  protectors  of  Egypt,  and  praying 
them  for  ever  to  continue  the  same  marks  of  favour  to  theiJ 
monarch  and  their  nation. 

Arrived  at  the  capital,  they  went  immediately  to  the  temple^ 
where  they  returned  thanks  to  the  gods,  and  performed  th^ 
customary  sacrifices  on  this  important  occasion.  The  whole  army 
attended,  and  the  order  of  march  continued  the  same  as  on 
entering  the  city.  A  corps  of  Egyptians,  consisting  of  chariots 
and  infantry,  led  the  van  in  close  column,  followed  by  the  allies 
of  the  different  nations  who  had  shared  the  dangers  of  the  field 
and  the  honour  of  victory.  In  the  centre  marched  the  body- 
guards, the  king's  sons,  the  military  scribes,  the  royal  arm- 
bearers,  and  the  staff  corps,  in  the  midst  of  whom  was  the  monarch 
himself,  mounted  in  a  splendid  car,  attended  by  his  fan-bearers 
on  foot,  bearing  over  him  the  state  flabella.  Next  followed  other 
regiments  of  infantry,  with  their  respective  banners,  and  the  rear 
was  closed  by  a  body  of  chariots.  The  prisoners,  tied  together 
with  ropes,  were  conducted  by  some  of  the  king's  sons,  or  by  the 
chief  officers  of  the  staff,  at  the  side  of  the  royal  car.  The  king 
himself  frequently  held  the  cord  which  bound  them,  as  he  drove 
slowly  in  the  procession ;  and  two  or  more  chiefs  were  sometimes 
suspended  beneath  the  axle  of  his  chariot,  contrary  to  the  usual 


Our.  XV.]  TRIUMPHa  885 

humane  principles  of  the  Egyptians,  who  seem  to  have  refraine^l 
from  unnecessary  cruelty  to  their  captives,  extending  this  feeling 
■o  far  as  to  rescue,  even  in  the  heat  of  battle,  a  defenceless  enemy 
firam  a  watery  grave. 

Having  reache<I  the  precincts  of  the  temple,  the  guards  and 
loyal  attendants  selected  to  be  the  representatives  of  the  whole 
army  entered  the  courts,  the  rest  of  the  troops,  too  numerous  for 
admission,  iNfiug  drawn  up  before  the  entrance;  and  the  king, 
alighting  from  his  car,  pri^i>are<l  to  lead  his  captives  to  the  shrine 
of  the  god.  Military  bands  played  the  favourite  airs  of  the 
eoontry ;  and  the  numerous  standards  of  the  diftbrent  regiments, 
the  banners  floating  in  the  wind,  the  bright  lustru  of  arms,  the 
immense  concourse  of  |>eople,  and  the  im|x)sing  majesty  of  the 
lofty  towers  of  the  propyla;a,  decked  with  their  bright-coloured 
flags  streaming  above  the  cornice,  presented  a  scene  seldom,  we 
may  say,  equalled  on  any  occasion  in  any  country.  But  tlio  most 
■triking  feature  of  this  pompous  ceremony  was  the  brilliant 
mrUjfe  of  the  monarch,  who  was  either  borne  in  his  chair  of 
state  by  the  principal  officers  of  state  under  a  ri<*h  canopy,  or 
wmlketl  on  foot,  overshadowed  with  rich  flalx;lla  and  fans  of 
waring  plumes.  As  he  approached  the  inner  pylon,  a  long 
proct.'ssion  of  priests  advanced  to  meet  him,  dressed  in  their 
lobes  of  office ;  censers  full  of  incense  were  burnt  before  him ; 
and  ahierogrammateus  read  from  a  papyrus  roll  the  gK>rious  dee<ls 
of  the  victorious  monarch,  and  the  tokens  he  had  received  of  tht* 
divine  favour.  They  then  accompanied  him  into  the  presence  of 
the  presiding  deity  of  the  place ;  and  having  |>erformed  sacrifice 
and  offereil  suitable  thanksgivings,  he  dedicat<Hi  the  s|K)il  of  tht^ 
conquered  enemy,  and  expressed  his  gratitude  for  the  privilege 
of  laying  b«?fore  the  fwit  of  the  god,  the  giver  of  victory,  those 
priaoners  he  had  brought  to  the  vestibule  of  the  divine  aUnle.^ 

In  the  meantime,  the  troojw  without  the  saen^il  priHMnetM 
were  summone<l,  by  s<mnd  of  trum|>ot,  Uy  attend  the  saerifiee 
prepared  by  the  priests,  in  the  name  of  the  whole  army,  fur  the 
benefits  they  had  rts*eive(|  from  the  gods,  the  bucc(?8s  of  their 
amiii,  and  their  own  preservation  in  the  hour  of  danger.  Ka<;h 
regiment  nuin^hiHl  up  by  turn  to  the  altar  t4*ni|)orariIy  rais<.Hl  for 
the  occasion,  to  tht^  84mnd  of  the  drum,*  tlie  (utldiers  carrying  in 
their  hand  a  twig  of  olive,'  with  the  arms  of  their  resjiective 

*  The  iB)>ur«  furcixnen  wtn  sot  uk«B      nitUd.  '  C1«b.  I*»la|c.  li.  4. 

iMo  tb«  iotfrmr  of  th«  tempU,  to  which  *  Or  of  the  bajr-trrc.    ThU  mmy  bo  on 

tht  kiA(  Mad  tkt  pricou  vtrt  duM  ad-     UlwinUott  of    tht   roourk   of   CImmbb 


366  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XV 

corps ;  but  the  heavy-armed  soldier  laid  aside  his  shield  on  this 
occasion,  as  if  to  show  the  security  he  enjoyed  in  the  preseBce  of 
the  deity.  An  ox  was  then  killed,  and  wine,  incense,  and  the 
customary  offerings  of  cakes,  fruit,  vegetables,  joints  of  meat,  and 
binls,  were  presented  to  the  god  they  invoked.  Every  soldier 
deposited  the  twig  of  olive  he  carried  at  the  altar ;  and  as  the 
trumpet  summoned  them,  so  also  it  gave  the  signal  for  each 
regiment  to  withdraw  and  cede  its  place  to  another.  The  cere- 
mony being  over,  the  king  went  in  state  to  his  palace,  accom- 
panied by  the  troops ;  and  having  distributed  rewards  to  them, 
and  eulogised  their  conduct  in  the  field,  he  gave  his  orders  to  the 
commanders  of  the  different  corps,  and  they  withdrew  to  theii 
cantonments,  or  to  the  duties  to  which  they  were  appointed. 

Of  the  fixed  festivals,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  was  the  celebration  of  the 
grand  assemblies,  or  panegyries,  held  in 
the  great  halls  of  the  principal  temples, 
at  which  the  king  presided  in  person.  Of 
their  precise  nature,  and  of  the  periods 
when  they  were  held,  we  are  still  ignorant ; 
but  that  they  were  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance is  abundantly  proved  by  the  frequent 
mention  of  them  in  the  sculptures.  And 
that  the  post  of  president  of  the  asBem- 
X  MirflLTwpftu.  blies  was  the  highest  possible  honour  maj 
^^  ^*^'  be  inferred,  as  well  from  its  being  enjoyed 

by  the  sovereign  alone  of  all  men,  as  from  its  being  assigned  to 
the  deity  himself  in  these  legends:  'Phrah  (Pharaoh),  lord  of 
the  panegyrics,  like  Ra,'  or  'like  his  father  Ptah,'^  which  to 
frequently  occur  on  the  monuments  of  Thebes  and  Memphis. 

From  these  assemblies  being  connected  with  the  palm- 
branch,  the  emblem  of  a  year,  and  frequently  attached  to  it 
when  in  the  hands  of  the  god  Thoth,  we  may  conclude  that  their 
celebration  was  fixed  to  certain  periods  of  the  year;  and  the 
title  'Lord  of  Triacontaeterides,  like  the  great  Ptah,'  applied 
to  Ptolemy  Epiphanes  in  the  Bosetta  Stone,  is  doubtless  related 
to  these  meetings,  which,  from  the  Greek  word,  some  suppose  to 
have  taken  place  every  thirty  years.  But  this  period  is  evi- 
dently too  long,  since  few  sovereigns  could  have  enjoyed  the 


(Strom.  T.  p.  243),  that  *  twigs  wers  giTen  to  thoM  who  came  to  worship^'    He  mts* 
tiona  in  tkt  mbm  plaoo  *  the  wheel  turned  in  the  aecred  grorea.' 
>  See  woodcnt  No.  598, /^t.  1  and  2. 


n^oO^iaial^i- 


III 
III 


368  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

honour.  It  more  probably  refers  to  the  festivals  of  the  new 
moons/  or  to  those  recorded  in  the  great  calendar  sculptured  on 
the  exterior  of  the  S.W.  wall  of  Medeenet  Haboo,  which  took 
place  during  seyeral  successiye  days  of  each  month,  and  were 
even  repeated  in  honour  of  different  deities  every  day  during 
some  months,  and  attended  by  the  king  in  person. 

Another  important  religious  ceremony  is  often  alluded  to  in 
the  sculptures,   which  appears  to  be  connected  with  the  as- 
semblies  just   mentioned.     In    this    the  king  is    represented 
running,  with  a  vase  or  some  emblem   in  one  hand,  and  the 
flagellum  of  Osiris,  a  type  of  majesty,  in  the  other,  as  if  hasten- 
ing to  enter  the  hall  where  the  panegyrics  were  held ;  and  two 
figures  of  him  are  frequently  introduced,  one  crowned  with  the 
cap  of  the  Upper,  the  other  with  that  of  the  Lower  Country,  as 
they  stand  beneath  a  canopy  indicative  of  the  hall  of  assembly. 
The  same  deities  who  usually  preside  on  the  anointing  of  the 
king  present  him  with  the  sign  of  life,  and  bear  before  him  the 
palm-branch,  on  which  the  years  of  the  assemblies  are  noted. 
Before  him  stands  the  goddess  Mert,  bearing  on  her  head  the 
water-plants,  her  emblem;    and  around  are  numerous  emblems 
appropriated  to  this  subject.     The  monarch  sometimes  runs  into 
the  presence  of  the  god  bearing  two  vases,  which  appears  to  be 
the  commencement  of,  or  connected  with,  this  ceremony ;  and 
the  whole  may  be  the  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the 
temple,  or  of  the  sovereign's  reign.    An  ox  or  cow  is  in  some 
instances    represented   running  with   the   king   on   the   same 
occasion. 

The  birthdays  of  the  kings  were  celebrated*  with  great  pomp. 
They  were  looked  upon  as  holy:  no  business  was  done  upon 
them,  and  all  classes  indulged  in  the  festivities'  suitable  to  the 
occasion.  Every  Egyptian  attached  much  importance  to  the 
day  and  even  to  the  hour  of  his  birth ;  and  it  is  probable  that, 
as  in  Persia,^  each  individual  kept  his  birthday  with  great 
rejoicings,  welcoming  his  friends  with  all  the  amusements  of 
society,  and  a  more  than  usual  profusion  of  the  delicacies  of 
the  table. 

They  had  many  other  public  holydays,  when  the  court  of  the 
king  and  all  public  ofBces  were  closed.    This  was  sometimes 


*  Isaiah  i.  13,  14 :  '  The  neuf  moom  and  pointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth.' 

tabbaths,  the  calling  of  aaaembliea,  I  cannot  '  Rosetta  Stone, 

awaj  with  ;  it  is  iniquity,  eren  the  solemn  *  Qen,  zl.  20.             *  Herodot.  L 133, 
meeting.    Tour  new  moons  and  your  ap- 


Chap.  XV.]  DAILY  SACRIFICES— THE  NILOA.  369 

owing  to  a  superstitions  belief  of  their  being  unlucky ;  and  such 
was  the  prejudice  against  the  '  third  day  of  the  Epaet/  or  the 
birthday  of  Typho,  that  the  sovereign  neither  transacted  any 
business  upon  it,  nor  even  suffered  himself  to  take  any  refresh- 
ment till  the  evening.'^  Other  fasts  were  also  observed  by  the 
king  and  the  priesthood,  out  of  respect  to  certain  solemn  puri- 
fications they  deemed  it  their  duty  to  undergo  for  the  service 
of  religion. 

Among  the  ordinary  rites  the  most  noted,  because  the  most 
frequent,  were  the  daily  sacrifices  offered  in  the  temple  by  the 
sovereign  pontiff.  It  was  customary  for  him  to  attend  there 
early  every  morning,  after  he  had  examined  and  settled  his 
epistolary  correspondence  relative  to  the  affairs  of  state.  The 
service  began  by  the  high  priest  reading  a  prayer  for  the  welfare 
of  the  monarch,  in  the  presence  of  the  people.  He  extolled  his 
virtues,  his  piety  towards  the  gods,  and  his  clemency  and  affable 
demeanour  towards  men,  and  he  then  proceeded  to  pass  in  review 
the  general  conduct  of  kings,  and  to  point  out  those  virtues 
which  most  adorn,  as  well  as  the  vices  which  most  degrade,  the 
character  of  a  monarch.  But  I  need  not  enter  into  the  details  of 
this  ceremony,  having  already  noticed  it  in  treating  of  the  duties 
of  the  Egyptian  Pharaohs. 

Of  the  anniversary  festivals  one  of  the  most  remarkable  was 

the  Niloa,  or  invocation  of  the  blessings  of  the  inundation,  offered 

to  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  Nile.    According  to  Heliodorus,'  it 

was  one  of  the  principal  festivals  of  the  Egyptians.    It  took 

place  about  the  summer  solstice,  when  the  river  began  to  rise ; 

and  the  anxiety  with  which  they  looked  forward  to  a  plentiful 

inundation  induced  them  to  celebrate  it  with  more  than  usual 

konour.    Libanius  asserts  that  these  rites  were  deemed  of  so 

tnnch  importance  by  the  Egyptians,    that    unless    they  were 

performed  at  the  proper  season,  and  in  a  becoming  manner,  by 

the  persons  appointed  to  this  duty,  they  felt  persuaded  that  the 

^ile  would   refase  to  rise  and  inundate  the  land.     Their  full 

Ikelief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  ceremony  secured  its  annual  per- 

fiormance  on  a  grand  scale.    Men  and  women  assembled  from  all 

JiQurts  of  the  country  in  the  towns  of  their  respective  nomes,  grand 

jfiestivities  were  proclaimed,  and  all  the  enjoyments  of  the  table 

ere  united  with  the  solemnity  of  a  holy  festival.    Music,  the 


^  The  five  daji  added  at  the  end  of  Mesor^.  '  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  11. 

*  Heliodor.  JEthiopic.  lib.  zi. 

VOL.  m.  2  b 


370  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XY. 

(lance,  and  appropriate  hymns  marked  the  respect  they  felt  for 
the  deity;  and  a  wooden  statue  of  the  river  god  was  carried 
by  the  priests  through  the  villages  in  solemn  procession,  that 
all  might  appear  to  be  honoured  by  his  presence  and  aid,  wliile 
invoking  the  blessings  he  was  about  to  confer. 

Another  festival,  particularly  welcomed  by  the  Egyptian 
peasants,  and  looked  upon  as  a  day  of  great  rejoicing,  was  (if  it 
may  so  be  called)  the  harvest  home,  or  the  close  of  the  labouis  of 
the  year,  and  the  preparation  of  the  land  for  its  future  crops  by 
the  inundation;  idien,  as  Diodorus  tells  us,  the  husbandmen 
indulged  in  recreation  of  every  kind,  and  showed  their  gratitude 
for  the  benefits  the  deity  had  conferred  upon  them  by  the  ble»- 
ings  of  the  inundation.  This  and  other  festivals  of  the  peasantry 
I  .have  already  noticed  in  treating  of  the  agriculture  of  Egypt 

Games  were  celebrated  in  honour  of  certain  gods,  in  whidi 
wrestling  and  other  gymnastic  exerciseis  were  practised.  '  Bnt  of 
all  their  games,'  says  Herodotus,^  '  the  most  distinguished  are 
those  held  at  Chemmis  in  honour  of  Perseus ;  in  which  the  rewards 
for  the  conquerors  are  cattle,  cloaks,  and  skins.'  The  form 
attributes  of  this  Perseus  I  have  been  unable  to  discover; 
unfortunately  the  imperfect  remains  at  Chemmis  afford  no  accurate 
information  respecting  the  deities  of  the  place.  It  is,  however, 
probable  that  he  was  not  the  only  god  in  whose  honour  gym- 
nastic exercises  were  performed ;  and  the  fondness  of  the 
Egyptians  for  such  amusements  is  fully  proved  by  the  monQ- 
ments  they  have  left  us,  on  which  wrestling  and  other  games 
are  portrayed  with  great  minuteness.  Wrestling,  indeed,  wtf 
a  very  favourite  amusement  in  Egypt.  Hercules  was  there  re- 
ported to  have  overcome  Antaeus  by  wrestling ;  and  it  is  higblj 
probable  that  games  similar  to  those  mentioned  by  Herodotos 
were  celebrated  in  the  nome  of  Heracleopolis,  as  well  as  '^ 
honour  of  other  Egyptian  gods. 

The  investiture  of  a  chief  was  a  ceremony  of  considerablo 
importance,  when  the  post  conferred  was  connected  with  any 
high  dignity  about  the  person  of  the  monarch,  in  the  army)  ^^ 
the  priesthood.  It  took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  sovereign 
seated  on  his  throne;  and  two  priests,  having  arrayed  the 
candidate  in  a  long  loose  vesture,  placed  necklaces  round  tb6 
neck  of  the  person  thus  honoured  by  the  royal  favour.  Onerf 
these  ceremonies  frequently  occurs  in  the  monuments,  which  ^ 


>  Herodot.  ii.  01. 


Chap.  XV.]  INVESTITUEE  OF  OFFICERS.  371 

sometimes  performed  immediately  after  a  victory ;  in  which  case 
we  may  conclude  that  the  honour  was  granted  in  return  for 
distinguished  services  in  the  field ;  and  as  the  individual  on  all 
occasions  holds  the  flabellay  crook,  and  other  insignia  of  the 
office  of  fieai-bearery  it  appears  to  have  been  either  the  appoint- 
ment to  that  post,  or  to  some  high  commfiuid  in  the  army.      On 
receiving  this  honourable  distinction,  he  held  forth  his  hands  in 
token  of  respect ;  and  raising  the  emblems  of  his  newly-acquired 
office  above  his  head,  he  expressed  his  fidelity  to  his  king,  Bud 
his  desire  to  prove  himself  worthy  of  the  favour  he  had  received. 
A  similar  mode  of  investiture  appears  to  have  been  adopted 
in  all  appointments  to  the  high  offices  of  state,  both  of  a  civil 
and  military  kind.    In  this,  as  in  many  customs  detailed  in  the 
sculptures,  we  find  an  interesting  illustration  of  a  ceremony 
mentioned  in  the  Bible,  which  describes  Pharaoh  taking  a  ring 
from  his  hand  and  putting  it  on  Joseph's  hand,  arraying  him  in 
vestures  of  fine  linen,  and  putting  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck.^ 

In  a  tomb  opened  at  Thebes  by  Hoskins,  another  instance 
oiocurs  of  this  investiture  to  the  post  of  fan-bearer,  in  which  the 
two  attendants  or  inferior  priests  are  engaged  in  clothing  him 
with  the  robes  of  his  new  office.  One  puts  on  the  necklace,  the 
other  arranges  his  dress,  a  fillet  being  already  bound  round  his 
head,  and  he  appears  to  wear  ghvea  upon  his  uplifted  hands.  In 
the  next  part  of  the  same  picture — for,  as  is  often  the  case,  it 
presents  two  actions  and  two  periods  of  time — the  individual, 
holding  the  insignia  of  fan-bearer  and  followed  by  the  two 
priests,  presents  himself  before  the  king,  who  holds  forth  his 
hand  to  him  to  touch,'  or  perhaps  to  kiss.  A  stand  bearing 
necklaces  is  placed  before  him,  and  by  his  side  a  table,  upon 
which  is  a  bag,  probably  the  treasure  for  paying  the  troops,  and 
behind  are  the  officers  of  his  household  bearing  the  emblems  of 
their  office. 

The  office  of  fan-bearer  to  the  king  was  a  highly  honourable 
post,  which  none  but  the  royal  princes,  or  the  sons  of  the  first 
nobility,  were  permitted  to  hold.  These  constituted  a  principal 
part  of  his  staff,  and  in  the  field  they  either  attended  on  the 
monarch  to  receive  his  orders,  or  were  despatched  to  take  the 
command  of  a  division;  some  having  the  rank  of  generals  of 
cavalry,  others  of  heavy  infantry  or  archers,  according  to  t^e 


I  Gen.  xli.  42.  the  hand  of  one  to  whom  he  woaI<l  show 

'  In  the  East  an  inferior  merelj  touches       great  respect,  and  then  kisses  his  own. 

2  B  2 


372  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XY. 

service  to  which  they  belonged.  They  had  the  privilege  of  pre- 
senting the  prisoners  to  the  king,  after  the  victory  had  been 
gained,  announcing  at  the  same  time  the  amount  of  the  enemy's 
slain,  and  the  booty  that  had  been  taken  ;  and  those  whose  turn 
it  was  to  attend  upon  the  king's  person  as  soon  as  the  enemy  had 
been  vanquished  resigned  their  command  to  the  next  in  rank, 
and  returned  to  their  post  of  fan-bearers.  The  office  was  divided 
into  two  grades — those  who  served  on  the  right  and  left  hand 
of  the  king,  the  most  honourable  post  being  given  to  those  of 
the  highest  rank,  or  to  those  most  esteemed  for  their  services. 
A  certain  number  were  always  on  duty,  and  they  were  required 
to  attend  during  the  grand  solemnities  of  the  temple,  and  on 
every  occasion  when  the  monarch  went  out  in  state,  or  transacted 
public  business  at  home. 

At  Medeenet  Haboo  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  ceremony 
of  carrying  the  sacred  boat  of  Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,  which  I 
conjecture  to  represent  the  funeral  of  Osiris.  It  is  frequently 
introduced  in  the  sculptures ;  and  in  one  of  the  tombs  of  Thebes 
this  solemnity  occurs,  which,  though  on  a  smaller  scale  than  on 
the  walls  of  Medeenet  Haboo,  oiSers  some  interesting  pecu- 
liarities. First  comes  the  boat,  carried  as  usual  by  several 
priests,  superintended  by  the  pontiiBT  clad  in  a  leopard-skin; 
after  which  two  hieraphori,  each  bearing  a  long  staff  surmounted 
by  a  hawk ;  then  a  man  beating  the  tambourine,  behind  whom  is 
a  flower  with  the  stalk  bound  round  with  ivy  (or  the  periploca, 
which  so  much  resembles  it).  These  are  followed  by  two 
hieraphoriy  carrying  each  a  staff  with  a  jackal  on  the  top,  and 
another  bearing  a  flower,  behind  whom  is  a  priest  turning  round 
to  offer  incense  to  the  emblem  of  Nefer-Atum.  The  latter  is 
placed  horizontally  upon  six  columns,  between  each  of  which 
stands  a  human  figure  with  uplifted  arms,  either  in  the  act  of 
adoration  or  aiding  to  support  the  sacred  emblem,  and  behind 
it  is  an  image  of  the  king  kneeling,  the  whole  borne  on  the 
tisual  staves  by  several  priests,  attended  by  a  pontiff  in  his 
leopard-skin  dress.  In  this  ceremony,  as  in  some  of  the  tales 
related  of  Osiris,  we  may  trace  those  analogies  which  led  the 
Greeks  to  suggest  the  resemblance  between  that  deity  and  their 
Bacchus ;  as  the  tambourine,  the  ivy-bound  flower  or  thyrsus, 
and  the  leopard-skin,  recall  the  leopards  which  drew  his  car. 
The  spotted  skin  of  the  nebris  or  fawn  may  also  be  traced  in 
the  leopard-skin  suspended  near  Osiris  in  the  region  of 
Amenti. 


Cup.  XV.]  CABBYING  ABK  OF  80CHABIS.  373 

At  Medeenet  Haboo  the  procession  is  on  a  more  splendid 
scale:  the  ark  of  Socharis  is  borne  by  sixteen  priests,  accom- 
panied by  two  pontiffs,  one  clad  in  the  usual  leopard-skin,  and 
Barneses  himself  officiates  on  the  occasion.  The  king  also  per- 
forms the  singular  ceremony  of  holding  a  rope  at  its  centre,  the 
two  ends  being  supported  by  four  priests,  eight  of  his  sons,  and 
four  other  chiefs,  before  whom  two  priests  turn  round  to  offer 
incense,  while  a  hierogrammateus  reads  the  contents  of  a  papyrus 
he  holds  in  his  hands.  These  are  preceded  by  one  of  the  Aiero- 
fkori  bearing  the  hawk  on  a  staff  decked  with  banners  (the 
standard  of  the  king  or  of  Horns),  and  by  the  emblem  of 
Nefer-Atum,  borne  by  eighteen  priests,  the  figures  standing 
between  the  columns  over  which  it  is  laid  being  of  kings,  and 
the  columns  themseWes  being  surmounted  by  the  heads  of 
hawks.  Another  peculiarity  is  observable  in  this  procession, 
that  the  ark  of  Socharis  follows,  instead  of  preceding,  the  em- 
blem of  Nefer-Atum,  and  the  hawks  are  crowned  with  the 
ftkeni  or  double  crown  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  usually 
worn  by  the  Pharaohs  and  by  the  god  Horns,  the  prototy{>e 
of  loyalty. 

In  the  same  ceremony  at  Medeenet  Haboo  it  appears  that 
the  king,  when  holding  the  rope,  has  the  cubit  in  his  hand, 
and,  when  following  the  ark,  the  cup  of  libation ;  which  calls  to 
mind  the  office  of  the  ddisiei  mentioned  by  Clemens,  'having 
in  his  hand  the  cubit  of  justice  and  the  cup  of  libation ; '  and 
he^  in  like  manner,  was  preceded  by  the  sacred  scribe. 

The  mode  of  carrying  the  sacred  arks  on  ))oles  borne  by 
priests  or  by  the  nobles  of  the  land  was  extended  to  the  statues 
of  the  gods  and  other  sacred  objects  belonging  to  the  temples.' 
The  former,  as  Macrobius  states,'  were  frequently  placed  in  a 
Giae  or  canopy ;  and  the  same  writer  is  correct  in  stating  that 
the  chief  people  of  the  nome  assisted  in  this  service,  even  the 
•ODS  of  the  king  being  proud  of  so  honourable  an  employment 
What  he  afterwards  says  of  their  '  being  carried  forward  accord- 
ing to  divine  inspiration,  whithersoever  the  deity  urges  tliem, 
and  not  by  their  own  will,'  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  the  sup- 
posed dictation  of  a  secret  influence,  by  which  the  bearers  of  the 
dead  in  the  funeral  processions  of  modem  Egypt  pretend  to  l)e 
actnated.    To  such  an  extent  do  they  carry  this  superstitious 


*  It  Appeart  from  sodm  inscHptioiit  that  Ih*  ark  wm  c«rritd  ruuod  tht  wallt. — S.  R. 

*  Macrob.  Sstara.  i.  dO. 


374  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chaf.  XV. 

belief  of  their  ancestors,  that  I  have  seen  them  in  their  solemn 
march  suddenly  stop,  and  then  run  violently  through  the  streets, 
at  the  risk  of  throwing  the  body  off  the  bier,  pretending  that 
they  were  obliged  by  the  irresistible  will  of  the  deceased  to 
visit  a  certain  mosque,  or  seek  the  blessing  of  a  particular  saint. 

Few  other  processions  of  any  great  importance  are  repre- 
sented in  the  sculptures ;  nor  can  it  be  expected  that  the  monu- 
ments would  give  more  than  a  small  proportion  of  the  numerous 
festivals  or  ceremonies  which  took  place  in  the  country. 

[At  Denderah  the  following  scenes  are  represented : — 1.  The 
king  gives  the  goddess  Athor  a  heart-shaped  urn,  the  goddess 
confers  happiness  and  joy ;  2.  He  then  gives  two  sistra,  Athor  and 
Horus  permits  him  to  govern  Egypt  and  conquer  foreigners,  and 
to  be  beloved  of  women  ;  3.  The  king  gives  incense  and  water  to 
Osiris  and  Isis,  the  gods  give  an  inimdation  and  Arabia ;  4.  The 
king  gives  two  vases  of  wine,  the  gods  give  vineyards ;  5.  The 
king  brings  flowers,  the  goddess  promises  verdure ;  6.  The  king 
gives  fields,  the  gods  com ;  7.  The  king  and  queen  give  sistra, 
the  gods  the  love  of  his  subjects ;  8.  The  king  gives  a  variety  of 
objects,  the  gods  produce.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  gifts  had 
reference  to  the  things  required.^  Before  penetrating  into  the 
adytum  he  appears  to  have  entered  the  temple  with  his  sandals 
off,  preceded  by  five  banners,  and  then  to  have  been  purified  to 
receive  the  two  crowns  and  to  enter  the  presence  of  the  gods. 
Before  the  first  stone  of  the  temple  was  laid,  he  traced  the  area 
with  a  furrow,  made  with  his  own  hands  the  first  brick  of  the 
peribolos  wall,  and  on  the  opening  or  completion  of  the  temple 
decapitated  a  bird. — S.  B.] 

Many  of  the  religious  festivals  were  indicative  of  some 
peculiar  attribute  or  supposed  property  of  the  deity  in  whose 
honour  they  were  celebrated.  One,  mentioned  by  Herodotus,' 
was  emblematic  of  the  generative  principle,  and  the  same  that 
appears  to  be  alluded  to  by  Plutarch'  under  the  name  of 
Paamylia,  which  he  says  bore  a  resemblance  to  one  of  the  Greek 
ceremonies.  The  assertion,  however,  of  these  writers,  that  such 
figures  belonged  to  Osiris,  is  contradicted  by  the  sculptures, 
which  show  them  to  have  been  emblematic  of  the  god  Khem,  or 
Pan ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  another  observation  of  the  latter 
writer,  that  the  leaf  of  the  fig-tree  represented  the  deity  of  that 


1  Mariette,  *  The  Monnmenti  of  Upper  Egypt,'  London,  1877,  p.  35  and  folL 
«  Herodot.  ii.  48.  »  Pint,  de  laid.  a.  11. 


Oup.  XV.]   FESTIVALS  OF  THE  MOON  AND  OF  BACCHUS.       375 

fefCiTml,  M  well  as  the  land  of  Egypt.^  The  tree  docs  indeed 
lepresent  Egypt,  and  al¥ray8  occurs  on  the  altar  of  Khem ;  but 
it  is  not  in  any  way  connected  with  Osiris,  and  the  statues 
mentioned  by  Plutarch'  evidently  refer  to  the  Egyptian  Pan. 

According  to  Herodotus,'  the  only  two  festivals  in  which  it 
was  lawful  to  sacrifice  pigs  were  those  of  the  moon  and  Bacchus, 
or  Osiris:  the  object  of  wliich  restriction  he  attributes  to  a 
•acred  reason,  which  he  does  not  think  it  right  to  mention.  '  In 
•acrificing  a  pig  to  the  moon,  they  killed  it,  and  when  they  had 
pat  together  the  end  of  the  tail,  the  spleen,  and  the  caul,  and 
covered  them  with  all  the  fat  from  the  inside  of  the  animal,  they 
burnt  them,  the  rest  of  the  victim  being  eaten  on  the  day  of 
the  full  moon,  which  was  the  same  on  which  the  sacrifice  was 
offered,  for  on  no  other  day  were  they  allowed  to  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  pig.  P(x>r  people  who  had  barely  the  means  of  subsistence 
made  a  paste  figure  of  a  pig,  which,  being  baked,  they  offered  as 
a  sacrifice.'  The  same  kind  of  substitute  was  doubtless  made 
Ibr  other  victims  by  those  who  could  not  afford  to  purchase 
them ;  and  some  of  the  small  clay  figures  of  animals  found  in 
the  tombs  have  probably  served  for  this  pur|)oso.  '  On  the 
fite  of  Bacchus  every  one  immolated  a  pig  before  the  door  of 
his  house  at  the  hour  of  dinner ;  he  then  gave  it  back  to  the 
person  of  whom  it  had  been  bought.*  '  The  Egyptians,'  adds 
the  historian,  'celebrate  the  rest  of  this  fete  nearly  in  the 
•ame  manner  as  the  Greeks,  with  the  exception  of  the  sacrifice 
of  pigs.' 

The  procession  on  this  occasion  was  headed,  as  usual,  by 
mvsic,^  a  flute-player,  according  to  Herodotus,  leading  the  van ; 
and  the  first  sacred  emblem  they  carried  was  a  Aydna,  or  water- 
pitcher.*  A  festival  was  also  held  on  the  17th  of  Athor  and 
three  succeeding  days,  in  honour  of  Osiris,  during  which  they 
exposed  to  view  a  gilded  ox,  the  emblem  of  that  deity,  and 
Mmmemorat<'<l  what  they  called  the  Io$8  of  Chins.  Amttht^r 
followed  in  hcmour  of  the  same  deitv  after  an  interval  of  six 
months  or  179  days,  '  upon  the  19th  of  Pachons,*  when  they 
marched  in  procession  towards  the  sea-side,  whither  likewise 
the  priests  and  other  proper  officers  carrie<l  the  sai^nnl  chest, 
eoclosing  a  small  boat  or  vessel  of  gi>ld,  into  which  they  first 

*  Plat.  a«  Iftid.  t.  36.    AccortHof  to  the  '  livrndot.  ii.  48. 

UUr«l  trABAlaUoB,   it   it  *bjr  tka  Ag-lmt         *  i'lcm.    Stn>ni.    w.    p,    IVC.   and   the 

%k»f  d«>crib«   tbvir   kisf   aad    th«  aoatk  aculf^um. 

cUaat«  of  tb«  world.'  •  IMut.  dc  Nid.  •.  :k>.         *  Ibi).  %,  .ii». 

•  IbkL  M.  36  tad  51. 


376  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XT. 

poured  some  fresh  water,  and  then  all  present  cried  ont  with  a 
loud  voice,  "  Osiris  is  found."  This  ceremony  being  ended,  they 
threw  a  little  fresh  mould,  together  with  rich  odours  and  spices, 
into  the  water,  mixing  the  whole  mass  together,  and  working  it 
up  into  a  little  image  in  the  shape  of  a  crescent.  The  image 
was  afterwards  dressed  and  adorned  with  a  proper  habit,  and 
the  whole  was  intended  to  intimate  that  they  looked  upon  these 
gods  as  the  essence  and  power  of  earth  and  water.' 

Another  festival  in  honour  of  Osiris  was  held  '  on  the  new 
moon  of  the  month  Phamenoth,^  which  fell  in  the  beginning  of 
^pring,^  called  the  entrance  of  Osiris  into  the  moon;'  and  on 
the  11th  of  Tybi  (or  the  beginning  of  January')  was  celebrated 
the  fete  of  Isis'  return  from  Phoenicia,  when  cakes  having  a 
hippopotamus  bound  stamped  upon  them  were  offered  in  her 
honour  to  commemorate  the  victory  over  Typho.  A  certain 
rite  was  also  performed  in  connection  with  the  fabulous  history 
of  Osiris,  in  which  it  was  customary  to  throw  a  cord  in  the  midst 
of  the  assembly,^  and  then  chop  it  into  pieces;  the  supposed 
purport  of  which  was  to  record  the  desertion  of  Thoueris,  the 
concubine  of  Typho,  and  her  delivery  firom  a  serpent,  which  the 
soldiers  killed  with  their  swords  as  it  pursued  her  in  her  flight 
to  join  the  army  of  Horus. 

Among  the  ceremonies  connected  with  Osiris  the  fete  of 
Apis  holds  a  conspicuous  place :  but  this  I  have  already 
noticed,  as  well  as  the  grand  solemnities  performed  at  his 
funeral. 

Clemens^  mentions  the  custom  of  carrying  four  golden  figures, 
or  standards,  in  the  festivals  of  the  gods.  They  were  two  dogs, 
a  hawk,  and  an  ibis ;  which,  like  the  number  fir^^  had  a  mys- 
tical meaning.  The  dogs  represented  the  two  hemispheres^  the 
hawk  the  sun,  and  the  ibis  the  moon;  but  he  does  not  state 
if  this  was  usual  at  all  festivals,  or  confined  to  those  in  honour 
of  particular  deities. 

Many  fetes  were  held  at  different  seasons  of  the  year ;  for,  as 
Herodotus  observes,* '  far  from  being  contented  with  one  festival, 
the  Egyptians  celebrate  annually  a  very  great  number,  of  which 
that  of  Diana,  Bast,^  kept  at  the  city  of  Bubastis,  holds  the 


*  Phamenoth  began  on  Feb.  25  (O.  8.).  ^  Plat,  de  hid.  s.  19. 

'  Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  48.     Macrobiiu  and  *  Clem.  Strom,  v.  p.  242. 

others  aay  that  the  Egyptian  iiStes  in  spring  *  Herodot.  ii.  ^  ei  m^.,  82. 

were  all  of  rejoicing.  '  Bubastis  or  Bast  corresponded  to  the 

*  Jan.  6th  (o.  8.).  Greek  Diana. 


Oup.  XV.]  FESTIVAL  OF  DIANA.  377 

fint  nnky  and  is  performed  with  the  greatest  pomp.  Next  to  it 
is  that  of  Isisy  at  Busiris,  a  city  situated  in  tb(^  middle  of  the 
Delta,  with  a  very  large  temple  consecrated  to  that  goddess,  the 
Ceres  of  the  Greeks.  The  third  in  importance  is  the  fete  of 
Minerva  (Neith),  held  at  Sais;  the  fourth,  of  the  sun  at  Helio- 
polis ;  the  fifth,  of  Latona  in  the  city  of  Buto  ;  and  the  sixth  is 
that  performed  at  Papremis  in  honour  of  Mars.' 

In  going  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  Diana  at  Bubastis  it  was 
cnstoumry  to  repair  thither  by  water ;  and  parti<*s  of  men  and 
women  were  crowded  together  on  that  occasion  in  numerous 
boats,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex.  During  the  whole  of 
the  journey  several  women  played  on  croiala,  and  some  men  on 
the  flute ;  others  accompanying  them  with  the  voice  and  the 
clapping  of  hands,  as  was  usual  at  musical  parties  in  Egypt. 
Whenever  they  approached  a  town  the  boats  were  brought  near 
to  it,  and,  while  the  singing  continued,  some  of  th(»  women  in 
the  most  abusive  manner  scoffed  at  those  on  the  shore  as  they 
paawd  by  them.  [The  fete  of  the  Kikellia,  an  unknown  festival, 
it  mentioned  in  the  tablet  of  Canopus. — S.  B.] 

Arrived  at  Bubastis,  they  performed  the  rites  of  the  festival 
by  the  sacrifice  of  a  great  number  of  victims ;  and  the  quantity 
of  wine  consumed  on  the  occasion  was  said  to  be  more  than 
during  all  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  number  of  persons  present 
was  reckoned  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  to  be  700,000,  with- 
out including  children ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  appearance 
pteaented  by  this  concourse  of  people,  the  scenes  which  occurred, 
and  the  picturesque  g^ups  they  presented,  wore  not  altogether 
unlike  those  witnt.'ssed  at  the  modem  fetos  of  Tanta  and  Dessook 
in  the  Delta,  in  honour  of  the  Sayd  el  Beddawce  and  Sheikh 
Ibfmhim  e'  DessookcM). 

The  number  stated  by  the  historian  is  beyond  all  probability, 
nolwithstan<ling  the  population  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  cannot 
fail  to  call  to  mind  the  70,000  pilgrims  reported  by  tho  Moslems 
to  be  annually  present  at  Mekkeh.  The  mode  adoptinl  (as  they 
believe)  for  k(*<*ping  up  that  exact  numbtT  is  very  ingenious, 
every  deficiency  being  supplied  by  a  mysterious  complement  of 
angels,  who  obligingly  present  themselves  fur  the  purpose ;  and 
some  contrivance  of  the  kind  may  have  suggesttnl  itself  to  the 
anoient  Egyptians  at  the  festival  of  Bubastis. 

The  fete  of  Isis  was  performed  with  grt*at  magnificence.  The 
votaries  of  the  goddess  prepared  themselves  U>fon*hand  by  fast- 
ing and  prayers,  after  which  they  proceeded  to  sacrifice  an  ox* 


378  THE  ANdBNT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

When  slain,  the  thighs  Bud  upper  part  of  the  ^hannches,  the 
shoulders,  fiuid  neck  were  cut  off,  and  the  body  was  filled  with 
unleavened  cakes  of  pure  flour,  with  honey,  dried  raisins,  figs, 
incense,  myrrh,  and  other  odorifie  substances.  It  was  then  burnt, 
and  a  quantity  of  oil  was  poured  on  the  fire  during  the  process. 
In  the  meantime  those  present  scourged  themselves  in  honour 
of  Osiris,  uttering  lamentations^  around  the  burnt  oJBTeiing ;  and 
this  part  of  the  ceremony  being  concluded,  they  partook  of  the 
remains  of  the  sacrifice. 

This  festival  was  celebrated  at  Busiris  to  commemorate  the 
death  of  Osiris,  who  was  reported  to  have  been  buried  there  in 
common  with  other  places,  and  whose  tomb  gave  the  name  to  the 
city.  It  was  probably  on  this  occasion  that  the  branch  of  absin- 
thium, mentioned  by  Pliny,*  was  carried  by  the  priests  of  Isis ; 
and  dogs  were  made  to  head  the  procession,  to  commemorate  the 
recovery  of  his  body. 

Another  festival  of  Isis  was  held  at  harvest  time,  when  the 
Egyptians  throughout  the  country  offered  the  first-fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  with  doleful  lamentations  presented  them  at  her  altar. 
On  this  occasion  she  seems  to  answer  to  the  Ceres  of  the  Greeks, 
as  has  been  observed  by  Herodotus;^  and  the  multiplicity  of 
names  she  bore  may  account  for  the  different  capacities  in  which 
she  was  worshipped,  and  remove  the  difficulty  any  change  appears 
to  present  in  the  wife  and  sister  of  Osiris.  One  similarity  is 
observable  between  this  last  and  the  fete  celebrated  at  Busiris — 
that  the  votaries  presented  their  offerings  in  the  guise  of 
mourners;*  and  the  first-fruits  had  probably  a  direct  reference 
to  Osiris,  in  connection  with  one  of  those  allegories  which 
represented  him  as  the  beneficent  property  of  the  Nile.* 


^  Plat,  de  Isid.  s.  14.    Coptos,  the  city  yiolation — ^Arrantesef.     11.  Of  the  girer- 

of  mourDing.  out  of  tunbeAint — Netnnt.     12.  Of  Herher 

*  Plin.  xxvii.  7.  He  says  the  best  kind  — ^Annet.  13.  Of  eyesgiring  oatiunbeami 
grew  at  Taposiris.  — Teken.     14.  Of  Sa— Henha.     15.  Of  the 

'  Herodot.  ii.  59.  15th — Arman.  16.  2nd  mesper — ^Mehxtmf. 

*  Conf.  Deut.  zxvi.  14 :  <  I  have  eaten  17.  Of  Sa — Home  on  the  column.  IS.  Of 
thereof  in  my  mourning.'  the  moon — ^AhL      19.    Of  Setemxeruf — 

*  The  Eponymous  Festirals  of  the  thirty  Anmntef.  SO.JT/osi]— Annbit.  21.  .  .  . — 
days  of  the  Egyptian  month,  and  the  god  Anubis.  22.  Of  Pehutet — the  serpent  Na. 
who  presided  or  named  the  day,  were  as  23.  .  .  . — Anubis.  24.  Kerb,  darkness — 
follow: — 1.  Festival  of  the  Neomenia —  the  red  serpent  Na.  25.  Of  the  ponrer 
Thoth.  2.  Festival  of  the  day  of  the  out — Sema.  26.  Of  apparition — Maameref. 
month— Horus,  avenger  of  his  father.  3.  27.  Of  Useb— UnUb.  2S.  Of  celestial 
First  mesper^  day  of  Osiris.  4.  First  of  abyss— Ohnoumis.  29.  Of  Hasa— Utet 
appearance  of  amatf  Amset.  5.  Sacrifice —  tefef.  SO.  Of  the  grasshopper — ^Netas. 
god  Hapu.  6.  Tuautmutf.  7.  Of  separa-  (Brugsch,  *  Mat^riaux/  p.  57.)  'Several 
tion — Qabhsenuf.  8.  Beginning  of  Sop —  festivals  are  also  given  in  the  Sallier 
Artitefef.    9.  Of  Sekau— Ar6tef.     10.  Of  Calendar.    Khonsn  was  conceived  on  the 


Cup.  XV.] 


FESnVALS  OF  ISIS  AND  OSIRLS. 


379 


I  will  not  pretend  to  decide  whether  the  festivals  mentioned 
by  Greek  writers  in  honour  of  Isis  or  Osiris  really  appertained  to 
them.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  Greeks  and  Ilomans  who 
ritited  Egypt,  having  little  acquaintance  with  the  deities  of  that 
ooimtry,  ascribed  to  those  two  many  of  the  festivals  which  were 
celebrated  in  honour  of  Khem  and  other  gods  ;  and  it  is  evident 
that  the  Egyptians  themselves  often  aided  in  confirming  strangers 
in  the  erroneous  notions  they  entertained,  especially  on  the 
•abject  of  religion.  And  so  confirmed  were  the  Greeks  in  their 
mistaken  opinions,  that  they  would  frith  difficulty  have  listened 
to  anyone  who  informed  them  that  Anubis  hail  not  the  head  of 
a  dog,  and  Amen  that  of  a  ram,  or  that  the  cow  was  the  emblem 
of  Athor  rather  than  of  Isis. 

In  the  absence,  however,  of  such  authority  as  that  which  has 
•atisfied  us  respecting  the  last-mentioneil  points,  we  must  for  the 
present  content  ourselves  with  the  statements  of  Plutarch  and 
other  writers  respecting  the  festivals  of  Isis  and  Osiris.  We 
must  conclude  that  they  were  solemnised  at  the  periods  they 
mention,  and  for  the  reasons  assigned  by  them,  connected  with 
the  seasons  of  the  year,  or  the  relation  supposed  to  subsist 
between  the  allegorical  history  of  his  adventures  and  natural 
phenomena. 

But  we  cannot  believe  that  the  Paamylia  mentioned  by 
Plntarch  was  a  festival  in  honour  of  Osiris,  which,  he  says, 
resembled  the  Phallophoria,  or  Priapeia  of  the  Gn*eks.^  And 
though  a  plausible  reason  seems  to  be  assigned  for  its  institution, 
it  is  evident  that  the  phallic  figures  of  the  Egyptian  temples 
lepresent  Khem,  the  generative  principle,  who  bore  no  analogy 
to  Usiris ;  and  there  is  no  appearance  of  these  two  deities  having 
been  confounded,  even  in  the  latest  times,  on  the  monuments  of 
Egypt.  Such  opinions  seem  to  have  been  introduced  by  the 
Greeks,  who  were  ignorant  of  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
who  endeavoured  to  account  for  all  they  heanl  or  saw  repre- 
•e&ted  by  some  reference  to  the   works  of  nature,  com{)elling 


lAlli  <Uj  of  th«  month  and  boiii  on  th« 
IStk,  whH'h  fod  WM  alto  lord  of  the  •pooj- 
SMM  ItAtival  v(  the  2nd  and  15th  daj  of 
tiM  mottth,  aUo  of  the  6th.  Th«  fettival 
•f  KWa  or  Anui  ia  the  rtign  of  Bamwee 
UL  waft  on  the  26th  of  Tachoni.  A  lut  of 
tiM  local  fcttiraU  of  Amen  U  alto  jirea  bj 
IM  Hune  author  from  the  8th  fhoth  to 
Each  principal  town  had  a  local 
Under  the  earlier  djnattiee  the 


calendar  vaa  a«  foUovn  : — 1.  Fint  of  rear. 
3.  Thoth.  X  New  Year.  4.  Uaka.  5. 
Socharu.  6.  Greater  ami  I^m  bnniing. 
7.  Holocaiut*.  8.  Manifeetation  of  Khem. 
9.  Sat.  10.  Fir»t  of  month.  11.  Flrrt  of 
half-month.  l'n>lrrth»  12th  I>jnaatj  were 
addeil  :^12.  Fr^tiral  of  OiirU.  13.  Epa- 
gMii4*n«.  (liruKH-h,  Ibid.  p.  2$.>— 8.  B. 
>  riut.  de  Uid.  M.  12  and  IS. 


380  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

every  thing  to  form  part  of  their  favourite  explanation  of  a 
fanciful  fable.  But  in  justice  to  Plutarch  it  must  be  observed, 
that  he  gives  those  statements  as  the  vulgar  interpretations  of 
the  fabulous  story  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  without  the  sanction  of  his 
own  authority  or  belief ;  and  he  distinctly  tells  us  that  they  are 
mere  idle  tales,  directly  at  variance  with  the  nature  of  the  gods. 

The  festival  of  Minerva  at  Sais  was  performed  on  a  particular 
night,  when  everyone  who  intended  to  be  present  at  the  sacrifice 
was  required  to  light  a  number  of  lamps  in  the  open  air  around 
his  house.  They  were  small  vases  filled  with  salt  and  oil,^  on 
which  a  wick  floated,  and,  being  lighted,  continued  to  bum  all 
night.  They  called  it  the  Festival  of  Burning  Lamps.  It  was 
not  observed  at  Sius  alone :  every  Egyptian  who  could  not  attend 
in  person  was  required  to  observe  the  ceremony  of  lighting  lamps, 
in  whatever  part  of  the  country  he  happened  to  be ;  and  it  was 
considered  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  do  honour  to  the  deity 
by  the  proper  performance  of  this  rite. 

On  the  sacred  lake  of  Sais  they  represented,  probably  on 
the  same  occasion,^  the  allegorical  history  of  Osiris,  which  the 
Egyptians  deemed  the  most  solemn  mystery  of  their  religion. 
Herodotus  always  mentions  it  with  great  caution.  It  was  the 
record  of  the  misfortunes  which  had  happened  to  one  whose  name 
he  never  ventures  to  utter;  and  his  cautious  behaviour  with 
regard  to  everything  connected  with  Osiris  shows  that  he  had 
been  initiated  into  the  mysteries,  and  was  fearful  of  divulging 
any  of  the  secrets  he  had  solenmly  bound  himself  to  keep.  It  is 
also  obvious  that  the  fetes  he  describes  with  the  greatest  rever^ 
ence  were  connected  with  that  deity,  as  those  of  Isis  and  of  the 
burning  lamps  at  Sius ;  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  same 
reason — ^his  admission  to  the  mysteries  of  Osiris.  And  though 
it  is  not  probable  that  a  Greek  who  had  remained  so  short  a 
time  in  the  country  had  advanced  beyond  the  lowest  grades  in 
the  scale  of  the  initiated,  and  that  too  of  the  lesser  mysteries 
alone,  he  was  probably  permitted  to  attend  during  the  celebrar 
tion  of  the  rites  in  honour  of  that  deity,  like  the  natives  of 
the  country. 

The  lake  of  Sais  still  exists  near  the  modem  town  of  Sa  el 
Hagar.^  The  walls  and  ruins  of  the  town  stand  high  above  the 
level  of  the  plain ;  and  the  site  of  the  temple  of  Neith  might  be 


*  Perhaps  wAter,   salt,  and    oil.      The  *  Herodot.  ii.  171.  * 

offering  mentioned  towards  the  end  of  this         '  Or  *  Sa  of  the  Stone,'  from  the  mini 
chapter  is  probablj  of  a  lamp.  there. 


Out.  XV.]  OTHEB  FESTIVAIA  381 

aaoertained,  and  the  interesting  remains  of  that  splendid  city 
might,  with  careful  investigation  and  the  labour  of  some  weeks* 
excavation,  be  yet  restored  to  view. 

There  is  some  resemblance  between  the  fete  of  lamps  at  SaSs 
mad  one  kept  in  China,  which  has  been  known  in  that  country 
from  the  earliest  times ;  and  some  might  even  be  disposed  to  trace 
an  analogy  between  it  and  the  custom  still  prevalent  in  Switzer* 
land,  Ireland,  and  other  countries,  of  lighting  fires  on  the  summits 
of  the  hills  upon  the  fete  of  St.  John.  But  such  accidental 
•amilarities  in  customs  are  too  often  considered  of  importance, 
when  we  ought,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  surprised  at  so  few  being 
similar  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 

Those  who  went  to  Heliopolis  and  to  Buto  merely  offere<l 
aacrifices.  At  Papremis  the  rites  were  much  the  same  as  in  other 
places ;  but  when  the  sun  went  down,  a  body  of  priests  made 
certain  gestures  about  the  statue  of  Mars,  while  others  in  greater 
numbers,  arme<l  with  sticks,  took  up  a  position  at  the  entrance 
of  the  temple.  A  numerous  crowd  of  persons,  amounting  ti) 
upwards  of  1000  men,  each  armed  with  a  stick,  then  presente<l 
themselves  with  a  view  of  performing  their  vows ;  but  no  sooner 
did  the  priests  proceed  to  draw  forward  the  statue,  which  ha^l 
been  placed  in  a  small  wooden  gilded  shrine  u{)on  a  four-wheeled 
car,  than  they  were  opposed  by  those  in  the  vestibule,  who  en- 
deavoured to  prevent  their  entrance  into  the  temple.  p]ach 
party  attacked  its  opponents  with  sticks ;  when  an  affray  ensued 
which,  as  Herodotus  observes,  must,  in  spite  of  all  the  assertions 
of  the  Egyptians  to  the  contrary,  have  been  frequently  attended 
with  serious  cons^yquonces,  and  even  the  loss  of  life. 

Another  festival  mentioned  by  Herodotus^  is  said  to  have 
been  founde<l  on  a  mysterious  story  of  King  Khampsinitus,  of 
which  he  witnessed  the  celebration. 

On  that  occasion  the  priests  chose  one  of  their  number,  whom 
they  dre8se<l  in  a  i>eculiar  robe,  made  for  the  puqN)Ao  on  the  very 
day  of  the  cen*uumy,  and  then  conducted  him,  with  his  eyes  bound, 
to  a  roa<l  heading  to  the  temple  of  Ceres.  Having  left  him  there, 
they  all  retirt^i ;  and  two  wolves  were  said  to  dirt^ct  his  steps  to 
the  temple,  a  clistance  of  twenty  stades,  and  afterwards  to  recon- 
duct him  t4>  tho  same  spot. 

On  the  liUh  of  the  first  month  was  celebrat4>d  the  fete  of 
Tbotb,  from  whom  that  month  took  its  name.     It  was  usual  for 


*  Hcrodot.  li.  V2'2. 


382  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

those  who  attended  *  to  eat  honey  and  eggs,  saying  to  each  other, 
How  sweet  a  thing  is  truth  ! '  ^  And  a  similar  allegorical  cnstom 
was  observed  in  Mesor6,  the  last  month  of  the  Egyptian  year,' 
when,  on  *  offering  the  first-froits  of  their  lentils,  they  exclaimed, 
^  The  tongue  is  fortune,  the  tongue  is  God  I" '  Most  of  their  fetes 
appear  to  have  been  celebrated  at  the  new  or  the  full  moon,  as 
we  learn  from  Plutarch  and  Herodotus,  the  former  being  also 
chosen  by  the  Israelites  for  the  same  purpose;  and  this  may, 
perhaps,  be  used  as  an  argument  in  favour  of  the  opinion  that 
the  months  of  the  Egyptians  were  originally  lunar,  as  in  many 
countries  even  to  the  present  day. 

The  historian  of  Halicamassus  speaks  of  an  annual  ceremony 
which  the  Egyptians  informed  him  was  performed  in  memorial 
of  the  daughter  of  Mycerinus.'  The  body  of  that  princess  had 
been  deposited  within  the  wooden  figure  of  a  heifer,  and  was  still 
preserved,  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  in  a  richly  ornamented 
chamber  of  the  royal  palace  at  Sais.  Every  kind  of  perfume  was 
burnt  before  it  during  the  day,  and  at  night  a  lamp  was  kept 
constantly  lighted.  In  an  adjoining  apartment  were  about 
twenty  colossal  statues  of  wood,  representing  naked  women,  in  a 
standing  position,  said  by  the  priests  of  Sais  to  be  the  concubines 
of  Mycerinus.  *  But  of  this,'  adds  the  historian, '  I  can  only 
repeat  what  was  told  me ;  and  I  believe  all  they  relate  of  the 
love  of  the  king,  and  the  hands  of  the  statues,  to  be  a  fable. 
The  heifer  is  covered  wfth  a  crimson  housing,  except  the  head 
and  neck,  which  are  laid  over  with  a  thick  coat  of  gold ;  and 
between  the  horns  is  a  golden  disk  of  the  sun.  It  is  not  stand- 
ing on  its  feet,  but  kneeling ;  and  in  size  it  is  equal  to  a  large 
cow.  Every  year  they  take  it  out  of  this  chamber,  at  the  time 
when  the  Egyptians  beat  themselves  and  lament  a  certain  god 
(Osiris),  whom  I  must  not  mention:  on  which  occasion  they 
expose  the  heifer  to  the  light,  the  daughter  of  Mycerinus  having 
made  this  dying  request  to  her  father,  that  he  would  permit  her 
to  see  the  sun  once  a  year.'^ 

The  ceremony  was  evidently  connected  with  the  rites  of 
Osiris ;  and  if  Herodotus  is  correct  in  stating  that  it  was  a  heifer 
(and  not  an  ox),  it  may  have  been  the  emblem  of  Athor,  in  the 


■  Plat,  de  Isid.  8.  68.    This  answered  to  story  of  the  love  of  Mycerinns,  and  of  his 

the  16th  September  (o.  8.).  concubinee    having    their    handu  cat  o£ 

*  Ibid.  8.  68.    Mesor^  began  on  the  29th  (Eaterpe,  s.  131.) 
Aagast  (o.  s.).  *  Herodot.  ii.  132. 

*  Herodotus   yery  properly  doabts  the 


Cup.  XY.]  MYSTEBIOUS  RITES  AT  SAlS.  888 

mpacity  she  held  in  the  regions  of  the  dead.  The  hononis  paid 
to  it  on  such  an  occasion  could  not  have  referred  solely  to  a 
pffincess  whose  body  was  deposited  within  it:  they  were  evidently 
intended  for  the  deity  of  whom  it  was  the  emblem ;  and  the  in- 
tiodaetion  of  Athor  into  the  mysterious  rites  of  Osiris  may  be 
explained  by  the  fact  of  her  frequently  assuming  the  character 
of  Isis. 

Plntarch/  who  seems  to  hare  in  view  the  same  ceremony, 
states  this  animal  exposed  to  public  view  on  this  occasion  to  be 
an  ox,  in  commemoration  of  the  misfortunes  reported  to  hare 
liappened  to  Osiris.  'About  this  time  (the  month  of  Athor, 
when  the  Etesian  winds  haTe  ceased  to  blow,  and  the  Nile, 
ntaming  to  its  own  channel,  has  left  the  country  CTerywhere 
bare  and  naked),  in  consequence  of  the  increasing  length  of  the 
nights,  the  power  of  darkness  appears  to  prevail,  whilst  that 
of  light  is  diminished  and  overcome.  The  priests,  therefore, 
practise  certain  doleful  rites ;  one  of  which  is  to  expose  to  public 
view,  as  a  proper  representation  of  the  present  grief  of  the 
goddess  Isis,  an  ox  covered  with  a  pall  of  the  finest  black  linen, 
that  animal  being  looked  upon  as  the  living  image  of  Osiris.* 
The  ceremony  is  performed  four  days  successively,  beginning  on 
the  17th  of  the  above-mentioned  month.  They  represent  thereby 
four  things  which  they  mourn : — 1.  The  falling  of  the  Nile  and 
its  retiring  within  its  own  channel;  2.  The  ceasing  of  the 
northern  winds,  which  are  now  quite  suppressed  by  the  prevail- 
ing strength  of  those  from  the  south ;  3.  The  length  of  the 
nights  and  the  decrease  of  the  days ;  4.  The  destitute  condition 
in  which  the  land  now  appears,  naked  and  desolate,  its  trees 
despoiled  of  their  leaves.  Thus  they  commemorate  what  they 
call  the  **  loss  of  Osiris ;"  and  on  the  19th  of  the  month  Pachons 
another  festival  represents  the  ^finding  of  Osiris,*"  which  has 
bean  already  mentioned. 

The  statement  of  Plutarch  argues  very  strongly  in  favour  of 
the  opinion  that  the  gilded  figure  annually  exposed  at  SaSs 
appertained  to  the  mysterious  rites  of  Osiris;  and  the  priests 
doabiless  deviated  as  far  from  the  truth  in  what  they  related 
lespecting  the  burial  of  the  daughter  of  Mycorinus  within  it,  as 


*  Hut.  de  \M.  f.  39.  mtmbtn  of  OtirU  <■  •  woodea  cow,  mit*- 

*  DWdorvi  Mft,   *Tho    rcMoa    of   tlit      lopod   ia   cloths  uf    Hm   linro   (AfMin^X 


vonklpof  thu6«//(A(iii)  it,  that  the  soul      wheoco   tho   aamo   of    tho  citj  i^iiiiris' 
•rOiini  WM  thouicht  to  have  paMod  into      (L  S5> 
\X\  oihtrt  •Aj  booAOM  bis  deposited  tht 


384  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa  [Chap.  XV. 

in  the  fable,  readily  rejected  by  Herodotus,  of  the  cause  of  her 
death.  Indeed  no  one  who  considers  the  care  taken  by  the 
Egyptians  to  conceal  with  masonry  and  every  other  means  the 
spot  where  the  bodies  of  ordinary  individuals  were  deposited, 
can  for  a  moment  believe  that  the  daughter  of  a  Pharaoh  would 
be  left  in  that  exposed  situation,  unburied,  and  deprived  of 
that  privilege,  so  ardently  coveted  by  the  meanest  Egyptian,  of 
reposing  within  the  sacred  bosom  of  the  grave,  removed  from  all 
that  is  connected  with  this  life,  and  free  from  contact  with  the 
impurities  of  the  world. 

Small  tablets  in  the  tombs  sometimes  represent  a  black  bull 
bearing  the  corpse  of  a  man  to  its  final  abode  in  the  regions  of 
the  dead.  The  name  of  this  bull  is  shown  by  the  sculptures  in 
the  Oasis  to  be  Apis,  the  type  of  Osiris :  it  is  therefore  not 
unreasonable  to  suppose  it  in  some  way  related  to  this  fable. 

There  were  several  festivals  in  honour  of  the  sun.  Plutarch  * 
states  that  a  sacrifice  was  performed  to  it  on  the  fourth  day  of 
every  month,  as  related  in  the  books  of  the  genealogy  of  Horus, 
by  whom  that  custom  was  said  to  have  been  instituted.  So  great 
was  the  veneration  paid  to  this  luminary,  that  in  order  to 
propitiate  it  they  burnt  incense  three  times  a  day — resin  at  its 
first  rising,  myrrh  when  in  the  meridian,  and  a  mixture  called 
Kuphi  at  the  time  of  setting.  The  principal  worship  of  Ba  was 
at  Heliopolis  and  other  cities  of  which  he  was  the  presiding 
deity ;  and  every  city  had  its  holy  days  peculiarly  consecrated  to 
its  patron,  as  well  as  those  common  to  the  whole  country. 
Another  festival  in  honour  of  the  sun  was  held  on  the  30th  day 
of  Epipbi,  called  the  birthday  of  Horus's  eyes,'  when  the  sun  and 
moon  were  supposed  to  be  in  the  same  right  line  with  the  earth ; 
and  on  the  22nd  day  of  Fhaophi,  after  the  autumnal  equinox, 
was  a  similar  one,  to  which,  according  to  Plutarch,  they  gave  the 
name  of  *  the  nativity  of  the  staves  of  the  sun  ;'  intimating  that 
the  sun  was  then  removing  from  the  earth,  and  as  its  light 
became  weaker  and  weaker  that  it  stood  in  need  of  a  staff  to 
support  it.  In  reference  to  which  notion,  he  adds,  *  about  the 
winter  solstice  they  lead  the  sacred  cow  seven  times  in  procession 
around  her  temple,  calling  this  the  searching  after  Osiris,  that 
season  of  the  year  standing  most  in  need  of  the  sun's  warmth.' 

In  their  religious  solemnities  music  was  permitted,  and  even 
required,  as  acceptable  to  the  gods ;  except,  if  we  may  believe 


1  Plut.  de  bid.  it.  52  and  80.  *  Ibid.  s.  52- 


Qup.  XV.] 


CIBCUMCISION. 


385 


Stebo,  in  the  temple  of  Osiris,  at  Abydas.  It  probably  differed 
nmch  from  that  used  on  ordinary  festive  occasions,  and  was, 
aoooiding  to  Apuleius,  of  a  Ingubrions  character.^  But  this 
I  haye  already  mentioned  in  treating  of  the  music  of  the 
Egyptians. 

The  greater  part  of  the  flltes  and  religions  rites  of  the 
Egyptians  are  totally  unknown  to  us ;  nor  are  wo  acquainted 
with  the  ceremonies  they  adopted  at  births,  weddings,  and  other 
oecasions  connected  with  their  domestic  life.  But  84»me  little 
iniight  may  be  obtained  into  their  funeral  ceremonies  from  the 
aooounts  of  Greek  writers,  as  well  as  from  the  sculptures ;  which 
last  ahow  that  they  were  performed  with  all  the  pomp  a  solemnity 
of  so  much  importance  required. 

Circumcision  was  a  rite  practised  by  them  from  the  earliest 
times.  '  Its  origin,'  says  Herodotus,' '  both  among  the  Egyptians 
and  Ethiopians,'  may  be  traced  to  the  most  remote  anti<}uity ; 
bat  I  do  not  know  which  of  those  two  people  borrowed  it  from 
the  other,  though  several  nations  derived  it  from  Egypt  during 
their  intercourse  with  that  country.  The  strongest  proof  of  this 
it,  that  all  the  Phoenicians  who  frequent  Greece  have  lost  the 
habit  they  took  from  Egypt  of  circumcising  their  children.* 
The  same  rite  is  practised  to  the  present  day  by  the  Moslems  of 
all  oountries,  and  by  the  Christians  of  Abyssinia,  as  a  salutary 
piecantion  well  suite<I  to  a  hot  climate. 

We  are  ignorant  of  the  exact  time  or  age  fixed  for  its 
performance  by  the  ancient  Egyptians.  St.  Ambrose  says  the 
14th  year :  but  this  seems  improbable,  and  it  was  perhaps  left 
to  the  option  of  the  individual,  or  of  his  parents,  as  with  the 
Moalems.^  Though  very  generally  adopted,  no  one  was  compi*Iled 
to  conform  to  this  ordinance  unless  initiated  into  the  mvsteries 
or  belonging  to  the  priestly  onler;  and  it  is  said  that  Pythagoras 
iobmitted  to  it  in  order  to  obtain  the  privileges  it  eonfernMl,  by 
entitling  him   to  a  greater  participation  of  the  niysteries  he 


'  Apolviot  Mft,  '  £fTT»tiii  noroiBA  frrmk 
plaaforibai,    OrccA    plemmqae    chorrit, 

*  Hcnidet.  iL  .')7.  104. 

*  DMar.  iii.  31.orth«  Troftlodrt*. 

*  It  is  erM^At  from  an  inapectioB  of  lh« 
BAsamcaU  tkAt  th«  EcTptiAiw  w«r«  rir* 
cvBciaod,  A&d  thin  fxpUins  whj  the  ptialli 
•f  tiMir  nncircumciiird  eD^mi««  mm 
Wwght  into  the  camp  to  verifr  the 
Bsaibtr  of  thr  «UiA.  Th<i  rit«  of  circum- 
cImob  U  repre««nted  oo  th«  ba*-rclicf  of 

YOL.  IIL 


the  temple  of  rhrnif  at  Knrnak,  where  a 
lad,  iup|inM«l  to  be  a  mid  of  IC'ini«*«r4  If.,  and 
about  ten  or  m«>r«  year*  t<t'  Af(r,  i«  ri*pre- 
•etttMl  itaadiDft  aii«i«te*l  )>t  two  matn»nft, 
((liabM.'*  R«'v.  Arrh./  1H»?1  *)  Th*'  rite  pnw 
bably  anwe  fmm  wtme  phv^ieal  •It'fei-t.  a» 
ii  £aro}»t*  iDilivi4uaU  r«>f]uir<*  to  bccirrum- 
daed  for  rea«Afi«  not  r^licjou*.  la  annrnt 
timei  D^reMitT  was  «aiicti«>D««i  by  a  r4*lijiois« 
•bcerranre.  Idea*  rnrioa*  if  ant  ali*unl 
prevail  amoo^t   all   the  Afrii.-iD  race». — 

s.n. 

2  c 


386  THE  AKCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

sought  to  study.  But  if  the  law  did  not  peremptorily  require  it 
for  every  individual,  custom  and  public  opinion  tended  to  make 
it  universal.  The  omission  was  a  *  reproach ; '  the  uncircumcised 
Egyptian  subjected  himself  to  one  of  the  stigmas  attached  to 
the  ^  impure  race  of  foreigners ; '  and  we  may  readily  understand 
how  anxious  every  one  was  to  remove  this  *  reproach '  from  him, 
which  even  the  Jews  feared  to  hear  from  the  mouth  of  an 
Egyptian.^ 

By  the  Jewish  law  a  stated  time'  was  appointed  for  it,  which 
was  the  eighth  day  after  the  birth  of  the  child.  It  was  per- 
emptorily required;  and  the  divine  displeasure  was  threatened  to 
the  uncircumcised.  His  *  soul '  was  doomed  to  be  *  cut  off'  from 
God's  people  as  the  breaker  of  a  covenant ;  and  even  the  stranger 
bought  with  money  as  a  slave  was  obliged  to  conform  to  this 
sacred  rite.^ 

The  antiquity  of  its  institution  in  Egypt  is  fully  established 
by  the  monuments  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Country,  at  a  period 
long  antecedent  to  the  Exodus  and  the  arrival  of  Joseph ;  and 
Strabo  tells  us  that  ^  a  similar  rite  ^  was  practised  in  Egypt*  which 
was  customary  also  among  the  Jews,'  *  and  the  same  as  adopted 
by  the  Moslems  and  Abyssinians  at  the  present  day.^ 

Some  have  supposed  that  it  was  done  by  the  simple  imple* 
ment  used  by  Zipporah,^  'a  sharp  stone,'  and  that  certain  stone 
knives  found  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes  were  intended  for  the 
purpose ;  but  it  is  more  probable  that  these  were  used  in  other 
rites  connected  with  sacrifice,  in  which  the  employment  of  so 
rude  an  instrument  would  not  subject  the  victim  to  unnecessary 
inconvenience,  and  often  to  unlooked-for  results.  We  may  con- 
clude that  the  means  adopted  by  the  Egyptians  were  more 
nearly  related  to  the  ^ sharp  knives'  of  Joshua*  than  the 
primitive  implement  used  by  Zipporah  in  *  the  wilderness.' 

They  were  particular  at  all  times  to  observe  omens  connected 
with  everything  they  undertook,  whether  it  related  to  contract* 
ing  a  matrimonial  alliance,  building  a  house,  or  any  event  over 
which  they  had  or  had  not  controL    They  even  watched  the  day 


*  Josh.  T.  9  :     '  This  day  have  I  rolled  Idumeans,  see  Josephus,  Aniiq.  ziii.  9. 
away  the  reproach  of  Egypt  from  off  yon.'  ^  r&  $ri\4a  firrc/Arcir. 

*  Gen.  xvii.  12.    Luke  it  21.    Philip.  *  Strabo,   xrii.   p.  556.    The  oovenant 
iii.  5.  with  Abraham  ordained  that  erery  wtak 

*    Calmet,    on     the    circumcision    of  chHd  should  be   circumcised.    (Gen.  xiii. 

Foreigners.     He  is  wrong  in  supposing  the  10.)                      *  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  524^ 

Egyptians  were  contented  with  this ;  but  it  '  This  is  described  by  Sonnini. 

is  sometimes   practised  by  the   Moslems,  *  Ezod.  ir.  25.                   '  Josh,  r,  2. 
who  also  circumcise  at  any  age.    Of  the 


CiAP.  XV.]  INITIATION  INTO  MYSTERIES.  387 

when  anyone  was  bom ;  ^  and,  predicting  the  lot  that  awaited 
him,  they  determined  what  he  would  become,  the  kind  of  death 
he  would  die,  and  other  particulars  relative  to  his  fate  in  this 
world.  With  the  same  scrupulous  care  they  examined  the 
entrails  of  animals,  or  other  omens,  when  about  to  commence  a 
war,  or  any  other  undertaking  which  involved  the  interests  of 
the  State.' 

Of  the  ceremonies  performed  at  the  initiation  into  the 
mysteries  we  must  necessarily  remain  ignorant  Indeed,  the 
only  means  of  forming  any  opinion  respecting  them  are  to 
be  derived  from  our  imperfect  acquaintance  with  those  of 
Greece,  which  were  doubtless  imitative  of  the  rites  practised 
in  Eg\'pt. 

With  the  Egyptians  great  care  was  taken  to  preserve  them 
from  the  profanation  which  some  secret  rites  underwent  among 
the  Greeks  and  Ilomans,  and  they  excluded  all  persons  who 
were  considered  unfit  to  participate  in  solemnities  of  so  sacred 
a  nature.  And  *  not  only,'  says  Clemens,  ^  did  they  scruple  to 
entrust  their  secrets  to  every  one,  and  prevent  all  unholy  persons 
from  becoming  acquainted  with  divine  matters,  but  confined 
them  to  those  who  were  invested  with  the  ofiice  of  king,  and  to 
such  of  the  priesthood  who,  from  their  worth,  learning,  and 
station,  were  deemed  worthy  of  so  great  a  privilege.' 

Many  rites  and  ceremonies  were  borrowed  by  Greece  from 
Egypt ;  of  which  the  next  in  importance  to  the  mysteries  of 
Elensis,  and  the  institution  of  oracles,  was  the  Thesmophoria — 
a  festival  in  honour  of  Ceres,  celebrated  in  many  Greek  cities. 
and    particularly  at  Athens.    'Thc^se  rites,'  says   Herodotus,' 
*  were  brought  from  Egypt  into  Greet^e  by  the  daughters  of 
Danaus,  who  taught  them  to  the  Prlosgic  women  ;  but  in  the 
course  of  time,  the  Dorians  having  driven  out  the  ancient  inha- 
bitants of  Peloponnesus,  they  fell  into  disuse,  except  amongst 
the  Arcailians,  who,  having  remaineil  in  the  country,  c(mtinue<l 
to  preserve  them.'    He  states  that  they  resembled  the  ceremonies. 
or,  as  the  Egyptians  calltnl  them,  the  mysteries,  perfomuHl  on 
the  sacre<l  lake  of  Sais,  in  allusion  to  the  accidents  whic*h  had 
befallen  Osiris,  whose  tomb  was  in  that  citv. 

In  Athens  the  worshippers  at  the  Thesmophoria  '  were  free- 

>  HeroHot.  ii.  82.  *  lw>  o»t  l.«i»k  at  it  rat  on  that  dar.'    (CbaUft. 

'  Tlic  esi«t#Dce  of  omcna  it  proved  hj  *Lc  i'alvndrirr/  |».  til*.) — S.  U. 
tiM    expreMKD    id    the   calendar    of    the  '  HrnHiot.il.  171.     Such  a|>iie.\rt  lo  be 

fapjiiM  Sallier,  of  the  ag«  of  Mtftcptah,  Uie  neaaiaf  of  the  hutonaa. 

2  c  2 


388  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

bom  women,^  it  being  unlawful  for  any  of  servile  condition  to 
be  present,  whose  husbands  defrayed  the  charges  of  the  solemnity, 
which  they  were  obliged  to  do  if  their  wives'  portion  amounted 
to  three  talents.    These  women  were  assisted  by  a  priest  called 
StephanophoroBy  because  his  head  was  adorned  with  a  crown  whilst 
he  executed  his  office ;  as  also  by  certain  virgins,  who  were 
strictly  confined,  and  kept  under  severe  discipline,  being  main- 
tained at  the  public  charge  in  a  place  called  Thesmophoreion. 
The  women  were  clad  in  white  apparel,  to  intimate  their  spotless 
innocence,  and  were  obliged  to  observe  the  strictest  chastity  for 
two  or  three  days  before  and  during  the  whole  time  of  the 
solemnity,  which  lasted  four  days.    For  which  end  they  used  to 
strew  upon  their  beds  such  herbs  as  were  thought  to  calm  the 
passions,  such  as  Affnus  castas,  fleabane,  and  vine-branches.'     It 
was  held  unlawful  to  eat  pomegranates,  or  to  adorn  themselves 
with   garlands.     Everything  was  carried  on  with  the   greatest 
appearance  of  seriousness  and  gravity,  and  nothing  was  tolerated 
that  bore  the  least  show  of  wantonness  and  immodesty,  or  even 
of  mirth,   the  custom  of  jesting  upon  one  another  excepted, 
which  was  constantly  done  in  memory  of  lambe,  who  by  a 
taimting  jest  extorted  a  smile  from  Ceres  when  in  a  pensive  and 
melancholy  humour.    Three  days  at  least  were  spent  in  making 
preparations  for  the  festivaL     Upon  the  1 1th  of  Pyanepsion, 
the  women,  carrying  books  containing  the  laws  upon  their  heads, 
in  memory  of  Ceres'   invention,^  went  to  Eleusis,  where  the 
solemnity  was  kept.    This  day  was  hence  called  Anodos,  **  the 
ascent."    Upon  the  14th  the  festival  began,  and  lasted  till  the 
17th.    Upon  the  16th  they  kept  a  fast,  sitting  upon  the  ground, 
in  token  of  humiliation;   whence  the  day  was  called  Nesteia^ 
*'  the  fast." 

^  It  was  usual  at  this  solemnity  to  pray  to  Ceres,  Proserpine, 
Pluto,  and  Calligenia ;  though  some  will  have  this  Calligenia  to 
have  been  the  nurse  of  Ceres,  others  her  priestess,  others  her 
waiting-maid,  and  some  suppose  her  the  same  as  Ceres.^  The 
custom  was  omitted  by  the  Eretrians  alone  of  all  the  Grecians. 
There  was  also  a  mysterious  sacrifice  called  Didgma,  or  Apodiofftna, 
either  because  all  men  were  excluded  and  hanish^  from  it,  or 
because  in  a  dangerous  war  the  women's  prayers  were  so  prevalent 


*  Potter,  *  Antiq.,'  vol.  i.  p.  463.  Thesmophoros. 

*  These  last  were  used  bj  the  Milesian  *  This  is  refuted  hj  the  testimonj  of 
women.  Aristophanes.    (Potter,  p.  464.) 

'  Diod.  i.  14,  where  Ceres  wai  called 


Cbap.  XV.]  THE  ELEUSINIAN  MTSTERIEa  889 


the  gods,  that  their  enemies  were  defeated  and  put  to  flight 
as  far  as  Chalcis;  whence  it  was  sometimes  called  Chaleidiean 
diAgma.  Another  sacrifice,  called  ZSmia^  '^  the  mulct,"  was  offered 
as  an  expiation  of  any  irregularities  which  happened  during  the 
solemnity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  festival  all  prisoners  com- 
mitted to  gaol  for  smaller  faults — that  is,  such  as  did  not  render 
them  incapable  of  communicating  in  the  sacrifices  and  other 
parts  of  divine  worships-were  released.' 

The  Eleusinian  mysteries,  the  most  noted  solemnity  of  any  in 
Greece,  were  also  instituted  in  honour  of  Ceres ;  and  from  their 
being  derived  from  Egypt,  it  may  not  be  foreign  to  the  present 
subject  to  introduce  some  account  of  their  mode  of  celebration  in 
Greece.^  '  They  were  often  called  by  way  of  eminence,  Mytteriay 
**  the  mysteries,"  without  any  other  note  of  distinction  ;  and  so 
superstitiously  careful  were  they  to  conceal  these  sacred  rites, 
that  if  any  person  divulged  any  part  of  them,'  he  was  thought  to 
have  called  down  the  divine  judgment  upon  his  head,  and  it  was 
accounted  unsafe  to  abide  in  the  same  house  with  him.  He  was 
even  apprehended  as  a  public  offender,  and  put  to  death.  Every- 
thing contained  a  mystery :  Ceres  herself  (to  whom,  with  her 
daughter  Proserpine,  this  solemnity  was  sacred)  was  not  called 
by  her  own  name,  but  by  the  unusual  title  of  Achtheia,  which 
•eems  to  be  derived  from  A^ha$,  grief  or  heaviness,  because  of 
her  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  her  daughter  when  stolen  by  Pluto. 
The  same  secrecy  was  strictly  enjoined  not  only  in  Attica,  but 
in  all  other  places  of  Greece  where  the  festival  was  oliserved, 
except  Crete ;  and  if  any  person,  not  lawfully  initiated,  did  even 
through  ignorance  or  mistake  chance  to  be  present  at  the 
mysterious  rites,  he  forfeited  his  life.  .  •  •  Persons  of  both  sexes 
and  all  ages  were  initiated.  Indeed,  it  was  not  a  matter  of 
indifference  whether  they  would  be  so  or  not ;  for  the  neglect  of 
it  was  looked  upon  as  a  crime,  insomuch  that  it  was  one  part  of 
the  accusation  for  which  Socrates  was  condemned  to  death.  All 
persons  initiated  were  thought  to  live  in  a  state  of  greater 
happiness  and  security  than  other  men,  being  under  the  more 
immediate  care  and  protection  of  the  goddess.  Nor  did  the 
benefit  of  it  extend  only  to  this  life :  even  after  death  they 
enjoyed  (as  was  believed)  far  greater  degrees  of  felicity  than 
others,  and  were  honoured  with  the  first  plmH*s  in  the  Elysian 
shades.    But  since  the  benefits  of  initiation  were  so  great,  no 


>  PotUr,  *  Antiq./  toI.  i.  p.  449.  •  CY.  Herodot.  %u  171.     Ilor.  CM.  iii.  2,  26. 


390  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

wonder  they  were  very  cautions  what  persons  they  admitted  to 
it.  Such,  therefore,  as  were  convicted  of  witchcraft,  or  any  other 
heinous  crime,  or  had  committed  murder,  though  against  their 
will,  were  debarred  from  these  mysteries ;  and  though  in  later 
ages  all  persons,  barbarians  excepted,  were  admitted  to  them,  yet 
in  the  primitive  times  the  Athenians  excluded  all  strangers,  that 
is,  all  who  were  not  members  of  their  own  commonwealth. 
Hence,  when  Hercules,  Castor,  and  Pollux  desired  to  be  initiated, 
they  were  first  made  citizens  of  Athens.*  Nor  were  they  admitted 
to  the  greater  mysteries^  but  only  to  the  less,  which  were  sacred  to 
Proserpine,  and  were  instituted  for  this  purpose,  in  order  that 
the  laws  might  not  be  violated  by  the  admission  of  Hercules.' 
They  were  not  celebrated,  like  the  former,  in  the  month  Boe- 
dromion,  at  Eleusis,  an  Attic  borough,  from  which  Ceres  was 
called  Eleusinia,  but  at  Agree,  a  place  near  the  river  Ilissus,  in 
the  month  Anthesterion.  'In  later  times,  the  lesser  festival 
was  used  as  a  preparative  to  the  greater ;  for  no  persons  were 
initiated  in  the  greater  unless  they  had  been  purified  at  the 
lesser.  The  manner  of  the  purification  was  this  : — Having  kept 
themselves  chaste  and  unpolluted  nine  days,  they  came  and 
ofiered  sacrifices  and  prayers,  wearing  crowns  and  garlands  of 
flowers,  which  were  called  ismeray  or  imera.  They  had  also, 
under  their  feet,  Bios  kSdioUy  "Jupiter's  skin,"  which  was  the 
skin  of  a  victim  ofiered  to  that  god.  The  person  that  assisted 
them  herein  was  called  hydranoSy  from  hyddr^  "  water,"  which  was 
used  at  most  purifications ;  and  they  themselves  were  named 
«.»«tai,  or  persons  "initiated.'; 

*  About  a  year  after,  having  sacrificed  a  sow  to  Ceres,  they 
were  admitted  to  the  greater  mysteries,  the  secret  rites  of  which, 
some  few  excepted  being  reserved  for  the  priests  alone,  were 
frankly  revealed  to  them ;  whence  they  were  called  epharoiy  and 
epoptai,  "  inspectors."  The  manner  of  initiation  was  iLus : — ^The 
candidates,  being  crowned  with  myrtle,  had  admittance  by  night 
into  a  place  called  mystikos  sSkoSy  **  the  mystical  temple,'*  which 
was  an  edifice  so  vast  and  capacious  that  the  most  ample  theatre 
did  scarce  exceed  it.  At  their  entrance  they  purified  themselves 
by  washing  their  hands  in  holy  water,  and  at  the  same  time 
were  admonished  to  present  themselves  with  minds  pure  and 
undefiled,  without  which  the  external  cleanness  of  the  body 
would  by  no  means  be  accepted.    After  this  the  holy  mysteries 


»  Plut,  in  ITiM. 


Cbaf.  XV.]  THE  ELEUSINIAN  MYSTEBTES.  391 

were  read  to  them  out  of  a  book  called  peirdma  ;  which  word  is 
derived  from  petra^  "  a  stone,"  because  the  book  consiste^l  of  two 
stones  fitly  cemented  together.  Then  the  priest  who  initiated 
them,  called  hierophantes,  proposed  certain  quest  ions,  as  whether 
they  were  fasting,  &c.,  to  which  they  returned  answers  in  a  set 
form.^  This  done,  strange  and  amazing  objects  presented  them- 
selves. Sometimes  the  place  they  were  in  seemed  to  shake  round 
them ;  sometimes  it  appeared  bright  and  resplendent  with  light 
and  radiant  fire,  and  then  again  was  covered  with  black  darkness. 
Sometimes  thunder  and  lightning,  sometimes  frightful  noises 
and  bellowings,  sometimes  terrible  apparitions  astonishetl  the 
trembling  spectators.  The  being  present  at  these  sights  was 
called  aulopsia^  "intuition."*  After  this  th(»y  were  dismissed 
with  these  words,  kanx  ompax.'^ 

During  that  part  of  the  ceremony  calle<l  epopteia,  *  insiKM?- 
tion/  the  gods  themselves  were  supposed  to  appear  to  the 
initiated ;  and  it  was  in  order  to  discover  if  the  candi<lates  were 
sufficiently  prepared  for  such  a  mark  of  their  favour  that  these 
terrific  preludes  were  instituted.  Proclus  thus  des<'Tibes  them 
in  his  Commentary  on  Plato's  Republic :  *  In  all  initiations  and 
mysteries  the  gods  exhibit  themselves  under  many  forms,  and 
appear  in  a  variety  of  shapes.  Sometimes  their  unfigure<I  light 
is  held  forth  to  the  view;  sometimes  this  light  appears  under 
a  human  form,  and  it  sometimes  assumes  a  different  shape.'  In 
hb  Commentary  on  the  first  Alcibiades  he  also  says :  *  In  the 
most  holy  of  the  mysteries,  before  the  giMl  appears,  the  impul- 
sions of  certain  terrestrial  diemons  become  visible,  alluring  the 
initiated  from  undefiled  goods  to  matter.' 

Apuleius^  mentions  the  same  extraonlinary  illusions,  *The 
snn  being  made  to  appear  at  midnight,  glittering  with  white 
light ;'  and  it  is  supposed  that  Ezekiel  alludes  to  similar  sc*«*nes 
when  S{)eaking  of  the  abominations  committ<f<l  by  the  idolatrous 
'  ancients  of  the  house  of  Israel  in  the  dark,  everv  man  in  the 
d^mbert  of  his  inuigery'  * 

The  preliminary  or<leals  through  which  candidates  were 
obliged  to  [lass  previous  to  admission  into  the  Egyptian  niys* 
teries  were  equally  if  not  more  severe;  and  it  frequently 
happened  that  their  lives  were  exposed  to  grt^at  <langer,  as  is 
said  to  have  been  the  case  with  Pythagoras.     Hut  the  reluctance 

*  ll«tiniiu'i  trMitiM  oq  thi*  fMiivaL  pr^tfani*    iid<1    to     hiiT«    thiit    mcining    :o 
'  lUth«r,  *  tn«p«ction  bj  oseMlf.*  8ftD«4rit.     If  m>,  th^j  wrre  ini%A|>t*licd. 

*  SooM  Imt«   »iippoM<l  tiMM  words   to  *  MctJim.  lib.  ii.  'lb»i. 
to   thf    't'rocol,   O   procol  mU          *  l^k.  tiiL  I'J. 


392  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XV. 

of  the  Egyptians,  particularly  in  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs,  to 
admit  strangers  to  these  holy  secrets  probably  rendered  his  trial 
more  severe  even  than  that  to  which  the  Egyptians  themselves 
were  subjected ;  and  it  appears  that,  notwithstanding  the  earnest 
request  made  by  Folycrates  to  Amasis  to  obtain  this  favour  for 
the  philosopher,  many  difiBculties  were  thrown  in  the  way  by 
the  priests  on  his  arrival  in  Egypt.    Those  of  Heliopolis,^  to 
whom  he  first  presented  the  letters  given  him  by  Amasis,  re- 
ferred him  to  the  college  of  Memphis,  under  the  pretext  of  their 
seniority ;  and  these  again,  on  the  same  plea,  recommended  him 
to  the  priests  of  Thebes.    Bespect  for  the  king  forbade  them  to 
give  a  direct  refusal ;  but  they  hoped,  says  Porphyry,  to  alarm 
him  by  representing  the  arduous  task  he  had  to  perform,  and 
the  repugnance  of  the  previous  ceremonies  to  the  feelings  of  the 
Greeks.     It  was  not,  therefore,  without  surprise  that  they  beheld 
his  willingness  to  submit  to  the  trials  they  proposed ;  for  though 
many  foreigners  were,  in  after-times,  admitted  to  the  mysteries 
of  Egypt,  few  had  then  obtained  the  indulgence,  except  Thales 
and  Eumolpus.    This  prejudice  of  the  Egyptians  against  the 
Greeks  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  statement  of  Herodotus, 
and  is  shown  by  other  writers  to  have  continued  even  after  the 
accession  of  the  Ptolemies  and  the  Boman  conquest. 

'  The  garments^  of  those  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  mys- 
teries were  accounted  sacred,  and  of  no  less  efiScacy  to  avert 
evils  than  charms  and  incantations.  They  were  therefore  never 
cast  off  till  completely  worn  out.  Nor  was  it  then  usual  to  throw 
them  away,  but  they  were  made  into  swaddling  clothes  for 
children,  or  consecrated  to  Ceres  and  Proserpine. 

'  The  chief  person  who  attended  at  the  initiation  was  called 
hierophanteSf  "  the  revealer  of  holy  things."  He  was  a  citizen  of 
Athens,  and  held  his  office  during  life;  though  amongst  the 
Celeans  and  Phliasians  it  was  customary  for  him  to  resign  his 
place  every  fourth  year,  at  the  time  of  the  festival.  He  was 
obliged  to  devote  himself  wholly  to  divine  service,  and  to  live  a 
chaste  and  simple  life ;  to  which  end  it  was  usual  for  him  to 
anoint  himself  with  the  juice  of  hemlock,  which  by  its  extreme 
coldness  is  said  to  extinguish  in  a  great  measure  the  natural 
heat.  The  hierophanies  had  three  assistants ;  the  first  of  whom 
was  called,  from  his  office,  dadouchos^  "torch-bearer,***  and  to 


*  Porphyr.  de  ViU  Pythag.  Sodo^XO*      rmr     kkimrdrmif     *%Xnehm9 

*  Potter,  *Antiq.'  vol.  i.  p.  452.  /ivfmiplmwj    in  tht  time    of  GoBstsntin*. 
'  An  inscription  on  one  of  the  tombs  of  This  was  about  sixty  years  before   those 

the  kings  at  Thebes  was  written  by  a  mysteries  were  abolished  by  Theodosius. 


Cbap.  XV.]  the  ELEUSmiAN  MTSTEBIES.  393 

him  it  was  permitted  to  many;  the  second  was  the  keryx^  or 
**  herald ;"  the  third  ministered  ''  at  the  altar/*  and  was  for  that 
reason  named  ho  epi  iai  bomoi.  The  hierophantiU  is  said  to  have 
been  a  ty|)e  of  the  great  Creator  of  all  things,  the  d<idoucho9  of 
the  sun,  the  keryx  of  ^[ercury,  and  ho  epi  toi  homoi  of  the  moon. 

'  There  were  also  certain  public  oflicers  whose  business  it  was 
to  take  care  that  all  things  were  performed  aeconling  to  custom. 
First,  bcLsiUuB^  '^  the  king,"  who  was  one  of  the  Archons,  and  was 
obliged  at  this  solemnity  to  offer  prayers  and  sacriiices,  to  see 
that  no  irregularity  was  committed,  and  the  day  following  the 
mysteries  to  assemble  the  senate  to  take  cognizance  of  all  the 
offenders.  Besides  the  king  were  four  epitnd^taiy  *'  curators," 
elected  by  the  [)eople ;  one  of  whom  was  appointed  out  of  the 
■acred  family  of  the  Eumolpidae,  another  out  of  the  Ceryces,  and 
the  remaining  two  from  the  other  citizens.  There  were  also 
ten  persons  who  assisted  at  this  and  some  other  solemnities, 
who  were  called  hieropoioi^  because  it  was  their  business  to 
offer  $aerifiee$. 

*  This  festival  was  celebrated  in  the  month  Boedromion,  and 
continued  nine  days,  beginning  upon  the  fifteenth  and  ending 
upon  the  twenty-third  day  of  that  month,  during  which  time 
it  was  unlawful  to  arrest  any  man,  or  present  a  petition,  under 
m  penalty  of  1000  drachms,  or  (as  others  report)  under  pain  of 
death.  It  was  also  unlawful  for  those  who  were  initiated  to  sit 
upon  the  covering  of  a  well,  or  to  eat  beans,  mullets,  or  weasels. 
If  any  woman  went  in  a  chariot  to  Eleusis,  she  was,  by  an 
«dict  of  Lycurgns,  obliged  t4>  pay  6000  dnu*hnis ;  the  design  of 
irliich  was  to  prevent  the  richer  women  distinguishing  them- 
•elves  from  those  who  were  poor. 

'  1.  The  first  day  was  called  AffyrmoB^  **  assembly,'*  because 
then  the  worshippers  first  met  together. 

*  2.  The  second  was  named  Alade  Myttai^  that  is.  '*  to  the  sea, 
yoQ  that  are  initiatiHl,"  because  (I  supposes)  th(*y  were  com- 
manded  to  purify  themselves  by  washing  in  the  sea. 

*  3.  U{M>n  the  third  they  offered  sacrifices,  consisting  chiefly 
of  an  iExonian  mullet,  in  Greek  irigU^^  and  Imrh^  out  of  Itha- 
rioDit  a  field  of  Kleusis  in  which  that  sort  of  com  wim  first  sown. 
These  oblations  w<»re  called  ihya^  and  aci*ountiMl  so  mu'rtHl  that 
the  priests  tlK^nisclves  were  not  alloweil  (as  in  other  offerings)  to 
partake  of  them. 


394  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

*  4.  Upon  the  fourth  they  made  a  solemn  procession,  wherein 
the  kalcUhiony  or  holy  basket  of  Ceres,  was  carried  in  a  consecrated 
cart;  crowds  of  people  shouting  as  they  went  along,  Chaire 
Demeter,  "  Hail,  Ceres."  After  these  followed  certain  women, 
called  kistbphoroi,  who  (as  the  name  implies)  carried  Icukeis,  con- 
taining sesamun,  carded  wool,  some  grains  of  salt,  a  serpent, 
pomegranates,  reeds,  ivy-boughs,  a  sort  of  cake  called  phthois, 
poppies,  and  other  things. 

*  5.  The  fifth  was  called  He  On  lampaddn  hemera, ''  the  torch 
day,"  because  at  night  the  men  and  women  ran  about  with 
torches  in  their  hands.  It  was  also  customary  to  dedicate 
torches  to  Ceres,  and  to  contend  who  should  present  the  largest ; 
which  was  done  in  memory  of  Ceres*  journey  when  she  sought 
Proserpine,  being  conducted  by  the  light  of  a  torch  kindled  in 
the  flames  of  Etna. 

'  6.  The  sixth  was  called  lakchos,  from  lacchus,  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  Ceres,  who  accompanied  the  goddess  in  her  search 
for  Proserpine  with  a  torch  in  her  hand ;  whence  it  was  that  his 
statue  held  a  torch.  This  statue  was  carried  from  the  Ceramicus 
to  Eleusis  in  solemn  procession,  called  after  the  hero's  name 
lakchos.  The  statue  and  the  persons  that  accompanied  it  had 
their  heads  crowned  with  myrtle.  They  were  named  Idkcha^gdgoi^ 
and  all  the  way  danced  and  sang  and  beat  brazen  kettles.  The 
road  by  which  they  issued  out  of  the  city  was  ccdled  hiera  hodos, 
**  the  sacred  way  " — the  resting-place,  hiera  eyke,  from  a  fig-tree 
which  grew  there,  and  was  (like  all  other  things  concerned  in 
this  ceremony)  accounted  sacred.  It  was  also  customary  to  rest 
upon  a  bridge  built  over  the  river  Cephissus,  where  they  made 
themselves  merry  by  jesting  on  those  who  passed  by.  Having 
crossed  this  bridge,  they  went  to  Eleusis,  the  way  into  which 
was  called  the  mystical  entrance. 

*  7.  Upon  the  seventh  day  were  sports,  in  which  the  victors 
were  rewarded  with  a  measure  of  barley,  that  grain  being  the 
first  sown  in  Eleusis. 

*  8.  The  eighth  was  called  '^  the  Epidaurian  day,"  because  it 
once  happened  that  iBsculapius,  coming  from  Epidaurus  to 
Athens,  and  desiring  to  be  initiated,  had  the  lesser  mysteries 
repeated.  Whence  it  became  customary  to  celebrate  them  a 
second  time  upon  this  day,  and  to  admit  to  initiation  such 
persons  as  had  not  before  enjoyed  that  privilege. 

*  9.  The  ninth  and  last  day  of  the  festival  was  called  ^  the 
earthen  vessels,"  because  it  was  usual  to  fill  two  such  vessels  with 


CBap.  XVJ 


CLOTHING  OF  STATUES  OP  GODS. 


395 


wine,  one  of  which  was  placed  towards  the  east,  and  the  other 
towards  the  west  These,  after  the  rei)etition  of  certain  mystical 
words,  were  both  thrown  down,  and  tiie  wine  being  spilt  u|Mm 
the  ground,  was  offered  as  a  libation/  ^ 

During  'the  feasts  and  festivals,'  the  statues  of  the  gods 
were  dressed  in  'the  sacred  vestments;''  and  the  priests  minis- 
tered to  them  '  three  times '  in  the  course  of  the  day,  according 
to  certain  regulations  'ordained  by  law.'*  The  ceremony  of 
clothing  them  was  the  peculiar  office  of  a  class  of  priests  called 
Hierost4>li  by  Greek  writers,  who  had  the  privilege  of  entering 
the  sanctuary  for  this  purpose,  like  the  chief  priests  and  pro- 
phets. Each  deity  had  its  particular  emblems,  and  a  proper 
drett,  of  a  form  and  character  prescribed  in  the  sacnnl  books. 
Thus  the  vestments  of  Osiris  were  of  a  uniform  shadowless 
white,  as  we  learn  from  Plutarch  and  the  sculptures  of  the 
temples ;  those  of  Isis  were  dyed  with  a  variety  of  colours,  and 
frequently  imitated  the  complicated  hue  and  arrangement  of 
feather  work,  as  if  she  were  enveloped  in  the  wings  of  the  sacred 
valture.^  '  For,'  says  the  same  author,*  '  as  Osiris  is  the  First 
Principle,  prior  to  all  beings,  and  purely  intelligent,  he  must 
ever  remain  unmixed  and  undefiled;  consequently,  when  his 
vestments  are  once  taken  off  his  statues,  they  are  ever  afterwards 
pat  by,  aud  carefully  preserved  untouched ;  wiiile  those  of  Isis, 
whose  power  is  totally  conversant  about  matter,  whi(;h  I)ecomes 
and  admits  all  things,  are  frequently  made  use  of,  an<l  that  too 
without  the  same  scrupulous  attention.'  This  ceremony  of  dress- 
ing the  statues  is  still  retained  in  the  religious  rites  of  some 
people  at  the  present  day,  who  clothe  the  images  of  g<Nls  or 
taints  on  particular  festivals,  and  carry  them  in  procession,  like 


*  Thai  man  J  of  th«  Ef  jptUn  doctrioM 
an  myitcriea,  U  cTident  from  th«  rubrics 
«f  OTTtaia  chaptcra,  ia  which  it  it  itatad 
thai  tha  thiBf  affirmed  was  tha  freatatt 
af  Mjitarisi,  «od  aJso  that  tha  deceased 
km«t  ecrtaia  thiapi  aecessarj  to  his  {Assaga 
hi  tha  foturt  stAte,  m  the  mystical  asmes 
af  the  bark  of  Acheroa,  those  of  the  dour 
md  Ma  parU  of  the  Hall  of  tha  Two  Truths, 
md  tha  appelUtioas  of  ccrtaia  deities. 
Awifdiif  to  Clemeas,  the  kaowledfa  of 
■yUariss  was  kept  hj  tha  priests.  It  Is 
aal  JBipriibabla  that  ther  wrre  commnai* 
Mlad  hf  aartaia  secret  rites  sad  ceramoaies, 
la  whkh  the  word  m jsterT  maj  be  applied. 
0^  af  tha  iaitiatioas  was'ao  doubt  seeiuf 
Iht  SfVfa  of  tha  (od,  as  tha  Lthiopiaa 
*    Flaachi  did  al  Ualiepolis.    Aa 


lnscrlptioB  of  a  high  priest  at  Memphis 
states  thst  ha  kaew  the  srraoi;emeBts  of 
earth  and  those  of  Heliupolis  sad  Memphis, 
that  he  had  peaetrsted  the  myftteries  of 
9W9TJ  saactuarj,  that  aothing  wss  coa- 
oeal»d  from  him,  thst  he  adored  Ood  and 
glorlfieti  Him  ia  all  His  works,  sad  that  he 
hid  ia  his  breast  all  thst  he  hsil  seea. — 8.  B. 
'  Jerem.  i.  9 ;  sad  Haruch  ri.  15,  5H, 
72,  where  also  the  cu«tum  of  gildiag  tha 
woodea  idols  of  Ilsbrlou  is  mrutioaed  (t.  H, 
39,  Ike),  aad  of  mskiog  *crowa«  fur  the 
heads  of  thrtr  gM* '  (t.  i*X  aad  *  lightiag 
them  caatiles  '  (r.  19). 

*  RiiMftta  Stone,  liaes  7  and  40. 

*  Like  tha  figure  of  Mut,  in  woudcut 
Ko.  5<>5. 

*  Plat,  da  Uid.  s.  7S. 


396  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XV. 

the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Greeks,  Nor  can  the  custom  of  put- 
ting the  hisweh^  or  sacred  covering,  upon  the  tomb  of  a  Moslem 
sheikh  fail  to  remind  us  of  the  hieros  ko9mo8  (holy  ornament  or 
covering)  of  antiquity ;  as  the  *  crowning  the  tomb  of  Osiris  with 
flowers/*  which  was  done  on  stated  occasions  by  the  priests  of 
that  deity  at  Philae,  recalls  that  of  carrying  flowers  and  palm- 
branches  to  the  grave  of  a  departed  friend  in  the  cemeteries  of 
modern  Egypt.  The  same  was  done  to  individuals  as  well  as  in 
honour  of  Osiris,  and  sarcophagi  are  frequently  found  in  the 
tombs  of  Thebes  with  flowers  and  garlands  placed  in  or  near 
them,  either  by  the  priests,  or  the  relations  of  the  deceased  who 
attended  at  the  funeral 

In  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  the  religious  societies^  were 
obliged  to  perform  an  annual  voyage  to  Alexandria,  the  royal 
residence  at  that  period,  to  present  themselves  at  the  palace. 
This  was  doubtless  in  conformity  with  a  custom  established  in 
the  olden  times  of  the  Pharaohs,  when  the  seat  of  government 
was  at  Thebes  or  Memphis;  and  it  continued  to  be  observed 
until  dispensed  with  by  Epiphanes. 

Besides  the  feasts  and  ceremonies  of  public  rejoicing  or  of 
general  abstinence,  many  fasts  were  enjoined  on  each  individual, 
either  as  occasional  voluntary  expiations  of  secret  offences  which 
were  dependent  upon  their  own  conscience,  or  in  compliance 
with  certain  regulations  at  fixed  periods.  They  were  then  re- 
quired to  abstain  from  the  enjoyment  of  luxuries,  as  of  the  bath, 
the  table,  and  perfumes,  and,  above  all,  from  the  gratification 
of  the  passions.  Some  of  these,  as  Apuleius'  informs  us, 
lasted  ten  days,  during  which  time  the  latter  prohibition  ^  was 
strictly  enforced — a  measure  which  appears  in  Italy  to  have 
called  forth  great  complaints  from  the  votaries  of  Isis,  when  her 
worship  was  established  in  that  country.  [It  is  doubtful  if 
fasting,  as  a  sacred  rite,  was  practised  by  the  Egyptians.  Some 
have  thought  it  alluded  to  in  the  negative  confession  of  the 
Bitual. — S.  B.]    It  is  to  this  Propertius  *  alludes. 

In  the  time  of  the  Greeks  and  Bomans  they  had  some  flutes 
of  a  wanton  character,  in  which  the  object  was  to  seek  amuse- 
ment and  indulgences  of  every  kind ;  but  it  does  not  appear 
whether  they  were  instituted  in  early  times,  or  were  a  Greek 
innovation.      Strabo  mentions  one  of  these,  Muring  which  a 

>  Plat,  de  Isid.  i.  21.  *  Metom.  ii.  p.  1000. 

'  RosetU  Stone,  line  17.  *  Jnven.  Sat.  ti.  535. 

*  Propert.  lib.  IL  £leg.  33,  lines  1  and  15.    Ovid.  Amor.  Ui.  10,  U 


OiUP.  XV.]  8ACRIFICEB  AND  OFFEBINQ&  897 

dense  crowd  of  people  hurried  down  the  canal  from  Alexandria 
to  Canopus  to  join  the  festive  meeting.  Day  and  night  it  was 
corered  with  boats  bringing  men  and  women,  singing  and 
dancing  with  the  greatest  licentiousness ;  and  at  Canopus  itself 
inns  were  opened  upon  the  canal  purposely  for  the  eouvenienoe 
of  indulging  in  these  amusements.'  ^ 

AthensBUs  mentions  a  grand  procession  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  the  splendour  of  which  was  surprising.  The  most 
nre  and  curious  animals  from  all  countries  were  conducted  in 
it,  and  the  statues  of  the  gods,  as  well  as  everything  which 
ooold  give  dignity  and  interest  to  the  spectacle,  were  brought 
together  on  the  occasion.  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  it 
resembled  in  many  respects  similar  pomps  of  the  early  Pharaohs; 
I  therefore  refer  the  curious  reader  to  the  full  account  of  it  in 
the  work  of  that  author.^ 

I  have  already  mentioned,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  the  nature 
of  sacrifices  offered  in  early  ages,  and  have  shown  at  how  remote 
an  era  the  mode  of  addressing  prayers  to  the  deity,  the  adoption 
of  the  peculiar  forms  and  attributes  of  the  gcxls,  the  establish- 
ment of  oracles,  and  other  matters  connected  with  religion,  were 
introduced  among  the  Egyptians.    If  at  the  earliest  periods  of 
their  history  they  were  contented  with  herbs  and  inct^nse,  they 
afterwards  admitted  animals  '  into  their  sacritices,  and  victims 
were  bound  and  slain  on  the  altar,  and  either  offered  entire  or 
into  portions  before  the  statue  of  the  god,  together  with 
fruit,  and  other  offerings  prescribed  by  law.     To  some 
deities  oblations  of  a  peculiar  kind  were  made,  being  deemed 
more  particularly  suited  to  their  worship;   and  some  festivals 
leqoired  an  observance  on  this  head   which  differed   greatly 
fma  ordinary  custom,  as  the  burning  of  the  body  of  the  victim 
at  the  fete  of  Isis  ^  and  the  offering  of  a  pig  at  the  festivals  of 
Bacchus  *  and  the  moon.     For  though  many  ceremonit^s,  as  the 
iifaations  of  wine,  and  certain  formulie,  were  common  to  all  or 
most  of  the  Egyptian  sacrifices,  the  inspection  of  entrails  and 
the  manner  of  burning  the  victims  requireil  a  particular  method 
in  the  rites  of  some  deities,*  and  peculiar  offerings  were  reserved 
for  remarkable  occasions. 

Incense  [called  $en  neter^  *  divine  incensi'  *  or  '  frankincense '] 

*  Sln^  iiii.  p.  ^51.  oicii :  aiKi  Vsrro,  tie  R«  Rwtica,  ii.  5. 
'  AUm.  llti|Mi.  ▼.  ^  196,  et  ttq,  *  Hcrodot.  ti.  io. 

•  8m  PaoMBiM  (hb.  i.  c.  24)  <m  tkt  *  IbMt  ii.  48.  •  Ibid.  ii.  3$. 
of  a  prvjuJicv  agMUl  tlauf  huhnf 


398  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chip.  XV. 

was  offered  to  all  the  gods,  and  introduced  on  every  grand  occa* 
sion  whenever  a  complete  offering  was  made  :  for  the  Egyptians, 
like  the  Jews  and  other  people,  frequently  presented  a  simple 
oblation  of  wine,  oil,  or  other  liquid,  or  any  single  gift,  as  a 
necklace,  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  ointment,  or  whatever  they  had 
vowed,  or  the  occasion  required. 

Incense  was  sometimes  presented  alone,  though  more  usually 
accompanied  by  a  libation  of  wine.  It  consisted  of  various 
qualities  or  ingredients,  according  to  circumstances,  as  I  have 
stated  in  the  offerings  made  to  the  sun,^  when  resin,  myrrh,  and 
kuphi  were  adapted  to  different  times  of  the  day.  Myrrh,  says 
Plutarch,  is  supposed  to  be  called  JBoZ'  by  the  Egyptians, 
signifying  the  dissipation  of  melancholy ;  and  the  '  Euphi  is  a 
mixture  composed  of  the  sixteen  following  ingredients :  honey, 
wine,  raisins,  Cyprus,  resin,  myrrh,  aspalathus,  seselis,  sthoenan- 
thus,  asphaltus,  saffron,  and  dock,'  the  greater  and  lesser  juniper, 
cardamums,  and  aromatic  reed.' 

'b 


Ko.  699.  Fig.  1.  Throwing  the  balls  of  inoenie  into  the  fire.  %  3.  OeuMn.  a,  a.  Cape  for  holding 
the  Incenee  balls.  b,  c  The  cup  in  which  was  the  fire.  In  b  are  three  flamee  of  lire,  in  e  oolj  one. 
4.  A  censer  without  a  handle.  ft,  6.  Other  oensen,  with  incense  bails  or  pastilles  wtlhla.  These  last 
two  are  from  the  tombe  near  the  Pyramids. 

Some  resinous  substances  have  been  found  in  the  tombs  at 
Thebes,  but  it  does  not  appear  if  they  were  used  for  incense,  or 
other  purposes ;  and  one  of  those  brought  to  England  by  Lord 
Claud  Hamilton  is  probably  mastic,  used  by  women  in  the  East 
at  the  present  day,  and  probably  also  in  former  times,  to  sweeten 
their  breath/  According  to  the  chemical  examination  made  of 
it  by  Ure,  *  it  has  a  specific  gravity  of  1*067,  and  dissolves  both 
in  alcohol  and  oil  of  turpentine,  which  circumstance,  with  its 
topaz  yellow  colour,'  leads  him  '  to  believe  it  to  be  mastic,'  a 
gum  resin  that  exudes  from  the  Lentiscus,  well  known  to  be 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  ss.  52,  80.  spikenard,  crocus  and  cassia,'  and  for  <  car- 

'  Bal  sigaities  '  the  eye/  or  '  the  end,*  daraum/  *  cinnamon.*    (Squire,  translation 

in  Coptic ;  U|A.X  is  *  myrrh.*  ^^  Plutarch,  de  Isid.  s.  81.) 

»  The  Gr^  name  is  UicaBos.     Demo-  ^^  ^*>«   medical   papyrus   Ebers   is  a 

crates  substitutes  for   *  seselis,  asphaltus,  "^eipt  for  pastilles  for  the  brwth.— S.  B. 

safi'ron,   Bp^ntw^  and  lapathusy*    '  bdellium, 


Cur.  XT.] 


MODE  OF  OFFEBIKG  INCENSE. 


oommon  in  the  island  of  Scio.  The  other  u  thna  described  by 
Dr.  Urc  :  '  It  has  a  rub;  red  colour  and  the  remarkable  density 
of  1*204,  being  much  more  than  any  resinous  substance  known 
•t  the  present  day.  It  intomesces  when  heated  over  a  lamp, 
and  burns  much  like  amber.  Like  it,  also,  it  afiunls  a  musky 
odonr  when  heated  with  nitric  acid.  It  diasolvin  in  alcohol 
•od  wood  spirit,  in  which  respect  it  diflcra  from  amber.  It  is 
iniolnble  in  oil  of  torpentine  or  caustic  lye.* 

The  incense  burnt  in  the  temples  before  the  altar  was  made 
into  small  balls,  or  pastillee,'  which  were  tlirown  by  the  baud 
into  the  censer.  The  latter  generally  consisted  of  an  open  cup 
of  bronze  (sometimes  two),  holding  the  fire,  8upporte<l  by  a  long 
baodle,  whose  opposite  extremity  was  ornamented  with  the  head 


m  tarat  «t  tki  IMlnl  oriba  iBUidtfloii  of  tbc  Nllb 


of  a  hawk,  surmounted  by  a  disk  representing  the  g<Hl  Ra  or  the 
MU ;  and  in  the  centre  of  this  was  another  cup,  fnmi  whioh  the 
pMtilles  were  taken  with  the  finger  and  thumb  to  be  thrown 
Bpott  the  fire.  Sometimes  tiie  tncensc  was  burnt  in  a  cup  wilh- 
oat  the  handle,  and  some  censers  appear  to  have  Ih^'h  made  with 
ft  ooTer,  protiably  pierced  with  holes  to  allow  the  smoke  to 
flteape,  like  thi>se  now  employed  in  the  chnrchra  of  Italy. 

"When  a  victim  was  sought  for  the  altar,  it  was  carefully 
CXUDined  by  one  of  the  Sphra^ittai,*  an  order  of  priests  to  whom 
tfaii  peculiar  office  belonged.  According  to  I'Iutan>h,'  nnl  oxen 
were  alone  selected  for  the  purpose;  'and  so  scruj)ub)U!i,'  he  adds, 

•  C*II*<I  tnk—S.  D. 


400  THE  ANCIENT  EaTPTIANa  [Chaf.  XV. 

were  they  on  this  point,  that  a  single  black  or  white  hair 
rendered  them  unfit  for  sacrifice,  in  consequence  of  the  notion 
that  Typho  was  of  that  colour.  For  in  their  opinion  sacrifices 
ought  not  to  be  made  of  such  things  as  are  in  themselves  agree- 
able to  the  gods,  but  rather  of  those  creatures  into  which  the 
souls  of  wicked  men  have  been  confined  during  the  course  of 
their  transmigration/ 

The  same  remark  is  made  by  Diodorus,^  who  not  only  states 
that  it  was  lawful  to  offer  red  oxen,  because  Typho  was  supposed 
to  be  of  that  colour,  but  that  red,  or  red-haired  men^  were 
formerly  sacrificed  by  the  Egyptian  kings  at  the  altar  of  Osiri& 
This  story  is  repeated  by  Athenaeus,  and  by  Plutarch,^  who 
states,  on  the  authority  of  Manetho,  that  *  formerly  in  the  city  of 
Idithya  '  they  were  wont  to  bum  even  men  alive,  giving  them 
the  name  of  Typhos,  and  winnowing  their  ashes  through  a  sieve 
to  scatter  and  disperse  them  in  the  air,  which  human  sacrifices 
were  performed  in  public,  at  a  stated  season  of  the  year,  during 
dog-days.'  But  from  its  being  directly  contrary  to  the  usages 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  totally  inconsistent  with  the  feelings  of  a 
civilised  people,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  attempt  a  refutation 
of  so  improbable  a  tale ;  and  Herodotus  justly  blames  the 
Greeks  ^  for  supposing  that  *  a  people  to  whom  it  was  forbidden 
to  sacrifice  any  animal  except  pigs,  geese,  oxen,  and  calves, 
and  this  only  provided  they  were  dean,  should  ever  think  of 
immolating  a  human  being.'  * 

Some  have  felt  disposed  to  believe  that  in  the  earliest  times 
(to  which  indeed  Manetho  and  Diodorus  confine  those  sacrifices), 
and  long  before  they  had  arrived  at  that  state  of  civilisation  in 
which  they  are  represented  by  the  Bible  history  and  the  monu- 
ments, the  Egyptians  may  have  been  guilty  of  these  cruel 
practices  and  have  sacrificed  their  captives  at  the  altars  of  the 
gods.  The  abolition  of  the  custom  was  said  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  reign  of  Amosis,*  and  De  Pauw,  who  is  disposed  to  bdieve 
the  statement,  endeavours  to  excuse  them  by  observing,^  that 
*  the  famous  Act  for  burning  heretics  alive  was  only  abrogated 
in  England  under  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,'  as  though  it  were 

*  Diodor.  L  88.  with  the  Greek  notion  of  appeMiBg  the 

*  Plut.  de   Isid.  s.  73.    Athen.   iv.   p.  winds.    (Herodot.  ii.  119;   and  Vin.  A. 
172.                                   •  Eileith™.  ii.  116.)  •  Herodot.  U.  45. 

*  It  wu  a  Greek  cnstom  in  early  limtB,         *  Certainly  not  the  Amoaii  of  the  18tk 
TScelve  Trojan  captives  were  killed  at  the  Dynasty. 

funeral  of  Patroclus :  Homer's  Iliad,  A,  33.  '  *  Snr  lea  figyptieni  at  les  Chinois,'  toI. 

Menelans  was  seized  by  the  Egyptians  for      ii.  p.  113. 
sacrificing  young  children  in  accordance 


Cur.  XT.]  SUFPOBED  HTTIUN  BACBIFICEa  401 

•aalogotu  to  a  htiman  Bacrifice.    Hony  even  suppose  the  record 
of  diu  ancient  custom  may  be  traced  in  the  groups  represented  ' 


OB  the  fs^ailcs  t>f  Egyptian  temples,  vhem  the  kin;;  tKM.-uta  as  if 
ia  the  act  of  slaying  his  prisunera  in  the  pn-sciin;  of  the  god. 


■  TW  B«m  pot  to  dritb  la  th«  mt*- 

mttim  npnHalei    ia  tb*    lonbt   of  th* 

kiagt  tppmu  la  b*  nihtr  Xrupliylfi.  wba 

««•  mf  Bind  w  ■  pMi  nadw  th«  hBib  at 

TOL.  UL 


lb*  print,'  )-rv>ii>i»  t"  loitUtinD  iD'I  i 
<Kw  li/f,  Bt  Ibnv  (nnJrDiD*J  li>  ■  ]•«' 
licBUi  flit  b*r*AA<r. 


402  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XV. 

But  a  strong  argnment  against  this  being  oommemoiative  of 
a  human  sacrifice  is  derived  from  the  fact  of  the  foreigners  he 
holds  in  his  hand  not  being  bound,  but  with  their  hands  free, 
and  even  holding  their  drawn  swords,  plainly  showing  that  it 
refers  to  them  in  a  state  of  war,  not  as  captives.  It  is  therefore 
an  allegorical  picture,  illustrative  of  the  power  of  the  king  in 
his  contest  with  the  enemies  of  his  country. 

Indeed,  if  from  this  anyone  were  disposed  to  infer  the  exist- 
ence of  such  a  custom  in  former  times,  he  must  admit  that  it  was 
abandoned  long  before  the  erection  of  any  existing  monument/ 
consequently  ages  prior  to  the  accession  of  the  Amosis  whose 
name  occurs  in  the  sculptures — long  before  the  Egyptians  are 
mentioned  in  sacred  history,  and  long  before  they  were  that 
people  we  call  Egyptians.  For  it  is  quite  incompatible  with 
the  character  of  a  nation  whose  artists  thought  acts  of  clemency 
towards  a  foe  worthy  of  record,  and  whose  laws  were  distinguished 
by  that  humanity  which  pimished  with  death  the  murder  even 
of  a  slave. 

I  have,  therefore,  no  scruple  in  doubting  this  statement 
altogether,  and  in  agreeing  with  the  historian  of  Halicamassns 
respecting  the  improbability  of  such  a  custom  among  a  civilised 
people.  And  when  we  consider  how  solemnly  the'  Moslems 
declare  the  pillar  of  clay,  now  left  at  the  mouths  of  the  canals 
when  opened  to  receive  the  water  of  the  inundation,  to  have 
been  the  substitute  which  the  humanity  of  Amer  adopted  in  lien 
of  the  virgin  annually  sacrificed  to  the  Nile  at  that  season 
previous  to  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Arabs,  we  may  learn 
how  much  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  tradition,  and  what  is 
stated  to  be  recorded  fact.  For  though  Arab  historians  lived 
very  near  to  the  time  when  that  sacrifice  is  said  to  have  been 
abolished,  though  the  pillar  of  earth  is  still  retained  to  com- 
memorate it,  and  though  it  bears  the  name  of  Hari6oset  e 
Neel,  *  the  bride  of  the  Nile  * — all  far  stronger  arguments  than 
any  brought  forward  respecting  the  human  sacrifices  of  early 
Egypt — we  are  under  the  necessity  of  disbelieving  the  existence 
of  such  sacrifices  in  a  Christian  country,  at  the  late  period  of 


*  The  learned  Prichard  (p.  863)  thinks  two  knives  stuck  into  his  forehead,  two  is 

that  a  subject  described  from  the  temple  his  shoulders,  one  in  his  thigh,  and  another 

of  Tentjra   proves  this  custom   to  have  in  his  body,'  can  scarcely  be  an  argumeoi 

existed  in  Egypt.    But  that  temple  is  of  in  favour  of  a  human  sacrifice,  unless  m^ 

late  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  date,  and  *  the  of  that  description  were  proved  to  hire 

figure  of  a  man  with  the  head  aid  ears  of  lived  in  those  days. 
an  asSf  kneeling,  and  bound  to  a  tree,  with 


OHiP.  XV.] 


CONTEMPT  FOB  FOBEIQNEBS. 


403 


iii'l 

Readi  at  tiitrigaen  vbkli  oDot  nnmRl  put  of 
"-- ui  ircUtcctaR U ICeduut H«bao 


Aj>.  638,  when  the  religion  of  Islsm  sopplonted  that  of  the  Cross 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

That  red-haired  men  were  treated  with  great  contempt  hy  the 
Egyptians  is  perfectly  true.  Bat  however  much  their  prejudices 
were  excited  against  them,  it  is  too  mach  to  suppose  they  bought 
them  unworthy  to  live ;  and  they  were  probably  contented  to 
express  their  dislike  to  foreigners,  who  were  noted  for  that 
peculiarity,  by  applying  to  them  some  reproachful  name;  as 
the  Chinese  contemptuously  de- 
signate us '  red-haired  barbarians.' 
*  In  Egypt,'  says  Diodoms,  '  few 
are  found  with  red  hair,  among 
foreigners  many.'*  Such,  indeed, 
was  the  prejudice  against  them, 
that  '  they  would  not  willingly 
converse  with  people  of  that 
complexion;''  and  whenever  they 
wished  to  show  their  contempt 
for  a  northern  race,  they  repre- 
sented them  on  their  sandals,  and 
in  other  humiliating  positions,  with  red  hair,  and  of  a  yellow 
coloor.  This  contempt  for  strangers  induced  the  Egyptian 
architects  to  introduce  them  supporting  on  their  heads  portions 
of  boildings,  as  in  the  pavilion 
of  King  Kameses  at  Thebes, 
where  they  occupy  the  same  un- 
comfortable positions  generally 
given  to  men  and  monsters  on 
our  old  churches.  The  idea  of 
<  making  his  enemies  his  foot- 
stool' is  also  shown  from  the 
Ktdptnres  to  have  been  common 
in  Egypt,  as  in  other  Eastern 
conntoies. 

The  sacrifice  of  red  oxen 
cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind  the  law 
of  the    Israelites,    which    com-      "*  ™"  '""' 

maoded  them  to  '  bring  a  red  heifer  without  spot,  wherein  was 
no  blemish,  and  upon  which  never  came  yoke.''  According 
to  Maimonides,  they  were  so  particular  in  the  choice  of  it, 
that  '  if  only  two  white  or  black  hwrs  were  found  lying  upon 


Flat.  d«  liid.  1.  33. 


*  Komb.  lii.  2. 

2  D  2 


404  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XV. 

each  other,  the  animal  was  considered  unfit  for  sacrifice;'^ 
and  Herodotus^  says,  that  if  the  Egyptians  'found  a  single 
black  hair  upon  the  ox  they  were  examining  for  that  purp<»e, 
they  immediately  rejected  it  as  unclean.*  *They  believe,' 
says  the  historian,  'that  all  clean  oxen  belong  to  Epaphus, 
and  this  is  the  reason  they  examine  them  with  so  much 
care.  There  is  a  particular  priest  for  that  office,  who, 
when  the  animal  is  brought,  examines  it  in  every  position, 
standing,  and  lying  on  its  back;  and  having  drawn  out  its 
tongue,  he  ascertains  if  it  is  free  from  certain  marks  described 
in  the  sacred  books,  which  I  shall  mention  elsewhere.^  He 
even  looks  if  the  hairs  of  its  tail  are  such  as  they  ought  to  be 
naturally ;  and  when  all  the  requisite  signs  are  found  for  pro- 
nouncing it  clean,  the  priest  marks  it  with  his  seal,  after  which 
it  is  taken  to  the  altar ;  but  it  is  forbidden  under  pain  of  death 
to  slay  a  victim  which  has  not  this  mark.' 

His  statement  differs  in  some  respects  &om  that  of  Plutarch, 
nor  does  the  historian  consider  the  red  colour  necessary  to 
render  it  fit  for  sacrifice.  The  principal  point  seems  to  be  the 
absence  of  those  marks  which  characterise  Apis,  or  Epaphus,  the 
sacred  bull  of  Memphis ;  and  the  sculptures,  as  I  shall  presently 
show,  abundantly  prove  that  oxen  with  black  and  red  spots  were 
usually  killed  in  Egypt,  both  for  the  altar  and  the  table. 

It  was  lawful  to  slay  all  oxen  answering  to  a  particular  de- 
scription in  the  sacred  books;  but  the  sacrifice  of  heifers  was 
strictly  forbidden,  and  in  order  to  enforce  this  prohibition  they 
were  held  sacred.*  So  great  was  their  respect  for  this  law,  that 
the  '  cow  was  esteemed  more  highly  among  the  Egyptians  than 
any  other  animal ;'  ^  and  their  consequent  horror  of  those  persons 
whose  religion  permitted  them  to  slay  and  eat  it  was  carried 
so  far  '  that  no  Egyptian  of  either  sex  could  be  induced  to  kiss 
a  Greek  on  the  mouth,  to  make  use  of  his  knife,  his  spit,  or  his 
cooking  utensils,  nor  even  to  taste  the  meat  of  a  clean  beast 
which  had  been  slaughtered  by  his  hand.' 

Aware  of  this  prejudice,  and  of  the  consequent  displeasure 
of  the  Egyptians  in  the  event  of  their  sacrificing  a  heifer,*  the 
Israelites  proposed  to  withdraw  into  the  desert  a  distance  of 
three  days'  journey,  where  they  might  perform  the  ceremony 
without  openly  offending  against  the  laws  of  Egypt.  And  when 
told  by  Pharaoh  '  to  go  and  sacrifice,'  the  answer  of  Moses  was, 

>  Maimon.  in  lib.  de  Vacci  ruit,  o.  i.  *  Herodot.  U.  88.  •  In  lib.  iiL  28. 

*  To  Isis,  or  rather  to  Athor.  »  Herodot.  U.  41.:  *  Ezod.  tuL  26. 


Chap.  XT.] 


SAGGRIFIGES  OF  OXEN. 


405 


'  It  18  not  meet  so  to  do ;  for  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abomination 
of  the  Egyptians  to  the  Lord  our  God  :  lo,  shall  wo  siuTifiee  the 
abomination  of  the  Egyptians  before  their  cyos,  and  will  they 
not  stone  us  ?  We  will  go  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness, 
and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our  God,  as  He  shall  command  us.*  ^ 

It  does  not  appear  that  in  this  instance  they  were  ordered  to 
offer  a  red  heifer,  as  described  in  a  subsequent  ordinance ;  ^  and 
indeed  victims  of  that  ixK*uliar  descrijition,  according  to  Maimon- 
ides,  were  reserved  for  certain  occasions,  nine  only  having  been 
sacrificed  from  the  time  of  Moses  to  *  the  desolation  of  the  Second 
Temple.*'  At  other  times  the  Israelites  made  no  distinction 
between  those  of  different  colour,  and  their  apprehensions  from 
the  anger  of  the  Egyptians  proceeded  sohdy  from  their  infring- 
ing a  law  which  forbade  the  slaughter  of  any  but  male  cattle. 
Though  they  were  then*  commande<l  to  slay  a  heifer,  it  is 
eTident  that  they  too,  on  most  occasions,  wcrt;  reKtrictu<l  to  male 
victims,*  a  wise  regulation  for  the  preservation  of  the  si>ecies, 
which  the  legislators  of  Eastern  nations  seldom  overlooked.  '  In 
Egypt  and  Palestine,'  says  St.  Jerome,*  '  in  (*ons4M|uence  of  the 
great  scarcity  of  cattle,  no  one  eats  the  meat  of  cows;'  and 
Porphyry'  asserts  that  'the  scruples  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Phcenicians  were  so  strong  on  this  ]>oint,  that  they  wouhi  rather 
have  lived  on  the  flesh  of  man  than  of  tln^  cow.'  That  the 
Egyptians  abstaine<i  from  the  meat  of  heifers  is  attest«Hl  by 
the  anthority  of  anci(*nt  authors  and  by  the  sculptures  them- 
selves ;  but  we  find  from  these  last  that  the  restriction  to  animals 
of  a  re<l  colour,  if  really  in  force  at  any  time,  wa.s  not  genendly 
maintaine<i  either  in  sacrifices  or  when  re<|uired  for  the  table. 
A  black  and  white  ox  is  n*prt*sented  at  the  altars  of  seveml  gtxls, 
even  of  Osiris  himst*lf ;  and  the  butcher  or  the  c(Mik  is  frequently 
engaged  in  slaughtering  spotte<l  oxen,  and  pre|»ariiig  them  for 
the  use  of  the  fumilv. 


■  Eiod.  Tin.  'JO.  '.'7.         '  Numh.  liz.  2. 

*  *  Nine  red  hrifrr*/  mxa  MaioKiDiileii, 
'  kavt  been  Mrriticed  ti«>twp«n  the  oriieinal 
MItvit  of  thio  |>n*rv|it  aii'l  th«  ilnmUtioii 
9i  tht  SemBil  Temple.  Our  l<»rtl  Muimi 
■■frififll  the  tir^t,  (lira  otfiTMl  thr  MK-t»Di|, 
ami  MT«B  tn*'Te  Wf  re  otrrrr«l  up  Uunni;  the 
Mriod  whu'h  rU|Mnl  frrnn  thr  tiiiir  of 
Em  to  the  •li*»tru«  tii-n  i>i'  thi'  Trtiipln  ;  the 
UaUk  KiBjC  Mr««iiih  himtelt'  will  Muhfire: 
by  Hii  •pec«iy  maDift^tatioo  He  will  rau«v 
|Mt  jnj.*  ( Maimi-D.  t|o  VArt'l  riiA.  r.  :t.) 
1 4>  BoC,  htiwerer.  iiU}>|M»iw*  thi«  to  be  taken 
litnftllj,  mad  wc  tr»G«  in  it  thai  nfervncc 


to  noinlters  to  ronimon  in  sDcirnt  timet. 
[MftimuniUi's  s  ^trmi  .It^wi^h  trarh^r.  wm 
born  ftt  (*tinlora  in  1131  a.i».,  sm)  died 
in  £|^|>t  «t  the  a^e  of  «evrnty.  r<|uallr 
ciiteemed  by  J«w«  an<l  ('hri<>tiAn«. — (>.  W.J 

*  It  was  |ierha|Mi  to  brr.ik  throiiEh  and 
preTent  their  lieioi;  herfsittfr  intiaronnl  by 
thi«  Kreat  Ki^yptiAO  prfjn>iu*e. 

*  Lrvit.  \.  l\:  *  \j»-i  him  utTer  .t  iiiii/r 
without  blemish/  ri  'iM. 

*  Hiemn.  adr.  Jnvin.  ii.  7. 

'  Pfrphjr.  d«  Ab^tin.  ii.  II.  Herodnt. 
ii.  41. 


406  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

Nor  did  any  colour  exempt  them  from  labour;  and  black, 
white,  spotted,  or  red  oxen  were  indiscriminately  employed  in 
the  plough  and  *  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field.*  It  is  there- 
fore evident,  that  if  any  restriction  respecting  colour  actually 
existed,  it  was  only  attended  to  on  certain  occasions,  or  at 
peculiar  ceremonies  in  honour  of  some  of  the  gods,  and  perhaps 
only  when  worshipped  in  a  particular  character.  This  is  the 
more  probable,  as  we  find  they  did  not  scruple  to  offer  a  coloured 
victim  before  the  altar  of  Osiris,  to  whom  the  red  ox  was  said 
to  be  an  offering  peculiarly  acceptable.  Certain  marks  may 
have  excluded  an  animal,  and  have  rendered  it  unfit  for  the 
altar  or  the  table,  pcurticularly  if  they  bore  any  resemblance  to 
those  which  characterised  Apis ;  and  some  oxen  may  have  been 
forbidden  in  consequence  of  their  being  thought  to  appertain  to 
Mnevis,  the  sacred  bull  of  Heliopolis. 

It  was,  perhaps,  on  the  occasion  of  sacrificing  the  red  ox 
that  the  imprecations  mentioned  in  Herodotus  and  Plutarch 
were  uttered  by  the  priest  upon  the  head  of  the  victim,  which,  as 
I  have  already  observed,  strongly  reminds  us  of  the  scapegoat 
of  the  Jews  ;^  and  if  so,  this  may  serve  to  confirm  my  conjecture 
of  that  '  important  ceremony  being  confined  to  certain  occasions 
and  to  chosen  animals,  without  extending  to  every  victim  which 
was  slain.' 

According  to  Herodotus,  *They  took  the  ox  destined  for 
sacrifice  to  the  altar ;  and  having  lighted  a  fire,  they  poured  a 
libation  of  wine  upon  the  table  and  about  the  prostrate  animal, 
and  invoking  the  deity  slew  it.  They  then  cut  off  the  head  and 
removed  the  skin  from  the  body,  and,  solemnly  loading  the  former 
with  imprecations,  they  prayed  the  gods  to  avert  all  the  evils 
that  might  have  happened  to  their  country  or  themselves,  and  to 
make  them  fall  on  that  head.  After  which  they  either  sold  it 
to  foreigners  or  threw  it  into  the  Nile  ;^  for  no  Egyptian  would 
taste  the  head  of  any  species  of  animal.' 

But,  as  I  have  already  shown,  the  Father  of  History  is  wrong 
in  this  assertion ;  the  heads  of  ordinary  victims  being  commonly 
offered  on  the  altars  of  the  gods,  and  even  taken  with  other 
joints  to  the  kitchen.    The  head  may  not  have  been  a  fashionable 


*  Lerit.  zri.  21.  practised  by  the  Jewi,  in  which  the  head 

*  Herodot.  ii.  39.  JElian  lays  the  of  a  heifer  was  cut  off  for  the  expiation  of 
Ombites  gave  the  heads  of  their  Tictims  murder  by  an  unknown  hand,  the  elders  of 
to  the  orMMxiiles.  (De  Nat.  Animal,  z.  21.  the  ricinity  washing  their  hands  orer  the 
Plut.  de  Isid.  s.  31.)   There  was  a  ceremony  body.    (Deut.  zzi.  4,  6.) 


CakP.  XV.]  MODE  OF  SLAYING  VICTIMa  407 

dish  at  a  Theban  dinner;  but  this  would  not  imply  a  prohibition ; 
and  it  may  bo  said  that  few  i>cople  as  refined  as  the  Egyptians 
are  in  the  habit  of  giving  it  a  place  at  their  table. 

The  ceremony  of  fixing  upon  a  pmper  victim  was  probably 
rery  similar  on  all  occasions.  Herodotus  and  I^utareh  state  that 
it  was  done  by  a  class  of  priests,  called  by  the  Litter  sphrayiitm, 
'sealers,'  to  whom  this  duty  exclusively  bolongiMl.*  After 
having  examined  the  animal,  and  ascertained  that  its  appearance 
accorded  with  the  prescribed  rules,  the  priest  put  on  a  mark  as  a 
token  of  its  acceptance,  which  was  done  in  the  following  manner. 
Having  tie<l  a  band  made  of  the  stalk  of  the  {lapyrus  round  its 
horns,  he  applied  a  piece  of  fine  clay  to  the  knot,  and  stamped 
it  with  his  seal,  after  which  an  inferior  functionary  conducted  it 
to  the  altar.  Henxlotus  fails  to  inform  us  resjiecting  the  nature 
of  this  seal ; '  but  Plutarch,  on  the  authority  of  Castor,  says  '  it 
bore  the  figure  of  a  man  on  his  knees,  with  his  hands  tied  behind 
him,  and  a  sword  pointed  at  his  throat' 

This  figuratively  symbolic  group  I  have  met  with  more  than 
once  in  the  hieroglyphics  of  sculptures  relating  to  the  sacrifice 
of  victims.  The  characters  which 
refer  to  or  explain  similar  cere- 
monies in  the  temples  are  generally 
phonetic,  as  in  the  commencement 
of  the  accom{>anying  hieroglyphics, 

•  .1  1  .        .^  '.  .  Sc*l  of  the  priMtt,  ilcnifTinc  that  tiM 

where  the  word  smau,  signifying  to    rktim  misht V  ■uucht<««^.  iMWmi. 
•  slay,'  acconls  with  the  demonstrative   "S^  S©*!*  '^     *^"'  *" 
sign    following    it,    and    recalls   the 

Hebrew  word  $hah-^ai^  *  to  kill,'  which  it  so  clos<*ly  resembles. 
But  no  oxen  represented  in  the  sculptures  as  victims  about  to 
be  slaughtered  have  yet  been  found  bewaring  this  tlcvice,  though 
they  frequently  occur  dei»ked  with  flowers  for  the  o4TaMion. 

The  usual  mode  of  slaying  a  victim  was  by  cutting  th«*  throat, 
••  was  the  commandment  of  Moses  to  the  Israelitt^s,  proluibly 
from  one  ear  Xo  the  other,  which  is  the  custom  of  the  ^loslems 
at  the  prc^sent  day.  The  officiating  priest  gcnt^rally  pla(*eil  his 
hand  uiMm  its  head,*  as  he  drt^w  the  knife  across  its  throat ;  and 
if  an  ox  or  a  goat,  he  held  it  by  the  horns,  the  feet  having  lieen 
previously  tied  together  as  it  lay  \x\^n  the  ground.     Birds  were 

•  a€menttaTttheitoli.t«wMn^ttir*i  *  ^  th«  •*«l»  <>'  »^«  ^-gy|'t»•M.  ^M 

!•  know  tht  >io^x»^ff7*^^««*«  <*'  thoM  chftp.  xTi. 

Uiuift   rcUtiDg   to   the    nt«    of   tlftjiif  *  t^HC*. 

Tictint.    (Strum,  tu  p.  li^.)  *  Ltrit.  i.  4,  iiL  8,  Jtc 


408  THE  AKCIEirr  BaXPTIAHa  [Chap.  XT. 

either  oETeted  eatiie,  or  after  their  heads  had  been  taken  off,  as 
was  cnstomary  in  the  sacrificea  of  the  Jews,  who  were  commanded, 
if  the  offering  was  of  fowls,  *  to  wring  off  the  head,'  and  allow  the 
blood  to  fall  npon  the  ground  at  the  side  of  the  altar.*  Bat  this 
difference  appeais  to  exist  between  the 
rites  of  the  Jews  and  Egyptians,  that 
in  the  former  the  sacrifice  of  birds  was 
confined  to  certain  occasions,^  and  ia 
the  latter  they  were  commonly  deposited 
on  the  altar  with  oxen  and  other  offer- 
ings. When  presented  alone  they  were 
sometimes  placed  npon  a  portable  stand 
furnished  with  spikes,*  over  which  the 
bird  was  laid ;  and  the  same  mode  of 
arranging  the  offerings  was  adopted  on  a 
larger  scale  upon  the  altars  themselves, 
sumafiHtnriDgoiistnsL  whcu  filled  with  the  profasion  usually 
^"^  **''  presented   at  the  shrines  of  the  gods. 

It  is,  however,  proper  to  observe,  that  the  Egyptian  artists  may 
have  intended  by  this  drawing  to  represent  ^e  burning  of  the 
offering,  the  apparent  spikes  being  fiames  of  fire,  though  the 
former  is  tetr  more  probable. 

Greese,  the  most  favourite  offering,*  were  generally  trussed, 
but  wading  birds  were  frequently  offered  with  their  feathers 
unplucbed — a  peculiarity  occasionally  extended  also  to  geese. 
Even  oxen  and  other  animals  were  sometimes  offered  entire, 
though  generally  after  the  head  had  been  taken  off;  bat  it  does 
not  appear  if  this  depended  on  any  particular  ceremony,  or  was 
confined  to  the  rites  of  certain  deities. 

According  to  Porphyry,  aa  quoted  by  Eusebios,*  *  there  were 
gods  of  the  earth  in  the  Greek  mytholc^,  and  gods  of  the  lower 
regions,  to  whom  four-footed  victims  were  offered ;  with  this 
difference,  that  to  the  former  they  were  presented  on  altars,  but 
to  the  infernal  gods  in  a  hole  made  in  the  earth.  To  the  gods  of 
the  air  birds  were  offered,  the  bodies  being  burnt  whole,  and  the 
blood  sprinkled  around  the  altar ;  as  to  the  sea-gods  likewise : 
but  for  these  last  the  libation  was  thrown  into  the  waves,  and  the 
birds  were  of  a  black  colour.'*    Sometimes  fruit  or  flowers  alone 

'  LsTit.  i.  15.  (pike*  to  hold  offering 

*  Levit.  T.  7,  8 ;  xii.  6,  T ;  uid  liv.  4,  *  Jut.   Sst.  vi.  540.    The  round  thin 

etktpopamon  ocean  OD  all  altsn. 
*  Enaeb.  Prtcp.  Erang.  I,  9. 


Cbap.  XV.]  TBEATMENT  OP  VICTIMa  409 

were  presented  to  certain  deities,  as  to  Pomona  and  others ;  and 
•ometimes  a  hecatomb  was  offered  on  great  occasions,  as  in  a 
pnblic  calamity  or  rejoicing,  and  other  events  of  importance, 
though  not  always  confined  to  a  hundred  oxen,  as  the  word 
implies,  since  the  number  might  be  ma<le  up  with  other  animals.^ 
Credulity  has  even  tried  to  insist  upon  the  story  of  Pythagoras 
offering  a  hecatomb  on  his  demonstrating  the  47th  pro[>08ition  of 
Euclid — a  custom  which,  if  still  in  vogue  on  that  and  similar 
occasions,  would  tend  materially  to  increase  the  embarrassments 
of  modem  education. 

The  same  marked  difference  does  not  appear  to  have  existeil 
in  the  sacrifices  of  an  Egyptian  temple,  though  peculiar  forms 
M  well  as  offerings  were  suited  to  some  deities  and  at  certain 
festivals.  Even  those  presented  at  the  same  altar  varied  on 
particular  occasions. 

In  slaying  a  victim,  the  Egyptians  suffered  the  blood  to  flow 
npon  the  ground,  or  over  the  altar,  if  placed  u{)on  it ;  with  the 
Jews  it  was  either  poured  upon  the  ground,  or  purposely  brought 
by  the  priest  to  be  sprinkled  over  the  horns  and  poured  out  at 
*  the  b<)ttom  of  the  altar.'  *^  The  Egyptians  were  not  so  strict  in 
reganl  to  the  use  of  the  blood  on  ordinary  occasions  when 
animals  were  slaughtered  for  the  table  as  the  Jews  and  modem 
]Io«lems,  to  both  of  whom  it  is  forbidden  by  the  strictest 
ordinance  of  religion ; '  and  we  even  find  them  re[)resented  in 
the  kitchen  catching  the  blood  for  the  puriM)ses  of  cooking. 

The  moile  of  cutting  up  the  victim  appears  to  have  been  the 
tame  as  when  it  was  killed  for  the  table.  The  head  was  first 
taken  off,  and  after  the  skin  had  been  removed  they  generally 
cut  off  the  right  shoulder,^  and  the  other  legs  and  |)arts  in 
foccession ;  which,  if  re<|uireil  for  the  table,  were  placed  on  trays 
and  carried  to  the  kitchen,  or  if  intended  for  sa<*rific4^  were 
depositc*d  on  the  altar,  with  fruit,  cakes,  and  other  oflerings. 

With  the  ( wrecks  the  thigh*  was  the  |»art  sel(vt<'<l  as  a  chosen 
offering  to  the  gmls,  which  was  burnt  on  a  (*lear  fire  of  wood. 
Apollonius  Uhodius  also  stat<^s  this ;  *  and  Luciun  tells  us  that  the 


*  Horn.  CM.  A,  25.  cnreriai;  it  with  dant,  aoJ  ther  arc  alwar* 

*  herii.  ir.  7,  aihl  viii.  15.    The  Moalems  icrupulou*  aU<ut  it*  U!>i*. 

■!•▼  the  animal  ov«-r  th*-  altar-!ituo«.  *  Lerit.  riii.  'i'*.    It  n  «u|>poM«l  to  hare 

*  UTit.    iTii.   \.\:    Vihi^xtT   •hunteth  ^„  ,^^,^,  Qi^lVT.  Mhe  rh.i^n  *  part. 
md  cauhrth  anr  Uit-.t  or  fowl  that  may  s^^^ji^^  ^h-  Irfl  wa.  tht*  fir»t  Ukea  off. 
W  wtcB,  he  .hall  errn  poar  out  the  blonH  .  ,.^^^^  .^  j^^^.^  ^^ ,  ^^  ^^^^ 

thcmf.  aa.l   coyer   it   with   duit.      The  .  Apollon.  Rhod.  hb.  i.  432. 

"— '— -  gc&erall/  attend  to  the  custom  of  "^ 


410  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

sacrifices  depended  in  some  degree  on  the  quality  or  employment 
of  the  person  by  whom  they  were  presented,  as  in  the  first 
offering  made  by  Cain  and  AbeL  Thus,  '  the  tiller  of  the  land 
immolated  an  ox,  the  shepherd  a  lamb,  and  the  goatherd  a  goat. 
Some  were  permitted  to  present  simple  cakes  or  incense ;  and  a 
poor  man  made  his  oblations  by  kissing  his  right  hand.' 

The  joints  and  parts  most  readily  distinguished  in  the  sculp- 
tures are  the  legs,  the  hind-leg  {fig.  1)  with  its  thigh  or  upper 
joint  (2),  the  kidneys  (4),  the  ribs  (5  and  8),  the  heai:t  (3),  the 
rump  (6),  the  caul  (7),  and  the  liver  (9) ;  and  those  most  commonly 
seen  on  the  altars  are  the  head,  the  hind-leg,^  and  the  ribs.  When 
the  Egyptians  offered  a  holocaust  they  commenced  with  a  libation 
of  wine,^  a  preliminary  ceremony  common,  according  to  Herodotus, 
to  all  their  sacrifices;  and  after  it  had  been  poured  upon  the 
altar,  the  victim  was  slain.  They  first  removed  the  head  and 
skin,  a  statement  which,  I  have  already  shown,  is  fully  confirmed 

8 


0  ^ 


Cf.     <l 


No.  606.  Different  Joints  placed  on  tbe  altan  or  tlie  tablet.  IHebci. 

by  the  sculptures ;  they  then  took  out  the  stomach,  leaving  only 
the  entrails  and  the  fat ;  after  which  the  thighs,  the  upper  part 
of  the  haunches,  the  shoulders,  and  the  neck,  were  cut  off  in 
succession.  Then,  filling  the  body'  with  cakes  of  pure  flour, 
honey,  dried  raisins,  figs,  incense,  myrrh,  and  other  odoriferous 
substances,  they  burnt  it  on  the  fire,  pouring  over  it  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  oil.  The  portions  which  were  not  consumed 
were  afterwards  given  to  the  votaries  who  were  present  on  the 
occasion,  no  part  of  the  offering  being  left ;  and  it  was  during 
the  ceremony  of  burning  the  sacrifice  at  the  fete  of  Isis  that 
they  beat  themselves  in  honour  of  Osiris.  Similar  to  this  was 
the  burnt  offering  *  of  the  Jews ;  when  *  the  fat,  and  the  rump, 
and  all  the  fat  that  was  upon  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  above 


*  This  in  hieroglyphics  signified  '  power '  other  Eastern  tables ;  but  they  fortnnatdy 
or  '  strength.'  omit  the  myrrh  and  incense,  which,  how- 

*  Herodot.  ii.  39,  40.  ever  well  adapted  to  the  taste  of  the  gods, 
'  This  mode   of  filling  the  body  with  woald  be  by  no  means  palatable  to  men. 

raisins  and  other  sweet   things  recalls  a  *  Lerit.  riiL  25-28 

common  dish    of  modem  Egyptian  and 


Gbap.  XV.]       RESEMBLANCE  OF  JEWISH  SACRIFICES.  411 

the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  their  fat,  and  the  riffhi 
shoulder,'  were  taken  together  with  '  one  unleavened  cake,  a  cake 
of  oiled  bread,  and  one  wafer,'  placed  '  on  the  fat,  and  upon  the 
right  shoulder,'  and  burnt  on  the  altar. 

Herodotus  ^  describes  '  the  sacrifice  of  a  pig  to  the  moon,'  in 
which  '  the  end  of  the  tail,  the  spleen,  and  the  caul '  were  covered 
with  all  the  fat  ''  that  was  upon  the  inwards,*'  and  then  burnt, 
the  rest  of  the  victim  being  eaten  on  the  day  of  the  full  moon.' 
Bat  this  I  have  already  noticed,  as  well  as  the  difference  observed 
in  the  manner  of  making  offerings  to  some  deities.' 

llany  of  the  religious  rites  of  the  Jews  bear  a  striking 
resemblance  to  those  of  Egypt,  particularly  the  manner  in  which 
the  sacrifices  were  {>erformed ;  it  may  therefore  not  be  irrelevant 
to  state  the  nature  of  some  of  the  principal  offerings  mentioned 
in  the  Levitical  law.  Among  the  first  were  the  holocaust  or 
burnt  offering,  the  meat  offering,  the  sin  and  trespass  offering, 
or  sacrifice  of  expiation,  and  the  peace  offering,  or  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving. 

1.  The  holocaust  was  ordered  to  be  a  bullock,  a  sheep,  or  a 
goat,  a  male  without  blemish;^  and  the  |)erson  who  offered  it 
having  brought  it  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega* 
tion,  and  having  put  his  hand  upon  its  head,  it  was  accepted  to 
make  atonement  for  him.  He  then  killed  it;  and  the  priests 
taking  the  blood,  and  sprinkling  it  ui)on  the  altar  of  meat 
offering,  flayed  the  victim,  and  cut  it  into  pieces.  The  head, 
with  the  fat  and  the  other  parts,  were  laid  u]X)n  the  wood  of  the 
fire  which  was  kindled  upon  the  altar,  the  legs  and  the  inside  of 
the  body  having  been  previously  cleansed  with  water.  The 
whole  of  it  was  consumed ;  and  neither  the  priests  nor  the 
individual  who  presented  it  were  permitteil  to  reserve  any 
portion  of  the  sacrifice.  Turtle-doves,  or  young  pigeons,  were 
also  accepted  as  a  burnt  offering ;  and  the  priest  having  {ducked 
the  binl  and  wrung  off  its  head,  burnt  it  on  the  woo<l.  The  fire 
upon  the  altar  was  required  to  bum  incessantly,^  and  the  priest 
replenished  it  with  wood  every  morning,  the  offering  being  laid 
in  order  thereon,  and  the  fat  of  the  peace  offering  being  burnt 
Qpon  it. 

2.  The  meat  offering*  consisted  of  fine  flour,  with  oil  and 


"  H«rodot.  ii.  47.  altar  ....  •h»ll  not  U  pat  oat.*     •  The 

*  Uploon,  or  omeDtam.  fir«  fthall  crrr  b«  bumiag  upon  the  alUr  ; 

*  Htrodot.  ii.  39.        «  Urit.  i.  2.  rt  $tq.  it  »hall  utxtr  ico  onu' 

*  UTii.  Ti.  13,  13:   *Tha  firt  vpoa  tha  *  LaTti.  ti.  1. 


412  THE  ANCIENT  EGTFTIANS.  [Chap.  XY. 

firankincense.  The  priest  took  a  handfdl  of  the  flonr,  and  a 
portion  of  the  oil,  with  all  the  frankincense,  and  burnt  them  on 
the  altar,  the  remainder  belonging  to  the  priest  who  officiated  on 
the  occasion.  This  offering  was  also  permitted  to  consist  of 
unleavened  cakes  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  or  of  unleavened 
cakes  anointed  with  oil,  which  might  be  baked  either  in  the 
oven  or  the  pan ;  and  being  cut  into  pieces,  oil  was  poured  upon 
them,  and  a  portion  was  burnt  on  the  altar  by  the  priest,  who 
reserved  the  remainder  for  himself.  No  honey  or  leaven  was 
allowed,  but  an  abundance  of  salt  was  required  in  every  offering 
which  was  burnt.  In  oUaiians  of  firstfruits  no  portion  was 
consumed  by  fire.  But  when  a  meat  offering  of  com  was  pre- 
sented, the  grain  was  beaten  out  of  full  and  green  ears  and 
dried  by  the  fire ;  and  oil  and  frankincense  being  put  upon  it, 
part  of  the  com  and  oil,  with  the  whole  of  the  frankincense,  were 
burnt  as  a  token  or  '  memorial '  of  the  sacrifice. 

3.  A  peace  offering^  was  from  the  herd,  or  from  the  sheep  or 
goats,  and  might  be  either  a  male  or  female.  It  was  killed  in 
the  same  manner.  In  the  holocaust  all  the  fat  that  was  upon  the 
inwards,  and  the  kidneys  with  their  fat,  and  the  caul  above  the 
liver,  were  burnt  upon  the  altar;  and  it  was  particidarly 
commanded  that  no  one  should  eat  either  of  the  fat  or  the  blood 
of  any  animal. 

4.  The  sin  offering^  was  intended  for  the  expiation  of  sin 
unintentionally  committed.  If  the  priest  who  was  anointed  had 
offended,  he  was  required  to  bring  a  young  bullock,  and  having 
placed  his  hand  as  usual  upon  its  head,  to  slay  it,  and  to  sprinkle 
the  blood  seven  times  before  the  veil  of  the  sanctuary.  He  also 
put  some  of  the  blood  on  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  sweet  incense 
which  was  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  poured  all 
the  remainder  at  the  bottom  of  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  which 
stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  Then  taking  off  all  the  fat, 
with  the  caul  and  the  kidneys,  as  in  the  peace  offering,  he  burnt 
them  upon  the  altar  of  burnt  offering ;  and  the  skin,  with  the 
flesh  and  head,  the  legs,  and  all  the  remainder  of  the  bullock, 
were  carried  out  of  the  camp  into  a  clean  place,  where  the  ashes 
were  poured  out,  and  the  whole  was  burnt.  If  all  the  people  had 
offended,  the  elders  placed  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the 
victim,  and  the  rest  of  the  ceremony  was  performed  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  peace  offering ;  but  if  a  ruler,  he  offered  a  male 

*  LeTit.  iii.  1,  et  seq.  '  Leyit.  ir.  1,  ei  aeq. 


OUF.  XV.]  JEWISH  SACRIFICEa  413 

kid,  and  every  other  indiTidual  a  female  of  the  flock,  either  of 
iheep  or  goats.' 

5.  The  trespasi  offering^  was  regulated  by  the  same  law  as  the 
last'  If  anyone  touched  an  unclean  thing,  or  pronounced  an 
oath,  he  was  required  to  offer  a  Iamb  or  a  kid ;  or  if  his  means 
were  limited,  a  pair  of  turtle-doves,  or  two  young  pigeons,  one 
for  a  sin  offering,  the  other  for  a  burnt  offering ;  or  at  least  the 
tenth  part  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour  for  a  sin  offering,  but  without 
any  oil  or  frankincense.  K  anyone  offended  through  ignorance  ^ 
in  the  holy  things,  he  was  commanded  to  bring  a  ram,  estimated 
by  shekels  of  silver  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  for  a 
trespass  offering ;  and  to  make  amends  for  the  offence,  and  to 
'  add  the  fifth  part  thereto,  and  give  it  to  the  priest,'  who  made 
atonement  for  him  with  the  ram. 

6.  The  peace  offering  was  a  voluntary  return  of  thanks  for 
benefits  received,  a  solicitation  of  favours,  or  solely  a  token  of 
devotion  ;  and  it  depended  on  the  will  of  the  individual  by  whom 
it  was  presented.  The  victim  might  be  either  a  male  or  female, 
and  the  law  only  require<l  that  it  should  be  without  blemish. 
There  were  some  other  sacrifices  very  similar  to  those  already 
mentioned — as  of  the  high  priests,  which  consisted  of  a  young 
calf  for  a  sin  offering,  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt  offering ;  the 
perpetual  sacrific<s*  a  daily  offering  of  two  lambs  on  the 
altar  of  burnt  offerings,  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the 
evening ;  and  8ome  others,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enu- 
merate. There  were  also  five  sorts  of  offerings,  called  Mincha^ 
or  Korban  Mineha:*  1,  fine  flour  or  meal;  2,  cakes  of 
various  kinds,  bakeil  in  the  oven ;  3,  cakes  bake<l  on  a  gnddle 
or  plate ;  4,  cakes  baked  on  a  plate  pierced  with  holes ;  5,  first- 
fruits  of  new  corn,  offered  either  pure  and  unmixed,  roasted  or 
parche<l,  in  the  ear  or  out  of  the  ear :  but  these  have  been 
alreaily  menti<med,  as  well  as  the  offerings  of  bread,  salt,  fruits, 
wine,  oil,  honey,  and  other  things  includcnl  under  the  name  of 
Mmeha. 

I  have  also  noticed  the  primitive  nature  of  sacrifices,  the 
probable  worship  of  the  Egyptians  in  their  infancy  as  a  nation, 
their  early  introduction  of  oracles,  and  the  rites  practised  on 
certain  <K*c'asious. 

The  most  usual  offerings  mentioninl  in  the  sculptures,  besides 


*  Lnrit.  W.  2*)  and  32.  •  Urit  t.  7,  et  ttq.  •  Urit.  tu.  7.  «  Lerii.  r.  15. 

*  Exod.  uix.  SS.    Momb.  ziwuL  S.  •  Urit.  U.  1. 


414  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

the  sacrifices  of  animals  and  birds,  are  wine,  oil,  beer/  milk, 
cakes,  grain,  ointment,  flowers,  fruit,  vegetables,  and  yarions 
productions  of  the  soil,  which  answered  in  some  degree  to  the 
Mincha  of  the  Jews.  They  are  not  only  introduced  upon  the 
altars  themselves,  but  are  enumerated  in  lists  or  catalogues 
sculptured  in  the  temples  and  tombs,  some  of  which  specify 
the  day  and  month  on  which  they  were  dedicated  to  the  deity. 

The  ordinary  subjects  in  the  interior  of  the  temples  represent 
the  king  presenting  offerings  to  the  deities  worshipped  there ; 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  are  the  sacrifices  already  men- 
tioned, incense,  libation,  and  several  emblematic  figures  or 
devices  connected  with  religion.  He  sometimes  made  an  ap- 
propriate offering  to  the  presiding  deity  of  the  sanctuary,  and 
to  each  of  the  contemplar  gods,  as  Diodorus'  says  Osymandyas 
was  represented  to  have  done;  the  memorial  of  which  act  of 
piety  was  preserved  in  the  sculptures  of  his  tomb.  The 
historian's  words  are,  ^Contiguous  to  the  library  stand  the 
images  of  cUl  the  gods  of  Egypt,  to  each  of  whom  the  king 
presents  a  suitable  offering,  in  order  to  show  to  Osiris  and  the 
Assessors  seated  below  him  that  his  life  had  been  spent  in  piety 
and  justice  towards  gods  and  men.'  We  are  not,  however,  to 
suppose  that  every  deity  of  the  country  was  there  introduced ; 
but  those  only  who  held  a  place  among  the  contemplar  gods 
worshipped  in  the  city,  as  was  the  custom  in  all  the  temples  and 
sacred  monuments  of  Egypt.  And  though  the  statues  he  men- 
tions no  longer  remain,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  list  of 
offerings  is  still  preserved  in  the  innermost  remaining  chamber 
of  the  Kameseum  or  Memnonium,  which,  as  I  have  had  occasion 
to  observe,  has  every  appearance  of  being  the  monument  alluded 
to  by  Diodorus. 

In  offering  incense,  the  king  held  in  one  hand  the  censer, 
and  with  the  other  threw  balls  or  pastilles  of  incense  into  the 
flame.  Then,  addressing  the  god  before  whose  statue  he  stood 
with  a  suitable  prayer  to  invoke  his  aid  and  favour,  he  begged 
him  to  accept  the  incense  he  presented,  in  return  for  which  the 
deity  granted  him  *a  long,  pure,  and  happy  life,'  with  other 
favours  accorded  by  the  gods  to  men. 

*  [This  is  the   ohos   KpiBivos  of  Xeno-  with  wine  lie  on  their   faces,   but   tho^e 

phoD.     Diodorus  (i.  34)  mentions  it  as  *  a  with  beer  on  their  backs.      He  cites  Heca- 

beverage  from  barley  called  by  the  Egyp-  ta?ns  respecting  the  use  of  beer  in  Egypt, 

tians  zythuSy    which  he  thinks  *•  not  much  whose  words  are,  ras  KpiBh.s  cu  rh  wSfui 

inferior  to  wine.'     Athenseus  (i.  p.  34  A ;  KaraXtovat.       1   have   found   the   residue 

X.  p.  418  e)  calls  it  *  macerated  barley  ; '  of  some   malt   at    Thebes,  once    used  for 

and  says  Aristotle  supposes  that  men  drunk  making  beer. — Q.  W.]          '  Diodor.  i.  49. 


mi;;ij!aq 


CFI'"'*'* 


416 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XV. 


*Offeriog  of  Inoeose'  and 
a  litMtUoa. 

Ko.  60T. 


The  censer  has  been  already  noticed.  A  libation  of  wine 
was  frecjuently  offered  together  with  incense ;  flowers  were  often 
presented  with  them ;  and  many  sacrifices  consisted  of  oxen  or 
other  animals,  birds,  cakes,  fruit,  vegetables,  ointments,  and 
other  things,  with  incense  and  libation.     On  some  occasions 

two  censers  of  incense  were  offered,  and  several 
oxen,  birds,  and  other  consecrated  gifts  were 
placed  on  the  altar.  And  that  it  was  customary 
to  present  several  of  the  same  kind  is  shown  by 
the  ordinary  formula  of  presentation,  which  says, 
'  I  give  you  a  thousand  ($.6.  many)  cakes,  a  thou- 
sand vases  of  wine,  a  thousand  head  of  oxen,  a 
thousand  geese,  a  thousand  vestments,  a  thou- 
sand censers  of  incense,  a  thousand  libations,  a  thousand 
boxes  of  ointment'  The  cakes  were  of  various  kinds.  Many 
were  round,  oval,  or  triangular;  and  others  had  the  edges 
folded  over,  like  the  fateereh  of  the  present  day.  They  also 
assumed  the  shape  of  leaves,  or  the  form  of  an  animal,  a 
crocodile's  head,  or  some  capricious  figure,  and  it  was  frequently 
customary  to  sprinkle  them  (particularly  the  round  and  oval 
cakes)  with  seeds. 

Wine  was  frequently  presented  in  two  cups.  It  was  not 
then  a  libation,  but  merely  an  offering  of  wine;^ 
and  since  the  pouring  out  of  wine  upon  the  altar 
was  a  preliminary  ceremony,  as  Herodotus  observes, 
conmion  to  all  their  sacrifices,  we  find  that  the 
king  is  often  represented  making  a  libation  upon 
an  altar  covered  with  offerings  of  cakes,  flowers,  and 
the  joints  of  a  victim  killed  for  the  occasion. 

The  Egyptian  artists  did  not  bind  themselves 
to  one  instant  of  time  in  their  representations  of 
these  subjects.    The  libation,  therefore,  appears  to 
be  poured  over  the  mass  of  offerings  collected  upon 
the  altar ;  but  the  knowledge  of  their  mode  of  drawing,  and  the 


Wine  offered  in  two 
cups. 
No.  608. 


^  [This  is  to  be  distinguished  from  beer, 
otvos  Kpl$iyoSf  *  barle^r-wine '  (see  suprhj 
p.  414),  both  of  which  were  made  in  great 
quantities  in  Egypt.  The  most  noted  were 
those  of  Mareotis,  Anthylla,  Plinthine, 
Coptos,  and  the  Teniotic,  Sebennjtic,  and 
Alexandrian ;  and  many  were  noticed  in 
the  offerings  made  in  the  tombs  and 
temples  of  Egypt.  Among  them  wine  of 
the  'Northern  Country'  is  mentioned, 
and  that  long  before  the  Qreekt  carried 


wine  to  Egypt.  In  later  times,  when  the 
prejudices  of  the  Egyptians  had  begun  to 
relax,  a  trade  was  established  with  the 
Greeks,  and  Egypt  reoeired  wine  from 
Greece  and  Phoenicia  twice  erery  year 
(Herod,  iii.  6),  and  many  Greeks  carried 
it  direct  to  Naucratis.  The  wine-presses 
and  offerings  of  wine  in  the  tombu  at  the 
Pyramid!  diow  wine  was  made  in  Egypt 
at  least  as  early  ■•  the  4th  Dynasty.^ 
G.  W.] 


CaAP.  XV.]       OFFERINGS  OF  WIN'E,  FLOWERS,  ETC.  417 

authority  of  HonMldtus,  explain  that  the  lil>}iti<»u  was  pourccl 
oat  befi>ro  the  ofTcrings  were  phiced  u|Hm  it ;  aii<l  instuiicf*:}  are 
eren  found  in  the  8cul{)ture8  of  ^  • 

this  prejiaratory  ceremony.     Two   |5^  /"^y*  i  4 

kinds   of  vases  were  principally    1  /  (      S      rrjj    t^S 

used  for  liUition,  ami  the  various      If  \^       //  ,  /   %^\ 

kinds  of  wine  were  indicated  by     ..    -^    ..  _     ^,  ,„  .. 

•^         >o.  C09.     \  •»**  uju^  fur  Ut«tli.n«. 

the  names  affixed  to  them.  •uifiofAnuu-j.r; 

White  awl  red  wines,  those  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Country, 
gmpe-juico  or  wine  of  the  vineyanl  (one  of  the  most  delicious 
beverages  of  a  hot  climate,  and  one  which  is  comm<mly  used  in 
Spain  and  other  countries  at  the  present  day),  were  the  most 
noted  denominations  introduced  into  the  lists  of  offerings  on 
the  monuments. 

Beer   and     milk    were    also    admitted  A   ^      t^ 

amongst  them;  and  oils  of  various  kinds,        ^^  .^       Tli 
for  which  Egypt  was  famous,  were  presented      ^ 


I  •  I 


wehvime  oflerings  at  the  shrines  of  the  oirfhi.K  or  lutik.  an. 

,  *^  No.  6lU. 

gods. 

I  have  alri'ady  had  ocoision  to  notice  some  of  the  gifts  pre- 
8ente<l  to  Isis  for  presc^rving  an  individual  from  the  danger  of 
the  sea ;  and  it  is  evident  fri^m  this,  and  the  prayer  that  accom- 
panied it,  that  the  size  of  the  offering  dei>ended  on  the  gratitude 
of  the  donor  for  the  favour  he  n^ceivcnl,  and  on  the  extent  of 
the  demand  made  by  him  for  future  blessings. 

Flowers  were  presented  in  diffen»nt  ways;  either  h^osely, 
tied  together  by  the  stalks,  or  in  can*fulIy-formed  iNiuquets, 
without  any  other  gifts.  Sometimes  those  of  a  {uirticular  kind 
were  offereil  alone,  the  most  esteemed  tN>ing  the  lotus,  [mpyrus, 
convolvulus,  and  other  favourite  proiluctions  of  thi'  ganlen,  and 
■ometimes  a  tM)U(|Ui*t  of  ])e<*uliar  fonn  was  presented,  or  two 
■mailer  rmes  carried  in  each  of  the  donor's  hands. 

Chaplets  and  wreaths  of  flowers  were  also  hiid  u|>on  the 
altars,  and  offerinl  to  the  deitii*s,  whose  statues  wen*  frtM|Uently 
ciowne<l  with  them.  Th(»si*  which  were  most  grateful  or  useful 
to  man  w«Te  chosen  as  the  most  acceptable  to  the  puis:  and 
the  same  feeling  guideil  them  in  their  sideetion  of  herl»s  and 
roots  destined  for  tht*  altar.  It  was  prolmbly  the  utility,  n&thur 
than  the  flavour,  that  induccHl  them  to  show  so  niarkiMl  a  pn^ 
feience  for  the  oni(»n,  the  Raphinu*^^  and  cueurbitaceous  plants, 

*  E«Ua  bj  iht  workmca  who  baili  tkt  Pjranitl^. 
VOL.  lU.  2   IS 


418  TEE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAMa.  [Chap.  XT. 


ipt  M  p«ip«UT«.  The  apper  pvl  (a)  ippeus  to  ba  Uh  paprniB;  h  Im  t 
Ibt  meUlolai.  From  Jig.  la,  n  vonld  Mtm  thit  m  bcll-tonncd  llowtT  !■  • 
It,  4. 1,  T,  and  »a,  ■luj'baUie  pipjnui  and  Um  ibilla  of  (nliuiui*  >ittli  tbM 

MndoruplUltuTeuiliidlatlaDarilHlrtuigaUrlOnnof  lU  stilk.     3.  Thalotu.     1.  II.  11.11. 

Dtrrcnnt  towiDHa.    Tbe  Inscrlptlin  it  11  iti  13  it  rUt  ab  m  irf,  '  Iht  gilt  of  ■  bonqut  to  Ut 

fuh...    in    ._i.u — . — I  a .^     s,  protape  the  Mine  »•  *. 


CiUF.  XV.]      0FFERINQ8  OF  VEGETABLES  AND  FRUIT.  419 

which  80  generally  found  a  place  amongst  the  offerings.  Their 
frequent  use  is  equally  shown  by  the  authority  of  the  Bible,*  of 
Herodotus,^  and  of  the  sculptures,  where  they  appear  as  the 
representatives  of  the  vegetables  of  the  country.  Wo  are  thus 
enabled  to  account  for  the  great  importance  attacheil  to  onions, 
which,  ))eing  forbidden  to  the  priests  and  those  initiated  in  the 
mysteries,  might  appear  unworthy  of  the  gods ;  and  I  have 
already  shown  the  peculiar  form  in  which  they  were  offered 
on  some  occasions,  the  mode  of  decking  them  with  garlands, 
and  the  remarkable  circumstance  of  their  Inking  frequently 
presented  by  the  priests  who  wore  the  leo[)ard-8kin  dress.  In 
ordinary  offerings  they  were  bound  together  in  a  simple  bundle, 
though  still  made  up  with  great  care;  and  if  instances  occur 
of  onions  being  placed  on  the  altar  singly  (even  in  sculptures 


Fi§.  1.  A  b««kM  of  wyramore  flim.     X  3,  4.  Hlerof Ijpbk.  •ignifjlng  *  wife.'        5.  •.  ("ucnrbiU 
Lftftiuria,  or  KAm-towe^l.    T,  8.  Rftphanut  MtlYva,  var.  fdallt.      f .  Ookms. 

exeouteil  during  the  time  of  the  16th  Dynasty),  they  are  of  very 
rare  occurrence. 

Of  fruits,  the  sycamore  fig  and  grapes  were  the  mc^t  esteemed 
for  the  service  of  the  altar.  They  were  presented  on  baskets 
or  trays,  frequently  covered  with  leaves  to  keep  them  fresh ;  and 
sometimes  the  former  were  represented  placed  in  such  a  manner, 
on  an  oi>en  basket,  as  to  resemble  the  hieroglvphic  signifying 
•  wife.' 

Ointm(»nt  was  presented  in  different  ways,  according  to  the 
ceremony  in  which  it  was  offered.  It  wiw  placed  In? fore  the 
deity  in  vases  of  alal>aster  or  other  materials  as  a  gift,  which 
he  was  rfpn^sentiMl  to  nn^eivo  with  the  promise  of  a  suitable 
return  to  the  <l(mor ;  the  name  of  the  gixl  to  whom  it  was  vowed 
being  engravt*<l  upon  the  vas<^  that  containiMl  it.  Sometimes 
the  king  or  priest  t4M)k  out  a  certain  {Mirtifui  to  anoint  the  statue 
of  the  <leity,  which  was  done  with   the  little  liii;r»'r  of  the  right 


•  Kumb.   xi.  Tk     The  name  <»f  *  mi*loDt  *      the    Hitr^kh^    y^^im ..  nr  w.-tter-mel"n    of 

2  E  2 


420  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XV. 

hand.*  Macrobius^  says,  'Those  Egyptian  priests  who  were 
called  prophets,  when  engaged  in  the  temple  near  the  altars  of 
the  gods,  moistened  the  ring-finger  of  the  left  hand  (which  was 
that  next  to  the  smallest)  with  various  sweet  ointments,  in  the 

belief  that  a  certain  nerve  communicated 
with  it  from  the  heart.*  But  this  pro- 
bably refers  to  some  other  religious  cus- 
tom, since  it  is  not  likely  that  the  left 
hand  would  be  employed  to  anoint  the 
statues  of  the  gods ;  and  the  sculptures 
abundantly  show  that  the  ceremony  was 
performed  as  here  represented. 

Ointment  often  formed  part  of  a  large 
Preparing  to  anoint.  douatiofi,  aud  always  entered  into  the  list 

'*'''''*'"  m^/''"**'"*^^   oi  those  things  which  constituted  the 
^^'  *^^-  '**'*^      complete  set  of  offerings  already  men- 

tioned ;  and  the  various  kinds  of  sweet-scented  ointments  used 
by  the  Egyptians  were  liberally  offered  at  the  shrines  of  the 
gods.^  According  to  Clemens,  one  of  the  most  noted  was  the 
psaffdai^  for  which  Egypt  was  particularly  famed;  and  Pliny 
and  Athenajus  both  bear  testimony  to  the  variety  of  Egyptian 
ointments,  as  well  as  the  importance  attached  to  them;  which 
is  confirmed  by  the  sculptures,  and  even  by  the  vases  discovered 
in  the  tombs. 

Eich  vestments,  necklaces,  bracelets,  jewellery  of  various 
kinds,  and  other  ornaments,  vases  of  gold,  silver,  and  porcelain, 
bags  of  gold,  and  numerous  gifts  of  the  most  costly  description, 
were  also  presented  to  the  gods.  They  constituted  the  riches 
of  the  treasury  of  the  temples ;  and  the  spoils  taken  from  con- 
quered nations  were  deposited  there  by  a  victorious  monarch  as 
a  votive  gift  for  the  success  of  his  arms,  or  as  a  token  of  grati- 
tude for  favours  he  was  supposed  to  have  received^  Tables  of 
the  precious  metals  and  rare  woods  were  among  these  offerings ; 
and  an  accurate  catalogue  of  his  votive  presents  was  engraved 
on  the  walls  of  the  temple,  to  commemorate  the  piety  of  the 
donor  and  the  wealth  of  the  sanctuary.  They  do  not,  however, 
properly  come  under  the  denomination  of  offerings  to  the  gods, 
but  are  rather  dedications  to  their  temples ;  and  it  was  in  pre- 


'  The  notion  of  superiority  attached  to  of  Pjthagoras,  'Take  off  jour  right  shoe 

the  right   hand  was  always  remarkable,  first,  but  put  your  left  foot  first  into  the 

and  is  now  scrupulously  maintained  in  the  bath.'  '  Macrob.  Saturn,  yii.  p.  270. 

East.    It  calls  to  mind  one  of  the  precepts         *  Plin.  xiii.  1,  3 ;  Clem.  Pied.  ii.  8. 


Gpat.  XV.] 


EMBLEMATIC  OFFEBINQ& 


421 


■enting  them  that  some  of  the  grand  processions  took  place,  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded. 

But  it  was  not  only  customary  to  deposit  the  necklaces  and 
other  *  precious  gifts '  collectively  in  the  temple ; 
the  kings  frequently  offered  each  singly  to  the 
gods,  decorating  their  statues  with  them,   and 
placing  them  on  their  altars. 

They  also  presented  numerous  emblems,  con- 
necte<l  with  the  vows  they  had  made,  the  favours 
they  desircil,  or  the  thanksgivings  they  returned 
to  the  gods :  among  which  the  most  usual  were  a 
small   figure  of  Truth;    the  symbol  of  the  as- 
semblies,^. 1 ;  acow  of  Athor,*>H7.  2;  the  hawk-  ...TiiZ'^i^^'ic. 
headed  necklace,  ti«x»  of  Socharis,^.  3;  a  cyno-  Jutiice)tohtofatb«. 
oephalus,/^/.  4;  parts  of  dress  (?),/y.  5;  ointment,   ^^^••'*- 
Ji^.  iia  and  iib  ;  gold  and  silver  in  bags  or  rings, /^.  7,  a  and  h  ; 


:  rfj?   7 


Nol  CIS. 


/    « 


I,  »«U«als  uf  Ihlrtjr  jrivn.    %  m^A  mmm,  *||Itm  %  vatMHtv^^*     a,  vi  m*.  'cIvm  •  eolUr/ 

m  Msavr.    S.  icift  of  tlDMi.    •«.  Rtft  of  ■ng««t«;  •  *.  gift  uf  oMOKCwt.     T  «.  f«l  m^  'give*  guU  i* 
f  K  ral  *i<f,  *  givM  «llT«r.'    s,  gift  vf  lleU)i. 


'  la  li«tt  uf  A  cttUir,  or  iu  cuunt«r|Hii««. 


422 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XV. 


three  feathers  or  heads  of  reeds,  the  emblem  of  a  field,  jig,  8 ;  a 
scribe's  tablet  and  ink-stand,^.  9, a  and  i;  a  garland  or  wreath, 


^u.  616. 


Emblematic  offerings. 
1 1 .  Soq  ta  het,  -*  brings  along  white  bread.' 


Jig.  10 ;  and  an  emblem  of  pyramidal  form,  perhaps  the  seal  or 
key  of  the  sanctuary,^.  11. 

Thanksgivings  for  the  birth  of  a  child,  escape  from  danger, 
or  other  marks  of  divine  favour,  were  offered  by  individuals 
through  the  medium  of  the  priests.  The  same  was  also  done 
in  private ;  and  secret  as  well  as  public  vows  were  made  in  the 
hope  of  future  favours.  The  quality  of  these  oblations  depended 
on  the  god  to  whom  presented,  or  the  occupation  of  the  donor : 
a  shepherd  bringing  from  his  flocks,  a  husbandman  from  his 
fields,  and  others  according  to  their  means;  provided  the 
offering  was  not  forbidden  fey  the  rites  of  the  deity.  But 
though  the  Egyptians  •considered  •certain  oblations  suited  to 
particular  gods,  others  inadmissible  to  their  temples,  and  some 

more  peculiarly  adapted  to  prescribed  periods 
of  the  year,  the  greater  part  of  the  deities 
were  invoked  with  similar  offerings;  and  in 
large  sacrifices  the  same  things  were  laid  on 
all  the  Egyptian  altars,  with  the  exception 
of  those  expressly  forbidden  in  particular 
temples. 

Sistra  were  often  held  forth,  generally  by 
the  queens  and  princesses,  in  the  presence  of 
the  gods,  as  well  as  the  emblematic  instru- 
ments, surmounted  by  the  head  of  Athor ;  and 
the  privilege  of  bearing  them  in  the  temples 
was  principally  confined  to  those  who  held  ithe  oflSce  oi  paUdkides, 
They  frequently  presented  flowers  at  the  same  time  that  they 
performed  the  peculiar  rites  required  on  this  occasion. 

A  singular  ceremony  is  frequently  represented  of  the  king 
retiring  from  the  presence  of  the  god,  to  whom  he  has  been 


Ar  M'af    en    Uf^   *  gives 

sistra  to  bis  fatber.' 
No.  617.  2%e6e«. 


Cup.  XV.]  BITES  BEFOSE  MUMUIEa  423 

perfurmiDg  a  libation,  and  holding  in  hia  hand  an  emblem 
which,  from  il8  appearance,  is  supposed  to  bo  a  tail.  He 
always  looks  buck  as  be  with- 
draws ;  and  the  same  is  done 
by  the  pritnts  when  officiating 
on  a  similar  occusitm.  It  is 
evidently  not  the  tail  worn  by 
the  king  takun  off  and  hold 
in  hia  hand,  since  he  is  re])rc- 
sented  wt-aring  it  daring  the 
ceremony;  and  it  diflfera  also 
in  form  from  that  portion  of 
the  n>yul  drvss. 

Sometimes  a  number  of 
persons  are  seen  beating  them- 
aelTes  before  the  mummy  of  a  dead  jterson,  nndcr  the  luoal  form 
of  Osiris  ;  anil  another  retires  holding  one  or  even  two  of  theie 
emblems  in  his  hand.  But  even  this  appears  to  be  connected 
with  a  libation,  which  is  performed  in  the  compartment  below, 
as  part  of  the  same  stdcmnity  in  honour 
of  the  deceased.  The  custom  of  beat- 
ing themselves  in  token  of  grief  is 
frequently  mentioned  by  Herodotus, 
who  explains*  that  it  was  upon  the 
breast,  as  throughout  the  East  from 
the  earliest  times*  to  the  present  day ; 
and  thb  is  fully  confirmed  by  the 
monmnents  themselves.  [The  custom  of  wi'vpiii;;  ami  thn)wing 
dust  on  tkfir  hfuds  is  often  reprcscuti-d  on  the  nionumonts ;  when 
the  men  and  women  have  their  dresses  (astemil  by  u  band  round 
the  waiat,  the  breast  being  bare,  as  dcsorilHt)  by  Herodotus. 
For  seventy  days,'  or,  according  to  B«>mt>,  st-vt-nty-two  days,  the 
iiunily  mourned  at  home,  singing  the  funeral  ilirge,  very  much 
as  is  now  dune  in  Kgypt;  and  during  this  time  they  abstuinml 
from  the  Iwth,  wine,  delii-aeit-s  of  the  tulile.  and  rich  clothing;* 
and  even  aftiT  the  IhmIv  had  been  n-mov<il  to  llic  tomb  it  was  not 
nnusuul  for  the  near  n'lations  to  exhibit  tokens  of  grief,  when  the 
litargi(>H,  i>r  serviit-s  for  the  dead,  wep-  ]H>rfi>niii-<i  by  the  jirieittB, 
by  beating  themselves  on  the  breast  in  prew -m-i-  of  the  mummy. 


424 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XV. 


No.  620.      A  l&mp.      Hubet, 


*  Smiting  themselves  on  the  breast*^  was  a  common  token  of  grief 
in  the  East,  which  continues  to  the  present  day.     (See  woodcut 
No.  619.)   The  Egyptians  did  not  *cut  themselves'  in  mourning ; 
this  was  a  Syrian  custom,  and  forbidden  to  the  Jews. — G.  W.] 
Another  remarkable  oflfering,  if  indeed  it  be  distinct  from 

the  usual  censer,  is  apparently  a  lamp 
made  of  glass,  with  a  wick  erect  in  the 
middle;  which  last  is-  sometimes  taken 
out  and  held  separately,  as  though  the 
bearer  were  about  to  place  it  in  the  vase 
previous  to  its  being  lighted.*^  The  same 
form  is  given  to  the  flame  of  the  censers 
wherein  the  incense  is  burnt. 

There  is  also  a  ceremony  which  appears  to  have  some  con- 
nection with  the  dead,  the  purport  of  which  it  is  di£Scult  to 

ascertain..     Two  persons,  a  man 

fl  /4!^       ^^^  ^  woman,,  hold  the  opposite 

c^         f^  !^  pli     ®^^^  ^^  *  cord,,  fastened  in  a  knot 

around  the  centre  of  a  pillar  of 
wood,  which,  held  in  an  upright 
position,    is    struck   against    the 
ground,    the    lower    end    being 
pointed,  the  upper  round.     It  may 
be  connected  with  some  religious 
rite,  or  be  one  of  their  numerous 
games.      [But  it  seems  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  twisted   rope  in 
the  mysterious  ceremonies  of  the 
dead  mentioned  by  Diodorus,  in  speaking  of  the  lake,  <S:c.,  at 
Memphis.     There,  however,  one  end  of  the  rope  was  twisted,  and 
the  other  untwisted,  by  other  persons. — G.  W.] 

*  The  Egyptians,'  says  Herodotus,^  *  are  very  religious,  sur- 
passing all  men  in  the  honours  they  pay  to  the  gods.'  *  The  art 
of  predicting  future  events,  as  practised  in  Greek  temples,  came 
from  Egypt;  and  it  is  certain  that  they  were  the  first  people 
who  established  festivals,  and  the  mode  of  approaching  and 
communing  with  the  Deity.'*  Of  the  customary  mode  of  doing 
this  I  have  already  spoken ;    and  while  praying  or  presenting 


No.  621.    A  game  or  ceremony.        Thebes. 


*  Luke  xxiii.  48. 

^  This  wick  may  have  stood  upright  in 
the  salt  mentioneii  by  Herodotus  in  the 
lamps  at  Sals.      The  lines  may  represent 


the  twisted  nature  of  the  cotton  wick»  a< 
thev  do  the  watering  of  the  glass  va>e. 
(Hen>dot.  ii.  62.) 

»  Herodot.  ii.  37.  *  Ibid.  ii.  58. 


Cmxt.  XV.]       ATTITUDES  OP  RESPECT  AND  WORSHIP.  425 


No.  632.        An  iittlta<l«urailorAik>n.       Tkebet. 


offerings,  it  will  be  seen  from  the  sculptures  that  the  kings  and 

priests  either  stood  with  uplifted   hands,  or  knelt   before  the 

statae  of  the  god  (usually  on  one  knee).     They  bowed  before 

it  in  token  of  respect, '  lowering  the  hand  to  the  knee  ;*  which, 

Herodotus^  says,  was  their  man- 

ner  of  saluting  each  other  when 

they  met.      They  also  put   the 

hand  u]Hm  tlie  breast,  as  is  the 

modern  custonx  in  the   East,  or 

bowed  down   with  one   or   both 

hands  to  tlio  level  of  the  knee ; 

and  sometimes  placed  one  haad 

over  the  mouth*^     But  the  usual 

mode  of  standing  in  the  presence 

of  a  superior  was  with  one  hand 

passed  across,  the   breast  to  the 

opposite    shouldei;;     they    then 

bowe<l,  lowering  the  other  to  the 

knee;  and  the  same  position  of 

the  hand   ujK)a  the  shoulder    was  adoptcnl   when  d<*precating 

punishment. 

Sometimes,  libations  were  performed  by  j»rie8ts  kneeling  on 
one  or  both  laiees,  and  other  tokens  of  honour  were  shown  to 
the  go<l8;  but  prcistration'  seems  seldom  to  liave  b(^n  rt»quired 
in  the  temple.  We  only  fijul  two  instancM^s  of  a  votary  in  this 
attitude,  both  of  which  are  in  the  scul])tures  at  Phihe,^  of 
Ptolemaic  date,  where  the  king,  prostrate  uixm  the  ground, 
wor8hi|)S  tlio  goddess  Isis,  apparently  as  a  preliminary  ceremony 
previous  to  his.  being  admitted  to  ilw  presenct*  of  Osiris. 

It  is  not  a  subject  seen  in  any  Egyptian  temple  of  Pharaonic 
time ;  and  tliis  extnujrdinar}'  show  of  devotion  in  the  ( rreek  king 
was  probably  inten«Ie<l  to  flatter  the  priesthiMMl,  and  obtain  an 
influeniH*  which,  those  foreigners  often  fouinl  it  prudent  to  eourt. 

The  system  of  rendering  n»ligiou  8ul»servient  t4)  ambitious  or 
intere8te<l  views,  in  of  all  eras  an<l  every  country.  I>ut  pret«*nd«Ml 
tanctity  generally  betrays  its  real  motive ;  and  w(»  fnMju«»ntly 
discover,  in  tlu*  marks  of  favour  U»stowt»d  bv  the  Ptoh^mies 
on  tho  religion  of  Egypt,  a  straintMl  and  unnatural  display  of 


•  l|rriHli»l.  ii.  H«». 

'  Thi«  ««»«  I  u«t>>inarr  h\u>  id  IVmia. 
Tht  uh|f*«-t  w.i«  to  pri'rfDt  th«  breath 
nMchiDi;  thv  Uki  *>(  a  ftU|M>rior. 

'  Ib    tht    i»rrM.DC«    of   tuficriort    the/ 


*  bi»w^l  tht'  kii»*«',*  nn-l  rv«»n  |ir*»«tratt^i 
thflllMflvf^  i*D  thf  i^riillDtl.  (<irn.  ill.  4H,  x\i\. 
6,  mn'\  iliii.  >>.     ('«>of.  Mutt,  iriii.  >>  > 

*  Th«   ftniii#    «N,'iir«    ID    th«    TtMlriuaic 
icul|>turi*«  At  thtf  <irr.it  04»if. 


426  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTLAMS.  [Chap.  XV. 

(levotioD,  tho  contrast  of  which  with  the  simplicity  and  real 
feeling  of  ancient  times  cannot  fail  to  strike  those  who  compare 
the  mouiimeiits  of  the  two  eras. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

'uKiml   I'mecMiriDi— Trial*   of 
— Ssroojiliagi — Pa|>)Ti|  4o. 

The  oflcrings  made  to  the  dead  wi^ra  similur  tu  tlio  ordinary 
oblations  in  Uunour  of  the  gods.  It  waa  not  to  tin;  deceased  as 
a  man  translutetl  to  the  order  of  the  ^lAa  th»t  these  ceremouies 
were  performed,  but  to  that  particular  imrtiuii  of  the  divine 
essence  which  coustitut«d  the  soul  of  eueh  individual  ami 
returned  to  the  Deity  after  death.  KvtTvono,  thi'rel'ore,  whose 
virtuous  life  entitled  hizii  to  admisMiou  into  the  re^rjons  of  the 
b]e88e<l,  wax  supposeil  to  lie  again  united  to  the  Deity,  of  whom 
he  was  an  eniamitioB ;  and,  witb  the  euibh-m  of  Ma,  [turj>ort- 
ing  that  lie  was  judp-d  or  just)tie<i,  he  ri'ivivtil  the  holy  name 
of  Osiris.  His  hotly  was  so  bound  u|>  as  to  restmible  the 
mysterious  ruler  of  Anienti ;  it  bore  some  of  the  cnibk-ms  jN-euIiar 
to  him  ;  and  the  beanl  of  a  form  whirh  U'lon-rt-il  exi-lusivfly  tu 
the  gixls  was  given  to  the  deeeiised  in  toki'U  of  his  having 
■•suuie<l  the  eharaeter  of  that  deity. 

Offerings  wire  also  made  to  tho  g>Ml  Osiris  hinis«-lf,  after  the 
burial,  in  thu  name  of  the  deeeaM-<l :  an<l  ■■•■rtain  servic-ea  or 
liturgii-s  well)  jM'rfonued  for  him  by  the  |>rii-sls.  at  the  e.^jM'Use 
of  tha  family  ;  their  number  deju-nding  uimu  their  means,  or  the 
re^itect  they  were  iuoUued  tu  |iay  to  the  memory  of  their  {Hirent. 


428 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


If  the  sons  or  relations  were  of  the  priestly  order,  they  had  the 
privilege  of  officiating  on  these  occasions ;  and  the  members  of 
the  family  had  permission,  and  were  perhaps  frequently  expected, 
to  be  present,  whether  the  services  were  performed  by  strangers 
or  by  relations  of  the  deceased.  The  ceremonies  consisted  of  a 
sacrifice,  similar  to  those  offered  in  the  temples,  vowed  for  the 
deceased  to  one  or  more  gods,  as  Osiris,  Anubis,  and  others  con- 
nected with  Amenti;  incense  and  libation  were  also  presented, 
and  a  prayer  was  sometimes  read>  the  relations  and  friends  being 


4  3  2  1 

The  members  of  the  family  (3, 4,  5)  present  wh«n  the  services  were  performed  (2) 
No.  624.  *  The  skilful  scribe,  Alien '  (1). 


Ikebet. 


present  as  mourners.     They  even  joined  their  prayers  to  those 
of  the  priest ;  and  embracing  the  mummied  body,  and  bathing 

its  feet  with  their  tears,  they  uttered 
those  expressions  of  grief  and  praises 
of  the  deceased  which  were  dictated  by 
their  feelings  on  so  melancholy  an 
occasion. 

The  priests  who  officiated  at  the 
burial  service  were  selected  from  the 
grade  of  pontiff^  who  wore  the  leopard- 
skin  ;  but  various  other  rites  were  per- 
formed by  one  of  the  minor  priests  to 
the  mummies  previous  to  their  being 
lowered  into  the  pit  of  the  tomb,  as  well 
^a:i:i::t:^:^-:tnl^'r^  as  after  that  ceremony.  Indeed  they 
His  wife  who  loves  him,  Ncbenni/  contiuued  to  bc  admiuistcrcd  at  intervals, 

No.  625.  Thehes.  xT         i»         -l  •  l      i«  xi      • 

as  long  as  the  tamily  paid  for  their 
performance ;  and  it  is  possible  that  upon  the  cessation  of  this 
payment,  or  after  a  stipulated  time,  the  priests  had  the  right  of 


Cbat.  XTL] 


OFFEBINOS  TO  THE  DEAD. 


429 


transferring  the  tomb  to  another  fomily,  which,  as  I  hare  already 
obaervecl,  the  inscriptions  within  them  shiiw  to  have  been  dono, 
eren  though  belrmging  to  members  of  the  pri(>stly  nritcr. 

^\'heQ  the  mummies 
remained  in  the  house, 
or  in  the  chamber  of 
the  sepulchre,  they  were 
kept  in  movable  vaxl- 
en  closets,  with  folding 
doon,  out  of  which 
they  were  taken  by  the 
minor  functionaries  to  a 
■mall  altar,  before  which 
the  priest  officiated. 
The  closet  and  tho 
mummy  were  placed  on 
a  sledge,  in  onler  to 
facilitate  their  move- 
ment from  one  place 
to  another ;  and  the 
latter  was  drawn  with 
lopes  to  the  altar,  and 
taken  back  by  the  same 
means  when  tho  cere- 
mony was  over.  On 
these  occasions,  as  in 
the  prayers  for  the  dead , 
they  made  the  iisnal 
offerings  of  incenne  ai>d 
libation,  with  cakes, 
flowers,  and  fruit ;  and 
eren  anointed  the  mum- 
my, oil  or  ointment  be- 
ing iMiurctI '  over  its 
head.  Sometimes  sevt*- 
nl  priests  attended. 
One  carri<><I  a  napkin 
over  his  shoulder,  to  be 
oaed  after  the  anointing 
of  the  mummy ;  another  brought  a  iMpyriM 


till  containing  a 


■  CmT.  3  Elagi  ii.  3:  -Tkh*  U*  boi  af  uU,  mJ  puur  it  m  hu  bwd.' 


430  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chat.  XVI. 

prayer,  or  tlie  iisual  ritual  deposited  in  the  tombs  with  the  dead ; 
and  others  had  different  occupations  according  to  their  respective 
offices.  They  were  not  of  the  order  of  pontiffs,  but  an  inferior 
grade  of  priests  deputed  to  per- 
form similar  duties  in  lieu  of  the 
high  priests,  who,  as  already  stated, 
officiated  only  at  the  burial,  or  on 
other  important  occasions. 

Single    oblations    of    various 
kinds  were  made  to  the  mummies 
by  individuals  of   the  family  as 
_  well  as  by  the  priests ;  but  many 
n_J     „       ,,.  V  I  ,        -,."  11..  of  tbe  ceremonies,  as  well  as  the 
prtrBf^B  i)iiM  ■  Mpkin  on  111.  ibonuer.  emblematic   offerincis,    were   of  a 

Fig.  i  Soldi  11  pmpjmn.    The  mode  of  placing  o  ' 

theii.iiiiiniirrm.ritibie,beingti»MDwuiiow  Bmeular   kind,    the    meamnc  of 

WMhlng  their  huirH  beBm  mealL  ^    _  _  ,         which  it  is  difficult  tO  Comprcheud. 
No.  «ar.  TambatnAa.     r-  ,    ,  , 

One  of  these  last  has  the  appear- 
ance of  some  kind  of  instrument.  It  occurs  in  the  names  of 
several  kings  in  the  sense  of  'chosen,''  or  'approved; '  and  is 
probably  intended  to  point  out  the  excellence  of  the  gifts  selected 
for  the  deceeised,  being  used  as  the  demonstrative  sign  accom* 
panying  the  '  chosen  part '  of  the  sacrifices  in  the  temples  and 
the  tombs. 

It  is  probable  that  lamps  were  kept  burning  in  the  tomb  while 
theae  ceremonies  were  performing,  or  as  long  as  it  was  open,  as  in 
the  Roman  sepulchres ;  a  duty  which  fell  to  the  charge  of  the 
keeper  or  servant  of  the  tomb. 

These  funeral  oblations  answer  exactly  to  the  inferix  OTparen- 
talia  of  the  Bomans,  consisting  of  victims,  flowers,  and  libations 
when  the  tomb  was  decked  with  garlands  and  wreaths  of  flowers, 
and  an  altar  wtis  erected  before  it  for  presenting  the  offerings. 
And  that  this  last  was  also  done  by  the  Egyptians  is  proved  by 
the  many  small  altars  discovered  outside  the  doors  of  the  cata- 
combs at  Thebes. 

These  altars  are  of  stone,  frequently  granite  or  basalt ;  *  and 
upon  them  are  carved  in  bas-relief  the  various  offerings  they 
bore,  which  are  the  same  as  those  represented  in  the  paintings 
of  the  tombs.  At  one  side  projects  a  small  spout,  to  which  a 
channel,  carried   round  the   inside,  is  intended  to  convey   the 


Caa.  XVI.] 


ALTAB8  OF  TIIE  DEAD. 


431 


liquid  of  the  libations ;  and  some  with  two  spouts  nrc  of  a  larger 
size,  and  intended  for  a  greater  number  of  offerings.  I)<>ing  very 
low,  each  was  placed  on  a  small  pedestal  or  stool,  wliich  has  been 
found,  together  with  the  flat  altar  stone  it  nncc  eupiwrted,  as 
figured  on  the  monu- 
ments. The  channel 
around  the  altar  stone 
calls  to  mind  the  'trench' 
made  by  Klijuh  '  round 
about  the  altar '  at  Mount 
Carmel ;'  though  the  ob- 
ject was  not  the  same,  the 
water  with  which  this  was 
filled  being  inU-nded  to 
prore  the  miraculous  in- 
terferenee  of  the  Deity, 
when  the  fire  that  'con- 
sumed the  burnt  sacrifice 
licked  up  the  water  in  Hie 
trench,'  and  tliut  of  the  j^ 
Egyptian  altar  being  ''''■ "" 
merely  intendo<l  to  carry  ofi'tbe  libation  poured  ujton  it. 

It  is  pnilmblo  that  when  any  of  the  sacenlotal  caste  die<I, 
whose  families  could  not  afford  the  expense  of  the  liturgies, 
certain  cuUections'  were  made  to  pay  for  their  performance; 
which,  being  dejxmited  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  adde<l  in  no 
inconsiilerable  degree  to  their  revenues.  And  the  fact,  as  Young 
obaer\'es, '  that  one  moiety  of  a  thir<l  [wirt  of  the  co11<M-tioiis  for 
the  dead  (jiriests  of  Osiris),  lying  in  Thynabunun.'  wlicn  s'dd  by 
*  Onnophris,  one  of  the  servants  of  the  goddess  Isis,'  requireil  no  lees 
than  sixtet-n  witnes-ses,  plainly  proves  the  value  of  this  privilege. 


>  1  KiDK*  iTiii.  .1.;  '1  K-f. :  ■  AnJ  h<  di>.I* 

orr-tA^-." 

B  I'm.  iiir. 

a  tmuh  oboDt  thr  mltar.  ■•  rtmI  w  vuuM 

U.  rrvmlS. 

.nl. -.D-HTinitt 

the  CMhu  of 

w«Ulsl-'>m.«ur....f««l.    Ai»lh<pat 

Ihr  UtiD'. 

1  nnnM  in  thl< 

pUre  frfrmia 

tk*  wou-l  la  Knl-r.  tii'l  r<i(  th(  buIWk   id 

frnm  «.l.liBi! 

1IT  hiimhlr  tr. 

monT  tn  (hi 

picori.  U1.I  \M  him  ..B  the  •.«.[,  mail  «i.l, 
nil  {<m  l»m-1.   {|«il.)  wilh   w.l«.  iBd 

ur  lriD<Uii"n 

nf  th.-   llihU : 

which    i>   rh' 

DC,    ■•    it  «U 

poor  it  an  ihc  biimt  rurilin,  n4  on  th* 

AoBt  wilhoiil 

,rrt'h-'."'wii' 

-h  .B  iBiiehl 

wtd An.)  th»  w*l«  »D  i™n.l 

Ul-r    tl...t4 

•boat  the  *llu ;  ua  h«  lillcl  the  trrnch 

(jf-rM. 

>Ih  with  -Mrr Tbm  th*  H«  ..f 

■il|^..v.     io     11 

'f-c.   lilTi- 

turf.-'if.  ■■•■> 

.:%:*-     |Th» 

r|^t   oamhrr 

McnHrp,    iDl    thf   WN.I.  >D.I    the   >t»no«. 

<.r»itn'.-"> 

th'l<m-w»> 

Ud    th'   .U.i,   >s.l    iKk^l  up   Ihf   wil'r 

thai     I'ri"! 

f-ur   vol  I   wt« 

miuirrJ.— 

The    woiJ      s.  il 
I    tht     llebrrw   OTip.   <kJ>'>"t 


432  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

Diodorus  and  the  papyri  show  that  it  was  not  an  uncommon 
thing  to  keep  the  mummies  in  the  house,  after  they  had  been 
returned  by  the  embalmers  to  the  relations  of  the  deceased,  in 
order  to  gratify  the  feelings  which  made  them  desirous  of  having 
those  they  had  loved  in  life  as  near  them  as  possible  after  death. 
Damaseenius  states  that  they  sometimes  introduced  them  at 
table,^  as  though  they  could  enjoy  their  society ;  and  Lucian,  in 
his  essay  on  grief,  says  that  he  was  an  eye-witness  of  this  custom. 
They  were  sometimes  left  in  the  house  until  the  family  could 
prepare  a  tomb  for  their  reception ;  and  the  affection  of  a  wife  or 
husband  frequently  retained  the  body  of  a  beloved  consort,  in 
order  that  both  might  be  deposited  at  the  same  time  in  their 
final  resting-place.    A  room  was  set  apart  for  the  purpose,  the 
coffin  being  placed  upright  against  the  *  firmest  of  the  walls.' ' 
Many  months  often  elapsed  between  the  ceremony  of  embalming 
and  the  actual  burial ;  and  it  was  during  this  period  that  the 
liturgies  were  performed  before  the  mummy,  which  were  after- 
wards continued  at  the  tomb.      A  Greek  inscription  upon  the 
coffin  of  a  mummy,  found  by  Grey,  states  that  *Tphous,  the 
daughter  of  Heracleus  Soter  and  Sarapous,  who  was  bom  in  the 
5th  year  of  Adrian  our  lord,  the  second  of  Athyr,  and  died  in  the 
11th  year,  the  10th  of  Tybi,  aged  six  years,  two  months,  and 
eight  days,  was  buried  in  the  12th  year,  the  12th  of  Athyr;*  so 
that  in  this  instance  the  burial  took  place  a  whole  year  after  her 
death,^  and  some  were  doubtless  kept,  for  various  reasons,  much 
longer.     It  was  during  this  interval  that  feasts  were  held  in 
honour  of  the   dead,  to  which  the  friends  and  relations   were 
invited ;  as  was  customary  among  the  Greeks  and  other  people 
of  antiquity.* 

On  these  occasions  they  dined  together,  and  enjoyed  the  same 
festivities  as  when  invited  to  a  repast,  the  guests  being  in  like 
manner  anointed  and  decked  with  flowers,  and  presented  with 
other  tokens  of  welcome  usual  at  an  Egyptian  party ;  and  it  was 
principally  at  this  veKpohelirvoV  that  I  suppose  the  introduction 
of  the  mummy  to  have  taken  place. 

Small  tables  made  of  reeds  or  sticks,  bound  together  and 


*  Silius  Italicus,  Punic,  lib.  iii.  were  called  iraffro^6poi,    (Vide  woodcut 

*  Diodor.    i.  92.      The    word    \ipva^  No.  195,  fig,  4,  vol.  i.  p.  419 ;  and  «^r«, 
may  apply  to  the  coffin  or  mummy-case,  or  p.  444,  wooden t  No.  631.) 

to  the  closet  above  mentioned.    They  bore  '  Tonng,  *  Hierog.  Lit.,'  p.  115. 
some  resemblance  to  the  thdlami  or  irao^ol,  *  Hom.  II.  Y,  9.    Achilles  invites  the 
in  which  the  small   firares  of  the  gods  Myrmidons  to  supper  in  honour  of  Pa- 
were  carried  ;  whence  the  bearers  of  them  troclus. 


Cbaf.  XVL]  offerings  to  the  dead.  433 

interlaced  with  palm-leaves,  were  sometimes  placed  in  the  tombs, 

bearing  offerings  of  cakes,  ducks,  or  otlier  tilings,  according  to 

the  wealth  or  inclination  of  the  donors ;  one  of  which  was  found 

at  Thebes  by  Burton,  and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum.    On 

the  lower  compartment,  or  shelf,  are  cakes;   the  central  shelf 

has  a  duck,  cut  open  at  the  breast  and  spread  out,  '  but  not 

divided    asunder,'^     in     a 

manner  frequently  adopted 

at  this  day   in   Egypt  for 

grilling  fowls  and  chickens ; 

and  at  the  top  is  a  similar 

binly  trus8e<l  in  the  usual 

mode  when  brought  to  an 

Egyptian   table.      Similar 

offerings    '  for    the    dead ' 

were  strictly  forbidden  by 

the  law  of  Moses ;'  and  it 

J       I  ▲!         A I      Til  X*  A  Ubl«  fooDd  in  A  tomb  by  liurton.  un  wLkh  art  a 

was  aOUbtieSS  tlie  iligy  ptian  dock  matta  aod  AnuUxr  cut  open,  with  calm. 

custom    that    the   Hebrew    ^"••'•-  BntukMu^n. 

legislator  had  in  view  when  he  introduced  this  wise  prohibition. 

Though  the  privilege  of  keeping  a  mummy  in  the  house  was 
sanctioned  by  law  and  custom,  care  was  always  taken  to  assign 
some  plausible  reason  for  it,  since  they  deeme<l  it  a  great  privi* 
lege  to  be  admitted  to  the  repositories  of  the  dead,  as  their  final 
resting-place.  To  be  debarred  from  the  rites  of  burial  reflected 
a  severe  disgrace  upon  the  whole  family  ;  and  the  most  influential 
individual  could  not  be  admitted  to  the  very  tomb  he  had  built 
for  himself,  until  acquitteil  before  that  tribunal  which  sat  to 
judge  his  (*x)nduct  during  life. 

In  cases  of  debt,  a  cc^rtiiin  law,  enactinl,  acconling  to  Herodotus, 
by  King  Asycliis,  subjected  the  tomb  to  a  claim  from  the  ennlitors 
of  the  deceiuied,  who  ha<l  the  right  to  pn»vent  tin*  Inxly  of  a 
debtor  from  l>eing  buried  with  his  fathers  ;  and  this  hiw  even  put 
the  former  in  possession  of  the  family  sepulehre. 

The  tombs  of  the  rich  consistetl  of  one  or  more  (chambers, 
omamenteil  with  paintings  and  sculpture,  the  plans  an<l  size  of 
which  depende<l  on  the  expense  incumnl  by  ttie  family  of  the 
deceased,  or  on  tlie  wishes  of  the  individuals  wlio  purehiLscKl  them 
during  their  lifetime.  They  were  the  prt>in*rty  of  the  priests; 
and  a  suflicient  number  being  always  kept  ready,  tht*  purchase 


»  Urit.  i,  17  •  iHruU  ixri.  U. 

▼OL.  UL  2   F 


434  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XYL 

was  made  at  the  'shortest  notice;*  nothing  being  requisite  to 
complete  even  the  sculptures  or  inscriptions  but  the  insertion  of 
the  deceased's  name,  and  a  few  statements  respecting  his  fieimily 
and  profession.  The  numerous  subjects  representing  agricultural 
scenes,  the  trades  of  the  people,  in  short  the  various  occupations 
of  the  Egyptians,  were  already  introduced.  These  were  common 
to  all  tombs,  varying  only  in  their  details  and  the  mode  of  their 
execution  ;  and  were  intended  as  a  short  epitome  of  human  life, 
which  suited  equally  every  future  occupant. 

It  has  been  a  question  why  the  Egyptians  took  so  much  care 
in  embellishing  their  sepulchres,  *  styling  them,*  as  Diodorus* 
tells  us, '  eternal  hahitatianSy  and  neglecting  no  excess  of  magnifi- 
cence in  their  construction,  whilst  they  termed  the  dwellings  of 
the  living  innSy  to  be  inhabited  only  for  a  limited  period,  paying 
little  attention  to  the  mode  of  building  or  ornamenting  them.' 
Some  have  supposed  that  they  considered  the  soul  conscious  of 
the  beauty  of  these  abodes,  and  that  it  took  a  pleasure  in  con- 
templating the  scenes  it  delighted  in  during  its  sojourn  upon 
earth,  which  were  represented  on  their  walls.  The  same  idea 
may  be  traced  in  the  writings  of  Plato,'  who  puts  these  words 
into  the  mouth  of  Socrates : — *  Death  seems  to  me  nothing  else 
than  the  dissolution  of  two  things,  viz.  of  the  soul  and  body 
from  each  other.  But  when  they  are  mutually  separated,  each 
possesses  its  own  habit  not  much  less  than  when  the  man  was 
living,  the  body  conspicuously  retaining  its  own  nature,  attire, 
and  passions.  So  that,  for  instance,  if  the  body  of  anyone  while 
living  was  large  by  nature  or  aliment,  or  both,  the  body  of  such 
a  one  when  dead  will  also  be  large ;  .  .  .  .  and  so  with  respect 
to  other  things.  And  if  anyone  while  living  was  studious  to 
obtain  long  hair,  the  hair  also  of  the  dead  body  of  such  a  one 
will  be  long ;  .  .  .  .  and  if  the  limbs  of  anyone  were  broken  or 
distorted  while  he  lived,  these  will  likewise  appear  so  when  he 
is  dead.  In  short,  whatever  was  the  condition  of  the  body  of 
anyone  while  living,  such  will  be  its  condition  entirely,  or  for 
the  most  part,  during  a  certain  time,  when  dead.  The  same 
thing  also,  Callicles,  seems  to  take  place  respecting  the  soul, 
viz.  that  all  things  are  conspicuous  in  the  soul  after  it  is 
divested  of  the  body,  as  well  whatever  it  possesses  from  nature, 
as  those  passions  which  the  man  acquired  in  his  soul  from  his 
various  pursuits.'     A  still  closer  resemblance  is  found  in  the 


»  Diodor.  i.  51.  «  Plato,  Gorgias,  pp.  453,  454. 


CiUF.  XVL]  PREPARATION  OF  A  TOMB.  435 

description  given  by  Virgil  of  the  occupations  of  those  who  in 
a  future  state  were  admitted  to  the  abode  of  the  blessed.^  The 
same  notion  would  account  for  the  custom  of  burying  different 
objects  with  the  dead,  which  had  belonged  to  them  during  life ; 
as  arms  with  the  soldier,  and  the  various  implements  of  their 
peculiar  trade  with  the  bodies  of  artisans.  Thus  jEneas  selected 
suitable  objects  for  the  sepulchre  of  Misenus.'  But  another 
reason  also  suggests  itself  ifor  this  custom — the  supposed  retnm 
of  the  soul  to  the  same  body  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  period 
of  years,  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  in  treating  of 
transmigration. 

In  some  instances  all  the  paintings  of  the  tomb  were  finished, 
and  even  the  small  figures  representing  the  future  occu]>ant  were 
introduced,  those  only  being  left  unsculptured  which  being  of  a 
large  size  required  more  accuracy  in  the  features  in  order  to  give 
his  real  portrait ;  and  sometimes  even  the  large  figures  were 
completed  before  the  tomb  was  sold,  the  only  part^  left  unfinished 
being  the  hieroglyphic  legends  containing  his  name  and  that 
of  his  wife.  Indeed  the  fact  of  their  selling  old  mummy-cases 
and  tombs  belonging  to  other  persons  shows  that  they  were  not 
always  over-scrupulous  about  the  likeness  of  an  individual,  pro- 
Tided  the  hieroglyphics  were  altered  and  contained  his  real  name 
— at  least  when  a  motive  of  economy  reconciled  the  mind  of  a 
purchaser  to  a  seeond-^hand  tenement  for  the  body  of  his  friend. 

The  tomb  was  always  prepared  for  the  reception  of  a  husband 
and  his  wife  ;  and  whoever  died  first  was  buried  at  once  there,  or 
was  kept  embalmed  in  the  house  until  the  decease  of  the  other, 
as  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  obser^'e.  The  manner  in 
which  husband  and  wife  are  always  portraye<l,  with  their  arms 
roond  each  other*s  waist  or  neck,  is  a  pleasing  illustration  of  the 
affectionate  feelings  of  the  Egyptians ;  and  the  attachment  of  a 
family  is  shown  by  the  presence  of  the  different  relations,  who 
are  introduced  in  the  performance  of  some  tender  office  to  the 
deceased.  Each  is  said  to  '  love,'  or  to  *  be  loved  bv  him  ; '  and 
when  children  died,  they  were  buried  in  the  same  tomb  with 
their  parents. 

Any  i)ers(»n  desirous  of  purchasing  a  tomb  for  himself,  or  for 
a  deceased  friend,  applied  to  those  who  were  known  to  have  them 
for  sale,  and  the  parties  procee<led  to  view  them  and  make  a 
selection.      The  bargain,  no  doubt,  took  the  usual  time  occupied 

•  Virj.  £a,  ri.  63S,  653.  »  Ibid.  n.  ni. 

2  p  2 


436  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

on  such  occasions  in  the  East ;  but  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts 
of  the  purchaser,  the  advantage  was  greatly  on  the  side  of  the 
sdlevy  who  profited  by  the  wants  of  the  former,  as  well  as  by 
immense  profit  on  a  small  outlay ;  and  no  competition  could 
be  expected  among  the  priests,  who  enjoyed  this  privileged 
monopoly.  When  the  bargain  had  been  agreed  to,  a  deed  was 
carefully  drawn  up  to  secure  to  the  purchaser  the  property  he 
had  bought ;  and  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  precautions 
taken  by  the  Egyptians  to  prevent  any  future  question  upon  the 
subject  by  the  nimiber  of  witnesses  required  for  the  smallest 
contracts.  And,  judging  from  the  minute  repetition  of  expres- 
sions, and  the  precision  witn  which  the  acceptance  of  the  price 
was  acknowledged,  we  may  conclude  that  they  were  as  ready  to 
take  advantage  of  the  least  flaw  in  a  deed  as  any  people  of 
the  present  day. 

Besides  the  upper  rooms  of  the  tomb,  which  were  ornamented 
with  the  paintings  already  mentioned,  were  one  or  more  pits, 
varying  from  twenty  to  seventy  feet  in  depth,  at  the  bottom  or 
sides  ^  of  which  were  recesses,  like  small  chambers,  for  depositing 
the  coffins.  The  pit  was  closed  with  masonry  after  the  burial 
had  been  performed,  and  sometimes  re-opened  to  receive  other 
members  of  the  family.  The  upper  apartments  were  richly 
ornamented  with  painted  sculptures,  being  rather  a  monument 
in  honour  of  the  deceased  than  the  actual  sepulchre ;  and  they 
served  for  the  reception  of  his  friends,  who  frequently  met  there 
and  accompanied  the  priests  when  performing  the  services  for 
the  dead.  Each  tomb,  and  sometimes  each  apartment,  had  a 
wooden  door,  either  of  a  single  or  double  valve,  turning  on  pins, 
and  secured  by  bolts  or  bars,  with  a  lock ;  which  last  was  pro- 
tected by  a  seal  of  clay,  upon  which  the  impress  of  a  signet  was 
stamped  when  the  party  retired,  as  Herodotus  describes  at  the 
treasury  of  Ehampsinitus.  Eemains  of  the  clay  have  even  been 
found  adhering  to  some  of  the  stone  jambs  of  the  doorways  in 
the  tombs  of  Thebes ;  and  the  numerous  stamps  buried  near 
them  were  probably  used  on  those  occasions. 

It  may  be  a  question  whether  these  stamps  were  really  seals 
by  which  the  impressions  were  made  upon  the  clay,  because 
the  characters  upon  them  are  in  relief,  and  because  their  edges 
are  sometimes  raised  unequally  around  their  faces,  both  arguing 


1  *■  Whose   tombs   are  in  the  aide  of  the   pit  ;*  and    the  common    expression   in  the 
Bible,  *  They  that  go  down  to  the  pit,'  meaning  those  that  die.     (Ezek.  xxxii.  29,  &c.) 


OiAF.  XVL]  SEALS  FOUND  IN  TOMBS.  437 

that  they  had  been  impressed  with  another  seal.  Wc  even  find 
them  of  a  square  form,  with  a  stamp  on  all  the  sides,  and  made 
of  the  same  materials ;  which  is  a  clay  mixed  with  fine  ashes,  and 
afterwards  burnt,  the  exterior  being  of  a  finer  quality  than  the 
inside.  It  may  also  be  said  that  the  red  ochreous  colour  with 
which  they  are  sometimes  stained,  was  imparted  to  tliem  from 
the  seal  that  stamped  the  impression  ;  though,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  the  colour  frequently  extends  half-way  up  the  whole 
length,  it  is  evident  that  they  were  dipped  into  this  red  mixture 
for  some  purpose.  Again,  if  they  were  mere  impressions,  and 
not  used  as  seals,  it  is  diflScult  to  understand  the  reason  of  their 
being  so  stamped  and  buried  near  the  tombs — unless,  indeed, 
they  were  passports  from  the  family,  or  the  priest  who  had  the 
superintendence   of  the  tomb,  to  permit  strangers  to   visit  it. 


Vm,  CM.  8Mb  fovnd  netf  tb«  iom\m  at  Thetes. 

1. 1.  IwUnoM  or  MAlt  wttJi  ralMd  edm  nmnd  the  •toB|Md  part.     S.  AnoChrr  tUloKd  wl»h  nd 
ochrv  fhNB  aUib.    4.  Htyto  of  Um>  luMrfpikiiM  oo  Mine  of  tbem  :-•  NVfrrbeip   tbe  Ja^citM.  fotuth 
of  Ancn.  aad  hU  wilt  AaMiibct|»,  Um  lady  of  th»  hooM.'     ».  A  brkk  tunpcd  In  a  ttmilar 


They  generally  bear  the  name  of  the  jn^rson  of  the  adjacent 
tomb,  with  that  of  his  wife,  and  sometimes  the  same  characters 
occur  on  different  ones,  which  vary  also  in  size.  They  are  mostly 
of  a  conical  shaiw,  about  a  foot  in  length,  the  circular  face  bearing 
the  inscripticm  \mng  about  three  inches  in  diameter;*  and  they 
appear  to  be  made  for  holding  in  the  hand,  and  for  giving  rather 
than  receiving  an  impression.  The  characters  were  prolwibly  first 
put  upon  them,  when  unbumt,  from  a  mould.  This  they  after- 
wards im]>arted  to  the  chiy  seals ;  and  the  nnl  liquid  into  which 
they  were  dipjKMl  wjis  intende<l  t4)  pn^vent  their  a<lhering. 

Similar  seals  were  use<l  for  securing  the  (hK)rs  of  temples, 
houses,  and  granaries. 

Tomlw  were  built  of  brick  and  stone,  (»r  hewn  in  the  ruck, 
according  to   the    ]M)sition   of  the   n<H*n>{M»lis.      Whenever   the 

*  Serrral   ar*  m^t  with    in  th«  linluh  toine  to  kaT#  b««D  work««i  into  tk#  ornn- 

MoMnm  aod    other    Kuropeao  cun«<>tioBs.  mraUl  archiUs-turv,  <»r  tite  to  mark   the 

[TlMtr  ttt«  u  ft'»t  «|uit«  cvrUia.    They  ar«  Mtt  of  the  ••f.uU hrw.— ii.  U] 
•ftiy  fooad   at   Thcb«a,  ud   »op|MM«|   bj 


438  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XVI. 

mountains  were  sufficiently  near,  the  latter  was  preferred;  and 
these  were  generally  the  most  elegant  in  their  design  and  the 
Tariety  of  their  sculptures,  not  only  at  Thebes,  but  in  other  parts 
of  Egypt.  Few,  indeed,  belonging  to  wealthy  individuals  were 
built  of  masonry,  except  those  at  the  Pyramids  in  the  vicinity 
of  Jilemphis. 

The  sepulchres  of  the  poorer  classes  had  no  upper  chamber. 
Tlie  coffins  were  deposited  in  pits  in  the  plain,  or  in  recesses 
excavated  at  the  side  of  a  rock,  which  were  closed  with  masonry, 
as  the  pits  within  the  large  tombs.  Mummies  of  the  lower  orders 
were  buried  together  in  a  common  repository ;  and  the  bodies  of 
those  whose  relations  had  not  the  means  of  paying  for  their 
funeral,  after  being  *  merely  cleansed  by  some  vegetable  decoc- 
tions, and  kept  in  an  alkaline  solution  for  seventy  days,'  ^  were 
wrapped  up  in  coarse  cloth,  in  mats,  or  in  a  bundle  of  palm- 
sticks,  and  deposited  in  the  earth. 

Some  tombs  were  of  great  extent ;  and  when  a  wealthy  in- 
dividual bought  the  ground,  and  had  an  opportunity  during  a 
long  life  of  making  his  family  sepulchre  according  to  his  wishes, 
it  was  frequently  decorated  in  the  most  sumptuous  manner. 
And  so  much  consequence  did  the  Egyptians  attach  to  them, 
that  people  in  humble  circumstances  made  every  effort  to  save 
sufficient  to  procure  a  handsome  tomb,  and  defray  the  expenses 
of  a  suitable  funeral.  This  species  of  pomp  increased  as  refine- 
ment and  luxury  advanced;  and  in  the  time  of  Amasis  and 
other  monarchs  of  the  26th  Dynasty  the  funeral  expenses  so  far 
exceeded  what  it  had  been  customary  to  incur  during  the  reigns 
of  the  early  Pharaohs,  that  the  tombs  of  some  individuals  far 
surpassed  in  extent,  if  not  in  splendour  of  decoration,  those  of 
the  kings  themselves. 

Many  adorned  their  entrances  with  gardens,  in  which  flowers 
were  reared  by  the  hand  of  an  attached  friend,  whose  daily  care 
was  to  fetch  water  from  the  river,  or  from  the  wells  on  the  edge 
of  the  cultivated  land ;  and  I  have  myself  found  remains  *  of 
alluvial  soil  brought  for  this  purpose,  and  placed  before  some 
of  the  sepulchres  at  Thebes. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  early  times  the  tombs  were 
more  simple  and  of  smaller  dimensions ;  which  is  proved  by  the 
appearance  of  those  at  Thebes,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Memphis. 

>  Herodot.  ii.  8S.     This  ib  confinned  by      — S.  B. 
the  later  Ptolemaic  tablets,  which  mention         *  I  hare  indicated  some  of  these  in  07 
seventy  days  as  the  time  of  embalmment.      *  Survey  of  Thebes.' 


Cbap.  XVL]  early  tombs.  439 

The  tombs  in  the  rock  at  the  Necropolis  of  Thebes,  of  the  time 
of  Amcnophis  I.  and  other  early  monarchs  of  the  18th  Dynasty, 
were  smaller  and  more  simple  than  those  made  at  the  close  of 
that  dynasty ;  and  this  display  in  the  mo<le  of  decorating  them 
and  extending  their  dimensions  continued  to  increase  to  the 
time  of  Amasis,  when,  as  Herodotus  states,  the  wealth  of  Egypt 
far  surpassed  that  of  any  previous  period.  But  as  a  detailed 
description  of  them  would  encroach  too  much  on  the  limits  of 
this  work,  I  must  be  contented  for  the  present  with  referring  to 
my  '  Toi>ography  of  Thebes  ;*  where  I  have  8]M)ken  of  their 
dimensions  and  general  plan,  as  well  as  the  subjects  that  adorn 
the  walls  of  their  passages  and  chambers,  nearly  all  of  which 
are  hewn  in  the  limestone  rock  of  the  Libyan  mountain.^ 

Those  tombs  at  Memphis  and  the  Pyramids  which  are  of 
masonry  differ  in  their  plan,  and  in  many  instances  in  the  style 
of  their  sculptun^s.  The  subjects,  however,  generally  relate  to 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Egyptians  ;  and  pairties,  boat 
scenes,  fishing,  fowling,  and  other  ordinary  occupations  of  the 
people,  are  portrayed  there,  as  in  the  sepulchres  of  Thebes. 

The  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes  are  principally  of  Pharaohs 
of  the  18th  and  19th  Dynasties  ;  the  oldest  in  the  eastern  valley, 
where  they  are  nearly  all  situated,  being  of  Bameses  L,  the 
grandfather  of  the  conqueror  of  the  same  name.  That  of  the 
third  Amenophis  is  in  the  western  valley,  with  two  others  of  an 
old  and  uncertain  era.  They  have  likewise  been  mentioned  in 
my  '  Topography  of  Thebes,* '  where  their  plans  and  the  subjects 
of  their  sculptures  are  described  as  of  the  sepulchres  of  private 
individuals. 

*  When  anyone  die<l,'  all  the  females  of  his  family,  covering 
their  heads  and  faces  with  mud,  and  leaving  the  body  in  the 
house,  ran  through  the  streets  with  their  b<»som8  exposed,  striking 
themselves,^  and  uttering  loud  lamentations.*     Their  friends  and 

'  The  tombfl  wer«  placed  gtntnAXj  at  of   the   tint   chamber.     (Mariette,   *Moa. 

the  »t(le«  of  mouDtaint,  and  were  not  rerr  of  I'pper  i-I|;Tpt/  pi.  7.)— 8.  B. 
eeB«ptcuoam    and    coiimted    of    a    small  *  *Top<»^raphr  of  Thebe*/ p.  \W^  ei  teq, 

bailding  with   a  rectaoi^alar  and  rerticml  '  Herodotus  (ii.  S.'»)  sars,  *  a  pervoa  of 

cell  leading  to  the  Tault    beneath,  which  rank  ;*  but    the    same    Umentatiott    was 

was  the   sepulchral    chamber.      The    ci-  made  br  the  familr.   whaterer  his  statioB 

terior  building  was  a  kind  of  memorial  or  in  life  might  be  ;  the  onlr  diflPerence  btittg 

mortuarr  chapel,  open  at   all  times,   and  that    thf    funeral    was    not    attended    br 

where  the  relatiTes  of  the  dead  assembled,  strangers,  out  of  respect  to   the  deceasM, 

Between  the  brickwork  was  a  narrow  paa-  when  unknown  or  of  low  condition. 
•age,  in  which  Hgures  of  the  deceased  were  *  Ther    were     forbidden   to  cut    thein* 

depoeite<l  and  then  walled  up.      At  Beni-  selri^  as  were  the  Jews.     (I^rit.  lii.  2S ; 

Hassan  the  tombs   were  hollowed  out   of  l>eut.  lir.  1.)    This  was  a  STriaa  casloflu 

th«  mouBtaio,  and   the  otU   in  a  cormer  at  the  worship  of  Baal.  (1  Kinp  iriiL  2S.) 


440  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS  [Chap.  XVL 

relations  joined  them  as  they  went,  nniting  in  the  same  de- 
monstrations of  grief ;  and  when  the  deceased  was  a  person  of 
consideration,  many  strangers  accompanied  them,  out  of  respect 
to  his  memory.^  Hired  mourners  were  also  employed  to  add  by 
their  feigned  demonstrations  ^  of  grief  to  the  real  lamentations  of 
the  family,  and  to  heighten  the  show  of  respect  paid  to  the 
deceased.  '  The  men  in  like  manner  girding  their  dress  below 
their  waist,  went  through  the  town  smiting  their  breast,'^  and 
throwing  dust  and  mud  npon  their  heads.^  Bnt  the  greatest 
number  of  mourners  consisted  of  women,  as  is  usual  in  Egypt 
at  the  present  day ;  and  since  the  mode  of  lamentation  now 
practised  at  Cairo  is  probably  very  similar  to  that  of  former 
times,  a  description  of  it  may  serve  to  illustrate  one  of  the 
customs  of  ancient  Egypt.* 

As  soon  as  the  marks  of  approaching  death  are  observed,  the 
females  of  the  family  raise  the  cry  of  lamentation ;  one  generally 
commencing  in  a  low  tone,  and  exclaiming,  *•  0  my  misfortune!' 
which  is  immediately  taken  up  by  another  with  increased 
vehemence;  and  all  join  in  similar  exclamations,  united  with 
piercing  cries.  They  call  on  the  deceased,  according  to  their 
degree  of  relationship, — ^as,  *  0  my  father,'  *  0  my  mother,'  *  0 
my  sister,'  *  O  my  brother,'  *  O  my  aunt ;'  or  according  to  the 
friendship  and  connection  subsisting  between  them,  as '  O  my 
master,'  *  O  lord  of  the  house,'  '  O  my  friend,'  *  0  my  dear,  my 
soul,  my  eyes ;'  and  many  of  the  neighbours,  as  well  as  the 
friends  of  the  family,  join  in  the  lamentation.  Hired  mourning 
women  are  also  engaged,  who  utter  cries  of  grief,  and  praise  the 
virtues  of  the  deceased ;  while  the  females  of  the  house  rend 
their  clothes,  beat  themselves,  and  make  other  violent  demon- 
strations of  sorrow.  A  sort  of  funeral  dirge  *  is  also  chanted  by 
the  mourning  women  to  the  sound  of  a  tambourine,  from  which 
the  tinkling  plates  have  been  removed. 

This  continues  until  the  funeral  takes  place,  which,  if  the 
person  died  in  the  morning,  is  performed  the  same  day ;  but  if 
in  the  afternoon  or  evening,  it  is  deferred  until  the  morning, 
the  lamentations  being  continued  all  night.  Previous  to,  or 
immediately  after  the  departure  of,  the  vital  spark,  they  take 


>  As  the  Egyptians  moamed  for  Jacob.  *  I  refer  to  Lane's  admirable  work  on 

(Gen.  1.  3.)  the  Modern  Egyptians,  toI.  ii.  p.  286. 

'  Hor.  de  Arte  Poet,  rerse  429.    Conf.  *  Like   the  *  inconditnm   qnoddam  car- 

Jerem.  iz.  17 ;  Matt.  ix.  23.  men/  mentioned  by  Quintos  Cnrtiiis,  sung 

'  Herodot.  ii.  85.  by  matrons  and  virgins  at  the  temple  ot 

*  Ibid.    Diodor.  i.  91.  Ammon. 


Chap.  XVL]  MODEBN  FUNEBAL  CUSTOMS.  441 

care  to  close  the  eyes  and  month  ;^  which  is  always  looked  npon 
as  a  tender  and  dutiful  office  worthy  of  the  kind  feelings  of  a 
sincere  friend ;  and  soon  after  the  mourners  have  collected,  the 
body  is  given  over  to  the  moghuud  (or  washer),  who,  placing  it 
on  a  bench,  the  eyes  being  closed,  and  the  mouth  bound  up, 
washes  it,  the  barber  having  previously  performed  his  office. 

In  the  meantime  prayers  are  read  in  an  adjoining  apartment 
by  the  fekkees^  who  officiate  as  priests ;  and  preparations  are 
then  made  for  carrying  out  the  corpse  to  the  grave.  It  is  placed 
on  a  bier  borne  by  four  friends  of  the  deceased,  who,  after  a 
short  distance,  are  relieved  by  four  others,  and  so  on,  till  arrived 
at  the  cemetery  ;  the  procession  which  accompanies  it  depending 
on  the  rank  of  the  person,  or  the  attentions  of  his  friends.  This 
has  been  so  fully  and  so  accurately  described  by  Lane,'  that 
I  cannot  do  better  than  give  it  from  his  valuable  book. 

'  The  first  persons  (in  the  procession)  are  about  six  or  more 
poor  men,  called  Yementeh,  mostly  blind,  who  proceed  two  and 
two,  or  three  and  three  together.  Walking  at  a  moderate  pace, 
or  rather  slowly,  they  chant  in  a  melancholy  tone  the  profession 
of  faith,  or  sometimes  other  words :  they  are  followed  by  some 
male  relations  and  friends  of  the  decease<l,  and  in  many  cases 
by  two  or  more  persons  of  some  sect  of  dervishes,  bearing  the 
flags  of  their  order.  .  .  .  Next  follow  three  or  four  or  more  school- 
boys, one  of  whom  carries  a  copy  of  the  Coran,  .  .  .  placed  upon 
a  kind  of  desk  formed  of  palm-sticks,  and  covered  over  generally 
with  an  embroidered  kerchief.  These  boys  chant  in  a  higher 
and  livelier  voice  than  the  Yemen6eh,  usually  some  words  of  a 
poem  descriptive  of  the  events  of  the  last  day,  the  judgment,  &c., 
commencing — 

*  ^^  (I  A»^rt)  the  aUoIaU  glory  of  Him  who  cnatcth  whaterer  hath  form, 
And  reduceth  Hit  Mrraota  bj  death  : 

Who  briof^eth  to  nought  (all)  Hii  creaturea,  with  mankind  ; 
They  shall  all  lie  in  the  grmrea : 
The  ab§<dut«  glory  of  the  Lord  of  the  East :  * 
The  absolute  glory  of  the  Ix>rd  of  the  Went  :* 
The  abaolute  glory  of  the  Illamiaator  of  the  two  lights ; 
The  Run,  to  wit,  and  the  moon: 
Hi*  absolute  glory  :  how  bountiful  ia  He  I'* 

'The  schoolboys  immediately  prece<le  the  bier,  which  is 
borne  head  foremost.  Three  or  four  friends  of  the  deceased 
Qsually  carry  it  for  a  short  distance ;  then  three  or  four  other 

*  Aa  did  the  Romana.     (Virg.  Xjo.  ix.  two  place*  of  sunrise  ;**  the  point  whert 
4^7,  4c.)  the  aun  rise*  in  summer,  and  that  where  it 

*  *  Modem  (Igrptiana,*  ii.  2A9.  rises  in  winter.' 

*  *  Liurmily,  *'*  the  two  Luta,"  or  **  the  *  *  Or  **  Iko  two  placaa  of  auBatU' 


w  • 


442  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

friends,  who  are  in  like  manner  relieved.  Behind  the  bier 
walk  the  female  mourners ;  sometimes  a  group  of  more  than  a 
dozen  or  twenty,  with  their  hair  dishevelled,  though  generally 
concealed  by  the  head-veil,  crying  and  shrieking ;  and  often  the 
hired  mourners  accompany  them,  celebrating  the  praises  of  the 
deceased.  Among  the  women  the  relations  and  domestics  of  the 
deceased  are  each  distinguished  by  a  strip  of  linen,  or  cotton 
stuff,  or  muslin,  generally  blue,  bound  round  the  head,  and  tied 
in  a  single  knot  behind,  the  ends  hanging  down  a  few  inches. 
Each  of  these  also  carries  a  handkerchiQf,  usually  dyed  blue, 
which  she  sometimes  holds  over  her  shoulders,  and  at  other  times 
twirls  with  both  hands  over  her  head,  or  before  her  face.  The 
cries  of  the  women,  the  lively  chanting  of  the  youths,  and  the 
deep  tones  uttered  by  the  Yemeneeh,  compose  a  strange  discord. 

'  The  wailing  of  women  at  funerals  was  forbidden  by  the 
Prophet ;  and  so  also  was  the  celebration  of  the  virtues  of  the 
deceased.  .  .  .  Some  of  these  precepts  are  every  day  violated ; 
.  .  .  and  I  have  seen  mourning  women  of  the  lower  classes 
following  a  bier,  having  their  faces  (which  were  bare),  and  their 
head-coverings  and  bosoms,  besmeared  with  mud. 

*  The  funeral  procession  of  a  man  of  wealth,  or  of  the  middle 
classes,  is  sometimes  preceded  by  three  or  four  or  more  camels, 
bearing  bread  and  water  to  give  to  the  poof  at  the  tomb,  and  is 
composed  of  a  more  numerous  and  varied  assemblage  of  persons.' 
In  this,  besides  the  persons  already  mentioned,  *  the  led  horses 
of  the  bearers,  if  men  of  rank,  often  follow  the  bier ;  and  a 
buffalo,  to  be  sacrificed  at  the  tomb,  where  its  flesh  is  to  be 
distributed  to  the  poor,  closes  the  procession.' 

The  funeral  of  a  devout  sheikh  differs  in  some  respects  from 
that  of  ordinary  mortals ;  and  *  the  women,  instead  of  wailing, 
rend  the  air  with  shrill  and  quavering  cries  of  joy,  called 
zuffhareet ;  and  if  these  cries  are  discontinued  but  for  a  minute, 
the  bearers  of  the  bier  protest  they  cannot  proceed,  that  a 
supernatural  power  rivets  them  to  the  spot.'  Very  often,  it  is 
said,  a  welee  impels  the  bearers  of  his  corpse  to  a  particular 
place ;  a  curious  anecdote  of  which  is  related  by  Lane  ;*  and 
I  have  repeatedly  witnessed  instances  of  this  at  Cairo,  having 
for  some  time  lived  in  the  main  street  leading  to  a  cemeter)' 
near  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city. 

Several  points  of  resemblance  may  be  observed  between  the 


'  Lane,  *■  Modern  Egyptians,'  ii.  p.  294. 


Chap.  XTE.]  FUNERAL  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN.  443 

funeral  processions  of  ancient  Egypt  and  the  aboye-mentioned 
ceremony  :  as  in  the  female  mourners ;  their  heads  bound  with 
a  fillet ;  the  procession  of  the  friends  on  foot ;  the  head  of  the 
corpse  foremost ;  the  horses  (or  chariot)  in  the  procession ;  an<^ 
the  ox  or  calf  for  sacrifice,  the  meat  of  which  was  probably  given 
to  the  poor,  like  the  visceraiio  of  the  Romans. 

Of  the  magnificent  pomp  of  a  royal  funeral  in  the  time  of  the 
Pharaohs  no  adequate  idea  can  be  formed  from  the  processions 
represented  in  the  tombs  of  ordinary  individuals ;  and  the 
solemn  manner  in  which  a  public  mourning  was  observed  in  his 
honour,  the  splendour  of  the  royal  tombs,  and  the  importance 
attached  to  all  that  appertained  to  the  king,  sufficiently  show 
how  far  these  last  must  have  fallen  short  of  regal  grandeur.  A 
general  mourning  was  proclaimed  throughout  the  country,  which 
lasted  seventy-two  days  after  his  death.  *  The  people  tore  their 
garments,^  all  the  temples  were  closed,  sacrifices  were  forbidden, 
and  no  festivals  were  celebrated  during  that  period.  A  pro- 
cession of  men  and  women,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred,  with  their  dresses  attached  below  their  breast, 
wandered  through  the  streets,  throwing  dust^  and  mud  upon 
their  heads ;  and  twice  every  day  they  sang  the  funeral  dirge 
in  honour  of  the  deceased  monarch,  extolling  his  virtues,  and 
passing  every  encomium  upon  his  memory.  In  the  meantime  a 
solemn  fast  was  established;  and  they  neither  allowed  them- 
selves to  taste  meat  or  wheaten  bread,^  abstaining  also  from 
wine  and  every  kind  of  luxury ;  nor  did  anyone  venture,  from  a 
religious  scruple,  to  use  baths  or  ointments,  to  lie  on  soft  beds, 
or  in  any  way  to  gratify  his  appetites;  giving  himself  up 
entirely  to  mourning  during  those  days,  as  if  he  had  lost  the 
friend  most  dear  to  him.' 

Considering  the  marked  distinction  maintained  between  the 
sovereign  and  the  highest  subjects  in  the  kingdom,  in  a  country 
where  the  royal  princes  walked  on  foot  when  in  attendance  upon 
their  father,  and  even  bore  him  in  his  chair  of  state  upon  their 
shoulders, — where  the  highest  functionaries  of  the  priestly  order, 
the  most  influential  of  the  hereditary  nobles  of  the  land,  walked 
behind  the  chariot  *  of  their  monarch, — we  may  readily  believe 


*  Diodor.  i.  72.  '  '  As  the  bread  of  mourners.'     (Hoe. 

'  The  Greeks  say  '  mad  ;'  but  io  dry,  ix.  4.) 

dusty  Egypt   this  would  hare  been  more  *  The    greatest    hononr    conferred    on 

difficult  to  find   than   dust  in    England,  Joseph  was  permission   'to  ride  in    the 

if  we  had  so  unpleasant  a  custom  at  our  second  chariot  which  he  (the  king)  had.' 

AiaaraU.  This  was  a  royal  chariot,  no  one  being 


444 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Chap.  XVL 


Closets  conUining  figures  of 
godA. 

^o,  esi. 


how  greatly  the  funeral  processions  of  the  wealthiest  indiyiduals 
fell  short  of  those  of  the  kings.  But  from  the  pomp  of  ordinary 
funerals  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  grand  state  in  which 
the  body  of  a  sovereign  was  conveyed  to  the  tomb. 

In  the  funeral  processions  of  the  Egyptian  grandees  the  order 
was  frequently  as  follows,  as  will  be  seen  in  Plate  LXVI. : — 
First  came  several  servants,  carrying  tables  laden  with  fruit, 

cakes,  flowers,  vases  of  ointment,^  wine,  and 
other  liquids,  with  three  young  geese  and 
a  calf  for  sacrifice,  chairs  and  wooden  tablets, 
>ll  jk        napkins,^  and   other  things.    Then  others 

^  ^        bringing  the  small  closets  in  which  the 

■'I  ^  IL       J'  ^  ^'i    mummy  of  the  deceased  and  of  his  ancestors 

had  been  kept,  while  receiving  the  funeral 
liturgies  previous  to  burial,  and  which  some- 
times contained  the  images  of  the  gods. 
They  also  carried  daggers,  bows,  sandals,  and  fans ;  each  man 
having  a  kerchief  or  napkin  on  his  shoulder.  Next  came  a 
table  of  offerings,  fauteuils,  couches,  boxes,  and  a  chariot ;  and 
then  the  charioteer  with  a  pair  of  horses  yoked  in  another  car, 
which  he  drove  as  he  followed  on  foot,  in  token  of  respect  to 
his  late  master.  After  these  were  men  carrying  gold  vases  on  a 
table,  with  other  offerings,  boxes,  and  a  large  case  upon  a  sledge 
borne  on  poles  by  four  men,  superintended  by  two  functionaries 
of  the  priestly  order ;  then  others  bearing  small  images  of  his 
ancestors,  arms,  fans,  the  sceptres,  signets,  collars,  necklaces, 
and  other  things  appertaining  to  the  king  in  whose  service  he 
had  held  an  important  ofiice.  To  these  succeeded  the  bearers  of 
a  sacred  boat,  and  the  mysterious  eye  of  Shu  or  Horus  as  god  of 
stability,^  so  common  on  funeral  monuments ;  the  same,  whicli 
was  placed  over  the  incision  in  the  side  of  the  body  when  em- 
balmed, was  the  emblem  of  Egypt,  and  was  frequently  used  as 
a  sort  of  amulet,  and  deposited  in  the  tombs.  Others  carried 
the  well-known  small  images  of  blue  pottery  representing  the 
deceased  under  the  form  of  Osiris,  and  the  bird  emblematic  of 
the  soul.     Following  these  were  seven  or  more  men  bearing  upon 


allowed  to  appear  in  his  own  in  the  pre- 
sence of  majesty,  except  in  battle. 

*  I  have  had  occasion  to  notice  the 
different  materials  of  which  vases  used  for 
holding  ointment  were  made.  Alabaster 
was  most  common,  as  with  the  Greeks  and 
Komans,    who    even    adopted    the    name 


'alabaster,*  alabastrony  to  signify  a  vase, 
as  in  Theocr.  Id.  xv.  112:  l,vpl^  {« 
fivpcf}  xpt^o'ft*  iiXdficurrpa. 

'  These  were  sometimes  spread  orer  the 
tables  of  offerings  as  tablecloths. 

'  Given  also  to  Ptah  in  the  same  cha* 
racter. 


CooperAHodson  1;l)i'  LS8,:itrBiKl  .IM 


C»AF.  XVL] 


FONXBAL  OF  A  OBANDEE. 


445 


BtaTW  or  wooden  yokes  caaes  flllc<I  with  flowers  and  bottles  for 
libatiuD ;  aud  then  seven  or  eight  wumeo,  baring  tbeir  heads 
bound  with  filletg,  beating  their  breasts,  throwing  dust  Qpou 
tfaoir  heads,  and  uttering  dolefnl  lamentations  fur  the  deceased, 
intermixed  with  prais(«  of  his  Tirtaes. 

One  is  seen  in  the  picture  turning  round,  in  the  act  of 
adoration,  towards  a  sacred  case  containing  a  sitting  CyDoce- 
phahis,  the  emblem  of  the  god  of  letters,'  placed  on  a  sledge 
drawn  by  four  men ;  the  ofGciating  high  (iriost  or  ]>()ntiff,  clad 
in  a  leifpanl-skio,  following,  having  in  his  hand  tho  censer  and 
rase  of  libation,  and  accompanied  by  his  attendants  bearing  tha 
various  things  required  for  the  occasion. 

Next  came  the  hearse,  placed  in  the  consecrated  boat  upon  a 
sledge,*  drawn  by  four  oxen  and  by  seven  men,  nnder  the 
direction  of  a  superintendent,  who  rcgnlate<l  the  march  of  the 
procession.  A  high  functionary  of  the  priestly  order  walked 
close  to  the  boat,  in  which  the  chief  muumers,  the  nearest 
female  relatives  of  the  deceased,  stood  or  sat  at  either  end  of 
the  8arc4i])hagus ;  and  sometimes  bis  widow,  holding  a  child 
in  her  arms,  united  her  lamentations  with  prayers  for  her  tender 
offspring,  whu  added  its  tribute  of  sorrow  to  that  of  its  afflicted 
mother. 

The  sarcophagus  was  decked  with  flowers,  and  on  the  sides 
wore  painted  alter- 
nately the  emblems    ■^.Vr. 


Nwuiiuuiiiiiiiiiimininnnmf 


of  stability*  and  se- 
curity.* two  by  two 
(as  on  tht'  sacn-<l  arks 
or  »hrinn8)njion  »ei>a- 
rate  {Htnfls,  une  of 
which  wan  somftimt-s 
takon  iiut  to  ex]Miso 
to  view  the  head  of 
the  mummy  within. 
Tbi-se  two  em- 
blems are  fn-<tuently  put  into  the  bands  of  the  mummies,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  coffins  of  the  Uritish  ^luseum  and  other 


■  Thii  rml'IriB  vt  Thuth  trrtat  to  cor-  of  limblirhiu.     It    ijiiittu*    to    ba   etlitd 

■puB'l  til  Ih-  '—■*  tarn.-l  ■*  the  dak  of  rir  or  fcil. 

Ja^ti.ki  11  Ihr  M<.<lTm  fuuTili.  '  A  lit,  »I1«>I  bi,  wbm  Daknowtt.     Hf^ 

•  Plui.  .Ir  l>i.|.  L  3:>.  tinll^   ttw   Ml  (itBilUd  Umtu,  uJ   t^ 

'  nu  }-(rh*|4  R|>RMaU  tk«  bar  taw*  l«  Itii  oi  Kt|ihthj). — 8.  B. 


446 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANa 


[Chap.  XVL 


N0.63S.    KiMtofabelt 


collections.  The  first  appears  to  be  a'  sort  of  stand  used  by 
workmen  for  supporting  vases  or  other  things  they  were  chisel- 
ling which  required  a  firm  position,  and  the 
other  resembles  a  knot  or  clasp  of  a  belt  worn 
by  the  gods  and  kings.^ 

Behind  the  hearse  followed  the  male  re- 
lations and  friends  of  the  deceased;  some 
beating  their  breasts ;  others,  if  not  giving 
the  same  tokens  of  grief,  at  least  showing 
their  sorrow  by  their  silence  and  solemn 
step  as  they  walked,  leaning  on  their  long 
sticks.     These  closed  the  procession. 

Arrived  at  the  sacred  lake,  the  coffin  was  placed  in  the  6am,' 
or  consecrated  boat  of  the  dead,  towed  by  a  larger  one  furnished 
with'  sails  and  oars,  and  having  frequently  a  spacious  cabin,^ 
which,  in  company  with  other  sailing  boats  carrying  the 
mourners  and  all  those  things  above  mentioned  appertaining  to 
the  funeral,*  crossed  to  the  other  side.  Arrived  there,  the  pro- 
cession went  in  the  same  order  to  the  tomb ;  at  which  the  priest 
offered  a  sacrifice,  with  incense  and  libation;  the  women  still 
continuing  their  lamentations,  united  with  prayers  and  praises  of 
the  deceased.  It  frequently  happened  that  the  deceased,  with 
his  wife,  if  dead  at  the  time  of  his  funeral,  was  represented  seated 
under  a  canopy^  in  lieu  of  the  coffin.  Before  him  stood  an  altar 
laden  with  offerings ;  and  a  priest,  opening  a  long  roll  of  papyrus, 
read  aloud  the  funeral  ritual,  and  an  account  of  his  good  deeds, 
'  in  order  to  show  to  Osiris  and  the  Assessors  the  extent  of  his 
piety  and  justice  during  his  life.*  When  the  boats  reached  the 
other  side  of  the  lake,  the  yards  were  lowered  to  the  top  of  the 
cabin,  and  all  those  engaged  in  the  ceremony  left  them  and 
proceeded  to  the  tomb,  from  which  they  appear  to  have  returned 
by  land,  without  recrossing  the  lake. 

Such  was  the  funeral  procession  of  a  lasUicogrammateuBy  or  royal 
scribe,  a  member  of  the  priestly  order.    He  lived  during  the  four 


'  This  ta  was  an  amulet,  made  of  red 
jasper  when  attached  to  the  neck,  accord- 
ing to  the  156th  chapter  of  the  Ritual,  and 
was  supposed  to  be  made  of  the  blood  of 
Isis.    It  represented  a  tie  or  buckle. — S.  B. 

•  *The  boat  which  carries  over  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  is  called  harts.*  (Diod. 
i.  96.) 

'  It  is  probable  that  Strabo  alludes  to 
these  boats  with  cabins  under  the  name 
of  thaktmegi  or  thalamiferi^  in  which  the 


£gTptians  made  parties  of  pleasure  on  the 
water.  ( Lib.  xvii.  p.  550.)  Some  were 
Tery  small,  and  towed  on  the  lakes  of 
their  pleasure-grounds  hj  servants. 

*  On  the  cabin  of  the  baris  is  the  case 
containing  the  Cynocephalus. 

*  This  canopy  was  very  similar  to  that 
mentioned  by  Herodotus,  of  wood,  gilt,  in 
which  the  statue  of  a  god  was  placed  in 
processions. 


ITl]  FUNERAL  OF  A  PRIEST.  447 

live  reigns  of  Thotbmes  III.,  Amenophis  II.,  Thothmes  IV., 
menophis  III.,  and  held  tho  office  of  tutor  to  one  of  the 

princesses,  as  tho  sculptures  inform  us,  which  represent 
inning  her  on  his  knee,  while  entertaining  a  party  of 
i.  This,  since  it  shows  tliat  tho  education  of  the  daughters 
igs  was  entrusteil  to  members  of  the  priestly  onler  dis- 
shed  for  their  talents,  is  another  trait  of  resemblance  in 
iftoms  of  ancient  Egypt  and  the  most  refined  of  modem 
lean  nations. 

ie  funerals  of  other  persons  differed  in  tho  order  of  the 
•ion,  as  well  as  in  the  ]>omp  displayetl  on  tho  occasion; 
le  mode  of  celebrating  them  appears  to  have  depende<l  on 
langements  made  by  the  family,  except  in  those  particulars 

were  prescribed  by  law.  The  funeral  of  Nefer-hott^p^  a 
of  Amen  at  Thebes,  is  thus  described  on  the  walls  of  his 
[as  seen  in  Plate  LX VII.),  the  scene  of  which  li«*s  {mrtlyon 
ke,  and  partly  on  the  way  thence  to  the  S(*puh*hre  itself: — 
nt  came  a  large  boat,  conveying  the  bearers  of  flowers, 
and  numerous  things  appertaining  to  the  offerings — tables, 
lis,  and  other  pieces  of  furniture — as  well  as  the  friends  of 
sceased,  whose  consequence  is  shown  by  their  dresses  and 
ralking-sticks — the  peculiar  mark  of  Kgyptian  gentlemen, 
followed  by  a  small  skiff  holding  baskets  of  cakes  and 
a  quantity  of  gn^en  palm-branches,  which  it  was 
nary  to  strew  in  the  way  as  tho  body  pn)cee<le<I  to  the 

the  smooth  nature  of  their  leaver  and  stalks  beinir 
nlarly  well  adapteil  to  enable  the  sledge  to  glide  ovit 

this  part  of  the  picture  tho  love  of  caricature  eonunon  to 
jyptians  is  shown  to  luive  been  indulges!  in,  even  in  the 
I  subject  of  a  funeral ;  and  the  retrograde  movement  of  the 
boat,  which  has  grounded  and  is  pushinl  off  the  bank, 
ig  the  smaller  one  with  its  rudder,  has  overturned  a  larg«* 
loade<l  with  cakes  and  other  things  upon  tht*  rowi»rs  mMitiMl 

in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  prowman,  and  the  earn«*Kt 
rations  of  the  alarnuMl  Ht<*(*r8man. 

another  Uiiit  men  carried  bi»uqu(*ts,  and  Kixes  8upi>ort(^l 

usual  voki*  oV(T  th«'ir  shoulders;  and  this  was  follo\i«*d  bv 
thcrs,  on«*  cuntaining  the  male,  the  other  the  female 
crs,  stun<liu^  «iu  the  roof  of  the  cabin,  beating  tiu'inselves, 
Ig  cries,  and   making  other  demonnt  rat  inns   of  i^xoessive 

Last  came  the  consecrated  boat,  bearing  the  hearse,  which 


448  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

was  surrounded  by  the  chief  mourners,  and  the  female  relations 
of  the  deceased.  A  high  priest  burnt  incense  over  the  altar, 
which  was  placed  before  it ;  and  behind  it  stood  the  images  of 
Isis  and  Nephthys.  They  were  the  emblems  of  the  Beginning 
and  the  End,  and  were  thought  to  be  always  present  at  the  head 
and  feet  of  the  dead  who  had  led  a  virtuous  life,  and  who  were 
deemed  worthy  of  admission  into  the  regions  of  the  blessed. 

Arrived  at  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake,  the  procession 
advanced  to  the  catacombs,  crossing  the  sandy  plain  which 
intervened  between  them  and  the  lake ;  and  on  the  way  several 
women  of  the  vicinity,  carrying  their  children  in  shawls 
suspended  at  their  side  or  at  their  bcu^k,^  joined  in  the  lamenta- 
tion. The  mummy  being  taken  out  of  the  sarcophagus,  was 
placed  erect  in  the  chamber  of  the  tomb;  and  the  sister  or 
nearest  relation,  embracing  it,  commenced  a  funeral  dirge, 
calling  on  her  relative  with  every  expression  of  tenderness, 
extolling  his  virtues,  and  bewailing  her  own  loss.  In  the  mean- 
time the  high  priest  presented  a  sacrifice  of  incense  and  libation, 
with  offerings  of  cakes  and  other  customary  gifts,  for  the 
deceased,  and  the  men  and  women  without  continued  the 
ululation,  throwing  dust  upon  their  heads,  and  making  other 
manifestations  of  grief. 

Many  funerals  were  conducted  in  a  more  simple  manner ;  the 
procession  consisting  merely  of  the  mourners  and  priests,  with 
the  hearse,  conveyed  as  usual  on  a  sledge  drawn  by  two  or  three 
oxen,  and  by  several  men,  who  aided  in  pulling  the  rope.  The 
priest  who  wore  the  leopard-skin  dress  and  who  performed  the 
sacrifice,  was  in  attendance,  burning  incense  and  pouring  out  a 
libation  as  he  went;  and  behind  him  walked  a  functionary  of 
an  inferior  grade,  clad  in  a  simple  robe,  extending  a  little  below 
the  knees  and  standing  out  from  the  body.  In  form  it  was  not 
altogether  unlike  a  modem  abbaieh,  and  was  made  of  some  stiflF 
substance,  with  two  holes  in  front,  through  which  the  arms  passed, 
in  order  to  enable  him  to  hold  a  long  taper.^  At  the  head  and 
foot  of  the  hearse  was  a  female,  who  generally  clasped  one  arm 
with  her  hand  in  token  of  grief,  her  head  being  bound  with  a 
fillet,  her  bosom  exposed,  and  her  dress  ^  supported,  like  that  of 


*  This   is   the   common  custom   of  the  •  I  believe  this  to  be  a  taper  or  torch. 

Arab  women  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  •  ^Eirtiwafityri.     Apaleius   (Metam.    li. 

at  this  day.     It  may  perhaps  be  analogous  250)  says  the  high  priest  made  a  purinca- 

to  *  Thy  daughters  shall  be  nursed  at  thy  tion  *  with  a  lighted  torch,  an  egg,  and 

side/     (Isa.  Ix.  4.)  sulphur/ 


\  XVI.]  ANOTHER  FUNERAL  PROCESSION.  449 

Lming  women,  by  a  strap  over  the  shoulder.  She  sometimes 
9  a  scarf  tied  across  her  hips,  much  in  the  same  manner  as 
Xgyptian  women  now  put  on  their  shawls  both  in  the  house 

when  going  out  of  d(x>r8.  She  appears 
BT  to  be  a  type   of   mourning,    or  a  .        . 

laa  who  had  some  peculiar  office  on  $^     t^ 

e  occasions.^ 

^  piooession  of  this  kind  was  all  that  at- 
Led  the  funeral  of  a  person  who  held  the 
e  of  '  scribe  of  weights  and  measures ;' 

at  I  have  already  observed,  the  pomp 
ilayed  in  the  ceremony  depended  on 
omstances;   and  individuals  surpassed 

I  other  in  the  style  of  their  burial,  as  in 
grandeur  of  their  tombs,  according  to  a  p^<iiur.iM.^  .1  a  f»rr.i 

their  family,  or  they  themselves     ''****  *^' 
granted  for  the  purpose.    In  another  funeral  the  order 
he  procession  was  as  follows : — 

First  came  eight  men  throwing  dust  upon  their  heads,  and 
ing  other  demonstrations  of  grief;  then  six  females,  in  the 

II  attire  of  mourners,  preceding  the  hearse,  which  was  drawn 
two  oxen — in  this  instance  unassisted  by  men,  two  only  lieing 
r  them,  one  uttering  lamentations,  and  the  other  driving 
n  with  a  goad  or  a  whip.  Immediately  before  the  sledge 
ring  the  coffin  was  the  tpritMer^  who,  with  a  brush  dippe<l  in 
ite»  or  with  a  small  bottle,  threw  water  u]M>n  the  ground,  and 
i^w  also  on  those  who  passed.  The  same  is  done  in  the 
ml  ceremonies  of  the  East  at  the  present  day ;  and  so  pn>- 
iy  do  they  sometimes  honour  the  passengers,  that  Lane' 
id  his  dress  wetted  very  uncomfortably  on  one  occasion 
n  he  happened  to  pass  by.  Next  came  the  hi^h  priest,  who, 
dng  round  to  the  hearse,  offered  incense  and  libation  in 
our  of  the  deceased,  the  chief  mourner  being  seated  in  the 
t  before  it :  other  men  followed ;  and  the  procession  closed 
I  eight  or  nu»re  women,  beating  themselves,  throwing  dust  on 
r  heads,  and  singing  the  funeral  dirge«  Arrive^l  at  the  tomb, 
ch  stuo<l  lM*n«*uth  the  westi*m  mountain  of  Thebes,  the 
nmy  was  taken  from  the  hearse,  and  being  placed  upright, 
mse  was  burnt,  and  a  libation  was  |x)ured  out  before  it  by  the 

!lall«d  frr  (  »t,  *th^  rhwf  monnirr'      UtMB«  uf  Ui«  anl  NrphthT«. — S.  R. 
«y«r-«ut.*  Mil  trr.t  nrfi.  'tht  Immf  *  *  MoJcra  L(y).tUB«.*  v.).  li.  y.  J97. 

■•r,'  a|»piirpBtlj  alluJing  Iq  rrprt«tB* 

OL.  III.  2  O 


450  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa  [Chap.  XVI, 

high-priest  as  he  stood  at  the  altar,  while  other  functionaries 
performed  various  ceremonies  in  honour  of  the  deceased.  The 
hierogrammateus  or  sacred  scribe  read  aloud  from  a  tablet  or  a 
roll  of  papyrus  his  eulogy,  and  a  prayer  to  the  gods  in  his 
behalf;  *not  enlarging,'  says  Diodorus,^  *on  his  descent,  but 
relating  his  piety  and  justice  and  other  virtues,  and  supplicating 
the  deities  of  Hades  to  receive  him  as  a  companion  of  the  pious, 
the  multitude  at  the  same  time  applauding  and  joining  in  the 
praises  of  his  memory/ 

Sometimes  this  document  was  read  from  the  boat,  immediately 
after  the  deceased  had  passed  that  ordeal  which  gave  him  the 
right  to  cross  the  sacred  lake,  and  proclaimed  the  presumed 
admission  of  his  soul  into  the  regions  of  the  blessed ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  same  was  again  repeated  when  the  body 
arrived  at  the  tomb. 

The  order  of  the  procession  which  accompanied  the  body  from 
the  sacred  lake  to  the  catacombs  was  the  same  as  before  they  had 
passed  it ;  the  time  occupied  by  the  march  depending,  of  course, 
on  the  position  of  the  tomb,  and  the  distance  from  which  the 
body  had  been  brought,  some  coming  from  remote  towns  or 
villages,  and  others  from  the  city  itself,  or  the  immediate  vicinity. 
The  same  was  the  case  at  Memphis  and  other  places ;  and  the 
capital  of  each  province  appears  to  have  had  its  sacred  lake, 
where  the  funerals  were  performed  with  the  same  regard  to  the 
ceremonies  required  by  the  religion. 

The  tomb  in  the  subject  above  described  is  represented  at  the 
base  of  the  western  mountain  of  Thebes,  which  agrees  perfectly 
with  its  actual  position;  and  from  this,  as  from  several  other 
similar  paintings,  we  learn  that,  besides  the  excavated  chambers 
hewn  in  the  rock,  a  small  building  crowned  by  a  roof  of  conical 
or  pyramidal  form  stood  before  the  entrance.  It  is  probable 
that  many  if  not  all  the  pits  in  the  plain  below  the  hills  were 
once  covered  with  buildings  of  this  kind,  which,  from  their 
perishable  materials,  crude  brick,  have  been  destroyed  after  a 
lapse  of  so  many  ages.  Indeed,  we  find  the  remains  of  some  of 
them,  and  occasionally  even  of  their  vaulted  chambers,  with  the 
painted  stucco  on  the  walls.  The  small  brick  pyramids  on  the 
heights,  which  still  stand  to  attest  the  antiquity  of  the  arch,  were 
built  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  similar  paintings  occur  on  their 
stuccoed  walls  as  on  those  of  the  excavated  tombs. 


»  Diodor.  i.  92. 


ur.  XTL]       MODE  OF  CABBTINO  THE  UtHIMT.  451 

Huiy  other  funerals  occnr  on  the  tomba,  which  rarjr  only  in 

me  details  from  those  already  mciitiuned.    I  cannot  bowevpr 

«isiut  to  notice  an  instance  of  poim-branches  strewn  in  the  vay,' 

mmi  the  introdnction  of  two  tables  or  altars  for  the  deocasetl  and 

Xiu  wife — one  bearing  a  jirofusion  of  cukes,  nit-ut,  fruit,  vcf^i-tables, 

ttod  other  customary  gifts,  and  the  other  numerous  utenxiU  and 

insignia,  as  flabella,  censers,  ostrich-feathers,  osjis,  and  emblems, 

'   together  with  the  hind  log  of  a  victim  placed  ui»cm  a  luipkin 

Spread  OTer  the  table.    Another  is  curious,  from  its  showing 

tliat  water  or  grease  was  sometimes  jMinred   upon  thtt   ground 

or  platform  on  which    the  sledge  of    the    hearse    passed,  aa 

was  done  in  moving  a  colossus  or  any  great  weight  by  the 

lame  process. 

The  hearse  containing  the  mummy  was  generally  closed  on 
■U  aides ;  but  it  was  sometimes  open  partially  or  entirely,  and 


the  body  was  seen  placed  npon  a  bier  ornamented,  like  some  of 
the  couches  in  their  houses,  with  the  head  Bn<i  feet  of  a  lioQ. 
Sometimes  the  mummy  was  placed  on  the  tup  of  the  sarcophagus 
within  an  open  heaise,  and  three  friends  of  the  dec«-ufle«],  or  the 
ftinctionarica  destined  for  this  office,  took  it  thenco  to  Mtnvey  it 
to  the  tomb,  where  it  received  the  accustom«<«l  iier%'ii'es  previous 
to  interment  in  the  pit ;  an  affectionate  hand  often  crowning  it 
with  a  garland  of  itnmorUUet,  bay-leaves,  or  frexh  flowen;*  and 
defMisiting,  as  the  last  duty  of  a  bcloTe«l  friend,  some  object  to 
which  while  alive  he  had  been  attached. 


rifht,K«r<liat  to  Ec;pliu  nulao.li 
IMS,  tbaif  h  IB  nJitj  «•  U*  |t««a 


452  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

I  must  mention  one  more  subject  portrayed  in  the  tombs,  if 
not  from  its  novelty,  from  the  grouping  and  character  of  the 
figures.^  Three  women  and  a  young  child  follow  the  hearse  of 
their  deceased  relative,  throwing  dust  upon  their  heads  in  token 
of  grief ;  and  the  truth  with  which  the  artist  has  described  their 
different  ages  is  &o  less  striking  than  the  elegance  of  the  drawing 
— as  well  in  the  aged  mother  as  in  the  wife,  the  grown-up 
daughter,  and  the  youthful  son.  This  picture  affords  a  striking 
confirmation  of  the  conjecture  that  married  women  were  alone 
permitted  to  wear  the  moffOBeeSy  or  ringlet  at  the  side  of  the  face ; 
which,  as  I  have  already  observed,  was  frequently  bound  at  the 
end  with  string,  like  the  plaits  at  the  back  of  the  head.  The 
grey  hairs  of  the  grandmother,  shortened  by  age,  still  show  this 
privileged  mark  of  the  matron ;  and  its  absence  in  the  coiffure 
of  the  daughter  indicates  that,  though  grown  up,  she  had  not 
yet  entered  the  connubial  state.^  The  child,  less  remarkable 
than  the  other  three,  is  not  without  its  interest,  as  it  fuUy 
confirms  a  statement  of  Diodorus,*  that  *  the  Egyptians  bring  up 
their  children  at  an  incredibly  small  expense,  both  in  food  and 
raiment,  the  mildness  of  the  climate  enabling  them  to  go  vdthout 
shoes,  or  indeed  without  any  other  clothing.*  For,  judging  from 
this,  as  from  others  represented  in  the  sculptures,  we  may 
presume  that  the  yearly  bill  for  shoes  and  all  articles  of  dress 
pressed  very  lightly  on  the  purses  of  the  parents  in  many  classes 
of  society. 

Such  are  the  principal  funeral  processions  represented  in  the 
tombs  of  Thebes,  which,  as  I  have  already  observed,  followed 
the  same  order  in  going  to  the  sacred  lake  as  from  thence  to  the 
tomb.  It  remains  for  me  to  describe  the  preparatory  rites,  and 
the  remarkable  ceremony  that  took  place  on  arriving  at  the  lake, 
before  permission  could  be  obtained  to  transport  the  body  to  the 
opposite  shore. 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  step  taken  by  the  friends  of  the 
deceased  at  the  moment  of  his  death  was  to  run  through  the 
streets  throwing  dust  upon  their  heads  and  uttering  bitter  cries 
of  grief  for  his  loss,  *  after  which  the  body  was  conveyed  to 
the  embalmers.*     The  afflicted  family  during  seventy-two  days 


*  *  Materia  Hierog./  Plate  4.  »  Diodor.  i.  80. 

•  [For  specimens  of  these  distinguishing  *  Herodot.  ii.  85.  In  order  not  to 
marks  afforded  by  the  mode  of  dressing  the  interrupt  the  account  of  the  funeral,  1 
h.iir,  see  woodcuts  Nos.  437  and  439,  vol.  ii.  defer  the  description  of  embalmine  for  th* 
pp.  325  and  328.--G.  W.]  present. 


Chaf.  XVL]  tokens  of  GRIEF.  453 

continued  their  lamentations  at  home,^  singing  the  funeral  dirge, 
and  fulfilling  all  the  duties  require<l  both  by  custom  and  their 
own  feelings  on  this  mournful  occasion/^ 

No  op{K)rtunity  was  lost  of  showing  thoir  r('rti>ect  for  the 
memory  of  their  departed  friend.  They  alwtainixl  from  all 
amusements,  the  indulgence  in  every  kind  of  luxury,  as  'the 
bath,  wine,  delicacies  of  the  table,  or  rich  clothing;*^  'they 
suffered  their  beard  and  hair  to  grow,*^  and  endoavoured  to 
prove,  by  this  marked  neglect  of  their  personal  comfort  and 
appearance,  how  entirely  their  thoughts  were  absorbed  by  the 
melancholy  event  that  had  befallen  them.  But  they  did  not 
cut  themselves  in  token  of  grief;  and  the  command  given  to  the 
Israelites, '  Ye  shall  not  cut  yourselves,  nor  make  any  baldness 
between  your  eyes  for  the  dead,*  *  does  not  refer  to  a  custom  of 
the  Egyptians,  but  of  those  people  among  whom  they  were  about 
to  establish  themselves  in  Syria — as  is  distinctly  stated  of  the 
votaries  of  Baal.* 

The  body,  having  been  embalmed,  was  restored  to  the  family, 
either  already  placed  in  the  mommy-case,  or  merely  wrapped  in 
bandages,  if  we  may  believe  Herodotus,  who  says  the  friends  of 
the  deceased  made  the  coffin;*  though,  from  the  paintings  in 
the  tombs,  it  would  appear  that  the  body  was  frcKjuently  en- 
veloped  and  put  into  the  case  by  the  undertakers,  previous  to 
its  being  returned  to  the  family.  After  it  had  been  deposited 
in  its  case,  which  was  generally  enclosed  in  two  or  three  others, 
all  richly  painted,  according  to  the  expense  they  were  pleased 
to  incur,  '  it  was  placed  in  a  room  of  the  house,  upright  against 
the  wall,*  until  the  tomb  was  ready  and  all  the  nei*t*ssary  pre- 
parations had  been  made  for  the  funeral.  The  coffin  or  mummy- 
case  was  then  '  carried  forth,'  and  deposited  in  the  hear$ey  drawn 
upon  a  sledge,  as  already  described,  to  the  saonnl  lake  of  the 
nome,  notice  having  been  previously  given  to  the  judgt%  and 
a  public  announcement  made  of  the  ap{Kiiut4Hl  day.  '  Forty-two 
judges  having  been  summoned,  and  placed  in  a  S4*micinde  near 
the  banks  of  the  lake,  a  boat  was  brought  up,  pnivitltMl  tapressly 
for  the  occasion,  under  the  direction  of  a  Uiatman  calle<l,  in  the 
Egyptian  language,  Charon;  and  it  is  from  hcnt***,'  says  Dio- 


*  G*tL.  1.  X  «ft«r  their  maao^r  with  koirM  %m\  Iftiieeta, 
'  Tht  %ain»  M  at  tht  dMth  «f  a  kl»f .  till  the  hlnnd  |[««hvU  out  upon  then.' 

*  Diodor.  1.  )fl.  *  llcrtdai.  U.  M.  '  Tht  MOiiUntr  of  our  voni  coiliB  •mA 

*  i>cut.  iir.  1.  th«  Ambtc  cufm^  *•  «iBdiO|^-%hrrt,*  U  rr> 


*  I   Kiop  i%iU.  2S:     *C«t  U— ulrw      Burluibk. 


454  THE  ANCIENT  BaTPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

dorns,^  '  that  the  fable  of  Hades  is  said  to  be  deriyed,  which 
Orpheus  introduced  into  Greece.  For  while  in  Egypt  he  had 
witnessed  this  ceremony,  and  he  imitated  a  portion  of  it,  and 
supplied  the  rest  from  his  own  imagination.* 

'When  the  boat  was  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  coflSn,* 
it  was  lawful  for  any  person  who  thought  proper  to  bring  forward 
his  accusation  against  the  deceased.  If  it  could  be  proved  that 
he  had  led  an  evil  life,  the  judges  declared  accordingly,  and 
the  body  was  deprived  of  the  accustomed  sepulture ;  but  if  the 
accuser  failed  to  establish  what  he  advanced,  he  was  subject  to 
the  heaviest  penalties.  When  there  was  no  accuser,  or  when 
the  accusation  had  been  disproved,  the  relations  ceaaed  from 
their  lamentations,  and  pronounced  encomiums  on  the  deceased. 
They  did  not  enlarge  upon  his  descent,  as  is  usual  among  the 
Greeks,  for  they  hold  that  all  the  Egyptians  are  equally  noble ; 
but  they  related  his  early  education  and  the  course  of  his 
studies,  and  then  praising  his  piety  and  justice  in  manhood, 
his  temperance,  and  the  other  virtues  he  possessed,  they  sup- 
plicated the  gods  below  to  receive  him  as  a  companion  of  the 
pious.  This  announcement  was  received  by  the  assembled 
multitude  with  acclamations;  and  they  joined  in  extolling  the 
glory  of  the  deceased,  who  was  about  to  remain  for  ever  with 
the  virtuous  in  the  regions  of  Hades.  The  body  was  then  taken 
by  those  who  had  family  catacombs  already  prepared,  and  placed 
in  the  repository  ^  allotted  to  it. 

'  Some,*  continues  the  historian,  '  who  were  not  possessed  of 
catacombs,  constructed  a  new  apartment  for  the  purpose  in  their 
own  house,^  and  set  the  coffin  upright  against  the  firmest  of  the 
walls ;  and  the  same  was  done  with  the  bodies  of  those  who  had 
been  debarred  the  rites  of  burial  on  account  of  the  accusation 
brought  against  them,  or  in  consequence  of  debts  they  or  their 
sons  had  contracted.  These  last,  however,  if  their  children's 
children  happened  to  be  prosperous,  were  released  from  the  im- 
pediments of  their  creditors,  and  at  length  received  the  ceremony 
of  a  magnificent  burial.  It  was,  indeed,  most  solemnly  estab- 
lished in  Egypt  that  parents  and  ancestors  should  have  a  more 
marked  token  of  respect  paid  them  by  their  family  after  they 

*  Diodor.  i.  92.  the  mammy-case  was  placed,   and  which 
'  Diodor  us  (i.  72)  s&jn  that  the  coffin      was  probablj  conveyed  beforehand  to  the 

of  a  king  was  placed  in  the  vestibule  of  tomb. 

the  tomb  when  awaiting  this  sentence.  *  Cicero  says,  <  Condinnt  JEgjptii  mor- 

*  The   word   B^ieri  maj  allude    to   the  tnos,  et  eos  domi  senrant.'    (Tnac  Qiuest. 
stone  or  wooden  sarcophagus  into  which  lib.  i.) 


Chap.  XVL]  BEFU8AL  OF  BUBIAL.  455 

had  been  tranflfened  to  their  ererlaating  habitations.  Hence 
originated  the  custom  of  depositing  the  bodies  of  their  deceased 
parents^  as  pledges  for  the  payment  of  borrowed  money,  those 
who  failed  to  redeem  those  pledges  being  subject  to  the  heaviest 
disgrace,  and  depriyed  of  burial  after  their  own  death.' 

The  grief  and  shame  felt  by  the  family  when  the  rites  of 
burial  had  been  refused  were  excessive.  They  not  only  con- 
sidered  the  mortification  consequent  upon  so  public  an  exposure, 
and  the  triumph  given  to  their  enemies,  but  the  awf^l  sentence 
foretold  the  misery  which  had  befallen  the  soul  of  the  deceased 
in  a  future  state.  They  beheld  him  excluded  from  those  man* 
sions  of  the  blessed  to  which  it  was  the  primary  object  of  every 
one  to  be  admitted ;  his  memory  was  stained  in  this  world  with 
indelible  disgrace ;  and  a  belief  in  transmigration  suggested  to 
them  the  possibility  of  his  soul  being  condemned  to  inhabit  the 
body  of  some  unclean  animal. 

It  is  true  that  the  duration  of  this  punishment  was  limited 
according  to  the  extent  of  the  crimes  of  which  the  accused  had 
been  guilty ;  and  when  the  devotion  of  friends,  aided  by  liberal 
donations  in  the  service  of  religion,  and  the  influential  prayers 
of  the  priests,  had  su£Sciently  softened  the  otherwise  inexorable 
nature  of  the  gods,  the  period  of  this  state  of  purgatory  was 
doubtless  shortened ;  and  Diodorus  shows  that  grandchildren 
who  had  the  means  and  inclination  might  avail  themselves  of 
the  same  method  of  satisfying  their  creditors  and  the  gods. 
But  still  the  fear  of  that  cruel  degradation,  however  short  the 
period,  was  not  without  a  salutary  effect.  Those,  too,  who  had 
led  a  notoriously  wicked  life  could  not  expect  any  dispensation, 
since  the  credit  of  the  priesthood,  even  if  they  were  corrupt 
enough  to  court  the  wealthy,  would  have  suffered  when  the  case 
was  fla^irrant ;  and  in  justice  to  them  we  may  believe  that,  until 
society  had  undergone  those  changes  to  which  all  nations  are 
subject  at  their  fall,  the  Egyptian  priests  were  actuated  by 
really  virtuous  feelings,  both  in  their  conduct  and  the  object 
they  had  in  view. 

The  disgrace  of  being  condemned  at  this  public  ordeal  was 
in  itself  a  strong  inducement  to  every  one  to  abstain  from 
crime:  not  only  was  there  the  fear  of  leaving  a  bad  name, 
but  the  dread  of  exposure;   and  we  cannot   refuse  to  second 


*  Dioa«>r.    he.   ciL      HtroOpt.    ii.    13S.      UcUa  (Eamj  ou  OrtoQ  ••/*•  '*  broChtr 
or  fithvr.' 


456  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

the  praises  of  Diodorus  in  favour  of  the  authors  of  so  wise  an 
institution. 

The  form  of  the  ritual  read  by  the  priest  in  pronouncing  the 
acquittal  of  the  dead  is  preserred  in  the  tombs,  usually  at  the 
entrance  passage ;  in  which  the  deceased  is  made  to  enumerate 
all  the  sins  forbidden  by  the  Egyptian  law,  and  to  assert  his 
innocence  of  each.  They  are  supposed  by  Champollion  to 
amount  to  forty-two,  being  equal  in  number  to  the  assessors 
who  were  destined  to  examine  the  deceased  at  his  final  judgment, 
each  respecting  the  peculiar  crime  which  it  was  his  province 
to  punish. 

I  have  stated  that  every  large  city,  as  Thebes,  Memphis,  and 
other  places,  had  its  lake>  at  which  the  same  ceremonies  were 
practised ;   and  it  is  probable,  from  what  Diodorus  says  of  the 
*  lake  of  the  nome^*  that  the  capital  of  each  province  had  one 
in  its  immediate  vicinity,  to  which  the  funeral  procession  of 
all  who  died  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  nomarch  was  obliged 
to  repair.     Even  when  the  priests  granted  a  dispensation  for 
the  removal  of  a  body  to  another  town,  as  was  sometimes  done 
in  favour  of  those  who  desired  to  be  buried  at  Abydus  and 
other  places,  the  previous  ceremony  of  passing  through  this 
ordeal  was  doubtless  required  at  the  lake  of  their  own  province. 
Those  persons  who,  from  their  extreme  poverty,  had  no  place 
prepared  for  receiving  their  body  when  denied  the  privilege  of 
passing  the  sacred  lake,  appear  to  have  been  interred  on  the 
shores  they  were   forbidden   to   leave;   and  I  have   found  the 
bones  of  many   buried  near  the  site  of  the   lake  of  Thebes, 
which   appeared   to   be  of  bodies   imperfectly  preserved,   as  ot 
parsons  who  could  not  afford  the  more  expensive  processes  of 
embalming.^     And  though  the  souls  Virgil  ^  mentions  were  con- 
demned to  hover  a  hundred  years  about  the  Stygian  shores  in 
consequence  of  their   bodies   having   remained   unburied,^   the 
resemblance  is  suflBciently  striking,  as  are  the  many  tales  re- 
lated  by  the   Greeks  respecting   the   Stygian  marshy  and  the 
various  places  or  personages  of  their  Hades,  to  those  connected 
with  the  funeral  rites  of  the  Egyptians.     Of  their  introduction 
into  Greece  Diodorus  gives  the  following  account:* — 'Orpheus 


*  Plan  of  Thebes,  the  S.W.  corner  of  the  prays  him  to  bury  his  body  as  quickly  a* 

lake.  possible.     (II.  %  71 ;    Hor.    Carm.    lib.   i. 

^   Virgil,  iEn.  vi.  330.  Od.  23;  and  Virg.  Mu,  vi.  52b.) 

■  For  which  rea^on  the  soul  of  Patro-  *  Diodor.  i.  96. 

clus,   appearing   to   Achilles   in  a  dream, 


Chap.  XVL]  LAKES  OP  THE  DEAD.  457 

is  shown  to  havo  introduced  from  Egypt  the  (rroatest  part  of 
his  mystical  ceremonies,  the  orgies  that  celehrate  the  wanderings 
of  Ceres,  and  the  whole  fable  of  the  shades  lx*Iow.  The  rites  of 
Osiris  and  Bacchus  are  the  same ;  those  of  IhIs  and  Ceres  exactly 
resemble  each  other,  except  in  name ;  and  the  punishments  of 
the  wicke<l  in  Hades,  the  Elysian  fields  of  the  pious,  and  ail 
the  common  imaginary  fictions,  were  copie<l  from  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Egyptian  funerals.  Hermes,  the  conductor  of  souls,  ao- 
cording  to  the  ancient  institutions  of  Egypt,  was  to  convey  the 
body  of  Apis  to  an  appointed  place,  where  it  was  received  by  a 
man  wearing  the  mask  of  Cerberus;  and  this  )>eing  communi* 
cated  by  Orpheus  to  the  Greeks,  gave  rise  to  the  idea  adopted 
by  Horner^  in  his  jioetry  : — 

*  "CrlUnius  now  to  IMvto't  drtmry  rri^n 
CoDTert  the  dMd,  a  UmenUble  tram  ! 
The  golden  wand  that  cao»es  tleep  to  riy. 
Or  in  koft  •lomb«>r  •caU  the  wakeful  eye. 
That  drirm  the  ghoata  to  realm*  of  ni^bt  or  day, 
Poiott  out  the  long  vnoomfortable  may : 
Trembling  the  tpectre*  glide,  and  plaint  ire  rent 
Thin,  hollow  tcreama  along  the  deep  de-»c«Dt.*' 

*  And  again, — 

***  And  now  ther  reached  the  earth's  remotest  end% 
And  now  the  gate»  where  treniag  Sol  deMrend^, 
And  Leoau*  rock,  and  Ocean's  utmost  strrani«. 
Ami  now  |ierrade  the  doakr  laml  of  dream«  ; 
And  r«it  at  but  where  toala  embodied  dwell. 
In  ever-riowerj  meads  of  aaphodel : 
The  empty  forms  of  men  inhabit  there, — 
ImpAMive  sembUaca,  images  o(  air !  ** 

*To  the  river  he  gives  the  name  of  Ocean,  Invause,  as  they 
say,  the  Egyptians  call  the  Nile  Oceanus  in  their  language ;  the 
gati's  of  the  sun  are  derived  from  Helioindis ;  and  the  meadow 
and  the  fabled  dwelling  of  the  dead  are  taken  from  the  place 
a)M)ut  the  lake  calknl  Acherusia,  near  Memphis,  which  is  snr^ 
roundtnl  by  beautiful  meadows  and  marshes,  ulM)undiiig  with 
lotus  and  flowering  rushes.  The  reason  of  the  dead  being 
thuuglit  to  inhabit  those  places,  is  that  the  greater  jtart  and 
the  most  c^onsiderable  of  the  Egyptian  catac(»mbs  are  there, 
and  the  IxMlii^s  are  ferried  over  the  river  and  Aeheruiiian  lake, 
previous  to  being  deposited  in  those  sepulchres.'     The  rest  of 

*  Homer,  Oklysa.  A,  1,  rf  ai^.  iiivt  99>,  every  part  of  which  apoke  aad 

'  Analogous    to    the    UtnM   or    boat   9i      addrosaed  the  det-eaaeii,  U*  which  he  had  to 


<*h.ir«>D  of    the   <>rceks   is   the  mystorioai      reap«»Bd  aad  gire  the  mystical  aaaa  btlart 
Utrk,    ividx<'af,    the   subject   o(   tha   99th      he  could  proceed. — b.  b, 
chapter  oi   the    Kitoal  (Upaitta,  *T«dtV 


458 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XYL 


the  Greek  fancies  respecting  Hades  are  not  less  analogous  to 
the  present  practices  in  Egypt.  The  boat  which  carries  over 
the  bodies  is  called  harts  ;^  and  a  penny  is  paid  as  the  feure 
to  the  boatman^  who  is  called  Charon  in  the  language  of  the 
country.  There  are  also  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  same 
place  a  temple  to  gloomy  Hecate;  the  gates  of  Cocytus  and 
of  Lethe,  fastened  with  brazen  bars ;  and  other  gates  of  Truth, 
near  which  stands  the  figure  of  Justice  without  a  head. 

'Many  other  things  mentioned  in  fable  exist  in  Egypt,  the 
habitual  adoption  of  which  still  continues.  For  in  the  city  of 
Acanthus,  on  the  Libyan  side  of  the  Nile,  120  stadia'  from 
Memphis,  they  say  there  is  a  barrel  pierced  with  holes,  to  which 
860  priests  bring  water  every  day  from  the  Nile ;  and  in  an 
assembly  in  the  vicinity  the  story  of  the  ass  is  exhibited,  where 
a  man  twists  one  end  of  a  long  rope  while  other  persons  un- 
twist the  opposite  end.  Melampus,  in  like  manner,  brought 
from  Egypt  the  mysteries  of  Bacchus,  the  stories  of  Saturn,  and 
the  battles  of  the  Titans;  as  Dsedalus'  imitated  the  Egyptian 
labyrinth  in  the  one  he  built  for  King  Minos,  the  former  having 
been  constructed  by  Mendes,  or  by  Marus,  an  ancient  king, 
many  years  before  his  time.' 

That  the  fable  of  Charon  and  the  Styx  owed  its  origin  to 
these  Egyptian  ceremonies  cannot  be  doubted ;  and  when  we 
become  acquainted  with  all  the  names  of  the  places  and  per- 
sonages connected  with  the  funeral  rites  of  Egypt,  these 
analogies  will  probably  appear  still  more  striking. 

Of  Charon  it  may  be  observed  that  both  his  name  and  cha- 
racter are  taken  from  Horus,*  who  had  the  peculiar  oflSce  of 
steersman  in  the  sacred  boats  of  Egypt ;  and  the  piece  of 
money  given  him  for  ferrying  the  dead  across  the  Styx  *  appears 
to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  gold  or  silver  plate  put  into  the 


*  Amongst  the  ideas  connecting  the 
Egyptian  with  the  Greek  religion  may  be 
cited  the  following : — ^The  Aahenru,  Aaru, 
or  Aalu  (in  which  are  found  the  Elysian 
fields  of  the  Greeks),  the  field  which  re- 
produced the  divine  and  supernatural  corn 
of  the  future  state.  It  was  cultivated  by 
the  departed  spirits  or  manes.  Mysterious 
roads  led  to  it,  and  it  was  surrounded  by  a 
wall  of  iron  pierced  by  many  gates,  and 
traversed  by  a  river  with  branches,  resem- 
bling in  some  respects  the  tradition  of 
Eden  or  Paradise.  It  will  be  seen  de- 
picted in  the  110th  chapter  of  the  Ritual, 
and   an   account  of  it   will   be   found   in 


Pierret,  *  Diet.,*  p.  4.— S.  B. 

*  Fifteen  miles. 

*  The  reputed  dedication  of  a  temple  to 
Daedalus  in  one  of  the  islands  near  Mem- 
phis, which  he  says  existed  in  his  time, 
and  was  honoured  by  the  neighbouring 
inhabitants,  is  evidently  a  Greek  fancv. 
(Diodor.  i.  97.) 

*  The    Greeks    had    not    the    Egyptian 

letter  ^t  and  therefore  substituted  the  x^ 

as   they   now   do   in    modern    names  ;   ai 
Gharris  for  Harris,  &c. 

*  *Cocyti  stagna  alta  ....  Stygiam- 
que  paludem.'    (Virg.  .En.  vi.  323.) 


OsAP.  XVL]  ORDEAL  OF  THE  DEAD.  450 

month  of  the  dead  br  the  Egyptians.'  For  though  thej  did  not 
intend  it  as  a  reward  to  the  boatman,'  but  rather  as  a  passport 
to  show  the  rirtuons  character  of  the  deceased,  it  was  of  equal 
importance  in  obtaining  for  him  admittance  into  the  regions  of 
the  blessed.' 

The  Egyptian  custom  of  depositing  cakes  in  the  tombs 
probably  led  to  the  Greek  notion  of  sending  a  cake  for  Cer- 
berus, which  was  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  deceased ;  and  it 
was  by  means  of  a  similar  one,  drugged  with  soporiferous  herbs, 
and  given  to  the  monster  at  a  hungry  hour,^  that  iEneas  and  the 
Sibyl  obtained  an  entrance  into  the  lower  regions. 

The  judge  of  the  dead  is  recognised  in  Osiris ;  the  office  of 
Mercury  Psychopompos  is  the  same  as  that  of  Anubis;  the 
figure  of  Justice  without  a  head,  and  the  scales  of  Truth  or 
Justice  at  the  gate  of  Amenti,  occur  in  the  funeral  subjects  of 
the  Egyptian  tombs ;  and  the  hideous  animal  who  there  seems 
to  guard  the  approach  to  the  mansion  of  Osiris  is  a  worthy 
prototype  of  the  Greek  Cerberus. 

It  was  not  ordinary  indiriduals  alone  who  were  subjected  to 
a  public  ordeal  at  their  death :  the  character  of  the  king  him- 
self was  doomed  to  undergo  the  same  test ;  and  if  anyone  could 
establish  proofs  of  his  impiety  or  injustice,  he  was  denied  the 
usual  funeral  obsequies  when  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled 
multitude  his  body  was  brought  to  the  sacred  lake,  or,  as  Dio- 
dorus'  states,  to  the  restibule  of  the  tomb.  'The  customary 
trial  haying  commenced,  anyone  was  permitted  to  present 
himself  as  an  accuser.  The  pontiffs  first  passed  an  encomium 
upon  his  character,  enumerating  all  his  noble  actions,  and 
pointing  out  the  merit  of  each ;  to  which  the  people,  who  were 
assembled  to  the  number  of  several  thousands,  if  they  felt  those 
praises  to  be  just,  responded  with  favourable  acclamations.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  his  life  had  been  stained  with  vice  or  injustice, 
they  showed  their  dissent  by  loud  murmurs:  and  several  in- 


*  Ob  OM  oT  tiMM  pUlM  I  hart  tmm  Um  *  Pettifrvw,  PUl«  «,  6g.  1,  ud  p.  S3. 

foUowiag  chtmcUr%-~  *  Virg .  JCa.  ▼!.  419 : 

r*r  VCDZCDT^A^NEBNNOtO-  .(..j  ^,,^  horrwr*  tkI^m  Jab  cdU  eo- 

ptrbam  *  the  lord  of  Ui«  god*.'  I«l»rk, 

■  Virg.  .flA.  Ti  299:  MelU  MponiUm  ti  ■Mdkmlit  frvgiktu 

*Portitor  kM  kormidtu  aqui  •!  SuiIm  oSkm 

wrrat  Objicit :  jlU  famt  rabida  Ilia  gallsra 

Terribili  tqaalor*  Charoa. paadMt, 

IpM  ratcm  coato  tabigit,  ▼tliiqia  ■!•  Coiriptt  obj«cUm.' 

"»•««*'                                             ,    .  •  iHodor.  i.  72. 
El  fcrragiofa  fttbracUl  oarpara  cjwtm.* 


460 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANa 


[Chap.  XVL 


stances  are  recorded  of  Egyptian  monarchs  having  been  de- 
prived of  the  honour  of  the  customary  public  funeral  by  the 
opposing  voice  of  the  people.'  *  The  effect  of  this/  adds  the 
historian,  *  was  that  succeeding  kings,  fearing  so  disgraceful  a 
censure  after  death,  and  the  eternal  stigma  attached  to  it, 
studied  by  their  virtuous  conduct  to  deserve  the  good  opinion 
of  their  subjects ;  and  it  could  not  fail  to  be  a  great  incentive 
to  virtue,  independent  of  the  feelings  arising  from  a  wish  to 
deserve  the  gratitude  of  men,  and  the  fear  of  forfeiting  the 
favour  of  the  gods.' 

The  ciistom  of  refusing  funeral  rites  to  a  king  was  not  con- 
fined to  Egypt ;  it  was  common  also  to  the  Jews,^  who  forbade 
a  wicked  monarch  to  repose  in  the  sepulchres  of  his  fathers. 
Thus  Joash,  though  *  buried  in  the  city  of  David,'  was  not 
interred  ^in  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings  ;'^  Manasseh  ^was 
buried  in  the  garden  of  his  own  house,''  and  several  other  kings 
of  Judah  and  Israel  were  denied  that  important  privilege.  That 
the  same  continued  to  the  time  of  the  Asmoneans,  is  shown  by 
the  conduct  of  Alexander  Janneus,  who,  feeling  the  approach  of 
death,  charged  his  wife,  *  on  her  return  to  Jerusalem,  to  send  for 
the  leading  men  among  the  Pharisees,  and  show  them  his  body, 
giving  them  leave^  with  great  appearance  of  sincerity,  to  use  it 
as  they  might  please — whether  they  would  dishonour  the  dead 
body  by  refusing  it  burial,  as  having  severely  suffered  through 
him,  or  whether  in  their  anger  they  would  offer  any  other  injury 
to  it.  By  this  means,  and  by  a  promise  that  nothing  should  be 
done  without  them  in  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom,  it  was  hoped 
that  a  more  honourable  funeral  might  be  obtained  than  any  she 
could  give  him,  and  that  his  body  might  be  saved  from  abuse  by 
this  appeal  to  their  generosity.'*  They  had  also  the  custom  of 
instituting  a  general  mourning  for  a  deceased  monarch  *  whose 
memory  they  wished  to  honour. 

But  the  Egyptians  allowed  not  the  same  extremes  of  degrada- 
tion to  be  offered  to  the  dead  as  the  Jews*  sometimes  did  to 
those  who  had  incurred  their  hatred ;  and  the  body  of  a  male- 
factor, though  excluded  from  the  precincts  of  the  necropolis, 
was  not  refused  to  his  friends,  that  they  might  perform  the  last 
duties  to  their  unfortunate  relative.      The  loss  of  life  and  the 


^  1  Kings  xiv.  13.     2  Kings  ix.  10. 

2  2  Chron.  xxiv.  25. 

>  2  Kings  xxi.  18  and  26. 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.  xiii.  15,  5. 


*  1  Kings  xiv.  18,  &c. 

*  As  Jezebel  was  eaten  by  dogs  (2  Kings 
ix.  35). 


Chap.  XYL]  ORDEAL  OF  THE  DEAD.  461 

future  rengeance  of  the  gods  was  deemed  a  sufficient  punish- 
ment, without  the  addition  of  insult  to  his  senseless  corpse ;  and 
hence  the  unusual  treatment  of  the  body  of  the  robber  taken  in 
Khampsinitus'  treasury  appeared  to  his  mother  a  greater  afflic- 
tion than  the  death  of  her  son. 

It  was  noty  howerer,  a  general  custom  among  the  Jews  to 
expose  the  bodies  of  malefactors  or  those  who  had  incurred  their 
hatred:  it  was  thought  sufficient  to  deprive  them  of  funeral 
obsequies;  and  the  relations  were  permitted  to  inter  the  body 
in  their  own  house,  or  in  that  of  the  deceased.  Thus  Joab  '  was 
buried  in  his  own  house  in  the  wilderness'^  when  slain  by  the 
onier  of  Solomon  for  the  murders  he  had  committed ;  and  the 
greatest  severity  to  which  they  usually  exposed  an  indiyidual 
was  to  deny  him  the  rites  of  burial.' 

A  question  might  arise  whether  the  Egyptians  positively 
prevented  a  king,  thus  rejected  at  his  public  ordeal,  from  being 
buried  in  the  catacomb  prepared  for  him,  or,  merely  forbidding 
the  celebration  of  the  pomp  customary  on  that  occasion,  con- 
ducted his  body  privately  to  the  sepulchre.  But  the  evidence 
of  the  sculptures  in  one  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  Thebes 
appears  conclusive  on  this  point.  The  name  of  the  monarch 
has  been  erased ;  which  shows  that  he  was  not  admitted  to  the 
consecrated  precincts  of  the  royal  cemetery ;  and  this  suggests 
that  the  same  custom  prevailed  in  Egypt  as  with  the  Jews,  of 
burying  the  kings  rejected  by  the  public  voice  either  in  their 
own  private  grounds  or  in  some  place  set  apart  for  the  purpose. 

It  was  not  the  dread  of  this  temporary  disgrace  which  the 
Egyptians  were  taught  to  look  upon  as  the  principal  inducement 
to  virtue  :  a  far  g^ver  consideration  was  held  out  to  them  in  the 
fear  of  that  final  judgment  which  awaite<l  them  in  a  future  stale, 
where  they  were  to  suffer  both  for  crimes  of  omission  as  well  as 
of  commission,  and  where  nothing  could  shield  them  from  the 
just  vengeance  of  the  gods.  The  same  doctrine  is  put  forth  in 
the  writings  of  Plato,  who,  in  his  Seventh  Epistle,  says,  ^  It  is 
necessary,  indeed,  alwajrs  to  believe  in  the  ancient  and  sacred 
discourses,  which  announce  to  us  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  and 
that  it  has  judges  of  its  conduct,  and  suffers  the  greatest  punish- 
ment  when  it  is  liberated  from  the  body.* 

The  commission  of  secret  crimes  might  not  expose  them  to 
the  condemnation  of  the  world ;  they  might  obtain  the  credit  of 


*   1  KiBg«  it.  34.  ■  Pft.  Iaiu.  i.     Jrr.  ti  i.  t,  lir.  Id,  trnd  iTi.  4. 


462 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


a  virtuous  career,  enjoying  throughout  life  an  unsullied  reputa- 
tion ;  and  many  an  unknown  act  of  injustice  might  escape  those 
who  applauded  them  on  the  day  of  their  funeraL  But  the  all- 
scrutinising  eye  of  the  Deity  was  known  to  penetrate  into  the 
innermost  thoughts  of  the  heart ;  and  they  believed  that  what- 
ever conscience  told  them  they  had  done  amiss  was  recorded 
against  them  in  the  book  of  Thoth,  out  of  which  they  would  be 
judged  according  to  their  works.^  The  sculptured  walls  of  every 
sepulchre  reminded  them  of  this  solemn  ceremony ;  the  rewards 
held  out  to  the  virtuous  were  reputed  to  exceed  all  that  man 
could  imagine  or  desire;  and  the  punishments  of  the  wicked 
were  rendered  doubly  odious  by  the  notion  of  a  transmigration 
of  the  soul  into  the  most  hateful  and  disgusting  animals.  The 
idea  of  the  punishment  was  thus  brought  to  a  level  with  their 
comprehension.  They  were  not  left  to  speculate  on,  and  con- 
sequently to  call  in  question,  the  kind  of  punishment  they  were 
to  suffer,  since  it  was  not  presented  to  them,  in  so  fanciful  and 
unintelligible  a  guise  as  to  be  beyond  their  comprehension :  all 
could  feel  the  disgrace  of  inhabiting  the  body  of  a  pig ;  and  the 
very  one  they  beheld  with  loathing  and  disgust  probably  con- 
tained the  soul  of  a  wicked  being  they  had  known  as  their 
enemy  or  their  friend. 

*  The  Egyptians,'  according  to  Herodotus,'  *  were  the  first  to 
maintain  that  the  soul  of  man  ^  is  immortal ;  that  after  the 
death  of  the  body  it  always  enters  into  that  of  some  other  animal 
which  is  born ;  and  when  it  has  passed  through  all  those  of  the 
earth,  water,  and  air,  it  again  enters  that  of  a  man  ;  which  circuit 
it  accomplishes  in  three  thousand  years/  This  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration is  mentioned  by  Plutarch,  Plato,  and  other  ancient 
writers  as  the  general  belief  among  the  Egyptians,  and  it  was 
adopted  by  Pythagoras*  and  his  preceptor  Pherecydes,  as  well 
as  other  philosophers  of  Greece. 

Plutarch*  says  that '  the  Egyptians  thought  the  souls  of  men. 


^  [Each  man's  conscience,  released  from 
the  sinful  body,  was  his  own  judge ;  and 
self-condemnation  hereafter  followed  up 
the  yvSaSi  and  alffx^vto  mavrhv  enjoined 
on  earth.  Thoth,  therefore  (or  that  part 
of  the  divine  nature  called  intellect  and 
conscience),  weighed  and  condemned ;  and 
Horus  (who  had  been  left  on  earth  to 
follow  out  the  conquests  of  his  father 
Osiris  after  he  had  returned  to  heaven) 
ushered  in  the  just  to  the  divine  presence. 
— G.  W.] 


«  Herodot.  ii.  123. 

'  St.  Augustine  says,  *•  iEgyptii  soli  cn- 
dunt  resurrectionem,  quia  diligentercorant 
cadavera  mortuorum  ;  morem  enim  habent 
siccare  corpora  et  quasi  senea  reddere ;  gdb' 
haras  ea  vocant.'  It  is  singular  that  the 
word  now  used  in  Egypt  for  a  fo»n5  is  gdl)r 
OT  gckber,     (Aug.  Sermon,  c.  12.) 

*  Conf.  Lucian's  Gall  us ;  and  Hor.  1  Od. 
zziii.  10. 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  ss.  31  and  72. 


Cbaf.  XVL]  FUTUBE  state  op  souls.  463 

which  still  surviyo  their  bodies,  returned  into  life  again  in 
animals ; '  and  that  '  they  considered  it  right  to  prefer  for 
sacrifice  those  in  whose  bodies  the  souls  of  wicked  men  were 
confined  during  the  course  of  their  transmigration ; '  while  the 
precept  in  the  golden  verses  of  Pythagoras  commands  men  to 
abstain  from  food  connected  with  the  purifications  and  solution 
of  the  soul. 

The  reason  of  this  purification  of  the  soul  I  have  already 
noticed,  as  well  as  the  greater  or  less  time  required,  according 
to  the  degree  of  sin  by  which  it  had  been  contaminated  during 
its  sojourn  in  the  world.^  Herodotus  fixes  the  period  at  3000 
years,  when  the  soul  returned  to  the  human  form ;'  and  Plato 
says,'  '  If  anyone's  life  has  been  virtuous,  he  shall  obtain  a  better 
Cate  hereafter ;  if  wicked,  a  worse.  But  no  soul  will  return  to  its 
pristine  condition  till  the  expiration  of  10,000  years,  since  it  will 
not  recover  the  use  of  its  wings  until  that  period,  except  it  be 
the  soul  of  one  who  has  philosophised  sincerely,  or,  together  with 
philosophy,  has  loved  beautiful  forms.  These,  indeed,  in  the 
third  period  of  1000  years,  if  they  have  thrice  chosen  this  mode 
of  life  in  succession  .  •  •  •  shall,  in  the  3000th  year,  fly  away^ 
to  their  pristine  abode ;  but  other  souls  being  arrived  at  the  end 
of  their  first  life  shall  be  judged.  And  of  those  who  are  judged, 
some,  proceeding  to  a  subterraneous  place  of  judgment,  dball 
there  sustain  the  punishments  they  have  deserved  ;  but  others, 
in  consequence  of  a  favourable  judgment,  being  elevated  into  a 
certain  celestial  place,  shall  pass  their  time  in  a  manner  becoming 
the  life  they  had  lived  in  a  human  shape.  And  in  the  1000th 
year  both  the  kinds  of  those  who  have  been  judged,  returning  to 
the  lot  and  election  of  a 'second  life,  shall  each  of  them  receive  a 
life  agreeable  to  his  desire.  Here  also  the  human  soul  shall  pass 
into  the  life  of  a  beast,  and  from  that  of  a  beast  again  into 
a  man  if  it  has  first  been  the  soul  of  a  man.  For  the  soul 
which  has  never  perceived  the  truth  cannot  pass  into  the  human 
form.' 

It  is  possible  that  the  Egyptians  also  supposed  the  period  of 


I  The    une  occnn  in    tb«M   liMt   of  '  This    t^m»    to     (li«a(iT«    with    th« 

MiltoD't  Comiift : —  cufiooi  oi  giring  all  food  umt  th«  mbm  U 

•  Hut  whfB  la»t,  Ofciri*  immtftdiaUiy  after  th«ir  hurial,  m  If 

Bt  .  .  .  .  .  Urith  act  of  iin,  »*»•>»•   »«*   >"<*   a/ryoJjf   r«tar»«d   to  ih« 

lit.  in  arfiUm^Bt  to  tha  laward  fstfta,  !>•♦*▼.  wh«co  it  amaaatad. 

The  M>ol  rrow.  clottad  br  cofttaffiott,  *  »'*«*o»  »»  Ph»dona,  p,  35&,  tr.  Tajlor. 

*  This  af rvM  with  tha  Ef3rptlaB  aottoa 


The  K>iil  grvmt  clotted  br  cofttaflott. 

In  bodies,  and  imbnitea,  till  aha  o«lt«  Uat 

The  diriDa  propert r  of  bar  fini  Mag •'  •^  *  wi«ft4  loal. 


464  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI 

3000  years  to  have  been  confined  to  those  who  had  led  a  philo- 
sophically virtuous  life ;  but  it  is  difiBcult  to  determine  if  the 
full  number  of  10,000  years  was  required  for  other  souls.  From 
the  fact  of  the  number  ten  signifying  completion  and  return  to 
unity,  it  is  not  altogether  improbable — particularly  since  the 
Greek  philosophers  are  known  to  have  derived  their  notions  on 
this,  as  on  many  other  subjects,  from  the  dogmas  of  Egypt. 

Herodotus  states  that  several  Greeks  adopted  the  doctrine  of 
transmigration  and  used  it  as  their  own,  whose  names  he  refrains 
from  mentioning;  and  it  is  generally  supposed  by  Diodorus, 
Diogenes  Laertius,  Porphyry,  and  others,  that  Pythagoras  had 
the  merit  of  first  introducing  it  into  Greece,*  And  if  Cicero 
thinks  Pherecydes  of  Syros,  of  whom  Pythagoras  was  a  disciple, 
to  be  the  first  to  assert  that  the  souls  of  men  were  immortal,  the 
Egyptian  origin  of  the  doctrine  is  only  the  more  confirmed,  since 
he  had  also  visited  and  studied  under  the  Egyptian  priests. 

This  metempsychosis,  or  rather  metensomatosis,  being  the 
passage  of  the  soul  from  one  animal  to  another,  was  termed 
*  the  circle  or  orbit  of  necessity  ;'  ^  and  besides  the  ordinary  notion 
of  its  passing  through  different  bodies  till  it  returned  again  in  a 
human  shape,  some  went  so  far  as  to  suppose  that  after  a  certain 
period  all  events  which  had  happened  were  destined  to  occur 
again,  in  the  identical  order  and  manner  as  before.  The  same 
men  were  said  to  be  bom  again,  and  to  fulfil  the  same  career ; 
and  the  same  causes  were  thought  to  produce  the  same  effects,  as 
stated  by  Virgil. 

This  idea  of  a  similarity  of  causes  and  effects  appears  to  be 
quite  consistent  with  the  opinions  of  the  Egyptians,  mentioued 
by  Herodotus ;  ^  and  not  only,  says  the  historian,  *  have  the 
Greek  poets  adopted  many  of  their  doctrines,'  but  the  origin  of 
most  of  the  religious  speculations  of  Greece  may  be  traced  to  the 
Egyptians,  who  *  have  invented  more  prodigies  than  all  the  rest 
of  mankind.' 

The  Egyptian  notion  that  the  soul,  after  its  series  of  migra- 
tions, returned  to  the  same  human  body  in  which  it  had  formerly 
lived  on  earth,  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  passage  of  the 
Roman  poet  above  alluded  to ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  Theo- 
phrastus,  who  says,  '  The  Egyptians  think  that  the  same  soul 
enters  the  body  of  a  man,  an  ox,  a  dog,  a  bird,  and  a  fish,  until 


*  Diodor.  i.  98;  Diog.  Laert.  viii.  14;  Porph.  Vit.  Pyth.  19.  '  KvkXos  iivdyKfis. 

*  Herodot.  iu  82. 


Chup.  XYL]  BEA80K  OF  EMBALMING  BODIEa 


465 


having  passed  through  all  of  them,  it  returns  to  that  from  which 
it  set  out'  ^  There  is  even  reason  to  believe  that  the  Egyptians 
preserved  the  body  in  order  to  keep  it  in  a  fit  state  to  receive  the 
soul  which  once  inhabited  it,  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  number 
of  years ;  and  the  various  occupations  followed  by  the  Egyptians 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  deceased,  which  were  represented  in 
the  sculptures,  as  well  as  his  arms,  the  implements  he  used,  or 
whatever  was  most  precious  to  him,  which  were  deposited  in  the 
tomb  with  his  coffin,  might  be  intended  for  his  benefit  at  the 
time  of  this  reunion,  which  at  the  least  possible  period  was  fixed 
at  3000  years.'  On  the  other  hand,  from  the  fact  of  animals 
being  also  embalmed  (the  preservation  of  whose  bodies  was  not 
ascribable  to  any  idea  connected  with  the  soul),  the  custom  might 
appear  rather  owing  to  a  sanitary  regulation  for  the  Umefit  of 
the  living,  or  be  attributable  to  a  feeling  of  respei*t  for  the  dead 
— an  affectionate  family  being  anxious  to  presi*rve  that  body  or 
outward  form  by  which  one  they  loved  had  been  long  known  to 
them. 

We  are  therefore  still  in  uncertainty  respecting  the  actual 
intentions  of  the  Egyptians  in  thus  preserving  the  body  and 
ornamenting  their  sepulchres  at  so  groat  an  expanse ;  nor  is  there 
any  decided  proof  that  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  a  tenet 
of  their  religion.  It  is,  however,  highly  probable  that  such  was 
their  belief,  since  no  other  satisfactory  reason  can  be  given  for 
the  great  care  of  the  body  after  death.  And  if  many  a  one,  on 
returning  to  his  tomb,  might  be  expected  to  feel  great  disappoint- 
ment in  finding  it  occupied  by  another,  and  execrate  in  no  very 
measured  t<*nns  the  proprietor  who  had  re-sold  it  after  his  death, 
the  ofl*ending  {tarty  would  feel  secure  against  any  injury  from  his 
displeasure,  since  his  return  to  earth  would  occur  at  a  different 
period.  For  sufficient  time  always  elapsed  between  the  death  of 
two  occupants  of  the  same  tomb,  the  3000  years  dating  from  the 
demise  of  each,  and  not  from  any  fixe<I  epoch. 

The  doctrine  of  transmigration   was  also  admitted   by   the 


*  The  d«triB«  of  ih*  meUmfwyclKMit 
app«an  froia  th«  Ril«i«l  to  Imt«  kwea 
ancivDt  EfTptiaa«  utd  the  mhiI  or  tht 
maD««  trmB»f«»nii«i!  itttlf  in  tk«  fotvrt  ftaU 
mtv  tk«  form  of  a  mao,  tbt  god  Plak, 
OtirU,  the  chief  of  tk«  fodt,a  hawk,k«ro«, 
■wallow,  atrpMl,  crocodtlo,  aad  IoIm- 
Sowar.  TV  doeaaaad  had  alae  ih«  pawar 
of  takiof  all  iha  forma  ht  wklMd.  Tha 
aboTa  Ibrma  Mom  aaaeatlal  to  Um  fil«rt 
daatiaj  of  tha  •onL     Tkaia  art  Ulaalftttad 

TOU  III. 


bj  the  76ih  ao«l  fvllowia;  rhapleri  of  iha 
Ritual.  (UptiQs,  'Twit./  Taf.  iiTiii.- 
xtiiii.)— 8.  |i. 

'  Tha  EfTptiaat  erAftidartd  wtam  to  haTt 
a  aoaU  ^ii,  reprMeated  at  a  hawk  witli  a 
hvmaa  ht«d  ;  a  thada.  4Atf6i ;  a  tmril  or  !•• 
talligaac*,  kkm^  and  iato  which  ha  haeoM 
chaofad  aa  *  a  baiag  of  Itg hi  ;*  aad  wm  9E* 
Utaaca,  Ao,  baaidaa  lilSi,  mM.  Tha  aovl,  1% 
oalj  rtriaittd  tha  badj.  It  ia  thoagkt  !• 
hava  haaa  immortal,    a.  K. 

2h 


466 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYFTIANS. 


[Chap.  XVL 


Pharisees ;  their  belief,  according  to  Josephus/  being  *  that  all 
souls  were  incorruptible ;  but  that  those  of  good  men  were  only 
removed  into  other  bodies,  and  that  those  of  the  bad  were  subject 
to  eternal  punishment/  The  Buddhist  and  other  religions  have 
admitted  the  same  notion  of  the  soul  of  man  passing  into  the 
bodies  of  animals :  and  even  the  Druids  believed  in  the  migration 
of  the  soul,  though  they  confined  it  to  human  bodies.^ 

The  judgment  scenes  found  in  the  tombs  and  on  the  papyri 
sometimes  represent  the  deceased  conducted  by  Horus  alone,  or 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  to  the  region  of  Amenti.  Cerberus  is 
present  as  the  guardian  of  the  gates,  near  which  the  scales  of 
Jiistice  are  erected ;  and  Anubis,  *  the  director  of  the  weighty' 
having  placed  a  vase  representing  the  good  actions^  of  the 
deceased  in  one  scale,  and  the  figure  or  emblem  of  Truth  in  the 
other,^  proceeds  to  ascertain  his  claims  for  admission.*  If  on 
being  *  weighed'  he  is  *  found  wanting,'*  he  is  rejected;  and 
Osiris,  the  judge  of  the  dead,  inclining  his  sceptre  in  token  of 
condemnation,  pronounces  judgment  upon  him,  and  condemns 
his  soul  to  return  to  earth  under  the  form  of  a  pig,  or  some  other 
unclean  animal.  Placed  in  a  boat,  it  is  removed,  under  the 
charge  of  two  monkeys,  from  the  precincts  of  Amenti,  all  com- 
munication with  which  is  figuratively  cut  o£f  by  a  man  who  hews 
away  the  earth  with  an  axe  after  its  passage ;  and  the  commence- 
ment of  a  new  term  of  life  is  indicated  by  those  monkeys,  the 
emblems  of  Thoth.  But  if,  when  the  sum  of  his  deeds  are 
recorded  by  Thoth,  his  virtues  so  far  predominate  as  to  entitle 
him  to  admission  to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed,  Horus,  taking 
in  his  hand  the  tablet  of  Thoth,  introduces  him  to  the  presence 
of  Osiris ;  who,  in  his  palace,  attended  by  Isis  and  Nephthys,  sits 
on  his  throne  in  the  midst  of  the  waters,  from  which  rises  the 
lotus,  bearing  upon  its  expanded  flower  the  four  genii  of  Amenti. 

Other  representations  of  this  subject  differ  in  some  of  the 
details ;    and  in  the  judgment  scene  of  the  royal  scribe  whose 


*  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  8,  14. 
»  C»s.  Bell.  Gall.  lib.  vi. 

'  This  is  supposed  bjr  Champollion  to  be 
a  human  heart. 

*  The  same  kind  of  balance  is  represented 
on  a  Greek  vase  published  in  the  *  Archaeo- 
logia'  of  Rome,  of  1833,  Plate  47,  repre- 
senting Arcesilaus,  king  of  Gyrene,  seated 
and  superintending  the  weighing  of  si7- 
phium,  where  the  ape  is  seated  above,  and 
a  figure  in  the  attitude  of  Osiris  sits  on  a 
throne  holding  a  barred  sceptre,  similar  to 


the  emblem  of  stability  in  the  hand  of  the 
judge  of  Amenti. 

*  This  subject  is  the  vignette  of  the 
125th  chapter  of  the  Ritual,  called  that  of 
proceeding  to  the  hall  of  the  Two  Truths, 
where  a  person  is  se{>arated  from  his  sins, 
and  is  allowed  to  see  the  faces  of  the  gods. 
(Lepsius,  *  Todt.,*  xlvi.  c.  125,  rubric)  It  is 
called  the  great  judgment,  or  day  of  great 
judgment.— S.  B. 

•  Conf.  Daniel  v.  27  ;  and  Job  xxxi.  6. 


468  THE  ANCIENT  EGIPTIANa  [CShap.  XVL 

funeral  procession  has  been  described,  the  deceased  advances 
alone  in  an  attitude  of  prayer  to  receive  judgment.  On  one  aide 
of  the  scales  stands  Thoth,  holding  a  tablet  in  his  hand ;  on  the 
other,  the  goddess  of  justice;  and  Horus,  in  lieu  of  Annbis, 
performs  the  office  of  director  of  the  balance,  on  the  top  of  which 
sits  a  Cynocephalus,  the  emblem  of  Thoth.  Osiris,  seated  as 
usual  on  his  throne,^  holding  his  crook  and  flagellum,  awaits  the 
report  from  the  hands  of  his  son  Horus.  Before  the  door  of  his 
psJace  are  the  four  genii  of  Amenti,  and  near  them  three  deities* 
who  either  represent  the  assessors,  or  may  be  the  three  assistant 
judges,  who  gave  rise  to  the  Minos,  .dSacus,  and  Bhadamanthus ' 
of  Greek  fable.' 

Another,  figured  in  the  side  adytum  of  the  Ptolemaic  temple 
of  Dayr  el  Medeeneh,  at  Thebes,  represents  the  deceased  ap- 
proaching in  a  similarly  submissive  attitude,  between  two  figures 
of  Truth  or  Justice,  whose  emblem,  the  ostrich-feather,  he  holds 
in  his  hand.  The  two  figures  show  the  double  capacity  of  that 
goddess,  corresponding,  as  already  shown,  to  the  Thummim,  or 
two  Truths,  and  according  well  with  the  statement  of  Diodoms 
respecting  her  position  'at  the  gates  of  Truth.*  Horns  and 
Anubis  superintend  the  balance,  and  weigh  the  actions  of  the 
judged,  whilst  Thoth  inscribes  an  account  of  them  on  his  taUet, 
which  he  prepares  for  presentation  to  Osiris,  who,  seated  on  his 
throne,  pronounces  the  final  judgment,  permitting  the  virtuous 
soul  to  enjoy  the  ^frtessings  of  eternal  felicity.  Before  him  four 
genii  of  Amenti  stand  upon  a  lotus-flower;  and  a  figure  of 
Harpocrates,  seated  on  a  crook  of  Osiris  between  the  scales  and 
the  entrance  of  the  divine  abode,  which  is  guarded  by  Cerberus,* 
is  intended  to  show  that  the  deceased  on  admission  to  that  pure 
state  must  be  born  again,  and  commence  a  new  life,  cleansed 
from  all  the  impurities  of  his  earthly  career.  It  also  represents 
the  idea  common  to  the  Egyptians  and  other  philosophers,  that 
to  die  was  only  to  assume  a  new  form, — that  nothing  was 
annihilated, — and  that  dissolution  was  merely  the  forerunner  of 
reproduction.  Above,  in  two  lines,  sit  the  forty-two  assessors, 
the  complete  number  mentioned  by  Diodoms ;  whose  office,  as 
I  have  already  observed,  was  to  assist  in  judging  the  dead,  and 
whose  various  forms  have  been  given  among  the  other  deities  of 
the  Egyptian  Pantheon. 

^  Lacian's  '  Minos  on  a  high  throne,  with  '  Virg.  iEn.  vi.  566. 

the    panishments,   avenging    spirits,    and  '  Diodor.  i.   97,  on  the  paniahnMiit  of 

furies  standing  near  him.'    (Necromantia.)      the  dead.  *  The  <tnUif  or  'deToarer.' 


470  THE  AKdENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

Many  similar  subjects  occur  on  funeral  monuments^  few  of 
which  present  any  new  features.  OnOi  however,  is  singulary  from 
the  goddess  of  justice  being  herself  engaged  in  weighing  the 
deceased,  in  the  presence  of  Thoth,  who  is  represented  under  the 
form  of  a  Cynocephalus,  having  the  horns  and  globe  of  the  moon 
upon  its  head,  and  a  tablet  in  its  hand.  Instead  of  the  usual 
vase,  the  figure  of  the  deceased  himself  is  placed  in  one  of  the 
scales,  opposed  to  that  of  the  goddess ;  and  close  to  the  balance 
sits  Cerberus  with  open  mouth,  as  though  prepared  to  vent  his 
savage  fury  on  the  judged,^  if  pronounced  unworthy  of  admit- 
tance to  the  regions  of  the  blessed. 

Another  may  also  be  noticed,  from  the  singular  fact  of  the 
goddess  of  justice,  who  here  introduces  the  deceased,  being 
without  a  head,  as  described  by  Diodorus,  from  the  deceased 
holding  in  each  hand  an  ostrich-feather,  the  emblem  of  truth, 
and  firom  Cerberus  being  represented  standing  upon  the  steps  of 
the  divine  abode  of  Osiris,  as  if  in  the  act  of  announcing  the 
arrival  of  Thoth  with  the  person  of  the  tomb. 

Sometimes  the  deceased  wore  round  liis  neck  the  same  vase 
which  in  the  scales  typified  his  good  actions,  or  bore  on  his 
head  the  ostrich-feather  of  truth.  They  were  both  intended  to 
show  that  he  had  been  deemed  worthy  of  admission  to  the 
mansions  of  the  just;  and  in  the  same  idea  originated  the 
custom  of  placing  the  name  of  the  goddess  after  that  of  virtuous 
individuals  who  were  dead,  implying  that  they  were  *  judged,'  or 
*  justified.*  Some  analogy  to  this  may  perhaps  be  traced  in 
the  following  passage  of  Plato's  Gorgias  :^ — *  Sometimes  Rhada- 
manthus,  beholding  the  soul  of  one  who  has  passed  through 
life  tuith  truthy  whether  it  be  the  soul   of  a  private  man,  or 

of  any  other is  filled  with  admiration,  and  dismisses  it 

to  the  islands  of  the  blessed,^  and  the  same  things   are  done 
by  JEacus.' 

The  goddesses  Athor  and  Nut  frequently  presented  the 
virtuous  after  death  with  the  fruit  and  drink  of  heaven ;  which 
calls  to  mind  the  ambrosia  and  nectar  of  Greek  fable.* 

The  process  of  embalming  is  thus  described  by  ancient 
writers : — '  In  Egypt,'  says  Herodotus,*  *  certain  persons  are 
appointed  by  law  to  exercise  this  art  as  their  peculiar  business ; 

*  Cerberus   welcomed  those   who  came  *  Some  suppose  the  former  to  hare  been 

in,  and  devoured  those  who  endeavoured  to  eaten,    the    latter  drunk   (Uesiod,  Theog. 

go  out  of  the  gates   of  Hades.     (Hesiod,  640);  though  Homer,  Od.  T,  359,  calls  tb« 

Theog.  770.)       •  Plato,  Gorgias,  p.  458.  wine  *  a  stream  of  ambrosia  and  nectar.' 

'  Conf.  Lucian  on  Grief.  *  Herodot.  ii.  86. 


Crap.  XVL]  METHOD  OF  KMBALMTNQ.  471 

and  when  a  dead  body  is  bronght  them  they  prodnce  patterns  of 
mummies  in  wood,  imitated  in  painting,  the  most  elaborate  of 
which  are  said  to  be  of  him  (Osiris)  whose  name  I  do  not  think 
it  right  to  mention  on  this  occasion.  The  second  which  they 
show  is  simpler  and  less  costly ;  and  the  third  is  the  cheapest 
Having  exhibited  them  all,  they  inquire  of  the  persons  who  hare 
applied  to  them  which  mode  they  wish  to  be  adopted ;  and  this 
being  settled,  and  the  price  agreed  upon,  the  parties  retire, 
leaving  the  body  with  the  embalmers. 

'  In  preparing  it  according  to  the  first  method,  they  commenoe 
by  extracting  the  brain  from  the  nostrils  by  a  curved  iron  probe, 
partly  cleansing  the  head  by  these  means,  and  partly  by  pouring 
in  certain  drugs;  then  making  an  incision  in  the  side  with  • 
sharp  Ethiopian  stone,  they  draw  out  the  intestines  through  the 
aperture.  Having  cleansed  and  washed  them  with  palm  wine, 
they  cover  them  with  pounded  aromatics ;  and  afterwards  filling 
the  cavity  with  powder  of  pure  myrrh,  cassia,  and  other  fragrant 
substances,  frankincense  excepted,  they  sew  it  up  again, 
being  done,  they  salt  the  body,  keeping  it  in  natron 
seventy  days,  to  which  period  they  are  strictly  confined.  When 
the  seventy^  days  are  over,  they  wash  the  body,  and  wrap  it 
up  entirely  in  bands  of  fine  linen,  smeared  on  their  inner  side 
with  gum,  which  the  Egyptians  generally  use  ^  instead  of  glue. 
The  relations  then  take  away  the  body,  and  have  a  wooden 
case  made  in  the  form  of  a  man,  in  which  they  deposit  it ;  and 
when  fastened  up,  they  keep  it  in  a  room  in  their  hoase, 
placing  it  upright  against  the  wall.  This  is  the  most  costly 
mode  of  embalming. 

'  For  those  who  choose  the  middle  kind,  on  account  of  the 
expense,  they  prepare  the  body  as  follows:— They  fill  syringes 
with  oil  of  cedar,'  and  inject  this  into  the  abdomen,  withont 
making  any  incision  or  removing  the  bowels ;  and  taking  oara 
that  the  liquid  shall  not  escape,  they  keep  it  in  salt  during  the 
8{)eoiHo<l  number  of  days.  The  cedar  oil  is  then  taken  out ;  and 
such  is  its  strength  that  it  brings  with  it  the  boweb  and  all  the 
inside  in  a  state  of  dissolution.  The  natron  also  dissolves  the 
flesh,  so  that  nothing  remains  but  the  skin  and  bones.  This 
pnx*ess  being  over,  they  restore  the  body  without  any  further 
oi^eratioa.  — 

*  AccoHiDf  to  GeoMM  L  S,  tmlj  forty  moaraiDf. 

<Uj«,  which  u  mor«  prohabi*.      Diodorat  ■  Ob  ihif  otouioa,  b«l  m(   lif  o«ktr 

Mjt  *  upward*  of  thirty.*     TIm  mrwttiy  or  parpoM*. 

ttrtBty-two  iaclvMkd  th«  wkoto  ptriod  pf  *  PUajt  >▼)•  lt« 


472  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

*  The  third  kind  of  embalming  is  only  adopted  for  the  poor. 
In  this  they  merely  cleanse  the  body  by  an  injection  of  syrmasaj 
and  salt  it  during  seventy  days,  after  which  it  is  returned  to  the 
friends  who  brought  it. 

*  The  bodies  of  women  of  quality  are  not  embalmed  directly 
after  their  deaths  and  it  is  customary  for  the  funily  to  keep 
them  three  or  four  days  before  they  are  subjected  to  that 
process.* 

The  account  given  by  Diodoms^  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
historian  of  Halicamassus.  ^  The  funerals  of  the  Egyptians  are 
conducted  upon  three  different  scales, — ^the  most  expensiye,  the 
more  moderate,  and  the  humblest.  The  first  is  said  to  cost  a 
talent  of  silver;^  the  second  twenty-two  minss;^  and  the  third 
is  extremely  cheap.  The  persons  who  embalm  the  bodies  are 
artists  who  have  learnt  this  secret  from  their  ancestors.  They 
present  to  the  friends  of  the  deceased  who  apply  to  them  an 
estimate  of  the  funeral  expenses,  and  ask  them  in  what  manner 
they  wish  it  to  be  performed;  which  being  agreed  upon,  they 
deliver  the  body  to  the  proper  persons  appointed  to  the  office. 
First,  one,  who  is  denominated  the  scribe,  marks  upon  the  left 
side  of  the  body,  as  it  lies  on  the  ground,  the  extent  of  the 
incision  which  is  to  be  made;  then  another,  who  is  called 
paraaehisles,^  cuts  open  as  much  of  the  flesh  as  the  law  permits 
with  an  Ethiopian  stone,  and  immediately  runs  away,*  pursued 
by  those  who  are  present,  throwing  stones  at  him  amidst  bitter 
execrations,  as  if  to  cast  upon  him  all  the  odium  of  this  necessary 
act.  For  they  look  upon  everyone  who  has  offered  violence  to, 
or  inflicted  a  wound  or  any  other  injury  upon  a  human  body,  to 
be  hateful ;  but  the  embalmers,  on  the  contrary,  are  held  in  the 
greatest  consideration  and  respect,  being  the  associates  of  the 
priests,  and  permitted  free  access  to  the  temples  as  sacred 
persons. 

*  As  soon  as  they  have  met  together  to  embalm  the  body  thus 
prepared  for  them,  one  introduces  his  hand  through  the  aperture 
into  the  abdomen,  and  takes  everything  out,  except  the  kidneys 
and  heart.^    Another  cleanses  each  of  the  viscera  with   palm 

•  Diodor.  i.  91.  Egyptians   believed   the   heart    to   be   the 

•  About  250/.  sterling.              •  Or  60/.  great  vital  principle,  and  that  man  could 

•  The  dissector.  not  live  beyond  100  years  from  its  being 

•  Pausanias,  Attic,  lib.  i.  c.  24,  speaks  impaired  by  that  time.  [An  embalmed  heart 
of  the  priest  fleeing  away  as  soon  as  he  had  bandaged  has  been  found  in  a  sepulchral 
killed  the  victim,  before  the  altar  of  jar  in  possession  of  Dr.  Higgen^  of  Birken- 
Jupiter  Poli^us,  at  Athens.  head. — S.  B.] 

•  According  to  Pliny,  lib.  xi.  c.  37,  the 


obap.  xvl]  modes  of  SMBALMING.  473 

wine  and  aromatic  substancea.  Lastl j»  after  having  applied  oil 
of  cedar  and  other  things  to  the  whole  body  for  upwards  of  thirty 
days,  they  add  myrrh,  cinnamon,  and  other  drugs,  which  hare 
not  only  the  power  of  preseiring  the  body  for  a  length  of  time, 
but  of  imparting  to  it  a  fragrant  odour.  It  is  then  restored  to 
the  friends  of  the  deceased.  And  so  perfectly  are  all  the 
members  preserved,  that  even  the  hairs  of  the  eyelids  and  eye- 
brows remain  undisturbed,  and  the  whole  appearance  of  the 
person  is  so  unaltered  that  every  feature  may  be  recognised. 
The  Egyptians,  therefore,  who  sometimes  keep  the  bodies  of 
their  ancestors  in  magnificent  apartments  set  apart  for  the 
purpose,  have  an  opportunity  of  contemplating  the  faces'  of 
those  who  died  many  generations  before  them ;  and  the  height 
and  figure  of  their  bodies  being  distinguishable,  as  well  as  the 
character  of  the  countenance,  they  enjoy  a  wonderful  gratification, 
as  if  they  lived  in  the  society  of  those  they  see  before  them.* 

On  tiie  foregoing  statements  of  the  two  historians  I  may  be 
permitted  some  observations. 

First,  with  regard  to  what  Herodotus  says  of  the  wooden 
figures  kept  as  patterns  for  mummies,  the  most  elaborate  of 
which  represented  Osiris.  All  the  Egyptians  who  from  their 
virtues  were  admitted  to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed  were 
permitted  to  assume  the  form  and  name  of  this  deity.  It  was 
not  confined  to  the  rich  alone,  who  paid  for  the  superior  kind  of 
embalming,  or  to  those  mummies  which  were  suflieiently  well 
made  to  assume  the  form  of  Osiris ;  and  Herodotus  should  there- 
fore have  confined  his  remark  to  those  which  were  of  so  inferior 
a  kind  as  not  to  imitate  the  figure  of  a  man.  For  we  know  that 
the  second  class  of  mummies  were  put  up  in  the  same  form  of 
Osiris ;  and  if  it  was  not  so  with  the  cheapest  kind,  thii  was  in 
consequence  of  their  being  merely  wrapped  in  cloths  or  matting, 
and  assuming  no  shape  beyond  that  of  a  bandages!  body.' 

8eoondlv.  It  is  evident  from  the  mummies  which  have  been 
found  in  such  abundance  at  Thebes  and  other  plae<^  that  in  the 
three  difiVrent  modes  of  embalming  several  gradations  existed, 
some  of  which  differ  so  much  in  many  essential  {H>ints  as  almost 
to  justify  our  extending  the  number  mentioned  by  the  historians, 
as  will  be  mh'u  fn>m  what  I  shall  hereafter  state  n^npeoting  the 
various  m«KltH)  appertained  from  the  bcMlies  themselves.     I  may 

*  [>HM{<*ru«  i«  «n»Dc  in  «uppr«iBf   lliat  *  H**  |irrha|M  hvl   io    witw   ihoM   onlf 

Ui«j  could  !»c«  thtr  actuAl  bkC9  of  th«  d«Ml      whkh  had  a  c*rtoDag<>. 
bod;. 


474  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

also  refer  for  this  subject  to  Pettigrew's  valuable  work  on  the 
*  History  of  the  Egyptian  Mummies.' 

Thirdly.  The  extraction  of  the  brain  by  the  nostrils  is  preyed 
by  the  appearance  of  the  mummies  found  in  the  tombs ;  and 
some  of  the  crooked  instruments  (always  of  bronze)  supposed  to 
have  been  used  for  this  purpose  have  been  discovered  at  Thebes. 

Fourthly.  The  incision  in  the  side  is,  as  Diodorus  says,  on 
the  left.  Over  it  the  sacred  eye  of  Osiris^  was  placed,  and  through 
it  the  viscera  were  returned  when  not  deposited  in  the  four  vases. 

Fifthly.  The  second  class  of  mummies  without  an  incision  in 
the  side  are  often  found  in  the  tombs ;  but  it  is  also  shown  from 
the  bodies  at  Thebes  that  the  incision  was  not  always  confined 
to  those  of  the  first  class,  and  that  some  of  an  inferior  kind  were 
submitted  to  this  simple  and  effectual  process. 

Sixthly.  The  sum  stated  by  Diodorus,  of  a  talent  of  silver, 
can  only  be  a  general  estimate  of  the  expense  of  the  first  kind  of 
embalming,  since  the  various  gradations  in  the  style  of  preparing 
them  prove  that  some  mummies  must  have  cost  far  more  than 
others ;  and  the  sumptuous  manner  in  which  many  persons  per- 
formed the  funerals  of  their  friends  kept  pace  with  the  splendour 
of  the  tombs  they  made  or  purchased  for  their  reception. 

Seventhly.  The  execration  with  which  the  paraschistes  was 
pursued  could  only  have  been  a  religious  form,  from  which  he 
was  doubtless  little  in  apprehension — an  anomaly  not  altogether 
without  a  parallel  in  other  civilised  countries. 

Eighthly.  Diodorus  is  in  error  when  he  supposes  the  actual 
face  of  the  body  was  seen  after  it  was  restored  to  the  family  ;  for 
even  before  it  was  deposited  in  the  case,  which  Herodotus  says 
the  friends  made  for  it,  the  features  as  well  as  the  whole  body 
were  concealed  by  the  bandages  which  enveloped  them.  The 
resemblance  he  mentions  was  only  in  the  mummy-ease,  or  the 
cartonage  which  came  next  to  the  bandages ;  and,  indeed,  what- 
ever number  of  cases  covered  a  mummy,  the  face  of  each  was 
intended  as  a  representation  of  the  person  within,  as  the  lower 
part  was  in  imitation  of  the  swathed  body. 

Diodorus  mentions  three  different  classes  of  persons  who 
assisted  in  preparing  the  body  for  the  funeral, — the  scribe,  who 
regulated  the  incision  in  the  side ;  the  paraschistes  or  dissector ; 
and  the  embalmers.    To  these  may  be  added  the  undertakers. 


*  On  the  mummy  of  a  priestess  of  Amen,  opened  by  me  some  years  ago,  the  left  symbohc 
eye  was  engraved  on  a  rectangular  thin  tin  plate  over  the  flank  incision. — S.  B. 


476  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

who  wrapped  the  body  in  bandages,  and  who  had  workmen  in 
their  employ  to  make  the  cases  in  which  it  was  deposited.^ 
Many  different  trades  and  branches  of  art  were  constantly  caUed 
upon  to  supply  the  undertakers  with  those  things  required  for 
funeral  purposes:  as  the  painters  of  mummy-cases;  those  who 
made  images  of  stone,  porcelain,  wood,  and  other  materials  ;  the 
manufacturers  of  alabaster,  earthenware,  and  bronze  vases ;  those 
who  worked  in  ivory;  the  leather-cutters,  and  many  others. 
And  it  is  not  improbable  that  to  the  undertakers,  who  were  a 
class  of  priests,  belonged  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  tombs 
kept  for  sale  in  the  cemeteries  of  the  large  towns. 

I  have  stated  that  the  body  was  enveloped  and  placed  in  its 
case  previous  to  its  delivery  to  the  relations  of  the  deceased ; 
but  Herodotus  seems  to  say  that  the  undertakers  having  received 
it  from  the  embalmers,  and  swathed  it  in  bandages,  sometimes 
returned  it  without  any  other  covering  than  the  linen  wrappers, 
or,  when  of  the  better  quality  of  mummies,  in  the  painted  car- 
tonage,  and  the  relations  employed  other  persons  to  make  the 
coffins  or  mummy-cases  in  which  it  was  finally  deposited.  We 
may,  however,  conclude  that  even  in  these  instances  the  under- 
takers were  again  applied  to  for  the  purpose ;  and  we  see  among 
people  far  less  prejudiced  than  the  Egyptians,  and  far  less 
inclined  to  favour  monopolies  in  religious  matters,  that  few  have 
arrogated  to  themselves  the  right  of  deviating  from  common 
custom  in  their  funeral  arrangements. 

The  number  of  days,  seventy  or  seventy-two,*  mentioned  by 
the  two  historians,  is  confirmed  by  the  Scripture  account  of 
Jacob's  funeral ;  and  this  arbitrary  period  cannot  fail  to  call  to 
mind  the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  numbers  seven  and  seventy, 
which  are  observed  in   so  many  instances    both    among    the 


'  The  mode  of  embalming  not  only  dif-  faction.      The  mammies  are   yellow  and 

fered  according  to  the  peri(^,  but  also  ac-  rather  shining,  the  nails  of  the  hands  and 

cording  to  the   individual.     Scarcely  two  feet    dyed  with   henna,  and   they  are  so 

mummies  have  ever  been  found  treated  in  flexible   that   they   can  be   bent   without 

the   same  manner.      Those   of   the   older  breaking,  and  yield  to  the  imprint  of  the 

dynasties,  contemporary   with   the    Pyra-  nail.     After  the  26th  Dynasty  the  mum- 

mids,  either  drop  to  pieces  on  exposure  to  mies    become   black    and   heary,   and   do 

the  air  or  exhale  a  faint  odour  of  bitumen  ;  not  break,  except  by  aid  of  an  instrument, 

the  mummies  of  the  11th  Dynasty  are  also  and   the    art    rapidly  disappears.      Some 

yellow,  dry,  and  brittle,  and  many  reduced  mummies    have     a     tanned     appearance, 

to  mere  skeletons ;    but  at  the  time  of  the  (Mariette-Bey,  *  Mus^  de  Boulaq,*  pp.  35- 

12th  and  13th  Dynasties  the  mummies  are  43.)^S.  B. 

black,  the   skin  flexible  but  dry.      From  '  Diodorus  (i.   72)  assigns   only    about 

the  18th   to  the  21st  Dynasty  the  mum-  thirty   to   the    embalming    process ;    and 

mies  of  Memphis    are  black,  and   so   dry  from  Gen.  1.  3  we  learn  that  *  forty  days 

that  they  break  with  the  least  effort.     But  were  fulfilled  *  for  Jacob,  as  was  customary 

at  Thebes  the  art  attained  its  highest  per-  for  those  who  were  *  embalmed.' 


CsAP.  XVL]  KMBATiMEBR.  477 

Egyptians  and  Jews.  Bat  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it 
comprehended  the  whole  period  of  the  mourning,  and  that  the 
embalming  process  only  occnpied  a  portion  of  it ;  forty  being 
the  number  of  days  expressly  stated  by  the  Bible  to  have  been 
assigned  to  the  latter,  and  *  three  score  and  ten '  to  the  entire 
mourning. 

The  custom  of  embalming  bodies  was  not  confined  to  the 
Egyptians :  the  Jews  adopted  this  process  to  a  certain  extent, 
*  the  manner  of  the  Jews  *  being  to  bury  ^  the  body  '  wound  in 
linen  cloths  with  spices.' 

The  embalmersyss  I  have  already  obsenrcdy  were  probably 
members  of  the  medical  profession,  as  well  as  of  the  class  of 
priests.  Joseph  is  said  to  hare  *  commanded  the  physicians  to 
embalm  his  father ;' '  and  Pliny  states  that  during  this  process 
certain  examinations  took  place,  which  enabled  them  to  study 
the  disease  of  which  the  deceased  had  died.  They  appear  to 
have  been  made  in  compliance  with  an  order  from  the  gorem* 
ment,'  as  he  says  the  kings  of  Egypt  had  the  bodies  opened 
after  death  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  their  diseases,  by  which 
means  alone  the  remedy  for  phthisical  complaints  was  discorered. 
Indeed  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  a  people  so  far  advanced 
as  were  the  Egyptians  in  knowledge  of  all  kinds,  and  whose 
medical  art  was  so  systematically  arranged  that  they  had 
regulated  it  by  some  of  the  very  same  laws  followed  by  the  most 
enlightened  and  skilful  nations  of  the  present  day,  would  not 
have  omitt^  so  useful  an  inquiry,  or  have  failed  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  means  which  the  process  adopted  for  embalming 
the  body  placed  at  their  disposaL  And  nothing  can  more  clearly 
prove  their  advancement  in  the  study  of  human  diseases  than 
the  fact  of  their  assigning  to  each  his  own  peculiar  branch, 
under  the  different  heads  of  oculists,  dentists,  those  who  cured 
diseases  in  the  head,  those  who  confined  themselves  to  intestinal 
complaints,  and  those  who  attended  to  secret  and  internal 
maladies.* 

Their  knowledge  of  drugs,  and  of  their  effects,  is  sufficiently 
shown  by  the  preservation  of  the  mummies,  an<I  the  manner  in 
whi(*h  the  intestines  and  other  parts  have  been  rem(ive<l  from 
the  interior.  And  such  is  the  skill  evinco<I  in  the  embalming 
process,  that  every  medical  man  of  the  present  day  who 
witnesses  the   evidence   derived  from  an  examination  of  the 


*  JohB  lii.  40.  •  Ocm.  L  Sl  •  rUa.  lii.  &.  «  Htr^lot  U.  Si. 


478  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

mummies  willingly  acquiesces  in  the  praise  due  to  the  ability 
and  experience  of  the  Egyptian  embalmers. 

Certain  regulations  respecting  the  bodies  of  persons  fonnd 
dead  were  wisely  established  in  Egypt,  which,  by  rendering  the 
district  or  town  in  the  immediate  vicinity  responsible  in  some 
degree  for  the  accident,  by  fining  it  to  the  full  cost  of  the  most 
ezpensiye  funeral,  necessarily  induced  those  in  authority  to 
exercise  a  proper  degree  of  vigilance,  and  to  exert  their  utmost 
efforts  to  save  anyone  who  had  Mien  into  the  river,  or  was 
otherwise  exposed  to  the  danger  of  his  life.  From  these,  too,  we 
may  judge  of  the  great  responsibility  they  were  under  for  the 
body  of  a  person  found  murdered  within  their  jurisdiction. 

*  If  a  dead  body,'  says  Herodotus,  *  was  accidentally  found, 
whether  of  an  Egyptian  or  a  stranger,  who  had  been  taken  by  a 
crocodile,  or  drowned  in  the  river,  the  town  upon  the  territory 
of  which  it  was  discovered  was  obliged  to  embalm  it  according 
to  the  most  costly  process,  and  to  bury  it  in  a  consecrated  tomb. 
None  of  the  friends  or  relations  were  permitted  to  touch  it ; 
this  privilege  was  accorded  to  the  priests  of  the  Nile  alone,  who 
interred  it  with  their  own  hands,  as  if  it  had  been  something 
more  than  the  corpse  of  a  human  being.'  ^ 

Another  reason  assigned  for  their  embalming  the  dead,  in- 
dependent of  those  already  mentioned,  has  been  supposed  to  be 
a  belief  that  the  soul  remained  in  the  body  as  long  as  the  latter 
was  preserved,  and  was  thus  prevented  from  passing  to  any  other.* 
But  this  is  directly  opposed  to  the  known  opinion  of  the 
Egyptians,  which,  as  we  see  even  from  the  sculptures,  was  that 
the  soul  left  the  body  at  the  moment  of  death ;  and,  according 
to  Herodotus,  they  asserted  that,  having  quitted  the  body,  it 
returned  again  after  a  certain  period. 

Cassian  gives  another  reason,  still  more  at  variance  with 
truth, — 'that  they  were  unable  to  bury  their  dead  during  the 
inundation  ;'  which  is  at  once  disproved  by  the  fact  of  the  tombs 
being  accessible  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Herodotus  '  observes 
that  *  they  forbade  the  body  to  be  burnt,  because  they  looked  upon 
fire  as  a  savage  beast,  devouring  all  that  it  can  lay  hold  of,  and 
dying  itself  after  it  is  satiated,  together  with  the  object  of  its 
prey ;  and  that  being  forbidden  by  their  laws  to  suffer  any 
animal  to  live  upon  a  dead  body,  they  embalmed  it  as  a  pro- 


>  Herodot.  ii.  90.  «  Serviu*  ad  Virg.  Mn.  Hi.  y.  68, 

»  Herodot.  iii.  16. 


Chap.  XYL]      BANDAOES-DISPOSAL  OF  INTE8TINE&  479 

tection  against  worms.*  This  at  least  has  more  appearance  of 
probability ;  and  in  the  same  fear  of  engendering  these  origi- 
nated the  prohibition  against  enveloping  a  coqwe  in  woollen 
cloths.  That  the  bandages  were  of  linen  has  already  been 
shown  ;^  and  the  prejudice  in  favour  of  that  quality  of  stuff 
extended  even  to  the  wrappers  used  for  enveloping  the  small 
wooden  figures  deposited  in  the  tombs,  which  were  seldom  if 
ever  allowed  to  be  of  cotton,  and  apparently  in  no  instance  of 
woollen  texture. 

Herodotus  fails  to  inform  us  what  became  of  the  intestines 
after  they  had  been  removed  from  the  body  of  those  embalmed 
according  to  the  first  process ;'  but  the  discoveries  made  in  the 
tombs  clear  up  this  important  point,  and  enable  us  to  correct 
the  improbable  account  given  by  Porphyry.'  The  latter  writer 
says, '  \\lien  the  bodies  of  persons  of  distinction  were  embalmed, 
they  took  out  the  intestines  and  put  them  into  a  vessel,  over 
which  (after  some  other  rites  had  been  performe<l  for  the  dead) 
one  of  the  embalmers  pronounced  an  invocation  to  the  sun  in 
behalf  of  the  deceased.  The  formula,  aci*ording  to  Euphantus, 
who  translated  it  from  the  original  into  Greek,  was  as  follows : — 
"  O  thou  sun,  our  sovereign  lord  I  and  all  ye  deities  who  have 
given  life  to  man !  receive  me,  and  grant  me  an  abode  with 
the  eternal  gods.  During  the  whole  course  of  my  life  I  have 
scrupulously  worshipped  the  gods  my  fath«^rs  taught  me  to 
adore ;  I  have  ever  honoured  my  parents,  who  begat  this  body ; 
I  have  killed  no  one ;  I  have  not  defrauded  any,  nor  have  I  done 
an  injury  to  any  man  ;  and  if  I  have  committed  any  other  &ult 
during  my  life,  either  in  eating  or  drinking,  it  has  not  ham  done 
for  myself,  but  for  these  things."  So  saying,  the  embalmer 
pointed  to  the  vessel  containing  the  intestines,  which  was  thn>wn 


'  Th«  b«D<lAKM  w#r«  wetted  and  placed  •koolder*.  rron^tiiK  io  froot  and  itamped  at 

OB  the  bodj  with  the  freateet  cart,  to  as  the  eid  with  a  Hfurv  of  the  ^\  Khem  or 

to  follow  the  general  contour  of  the  form,  Amsi,  ap|iear  oo  certaio  maminiee  of  tile 

and  the  ioeqiialitie*  were  carefullj  padded  SOtk  aad  .10th  DToa%tin. — 8.  H. 
with    pledicett.      Thej  were  chieiflj  com*         *  The  iotefttiaeii  were  returned  Into  tka 

paeed  of  old  linen,  from  three  to  four  inches  atomach  bandaice-l,  or  lai'l  between  the  lege 

wide  aivl  eereral  Tarda  long.     L'nder  tha  and    corered    br    the     bandagm    of    the 

Romant  the  limb*  were  bandaged  teparatel J.  mnmniT  ;   but    at   the   time   of  the    IStk 

Large  ehroudt  of  linen  dred  salmon-eolonr  Djrnastr  an<l  «uhM<«(urDtlr  th^r  wrre  em- 

by  the  Carikammi  tmeiiwim  were   placed  bnlmedi  wnip|»«^l  u\*  to  l>anilag^«  in  rt 


9m  the  bodr.     Occaaionalljr  tka  name  of  of  alabaster  «>r  <'alrarr«>ut  itone.  wond,  or 

Ike  person  bandaged  is  found  written  with  porcelain,    and    tho     Ti«cera     distributed 

asarking   ink   on    the   inner  bandagea,   in  amongst  them,     lo  some   instAnoea  Taaes 

Older  to  indicate  the  bodj,  as  if  streml  af  solid  wood  were  made,  and  ike  Tiaeem 

wtra  in  hand  at  ones  nnd  mifkt  otktnrfsa  etkerwise  disCribnteil.— S.  ft. 
bt  mistaken.       Lantkar  almpa  •?«  tka        *  Porpkyrj,  de  Abtttn.  It.  10. 


480  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

into  the  river ;  the  rest  of  the  body,  when  properly  deanaed, 
being  embalmed.' 

Plutarch  ^  gives  a  similar  account  of  their  *  throwing  the 
intestines  into  the  river/  as  the  cause  of  all  the  faults  committed 
by  man,  *  the  rest  of  the  body  when  cleansed  being  embalmed  ;* 
which  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  same  authority  as  that  of 
Porphyry,'  and  given  in  the  same  words.  But  the  positive 
evidence  of  the  tombs,  as  well  as  our  acquedntance  with  the 
religious  feelings  of  the  Egyptians,  suflSciently  prove  this  to  be 
one  of  the  many  idle  tales  by  which  the  Greeks  have  shown  their 
ignorance  of  that  people ;  and  no  one  who  considers  the  respect 
with  which  they  looked  upon  the  Nile,  the  care  they  took  to 
remove  all  impurities  which  might  affect  their  health,  and  the 
superstitious  prejudice  they  felt  towards  everything  appertaining 
to  the  human  body,  could  for  an  instant  suppose  that  they  would 
on  any  consideration  be  induced  to  pollute  the  stream  or  insult 
the  dead  by  a  similar  custom. 

I  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  remark  how  erroneous  were 
the  opinions  of  the  Greeks  respecting  Egypt  and  the  Egyptians ; 
and  not  only  have  we  to  censure  them  for  failing  to  give  much 
interesting  information  which  they  might  have  acquired  after 
their  intercourse  with  the  country  became  unrestrained,  but  to 
regret  that  the  greater  part  of  what  they  have  given  us  is 
deficient  and  inaccurate.  To  such  an  extent  is  this  inaccuracy 
carried,  that  little  they  tell  us  can  be  received  with  confidence, 
unless  in  some  way  confirmed  by  the  monuments  or  other 
plausible  evidence ;  and  many  of  those  things  which  for  a  time 
were  considered  unquestionably  true  have  proved  incorrect, — as 
the  description  of  Anubis  with  a  dog's  head,  Amen  with  that  of 
a  ram,  and  many  observations  relating  to  the  customs  of  the 
Egyptians. 

Hence  we  often  find  ourselves  obliged  to  undo  what  has  been 
already  done,  which  is  a  far  more  diflScult  task  than  merely  to 
ascertain  what  has  hitherto  been  untouched,  and  undisguised  by 
the  intervention  of  a  coloured  medium. 

It  might  appear  incredible  that  errors  could  have  been  made 
on  the  most  common  subjects,  on  things  relating  to  positive 
customs  which  daily  occurred  before  the  eyes  of  those  who  sought 
to  inquire  into  them,  and  are  described  by  Greek  writers  who 


*  Pint.  Sept.  Sap.  ConviT.,  and  Onit.  ii.         '  Plutarch  lived  in  the  time  of  Trajan, 
de  Esu.  Cam.  Porphjrj  died  in  the  reign  of  Diocletan. 


Chip.  XVI.]  EMBALMIKO  OP  INTESTINEa  481 

visited  the  country.  But  when  we  oheerve  the  ignorance  of 
£uroi)ean8  respecting  the  customs  of  niodtTn  Egypt— of  Euro- 
peans who  are  a  people  much  less  averse  to  inquire  into  the 
manners  of  other  countries,  much  more  ex[)ose<l  to  the  criticism 
of  their  compatriots  in  giving  false  information  than  the  ancient 
Greeks,  and  to  whom  the  modem  inhabitants  do  not  oppose  the 
same  impediments  in  examining  their  habits  as  did  the  ancient 
Egyptians ; — when  we  recollect  the  great  facilities  they  enjoy 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  language  and  manners,  and 
still  find  that  Italians,  French,  and  others,  who  have  resided 
ten,  twenty,  or  more  years  in  Egypt,  with  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  Arabic,  and  enjoying  opportunities  for  constant  intercourse 
with  the  [K'ople,  are  frequently,  I  may  say  generally,  ignorant 
of  their  nu»8t  ordinary  customs,  and  are  often  pr(^vente<l  by 
prei*onceivtHi  notions  from  forming  a  right  judgment  of  their 
habits  and  opinions; — when,  I  say,  we  bear  this  in  mind, 
and  witness  so  much  ignorance  in  Euro{)eans  at  the  present 
day,  we  can  readily  account  for  the  misconceptions  of  the 
Greeks  resftecting  the  customs  or  opinions  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians. 

As  far  as  the  invocation  of  the  sun,  and  the  confession  pro- 
nounce<I  by  the  priest  (rather  than  the  emlwtlmer)  on  the  part  of 
the  deceased,  the  account  of  Porphyry  partakes  of  the  character 
of  truth  ;  though  the  time  when  this  was  done  should  rather 
be  referre<l  to  the  ceremony  on  the  sacred  lake,  or  to  that  of 
de[X)8iting  the  body  in  the  tomb.  The  confession,  indeed,  is  an 
imperfect  [xirtion  of  that  recorded  in  the  sculptures,  which  has 
been  already  mentioned. 

As  S4Njn  as  the  intestines  had  been  remove<I  from  the  bodv, 
they  i%ere  prcqK^rly  cleansed,  and  embalme^I  in  spices  and  various 
substances,  and  dep4isite<I  in  fonr  vas<^  Th<^'  wt^re  aften^anU 
plactNl  in  the  Uitnh  with  the  cofBn,  an<l  wert»  Hup|xts<Ml  to  belong 
to  the  four  genii  of  Amenti,  whose  htmds  and  names  they  Uire. 
Each  C4intained  a  separate  portion,  which,  as  1  have  Ix^fore 
observnl,  was  appropriate^i  to  ita  particular  di*ity.  The  vase 
with  a  cover  rt*pn*iM*nting  the  human  head  (»f  AmM*t  held  the 
stomach  and  large  intestines;  that  with  the  (*yniKM*phalus  head 
of  Hapi  containtnl  the  small  intestines ;  in  that  U^longing  to 
the  jackal-headcHl  Tuautmutf  were  the  lungs  and  heart ;  and 
for  the  vas4»  of  the  hawk  hemltHl  Qabhsf^nuf  nen»  n»j«»rv<Ml  the 
gall*blailder  and  the  liver.  They  diflr«>re<l  in  8iaM>  and  the 
materials  of  which  they  were  made.     The  most  c<wtly  were  of 

VOL.   UL  2  I 


482  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVI. 

Oriental  alabaster,  from  ten  to  twenty  inches  high,  and  about 
one-third  of  that  in  diameter,  each  having  its  inscription,  with 
tlie  name  of  the  particular  deity  whose  head  it  bore.  Others 
were  of  common  limestone,  and  even  of  wood ;  but  these  last 
were  generally  solid,  or  contained  nothing,  being  merely  em- 
blematic, and  intended  only  for  those  whose  intestines  were 
returned  into  the  body.  They  were  generally  surmounted  by 
the  heads  above  mentioned,  but  they  sometimes  had  human 
heads ;  and  it  is  to  these  last  more  particularly  that  the  name 
of  Canopi  has  been  applied,  from  their  resemblance  to  certain 
vases  made  by  the  Bomans  to  imitate  the  Egyptian  taste.  I 
need  scarcely  add  that  this  is  a  misnomer,  and  that  the  applica- 
tion of  the  word  Canopus  to  any  Egyptian  vase  is  equally 
inadmissible. 

Such  was  the  mode  of  preserving  the  internal  parts  of  the 
mummies  embalmed  according  to  the  most  expensive  process. 
And  so  careful  were  the  Egyptians  to  show  proper  respect  to  all 
that  belonged  to  the  human  body,  that  even  the  saw-dust  of  the 
floor  where  they  cleansed  it  was  taken  and  tied  up  in  small 
linen  bags,  which,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty,  were 
deposited  in  vases  and  buried  near  the  tomb. 

In  those  instances  where  the  intestines,  after  being  properly 
cleansed  and  embalmed,  were  returned  into  the  body  by  the 
aperture  in  the  side,  images  of  the  four  genii  of  Amenti,  made 
of  wax,  wore  put  in  with  them,  as  the  guardians  of  the  portions 
particularly  subject  to  their  influence ;  sometimes,  in  lieu  of 
them,  a  plate  of  lead,  or  other  material,  bearing  upon  it  a 
representation  of  these  four  figures.  Over  the  incisicm  the 
mysterious  eye  of  Shu  or  Horus  was  placed,  whether  tho 
intestines  were  returned  or  deposited  in  the  vases. 

I  have  stated  that  many  difierent  gradations  existed  in  the 
three  classes  of  mummies, — if,  indeed,  they  can  be  limited  to  that 
number.     They  may  be  arranged  imder  two  general  heads  :  *  — 
I.  Those  with  the  ventral  incision. 
II.  Those  without  any  incision. 

I.  Of  the  mummies  with  the  incision  are — 

1.  Those  preserved  by  balsamic  matter. 

2.  Those  j)reserved  by  natron. 

1.  Those  dried  by  balsamic  and   astringent   substances  are 

*  Pettigrew,  p.  70.  from  whom  these  observatioQs  are  taken.    He  cites  Router's  *  Notice 
sur  les  Embaumements  des  Anciens  £gyptieDs.* 


Chap.  XVL]        DIFFERENT  SORTS  OF  MUMMIES.  483 

either  fille<l  with  a  mixture  of  resin  and   aromaties,   or  with 
asphaltum  ^  and  pure  bitumen. 

When  filled  with  resinous  matter  they  are  of  an  olive  colour; 
the  skin  dry,  flexible,  and  as  if  tanned,  retracted  and  adherent 
to  the  bones.  The  features  are  preserved,  and  appear  as  during 
life.  The  belly  and  chest  are  filled  with  resins,  |)artly  soluble  in 
spirits  of  wine.  These  substances  have  no  particular  odour  by 
which  they  can  be  recognised,  but  tlirown  upon  hot  coals 
a  thick  smoke  is  produced,  giving  out  a  strong  ammatic  smell. 
Mummies  of  this  kind  are  dry,  light,  and  easily  broken^ 
with  the  teeth,  hair  of  the  head,  and  eyebrows  well  preserved. 
Some  of  tliem  are  gilt  on  the  surface  of  the  Ixnly;  others 
only  on  the  face,  or  the  sexual  (Arts,  or  on  the  head  and  feet. 

The  mummies  filled  with  bitumen  are  black ;  the  skin  hard 
and  shining,  and  as  if  coloured  with  varnish ;  the  features  per- 
fect ;  the  lM*lly,  chest,  and  head  fille<l  with  rosin,  blacrk,  and  hard, 
and  having  a  little  odour.  Upim  IxMUg  examined,  they  are 
found  to  yield  the  same  results  as  the  ^  Jews*  pit(*h*'  met  with 
in  commen*e.  These  mummies  are  dr}%  h(*avy,  HhajK^ess,  and 
brittle.  They  have,  however,  been  pn»|Min»<l  with  great  care, 
and  are  very  little  susceptible  of  decomi>ositi<>n  from  exposure 
to  the  air. 

2.  The  mummies  with  ventral  incisions  pre[mre<l  by  natron 
are  likewise  filliKl  with  resinous  sulistances,  and  also  asphaltum. 
The  skin  is  hard  and  elastic  :  it  resembles  luirchment,  and  does 
nut  adhere  to  the  bones.  The  resins  and  bitumen  injected  into 
these  mummies  are  little  friable,  and  give  out  no  odour.  The 
countenance  of  the  body  is  little  altertnl,  but  the  hair  is  l>adly 
pn*s<*rved :  what  remains  usually  falls  off  upon  being  touched. 
These  mummies  are  very  numerous,  and  if  exiK^mnl  to  the  air 
thry  become  covert^l  with  an  efllort*«cence  of  sulphate  of  soda. 
They  readily  absorb  humidity  fn»m  the  atmospliero. 

Such  are  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  first  quality  of 
mummi(*s,  acconling  to  the  mode  of  eml>alniing  the  UmIv.  They 
may  also  be  distinguishe4l  by  other  piH'uliarities;  as, 

1.  Mummies  of  which  the  intestin(»s  were  di'iMuiittNl  in  vases. 

2.  Those  of  which  the  intestines  wore  n»tunii*<l  into  the 

iMHly. 
The  former  included  all  mummies  enibalnie<I  ac*conling  to 

'  *Wh«s     the    Mph«Uiini    incorporftl«t      wh^'n  it  «Iom  Dot  im^rptinit^  with  ihtStdi, 
with   th«    bwir,  it    b««winM    brvwa    aad      it  rrtaiot  lU  »hioiDg  black  colour.* 
grrMy,  aaii  muIj  cmmblct  iato  powder  ; 

2  1  2 


484  THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTI  AN£L  ICSiur.  XVt 

the  most  expensiye  prooeBS  (for  though  some  of  an  iidhEknr 
quality  are  found  with  the  incision  in  the  side,  ncme  of  the  fizst 
quality  were  embalmed  without  the  removal  of  the  intestines) ; 
and  the  body,  having  been  spared  with  the  proper  spices  and 
drugs,  was  enveloped  in  Ihien  bandages,  sometimes  measuring 
1000  yards  in  length.^  It  was  then  enclosed  in  a  cartcmage 
fitting  closely  to  the  mummied  body,  which  was  richly  painted, 
and  covered  in  front  with  a  network  of  beads  and  bugles 
arranged  in  a  tasteful  form,  the  &oe  being  laid  over  with  tUck 
gold  leaf^  and  the  eyes  made  of  enameL  The  three  or  four  cases 
which  successively  covered  the  cartonage  were  ornamented  in 
like  manner  with  painting  and  gilding;  and  the  whole  was 
enclosed  in  a  sarcophagus  of  wood  or  stone,  profusely  charged 
with  painting  or  sculpture.  These  cases,  as  well  as  the  cartonage^ 
varied  in  style  and  richness,  according  to  the  expense  incurred 
by  the  friends  of  the  deceased.  The  bodies  thus  embalmed  were 
generally  of  priests  of  various  grades.  Sometimes  the  skin  itself 
was  covered  with  gold  leaf ;  sometimes  the  whole  body,  the  ftee^ 
or  the  eyelids ;  sometimes  the  nails  alone.  In  many  instances  the 
body,  or  the  cartonage,  was  beautified  in  an  expensive  manner, 
and  the  outer  cases  were  little  ornamented ;  but  some  preferred 
the  external  show  of  rich  cases  or  sarcophagi. 

Those  of  which  the  intestines  were  returned  into  the  body, 
with  the  wax  figures  of  the  four  genii,  were  placed  in  cases  less 
richly  ornamented ;  and  some  of  these  were,  as  already  stated, 
of  the  secondary  class  of  mummies. 

II.  Those  without  the  ventral  incision  were  also  of  two  kinds.' 

1.  Salted,  and  filled  with  bituminous  matter  less  pure 

than  the  others. 

2.  Simply  salted. 

1.  The  former  mummies  are  not  recognisable ;  all  the 
cavities  are  filled,  and  the  surface  of  the  body  is  covered  with 
thin  mineral  pitch.  It  penetrates  the  body,  and  forma  with  it 
one  undistinguishable  mass.  These  mummies,  Bouyer  conceives, 
were  submerged  in  vessels  containing  the  pitch  in  a  liquid  state. 
They  are  the  most  numerous  of  all  kinds :  they  are  black,  dry, 
heavy,  and  of  disagreeable  odour,  and  very  difficult  to  break. 
Neither  the  eyebrows  nor  hair  are  preserved,  and  there  is  no 
gilding  upon  them.  The  bituminous  matter  is  fatty  to  the  touch, 
less  black  and  brittle  than  the  asphaltum,  and  yields  a  very 

1  Pettigrew,  p.  89.  *  Jhid.  p.  71. 


Chap.  XVI.]         DIFFERENT  SORTS  OF  MCJMMIEa  485 

strong  odoar.  It  dissolTes  imperfectlj  in  alcohol,  and  when 
thrown  upon  hot  coals  emits  a  thick  smoke  and  disagreeable 
smell.  When  distilled,  it  gives  an  abundant  oil,  fat,  and  of  a 
brown  colour  and  fetid  odour.  £x[)osed  to  the  air,  these 
mummit*s  soon  change,  attract  humidity,  and  become  covered 
with  an  efflorescence  of  saline  substances. 

2.  The  mummies  simply  salted  and  <lried  are  generally 
worse  pre8erve<l  than  those  tilled  with  resins  and  bitumen.  Their 
skin  is  dry,  white,  elastic,  light,  yielding  no  (xlour,  and  easily 
broken,  and  masses  of  adipocere  are  frequently  found  in  them* 
The  features  are  destroyed ;  the  hair  is  entirely  removed ;  the 
bones  are  detached  from  their  connections  with  the  slightest 
effort,  and  they  are  white,  like  those  of  a  skeleton.  The  cloth 
enveloping  them  falls  to  pieces  upon  being  touche<l.  These 
mummies  are  generally  found  in  particular  caves  which  contain 
gn*at  quantities  of  saline  matters,  princii>ally  the  sulphate  of 
soda. 

Of  the  latter  also  several  subdivisions  may  be  made,  according 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  bodies  were  de|K)«ite<l  in  the  tombs ; 
and  some  are  so  loosely  put  up  in  bad  cloths  and  rags,  as  barely 
to  be  M'iMirateil  from  the  earth  or  stones  in  which  they  have  been 
buriisl.  Some  are  more  carefully  envelo])ed  in  ban<lages,  and 
arrangcnl  one  over  the  other  without  oasc*s  in  the  same  common 
tomb,  often  to  the  number  of  several  hundre<l ;  a  visit  to  one  of 
which  has  lieen  well  deticribed  by  Belz<.»ni.' 

Some  have  certain  peculiarities  in  the  mode  of  their  preserva- 
tion. In  many  the  skulls  are  filled  with  earthy  matter  in  lieu  of 
bitumen ;  and  some  mummies  have  been  pr«*i)anHl  with  wax  and 
tannin,  a  remarkable  instance  of  which  o<Tuni  in  that  opt*ne<l  by 
Dr.  Cininville,  for  a  full  account  of  which  1  n^fcT  the  rea<Ier  to 
his  work  descriptive  of  the  body  and  its  nuxle  of  pn^servatioa. 
I  cannot,  however,  omit  to  mention  (me  of  numy  wondt*rful  proofs 
of  the  skill  of  the  emlialmert.  By  means  of  a  mrnisivt*  liquid  they 
had  r(*moviHl  the  internal  tegument  of  the  skull  of  the  mummy 
in  his  [MiHsession.  and  still  contriviMl  to  pn*S4'r>'t'  the  thin  membrane 
below,  though  the  heat  of  the  embalming  matter  aftennanls 
Itouri'tl  into  the  cavity  had  perforat^Ml  tht*  suture  and  S(*t»rched 
the  M*ulp.' 

It  has  bc*en  a  general  and  a  just  remark  that  few  mummies 

*  r«tti|(r«w,  p.  :i9.  tli«  Mnie   |>ri>|N>rtT  of  luirdMn,  to  j«dg« 

'  Th«  thuknrM  of  the  Kfjptiaa  tkaU  it  from  the  tluw*  th»r  lM«r  frvm  th«  Tarkt, 

obMrrahl*  id  the  mummiM;  «b<I  t boa*  of  aot]  in  their   o>iuImiU   amoof   tkvinMl 

ih«  miMlrm  Ef  jptua*  fortBMtclj  pniii  .^O.  W. 


486  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  [Chap.  XVL 

of  children  have  been  discovered — ^a  singular  fact,  not  easily 
accounted  for,  since  the  custom  of  embalming  those  even  of  the 
earliest  age  was  practised  in  Egypt.^ 

Greek  mummies  usually  differed  from  those  of  the  Egyptians 
in  the  manner  of  disposing  the  bandages  of  the  arms  and  legs. 
The  former  had  the  arms  placed  at  the  sides,  and  bound  separately ; 
but  the  arms  as  well  as  the  legs  and  even  the  fingers  of  the 
Egyptians  were  generally  enclosed  in  one  common  envelope, 
without  any  separation  in  the  bandages.  In  these  last  the  arms 
were  extended  along  the  side,  the  palms  inwards  and  resting  on 
the  thighs,  or  brought  forwards  over  the  groin,  sometimes  even 
across  the  breast ;  and  occasionally  one  arm  in  the  former,  the 
other  in  the  latter  position.  The  legs  were  close  together,  and 
the  head  erect.  These  different  modes  of  arranging  the  limbs 
were  common  to  both  sexes,  and  to  all  ages;  though  we 
occasionally  meet  with  some  slight  deviations  from  this  mode  of 
placing  the  hands.  But  few  Egyptians  are  found  with  the  limbs 
bandaged  separately,  as  those  of  Greek  mummies,  though 
instances  may  occur  of  the  latter  having  the  arms  enveloped 
with  the  body.  Sometimes  the  nails  and  the  whole  hands  and 
feet  were  stained  with  the  red  dye  of  the  henneh ;  ^  and  some 
mummies  have  been  found  with  the  face  covered  by  a  mask  of 
cloth  fitting  closely  to  it,  and  overlaid  with  a  coating  of  com- 
position,^ 80  painted  as  to  resemble  the  deceased,  and  to  have  the 
appearance  of  flesh.  But  these  are  of  rare  occurrence,  and  I  am 
unable  to  state  if  they  are  of  an  early  Egyptian  or  Greek  epoch. 
This  last  is  most  probable ;  especially  tis  we  find  that  the  mummies 
which  present  the  portrait  of  the  deceased,  painted  on  wood  and 
placed  over  the  face,  are  always  of  Greek  time.  Some  remarkable 
instances  of  these  are  preserved  in  the  collections  of  Europe; 
and  one  upon  a  body  sent  to  England  by  Salt,  which  has  beeu 
figured  by  Pettigrew,  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

On  the  breast  was  frequently  placed  a  scarabneus,  in 
immediate  contact  with  the  flesh.  These  scarabsei,*  when  of 
stone,  had  their  extended  wings  made  of  lead  or  silver ;  and 
when  of  blue  pottery,  the  wings  were  of  the  same  material.     Ou 


*  Pettigrew,  p.  73.  imitation   of  nature.     They   have   then   » 
'  Lawsonia  spinosa  et  inermiSf  Linn.  ring  for  suspending  them,  being  probably 

*  I  have  seen  a  very  good  specimen  in  intended  for  ornamental  purposes,  as  neck- 
the  possession  of  Dr.  Hogg.  laces   and  the  like.     Sometimes   the  head 

*  The  two  most  usual  forms  of  scarabaei  and  thorax  are  replaced  by  a  human  face, 
found  in  tombs  are  with  the  lower  part  as  and  occasionally  the  body,  or  elytra,  have 
a  flat  level  surface  for  bearing  an  inscrip-  the  form  of  a  royal  cap. 

tion,  or  with   the   legs  inserted  there   in 


Chap.  XVI.] 


MUM  MYIASES. 


487 


A 

No.  CM. 


■canUMraa.  cuvrird  « lib  wtnf*,  wUlcli.  with  the  lun 
ftud  atfpa,  Are  of  »ilvrr. 


the  cartonage  ami  ease,  in  a  corresponding  situation  alnive,  the 

same  emblem  was  also  placed,  to  indicate  the  protecting  influence 

of  the  deitv ;  *  and  in  this 

last  iKMJtion  it  simietimes 

stood  in  the  cc^ntn*  of  a 

boat,  with   the  goddesses 

Isis    and     Nephthys     on 

either  side  in  an  attitude 

of  prayer.'    On  the  ouUt 

cas4*s  the  same  place  was  occupied  by  a  similar  win;;ed  scaraba^us 

or  the  winged  glol)e,  or  a  hawk,  or  a  ram-headed  vulture  or  hawk, 

or  Ixith  these  last,  or  the  same  bird  with  the  head  of  a  woman,  or 

by  the  goddess  Nut ;  and  sometimes  a  distk  was  supported  by  the 

btH:*th*,  having  within  it  a  hawk  and  the  name  of  Wiu 

The  subj<»cts  represented  on  the  mummy-cas<*s  differed  ac- 
cording to  the  rank  of  the  {persons,  the  expense  inrurnnl  in  their 
d(X!oration,  and  other  circumstances ;  and  such  was  their  variety 
that  few  resembltnl  each  other  in  every  ]»artieular.  I  shall, 
therefore,  in  descTibing  them,contine  my  n^marks  to  their  general 
character,  and  to  the  most  common  representations  tigured  U])on 
them. 

In  the  first  quality  of  mummies  the  innennost  covering  of 
the  Ixxly,  after  it  had  been  swathed  in  the  ntnressary  quantity  of 
l>andagt*s,  was  the  cart4mage.  This  was  a  pasteboanl  case  fitting 
exactly  to  '\X»  sha])e,  the  precise  measun?  having  been  carefully 
t4iken,  so  that  it  might  corre8]>ond  to  the  Unly  it  was  intended  to 
cover,  and  to  whirh  it  was  probably  mljusted  by  pnqN^r  manipula- 
tion  while  still  damp.  It  was  then  taken  off  again,  and  made  to 
ret4un  that  shain*  till  dry,  when  it  was  again  applitHi  to  the 
bandagcHl  IkkIv,  and  stowed  up  at  the  liac^k.  Aft«*r  this  it  was 
{Miint4Hl  and  ornament^nl  with  figures  and  numerous  subj«H*ts :  the 
fa(*e  was  mivle  to  imitate  that  of  the  <l(*(*eiiH(*d,  and  frecjuently 
gild<Ml ;  the  eyt^s  wm*  inlaid ;  and  the  hair  of  tVmalrs  was  matle 
to  n*present  the  natural  plaits  as  worn  by  Kgyptian  women. 

The  subjects  painted  upon  the  cartonagt*  ^ere  the  four  genii 
of  Amenti,'  and  various  emblems  bt*longing  t4>  deiti<*s  connecte^l 


*  Thr  M'aratMru'i  with  ext«D4l««i  wtap 
wA<  I'lat-^*!  on  th«  brrA^t  of'  niummirt,  %mi 
rr|irr»cotnl  the  «i/.  dr.  or  «i/>.  thcMm«  idl«a. 
Th«  p^-tor^l  pUtc*  ot  v.tnout  naUrUU 
plac«tl  oo  muinmtM  had  th«  ordtBarj  ac^ 
rab«ruft,  with  the  c hapten  relftiiaf  to 
the  hrart,  c  34»-^,  of  the  Kttiuil.  Tbt 
{•orcrUio  Dyiof  tcaralMKi  vert  worked  iato 


thi*  Drtw«*rk  t>r  intimniie*.     (See  WnodrollV, 
*The  N*ra»>*u»  .'M.rr,'  4lti,  I?*7n.)— A  B. 

•  |Vtti|crr».  I'l.  \iii.  h|f».  I,  *i,  3. 

*  [liadr*  «.tB  (ttllrU  10  KcyptiAD  Ameat 
or  AmeDti,  nrrr  which  CSiru  pre*Hi4r<i  at 
joflfe  of  th«  «lrji4.  Plutarch  (de  l»i<L.  a. 
"^^)  aupiMM^*  it  to  tnran  *th«  roceirer  *od 
(irer.*     It  coric«)4>B(lrd,   like   Lrvboa,   to 


488 


THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


with  the  dead.  On  the  breast  was  placed  the  figure  of  Nut,  with 
expanded  wings,  protecting  the  deceased ;  sacred  arks,  boats,  and 
other  things  were  arranged  in  different  compartments ;  and 
Osiris/  Isis,  Nephthys,  Anubis,  Socharis,  and  other  deities,  were 
frequently  introduced.  In  some  instances  Isis  was  represented 
throwing  her  arms  round  the  feet  of  the  mummy,  with  this 
appropriate  legend,  *  I  embrace  thy  feet' — at  once  explanatory  of, 
and  explained  by,  the  action  of  the  goddess.  A  long  line  of 
hieroglyphics,  extending  down  the  front,  usually  contained  the 
name  and  quality  of  the  deceased,  and  the  offerings  presented  for 
him  to  the  gods ;  and  transverse  bands  frequently  repeated  the 
former,  with  similar  donations  to  other  deities.  But  as  the 
arrangement  and  character  of  these  sacred  ornaments  vary  in 
nearly  all  the  specimens  of  mummies,  it  would  be  tedious  to  in- 
troduce more  than  a  general  notion  of  their  character.  Even  the 
cartonage  and  different  cases  of  the  same  mummy  differ  in  all 
except  the  name  and  description  of  the  deceased  ;  and  the  figure 
of  Nut  is  sometimes  replaced  by  a  winged  sun  or  a  scarabseus. 
This  goddess,  however,  always  occurs  in  some  part  of  the  cofiin, 
and  often  with  outspread  arms  at  the  bottom  of  the  inner  case, 
where  she  appears  to  receive  the  body  into  her  embrace,  as  the 
protectress  of  the  dead. 

The  face  of  the  cartonage  was  often  covered  with  thick  gold 
leaf,  and  richly  adorned,  the  eyes  inlaid  with  brilliant  enamel, 
the  hair  imitated  with  great  care,  and  adorned  with  gold  ;  and 
the  same  care  was  extended  to  the  three  cases  which  successively 
covered  it,  though  each  differed  from  the  next,  the  innermost 
being  the  most  ornamented.  Rich  necklaces  were  placed  or 
represented  on  the  neck  of  each,  for  all  were  made  in  the  form  of 
the  deceased  ;  and  a  network  of  coloured  beads  was  frequently 
►spread  over  the  breast,  and  even  the  whole  body,  worked  in  rich 
and  elegant  devices. 

The  outer  case  was  either  of  wood  or  stone.    When  of  wood,  it 


the  West,  called  Ement  by  the  Kgyptians, 
the  place  of  darkness,  where  the  sun  set. 
The  western   hills  being  especially  appro- 
priated to  tombs   in  all  the  places  where 
pyramids  were  built  will  account  for  these 
monuments  being  on  that  side  of  the  Nile. 
The  abode  of  the  dead  was  supposed  to  be 
the  West,  the  land  of  darkness  where  the 
sun  ended  his  course  ;  and  the  analogy  was 
kept  up  by  the  names  Kriunt,  the  '  west/ 
and  Auwnti^  the  Mower  regions  of  Hades.* 
Some  tombs  were  in  the  Kastern  hills,  but 


this  was  because  they  happened  to  be  near 
the  river,  and  the  Libyan  hills  were  too 
distant  ;  and  the  principal  places  of  burial, 
as  at  Thebes  and  Memphis,  were  on  the  W. 

— G.  wg 

*  Osiris  is  sometimes  introduced  under 
the  form  of  a  vase  or  a  peculiar  emblem 
surmounted  by  two  long  feathers,  and 
bound  with  a  fillet.  It  is  raised  on  a  shaft, 
and  over  it  are  the  names  and  titles  of 
the  god.  Socharis  was  another  form  and 
character  of  Usiris. 


Chap.  XVI.] 


SAKCOPHAGI. 


489 


had  a  flat  or  a  circular  summit,  sometimes  with  a  short  square 
pillar  rising  at  each  angle.  The  whole  was  richly  painted,  and  it 
frequently  had  a  door  represented  near  one  of  the  comers.  At 
one  end  was  the  figure  of  Isis,  at  the  other  Nephthys ;  and  the 
top    was    painted     with 


l^j^^g 


■*\%%t\%\%iiit  I  It  in// 


r    i-    '  . 

^1 

,*;u-.^ 

'-'li 

• 

:| 

Jfidll^JTlii: 


'V'HI  >V^' 


bands  or  fancy  devices. 
In  others  the  lid  repre- 
sented the  curving  top 
of  the  ordinary  Egyptian 
canopy. 

The  stone  cases,  usually 
called  sarcophagi,  wei; 
of  oblong  shape,  having 
flat  straight  sides  like  a 
box,  with  a  curved  or 
pointed  lid.  Sometimes 
the  figure  of  the  deceased 
was  represented  upon  the 
latter  in  relief,^  and  some 
were  in  the  form  of  a 
king's  name  or  royal 
oval.  Others  were  made 
in  the  shape  of  the 
mummied  body,  whether 
of  basalt,  granite,  slate,  or 
limestone,  specimens  of 
which  are  met  with  in  the 

British  Museum  and  other  collections.  I  have  even  seen  one  of  this 
form,  found  during  my  stay  at  Thebes,  of  a  red  earthenware,  very 
similar  to  our  tiles,,  made  in  two  pieces  sewn  together,  small  holes 
having  been  made  in  the  clay  before  it  was  burnt  for  this  purpose. 
The  upper  part  was  broken  off^but  it  was  evidently  a  continuation 
of  the  human  figure  in  the  form  of  the  mummy  it  contained. 
[Under  the  Old  Empire  the  sarcophagus  was  rectangular,  with  a 
vaulted  lid  of  red  granite^  basalt,  or  ctxlcareous  stone,  with  few  or 
no  inscriptions.  A  wooden  cofiin  of  several  pieces  of  wood  pegged 
together,  having  a  human  face,,  is.  found  inside.  At  the  time  of 
the  11th  Dynasty  the  wooden  coffins  are  of  the  same  kind,  but 


No.  63t.        Different  fonns  of  mnmmy-ciifi, 

1,  2,  i.  9.  Of  wood.    3,  5,  6.  7.  ».  Of  Btone.    10.  Of  borat 

eacthenware. 


*  As  that  of  the  q,aeen  of  Amasis  at  the 
British  Museum.  1  have  seen  a  figure 
raided  nine  inches  in  relief,  aod  cat  in 


granite,  on  the  sarcophagus  of  one  of  the 
kings  at  Thebes. 


490 


THE  ANCIENT  EGTPTIANS. 


[Chap.  XVL 


made  of  the  aolid  truak  of  a  tree ;  others  are  rectangular,  and 
with  a  flat  cover,  but  painted  with  floral  ornaments,  and  having 
painted  inside  the  wardrobe  of  the  deceased.  These  coffins  dis- 
appear under  the  12th  and  13th  Dynasties,  but  fine  coffins  of  the 
kings  are  still  in  vogue.  Under  the  18th  Dynasty  to  the  2l8t,  at 
Memphis,  granite  sarcophagi  in  the  shape  of  mummies  were  in 
use,  slightly  decorated  with  sculptures  of  Nut  and  crossing  bands 
of  hieroglyphs.  At  Thebes  the 
coffins  were  of  wood,  painted 
with  the  subjects  of  sepulchral 
deities  and  the  four  genii  of 
the  dead,  the  mask  of  the  face 
red  or  gilded,  a  vulture  on  the 
breast,  and  inscriptions  in  one 
vertical  and  several  crossing 
I  bands.  The  yellow-coloured 
'  coffins  with  mystical  scenes, 
with  profusion  of  ornaments 
and  vignettes  and  pretty 
painted  interiors,  appear  at 
the  time  of  the  ^Ist  Dynasty. 
From  the  22nd  to  the  26th 
Dynasty  the  coffins  are  black 
with  red  faces,  and  others  white 
with  figures  in  colours.  Under 
the  25th  there  are  tbree  coffins 
or  envelopes,  tlie  coffins  plain 
with  white  back-ground  or 
pictured  with  green  hiero- 
glyphs, the  interior  ones 
with  red  or  gilded  faces ; 
Alempliis,  at  the  time  of  the  t 
26th  Dynasty,  granite  sar 
Nq  lua""'''*'  "*""'  pli'ig't    rectangular,    or    with    *'^t  *■'"  "f  ™"- 

vaulted  lids  with  face.  Under 
the  Greeks  and  Komans  the  coffins  found  at  Thebes  are  of 
thin  wood,  and  covered  witli  paintings  and  texts ;  some  with 
vaulted  cover  and  flat  boards,  instead  of  the  chests  in  which 
the  dead  were  laid,  and  often  with  zodiacs  inside  the  lid  ;  while 
at  Memphis  the  stone  sarcophagi  still  continue.  As  the  Roman 
Empire  continued,  the  coffins  became  worse  in  their  form  and 


ch«.  xvl]    objects  placed  with  the  dead.  491 

decoration,  and   the   hieroglyphg  with  which   thoy  ure  covered 
mere  8i>niH*los»  scrawls. — S.  B.'J 

It  is  uiini-oiiMaiy  to  examine  in  detail  all  the  varioos  8ul>- 
RtaDc<.>8  U8C-4I  ill  etiilmlming,  as  they  have  been  ulreikdy  indicated 
hy  I'ettigrew.  With  regard  to  the  question  when  the  custom 
of  embalming  the  body  ceased  in  Kgypt,  it  may  be  obscrve<l 
that  some  are  of  opinion  that  it  cea.se<l  at  uii  (.>arly  time,  when 
Egypt  bcoume  a  Uuman  province.  But 
this  lias  bet- n  fully  disproved  by  modern 
discoveries ;  and  it  not  only  appearn 
that  the  early  Christians  embalmed  their 
dead,  but  aecording  to  '  Ht  Augustinr- 
munimii.'s  were  mode  in  his  time,  at 
the  itoginning  of  the  ttfth  century.'  The 
custom  may  not  have  been  universal 
at  that  periotl,  and  it  is  more  probable 
that  it  gradually  fnll  into  disuse  than 
that  it  was  siiddtnly  abandoned  from 
any  accidental  cause  connected  with 
change  of  custom,  or  from  religious 
scruple. 

The  disjiosition  of  various  objects 
placed  with  the  dead  varied  in  difTerent 
tumba  acconliiig  to  the  rank  of  tbc; 
person,  the  choice  of  the  friends  of  thi- 
deceosetl,  or  other  circumstances,  as  th«'ir 
numl>er  and  quality  depended  on  the 
exjtense  incnrrtxl  in  the  funeral.  For, 
besides  the  richly  decorated  coSinH, 
many  vases,  images  of  the  dead,  papyri, 
jewels,  a)i<l  other  ornaments  were  dt;- 
jiositotl  in  the  t4)mb;  and  tableta  <if  ""  *** 
Btono  or  wood  were  placed  near  the  sarcophagus,  engraved 
or  iHunlt-d  with  funeral  Bnbjects  and  legemls  n-lating  to  the 
decenscil.  Tht^st'  last  resembled  in  form  the  onlinary  Egyptian 
shield,  being  siiuared  at  the  base,  and  roun<liil  at  the  summit ; 
and  it  is  pmbable.  as  already  observe^l,  that  Iheir  form  originated 
in  the  military  custom  of  making  Ibc  shield  a  monument  in 
honour  of  a  dt-ei-asetl  soldier.     Many  of  tlii;  objects  buried  in  the 


>•  d*  Duow^'  i««9.  p.  M. 


492 


THB  AKOOSNT  S6TPnAK& 


[OBW.XfI. 


ttmib  depended,  as  I  ha^e  alieady  obserred,  on  the  pfofetttoa 
or  oeonpation  of  the  individiiaL  A  priest  had  the  imrigiuft  of 
his  office ;  as  the  scribe  his  inkstand  or  palette ;  the  high  pnesk 
the  censer;  the  hieraphoros  a  small  model  of  a  sacred  shzine^  or 
a  figure  bearing  an  image  or  emblem  of  a  deit j ;  and  otheis 

according  to  their  grade.  In  the  sol- 
dier's tomb  ware  deposited  his  arms; 
in  the  mariner's  a  boat;  and  the  pe* 
coliar  occnpation  of  each  artisan  was 
pointed  ont  by  some  imj^ement  on* 
ployed  in  his  trade. 

The  four  vases,  each  with  the 
head  of  one  of  the  genii  of  AmemA^ 
have  been  already  mentioned.  There 
were  also  others  of  smaller  siae^  of 
alabaster,  hard  stone,  glass,  porcelain, 
bronze,  and  other  materials,  many  of 
which  were  of  exquisite  workmanship ; 
but  these  were  confined  to  the  sepol* 
chres  of  the  rich,  as  were  jeweltery 
and  other  expensiye  ornaments. 

Papyri  were  likewise  confined  to 
persons  of  a  certain  degree  of  wealth ; 
but  smaU  figures  of  the  deceased,  of 
wood  or  vitrified  earthenware,  were 
common  to  all  classes,  except  the 
poorest  of  the  community.  These  figures  are  too  well  known 
to  need  a  detailed  description.  They  usually  present  a  hiero- 
glyphic inscription,  either  in  a  vertical  line  down  the  centre, 
or  in  horizontal  bands  round  the  body,  containing  the  name 
and  quality  of  the  deceased,  with  the  customary  presentation 
of  offerings  for  his  soul  to  Osiris,  and  a  funeral  formula  very 
similar  to  many  on  the  scarabsei.  In  the  hands  of  these  figures 
are  a  hoe  and  a  bag  of  seed.  Their  arms  are  crossed  in  imitation 
of  certain  representations,  of  Osiris,  whose  name  and  form  I  have 
before  shown  the  dead  assumed ;  and  their  beard  indicates  the 
return  of  the  human  soul,  which  once  animated  that  body,  to 
the  deity  from  whom  it  emanated. 

[In  the  Eitual  of  the  Dead  these  figures  were  called  tuhebHu, 
or  *  respondents,'  and  were  supposed  to  answer  the  call  for  help 
or  assistance,  and  to  be  labourers  to  transport  the  sand  of  the  West 


Sepakhnd  vaae  of  pottery  in  riupe 

of  Toautmntf. 
No.  641. 


Chap.  XVL]  SEPULCHRAL  FIGURES.  493 

to  the  East,  to  work  the  fields  and  water  the  furrows.      They  are 
generally,  but  not  always,  of  the  ty(>e  represented  in  woodcuts 
638-640,  and  of  different  materials,  having  U^en  made  of  dark 
stones,  alabaster,  granite,  basalt,  wood  (chit^fly  sycamore,  but  some- 
times ebony  or  acacia),  and  very  rarely  of  metal,  some  of  copper 
having  been  discovered ;  but  they  are  most  abundant  in  porcelain 
or  glaze<l  ware  of  dark  or  light  blue,  white,  and  oth(*r  colours.     A 
few  of  late  age,  used  for  the  poorer  classes,  are  of  crude  clay  with 
painted  inscriptions.    Their  first  appearance  is  in  the  middle  of 
the  18th  Dynasty,  in  the  reign  of  Amenophis  IIL,  and  those  in 
stone  of  that  monarch  have  a  different  formula.     One  rare  ex- 
ample' has  the  text  of  the  5th  chapter  of  the  Ritual,  the  rubric  of 
which  states  it  to  be  the  chapter  of  '  Avoiding '  or  '  How  not  to 
do  work  in  Ha<les,'  showing  the  object  of  these  small  figures  was 
to  enable  the  deceased  to  avoid  the  agricultural  labour  or  other 
toils  of  the  future  state.     Many  of  these  figures  commence  with 
the  phrase, '  Illuminate,'  or  *  whiten,  the  Osiris '  or  diH.*eased,  and 
his  name  is  usually  inserted  on  the  figure ;  but  some  few  have 
blank  spaces,  as  if  prepared  ready  for  use.     The  figures  in  stone 
and  wood  generally  have  no  square  pedestal  at  the  foot,  and  often 
have  the  human-headed  hawk,  emblem  of  the  soul,  on  the  breast, 
a  subject  taken  from  the  89th  chapter  of  the  Ititual,  referring  to 
the  visit  of  the  soul  to  the  body  in  Hades.      The  age  of  the 
porcelain  figures  can  be  determined  from  their  fabric,  those  of 
the  oldest  period,  the  18th  and  19th  Dynasties,  having  all  their 
details  and  inscriptions  traced  in  dark  outline,  whilst  those  of  the 
26th  Dynasty  are  stamped  incuse  as  if  made  from  moulds.     It 
is  uncertain  if  they  were  employed  lat4T  than  the  26th  Dynasty, 
and  none  can  be  identifie<l  to  bear  criteria  of  later  age.     They 
were  made  in  great  numbers,  and  either  laid  on  the  Hoors  of 
the  tombs  or  else  placed  in   wooden  Kixes,  which    had  appro- 
priate representations  of  sepulchral  deities,  inscriptions,  formula, 
and  chapters  of  the  Ritual  painted  on  them.     Gn^at  numbers 
have  been  found  in  royal  tombs. — S.  U.] 

I  do  not  enter  int4>  a  minute  description  of  all  the  modes  of 
arranging  the  objects  in  the  tombs,  the  endless  variety  of  Egyp- 
tian mummies,  or  the  subjects  of  their  {wint^Kl  nuies.  The  sub- 
ject, even  if  it  were  sufficiently  interesting  to  the  reader,  would 


>  This  fifcnr*  of  porc«l«iB,  of  ik«  Ubm  of  Um  20tb  DrnutT,  btlonp  U  tho  Rot.  H.  S. 
Broolu,  of  Cbtlnufurd. 


THE  ANdEMT  WiTPTUXS. 


\QEir.  XVt 


letd  to  aa  inqniiy  beyond  the  aoope  of  the  preaeut  work.  And 
now,  haTing  aooconpanied  the  I^yptiaiu  to  the  tomb,  I  take  my 
leave  of  them  with  this  wuh,T— 

'  Sidlbu  nt  MltMi  plieldli  Ii  mort*  foltteuit.' 


(    495    ) 


INDEX. 


The  word  (t7.)  siguifies  that  the  subject  is  illustrated  by  a  woodcut  or  plate,  as  well  as 

described  in  the  text 


AAUENBU. 


Aahenru,  AahlUf  or  Elysium,  creation  of, 

iii.  161,  458. 
AblutioMf  of  priests,  i.  181. 

,  frequency  of,  it  331. 

Ahoosimhil,  temple  built  by  Barneses  the 

Great  at,  i.  50. 

,  Greek  inscription  at,  1.  105. 

•— ^,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Athor  at,  iii. 

116. 
Ahnnthe^  cultivation  of,  ii.  43. 
Abntinetice  of  priests,  i.  181. 
AbydtUj  imitation  of  an  arch  at  (tl.\  ii.  800. 
Acacia  tree,  represented  in  tombs,  it  413. 

,  cultivation  of  the,  il  414. 

wood,  ii.  416,  417. 

,  uses  of  the  wood,  ii.  195. 

Acanthus,  a  sacred  tree,  iii.  349. 
AccumuicUion  of  alluvial  deposit  of  the 

NUe,  i.  8. 
^X^Xi  ft  fabulous  creature  (U.\  iii.  312. 
Adilys,  a  primaoval  deity,  ii.  479. 
AcharU,  history  of  his  reign,  i.  138. 
Acmon,  a  deity,  ii.  479. 
ArrobaiicfeaU  (il),  ii.  53,  54. 
Acti$ane8j  history  of  his  reiR:n,  i.  72. 
Acusilaus,  hid  system  of  a  Trinity,  ii.  487. 
Adonis^  adoration  of,  iii.  53. 
Adoration,  attitudes  of  (/T.),  iii.  425. 
Africa,  vegetable  products  of,  ii  413. 
,  nature  of  the  tribute  horn  the  in- 
terior of,  ii.  416. 
Afrieanui,  Egyptian   dynasties  according 

to,  i.  17-26. 
Agaihodsemonj    confounded    with  Chnou- 

mis,  iii.  4. 
Agriculture,  encouraged  by  the  kings,  i.  32. 

,  methods  of,  i.  334. 

,  operations  of  (il.),  i.  872  ;  ii.  389. 

1  progress  of,  ii.  362-364. 

Ahi,  history  and  myths  of,  iii.  132, 133. 

-^— ,  the  child  of  Athor,  iii.  176. 

— ,  or  Ahi-oer,  an  inferior  deity  (it,),  iii. 

238,  240. 
Aiemhatep,  or  .^Isculapius,  history  of  (U.), 

iii  204,  205. 


AMENOPHIS. 

AkoH,  member  of  a  late  triad  (il,),  ii.  514. 
AlabciUer,  beaker  of  («!.),  ii.  42. 

,  pillows  for  the  head  of  («!.),  i  143. 

,  shell  and  spoon  of  (tZ.),  ii.  46. 

,  various  kinds  of  vases  (il.),  ii.  8,  11, 

12. 

vases,  for  ungruents,  iii.  444. 

AUibasiron,  or  Psinaula,  ruins  of  the  city 

(il),  i.  350. 
,  Egyptian  villa,  from  the  sculptures 

at  (il),  i.  369. 
Alexander,  arrival  of,  in  Egypt,  i.  142. 
Alexandrict,  situation  of  the  city  of,  i  6,  7. 

,  state  of  religion  at,  ii.  495,  510. 

,  temple  of  Sarapis  at,  iii.  95. 

,  annual  voyage  of  religious  societies 

to,  iii.  896,  397. 
-,  plan  of  (U.),  iii.  426. 


Allaga,  gold  mines  at,  ii.  238,  239. 
AUegorieal  character  of  forms  and  figures  of 

the  gods,  ii.  475. 
Allegories,  divine,  ii.  500,  501. 
Alloys,  nature  of,  ii.  255. 
Alluvial  deposit,  increase  of,  ii.  435,  436. 
Almond,  cmtivation  of  the,  ii  405. 
Altar  for  libations  at  funeral  ceremonies 

(il),  iii.  430.  431. 
AUeration  of  name  of  Amenra  in  the  in- 
scriptions, iii.  9. 
Amada,  building  of  the  temple  at,  i  40. 
Amasis,  a  geneiul  of  Apries,  elected  king, 

ill6. 

,  history  of  his  reign,  L  72,  116-129. 

,  laws  of,  i.  324. 

Amauri,  or  Amorites,  enemies  of  Egypt 

(U.),  i  259,  260. 
Amen,  temple  of,  enlarged  by  Psammati- 

chus,  i.  103,  104. 
,  one  of  the  Theban  triad  (il,),  ii.  484, 

512,  513. 

endowing  a  king  with  emblems  {U,), 


iii.  353. 
-,  dedication  of  a  pylon  to  (U.),  iii  859. 


Amenophis  IL,  his  treatment  of  foreign 
chiefs,  i.  307. 

,  purification  of  [il),  iii.  862. 

Amenophis  III.,  colossi  of,  ii  306. 
,  dress  of  (li),  ii  327. 


'3?n 


496 


INDEX. 


AmMOPBZB  in. 

AmmiMkU  n7.»  gndtnl  ohftngra  in  the 

laoa  at  the  itte  of  his  temple  on  tlje 

plains,  iL  488,  i84. 
AnmnopkU  IV»^  or  £lbiMiia<eii,  distributing 

gifts  to  ooortien  («.)» L  40. 
^— ,  endeavoiizB  to  intiodace  disk  wonhip^ 

iti.52. 

adoring  the  disk  (flX  j5. 

Jflwiim,  Generator^  or  God  of  Gaideoa, 

i405. 
^  oonneotion  of,  with  Ghnonmisi  iiL 

2,4. 
,  liistoiy  of  the  worship  of  (jSL).  iiL  9- 

'  one  of  the  Theban  triad,  iiL  10-18. 
oonneotion  oi;  with  Khfloif  iiL  26;  88. 

\  figure  of  (0.),  iii.  46. 

Amtiu^  goddess;  aooonnt  of  (fL%  iiL  814, 

215. 
Ammdi^  oeremonips  of  tiie,  iiL  65, 81. 
1  prorinces  of  the  four  genii  of  the, 

in  rektUm  to  the  nrammj,  uL  481. 
Amrnon^  onde  o(  IL  468,  m. 
Am/tmU^  king,  history  of  his  rrign,  L  85-8T. 
Amfhorm,  for  wine  (UX  L  835. 
Ammt,  a  genins  of  the  jLower  Begkms  (A), 

iiL  210-222. 
AfMi^  a  variant  form  of  BJiem,  iiL  88. 
Ami^  ot  Oerberos,  aooonnt  of  (UX  iiL  814, 

225. 
Amu,  tribe  oi^  L  1. 
AnmtemenU,  early  kinds  ot  L  88. 
iimyriciit,  histoiT  of  his  leign,  L  186. 
Anaxandride9,  hu  deriuon  of  animal  wor- 
ship, ii.  469,  470. 
Androipkinx  (0.),  tii.  309.  310. 
Anttar,  Anhoury  or  OnourU,  god ;  aooonnt 

of  (t7.),  iii  236,  237. 
Aniy  goddess ;  account  of  (tZ),  iiL  231, 232. 
AnimalSf  introduction  of  the  worship  of,  L 

18. 

,  rearers  of  domestic,  i.  288-290. 

,  domesticated  and  tamed,  L  381. 

,  vases  consisting  of  parts  or  whole 

forms  of  (t7.),  ii.  5-7. 
^-— ,  forms  of,  on  boxes  (il.),  ii.  15, 16. 

,  gacrifioes  of.  on  the  altar  (tZ.),  iL  29. 

.  hunting  of  (tZ.),  iL  78-92. 

,  for  stocking  preserves  (tl.).  ii.  82,  86. 

,  care  and  rearing  of  (iL),  iL  443-451. 

— ,  attention  to,  when  out  of  health  (il\ 

ii.  452,  453. 
.  different,  sacriflced  in  various  dis- 
tricts, iL  467,  468. 

,  sacred,  worship  of,  ii.  468. 

,  Greek  derision  of  Egyptian  worship 

of,  iL  469. 
,  Latin  notions  of  a  similar  oharaoter, 

u.  470. 
— ,  heads  of,  applied  to  figures  of  the 

gods,  ii.  475-477. 
— ,  dedicated  to  certain  deities,  iii,  50, 51. 
— ,  sacred,  in  certain  districts  of  Egypt, 

but  not  in  others,  iiL  85. 


APOLLO. 

iiaimali,  sacred,  oare  and  ▼enetatkn  ol^  IiL 

242r<soa. 
<»—,  theories    and  coqjectufea    of  the 

aneients  to  aeooont  for  tlie  woiriiip  ot 

IiL  200-257. 
,  partial  efaaiaeter  of  tiie  wonfaipu  UL 

256. 

,  olasslfled  list  of  saored,  iiL  258-461 

AiU9e$d,  onltivalion  ci.  iL  410. 
AmiM»g,  oosloms  of  (O.^  L  4S5b  488 ;  E 

846. 

^  oeremonies  of  (iLX  ^  861-868. 

Amomka^  cat  Anouke^  goddess;  one  of  fte 
triad  of  Elephantineu  and  the  Oaftaiwl^ 
iL  484,  5ia 

in  a  triad  at  Sehayl,  IiL  28. 
,  the  Egyptian  Yeste,  in  oomieetton 
with  Nephthys,  iiL  156. 
i  history  and  mythology  of  (iL\  ffi. 

Jfita,  goddsM  of  war  (0.).  iiL  884, 886. 
Jntoiit,  saored  nature  of,  iiL  140. 
>-^  worshipped  at  AntsBopolia,  A. 
Jbfeiopes.  wkm  (iL),  iL  90,  94, 95. 
— ,  notioe  of  varions  kinds  of,  £tL  8811 

801. 
AnMummf  his  derisioQ  of  animal  wenldk 

iL469. 
AnHentUy,  of  mnsio,  L  485. 

^  of  tiie  aioh,  iL  207-801. 

A^Mdemmf  attached  to  the  fkumamm  si 

Memphis,  iiL  157. 
Amibi$,  or  Anenu,  god ;  history,  mythsLaad 

worship  of  (0.),  iU.  157-161. 

,  standard  of  (il.),  iiL  369. 

,  in  judgment  scenes  (tl.),  iii.  467-470. 

AnueUf  goddess;  handle  of  a  mirror  in 

form  of  the  {U,\  u.  351. 
Anysis,  history  of  his  reign,  i.  88,  89. 
Ap,  goddess  of  Thebes  (il.)y  iiL  210,  212. 
Apiai^wu,  a  Shepherd  king,  history  of,  L  15. 
Apa^j  or  Great  Serpent,  oattle  in  heaven 

with  the,  iii.  59. 
Apappus,  a  Shepherd   king,    hisUny  of, 

L  15. 
ApKerUy  or  Anubis  (i2.\  iii.  158. 
AphdphxBy  destruction  of,  by  Horns,  iiL  185  ; 

»ee  Apap. 
,  the  Evil  Being,  history  and  myth  of 

(iZ.),  iiL  153-155. 
Aphrodite,  site  and  trade  of,  L  152. 
Apisy  Psammadchus  builds  a  temple  for 

the,  L  104. 
,  killed  and  eaten  by  Ochns,  king  of 

Persia,  i.  142. 
,  mythology,  history,  and  worship  of, 

in  connection  with  Omris  {%L\  iiL  86-04. 

,  hieroglyphic  names  of,  iiL  88, 89. 

,  the  bull  god,  Tiame  of  (tZ,),  iiL  806. 

,  bronze  figure  of  {jX.\  i.  p.  xvL ;  iiL  88. 

ApoiUnopoliB  Parva,  site  and    trade  oC 

i.  152. 
ApoUo,  uncertainty  of  the  Egyptian  deity 
equivalent  to,  iii.  127. 


INDEX. 


497 


APftlBk 

Apfie$,  history  of  bit  reign,  i.  114-110. 

Apron,  royal  (iL\  ii.  82G,  327. 

Apt,    or    Apei^   g^devi    wonthipped    at 

OmKoa  (tXTx  iit  145-147. 
iiroMo,  eaily  commerce  of,  i.  33. 
,  Egyptiiio  intercourse  with,  i.  150, 

151. 
Arable  land,  gradual  ineraase  of,  ii.  433- 

436. 
AreK  anHquity  of  the  (</  X  ii.  297-301. 
Ardkaie  pate$  (t*/.),  ii.  2.  7. 
Ankmi  rooms  (i/.),  i.  857.  .SCO. 

loof  of  a  tomb  (tf.X  i.  358. 

stone  U»mb  '  tlS  ii-  202. 

Ardker,  with  suspended  whip  (t2.>,  i.  226. 
Jrofc«rs,  notices  of.  L  liKl. 

.  a  bcly  of  (ii.\  i.  263. 

JreWy,  skill  of  the  Eficy|>ti<^ns  in,  i.  46. 
ArrJteM,  imitation  of  (A.),  ii.  3<K). 
ArchUedural  improvements  by  Thothnies 

III.,  i.  40. 
ArdUUeiurf,  early,  at  Bent-Hassan,  i.  32. 
— — ,  religious  and  domestic,  it  13U. 
— »,  scope  of.  it  *268. 

,  paiukHi,  ii.  28.W288. 

,  art  of.  ii.  291-203,  297. 

iirea  of  Egypt,  t  144,  145. 
Artea^  seed  of  the,  ii.  413. 

,  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  414. 

Argot  captured,  i.  22. 

Afit  of  Chons.  i.  60. 

Armaitn  duaigns  of.  against   his   brother 

Hestetri^  t  b9. 
Armour,  cuats  ot,  L  219. 
Arwu,  notic««  of  vahrms.  i.  187. 

of  the  Shaso,  L  250. 

of  the  Shari,  L  25:1. 

.  vari«>us  (0.).  i.  277.  278. 

Army,  constitution  of  tlio.  i.  187. 

AroerU,  birth  of,  iii.  61. 

.  or  KMer  Horus,  history  and  myths 

of.  iii  121.  123, 124.  127. 
ArnuftmiU  rrues.  ii.  II. 
Arrian,  testimony  of,  respecting  the  Nile, 

i.  7. 
Jrroiet.    method  of  aning  nnd  carrying 

(«.X  L  204. 

,  cHmjttructitm  of.  i.  20.'>. 

-,  with  flint  heads  (i /. ).  i.  2ai. 

.  vtone  und  brouie  headu  «>!'.  ii.  259. 

ArHmoi^  »it«  and  trade  of.  i.  l.V{. 
ArtiJUirrB,  ctstits  of  vuHoUn  t.  158,  283. 
ArtMM,  Htyle  of,  and  metlKids  ••mpiuyvd  by 

(i7.X  ii.  293  296. 
Arts,  Egyptian,  ezcellrnce  of.  i:i  the  time 

of  liaiueM**  II.,  i.  44.  !.•. 

,  enctiursgni  by  Am*jtts  i.  126. 
— ,  enoturagnl  by  NtvtAitelw,  i.  llfK 
— ,  varioiu,  history  aii«l  «iftAiti«l  de«rrip- 

tioaof,  ii.  VM  2A\. 
-^— ,   attempted   reviv d   •  f.   during   the 

86th  Dviiast^,  it  2.n). 
Arnw^  ouhivation  of  the,  ii.  4UJ. 
Amr,  a  name  of  Osiha,  q.  r. 

VOL.  III. 


AUXlLlABlBi. 

Aaarhapi,  see  8anipis. 

A9caltm,  account  of,  i.  200. 

A§depiu$,  the  son  of  Ptah,  iii.  205. 

ilst,  a  name  of  Isis,  q.  e. 

Atia,  invasion  of.  by  Uiterteeen,  i.  15. 

,  conquests  of  Nc-oo  II.  in.  i.  110. 

,  nature  of  the  tribute  from,  ii  416. 

,  origin  of  tgyptians  fn»m,  i.  2,  3. 

Anmaekj  or  deserters,  i.  105. 

A$p,  guardian  of  wiue-prvsses  and  gardeus, 

lit  4. 
,  sacred  to  Chnoumis,  iii.  5. 

,  signification  t»f  the.  ib. 

,  monster  with  the  head  ut  an  (il.\  iii. 

310. 
,  sacred  nature,  and  attributes  of  the, 

iii  3^4-337. 
iist,  use  of  the  (it),  1.  237. 

an  emblem  of  Tvpho,  Hi.  144. 

,  account  ot  the,  iti.  259,  300,  301. 

«4ssiss,  abundanee  of,  ii.  101. 

ilssas,  a  shepherd  king,  subjngiitt  s  Nort'i- 

eru  Egypt,  i.  15. 
i4ss«ss»rs  of  tlio  dead  (a.\  in.  223. 
.Issvr  in  Nubia.  p\ramid  at  (iXX  iii-  1* 
AMfpriitn  •tt'hi  at  Nahrnd-Kelh,  L  67. 
iissyTMins  coiiquervd  by  Tirhakah  {il.)  t.i. 

491. 
iisl.f,  a  deity  (i/.).  iii.  153. 
AUnAogjf,  praL*tice  of,  ii.  465. 
AMrofUfmicol   teieneet,   knowledge    of,    ii. 

316. 
Asfeku,  histonr  of  his  reign,  i.  87,  88. 

.  remarkable  law  of,  iii.  433. 

AtarberhU^  a  town  of  Proanpitia,  forms  of 

worship  at,  iii.  109.  117. 
Aim,  or  sohir  disk,  wor»htp  <»f '  •!.),  tli.  52. 
Atem-^xt,  mythologr  of,  iii.  51,  52 
Athena,  origin  and  etymology  ol  the  onme, 

iii.  41,  42. 
Atknu,  Temple  of  Theseus  at,  descrilw^. 

it  286. 
Aikleiic  sports,  various  feats  of  deitrritv 

and  (ii.X  ii.  6H-74. 
Atkor,  goddess,  in  a  triad   il  ,  ii.  514 :  in. 

147. 

,  cnnn«>etion  of,  with  Isis,  iii.  91. 

,  Hat-har,  or  llathor.  histnrr,  m>tli», 

and  wurthip  of  (i7.  ,  iii.  KKI,  lU-l'.'l. 

,  tli«»  Venus  of  Kgypt,  iii.  110. 

.  o»w  <»f.  at  I>en<ler«h.  iii.  111. 

,  ticcurreiiee  t»f,  at  F>lf(io.  tii   l^i 

,  ftigns  or  the  cow  of.  iii.  305. 

AiMrihU,  or  Crociidilo|ii»lic,  temple  of,  lii. 

27. 
^//ifiMlss  of  ail«rati'>n  (//.),  iii.  42.*! 
Atmtn,  hbtfiTf,  wurnhii*,  and  ni%th<i|r»/]^  .if 

(li-X  iii.  I7'<. 
,  in  a  triad,  with  lUmew'S  II.  {*!.)  iti. 

Am,  tv  Saiem,    gml;   account  of  (•/ k  iii 

22»:. 
Autlniiitin  iytm*  nf  Egyptians,  t.  2. 
AuMiliarim  iti  £g>pt,  i.  iii2 

2k 


408 


INDEX. 


ite,  Qie  of  the,  i.  218«  214. 
A»e$,  battle  (OX  L  214-216. 

,  oonstniekkA  ci,  tt.  898»  894. 

AutuB  la  Syria*  dege  o(  by  Pmnuiuiti* 
obiis,  i  106. 


BaaL,  etymblogy  of  the  name  o(  ilL  58. 
BMIomam  overoome  the  Bgyptiaiui  luider 

Neoo  IL,  i  113. 
Baeehi9^  the  boll  of  Hermcmthia  ao  called, 

iiL  806-308. 
Bwiekm,  identifled  with   Oairia  ^7  the 

Oxeeiu,  iii  71. 72. 

1  festiYah  of  the  sod,  ilL  875. 

Baebrimu,  rebellioo  tf,  i  78-75. 
Baggage,  carriage  of,  i  285. 
Bag$  of  precions  atonea  (iL),  tt.  8. 
Bai,  a  snake  goddess  (i^X  tti  214, 215. 
Baieth,  or  snake-headed  Tnltiire,  tti  828. 
^oii,  or  BcUdtft,  member  of  a  late  triad  (fl.), 

tt.  518,  514. 
Bak,  or  goddem  of  land  (il),  ttL  212,  218. 
Bakkkm,  land  of,  i  60. 
Bolaiiee,  nse  of  the,  iL  246,  247. 
BaldMu  rare  among  the  Bi^ptians,  ii  882. 
BoB,  yarions  gamea  at  (U.%  u.  65-67. 
Balmu,  onltivation  o^  iL  405. 
BdmiOf  oultiTation  o^  iL  402, 403. 
Bofisrt  (AX  ii- 957. 
JBorisy,  reaped  (O.^  tt.  427. 
-— —  wine,  oeeoRenoe  oi,  L  397. 
Barrels,  nses  of;  tt.  204,  205. 
Barter,  curiosities  of,  ii.  245. 
BasitiM,  golden  (il.\  1.  425. 
Baslcet  of  tools  (U.),  1.  401. 
Baskets  for  grapes  (t7.),  i.  382. 
Biis^elief,  art  of  sculpture  in,  iL  2B3,  266. 
Bastj  or  Bubastis,  names  and  attributes  of 

the  goddess,  iii  34. 

,  bronze  figures  of  (i'l.%  iii.  35. 

,  figure  of  (»/.).  iiL  192. 

,  ceremoilies  in  connection  with,  iii. 

376. 377. 
Bastinado  (iL),  i.  305,  306.  308. 
Baty  account  of  the,  iii.  258, 270. 

,  figures  of  the  (ti.),  ii.  113. 

Balh,  lady  in  a  (tl),  iL  353. 

,  Greek  style  of  using  the,  ii.  354. 

Battle,  disposition  of  the,  i.  224. 

Battle-axes  (i2.)«  i-  213-216. 

Battlements  on  houses  and  other  objects, 

iu  3  ;2. 
Baif'tree,  iL  413. 
Beadsy  glass,  inscribed  (tl.),  ii.  141, 145. 

,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  ii.  148. 149. 

Bear,  notice  of  the,  iii.  258,  271,  272. 
Beardj  false,  iL  333. 

form  of  the,  ii.  334. 


Bears  found  in  the  country  of  the  But^n- 

nu,  i.  43. 
Beating  (tZ.).  i.  805,  306. 
,  practice  of  self-  (iL),  uL  423. 


Becoit  etymdogy  of  the  wwd,  L  197« 

J9sii  of  a  prieat,  nature  of  Oka,  L  18&. 

HMfatoadl,  modem  Kgyptfan  (iLX  i  420. 

iM^eateD,tt.22,80. 

Bssr,  maiiiifiiet«ie  and  wmU,L  8IKk888L 

^offatingao^  iU.  417. 

Best,  management  of^  tt.  415. 

Bsslli^  or  acaiabmu,  emblem  oC  flia  aim, 

ttL  15. 
J^ei,  Tariona  kiikda  oi;  tti  347*. 

,  sas  Scarahi^na. 

BekneeOf  eneroadlmient  of  aaiid  ati  IL  436» 
JMm,  antelope  ao  called,  tt.  9^ 
BeUouaOi.  I  410. 
BsBowf,  m»  of  (il.X  ii  312, 3ia 
Bsiii-lfassaii,  teattmooj  of  the  aoaiplnfi 

at,i32. 
— ,  paintmga  at,  tt.  378. 
^  arohiteetamdetafla&omtfaegioflBsi 

al  (O.),  tt.  292, 298. 

,  xoME-hewn  tombs  at,  Itt.  488. 

Amm  or  FhoBoiXy  a  aaorad  Mid,  tti  57. 

,  tufted;  aaorodnatmecf  ili(^ttL3S0L 

^,  or  Bird  of  Oairia  (^.X  tti  349, 850. 

BftmiosLaite  and  trade  of  tha  city  o^i 

152. 
Bfls,  god,  figured  on  pttlowi,  {.  419l» 

,  playing  a  trigm  (fl.\  i  463. 

,headK3(iZ.),tt.pwiT. 

,  on  a  box  or  spoon  {flX  tt.  13L 

,  histoiT  and  n^  ot  (4L\  tti  149- 

153. 
,  in  oonneetton  with  Honia  (&),  fSL 

150, 152. 
Bible  Aiftory,  1.  59. 
Bier,  ancient  (%L\  L  420. 
Bird  traps  and  nets  {U.),  iL  108, 104, 109, 

110. 

,  method  of  carrying  alive  (tZ.),  ii.  106. 

^trds,  large  variety  of  (O.),  iL  112-114 : 

iii.  312. 

,  frightening  away  (iL),  i  381. 

on  boxes  (il),  iL  16. 

Birth  of  Besostris,  dxcumstanoes  of  the, 

i.  67,  68. 
Birthday  oelebrations,  iii.  868. 
Bitfiynians,  military  dress  of  the,  L  245. 
Black  slaves  (iL),  L  272 ;  iL  88. 
mind  harper  (iL),  L  442. 
Blindness  of  Anysis,  L  88. 

of  Sesostris,  L  72. 

Blood,  ofierings  of,  ii.  456. 

,  use  of,  iL  27,  31. 

,  use  of,  in  cooking,  iii.  409. 

Blouhpipe,  use  of  the  (U.),  u.  140,  284, 

235. 
Bnon,  a  shepherd  king,  history  of,  L  15. 
Boar,  wild,  aooount  of  the,  iiL  259,  29& 
Boards,  writing  on,  u.  183. 
Boat  used  in  fishing  (U.),  iL  103, 107, 108. 

of  Atum  (iL),  ui.  178, 179. 

of  Ra,  iu.  180. 

,  ceremony  of  the  sacred,  iiL  372,  873. 

I  BoaU,  modem,  on  the  Nile  (iL),  ii.  136. 


INDEX. 


409 


BOAT«. 

BoaU,  boilden  oC  U.  205. 

,  ooQstruotioD  of  (il\  U.  205.  906, 208. 

^— ,  Tariant  forms  and  utei  of,  iL  207- 

2(». 
.  nab  tnd  importuioe  of  (it),  iL  209- 

224. 
for  oarrjing  oaitle  and  good«  (iL\  ii. 

213,  215,  216. 

.  ncred,  ii.  222,  228. 

lued  At  faneralfl  (i7.>,  iil  447. 

Boaimem  in  *  tliam  ftght  (»L>,  ii.  74. 

,  <vtf(e  of;  L  283. 

Boonkori$^  King;   hiftory  of  hi*  reign,  L 

51,  86,  87. 
Bonomiy  Joaoph :  hii  description  of  tht) 

gold  mineii  of  Ethonuiib,  ii.  239. 
Booky  the  Sacred ;  written  bjr  King  8apbi«, 

L  18. 
JUm  of  a  shield  (i7.X  L  199. 
Botany :  Tarions  plants  and  trees  of  Egypt 

oomprehending  the  Flora  of  the  country 

(U),  ii.  4U1-II8. 
BoUlet,  case  of  (ii.\  L  428. 

,  Chinew  (ilx  ii.  153. 

1  Egyptian,  exported,  it  155. 

.  glaM  ((/  X  ii.  1 1.  HI.  142. 

.  terra-ootta  ((/.X  ii.  19. 

,  various  forms  of,  and  materials  f  jt,  ii. 

19. 
Bow  and  arrow,  used  by  hunters  (i7.X  ii. 

h9. 
Bowc«ue$  (tlX  i.  230. 
Bowmen^  equipments  of,  L  207. 
Bom,  Tarious  (a.\  L  202-204. 
Bowtiringt^  i.  205. 
Bozm,  vahou*  forms  and  uses  of  (^tX  ii- 

13-18. 
.  maituiacturc    and  ums    of  various 

kinds  of  (li.Xii.  197-201. 

for  lioldiiiic  kohi  (i7.x  ii.  318. 

bnu»UU  (f/.X  ii.  342,  34.H. 

BramU,  placed  on  animals  {U  ),  ii.  82,  81. 

Brast,  antiquity  of,  i.  41. 

Brazen  men,  oimcle  oonoerniug,  i.  K^O. 

Bratien,  caste  of,  i.  283. 

Bread,  use  of  wbeaUn.  ii.  41,  42. 

Briek  stamped  with  a  sepulciiral  scal(i7.X 

iii.  437. 
Brtck-pjframuU  of  Asyi^his,  L  87. 

—  at  Mempliid^  i.  30. 

Briek  wall  of  Sesostris.  L  71. 

Brick*,  empluvmerit  uf  (i/.X  it  2:»7-30l. 

and  brickmakrrs  (if-X  i.  342-315. 

— ,  inarnbed,  L  36. 

Briiigf$  iA  thi-  KhiU  (ilX  t  256,  257. 

Bntnzf,  anti«|uity  of,  t.  41. 

,  early  uses  of,  ii.  249,  250. 

,  analysis  uf  a  chiM>l,  ii.  401. 

,  figure  of  Apis  (i/. ),  iii.  88. 

flgurtw  of  Uost  (0.),  iii.  .H5. 

^  -  ti»nireof  lhis(a.XiiLl51. 

-  ,  tfgurca  of  fish  in  iU.\  iii.  341 -34a 

-  laiikw  (li.X  ii-  46,  47. 
needles,  it  349. 


CALOBOXS. 

Bronxe  spoons  (itX  ii-  ^^- 

statuette  of  Amt-nra  {iL\  iii.  13. 

strainers,  iL  48. 

,  uses  of,  iL  256. 

rases,  various  form^  of  (AX  "•  3-10. 

BfMee*$  hariwrs  (O-X  L  43.'>-437. 
Bubatlit,  worsliip  of  (ttX  iiL  8I-3J. 

,  oeremunies  at,  iiL  37ch  377. 

BtihaatiU  dyna!«ty,  i.  23 

BuekUr,  attendant  carrying  a  [iL\  L  421. 

1  various  forms  of  ttie  i7.X  L  201. 

Bajfaio  not  unknown   to   Egyptians,  iii. 

308. 
Bufoonery^  delight  in.  ii.  76. 
Hnfoon9,  L  459. 
BtUldin^  numerous,  erected  by  Ramescs 

the  Groat,  L  50. 

,  eicellvnoe  of  the  manner  of,  ii.  377. 

BnU,  sacred  nature  and  attributes  of  the,  iiL 

305-308. 
BttU-JiifkU  (»L  ,  ii.  75.  77. 
BnUa  worn  bv  chilUruu,  iL  331. 
BtUwark*,  i.  244. 
Burial  of  objects  of  varying  value  with  Uie 

dead,  iL  321. 

,  methods  oi;  iu.  221,  222. 

refused  to  those  who  have  performed 

ill  acti(»ns,  iiL  455. 
numt  offerings,  iiL  410. 
Bmrion  (/.X  table  found  by,  in  a  tomb  at 

Thebes  (iL),  iti.  4:i3. 
Bmirie^  the  r«put«.'d  burial-place  of  Osiris, 

iii.  85,  86. 
,  uuturc  of  the  festival  <if  Isis  at,  iii. 

108. 

,  ceremonies  at,  iii.  .H77,  379. 

Hutckm  (iLX  ii.  2d,  27,  32. 

//ii/o,  oracle  uf  Latoua  at,  L  85,  100 ;  iii. 

31-33.  123. 

,  templ«  of  Lattma  at,  iL  307. 

,  fesUvals  at,  iii.  377.  :i81. 

f^alu,  goddws,  figure  of  (a/.),  uL  152. 

,  presenci*  of,  at  a  leativul  {ilX  iL  367. 

,  pndectiug  lUmfScs  II.  (il),  iii.  il5. 

Bmio  and  Meui,  souls  or  »pirits  of  JLf,  iiL 

217,  218. 
Bmaer/iie%{{l,^\\.  107.  115. 
HjftJu*,  or  |Mipyrus,  umss  of.  ii   121. 


C. 


i'ahinei  teork,  early  mmnfai-ture  of,  i  3J. 

,  various  kinds  uf,  ii.  1*^5. 

CabinM,  ii.  218. 

Cahiri  of  Eicypt  himI  Thirnicia,  lit.  4H3L 

Cmro,  viow/of  (li.  ,  L  It;iU;  li.  361. 

Otke  of  datca   i/   ,  iL  43. 

CakfM,  vari«»us   il  ,  iL  .H4,  35. 

,  variety  of  muYiliinal.  iii.  416. 

,  drpositetl  in  tumbs,  iiL  45*.*. 

OUasiriet,  i.  189. 

CWiilibHs,ii    II. 

CaUirvms  for  Ualing  fu^d  ii.  •  iL  33. 

*i  &  - 


600 


INBfiX. 


GolMiilar,  oompatati<m  Mid  Muktion  of 

the,  ii  868-»7tf ;  ilL  108-loC 
OaUuot  the  Hindoo  lerpent*  iiL  888. 
OoMMytM,  hiatoty  of  Ut  iamrioQ  of  Egypft, 

OmmIi  oeowrcnee  of  the,  i  888. 

^,  aooonni  of  the,  ti.  101 ;  iiL  899, 801, 

808. 
CSump,  eiWDgement  of  a  (iL),  i  266-868. 


GmmumOs  ioTMioii  of  Bnrpt,  i.  1& 
Cbnolfrom  Nile  to  tho  Gulf  of 


oat 


SlMI, 

bv  Bamwiiiw  the  Grast,!  47, 48. 

from  Nile  to  Bed  Sofh  i  49. 

— ^,  reoommeiioed  bj  Neoo  IL,  i  110. 
Chmdidaim  for  priesthood,  oonditioa  of, 

I  lib. 
Oamopie  voMt,  ii  10. 

^  yerioiis  fonnt  ot  fiL),  iiL  498. 

Cmojmm,  litiyitloii  of^  L  4,  5. 

— »^  eridenoe  of  the  tablet  of^  sespeetliig 

the  calender,  iiL  105. 
CSapar,  ooltiTatioii  of  the,  iL  408. 
CapUttUoiooLumDa,  styles  of,  iL  298. 
CkuM0e  mooarohs  draw  the  obariot  of 

Besostffis  and  of  Barneses  IIL,  L  71. 
CapUoe$  empkyed  as  builders  by  Sesostris, 

teeatmeQt  of;  L  264-266. 
,  employiiieQt  of,  L  271. 
secured  by  haodenfll  <4L\  L  888. 

,  briokmakers  (iL),  L  842,848, 

-> ^  work  of;  in  the  gold  miniHS  iL  240- 

242. 
Captivity  of  the  Jows  in  Bgypt,  L  85, 

Car,  with  attendant  (iL\  i.  83. 

,  Egyptian,  in  penpective  (tZ.),  i.  239. 

,  Persian  (i/.).  L  241. 

Cars  used  in  the  army,  i  46. 

Caraoallay  inscribed  oolamn  at  the  quarries 
of,  iii.  29. 

Carehemish^  on  the  Euphrates,  expedition 
ofNecoIL  to,i.  110,  111. 

Ctiriaru  enoouraged  by  Psammatichus, 
101. 

,  customs  of,  at  Busiris,  iii.  109. 

Caricature^  Egyptian  talent  for,  ii.  21. 

,  example  of  (iZ.),  iii.  429,  447. 

Carpenters,  work  of  (iZ.),  ii.  178. 

,  classes  of,  ii.  194. 

,  woods  used  by,  ii.  195. 

'  tools  {iL\  i.  401  ;  ii.  196,  197. 

,  various  work  of,  ii.  198,  199. 

Carpet  seat,  a  (tZ.),  L  416. 

CarpetSf  ii.  176. 

CartJuLmuSy  varieties  of  the,  iL  403,  411. 

Cart*  of  the  Tukkari  (iL  \  i.  247-249. 

Castanets^  player  with  (tl.;,  i.  456. 

Castesy  various,  i.  156. 

Castorberry-tree,  cultivation  of,  for  its  oil- 
producing  properties,  ii.  400,  408,  413. 

Cat,  domesticated  (iZ.),  ii.  107,  108. 

,  figure  of  a  («f.),  ii.  90. 

,  d^cription  of  the  wild,  ii,  98. 


1. 


CSof,  sBflved  natnie  and  afwhollwi  of  ^ 

iiL  81. 
^  Botiee  of  the  eaie  Ibr  and  TeiMnlkn 

of  the  ssoied  animal,  iii.  858, 885-89a 
CMMtMte,  triad  of  th&  iL  464^  51& 
Ca<fZ«,  iL  100. 

kmsiiag«nfliilor(4I.Xii-4«JMc49. 

CotiMstoi  type  of  the  JSgypttaas,  L  2. 
Cawdry,  L  190-192. 
CSsdnr,  nses  of  the  wood,  iL  416L 
CeiUngi,  ook>iiied  {iL\  L  868-864. 
Cephfm^  king,  ereots  a  pyrsmid,L  86. 
Csroitet,  or  homed  snaln,  iiL  889. 
Cfltrespiiflbeflut,  a  ssmed  monkey,  iii.  858, 

Oertaia,  onltivation  of;  iL  409. 

^  varieties  of,  iL  888. 

Cenmtmiab  of  dsily  gofenunent,  L 164. 
Gsrei,  goddess,  pkys  al  diee  witli  BhssKO- 

sinitns,  L  84. 

^  mysteries  relating  to,  iiL  888-886. 

Chair,  like  a  oamp-stool  (iL\  iL  38. 
Chain,  varions  k&ds  of  (tlX  L  408-416. 
ClWiZdeafit,  their  profleienoy  in  astiologT, 

iL  465? 

^Trinity  of  the,  iL  488. 

Chamee,  games  o(  iL  68. 
CAapMt,  eommon  nse  d,  L  408. 

i  oflbiings  oC  iiL  417. 

Charadrima,   or   Troehiliis,   history    and 

attributes  of  the  (A),  iiL  896,  887. 
Charcoai^am  for  oooUng  (H),  iL  86. 
Chariot,  oonstrootioQ  of  (0.),  L  287-884. 

eorps,  L  241. 

drawn  by  oxen  (tZ.),  L  236. 

,  Egyptian  guest  driving  to  an  enter- 
tainment in  a  (tLX  i-  424. 

with  Ethiopian  princess  (iZ.),  ii,  202. 

,  exportation  of  the,  i.  150, 236. 

,  formation  of  the  (tJ.),  iL  201-203, 

,  on  board  a  boat  (il},  ii  216. 

,  miUtary  (tl),  L  223. 

of  the  Scythians,  i.  46. 

Charioteer  of  a  prince  (il.),  L  224. 
Charon,  identified  with  Horns,  iii.  458. 
Chaus,   Felis;    notice    of   the    Egyptian 

animal  so  oalled,  iii.  259,  293. 
Chembes,  name  of,  ii  273. 
Chemmia,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Khem,  iii. 

22. 

,  religious  games  at,  iii.  370. 

ClienoeboBeion,  early  royal  and  other  names 

in  the  f?rottoes  of,  ii.  275. 
Cheops,  history  of  his  reign,  i.  84,  85. 
,  his  name  connected  in  the  cartouches 

with  Ghnoumis,  iii.  7. 
Cheper,  a  form  of  Ptah  («.),  iii.  20,  2). 
Chudren,  costume  of,  it  334. 
carried  in  a  funeral  procession  (il), 

ii.  334. 
-,  customs  and  laws  relating  to,  i.  320, 


321. 


-,  lock  of  hair  as  worn  by  (iL),  ii.  325, 


326. 


INDEX. 


501 


CIlILDBBJr. 

Chttdreriy  severe  duties  of,  in  the  East,  i.  49. 

,  thanks^vifig  for  birth  of,  iii.  422. 

Chine»e  bottles  {il),  iL  153,  154. 
Chinese^  use  of  compass  by,  ii.  228. 
Chnoumisj  or  Chnum,  one  of  the  triad  of 

Elephantine,  &o.,  ii  484,  518. 
,  nistory  and  worship  of  (*2.),  iiL  1-9, 

152. 

,  in  relation  to  Ptah,  iii.  15. 

-,  in  a  triad  with  Suti  and  Anouka,  iiL 


28. 
ChorUj  ark  of  the  god,  sent  to  Bakhtan,  i. 

60. 
Chariden  (iZ.),  L  442. 
Chronoloay  of  events,  L  28-145. 
ChryMfUMtnum,   gods   crowned    with,  ii. 

412. 
Chu$oru8^  a  Phoenician  deity,  ii  488. 
Oimif  with  representations  of  deities  (iZ.), 

lii.  150. 
Cireumcinon  practised  by  the  Golchians 

and  others,  i.  66. 
,  practice  of,  by  the  Egyptians,  i  183; 

iii  885, 386. 
Clay,  manufacture  of  pottery  in  (U  ),  ii. 

192-194. 
CUanUnesSj  love  of,  ii  331. 
ClematU  produced  in  Egypt,  ii.  412. 
CleopatrOj  considerations  relating  to  her 

death  by  the  bite  of  the  asp,  iii  336,  337. 
Ciepsydroj  oflferin^  of  a  (iL),  iii  421. 
CU>hU  of  mumnues,  with  figures  of  gods, 

iii  444. 
CkOi,  method  of  weaving,  ii.  170. 

,  manufacture  of  (tZ.X  ii*  173. 

,  mummy,  ii.  161-163. 

,  piece  of,  with  blue  border  (i7.),  ii.  152. 

Clover,  cultivation  of,  ii  398,  426. 

C/ti2w  (il),  i  218. 

Coatt  line  of  Egypt,  i  7. 

Cock,  sacrifice  of  the,  iii  319, 320. 

Offin-makerM,  ii  205. 

Coins,  early,  ii  245,  246. 

Cotehians,  origin  and  customs  of,  i.  66. 

ColchyieM,  or  reader  at  funerals  (li.),  iii  449. 

Cole$eML,  cultivation  of,  ii  398. 

Colotml  statues,  method  of  moving,  ii.  306. 

Colmti,  or  vocal  statues,  of  Thebea  (*7.), 

IL  1. 

CWoMtis,  completing  and  polishing  a  (*7.X 

ii311. 
Colourt  of  cloth,  ii  163. 

of  ceilings  (tX),  i  362-364. 

C6Lumn  overthrown  by  a  careless  guest, 

incident  of,  ii.  20,  21. 
CoUmnt  of  the  labyrinth,  i.  68,  64. 
Comb  for  flax  making  {iL\  ii  174. 
CbnmierM,  early,  with  Arabia,  i  33. 

,  early  progress  of,  ii.  229-232. 

CompasB,  invention  of  the,  ii  228. 
Comptmtum  of  painting  aad  sculpture,  ii 

264,  265. 
Camhs  (a.\  ii.  347. 
dmoerts,  see  Music. 


OBOPS. 

Crmea,  inficribed ;  doubtful  use  of,  iii.  437. 
ConfeetitmerB  (tL\  ii.  34. 
Conjurers,  or  thimblerig  (iL),  ii.  70. 
Conquests  of  Seti  I.,  i  43,  44. 

,  extent  of  the  Egyptian,  i  260. 

Conventional   art  of  Egypt,  ii.  263,  264, 

271. 
Conversation,  topics  of,  ii  21. 

,  charms  o^  ii  22. 

Convolvulus  from  the  sculptures  (il.),  iii 

418. 
Cookery  (il,),  ii  31,  32. 
Cooks,  duties  of,  ii  22. 
Copper,  uses  of,  ii  232,  247. 
Coptic  Calendar,  notes  on  the,  iii.  105. 
Copies,  site  and  trade  of,  i  152. 

,  seat  of  worship  of  Isis,  iii  113, 116.   . 

Coriander,  cultivation  of,  ii.  398. 

Com,  measuring  and  registering  (tl.\  i 

308. 

,  vitality  of  seeds,  i  471. 

,  varieties  of,  for  bread,  ii.  42. 

.  harvesting  and  thrashing  (UX  ii.  418- 

428. 
Coronaiion,  symbolic  representations  of,  iii 

134. 

ceremonies  (il.),  iii.  359-364. 

Corpse,  treatment  of  the,  iii.  453. 

Corslet,  remarkable  one  of  fine  linen,  ii.  166. 

,  fortns  of  the  (iL),  i.  220,  221. 

Cosmetic  boxes,  ii.  13. 

Cosmogony,  doctrinal  system  of  the,  ii.  503- 

505. 
Ci^  of  food  small,  ii.  334. 
Costumes  of  men,  various  (tL),  ii.  821-327. 

of  women  (tl),  ii.  337,  338. 

of  the  EJiita  (iL\  i  258, 259. 

of  negroes,  i.  261. 

of  the  Pount,  i  252. 

CoUim,  cultivation  of,  ii  402,  408,  409. 

,  use  and  manufacture  of,  ii  158, 159. 

Couehen  (a.),  i.  410. 

Cktuntry,  love  ot,  i  322,  32a 

Courting  with  dogs,  ii  85.  86,  92. 

Cow,  sacred  to  Isis  and  Athor  (il\  iii  10;>- 

112.  115-117,119. 
,  reflet'tions  on,  and  legends  of  Uie 

worship  of,  iii  119-121. 
,  sacred  character  uid  attributes  of, 

iii.  305-308. 
Creation,  myths  of  the,  i.  1 ;  ii  506. 
Criminal  law,  i  295,  296. 
CHosphinx,  description  of  the  (iL),  i  127 : 

iii  309. 
CroeodUe,  history  of,  and  voneratin*  for 

the,  ii  131-135. 

,  emblem  of  Tvpho,  iii.  147. 

,  hostility  of  tne  ichneumon  to  thp,  iii. 

279-281. 
,  sacred  nature  •'^  aitribotsa  of  the, 

iii  329-.3H4 
Cfoeodilopoul; . « lYie  Thebaid,  iii.  82»-3ai. 


608^ 


,MUiKtokMptInM(a.),lLBOB. 

oivm,  iRpt^i^Jtt.  US,  SIS. 


■^  nbdiTUm  of  Om,  O. 

Ci»p<m6rr.  cullivali.'.l  fuMlM  of,  IL  899. 

Ciran.  fumiatii.ti  <■(.  L  S19. 

I.'ulifiary  uleiu'li  (if.},  il-  9: 

GvUivalion,  extent  of,  t  144-146. 

CWmnifl,  eultiration  oC  ii  998, 409. 

CurnVr  (H.),  ii.  187. 

Curwd  (ti'du  (I'l.),  i.  21B. 

OmA,  leltletneut  of,  UL  tS. 

(Twtonu  dnrini;  r<:ig;D  at  UmrtBWtt  1,  L  81. 

C^*m6<ii»  (il),  i.  453. 

C^norflpbaliu   ape,   saved    to  lloth  knd 

otber  d<.iti.'B.  Hi.  1  Giy  S5S,  897-869. 
^MTW,  nrkliet  rf,  IL  408, 408, 410, 418. 
(Mpm*  rendend  tribntM;,  L  ISS. 
C^nmcoM  of  Ubjt  detet  ^fka,  L  118. 


DabSd,  triad  of,  itL  188. 

DtMunt  of  lilt  dead,  f(ut7-two(a.),  iii.  228. 

Uoffpn-  («.),  L  277. 

Da^i,  with  sheatlu  (A),  i.  211. 

,  TariouB  (ill  t.  212,  213. 

Daimogorgon,  a  deity,  ii.  479. 
DaJJceh,  triad  norebipped  at,  iii.  29. 
,  iusoriptiOD  hI,  relallog  tokinff  Erga- 

iiieD,iii.  29,  156. 
Damatetning,  art  of,  ii.  257. 
Dancing,  forma  of.  i.  448. 

,  varietiM  of  (.t),  i.  45(,  501-510. 

In  the  Btreet,  to  dfuma  (it.),  L  458. 

girl*  (a.),  a.  37. 

women  (H.),  i.  4D0. 

Jtarabooka  drum  (il.),  i.  443.  444,  461.  452. 

,  used  at  funenli,  i.  4S1. 

Variut,  hiatar;  of  hia  tulu  over  Effvpt,  L 

133,  134. 

,  Uwa  of.  i  324. 

Darkneig,  divine  penonificBtion  of,  ii.  4BS, 

491. 

,  primeTal ;  m^tliB  conoerning,  iii.  83. 

DaUAra,  paintinjis  of,  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 

wood,  uses  of,  ii.  416. 

I>aUt,  a  mhe  or(iJ.),  ii.  43. 

,  oees  of,  i.  399,  400, 

JJayr,  temple  built  bv  Bamesea  the  Gieal, 

i.50. 


BtUim,    cbMlftMt&a  'at.  In   Enptin. 
Bonn,  Md  OiMk  i^rtini^  iL  MI-Mt 
,N«GodB. 

,«onUporBHl{Bttw,iiLS«. 

iMiifw  of  DeooaUon,  data  uT  tb(^  L  St. 

orOngMlnAttie>,i»^ 

DtmlmrfitVtfgeitiM.  i.  1,  & 

i)«iNi«nk,  tMite  of  AtlMc  at.  IIL  117. 

,t>1ada(,mU2, 

.Mat  of  vonUp  ot  Hu-bmt  (<LX  Iii- 

1&185. 

.■TjiAootaat  Hi  147, 14& 

,  ceremoBiM  dqpiotod  at,  IIL  S74. 

I>ipra«it|t  orOtMpa,  L  84, 80, 

i>>Mrit,  ^Mrtotiaaar  OoM  boRbfing  npoB 

agYj*,U.«7-48»,  -B-i— 
AMdilom  driiva  0^  L  U. 
i)«Waai,  ntiaty  of  deoonti*«,  L  S88, 384 . 
onriiigB,iigiwta,hraoel«U,«DdaMik- 

Uc€»  (ii.X  ii-  342-8*5. 
JMoi,  nae  of  the,  n.  317,  318. 
Diana,  Ihe  Bait  or  Bubastia  of  Egypt,  iii. 

Diet,  hiitoty  of  the  game  (d.),  ii.  62,  63. 

i>ie(orthe£g;ptiHna,iL  31. 

Dinner,  prepai^tion  of,  ii.  20. 

— — ,  method  of  Berviog,  It  39. 

— ,  party  at  (il.),  ii.  44. 

Diodonu,  bin  li«t  of  b:gyptiaii  kinga,  i.  10. 

Dio*p<ilHe  dynuEtieB,  L  20-83,  29,  .14. 

,  lUt  of  the  djDBity,  L  52. 

IHKipline  of  troopa,  i.  274. 
Dinof  of  animals,  skill  in  curing,  ii  449. 
Di^a  on  a  table  (iI.X  ii.  48. 
Ditk-aoTthip,  introd actios  and  aubrcnian 

of,  iii.  52. 
Document*,  style  and  age  of  oustiiuF,  L 

812. 
,  mode  of  disving  vp  and  attMdiu, 

L  312-315. 
Dog,  use  of  the,  in  banting  (il),  ii.  B5-K9, 

,  Tftriona  kinds  of  (il),  iL  99, 100. 109. 

,  a  sacred  animal,  notioed  and  de- 
scribed, iii.  258,  273-276. 

Dog-tlar,  inHoence  of,  on  tlie  innndatiou, 
ill.  103-lOS. 

Dolphin,  account  of  the,  iii.  308,  309. 

DoUt,  wooden  (iL),  ii.  t>4. 


INDEX. 


503 


d6ii-kct. 

Ddm-mU  <ro0,  mes  of,  L  402. 
Doora^  ooliivation  of  the,  iL  899. 

,  TaHetiM  of,  iL  402,  409. 

,  method  of  gathering  (O.^  it  427, 

428. 
Doitn^  cnottniction  of  (O.^  i.  351-856. 
iMMfruuf,  with  inaeription  (iiy,  L  34e,  362. 

,  folding,  with  bolto  (O.^  it  185. 

Date,  ArmMc  legend  of  the,  i.  271. 

Droif^nei  {U.),  I  291,  292. 

Dramgki4>oard  and  box  {0.%  It  57-^9. 

Dnugkimem  (0,%  il  5d. 

DramgkU,  game  of  (a,\  t  82. 

k  Tarietj  and  antiqaity  of  the  game 

(itX  it  55-00. 
Drawing,  conTeotional  formt  of,  it  265. 
Ihream  of  Neetanebo,  L  139, 140. 
/>reanu,  belief  in,  it  3.'i6. 
Ihesi  of  kinga  and  princes  ({L\  t  163. 

of  prie«ta  ({L\  I  182-184. 

of  the  RhMn,  t  219. 

of  the  Rebn,  i.  251. 

•  of  dancers,  i.  504. 

of  huntt-ra,  it  81. 

,  ooloufMl  specimens  of,  it  168. 

Dretming  applied  to  suriaoo  of  land,  it 

395— 3' ♦? 
lyriU  anil  horn  {il\  i.  400. 
Drinking  cups  (i/.X  iL  42. 

,  Tsrious  ktnds  uf,  t  430. 

Drug$,  iL  417. 

I>rum,  use  of  the,  L  197. 

,  darabooka  {iL\  i.  413,  444,  451.  452. 

,  Tarioos  (i/.X  i.  456-461. 

Ihum-tiiek  {il\  i.  209. 

Dwtt  thrown  on  tlie  lumd  in  token  of  grit*f 

{a.\i.  167:  iiL423. 
Dutif  of  soTerei|cn»,  L  165. 
Dwarf  $  {il.),  ii.  70. 
Dyeing,  antiquity  of,  ii.  1('»8-170. 
Dykes,  nature,  extent,  and  necessity  of,  ii. 

43^i. 
Dynatties,  dates  of  the,  i.  12. 

,  according  to  Manetho,  L  17-26. 

«  comparatiTe  list  of,  L  2^143. 


Eaolf,  wornhip  and  attribntf-s  of  the,  iii. 

313,314. 
Kar,  rivotm  on  scermnt  of  enres  for  diseases 

<»f  the(i7.),  iL  a*»8. 
Kar-ring^  laiiiiii  talking  about  iiU),  iL  21. 

,  vari«ti«'s  of  (•/.).  ii.  X^,  840,  :i42«  a«t». 

Kartken^eart  \n^\\,  |»Miut4.<«l  (i7.>,  iL  Gl, 
^^  vaiMfi  (li.),  ii.  4. 
hfttmy,  Uixrs  «>f.  iL  17, 18. 

chair-,  i.  40i». 

,  ui«sof  tli«>  wtmtl,  iL  416. 

Ktlftto,  ur  ApuUinupulis  Magna,  triad  of,  IL 

513. 

,  occurrence  of  Atl»or  at,  liL  132. 

,  temple  id,  dedicated  tw  Ual,  Ut  135. 


emblhis. 

Bl/ou,  temple  of  (i/.X  iii.  354. 
AfMeal/oAof theroyiil family.L  163;  iiL447. 

of  priests'  chtldr«*n,  i.  175. 

of  oliildren.  L  .S20,  321. 

Egg$  of  geese,  ii.  449. 

artificially  hatrhed  (iXX  ii.  450-452. 

KgUeg,  or  balanites,  uses  of  the  wood,  ii. 

416. 
Egypt,  coast-line  and  soundings,  L  7. 

,  name  of,  L  7. 

,  primeval  liistory  of,  t  11. 

,  division  of.  into  nnmes,  i.  97-90. 

,  soldiery  of,  desert  Psammatichtii,  t 

101. 

devantated  by  Camb^ses,  L  180. 

made  a  Persian  province,  i.  132. 

attempts  to  throw  off  the  Persian  mle, 

i.  134-1.S6. 
reduced  by  Ochus,  king  of  Persia,  t 

141. 

defi  'iint  in  conception  of  art.  it  268. 

Egypt,  or  Kkemi,  a  goiidesi,  history  and 

attributed  of  (i7.),  iiL  198. 
Egyptian  numbers*  arrangement  of,  IL  498. 
Egp4ian»,  origin  i»f,  L  1-4 
Eileiihyin,  scmg  found  in  a  tomb  at,  iL  418, 

421. 
,  reput'd  human  sacrifices  at  (tlX  iit 

400-402. 
EiUitkyia,  a  iroddess  in  a  triad,  iit  147. 
,  or    Siakem,   goddt*sa,    history,    an<l 

mythology  of  (i7.X  iit  194-198. 

,  oppoi«<l  to  Meraekar  (lA),  iiL  280. 

AZsaa  embassy  to  (Sreece,  L  113, 114. 
Elephant,  notices  of  the,  iii.  V5U,  295. 
Elephantine,  change  of  levels  st,  i.  8. 
,  triad  of  deities  worshipped  at,  ii.  484, 

5ia 
,  chii*f  stmt  of  tlie  worship  of  Chnomais, 

iiL  1. 
Elephantinite  dynusty,  i.  19. 
Elephants    fuuiid    aimmg   the  Rut-^^i-no, 

L43. 
EUtteinian  myitteries,  iii.  tU<H,  395. 
Eliakim  restored  t«»  the  Jewish  throne  bv 

Nero  II.,  L  112. 
Elijah,  manner  of  his  sacrifice  at  M«»unt 

Cannel.  iii.  431. 
El  Khtirgeh  in  the  (Sn-at  Oasis,  titles  of 

lAsriuii  in  the  teni|>le  o'.  i.  KM. 
G  Miuuttnu   n  nk^val   «»f  st4ine   fitun   the 

qitarri«iinr(i7.).  iL  IM*± 
EUJkiw^  m'unini;  of,  ii.  48.\  48i). 
A.'m/iii/Hien.  ntxitiint  of,  i   158;  ii.  S.'Vi*. 
Emlialming,  AnuKi«  tie  fpid  of,  iiL  157. 

,  thi'tTir'*  f'tKHttiinif.  iii.  46.V 

— ,  nirilMiilii  ut  (i7,y,  til.  47»^-48i;. 
of  ■Mcml  aniniikl«,  iit  '^47  250. 


hmhauy  of  the   Klruus  to  KgyV**  i  ^^3, 

114. 
AW^«M,  variety   ^  _^,^^\  KjAWW.  351- 

3:>3,  363.  :<64.      ^   ^^ 
fn  munini Y^  .  ;1.V  '^^^  ^^^ 


04 


INBS3L' 


»n&ff«icbry  ecqiortad,  i  1601 

----^  itettoos  on  Uie  roid  tob  JwiMind,  1. 411. 
XmmUd  o/ gioii,  ilnitala?^  iL  148,  H7. 

jiiSaKiig,  JL  164. 

Aumummft  gmid  ai  tiie  g^  of  «a 

AmmmiKIo  mMMAM»  a  166. 
JMIm,  eidtivatod;  iL  410. 
JBimn^  ami  of,  i.  846. 
of  Bgypt  (ax  L  a40-26a 

Svimwi  etoDM,  ii  161, 162. 
SKUrtaiwmwU,  1 4ai--482. 
JRilniiMif  to  lioiiMi  (A),  i  846. 
i^i^Jbiif,  divinity  of,  UL  805. 
— ^  natme  of  MMsifloei  to,  A. 
ApoiqpMNif  fesliTali,  iii  878,879. 
jBramttB  of  iwmet  of  doittM^  kmoqs  m- 

■igned  ftir  tbo,  iii  148-144. 
JMofOenef,  Idi  ouum  of  Thobaa  kingi. 

185-27. 
JAfoaitn,  king  of  Ethiopia*  inaoiiptioD 

ooDoeininK  him  at  DaU^  UL  89, 16H. 

^  1>aildfl  the  temple  of  Piekii,  liL  109. 

JCrisofMBiii,  ail  Orphio  deity,  ii  487. 
Mnm^  difinity  of,  iL  487. 
EAmnmib,  gold  mioeaof,  a  888, 889. 
Mmek,  or  Latopolia,  triad  of;  a  618;  ia 


,  aeat  of  the  wonh^  of  01uio«BBiB»  ia 

,  mystic  sculptiixes  at,  ia  4B. 

,  occurrenoe  of  Nebuu  or  Keith  at, 

iiL  182. 
Ether,  a  deity  in  varioiu  trlDities,  ii.  487, 

488. 
Etiiiopia^  inhabitants  of,  contrasted  with 

Egyptians,  i.  8,  4. 
,  connection  of  the  term  with  Upper 

Egypt,  L  9, 10. 

,  dynasty  of,  i.  24. 

,  conquered  by  Sesoetris,  L  68. 

>  the  Egyptian  soldiery  retire  to,  i. 


101. 


— ,  princess  of,  in  a  chariot  (t{.),  i.  235  ; 
ii.  202. 

— ,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Ghnoumis,  iii. 
1,6. 
-,  temples  of  Bes  in  the  south  of,  iii. 


149. 
Etrtucan  bronze  work  in  early  times,  ii. 

257. 

trade  with  Egypt,  ii.  155. 

Eulogy  for  the  king,  i.  165. 

read  at  a  funeral,  iii.  450. 

Eunuchs,  L  317. 

EutebitM,  Egyptian  dynasties  according  to, 

i.  17-26. 
EveniSj  chronological  series  of,  i  17-27. 

28-143. 
Rvii  Being,  history  and  myth  of  Nubti  as 

the  personitication  of  the,  la  136-144. 


A^  JMng,  Uatovy  and  n jtk  oT  80l  «w  I& 

^  liiatocy  and  myth  of  Tftikn  m  Urn, 

iai46. 
jStosrt  and  bailn,  goIdeD  (AX  L  486. 
jSdUUKems  of  inasio  and  Ibnla  of  agflity 

after  dinsor  (OA  a  68, 64. 
£bMd«i,  alate  of  Bmt  al  tiM  tina  af  tta. 

L 11.  -o^«^ 

—  of  the  lan^litea,  i  88, 89. 

diJBpnlfar  of  aiaigning  m  tw  data  la 

the,L6a 
BxpedUhnt  oi  AmaiaiM,  L  188, 188. 

of  Awiea,  Tariova,  L  116. 

of  Cwnbyaea  againat  Sgipl,  L  189* 

18L 

of  BamcsM  HL>  L  684». 

of  Sesoatris  by  land  and  oaa,L  86-881 

Bzpmu$9t  neoeewy,  wvj  snail,  L  SUL 
BaqpaHtf  TaiiaW  d,  L  160. 

,  natoie  of  the,  a  877, 878b 

Jfofsal  of  the  ooantey,  L  144. 

Aevofot  (0.),  a  857, 868. 

JPm,  ayinboSe,  of  Oiiria,  ia  868. 

ofHanu,ia445. 

EiekM^  psophaoiei  idt  eonoemiag  l^V^ 

L  118, 119. 


Fa(mUm$  animals  (iL),  ia  810-818. 
FaldMoNf,  oae  u(  L  818. 
fern,  or  FoMMis,  myalioa],  ia  70,  81. 
Fanbearen,  princes  lield  the  office  of,  L  49. 

,  office  and  rank  of  the,  ia  871. 

Farmen,  L  158,  280. 

FarmyartU  (il),  L  .S70. 

Fa«f  appointed  at  the  funeral  of  a  king, 

iiL  443. 
Fasting,  practice  of,  doubtful,  ia  396. 
FauU^uiU,  elegant  forms  of  (it),  L  409-416. 
Female  &phinx.  Queen  Mut-netem  as  a(t2.X 

iii.  310. 
Femalos  attached  to   the  aenrice  of  the 

gods,  a  496. 
Fennety  a  species  of,  iL  407. 
Fenugreek^  cultivation  of,  ii.  410. 
Festival,  celebration  of  a,  by  Barneses  U. 

(tZ.X  iii.  367. 
Festivals  of  the  return  of  Rhampeinitas, 

L84. 

,  dates  of,  iL  318-820. 

of  husbandmen  at  the  time  of  the 

inundation,  ii.  442,  443. 

at  Bubastis  in  honour  of  Bast,  ia  87. 

of  Osiris,  iii.  83. 

pf  the  Apis,  ia  89-98. 

,  nature  of,  iiL  .366. 

,  grand  assemblies  or  Panegyrics,  (h. 

,  wanton  nature  of  some,  iii.  896,  397. 

-,  mummies  introduced  at,  ia  432. 


Fiction,  Egyptian  works  of,  i.  11. 
Fig,  cultivation  of  the,  iL  405,  408. 
represented  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 


INDEX. 


505 


FIO. 

Fig^  sacred  tree  of  Athens,  iiL  64. 
Figure  dances  (tI.X  i*  507. 
Fir  teoodt  Q>^  of,  ii.  416. 
Fire-baUa,  L  244. 
Fish  forbiddeD  to  priests,  i.  179. 

on  boxes  (tV.),  ii.  15, 16. 

,  eating  of,  ii  23. 

eaten  (fl.),  iL  44. 

,  varieties  and  uses  of  (tL),  ii  115, 

118-120. 

,  preparation  of  (tL),  ii  118. 

captured  during  subnidenoe  of  inun- 


dation, ii  889. 
— ,  dedication  of,  to  Athor,  iii  121. 
-,  sacred  kinds  of,  iii  340-344. 


Fitherif,  ii  122, 123. 

Fi^hermm  (t7.),  i  291-293. 

Fishing^  various  methods  of  (tL),  ii  102, 

115-126. 
FishponcUj  i  407. 
Flazy  oultivatiun  of,  ii  172,  398,  409. 

,  preparation  of  (»2.X  >i  173,  174. 

FUeif  oonstruotioQ  of  the,  ii  214-216. 

of  Neco  II.,  i  108. 

of  Sesostris,  i  68,  69. 

FleeU  and  vesitels  (0.),  i.  274-277. 
FleureUe$,  architectural  (iL),  iii  418. 
FlirUj  arrow  heads  of  (0.),  i.  205. 
knives  and  other  implements  (t2.),  ii 

261. 
Flooring  over  an  arched  room  (tL),  i  360. 
Flour,  box  filled  with,  ii  18. 
Flowers,  fondness  for,  at  entertainments, 

i  403,  429. 

,  guests  adorned  with  (%L),  i.  427. 

,  offerings  of  (U.),  iii  417-419. 

employed  at  funerals,  iii  451. 

FUtU,  history  and  use  of  the,  i.  484-488. 
Flutes,  use  ot(%L),  i  434,  437,  440,  441. 
FluU-player  (iL),  i  486. 
Food  of  priests,  i  179. 

,  various  kinds  of,  ii  22-36. 

,  varieties  of  (iL),  ii  43-45. 

Footstool  of  a  king,  enemies  forming  the 

(iL),  iii  408. 
Foreign  conquests  of  Thothmes   III.,  i 

88,39. 
Foreigners  precluded,  i  328. 
Fort,  assault  of  a  (iL),  i.  243. 
Forii/ication,  styles  of,  i  268,  269. 
Fowlers  (iL),  i  290. 
FowUng-seenes  (iL),  ii.  102, 104,  107, 108. 

,  methods  of,  ii  111. 

Fowls,  notice  of  Egyptian  use  of,  iii.  819, 

820. 
Fox,  notice  of  the  sacred,  iii.  258,  277. 
Foxes  (U.),  ii.  90,  92. 
Fringe,  use  of,  ii.  323. 
Fringes  of  cloth,  ii.  174,  175. 
Frog,  symbol  of  Ptali,  iii.  15. 

,  deities  with  heads  of  the,  iii.  21,  22. 

,  emblem  and  attributes,  iii  310,  853. 

Fruit  gathered  by  monkeys  (U,),  i  382. 
•^—  used  in  sacnfloes  (iL),  ii  459-461. 


GLASS. 

Fruit  treesy  various,  i  402. 

wine,  i  398. 

FuUers  («.),  ii.  190. 

Funercd  boat,  or  Baris  (iL),  ii  211. 

of  a  king,  i.  167. 

music,  i  451,  452. 

of  sacred  cattle,  iii.  109. 

rites  and  ceremonies  (iL),  iii  427-430. 

oblations,  iii.  430,  431. 

,  modem  customs,  iii.  440-442. 

procession  of  a  grandee  (iL\  iii.  444, 

445. 


method  of  conducting  those  of  a 
simpler  kind,  iii.  448-452. 

procession  described  (iL),  iii.  449- 


452. 


-,  description  of  a  very  touching  sub- 


ject, iii  452. 
Furniture  of  rooms  (il.),  i.  408. 

,  manufacture  of,  ii.  195,  196. 

Fyoum,  early  remains  at  the,  i  15. 


0. 


GaUey  (iL),  i  275. 
Oame  of  mora  (iL),  ii.  55. 

of  draughts  (iL),  u.  55-60. 

of  throwing  knives  into  a  block  of 

wood  (i7.),  ii.  69. 

unknown  ceremony,  or  (iL),  iii.  424. 


Games,  variety  and  antiquity  of,  ii  54-68. 

,  celebmtion  of,  iii.  870. 

Garden  beds  (iL),  i.  875. 
CUirdens  (tZ.),  i  375-378. 

,  use  and  culture  of,  i  406. 

at  entrances  to  tombs,  iii  438. 

Gardeners,  i  280, 281. 

Garlic,  cultivatiou  of.  ii  403,  409. 

,  treated  as  a  god,  iii  350. 

Garrison  towns,  list  of,  i.  187. 
Gauffering  inttrumeni  (iL),  i  185. 
GazdU,  notice  of  the.  iii.  260,  301. 

winged  (it,),  iii  311. 

caught  in  a  noose,  ii.  87. 

W,  ii.  90.  92. 

for  chase  and  preserves  (iL),  ii.  88-80. 

Gebet  Zabdra,  emerald  mines  of,  i.  33. 
Genii  of  the  Lower  Regions  (iL),  iii.  219. 
**  Genius  of  the  earth,"  an  origmal  deity, 

ii.  479. 
(Geometry,  origin  and  progress  of,  iL  314, 

315. 

,  science  of,  ii  377. 

Gerf  Hosaayn,  in  Nubia,  the  tempLe  built 

by  Barneses  the  Great,  i  50. 
Giani,  Aphoph,  a  giant  king,  i  21. 
Gilding,  procesttes  of,  ii.  243. 
(?i[/Udles(i7.),  ii47. 

objects,  ii.  244. 

Giraffe,  notice  of  the,  ii.  98 ;  iU.  259,  301. 
Gitdk,   plan    of   the    Pyramids   of,  and 

adjacent  country  (iZ.),  ii.  360. 
GlasSf  eariy  manufiscture  of,  i  82. 


6<M 


On>X3L 


GkM^  bkJWktUn  oft  i.  87. 
-,  eat,  Tiie  (4L\  it  9, 11. 
bottles  (flX  S.  11. 
blowing  (A  it  1^* 

bottiM  and  heads  (&X  ii- 1^1>  ^^2, 

15a. 
— — ,  TBrioos  inaiiiifiMsiares  end  usee  of, 
ii  142-160. 

blitoiy  of  the  inrentian  tad  me  of, 
U.  148-144. 


lamp  (<I.X  iU- 424. 

QUued  taUeli  of 
ii.188. 


wood,  for  writing  on, 


QUanimg  (iL\  ii  419, 422. 

C»M,iil99. 

Goai  (a.X  ii  90. 

,m  aacred  animal,  iiL  260, 808. 

Chati  treading  giain  after  sowing  (UX 

ii.  890. 
OoddaMM  of  Emt,  the  fonr  mat,  iii.  80. 
Qod9f  flgores  oCoQ  wooden  pillows,  L  419. 
— »  depioted  hi  baa-relief  on  vases  CUX 

tt.9. 

i  doiatum  of  their  reign,  it  511,  512. 

,  festlTals  of  the.  iii  87^  379. 

k  statnea  of;  olothed,  iii  895. 

^—,  flgores  of;  on  olosets  of  mnmmies 

(il.\m.  444. 
QMf  earl  J  working  In,  i  82. 

,  baskets  of  (a.),  ii  286,  287. 

beating,  ii  248. 

,  ewers  and  basins  of  (U.),  i  425. 

,  early  nse  of  leaves  of,  ii  248. 

,  mana&ctare  of,  ii.  283-244. 

,  use  of,  in  jewellery,  ii.  283. 

,  prooesses  of  smelting,  weighing,  Ac. 

(tf.),  ii.  234. 

mines,  i.  154, 155. 

,  method  of  working  the  mines,  ii.  237. 

model  of  a  galley,  ii.  228. 

,  offerings  of  (t7.),  iii.  421. 

ornaments,  ii.  340-344,  349. 

thread,  ii.  166. 

,  vases  of  (iZ.),  ii.  2,  5,  7. 

imbricated  vases  (iZ.),  ii.  258. 


CMdrheaterif  skin,  ii.  243. 
Ooldtmiths  (t7.),  u.  234,  235. 
Chosey  kinds  of,  i.  292. 

eaten  commonly  (t7.),  ii.  22,  30,  44. 

y  cooking  of  (i7.),  ii.  35. 

,  management  of  the  (tZ.),  ii.  448. 

f  eggs  counted  and  reported,  ii.  449. 

,  treatment  of  the,  when  out  of  health 

(iZ.),  ii.  452,  453. 
— ,  offerings  of  the,  iii.  408. 

,  the  emblem  of  Seb,  iii.  60-62. 

,  sacred  nature  and  attributes  of  the 

(tl.\  iii.  327,  328. 
Crourdshaped  box  (i7.),  ii.  16. 
Govemmentf  earliest,  of  Egypt,  i.  11. 

,  daily  routine  of  the  conduct  of,  L 

164. 
Grace  before  meals,  ii.  49,  50. 
Grain^  abuudance  of,  L  155, 156. 


OUAUK 

(Trola,  espotis  of;  ii  JB77-879. 
QrmuKriM  {iL\  i  848, 849, 87L 

f  notiee  of,  ii  428. 

CTn^MS,  see  Yitt^yaid. 

^  saored  use  of  (A.^  iii  419. 

Oretioej  allMracieal  histoiT  of  tlie  nation, 

ill. 
f  the  nation  favoured  bj  PHaBimali- 

ehos,  i  104, 105. 
,  filgvpiian  origin  of  the  namaa  of  the 

deitieaof,ii461,462. 
^fOnsabstantial  nature  of  thamjtiiQlaGf 

o(  ii.  499. 
— *^  doetrinsa  of  various  pliiksopliais  d, 

U.  506, 507. 
OreA  intereonrse  with  Egypt  OBOomaged 

by  Amasis,  i  128. 

use  of  the  bow,  i  805. 

mnsio,  i  446-449. 

haipers,  i  468. 

enstoms  at  meals,  ii.  88-41. 

habits  of  oleanliness,  ii  4a 

entartainments  after  meeli,  Ii.  58i 

intereonrse  with  Egypt,  ii  15ft. 

art  of  the  pott^,  ST  IM 

art  of  damasoeniog,  ii  868. 

- —  influence  on  Egyj^ian  arts,  fi.  89L 

caloulation  of  the  month,  ii  88L 

art  of  prediction  deriyed  tnm  E^vpt, 

ii465. 
« derision  of  animal  wonhlp  of  B^sypt, 

ii  469, 470. 
variation  in  oonventional 

tions  of  gods,  ii  478. 

classifioation  of  gods,  ii.  488. 

ideas  of  Egyptian  religion  erroneoas 

ii.  497-499,  512. 
notions  concerning  the  god  Pt'ih,  iii 

16. 
legends  derived  from  Egyptian  mytls, 

iii.  2y. 

ideas  concerning  Bast,  iii.  38. 

notions  of  Osiris,  iii.  71-73. 

ideas  concerning  Isis,  iii  99, 103. 

notions  concerning  Athor,  iii.  110. 

notions  of  good  and  evil,  iii.  140-142. 

rites  and  mysteries,  iii.  387-^95. 

religion  contrasted  with  the  Egyp- 


T 


ven 
eoe. 


by  the,  to  the 
against   Persia, 


tian,  iii  458. 

Greeks,  assistance 
Egyptian  king 
i.  140. 

-^— ,  purchasers  of  the  heads  of  animals, 
ii  28. 

,  mistaken  opinions  ooncerning  reli- 
gion, ii.  473. 

,  ancient  belief  in  a  single  deity,  ii. 

479. 


,  early  religious  notions  of  the,  ii  479. 

,  Alexandrian,  venerate  Sarapis,  iii.  98. 

Grey  (Mr.),  mummy  with  Greek  inscription 

on  coffin  found  by,  iii.  432. 
Griffin  (ti.),  ii.  93. 
Guard,  camp  (t7.),  i  266. 


INDEX. 


507 


ounT. 

Gueii,  ineident  of  a  oolmnn  orerthrown  by 

aoaroleM,ii.  20.  21. 
OuesU,  arriTal  and  treatment  of  (il,%  1 423-  , 

427. 
Ouitar^  pUjer  upon  a  (iZ.),  i.  462. 

,  female  playing  on  a  (tl-X  i*  407. 

played  oy  a  woman,  on  a  box  {j£L\  ii. 

14. 
Gmian  {iL\  i.  438-441. 
played  by  women  (d.^  i.  481-483. 


I 


//a//et,  genii  ot{a.\  UL  219-222. 

,  notion*  nonoerning,  iii.  487,  488. 

//airortlieR«hn,i.  251. 

,  pride  of  the  Egyptian  women  of  their, 

ii.  21. 
,  method  of  wearing  the,  by  women 

(fix  ii.  838,  339. 
,  the  8in;(lo  lock  of,  woni  by  aevenil 

deitioe,  iii.  130. 
i/ain,  ooont'Ction  of,  with    the  mytli   of 

Kliem,  iii.  25. 
Hamilton  {Mr,   W,  R.),  extract  from  lii« 

*iKgyptiara,*  i.  330. 
JiamUnfi  (t'/X  1-  338. 
Hanging,  i  3(17. 
Hanno,  Toyage  oC  i.  100. 
Hapi,  or  Niloa,  (iod  (i/.),  iii.  20(>-210. 
,  a  genius  of  the  Lower  Uegioua  (»'/.). 

iii.  210-222. 
Harhoun  in  the  Arabian  Oulf,  i.  131. 
Ham  (or  preeerrea  {U.y,  ii.  8:i,  8(S. 

,  figure*  ut{U.\  ii.  00,  92. 

— ^,  di«criptinn  of  the,  ii.  96. 

.  account  of  the,  iii.  259.  294,  295. 

Hareem,  oonatitutinii  of  thi".  L  819. 

of  lUuMwa  III.  (»<.X  iL  60. 

Har-kai,  or  liar  of  Hat,  liawk-headed  god, 

gOMnlian  of  temples,  iii.  4. 
,  history  and  myths  of  (tf.),  iii.  127, 

128.  IS-i-iS.*). 

,  or  Horns,  type  of  (it),  iii.  135. 

and  Thothnies  III.  0L\  iii.  137. 

aitiiii«ts  at  the  symlioiic  ccri-mooy  of 

ooroniition,  iii.  139. 
Harka^  myth  oC  iii.  176. 
Hitrmarhit,  **  the  great  God  '*  {il.\  iii.  45, 50. 
HameM,  rarioua  (i/.X  i.  237-241. 

,  lVr!.Un(i7.Xt241. 

//ar-|Mi-nt.  myth  of  (iTX  iii-  176,  177. 
Harfmtrnttm,  Hrst  fruits  of  ioutjLi  oflorrd 

U*,  ii.  442,  443. 

,  hi>t«ry  aiid  myths  of.  iii.  I2H-I32. 

.  deities  in  tho  chararu-r  of  (il.X  iit. 

17.VI77. 
Harp0,  l<ruc«<*s  notici*  of.  i.  435-41^7. 

.  various  (i/.X  i.  p.  xxx.;  i.  436-443. 

,  Turi'iUi*  f«inus  and  iUH«of  i7  ,  i.  462- 

472, 


HiaOULAKBUM. 

Htirrowiitg  intiehfne  (U.  ,  ii.  361. 

i/ar-«a-as<(tl),  iii.  129. 

HartenU-ta,  myth  of  >  i7.X  iii.  176,  177. 

^arsJk«/(t7.;iii.  152. 

/fomsm  (iJ.),  iii.  129. 

Harveti  home,  oei<*bration  of,  iii.  370. 

HaiJufpt  or  i/atosa.   Queen,  mime  on  a 

Tase  (i7.),  ii.  IZ 

1  history  of  ht*r  reiv^n,  i.  37,  38. 

,  name  of,  upon  a  boad,  ii.  141. 

,  her  tteit,  ii.  221. 

Unt,  or  Agatkodjewion,  hiatorr.  myths,  and 

morship  of  (t/.),  iit  133-135. 
Hatchet  (i2.Xt.278. 

,  military  (ii-X  i.  214. 

Hawk  of  Horns  [U.),  iii.  122-126. 

,  mummicMl  {iL  ,  iii.  126. 

,  varieties  of  tlie  nacred,  iii.  313,  328. 

,  wonhip  and  Attribute*  of  tho  {iL  ,  iii. 

314-317. 
-,  univensl  sanctity  of  the.  iii.  315. 


i/iim'j  papyruM,  mention  of  golden  objects 
in  the,  u.  28i. 


Hawk-hooded  tl(*ity,  Har-hut,  iii.  4. 

deitiea,  iiL  124. 

sphinx  (lU  iii.  311. 

Hrad-drtst  of  fortM;nier«.  i.  245. 

,  Persian  {iL),  i.  247. 

,  TsHous  forms  of  i7.X  ii.  325-328. 

of  ladies  {iL).  ii.  :)3»t,  339. 

of  Isu  (t7.X  iii.  112. 

Ueane  with  four  wh«'els  (i7.  \  i.  237. 
,  shape  and  construction  iif  the,  iiL 

451. 
Hraren,  Oelus  or  Ouranna,  a  divine  being, 

ii.  479. 
Hfcate,  connected  with  Psi^ht,  iii.  39. 
Hetlgthog,  account  of  tht>,  iii.  258,  270. 
Heh,  or  ///A,  snake-headvd  gndilesa  (i7.\ 

iii.  214,  215. 
H^k,  or  (iam,  the  Egyptian  Hercules  (i7.X 

iii.  229,  230. 
Heka,  or  Htk,  goddess,  allied  t«>  Clibounii*, 

*  *  *       mm 

111.  7. 

,  a  frog.hea«l<<d  snddcas  a.  ,  iii.  21, 22. 

,  flgurp  of  (i7.i,  iii.  152. 

,  myth  of  «<i.X  iii.  17»»,  177. 

HtUn,  t^irj  of,  i.  79. 

Hrliopoli*,  ancumuliittim  of  soil  at,  i.  8. 

,  obelisks  st,  i.  51. 

,  vi*.wof(i7.Xii.  :W1. 

,  donatii>ns  of  live  stork  Us  by  Ramese* 

III.,  ii.  453. 
.spirits  of.  ruleii  by  XepiT  lif.X  iii. 

21. 

.  seat  of  th«*  womhipof  Ila,  iii.  5:1- .W 

,  fi-stiviiU  at,  ill.  377,  :W1. 

/Mimrfs,  various  kinds  of   il  X  i.  218,  219. 
Hemp,  cultivstMn  of,  ii.  31^. 
HenHfh,  eultivati.iti  of,  ii.  4«'2. 
HfUanami;  «iivui<i||  |^R«i  Umits  of,  t  325, 

32»k 

H^r*trl*^rpnl»tr  dvu^.T      \    'i*^- 


titm  aooinlenta  ta^  UL  171-171 

ltt,lSL 
SMmmb,  OMki  €f ,  i  MS-WX 
JbnMory  OMlM  doobttU,  L  108, 1«. 

AraM  IHtaNvWw,  book!  (<  a  an:  tu. 

171. 

tMiBlMifarttoufQod»tt.<MS. 

IbnNMUUi^  Wid  d^  IL  SU  i  UL  ML 

— ,MMiatciiiMban«(iiLMe-aes. 

— ^^TboUi  Uka  dMM  l«d  of  (A),  UL 

~^  iMM  o(  Tnho  at,  UL  147. 
BmMtoHM.  «oip«  cfllM,  L  U8. 
Aradefa%  bfa  Ifat  of  S^TptiH  Ubh  L 18. 
BiMt  UmUmI  with  itam,  UL  aS,iB». 
BMod,  iMtbM^  <<  HipHtiiic  tha  Me  of 
lt«A,L41. 

,tb«triiiitydf,U.4S& 

AMMtau,  ftnrt  ned  in  faniiafng,  L  1& 
Et,  %  dei^  eomiMted  wUh  B«  (AX  UL 

SfaraoMvoUi,  ndfy  of  Mcnd  UiAa,  UL 

81«. 
BUrmeMMm  (0.),  UL  800; 

,  nmbolflrAnMria  (Al  UL  U7,  Ul. 

AbrarakM,  Milf,  rf  bypt,!  IL 
I  at»r^fiiit  dtplk  cTitaan  «il  m  iIpm, 

,altmtknitntbe*tjbor«WTla»L 

S8. 

,  method  oT  tanlptniiDit,  U.  258,  SIM. 

of '  Egypt'  (ill,  i  405. 

of  Bocrifloe,  iL  438. 

of  K  tree,  L  S76. 

• of  ft  Tinejard,  i.  370. 

of  B  wife  (.1),  iit  419. 

Sigh  priali  ocoup;  the  throDe  after  Ba- 

meaeaXIII.,  L60. 
Hindoo  leligioiu  ideaa  reaembling  tbon  of 

Kgypt,  iL  475. 
Binget,  ouriona  foniM  of,  iL  199,  BOO. 
Sifpopotamul,  chaM  of  the  (iL),  iL  12ti- 

,  emblem  of  Typho,  iiL  147. 

,  B  sacred  animal,  iii.  2.^9,  295-897. 

Hippopalamtu  goddat,  or  Taur,  Iiirtor;  of, 

UL  145. 
SippopotamiH-headed  god,  uotioe  of  a,  iii. 


,      .       „     _ellL  the   .. 

period  of  the,  i.  59. 
Boa,  wooden  IiL),  ii.  2S1, 252, 393. 
,  toe  of,  in  breakiaK  ttie  luid  (A),  iL 

394. 
BoloeotuI,  LeTitioal,  iii.  411. 
Holj/dayt,  celebration  of,  iii.  36B. 
Homer,  teatimony  of,  regarding  the  age  of 

the  Delta,  L  5. 
Boney,  importance  attached  to,  iL  416. 
Boop,  game  of  (iL),  iL  62. 


jzmwm,  MMtt  ib(  tb^  UL  nft. 

M>pk^gBM»m.iMarr  of  (O.),  ttt 
tf«f«li9r,hUei7CiC,i8lV. 


oMd  fartt 

GiM^L4& 


i(d.]hLi»i. 

•  oCU.  lOL 
L1H.SS&. 

L»L 


GiM^L 

,m)oimlcl,m.U»,ta». 

floTM,  OM  Of  Um  trM  of  PhB^  0. 481. 

SIS. 

,  MBUteOtm  ot,  with  Khem,  iiL  28..  - 

,iBktitod(Aliii.  112.  1 

k  MtokM  bj  SA  (0.),  ib.  4 

-^-,MaarbbaiidOairiii,hUtnrT,  mytli^ 

■iid«naliipor<d.|,  iii.  121-121. 


with  Bt:e  («.).  ill.  150. 

-^VMrisc  ApUphIa  (A),  UL  IIS- 

,ftmof(a),ULSSa,38IL 

Mownto.  BiMiw  n.  f  A>,  BL  an. 

~  puiiying  AmMtopUi  n.  (A),  UL  att. 

,emof,IlL44S. 

tdntlM]    with  OhMOB,  of  0mA 

mjtboliKT.  Hi.  408. 
BaMM  (Q.AX  haab  at  Thtboi  nMMd 

V-ULSn. 
Bvin,  tlwt  <r  Ihma,  •  goJdwi  (A\  IB. 

117,  SIB. 
BaatikM,  offioer  of  Uie  (A).  L  187. 
AnMM,  nature  aad  eomtntetioti  of  (tLX  '■ 

.140-369. 
Bti,  godden,  notice  (^  (0. ).  iii.  224,  227. 
Hmnim  toierijlet*,  iii.  400. 
Jfwnting,  pratervea  (br,  L  407- 
,  love  for,  and  Tarioa*  fonna  of,  de- 

■cribed,  78-92. 
nml*m<M,  eaite  of,  i.  282. 
Husbandmen,  i.  279,  280. 

,  conditioD  of  the,  ii.  3S7,  397,  398. 

Hytna  in  a  trap  {iL),  ii.  78. 

,  flgnres  of  (iL),  ii.  90,  92. 

,  habitata  of  the,  11.  97. 

,  aooonnt  of  the,  iii.  284.  285. 

ifyjkihtw,  or  Shepherd  kinga,  remaint  of, 

at  Tanig,  i,  S. 
.  recent  teaearehei  into  their  hiitivT, 

L  15.  16. 

of  the  god  Set  with  the, 


lanMiehut,  hia  claudflcatlon  of  goda,  iL 


INDEX. 


509 


lAMHUI. 

Janmia$.  a  Shepherd  king,  hiftfiry  of,  L  lA. 
Ibex,  or  wild-gnmt,  out  up  fiir  Ibod  {iL), 

ii28. 

,  honting  the  (0.),  iL  88. 

,  tiguret  of  (0.),  ii  90,  92. 

— ,  deacriptioii  of  the,  iL  95. 

,  Doliov  of  th6,iiL  260,  808. 

JbU,  wcred  to  Thoth,  iiL  184-187,  170. 
— ,  Mcred  DAture  ftod  attribotet  of  the, 

iii.  321-326. 
lekneuwum^  flgaret  of  ( tZ.),  ii.  90. 107. 

,  description  of  the,  ii.  97,  98. 

,  a  ■aered  auiroal,  hiftory  ol  the,  iii. 

258.  279-284. 
Jwimolation  of  the  aont  of  Phanea,  i.  181. 
JmonOum,  or  JEMulapios  (il%  iiL  204. 
ImpUmenU  of  wood  aheathed  with  iron, 

iL  V51. 
IwtpofiB,  earl^,  L  154. 
/neriMe,  oiTt* nng  (iZ.X  L  498. 

,  emplojment  of  {iL%  iiL  898-400. 

,  method  of  oflering  H),  iiL  414-416. 

Indioy  Egyptian  interooone  with,  L  150, 

151. 
.  commercial   interooone  of   Egypt 

with,  iL  21.%  229-281. 
.  boats  of,  compared  with  thoae  of 

Egypt,  iL  219. 
,  oiinftideration  rcapeoting  worship  of 

analofcous  deities  iu  Egypt  and,  iiL  120, 

121,  183. 

,  Tegetable  products  o^  iL  413. 

,  meihtid  of  notation  and  numeration 

ni«d  in,  iL  496. 
Indian  Ocean  ▼iT.ited  by  Seaostris,  L  47. 
Jmiig**,  oulUvation  of.  ii.  402,  403. 
Infantry,  TMriiius  kinds  of,  L  198-195. 
InnerVied  figuree  of  sepiUcliral  use  (U,), 

iiL  490-493. 
Inenit>eii  UibU  (iL  ,  i.  ^\8. 
InttrijAvme  set  up  by  Besostris,  L  70. 
'—  placed  over  entianoes  (iLX  ^  361, 

362. 

un  a  chair,  L  412. 

upon  a  bi-ad  (»!.).  iL  141. 

on  a  botUu  (iL\  iL  142. 

—  upon  a  reel  {iL),  iL  17t». 

nslating  to  ^M  mines,  iL  242. 

IneecU.  fabulous,  iii.  265.  267,  348. 
Intaglio  Kulptuit**,  iL  288-291. 
Inundation  neiir  [K'lta,  riew  of,  L  1. 
,  agrtcuitunU  results  of  the,  iL  384- 

-',  height  of  the,  ii.  431. 

.  result  of.  in  elevating  the  plateau  of 

hind,  ii.  4:t2. 
,  syst4'm  of  emlsmking  alluvial  deposit 

of.  iL  4:<2.  43:f. 

,  Si-asrm  nf  ttit*,  ii.  427.  428. 

,  cuttle  readied  tt\»m  {H\  ii.  429. 

,  numateeiucut  of,  during  its  counr, 

iL  430.  4:il. 
,  fetes  oMinected  with  the,  iL    4f2. 

443. 


Iwpotion  of   Egypt  by   Oohus,  king  of 

Persia,  L  141. 
Inwettitme  of  a  chief  (tZ.),  iiL  870-872. 
lotdame   oolonized  in   Egypt  by    Psam- 

matiohus,L  101. 
Inm^  use  of,  discovered,  L  41. 

money,  iL  246. 

,  earlv  use  of,  iL  247,  248. 

,  working  in,  iL  24U,  254). 

implements,  iL  250.  251. 

hoes,  Ac  (a.X  ii.  252,  253. 

Irrigation  by  th*«  ekadoof,  date  of  the, 

L  38. 

practised  by  Beiostris,  L  70. 

,  extent  of,  L  146. 

with  water  pots  (fl-X  L  37a 

,  art  aud  practice  of,  iL  365,  887-389. 

Itiao  table  at  Turin,  characteristica  of  the 

workofthe,  iL2!iO,  291. 
/fis,  monarch   prostimte   before   (tZ.),  IL 

45,^ 

,  titles  of,  iL  480. 

,  one  of  the  PhU«  tried,  iL  484,  513. 

,  in  combination  with  Ptah-8ochana- 

Osiris  AUil  Nr|>hthyB  (iZ.),  UL  20. 

,  birth  of,  iiL  61. 

,  myths  of,  iiL  75-77. 

,  her  0(tnnectii>n  with  Athor,  iiL  94. 

,  worship  of,  iiL  95. 

,  hisUiry,  mytlis,  and  worship  of  (iL), 

iiL  98-115. 

,  connection  of,  with  Athor,  iiL  110. 

and  llarpcicraU-s,  iii.  128-132. 

,  figure  of  (i7.X  iiL  152. 

prot«MHing  Osiris  (U.X  iiL  22.V 

,  pcculinr  form  oi{iL\  iiL  228-230. 

,  a  form  of  (i/.X  iiL  232,  233. 

-,  ceremonies  of,  at  Busiris,  iiL  377- 


37y. 

Ilaliane  def«-at<<d  by  Ramci^  IIL,  L  5a 
lueaae,  goddes^  account  of  (iLX  iiL  224, 

227 
Ivtiry,  boxoN  of  varinun  kin«ls  (il\  iL  13-18 

,  inlaid  work  of,  i.  409,  41U. 

handCi/.XiLaW. 

spoons  (ilX  iL  la  4a  46. 

vnsi*  with  ointment  (iLX  ii-  12. 

/ry  probably  not  iudii;eiious,  iiL  lUl. 


JacJc-iL  symbolic  of  Anubis  (i/.),  iii.  157- 

161. 

,  a  sacn^l  animaL  iiL  258,  279. 

Jarrtine  (iL),  i  20S,  20;«. 

,  h'sdii  of  (•/.),  L  278. 

JrAfniAiif  «h'f«»«ied  hy  S«*<'0  ll-«  i-  HI. 
JtfA'fHiA,  •i^uiflc^Ui.in  of  the  vmd,  iL  485, 

4H6. 
Jrrhmt,  an  V.ay  VU^f.  .niioa^*  ^"-  ^^- .      »^ 
JrruenUm,  t.  "»pl«t!c, jXs^*^^^  HU«\i«dk 

,  nsuica  of^  »    ^ 


610 


Jnw.  aoiBMtkm  of,  wUlt  Bsjpt  Is  tho 

tina  of  JoM^  L  81-a& 
,  azodnaci;  la  Ae  time  oT  tioOmt* 

liL.i8B,ae. 

,  the  Uitat7  of  the  hoodage  U,  L 


.eidtlTetlo 


fBMpHTi^Ml 


ItlTetlon  tt  UMle  bj  flM,i  US. 

,hieeaCt)ie,147S; 

,nUriowBiHioarae,i4H,«9a. 

,lauwledMorinn,lLS48. 

,  TeiionKnbrtiigeMtheaU.  t< 


U.  484, 48S. 
,  nemee  ol  the  Oeetcr  need  by  Uie, 

U.48S. 
,iMrifldelMKtaoiie<the,iU.M6,WS, 

411-418. 
/MHltan(a),tLS40-S44. 

■ ,  adnilntion  tor,  IL  U. 

,ofgoU(fl.),aaS6. 

JtngltM  inrtTM—il  (A),  L  44S. 

Mmt*  pleoed  on  etten  or  teblM  (U.\  ilL 

410. 
JoMjit,  delee  at.  L  SO. 
JiMnkiM,  hie  eeecnut  of  the  anUte  of 

Senatri^  i.  05,  66. 
jMlak  defnted  hj  Keeo  It- L  IIL 
/wlM  ceptond  Iv  Bhobt^  L  03,  H. 
iDf  eded  InNoeo  IL,  L  11(^  111. 


ue  ca  the,  and  thsoriee  in 
reistion  to  the  (0.),  iii.  466-470. 

>rii<Iiba<iir«,  condnot  of,  i.  297. 

Juno,  ot  Sati  of  the  Egyptiana,  ircnblp  of, 
Ui.  26, 29. 

Jianter,  ffte  of;  H.  467. 

,  Pallakides  of,  iL  496. 

anulogoLU  to  Amen-ia.  ill.  11, 

,  oraole  of,  at  Thebes,  ill  12. 

Jupiler-Hamtalm-Cauibit,  iii.  2. 

Jaiticr,  goddete  of  (fl.),  L  29S. 

Juvenal  deride*  animal  wonhip  of  Egyp- 
tians, ii.  47U. 


Ka,  a  fnig-he&ded  deity,  fonn  of  Ftah  (lE.), 

iiL21. 
Kaiabthi,  triad  of,  iii.  188. 
Kanana,  or  CanaauilBs  (tl,),  i.  259-261. 
Kardany,  eiiemachmeot  of  nuid  at,  iL  4S6. 
KarruA,  colonnade  at,  i.  32. 

,  erectioD  of  the  temples  of,  i.  40. 

,  sculptured  vara  of  Barneses  at,  i.  47. 

KariKter,  or  Hades,  scenes  of  the,  i.  307. 
KaUth  on  the  OroDles,  plan  of  the  fortress 

(«.),  i.  257. 
K^h,  or  wild  aheep,  figure  of,  iL  90. 

,  description  of  the,  IL  95. 

Kephren,  name  of,  ii.  273.  I 

Kermetal,  in  Wady  Eeibeean,  mmhip  of 

Bes  at,  iii.  149.  | 


Ert,  ffKldesB.  aoi'ountof  (t7.X  uL  23-t.      I 

&y  (iL),  i.  354,  355.  ■ 
K)uiru,cn  Norihero  e^yrisns  (fl.),  i.  21& 
Kjiem,  the  god  of  gardens  (iL),  L  401,  U'5. 
,  nature  of  his  divinity,  attributes,  uuil 

worship  (tL),  iii.  2:i-S8. 
— — ,  figure  of  (iL).  iiL  234. 
—  anointed  liy  Seli  I.  (it),  iii.  3«2. 
Khita,  Bhota,  or  Scythians,  character  ami 

enstiiuie  of.  i.  256-259. 
— — ,  worshippfTB  of  Set,  iii.  145. 
JfAw^inalrittdOX).  ii.  512. 
— — ,  one  '.f  Ihii  Tt,eban  triad,  ii.  481,  513. 
tli="fl.-L).iil]74-17li. 


JOihaluniaflcieCAXil 


JfMs  browring  on  Tlnee  (0.),  L  88& 
ffage  of  ^Tpt,  Uenetbo's  reenid  eaoaen- 

ii«  then,  LIS. 

,  early  eepnlehieB  0^1  Ui 

)eent«ntiTelWioi;LI«-lB. 

.mnuiMdal  nA  Hteniy  Uatoyef 

tb^eca>p>rad,LST-I48. 
.UModoa)  note  of  tiM  klnae  «(  Ik* 

16lltDjiiuiy,L81. 


IW. 


,  TNpeot  peid  to  uw,  i.  •>«,  as^ 

,iMineeerMiel«>t(a.),  11. »!. 

,  theory  eaaaeniing  the  dMded  jntie- 

diction  of  early,  ii.  276. 

,  dress  of  (it),  IL  826,  827. 

.       •--owiiing{fl.),iIi.359- 


reoeiTing  emblems  from  Amen  (il.), 

iii  353. 

,  celebration  of  birtbd*js  of^  iii  368. 

olIuringTarions  sacrificial  t^jectsf^.). 

iiL  414. 
,  magnifloeDce  of  the  ftaoeiels  of,  iii. 

443. 
Kitdun  (il),  ii.  32. 

,  scenes  in  the,  iL  22-36. 

Kite,  cere  of  the,  iiL  317. 
Kneding,  rarity  of,  iii  425. 
Kneph,  see  Cbnoumia. 
Knije,  use  of,  in  battle,  L  2ia 


161. 


Kohl,  or  stain  for  the  eyes,  use  of,  IL  348. 
KoUjibUmoi,  a  Greek  game  (A),  ii  59, 61. 
Kotmot,  dirine  nature  of  thcs  t>-  4SS. 
Kouam  rood,  quurriee  of  the,  i  33 ;  iii 

,  royal  names  on  the  rocks  of  the  (SX 

ii.  275,  276. 
Krioiphiru:  (it),  i.  127  ;  iii.  309. 
iCronoa,  a  Bidonian  deity,  ii.  488. 
Ka/a,  people  of,  chanotei  bihI  coetame  of, 

i.  255,  296. 


INDEX. 


511 


KUrA. 


KufcL,  or  Phoanicians  (tlX  ^  259. 
Kuthf  origin  of  tiie  InhAbitants,  i.  1. 
^  or  fitbiopian  negroes  (tZ.),  L  259. 


Xo^yrtn^A  built  by  Mendes,  or  Moiris,  i. 
16. 

built  by  Lacbares,  i.  20. 

,  description  of  the,  i.  63. 

Ladanwn^  cultivation  of  the  plant  pro- 
ducing, ii.  404. 

Lady  in  a  bath  (tl),  ii.  353. 

Lake  built  by  Bloiris,  L  16. 

,  cultivation  around  Lake  Mcsris,  in 

early  periods,  it  441. 

,  sacred,  traversed  by  funeral  proces- 
sions. iiL  447,  448. 

Lake$  of  the  dead,  in  large  cities,  iiL  456, 
457. 

Lambs  carried  in  baskets,  ii.  447. 

i  careful  rearing  of,  ii.  452, 453. 

Lamp^  offering  of  a  (tZ),  iiL  424; 

Lampt^  it  157. 

kept  burning  in  tombs,  during  cere- 

monies,  iiL  430. 

Landj  measures  of,  L  323. 

Land  or  square  measure,  iL  386. 

I/andSy  partition  of,  by  Barneses  the  Great, 
L  50,  51. 

Jjanguage,  experiment  to  find  earliest,  i. 
106, 107. 

Lantemt  (iL%  iL  156, 157. 

Latin  ideas  concerning  Bast,  iit.  38. 

Latonoy  temple  of,  at  Buto,  ii.  307. 

^-—  of  the  Egyptians,  form  and  attributes 
of;  iiL  32. 

/xi/tM,  a  sacred  fish  (iZ.),  iii.  343. 

Lawgivers  of  Egypt,  L  64,  65. 

,  different,  L  823. 

Laws,  i.  299. 

,  primitive,  L  307. 

,  liberality  of  the,  L  162. 

,  enactment  o^  L  293. 

,  Boman,  in  E^pt,  L  333. 

Layers-out  of  mununies  (il.\  iii.  451. 

Leather,  woric  in  (il,),  L  232. 

costumes  of  the  Bebu,  i.  251. 

seats  of  chairs  {iL\  L  411,  414. 

bottles,  iL  19. 

ball  (iLX  iL  67. 

^  manu&cture  of  thongs  of  (iL),  ii. 

177, 178. 

,  writing  on,  iL  183. 

,  manufacture  and  varieties  of,  iL  185. 

,  employment  of,  for  numerous  uses,  ii. 

185-189. 

shoes  and  boots,  ii.  337. 

Leather  teorkers,  caste  of;  i.  283. 

Leek^  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  409. 

Legends  of  the  wall  of  Sesostris,  i.  71. 

Lemanon,  enemies  of  Egypt,  L  260,  2G1. 

LentSk  used  for  food,  iL  24. 


LUXOB. 

LmdUe,  cultivation  of,  ii.  403,  409. 

,  offering  of,  to  Harpocrates,  ii.  442, 

443. 
Leopard  skins  worn  by  priests  (tZ.),  L  182, 

184. 
,  notice  of  the  (it),  iL  90;  iiL  259, 

293. 
Lepidotusj  a  sacred  fish  (tl,\  iii.  342,  343. 
L^uce,  cultivation  of,  ii.  9^8. 

^1  varieties  of,  iL  411. 

Leuoos  Portus,  site  and  trade  of,  L  153. 
Libation  (iL),  i.  184. 

,  practice  of,  iii.  416,  423. 

,  method  of  performing  a,  iii.  425. 

y  altar  for  (if),  iiL  430. 

Library  in  the  tomb  of  Osymandyaa,  L  76. 

Libya,  revolt  of,  L  18. 

Libyan  desert,  encroachments  of  the  sands 

of  the,  iL  436,  437. 
— ,  position  and  roads  of;  ii.  439. 
Libyans  defeated  bv  Bameses  III.,  L  58. 
Linen,  early  manufacture  of,  L  32. 

cloth  exported,  i.  150. 

,  manufacture  of,  iL  157. 

,  use  of;  iL  158-160. 

,  variety  of,  iL  165. 

,  paper  made  from,  iL  185. 

fAntels,  enormous  size  o^  iL  307. 
f/ion,  hunting  with  a  (U.),  ii.  88. 

described,  ii.  97. 

,  emblem  of  the  sun,  iii.  51. 

,  couchant,  in  stone  (fl),  iiL  2.57. 

,  notice  of  the  sacred,  iiL  258,  290- 

293. 
LitercUure  patronised  by  Toeorthrus,  i.  18. 
Live  stock,  management  of  (iZ.),  ii.  443-449. 
,  donations  of;  by  Bameses  IIL  to 

Heliopolis,  iL  453. 
Loadstone  in  connection  with  Horns,  iiL 

125. 
Loewi  (fZ.X  ii.  113. 
Loeustriree,  cultivation  of  the,  iL  405. 

represented  in  tombs,  iL  413. 

Loom,  horizontal  (tZ.),  iL  170. 

,  cloth  made  on  a  (<Z.),  iL  17L 

Lot%u^  use  of  the  flower,  i.  429 ;  IL  25. 

,  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  407. 

,  supposed  sacred  nature  of  the,  iii. 

132,  133. 
,  account  of  its  symbolism,  iiL  350, 

353. 

,  offerings  of  the  (tZ.),  418. 

*  Love*  origin  of,  iL  479. 

Lue  (M.  deX  ^   ide^   respecting  the 

sands,  L  147, 148. 
Lueina  identified  with  Nut  and  Nishem, 

iiL  64,  65, 198,  194. 

,  Thoueris  the  Egyptian,  iiL  147. 

,  vulture  the  emblem  of,  iii.  312. 

LttfiiM,  the  male  moon,  iiL  165-167. 
Luxor^  or  Luqbtw  foon^^o^  of  the  temple 

of,  L40.    ^'^»*" 
^»  *opog^lL>vv•^  d^^  ^^^  ^  reference 


LVZOB. 

£w»or,  inxAip  at  HUM  a^  SL  MB. 
£fn(A.>L4«,441. 


Wft-MD. 


■  hjBiJi  wtA  latKt  (fL\  \. 


Mm. «  Zta<  goddMfa.li  VS,  107. 

.  Utton  ud  nijI&ekiEr  <<  (A).  iU- 

IBS-IHS. 
jrMarMi{,k  Mit  of.  VMd.  IL  SB. 
JbaMloy  bkton  w>d  mytholagydC  fiL  ISI. 
5iMM(:a.),L&e,>17. 
,  awkd,  at  ojUiidilMl  riMV*  (*L), 

JTMJMMry,  llulM  «n  of,  IL  M». 
JTm^  Uo(  ot  Boyflilft,  oxpioili  of.  L 

Jbate,  ■  fldi  irf  EgTpt,  ilL  »U. 
~    ■  -  ito  or,  L  lOT. 


mTtbidDnor(a.),llLll 

M,  MBKO^OWCl  by  thO 

440,400;  ilMS. 
JbMOo,  otenator  of  £•  fapM 


,bUllstori:gTPtkiikingi,L12. 

,  hii  Mcoimt  of  the  Bbephenl  fctng*, 

Lll. 

,  hu  Eg7ptian  d?na«ti«a,  i.  17-26. 

MaaJdnd,  deatruutioQ  oT,  br  the  gods,  iii. 

161.  162. 
Manufariuren,  caste  of,  i.  283. 
MamifaetiTe*,  eerlj,  i.  38. 
Xardi  of  5eti  I.  depioled  at  Kunak,  L 

43, 44. 
Mardi,  order  of  the  milituj,  L  283. 
Marea,  nature  of  the  wine  produced  at. 


datke    and  conditioQa  of   femaln 
after,  i.  316-3L9. 
-  of  brother  aud  dtter  permitted,   i. 


SI9; 


L  113. 


18  of,  il.  41. 


MathvoAa,  eufmiei  of  Kgypt  (tl.), 

Maiom,  empluftnentH  of  (I'J.),  ii.  SOd,  310. 

Matt,  formatloQ  of  the,  ii.  224. 

Mattic,  gnm,  Qge  of,  iii.  398. 

Malmahing  (tl.),  iL  170. 

JtfnM,  god,  biBtorr  and  ajtholagf  of  (iZ), 

iii.  230,  239. 
Malhematieal  knowledge  and  praetice,  i. 

176. 
JVuu,  a  deity,  Booomit  of  (il.),  Iii  236, 239. 


ofltngtlj,  ii.  38l»,  381. 

ot  the  Nilomt-ter,  iL  382'mL 

>  cubit  Btaudard  of.  iL  3SS-SM. 

ibati  method  of  slaughtering  aad  pn|M^ 
iuC  joiutx  for  the  table  (.1.),  IL  9>-«L 

,  oookiiig  of  (il).  U,  33. 

,  Jewish  o^rings  of.  iiL  411. 
tfitft  Haboo,  description  of  Vm  pA» 
laBiple  of  Kamt'sea  II  1.  at,  ii.  tA^M; 
.  pavilion  of  Sameaes  IXL  at  (A),  B. 

• — ,  th«  awt  of  tb«  woftiito  rf  Kkmt, 

ULM. 

,e«TCnoi>fa»dei>leMat,lILSTl,ffnL 

iImkIi  of  kntatu  ontha  McMtto- 

tiinor(a.illL4Ur 
IMWm,  mH*  pnettaa  c<  U.  8H,  8M 
,  Imowtodgo  andtwh—wt  i<  M.  WO- 

868. 

,  idHite  tned  In,  iL  404-418, 417. 

.pluliot  AnUw  tM,  a.  417. 

«eBU&e.lMttl»«(illl. 
Msl&MM,  As  oUMt  imi^id  at.  L  UL 
JMoarOH,  ft  Tfrian  deity,  UL  ITS. 
JbUota,  ft  onuMn  pkat,  iL  410^ 

,  ftMond  flower,  iiL  S61. 

,  oAbilDffi  of  (O.),  ill  4I& 

JMoN,  onUtratian  of  tbft,  iL  IB«,  40L  4K 

lbiMH.VMC<UL410. 

AmenopUi^  L  28. 

^«  pftfftwtwnpte  <£  Bmmw 

deKntetion  and  plan  (4  L  40, 7041. 
oofaiMft)  aUtnea  fii  (he,  iL  MM. 


KtmiAu 
Lib. 


lu,  capital  of  tl 


,  founders  of,  L  B7. 

adorned  b;  Seaoatria,  i.  69. 

reduced  by  Cambyaea,  L  181, 13t 

,  name  of,  IL  273. 

,  temple  of  tlie  Cabiri  at,  U.  483. 

,  chargea  agaiiut  the  priesthood  ot  u- 

495. 
,  seat  of  the  wonhip  of  Ptah-Sodant- 

Cteiris,  iii.  17-20. 
,  Bast  a  member  of  the  triad  ot  iii. 

87. 

,  repnted  bnrial-plaoe  of  Otdrii,  iit  86. 

,  hiatory  of  tbe  wonhip  of  the  Am* 

buU  at,  ia  86-a*. 

,  Aonbideum  at.  iii.  137. 

.  tomU  at,  iii  489. 

Memphita  dyna■tie^  i  18,  19,  29,  SO. 

Matdet,  hirtory  of  his  reiKH,  L  73. 

,  history  and  mythology  of  tbe  god, 

iiL  185-l&r. 

,  dynasty  of,  !.  25. 

Mendeiiaa  kings,  lint  of  the  29th  Dnuaty 

ot  i  137. 
JfmdMt'ans,  tacriflces  by  the,  IL  467. 


INDEX. 


513 


MKIDmAlfS. 

Menden'an*^  wonhip  of  the  gnat  bj  the, 

iii.  303. 
Meneptah,  king,  history  of  hit  reign,  L  51. 
Menett,  history  of  hit  reign,  i.  61,  H2. 
Menhai,  or  Menhir  goddiitt,  history  aod 

attribuUii  of  (tl.),  iii.  192, 193. 
,  a  form  of  the  goddess  Bast  (tZ.\  lit 

86 
Menq,  a  form  of  Bast  (0.),  iii.  236,  237. 
Mentu^  or  Meutu-Ra^  gnd ;   history  aod  my- 

tholo)^  of  (»/.).  iii.  J87,  188. 
MetuaUh,  lake;  haunU  of  the  ibis  at,  iit 

Mercenariei  employed  by  Psammatichiis,  i. 

102. 

de«?ribed,  i.  190. 

Mrrttnary  troii|M  (i/.),  i.  189. 

Mercury,  connection   of,  with  Thoth,  iii. 

16(^1611. 
Mtnrhir,  goddess ;  mjtiiology  of  ^>I.),  iii. 

Mert,  goihlM :  arcaunt  of  (tl.),  iii.  230^232. 
,  at  the  celebration  of  a  festival  (li.), 

iii.  »r7. 
MfUil  am»w-linidi«  (i7.),  i.  206. 
MeittU,  comniereo  in,  and  employment  of, 

ii.  231-239. 
— ,  ciim|M)und,  ii.  255. 
Mttrmitfyrkimin,  thiNiry  of,  iii.  404,  465. 
MeienMrmattmiB,  thefiry  of,  iii.  404. 
Mrth,  ail  i)r|fliic  deity,  ii.  487. 
Mire,  accnuiit  of,  iii.  259,  294. 
MiUUiry  oimte  favourvd  by  Queen  llalasa, 

i.  XM. 

—  iK»wer  of  Egypt  in  tlie  timeof  Rameses 
II..  i.  45. 

nuMlfs  nf  the  EuTfitians,  L  40. 

cantj.  of  tlte  iHkldirrB,  i.  158. 

- —  mnk.  office,  and  customs  of  the  class, 

i.  Im;  VM). 

niunir,  i.  197. 

|iiiiii«tiiiientM.  i.  273. 

r<mf>titution  t>f  the  kingflom,  i.  827. 

ehi«  f  (tirrifMl  in  a  iialaiMiaio  \.UX  i. 

421. 

Und    i7.).  i.  450. 

'  »*v  Soldier. 

Milk.  r>flfi'nii);M  of,  iii.  417. 

Milht,  cultivation  f>f,  ii.  402. 

M»H»,  i.  :j.»i». 

Minu***i,  \iiri«'ti(*s  of,  ii.  414,  415. 

Ififi,  a  variant  fttrm  oftlie  fpul  Khcm.iii.  24. 

••JWiii'Aa/' «ir  •A'or/jna  Mimekti^'*  offt-riogs 

vntitl.^l.  iii.  413. 
Mhurrti,  tetuplr  of,  at  Sais,  i.  127. 

,  th.-  Nf  ilh  of  the  tlf^ptians,  iii.  39. 

Mmtt,  notio*  of,  i.  l.%4,  l.W. 

—  .  n)«-th<kls « mploved  in  the  gold  mines, 
ii.  2:;7  242. 

Jfirr^r^  in.  til  (i7.).  ii.  3.')0,  3ol. 
Mi*»iU»,  \Ari«Mu.  i.  *J||. 
Murtiim,  tii'trirt  of.  iii.  25. 

—  .  i«'n»..f.  lii.  i»7. 
Mnrrtf,  the  lavgiTer,  i.  823. 

VOL.  III. 


Mnerit^  a  sacred  hull,  account  of  the,  ilL 

800,3*17. 
Ifor^  HghiM  encourafced,  i   1K9. 
ModA  of  a  lioune  '  •/.).  i.  3.'>1. 
ModeU  of  boat.4,  ii.  223. 
Moiri*^  king,  foniw  the  lake*  above  Memphis, 

i.  10. 
MirrU,  lake,  di^srription  of  the  formation  of 

the,  i.  03,  04. 

,  late  pvnimids  at,  i.  13. 

,  fisheri't*s  of  the  lake,  ii.  123-126. 

Momemfthi*^  hdtttlc  at,  i.  UY2. 

,  M<<ond  battle  at,  i.  1 10,  117,  120. 

,  Musred  e»»w  of,  iii.  110. 

Jtfbfi/irrAy,  duration  of  the,  L  18. 
Money,  riuf;  (//.),  i.  2h6. 

,  early,  ii.  244-240. 

Mimkey,  h^ptiaii,  ii.  190. 
Monkey  g.itheriui;  fruit  (iZ.),  I  882. 

,  aicmi.  iii.  2.'»8,  209. 

MoniJithic  eilit1e<' brought  from  Klephantine 

to  Kui*,  i.  127. 
Monofmly  of  the  OoTemment  in  papyrus, 

ii.  179. 
M*m9tnm$  aniinaU  U.\  ii.  93. 
Miihth*,  name  .aid  diiratiou  of  the,  it  86S- 

374. 
lf<mifmm/ji,  oldest,  i.  13. 

of  thf  Si.fplitr«l  kin^s,atTanis,  i.  10. 

,  li»iii  of  I  arly  kiii|;ii  fnim  the,  i.  80,  31. 

,  liiiitttrv  from  the,  defective  after  Ka- 

lueMii  III.',  i.  t'lU. 
./ifWi  .»f  the  *JOth  to  the  23rd  Dynasty 

with  daU-a,  i.  •.M».91. 
— ~  en  cre-l  by  I'nanuiiiitichut,  1.  103. 
en<ct4«l  tiirouglMMit  Kgypt  by  Amaaii, 

i.  127.  I2H. 
^—  of  thi-  n'ik'M  "f  NiN-tunelio,  i.  139. 
iVof»fi,tlH',  a  nialeiieity  in  F:gy|it,iii.39, 105. 

—  ,  wor^lii|i  of  the,  iii.  47. 

|>i'rsi»nirte«l  l»y  l'h«in%  iii.  175. 

.  fei*ll\ali«  of  the,  ill.  3;.'i. 

Mom,  |;aiii«-  of  (r7.  .  i.  32 :  ii.  .Vi. 
Moriare,  ftoundin*.:  sulMtmiceii  in    U.\  ii. 

20:i,  *2S\\. 
Mottiir  work  in  >;l.iii.<s  ii.  141*. 
Mourner,  a  |M^'iiliur  utieiidant  or,  at  fune- 

raU   il  Kill    4IU. 
Mtmrnintj  t.ir  u  kiitir.  i-  107,  1<*8. 

,  cii^tiiniM  u-*-*!  in,  iii.  423. 

MuleM,  UM.  ..f.  1    I'Mk  2:^7. 

Mulqnfn,  or  «iiid  vaiK-ndT),  i.  *XXSt,  3'»1. 

Mummie*,   ««N*nin-u<H)    of,    of    the    hip|»*»- 

|»i*tjiniu%  lii.  2'.*7. 

<»f  tin*  l'»wt  r  onleri*.  iii.  43rt. 

,  \:iriou^  Mirt-*  of,  iii.  177-ISO. 

«>f  b'liU  un«i  o  'W^  at  Tbetiea,  iii.  800. 

—      -     of  i  UVkkl*.   II!.   'Ml. 

JfNiHtHv  |>i*>  >;;■  d  for  di'bts,  i.  311. 
• —  -  r\>»\\\.  iiinnufiirturi*  and  (|UMlitT  of  the, 
il    II    UVA 

—  -  lonii  "t  rtnli,  iii.  It',. 

,  NrAici*  iitmI  cin-m 'H^^  b»»fore  the 

(ii).  ill.  4.13,  428,  429. 

•21. 


014 


INBEiX. 


MunmuL  convgymoe  ot;  in  m  dedge,  to  the 

tomb  (a.X  iii.  489. 
somettmai  kopt  in  tho  hooM,  iii 

432,488. 

intradnoed  at  tetiTitioi,  A. 

^inttanoeofonenoilNDledfoayew, 

4b. 
in  e  doMl  wi^  open  pmmI  (AXiii. 

445 
,  metfaodi  of  propetiug  (AX  iii-  474* 

478. 

cMes  (AX  iii  487-480. 

Mmmmvmit  interior  of  e»  or  iepoloiiiml 

ehiimber,  et  Thebee  (a.X  iii  487. 
If«rti0r,  Uw  of;  i  802» ««. 
Murrhine  Tieee,  ii  158. 
IftMio,  miUtBvy,  i  197. 

need  el  enteiieioniflnts  (AX  i  481. 

1  duueoter  of  tlie  Egyptian,  their 

•tady  and  fondneae  of,  Tailona  inetm- 

mento  (AX  i  481-500. 

and  dancing  at  a  party  (AX  ii  87. 

^  nee  of,  in  oeKmonlee,  Ui.  884, 885. 

— -^  coat  of  instrumente  ot^  i  455. 

eoale  of  pipee,  i  488. 

JftMioiant,  hired  (AX  i  489, 448. 
IftMtord,  onltlTBtion  ui;  ii  408, 410. 
IffU, or  TmaUf  goddeee;  one  of  the  llieban 

triad,  ii  484, 518. 

in  a  triad  (AX  ii  511. 

- — ,  woRBhip  of  (AX  iii  81-84. 

,  connection  of  Bekhet  with,  iii  89. 

IfyeertniM,  hietory  of  hie  reign,  i  85,  88. 

,  festival  of  the  danghter  of,  iii  882. 

Myoa  Hormos,  port  ot  i  152. 

MyoiotUt  peculiar  uae  of  the  juice  of  the, 

ii.  413. 
Myrchalanum,  plant  producing,  ii.  404. 

ri'presented  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 

Myrtle,  cultivation  of,  ii.  408. 
Mysteries,  importance  of  the  divine,  L  174. 
,  initiation  into,  iii.  887. 

,  Eleusinian,  iii.  389-395. 

Mythological  fables  and  tales,  origin  and 

inconsistency  of,  ii.  498,  499. 


Nahamua,  goddess,  history  and  mythology 

nf(i7.),  iii.  229,230. 
Nnhr-eUKelb,  stele  at,  L  66,  67. 
Xames  of  ancient  kings,  numerous  (t7.), 

ii.  273-276. 
2<apaia,  or  Gebel  Berkel,  site  and  ruins  of, 

i.  41. 
,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Chnoumis, 

111.  0. 
Napkin,  method  of  carrying  a  (A),  iii.  430. 
Nat,  or  Neiih,  goddess  (A),  iiL  39-42. 

,  see  Neith. 

NaMcratis,  rise  of,  i.  123. 

Naval  constructor,  statue  of  a  royal,  ii.  227. 

engagements,  L  275-277. 


NwdoaiiUm^  crigin  end  pwgieee  id,  ii  tl7, 

JV^flMolm,  a  goddeee  (AX  iB.  158. 

^,hiitoryof(AXiii8ie,21& 

yebudbadmiier,  ▼ietotiee  ol^  i  I18L 

— »,  hietoiT  of  hie  BgyptiMi  eonaoeilii  i 

119. 

^e&lN^  a  form  of  Neith.  iii  181. 

^  an  inferior  goddeee  (AX  iii  M^ 

240, 

JNadMo,  Bite  end  trade  of;  i  15a 
ITdflAo,  Toyage  of  dieoofeiT  iltted  eel  byt 

ii288. 
Jfedbo  JX,  hialoiy  oChie  i^fli»  i  188L 
IToaUaest,  Tarfooe  fonne  ana  waeeitMel 

(AX  ii  848, 844. 
Nmiktmbt^  hietory  of  hie  leign*  i  189. 
N^Oamko  lU  hietory  of  hie  leign,  i  141. 
Neadlat  (AX  ii  849. 

id^  (AX  tS^  180, 181. 
il^er40fp,  n  neme  of  the  god  Obooi,  iiL 

N^^ro  fbatoiee  of  Amenophie  IIL,  i  41 

nalkme  jobdned,  i  W^  961. 

ilTettafit,  Prinoeei,  hietory  of,  i  189. 

JNeilik,  the  goddeei  of  8eb»  i  84. 

pieiliiee  over  tiie  nimr  heraiw>h«et 

iii  89. 
,  the  Egyptian  KOnerrai  hjakify  eai 

mythe  of^X  iii  88-44. 
» hiYentaroet  (^  the  artoCirasflnft& 

48. 

,  one  of  the  Thehan  triad,  ih. 

,  example  of  her  represontatian  (tL), 

iii.  152. 

,  peculiar  form  of  (AX  iii.  228. 

,  vulture  sacred  to,  iiL  812. 

-,  ceremonies  o^  at  Sais,  iii  377, 380, 


381. 

Nepenthes,  history  and  cultivation  of  the, 
ii.  412. 

Nephthys,  goddess,   in  oombinati<»  with 
Ptah  and  Isis  (AX  iii  20. 

,  birth  of,  iii  61. 

,  myths  of,  iii  75-77. 

(or  Nebia),  history,  myths,  and  wor- 
ship of  (AX  iii  155-157. 

Net'inaking  (AX  ii  170. 

Nets  used  in  hunting,  ii  80-S2. 

,  fishing  (AX  ii  102. 

used  iu  bird-catching  (AX  ii  103, 

109-111. 

for  landing  fish  (AX  ii  117. 


NeUing-needles  (A),  ii  175. 

Nile,  river;  inhabitants  of  the  valley  of 
the,  i  2. 

,  extent  of,  in  ancient  timee,  i  6, 7. 

,  deposits  of  the,  i  8. 

,  ooui-se  of,  diverted,  i  61. 

,  mystical  interpretation  of  the  inun- 
dation of  the,  iii  79. 

,  incense  burnt  at  the  festival  of  ths 


inundation  of  the  (AX  iii  899. 


INDEX. 


515 


HILOA. 

NUoa.  or  festival  of  invooation  of -the  Nile, 
iiL  369,  870. 

NUomeUry  measuremeDts  involved  in  the, 
IL  382--385. 

,  uses  of  the,  iL  434. 

,  evidence  of  the  gradual  change  of 

level  indicated  by  that  of  Elephantine, 
ii.  433. 

Nilut^  or  JTapi,  deity ;  history  and  mytho- 
logy of  (O-X  iii.  206-210. 

Nishim,  lady  of  Eileithyia,  inscription  con- 
cerning her  (tZ.),  iiL  137. 

— ,  the  Egyptian  Lueina  (iL),  iii.  194- 
198. 

NitoerU,  Queen;  description  of,  i.  19. 

,  history  of,  i.  62. 

Nomareh$j  election,  constitution  and  autho- 
rity of,  L  98-100. 

,  office  of,  L  326,  327. 

Namett  or  provinces  of  Egypt,  L   97-99, 
325. 

,  their  government  by  nomarchs,  ii. 

387, 

N0096,  or  lasso,  used  in  the  chase  (tZ.),  ii.  87. 

Sifregj  or  threshing  implement  (iZ.),  i.  408. 

,  tlie  com  drag  of  modem  Egypt,  iL 

421,  423. 

Notegays  held  bv  the  god  Bes  (t7.),  iiL  149. 

JVbiei,  cutting  off  of,  i.  308. 

NoUuriM  (a.),  L  285,  286. 

^tt,  the  primordial  water,  myth  of,  iL  500. 

,  myths  connected  with,  iiL  161. 

NubitL,  wars  of  Rameses  sculptured  on  the 
temples  of,  i.  47. 

,  extent  and  ancient  condition  of,  i« 

149. 

— — ,  nature  of  the  valley  of,  ii.  438,  439. 

Kubti,  god ;  history,  myths,  and  worship  of 
(tZ.),  uL  134-140, 145. 

,  an  equivalent  of  AntaBus,  iii.  238. 

Numberij  mystic,  ii.  489,  494. 

,  method  of  notation,  ii,  489,  490. 

,  modem  symbolism  applied  to,  ii.  493. 

Nut,  goddess,  on  a  sarcophagus  (ilX  iL 
359. 

,  myths  conceming,  iii.  61. 

,  mythology  and  worship  of  ((l.\  iii. 

62-64. 

,  legends  concerning,  iiL  136. 

,  her  connection  with  Lueina,  iii.  198, 

194. 

Nutpe,  goddess,  in  a  triad  at  Silsilis,  iiL 
147. 


0. 


Oaky  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  405. 

Oitrij  use  of,  IL  217. 

Ohms,  nature  of  the  soil  in  the,  iL  439-441. 

OatiSf  ram-headed  Chnoumis  worshipped 

in  the,  iii.  2. 
OMitk  at  ilcliopolis,  i.  32. 

of  glass,  iL  146. 

,  a  broken,  abandoned  at  Syene,  ii.  30^ 


OBACL& 

OhelUk  on  a  pectoral  plate  (tZX  iii.  240. 
Obeiitks^  various,  erected  by  Queen  Hatasu, 

L37. 

erected  by  Thothmes  III.,  L  40. 

erected  by  Meneptah,  L  51. 

set  up  by  Sesostns,  L  69. 

,  occurrence  of,  in  villas  (t'Z.),  i.  365, 

366. 

,  construction  of,  ii.  138. 

,  history  oC  iL  307,  308. 

,  transport  of,  iL  309. 

,  dedication  of,  iiL  50. 

,  figures  on  the  apex  of,  iii.  861. 

QfenceSf  various,  with  punishments,  i.  307, 

308. 
Ojferingty  variety  of,  L  180,  181. 

of  onions  (tZ.X  i.  181. 

of  onions  to  deceased  parents  (JLX  ii. 

515. 

,  Jewish,  ii.  465-467. 

,  stands  for  (Jl.y,  iiL  408. 

,  variety  of  (iZ.),  iii.  413-422,  429. 

by  kings  (tl),  iiL  415. 

,  variety  and  costly  nature  of,  iii.  420, 

421. 

at  funerals,  iii.  427. 

^-^  sculptured  on  an  altar  (»Z.),  iii.  430. 
-,  various,  placed  on  tables  in  tombs 


(iL),  iiL  432,  433. 

OffieeTy  seated  figure  of  an  (<(.),  ii.  p.  zii. 

Offieen  of  the  household  (iC.),  L  197. 

of  the  court,  L  324. 

of  the  empire,  i.  328. 

00,  vegetables  yielding,  iL  399,  400,  408- 
413. 

J  offerings  of  (iZ.),  iii.  415,  419. 

,  mummies  anointed  with  (iL),  iii. 

429,  430. 

Ointment,  variety  of,  ii.  845, 346. 

of  Trigonella,  iL  399. 

frum  a  vaae  in  Alnwick  Castle,  iL  401. 

,  offerings  of,  iii.  419,  420. 

Old  age,  respect  for,  L  321. 

Olive,  cultivation  of  the,  iL  406. 

represented  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 

OmboB,  triads  of,  iL  513. 

,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Set,  iii.  145. 

,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Taur  and  Apt, 

iiL  145,  147. 

OvMM,  belief  in,  iL  456 ;  iii.  386. 

Onione  tied  up  for  offerings  (xL),  L  181. 

offered  by  a  priest  to  deceased  parents 

(iL),  L  515. 

used  in  food  and  offerings,  but  for- 
bidden to  priests,  iL  25. 

,  uses  of,  ii.  25,  26. 

,  cultivation  of.  ii.  402,  403,  409. 

treated  as  deities,  iii.  350. 

,  use  of  (iL),  iiL  419. 

Onka^  Onk,or  Ank,  appellation  of  Mintrva 

and  Neith,  iii.  41. 
Onide  of  lAmna  at  Butos,  i.  85, 100 ;  ill 

31-33,  \^ 
— •  ««u5^^^a  ol  AP»  as  s^n.  m.  93, 


516 


INDIX 


7AmR». 


OrmiM,  beUef  in,  ii  461-463. 

. ,  bistorr  of,  iL  464. 

Orehatds  (d.),  i.  879-881. 

Ordeal  imdwgoiie  hj  the  ted»  iiL  459- 

461. 
OHgomm,  Twieiiet  ot  IL  409, 410. 
OnioiiMii(«Z  pow«n  or  the  BgyptiAas  i 

874. 
OnuMMiiif,  pefBonal,  of  fli»  Bebiit  L  251. 

of  gold,  it  886, 287. 

Oi|iJb0iit,  his  vpkaok  of  mmhi^  ii  487. 
OrMc  mnUm,  M  asplained  bj  Fridittd, 

fi.509. 
Orfx,  or  goftt  (O.^  it  90, 92. 
— -,  desoriptkm  of  the,  il  94;  iii  960, 

802,808. 
OOmotmeiii^  the  modeni  HemopoUiy  ili. 

165, 166. 
Mratf,  see  Set!  L 
OdrU^  the  god;  gieftt  rwpeot  te,  M  ft 

ruler,  L  12. 
^,  figure  of,  exhibited  to  goeits  (fL\  a 

51. 
rr*— » oeremoiij'  of,  deioribed,  A. 
-^— ,  ch&moter  of  the  worship  o(  ii.  480. 
hie  nature  and  appeUanoof,  ib. 
one  of  the  Philn  triad,  iL  484. 
,  apeoially  worshipped  atPhils,  ii  486. 

— ,  ciiaracter  and  hisiboqr  of,  ii  486, 487. 

— ,  the  primal  oanse,  U.  489. 

— ,  restored  to  Ai^  byOhaoniaiS|iiL7. 

— ,  attribntes  oi^  taken  oeosaionaUx  bj 

Amen,  iii  9. 

— ,  oonnected  with  Khem,  iii  28. 

— ,  derivation   of   Greek   legends  from 

those  of,  iii.  29. 

— ,  birth  of,  iii.  61. 

— ,  destruction  of,  by  Typho,  iii.  75-77. 

— ,  history,  emblems,  myths,  and  worship 

of  {il.\  iu.  r,5-86. 

— ,  under  form  of  the  Apis  (t7.),  iii  86- 

98. 

— ,  relation  of,  to  Isis,  iii.  101-104, 113. 

— ,  duties  of,  in  Amenti,  iii.  126. 

— ,  in  connection  with  Nephthys,  iii.  156. 

— ,  connected  with  Annbis,  iii  157-161. 

— ,  his  sous  Anubis  andMacedo,  iii.  161. 

— ^  protected  by  Isis  (tf.),  iii.  225. 

— ,  Ids  character  as  Ras  (il.),  iii.  232. 
-,  ceremonies  connected  with  the  myth 


of,  iii.  372,  373,  375,  376,  382-384. 

—  sitting  iu  judgment  (il.),  iii.  466-470. 

-,  figures  relating  to  the  worship  of 


(U.),  iii.  492. 
Osiris  Tai,  called  Sept,  father  of  the  gods 

07.),  iii.  82. 
Osorcho,  the  Egyptian  Hercules,  i.  23. 
Ostrich^  with  feathers  and  eggs  (tf.),  i  288 ; 

iii.  257. 
Ostriches  (il),  ii.  92. 
Osymandyas,  a  Theban  monarch,  according 

to  Diodorus,  i.  16. 

,  history  of  his  reign,  i.  73-75. 

,  tomb  of,  t6. 


atlrflnitw  of 


Oflsr,  amimt  of  tfie,  iii  858^  278. 
Ottomans,  or  oomebea  {fL\  L  4l6i 
Oeflw  for  halehing  eggn  (AX  ii  490L 
Oisli,  Botioe  of,  in  Eggrpt,  iU.  817,  U& 
OflB,  Indisn  or  hmnped  (tL),  Ii  90l 

the,  la  80&-806. 

^,8aerifioeofthe^iii40a-406. 

,  wild :  eai^t  wttb  law  (O-X  ii  87. 
•,  diaeed  with  bow  and  •mm  (fl^  ii 

89. 
Obbmi  treading  out  oom(AX  ^  41IMH. 

^,  wild,  figms  of  (0.^^96, 92. 

Cto-ear,  with  Ethio]^  pvineeia  (fL),  i 

285. 
OsBftsrd,  deformed  (iiX  ^  ^^ 
Otikm^  held  in  eonteiiipi>  Aw 
OM^JbyndWis,  a  saerad  fish  (4L)bliL8l0- 


PaomyZtfa,  festtval  so  termed,  iii  8791 
FoM  and  eoloiiii,  eompoiittoii  eiL  M.  287, 

288. 
FaMed  arohiteetnre  and  IslMdle  teob- 

tiiie,ii285. 

Po^iAia  the  foc^  foBoato  eoatoBieit  ii8l7, 
848. 

of  Taaee,  ii  155. 

PotaMngs  in  tombs,  iii  485. 

Pdlanqwn  (tZ.),  i  421. 

PdUaktdes  of  Amen,  i.  169. 

of  Jupiter,  ii.  496. 

Palm  of  Thebes,  uses  of  the  (fZ.X  i  400. 

trees  (U.),  i  378. 

,  occurrence  of  the,  i  398. 

wine  from  the,  i.  397, 

,  sacred  symbolism  of  the,  iii  851. 

branches  strewn  at  funerals  (iL),  iii. 

451. 

Pcdma,  cultiyation  of  the,  ii  404, 405. 

Pan  identified  with  Khem,  iii  186, 187. 

Paneb-ta,  myth  of  (fl.),  iu.  176,  177. 

Panegyries,  ceremony  of  the,  iii  186. 

Panelled  walls  (U.),  i.  368. 

Pannier  on  two  asaes  (U.),  i  287. 

Panopdis,  Beat  of  the  worship  of  Thriphif  i 
iii.  27. 

Panther,  account  of  the,  iii  259,  293. 

Pantomimic  representations,  i  455,  510. 

Paper,  manufacture  of,  ii.  179-182. 

Papi,  name  of  (tV.),  ii  275,  276. 

Papremis,  sham  fight  at,  ii.  75. 

,  festivals  at,  ui.  377,  881. 

,  forms  of  worship  at,  iii  147. 

Papyrus,  chaplets  of,  l  403. 

,  eating  of,  ii.  25. 

,  flowers  of,  on  boxes  (tL\  ii  14. 

^^,  uses  of  the,  ii.  121. 

^— ,  cultivation,  varieties,  nsea,  and  manu- 
facture of,  ii  179-182,  408»  406. 


INDEX. 


517 


PAPYBU6. 

Papyrus,  canoes  made  of  (tL),  ii  208. 

,8aiLiof(a.),  ii.  221. 

,  offerings  of  (t7.),  iii.  418. 

Parasol,  or  fly-flap,  Persian  {il.\  i.  422. 
Parchment^  antiquity  of,  ii.  182. 

,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  ii.  183. 

Parks,  i.  406. 

Party  of  ladies  (f7.\  i.  393. 

,  man  carried  home  from  a  (tZ.),  i.  394. 

Parties  and  social  entertainments  (t^),  ii. 

86-40. 
Pa<hU  now  more  properly  Stkhet,  a  god- 

debs,  iii.  39. 
PassporU,  i.  300.  301. 
Pastrycooks  (iL),  ii.  33,  34. 
Patarbemis,  an  Egyptian  courtier,  tragic 

history  of,  i.  116. 
Pathyris^  a  part  of  Thebes,  origin  of  the 

name,  iii.  115. 
Pattenis  from  ceilinjECs  (tV.),  i.  362. 

of  chair-seats  {U.),  i.  414,  415. 

of  loom  stuffj),  ii.  166. 

Paur,  or  Poser,  investiture  of  (il.),  iii  371. 
Pautiiouphis,  a  tiUe  of  Thoth,  iii  169, 

170. 
Pavilion  of  Barneses  III.   at   Medeenet 

Haboo  (a.),  ii.  4.')4. 
Pe,  goddess,  history  and  mythology  of,  iii. 

205,  206. 
Peace  offering^  Jewish,  iii.  413. 
Peachy  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  405. 
Peqs,  musical,  i.  454. 
Pelicans  (fl.),  ii.  102. 

,  account  of,  iii.  328. 

PeUices,  or  Pallakides,  of  Amen,  i.  169. 

of  Jupiter,  ii.  496. 

Pe/uamin,  surrender  of,  to  Persia,  i.  141. 
People,  sacerdotal  influence  over  the,  i. 

177. 
Persea-treCy  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  406,  414. 

,  n?presented  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 

— ,  sacred  to  Athur,  iii.  119. 
Persepditan  t)gure8  in  variety  of  dress  and 

armour  (i7.),  L  248. 
Persian  kings  of  Egypt,  1.  24,  25. 

dynasty  of  Egypt,  i.  133. 

dynasty,  list  of  the,  i.  142. 

nation  foiled  in  the  attempt  to  sub- 
jugate Egypt,  i.  139. 

car  {it),  i.  241. 

chief  (il.),  I  422. 

head-dress  {il,\  i.  247. 

oracles  of  Zoroaster,  trinity  firom, 

ii.  488. 

saddle  (iZ.X  i.  238. 


people 


Persians,  softness  of  the  skulls  of  the,  ii 

332. 
Personal   charaoteristlcfl   of   the 

registered,  i.  301. 
Phagrus,  a  auored  eel,  iii  342. 
Phalanx  of  infantry  <«.),  i.  194. 

of  the  Khita  («.X  i-  257. 

Phallic  monuments  set  up,  i.  20. 
figures,  iii  379. 


PIP£8. 

PJmUus  of  Osiriit,  myth  of  the  consecra- 
tion of  the,  iii.  77. 

Phanes  of  Ualicamussus,  account  of,  i.  180, 
131. 

,  an  Orphic  deity,  ii.  487. 

Pharaoh,   signification  and  philology   of 
the  name,  i.  31. 

,  etymology  of  the  namo,  iii.  44, 54, 127. 

Phereeydes  of  Sidon,  tlie  Trinity  of,  ii.  488. 

Philx,  triad  of  deities  worshipped  at,  ii. 
484,  513. 

,  Osiris  specially  vonerato*!  at,  ii.  486. 

,  representation  of  Chnoumis  at,  iii.  7. 

,  myth  of  Osiris  and  his  sepulchre  at, 

iii.  84,  85. 

,  seat  of  the  worship  of  Isis,  iii.  113. 

,  worship  of  Nilus  at,  iii.  209. 

-,  hawk  of,  iii.  315. 


Philoteras,  port  of,  i.  33. 

,  site  and  uses  of  the  port  of,  i.  151. 

Phcenician  sailors  double  the  Gape  of  Good 

Hope,  ii.  228. 
Phcenicians  encouraged  by  Psammutichus, 

i.  107. 
,  voyage  of  discovery  bv,  along  the 

African  coast,  i.  108,  109. 

,  tin  trade  of  the,  ii.  229-232. 

,    their    mythology    compared    with 

Egyptian  Pantheon,  it  483. 
-,  their  Trinity,  ii.  488. 


Phcenix,  or  Bennu  (t7.),  ii.  135. 

painted  on  sails,  ii.  226. 

,  history  of  the  legends  respecting, 

iii.  55-58. 
-,  first  of  fabulous  birds,  iii.  328. 


Phrygian  language,  experiment   demon- 
strating the  antiquity  of  the,  i.  106, 107. 
Physicians,  employment  and  skill  of,   ii. 

354,  355. 
Pictorial  representations,  origin  of,  ii.  266, 

267. 
Pieischnumn  (Dr.),  his  history  of  Hermes 

Trismegifetus,  iii.  171. 
Pigeon,  use  of  the,  in  coronation  ceremonies, 

iii.  320. 

,  favourite  food  of  Egyptians,  ib. 

Pigs  (il),  ii.  100. 

sacrificed  to  the  Moon  and  Bacchus, 

ii.  467 ;  iii.  375. 

,  account  of,  iii.  259,  297-299. 

in  the  barque  of  Gluttony  (il.),  iii. 

467. 

,  method  of  pasturing,  ii.  394. 

,  the  fiesh  of,  forbidden  to  priests,  i. 

179. 
Pillar  of  wood,  unknown  ceremony  of  the 

(il),  iii.  424. 
PiUoir,  or  head  rest  (t7.),  i.  419. 

,  description  of  the,  i.  186. 

•  various  forms  of,  in  alabaster  (H), 

il43. 
PtiM  (il.\  ii.  349. 

Pipes,  double  til)'  various,  i.  436,  438- 
4*1.  48'J,  ^c)0. 


518 


Index 


PLAOUBL 

Pfa^MM  in  Egjvt,  i  17. 

niet  or  miooflier,  for  preniiigokitii  (tL), 

iL  175. 
Pluneff  dedicated  id  certain  deitiee,  iii.  49. 
Fhm  of  hovM  (a.),  L  8i5, 84a 
FlamU  introduced  into  Effypt,  i  IM. 
-j^—  need  in  tanning  anooittiiig  akine,  iL 

186, 190. 

wild  and  field,  great  variety  of^  ii* 

408. 

— ,  on1ti?ated,  tabular  eynqpiia  o^  iL 

404-^18. 

illufltratiims  of;  ii.  418. 

,  list  of  aacred,  iil.  206, 

PIolo,  trinity  of,  ii.  488. 

~— ,  religious  dootrinea  and  mtema  oi^ 

M  606^508,  510. 
FlMmre  hoot  (O.),  iL  212. 
FUdrum,  uae  of  the  (0.%  L  476. 
FieOnrum,  a  measure  of  length,  L  74. 
JPfjmtf,  expression  of,  concerning  Sthiopia, 

— .  his  account  of  Egyptian  pknts,  iL 

404-^18. 
Pltmgh,  use  of  the  («Z.),  ii.  ^0,  891, 896. 
— ,  form  and  construction  of  the  (flX  iL 

891—8^ 
FhOar^  trinity  of;  ii.  488. 
9  account  oy,  of  the  birth  of  the 

diildren  of  Saturn,  ilL  61. 
PhUo^  connection  of,  with  8wr^[iiiib  iiL  95, 


PoU-axe$  (tlX  L  216. 

PolUical  chawfu,  i.  829. 

Polycrates  of  SamoSt  history  of,  i.  124-126. 

,  friendiihip  of,  with  King  Amasis,  ib. 

Polygamy^  notice  of,  i.  818. 
P(miegranate'iree  {il.\  i.  876. 

represented  in  tombH,  ii.  413, 

Pond  in  a  garden  (t7.),  ii.  212. 
Poppy*  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  399,  410. 
Popwation,  statistics  of,  i.  145. 

,  conditions  of  yarious  classes  of,  i. 

156. 
Porcelain  drinking-cup  (iZ.),  ii.  7. 

vases,  shapes  and  colours  of,  iL  11. 

vases  and  cups  (t7.),  ii.  12. 

draughtmen  (t7.),  ii.  56. 

,  manufacture  of,  ii.  150. 

Porch  {iL),  i.  846.  347. 

Porcupine  to  stock  preserves  (t7.),  iL  88, 

86. 

,  figures  of  (il.),  ii  90.  92. 

,  not  an  Egyptian  animal,  ii.  95. 

,  not  a  sacred  unin^al,  iii.  259,  2^4. 

Port  of  Philoteras,  foundHtion  of  the,  i.  33. 
Ports  of  the  Red  Sea,  i.  151-153. 

,  commerce  of  the,  ii.  229. 

Potsherdgy  documents  written  on,  iL  183. 

Potters,  numerous,  iL  190. 

— ,  employment  and  skill  of  (tl.),  ii. 

191-194. 
Potter  S'tpheeU  history  and  use  of  the  (tl),  I 

iL  191,  192.  I 


Po«tt0rw<s  shop  (iL),  L  864. 
PoMUenn  (fL),  L  2&,  290, 898. 
PimUrpt  mode  of  rearing,  &  lOt. 
Founts  Somalt  or  South-Baitem  AftieaM 

(iLXL  246. 

< ^  character  and  coatnme  of  tbe»  i  198. 

— ,  tribute  brought  by  the,  L  252. 
•<^— ,  wars  with  the  foreignera  o(  L  SSi 
Pirestfoas  jtofMt,  hM;a  of  (£),  ^  8; 
PT€togaii9e$  of  prieats,  L  172. 
Prmm^U  made  br  Anuisia  to  Qieek  deities, 

L128. 
Presariws  of  wild  animsia,  L  407. 
Prtfopiit,  notice  coDceming,  i.  40^405. 
— — ,  the  equivalent  to  the  Qoi  Khen, 

iiL  22. 
PfMotid  (/.  C),  his  ramaiki  on  tansn 

saerifioea,  iiL  402. 
Prisstf ,  rank  and  Amcticna  of  the»  L  168, 

169. 

,  extent  of  their  Influenoe,  L  178. 

f  fhigality  of  the,  L  179. 

1  numage  of,  L  818. 

— — ,  study  of  music  by  the»  L  444^ 

offering  inoenae  (UX  L  488. 

,foodof,iL25.  ^ 

-^ — ^  costume  of  (iLX  <L  82i. 

withwa]l^ig4ticka(a),iL889L 

— — ,  creed  of;  unknown  to  the  genenl 

body  of  the  v&opki,  U.  471. 
^,  seoreoy  of  tlM,  in  mattan  of  doctrine 

and  belief  iL  478,47a 
offering  onions  to  deceased  pannti 

(ilX  ii-  515. 

of  Heliopolis,  i!L  54,  55. 

watering  the  sacred  tamarisk  (tlX 

iii.  350. 

,  duties  of,  in  processions,  iii.  854-358. 

,   various  ceremonies   performed  by 


the  (i7.).  iu.  423. 

— ,  ceremonies  of;  at  funerals  (iZ.),  iiL 

428-430. 

collections  made  to  defray  funeral 


expenses  of,  iiL  431. 
,  funeral  procession  of  royal  scribe 

(a.),  iii.  447. 
Priesiesses  of  Amen,  1.  169. 
Primeval  history  of  Egypt,  L  11. 
Prince,  the  son  of  Barneses,  in  a  chariot 

(iL%  L  224. 
Princes,  duties  of,  i.  49,  50. 

distinguisbed  by  their  attire,  L  162, 


163. 


in  chariots  (il),  i.  228. 
head-dresses  of  (tZ.),  iL  825. 


Princesses  educated  by  priests,  iiL  447. 
Prisoners  of  Tirhukah  (tl),  i.  253. 
Processions,  various  characters  of  the  (iL), 

iii.  354  et  seq. 
Prophecies  concerning  Egypt,  i.  114, 115. 
,  fulfilment  of,  against  Egypt,  L  118, 

119, 122. 
Prophets,  class  of;  i.  173. 
Propylmon  (t'L),  L  p.  ziy. 


INDEX. 


519 


PBOPYUBCM. 

Propylxum  at  Sal's  in  honour  of  Minerva, 
i.  127. 

Protopitis^  island  of,  sacred  cattle  interred 
in  the.  iii.  109.  110,  249. 

Prosperity  of  Egypt  under  Amasis,  i.  121. 

ProttittUion  of  priestessed,  alleged,  i.  171. 

,  see  Pallakides. 

Proteus,  or  Ckies,  history  of  his  reign,  i.  79, 
80. 

Provinces,  division  of,  i.  325. 

Prudhoe  (Lord%  lions  from  Napata  in  the 
possession  of,  i.  41. 

,  his  theory  of  the  Exodns,  L  53-55. 

PsammcUichus,  legend  of,  i.  100. 

erects  the  Apis  temple  at  Memphis, 

iii.  89. 

Psammatichus  II.,  history  of  his  reig^,  i. 
113.114. 

PMmmatichus  III^  or  Psammeniius,  his- 
tory of  hu)  reign,  i.  131. 

Psammatichus  Jr., history  of  his  reign,  i.  1 36. 

Psdcis,  the  land  of  Pdelk,  now  Dakkeh, 
temple  of,  iii.  169. 

PseUus,  his  ooufosed  notions  of  Thoth,  iii. 
165. 

PtoA.  temple  of,  at  Memphis,  L  62,  63. 

,  temple  of,  adoroed  by  Sesostris.  i.  69. 

,  temple  of.  vestibule  erected  by  Psam- 
matichus, L  104. 

,  deformed,  but  the   creator  of  the 

world,  ii.  472. 

•— ' ,  his  position  in  the  Orphic  philosq)hy, 
ii.  509. 
-,  mythological  account  of  (il.),  liL  14- 


22. 


,  associated  with  Bast,  iiL  37. 

,  figure  of  (t7.),  iii.  152. 

Ptali'Soeharis-OsiriSy  natnre  of  the  worship 

of  {H.%  iii.  17-20,  23,  528. 

,  connected  with  Apia,  iii.  94. 

,  ceremony  of  the  tK>at  of,  iii  372,  873. 

Pthahmen  Septhah^  history  of  his   reign, 

L  55, 66. 
Ptolemaic  period,  style  of  the  scnlptnres  of 

the,  iL  291. 
Ptolemy  Soter,  history  of  his  introdootion 

of  the  worship  of  Sarapis,  iii.  95. 
Public  weighers  (il),  L  285. 
Pulleys,  use  of,  in  rigging  (iZ.),  ii.  225. 
Pulse,  varieties  of,  cultivated,  ii.  398. 
Pulusata,  captives  of  the  tribe  oL  on  a  vase 

(0.),  iL  6. 

.  captives  of  the,  iL  220. 

PunishmeiU,  forms  of;  L  273,  302-811. 

—  of  sacred  animals,  iiL  247. 

Pyramid  of  Zuwairet  el  Arrian,  stone  saw 

found  at  the,  L  4 ;  ii.  261. 

of  Gephren,  L  85. 

of  Myoeriuus,  i.  85,  86. 

of  Asychis,  i.  87,  88. 

at  Atisur,  in  Nubia  (iZ.),  iii.  1. 

,  btep-shaped.  at  Saqqara,  iii.  94. 

Pyramids  dunug  inundation,  view  of  (il,\ 

i.1. 


BAMESK8  UI. 

Pyramids,  date  of  the,  i.  14. 

,  number  of  the,  L  13. 

,  builders  of  the,  i.  16,  17. 

built  bv  various  early  kings,  L  29. 

of  brick,  i.  36. 

built  by  Cheops,  L  13,  84,  85. 

,  brick  {ilX  iL  298-300. 

of  Gizeh.  plan  of  (il),  ii.  360, 

,  tombs  at  the,  iii.  435^. 

Pythagoras,  his  theory  of  music  and  sound, 

i.  447. 

,  doctrines  of,  ii.  508,  509. 

,  his  theories  of  transmigration  and 

emanation,  iii.  67,  68. 
Pytliaqoreans,  mystic  numbers  of  the,  iL 

490^94. 


Qahhsenuf,  a  genius  of  the  Lower  Regions 
(«.),  iii.  219-222. 

Qasr  e*Sydd,  rock-hewn  totnb  at,  ii  272. 

Qoorneh,  plain  of,  colossi  in  the,  ii.  306. 

Qoos,  site  aud  trade  of,  i.  152. 

Qitail,  account  of  the,  iiL  321. 

Quarries  of  the  Koesayr  ruad,  notice  of  the, 
L33. 

of  the  Kossayr  road,  exvotos  at,  de- 
dicated to  Khem.  iii.  26.  27. 

Quarry,  mode  of  commencing  a  (A.),  ii.  300, 
302. 

Queens  of  Barneses  the  Great  (tl.),  L  170. 


B. 

Ba,  the  sun.  universal  worship  of  (U,),  iii. 

44,45. 

,  myths  connected  with,  iiL  161. 

Bain,  duration  of,  iL  425.  426. 
Bam,  place  of,  in  Egyptian  zodiac,  iiL  805. 
Bam-headed  Chnoumiit  (t'L),  iii.  2, 3. 
Barneses  I.,  history  of  bis  reign,  L  42, 43. 
Barneses  IL,  the  Great,  history  of  his  nsign, 

i.  44-49. 

,  queens  of  (f{.X  i.  170. 

,  his  vkstories  over  the  Bebn,  L  250, 

251. 

,  number  of  his  fismily,  i  49. 

,  colossus  of,  iL  306. 

-,  attended  l^  three  deities  {(L),  iii  208. 
-,  acoompanied  to  battle  by  a  lion,  iii. 


292. 


—  holding  a  shrine  with  the  figore  of  a 
scarabnus  (tLX  iii.  846. 

crowned  by  Set  and  Horns  (tLX  ^' 


361. 


celebrating  a  festival  {{l.\  iU.  367. 


Barneses  IIL^  history  of  his  reign,  L  56-59. 

,  hia  Tiotories  over  the  Bebu,  i  250, 

251 

pU^?*^*dt»urtiU  (fl.\  it  5».  eo. 


520 


IKBSX 


m. 


HowMff  JIT.,  I^et  ot  it  82$. 

,  goldun  baikeU  from  hia  tonb  (iL), 

ii28«. 
^  pvograa  of  arl  vote  bis  feign,  ii 

277-279. 
^  dcMS^on  of  bk  pakoe  teazle  «t 

Hedeeneft  H»boo^  ii  27S-2ft9. 
^  hia  doMtioDi  of  life  itock  to  Heli- 

opolis,  ii  458. 
,  peTiiioEof;  at  Medeenefc  Haboo  (fL\ 

ii4M. 
depiction  of  the  innl  8ba  bi  tbe  tomb 

of,  at^bebet,  iii  171. 

dedieatiDg  a  pjlon  (0.).  808. 

Bammmm,  or  Bameeeeion,  tbe,  fonnmlj 

Imown  as  tbe  MeronoDium,  i.  78. 
f  BQlHeeto  relating  to  offeringe  in  iiie» 

iU.  414. 

,  060  Memnoninm. 

Aififiti,  goddess,  insoribt  d  flgore  of^  upon  a 

table  (ii),  i  418. 
— -^  ffoddesB  of  gardens,  i  404. 
,  bibtory  and  mytbology  of,  ili  212- 

214. 
Bapkanm,  onltifati'm  of;  ii  408. 
J^ot,  or  8a$,  a  obaraoter  of  Osiris  (ii),  iii 

282,283. 
Bat,  figure  of  a  ril),  ii  90. 
— ,'Sg7ptian,  iii  259,  294. 
Ba,t,  a  goddess,  aooouni  of  (iiX  ^  KW, 

288. 
JZa-fo,  goddess,  mythology  of  (it),  iii  282, 

288. 
Bats  destrriy  the  weapons  of  Sennacberib*s 

army,  i  96. 
JBaven,  Egyptian,  iii.  81 8«  819. 
Beaping,  methods  of  (it.),  ii  396,419,422, 

424.  427. 
Bebellion  of  Syria,  i.  48. 
Bebu^  or  LibyaDs,  uniform  of  (ti),  i  246. 

,  wars  of  the,  1.  250. 

,  dress  and  armour  of  the,  i  251. 

Bediiting  at  meals,  ii.  40,  41. 

BeeardSj  care  for  public,  i.  176. 

Bed  Sea^  armaments  of  fiameses  the  Great 

on  the,  i  47. 
,  inhabitants  of  the  shores  of  the,  re- 
duced by  Sesostris,  i.  65. 
Bed,  the  sacrificial  colour,  iii.  403-406. 
Bed  hair,  contempt  for,  iii.  403. 
Beed,  cultivation  of  yarietiee  of  the,  ii.  409, 

412. 

,  arrows  of  (iL\  i.  206. 

? ,  pipes  of  (t'i),  i.  486. 

BegistraUon  of  tbe  people  (i2.),  i.  800. 
B^ier,  extracts  from  his  work  on  Egypt 

under  the  Romans,  i.  836. 
Bekhmara,  tomb  of  (iZ.),  i.  88. 
Belatives,  mummies  of,  pledged  for  debts, 

i  311. 
R^tgion  instituted  by  Menes,  i.  62. 

,  worship  of  the  great  gods,  ij.  468. 

— ,  worship  of  sacred  animals^  ii  468- 

473. 


iKaU^tfim,  eailisr  Ibtm  of,  ii  471. 

,  later  forms  of,  ii  472. 

«— ,  mistakaa  ojpinleaa  of  Aa  QfeekB  en, 
ii.  478. 

symbeUo  ebeiMter  of  tbe  tanes  of 
thegodii,ti.475,47e. 
— ,  diTbie  attributes,  ii  4741. 477. 

natme  o^  and  fsasona  nr  SgypHaa 
diTine  STmboUsm,  ii.  477,  478. 
— ,  original  belief  of  Hie  aneieais  in  a 
sde  ditttj,  ii  479. 
^  nni^  <^tbe  dei^,  ii  480l 
,  ioeflUdename  of  the  dedty,  il. 
allegory  of  bis  etenuty,  ift. 
•  eksdfloatioii  of  cods.  Ii  481-484. 
— ^  great  gods,  ii  484, 511. 
— ,  mtem  of  triads,  Ii  484,  518-^18. 
—,  docbine  of  the  Trinity,  ii  485,486. 

—  oouneeted  with  tbal  of  tbe  NoaflUosl 
dispensation,  ii  488. 
— f  notions  ooDoemlBg  a  trinity,  ii  488- 
488. 

-  ,  original  notSons'of  a  deify,  tt.  491- 
498. 
— ,  allegorioal  ohaiaoter  of^  ii  500, 501. 

OQsmogony,  ii  508-608. 
.  Pbitonie  ideas  and  doetikiei,&  506, 

507. 

,  Pythagorean  doctrines,  ii.  808. 509. 

-»>,  Giesk  oonfbsion  osnoerning,  ii  510- 

512. 
,  triads  of  tariona  loeaUtlM,  Ii  818- 

515. 
Bdigiow  dances,  i  509. 

opinions  of  the  £g3rptian8,  ii.  454. 

praotioee  connected  with  meals,  iL 

49-52. 

inclination  of  the  Egyptians,  iii.  424. 

Bemai,  king,  name  of  (i/.),  ii.  275,  276. 
Bemenetiy  or  Armenians  (il. ),  i  259,  260. 
Bempi,  a  goddess  {U.\  iii.  214,  215. 
BethpUy  god;  history  and  mythology  of 

{U,\  iii.  234,  235. 
BevenvA  of  the  Egyptians,  i  150,  334. 

from  land,  ii.  387. 

BevoU  of  the  Egyptians  against  Apries, 

i.  115. 
Bhampnniivi,  history  of  his  reign,  i  81- 

85. 

and  Geres,  ii.  61. 

,  festival  of,  iii.  381. 

Bhinoooluraj  a  town  of  banished  robbers, 

i72. 

,  origin  of  the  town.  i.  808. 

Bh%u  indigenous  in  Egypt,  ii.  418. 
Bioe,  oultnration  of.  ii  402. 
Bigging,  method  of,  ii  225. 
Bing,  story  of  the  emerald  ring  of  Poly- 
crates,  i.  124-126. 
Bings  worn  by  women  (il.\  ii.  340,  341. 

,  various  specimens  of  (iL),  ii.  342, 343. 

Boada  improTed  by  Sesoetris,  i.  70. 

i elevated,  ii  432. 

Bobben  violate  the  tombs  of  the  kings,  i  60. 


INDEX. 


521 


ikOBBIBS. 

Bohben  mutilated  and  banished  to  Bhino- 

colura  bj  Actisanea,  i.  72. 
,  tale   of^    in    connection    with    the 

riches  of  Rhampfdnitus,  i.  81-84. 
Bocki  Bculptnred  with  name  of  Usertesen 

III.,  i.  83. 
of  Lyons,  near  Beitoot,  inscribed 

with  the  records  of  Barneses  the  Great, 

i.  45. 
Soman  mle  in  Eprypt,  i.  803-838. 

wioepress  (il.),  i.  385,  386. 

classification  of  gods,  ii.  481,  482. 

conceptions  concerning  Egyptian  re- 
ligion, ii.  495-497. 

ideas  concerning  Isis,  iiL  99-108. 

calculations    with    respect    to    the 

culendar,  ill.  104-107. 

notions  concerning  Athor,  iii.  111. 


Hoofing,  methods  of  (t7.X  i.  357. 

stones,  enormous  size  of,  ii.  307. 

RoomSy  description  of,  i.  347-350. 

BoWy  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  407,  410. 

Rudder,  history  of  the,  ii.  223. 

Ruiy  btatue  of  (tX),  i.  p.  zL 

Ruin  of  Egypt  by  Ochus  of  Persia,  1.  142. 

Rat-en-nu  attacked  by  Seti  I.,  i.  43,  44. 

,  chariot  of  the  (tL).  i.  285.  236. 

,  unlfonns  of  Syrians  or,  i.  246. 

,  character  and  costume  of  the,  L  254, 

255. 
,  women  of  the  {iL\  i.  272. 


Sahaco,  the  Ethiopian  king,  overnms  Egypt, 

i.  88,  89. 

,  dress  of  (tl),  ii.  327. 

Sabxan  forms  of  worship,  iii.  47,  48. 
Sabooa,  temple  built  by  Bameses  the  Qreat, 

i.  50. 
SacerdoUil  caste,  1.  157.    See  Prlesta. 
Sacred  music,  i.  467. 

,  charaoteristica  of  (tZ.),  i.  492-8. 

offices  held  by  women  {iL),  1 170. 

Saerifioee^  ii.  29. 

,  nature  of  the  (iL),  iL  457-461 ;  lit 

397. 

,  human,  to  Sati,  iii.  80. 

,  doubtftd  human,  iii  400-402. 

,  nature  of  the  early,  iii.  58-61. 

to  Isis  at  Bubastis,  iU.  108, 109. 

,  dailv,  iii  869. 

Saerifidai  parts  of  animala  (iL\  iL  410, 

459  460. 

objects,  from  a  tomb  (il),  iL  46a 

food  (tt),  iL  461. 

SaddU,  Persian  (tl.),  L  288. 
Safflower,  cultivation  of,  il  898. 

used  as  a  dye,  iL  899. 

Sailore,  L  274. 

Sails,  embroidered  {{l\  ii.  209. 

,  various  forma  of  (tl),  iL  9i^,  218, 

220-224. 


BAUCEB. 

Sails,  painted  and  embroidered,  ii.  226. 
SaiSj  embellished  by  Amasis,  i.  127. 

,  monolithic  remains  at,  ii.  306. 

,  seat  of  the  wonihip  of  Neith,  iii.  39, 40. 

,  ceremonies  at,  iii.  73,  74,  377,  380- 

384. 
Saite  dynasty,  i.  24,  93. 

,  list  of  the  kings  of,  i.  102. 

,  the  28th  Dynasty,  i.  137. 

Sak,  a  fabulous  creature  {il,\  iii.  312. 
Sale  of  land,  document  concerning,  L  301. 
Salutation,  manner  of,  iii.  425. 
Samians,  early  arts  of,  in  bronze  work,  ii. 

257. 
Samneh,  height  of  Nile  at,  L  34. 

,  temple  at,  ii.  473. 

Samos  patronised  by  Amasis,  L  123. 
Sanchoniatho,  trinity  of,  ii.  488. 
Sandals  {il),  ii.  385,  336. 
Sands,  theory  of  the  encroachments  of  the, 

i,  146.  147. 

,  encroachment  in  Nubia,  i.  149. 

,  encroachments  of  the  Libyan  desert 

of,  ii.  436.  437. 
-,  whiriwind  of  («.),  il.  136. 


Sapt,  see  Sopt. 

Saqq6ra,  tomb  at  (il),  11.  262. 

,  early  royal  tombs  at,  iL  275. 

,  Serapeum,  step-shaped  pyramid,  and 

other  recently  discovered  remains  at,  iii. 

94,  95. 
Sarapis,  Asarhapi,  or  Osiris-Apis  (H),  Hi, 

87,89. 
,  myths  of,  introduced  into  Egypt,  iiL 

95-98. 
-^— ,  nature  and  history  of  the  worship  of, 

ib. 

,  types  and  temples  oS,  iii.  95. 

,   imcertain    notions   respecting   the 


nature  of,  iiL  97. 
-,  points  of  resemblance  to  Serapis,  iiL 


97,98. 

,  statue  of,  in  glass,  iL  146. 

Sareophagi  occasionally  covered  with  glaos, 
ii.  149. 

Sarcophagus,  with  figure  of  the  goddeflB 
Nut  (if.),  ii.  859. 

covered  with  flowers,  ill.  445. 

,  varietiei  of  (H),  iii.  489-491. 

Sardinian  Confederation  defeated  by  Ba- 
meses III.,  L  58. 

Saruhen,  or  Sharon,  pursuit  of  the  Shepherd 
kings  as  far  as,  L  15. 

Sasytkes,  laws  introduced  by,  L  828. 

Sat,  a  godden,  aooonnt  of  (0.^  iii  i88, 
241. 

Saiem,  god.  notice  of  (A.),  iiL  226. 

Sati,  or  Satis,  one  of  the  triad  of  Elephan- 
tine, &0.,  iL  484,  513. 

,  goddess  (iL),  iii.  a 

•  goddeae,  eouivalent  to  Juno;  the 

mythology  and  history  of,  iii.  28-31. 

Saiwm,  origin  of,  iL  479. 

i8a«i«er  of  ^aied  waie  ^0.),  U.  42.    . 


mBEK 


gMM(iZ.),ii,401;iLS81. 
BooitHEfmimt  (AX  L  221. 
Hsolet.  QM  of  the,  ii.  246, 247. 
&»Uii94»i<f<»' (A.X  i  24a. 

^iiMortlitt,i4e. 

fibofnftmif,  MMsred  (O-X  iii  858. 

,  MMsred  mluie,  wonbiA,  and  qrmbQl* 

igm  of  (AX  Ui.  845-847. 

of  itooffk  8^  with  preoknM  metolt 

(O.).  liL  487. 

Beimiem  encoimged  by  Stifobea*  L  85. 

,  knowledge  end  pracmoel  we  d,  JL 

815-817. 

,  eerly,  it  887. 

tMght  et  HelkNMlii,  itt.  65. 

BfWvUm^  emblem  of  Belk,  iii*  844i 
ArrAaf,  oeste  of,  i  157. 

. noticed,  L  287-289. 

rpgietering  penona  (fL\  L  800^  801. 

—  xegietering  com,  i  808. 
writiDg  (0.),  ii  298. 

- — ,  ooetnme  of,  ii  824,  825. 

«-— —  superlBtending  benroBt  (fL\  IL  419, 

422. 

taking  stock  of  an  estate  (AX  ii  445. 

»*-,  onivenal  employment  of,  it  449. 

y  continoal  neceaufy  for,  ii  499. 

iSouijptere,  character  of  thai  of  the  period 

ot  Bamcaea  III.,  i  58. 

details  of  the  tomb  of  Oaymanchfai, 

i  74, 75. 

eorious  alteration  in  a,  ii  60. 
-,  ait  and  subjeoU  of  (A),  ii  262-291. 
,  progreas  of  impro?ement  in  the  art 

of,  ii.  272. 
SeuOiiana  conquered  bj  Barneses  theOreat, 

1.45. 

,  their  conditioUf  i,  45, 

,  reduced  by  SeBoetris,  i.  66. 

,  advance  Bgainst  Egypt,  i  107. 

,  car  of  the  (tl),  L  236. 

Seal  of  king  Naifaurut,  i.  136. 

,  t^acriflcial  (il.y,  Hi.  407. 

Seals  found  in  tombs  (il.\  iii.  437. 

,  uses  of,  for  doors  of  edifices,  iii  437. 

Seasofu  (tZ),  ii.  372-374. 

,  arrangements  of  the,  iii.  106. 

Seb,  or  Saturn,  god,  history  of,  ii.  499,  511. 
,  mythology  and  worship  of  (il),  iii. 

59-62. 

,  chUdren  of  (t7.X  ui.  135, 136. 

— ,  scene  representing  8eb  and  Pe,  the 

heaven  and  the  earth  (iZ.X  iii  206. 

,  a  form  of  (0.),  iii.  238,  240. 

Sebaky  or  Sonchis,  god  (tZ),  iii.  152. 
— ,  history  and  mythology  of  (tZ.X  iii 

189. 

,  account  of  (fl.X  iii.  226,  227. 

,  the  crocodile  sacred  to,  iii  329. 

Sebennyie  dynasty,  i.  25,  139. 
SebhennylttSy  temple  at,  repaired,  i  139, 140. 
8d»ritas,  or  Egyptian  deserters,  i.  105. 
Sefekhy  or    Se/ah,  goddess;    history  and 

mythology  of  (il,),  iii  202, 203. 


S^fiUL  with  Bamaaei  n.  (g.X  iii  208. 
Moyi,  idaod  oi;  aea  of  wonlito  «f  Bali, 
iii  28, 89. 

MeM,  goASeaa.  a  tMB  or  Baal  (OLX  iii  Se. 

,  n^tha  eonneelad  witin  Hi  88, 161. 

8Ab  goddeaa,  hialoiy,  wonhimand  nyflKK 

ksy  of  (O-X  iii  152, 208, 364^  844. 
Amwek,  Ihrtresa  at,  i  209. 
BmmmlkiB,  aigniflcatioBaiideQBloiili«rflia 

book  aoeallad,  iii  178. 
BmmaeheHb  ofertfaiowB  by  BefliBi^L  8Bw 
Smnq^iB  eraeta  Pyiamida,  L  IS. 
Bapi,  Sotfaia,  SopiBt,  SopH,  or  SoptlHa^ 

god,notioeof  (il.X  iii  8, 228, 288. 
/fapMMWql  J^nras  (&X  ^a.  480  488. 
SnuUmn,  earfy  eaatoaaa  connaeted  with, 

Simpmm  al  fiaqqfa,  iii  84^  8& 
—  at  Memphii^  A. 
iSSarv,  or  Selk  (iZ.X  iii  182. 
Servtmi  and  ndafaresa  (&X  i  888. 
^Sbreofilt  witti  flowefa  (AX  i  4^4 
-^— ,  eoatmne  oC;  ii  888. 
igsMBMiiat,  ooltiTalion  oC  ii  408. 
iSbsoosii  If.,  hiatoiy  of  hia  xeigm  L  78. 
SnotU  i$j  oonqiieati  (£,  i  98* 
alaluie  oi^  i  20. 

the  aame  aa  Bameaea  file  Great,  i  41. 
history  of  hia  laign,  i  85-78» 
luW8oil^i888. 
fleet  oi;ii28& 
M,  aoo  of  Nnt  (fix  iii  185u 

history  and  my^  of;  iH.  144, 145. 
crowning  Barneses  II.  («I.X  iii.  961. 
,  with  an  emblem  of  years  (tZ-X  iii 

.H69. 
Sethy  fabulous  emblem  of  (a.X  iii  311. 
Sethos  defeats  Sennacherib,  i  95. 
Seii  J.,  or  Osirei,  history  of  his  reign,  i. 

43, 44. 

anointing  Khem  (t7.X  iii.  862. 

invotttiug  an  ofBcer  of  rank  (iLX  iii 

371. 
Shadoof f  or  instrument  for  raiatng  water 

(a.),  i  279-281. 
Shairetana,  maritirae  alltee  of  Egypt  la 

the  time  of  Barneses  the  Great,  i  47. 

conquered  by  Barneses  HI.,  i.  57. 

,  or  Sardinians,  figures  of  (tLx  i  189. 

,  military  dress  of  the,  i  245,  246. 

in  military  array  (ii),  i  246,  247. 

Sham-fighis  (A.),  ii  73,  74. 

Shari,  or  Kbaru,  character  and  ooatume  of 

the,  i  252,  253. 
Shastiy  or  Arabs,  origin  of  the,  1.  2. 

,  history  of  the,  i.  15. 

,  description  of  their  character,  and 

armour  of  the  {<L\  i  246,  249. 
Shaving,  u.  330-332. 
Sheaves,  wheat  bound  in  (iL\  ii  424. 
Shea  of  alabaster  (liX  u-  ^ 
She^  eaten,  ii  22. 
— ,  shonlder-bcmes  of,  for  writing  upon, 

iil83. 


INDEX.  52a 


•rmnuBi. 

Sheep  nerer  ncrifloed,  ii.  460.  StnreM^  otMiiame  of,  ii.  338. 

Dut  BUaKhtereil  in  the  Thebaul,  iij.  6.    SMgi',  or  wuTod  bo^i  bearing  a  ahriiM  (it), 

kept  for  wool  only,  ih.  iii.  357,  3r>8. 

-,  MM-red,  iii  260,  S(H,  305.  ' f<ir  uiammii^s  (i/.),  iii.  429. 


Slteykerd,  OHtte  of  tlie,  i.  288-290. 

,  arUi  of  the,  ii.  378. 

,  womhip  of  Set  by  the,  iii.  144. 


SHmf,  for  binis  (il),  i.  381. 
Slingen  nnd  slingii  (i7.X  i.  210. 
Sling9  (i7.>,  i.  278. 


,  subjitHion  of  tht*  cla«  of,  ii.  444.           Smiutw^  dwtruntion  n^  by  animals,  iii.  283. 
Shepherd  kimgi,  Hanetho't  aooount  of  the,    ,  ra«p«H;t  for,  iii.  337,  338. 


L  14. 
-,  probable  origin  of,  L  14-10. 
-,  •ettlementj  of  the,  iL  8«il. 


Suapf  history,  maoufaotore,  and  oms  of«  iL 

49. 
Sorriue$,  hii  fable  of  Thoth,  iiL  104. 
Sheitu^  or  Apt,   gnddens,  worshipped   at    ,  his  opinions  ooneeming  death,  iii. 

OroliOH  (liX  iii.  145.  434. 

She§htmk^  or  Se<«ostris,  history  of  hii  reign.    Soil  of  the  Nile,  i.  8. 

i.  91,  92.  ,  riehncas  of  th<*,  ii.  361. 

ShieLi$,  Tarions  (»/.),  i.  198-202.  Solanum^  Tarieties  of  Um,  iL  411. 

ShitM    on    the    Ked    Sea    fitted    oot    by    SiUiUring,  art  of,  ii.  259. 

Hanieses  the  Gn«t,  i.  47.  SitlJirr,  duties  of  tli«%  i.  187. 

,  coiistruotion  of,  L  275-277.  Suldi^n.  uniform  of  differt*ut  corps  of,  L  22S. 

of  war,  fmrt  of  u  (J.),  i.  199.  Solon  Tis'U  Kgypt,  L  12t;. 

of  war  (iLX  iL  211-224.  *  SUpuga  Bpidrr^  socount  "f,  iiL  345w 

,  siie  and  capacity  of,  iL  220,  227.  Song^  characteristics  <»f  E/yptian,  i.  449l 

Shiiet  (»/.),  ii.  335,  336.  of  Ui«-  threttlM-r  (•?.>,  ii.  418,  421. 

,  Tarieties  of,  ii.  337.  te  Mancr»s. 

Shouiiiuj  at  targeu  {iL),  L  27,  406,  407.  Soni,  uses  and  coltivatkm  of  the  IfM,  ii. 

Shop$  (ilX  L  364.  413-415. 

,  description  of,  ii.  187-189.  ,  w<iod  of  the,  iL  416. 

Shrewmomee,  or  Mygale,  a  sscrod  animal,    Sopi,  or  SHpt,  an  inferior  deity  (il.\  iii. 

iiL  258,  270.  271.  234,  236.  2:t7. 

Shrine  in  a  boat,  oo  a  csr  (il,\  L  237.  Soihie  perttnl,  computatioQ  of  the*  iL  870- 

ShnneM,  processions  of  {iL\  iiL  35.V  858.  374. 

Shu,  gnd,  confounded  with  Chooumis,  iiL  5.    Soihi*,  or  the  I)og;star,  ooonectioa  of,  with 
,  hist»ry  and  mythology  of  (A.X  iiL         Isis,  uL  ia^l07. 

171-173.  Soml^  UanMnigmtion  of  the.  uL  67. 

Shnu,  a  d'itT,  account  (»f (»2.X iii.  236,  239.     ,  Ki?rptian  kielief i^ooeertaiug the foluft 

Sidonian  Trimiif,  the,  iL  488.  state  of  the,  iii.  462. 

Sirrre,  ii.  178.  A^w  sacrilleed  to  Tlioth  and  Typhu,  iii. 

SigneU  (ilX  ii.  ^12,  167. 

SiUai*,  triad  worshipped  at,  UL  145-147,    So^img  (HX  ii.  390.  :{96. 

513.  ,  operati«>n  of  (iLX  iL  395.  896. 

,  worship  of  Nilus  at,  UL  209.  \  Sparrow,  emblemaiio  siguitloatioo  of  Ika, 

saver  « arring  (J.X  u.  849.  ;      UL  318. 

mines,  i.  155.  '  ^ifpsur,  method  of  carrying  the  {Hy,  L  200. 


for  fishing,  or  biileni.  iL  121. 

and  reel  uted  in  hunting  Iha  hippt^ 

pnlamns  (»/.),  iL  128,  129. 
Spt^ring  tUh  (il.^,  n.  107. 


thrsKd,  iL  167. 

,  offerings  of  (iLX  iiL  421. 

Simpmla,  otUdWm  (it),  iL  46,  47. 

Simain^  or  Besamu,  cnliifatiutt  of,  iL  899,      ,  ,         ,     .. 

402,  403,  408.  Speart  (ilx  i  2UI^  20U. 

Sinai,  Mount,  names  of  kings  fbond  at,  iL    ophins,  agt*  of  the,  L  40. 128^ 

273.  ,  plan  of  the  (ilX  U.  860. 

Singimg-men  (il.\  L  440,  441.  |  *— ,  tari«*ties  and  •ymbolio  natnift  of 

StngU'Siiek,  fighting  with  (0.).  U.  72.  >      the,  iL  94. 

SipLm,  history  aad  use  of  ttM  (tfL),  U.  313,    ,  Tarieties  of  the  (A  X  iiL  809-811. 

314.  -^,  sjrmlvlism  «/  tlir,  UL  1:^6. 

-,  stgnitictttion  of  the,  ii.  475, 


SiUrwm,  a  musical  instramsnt  (il-X  TarioiM    ,  stgniticMtion  of  tlic,  ii.  475. 

kinds  of.  L  497-500.  Sphinxes,  svean«-s  of,  i.  56. 

Sieira,  offrrings  of  {iLX  UL  422.  ' ,  drvtmm  of.  betwaen  Luxor  aad  Kar- 

SiUing  pneimrrt  of  tigyptiaos,  oo  the  groond  '      nak.  ii.  431,  4:15. 

(i/.X  t.  4 19.  ,  dromo§  of.  at  Baqqira,  UL  95. 


Slamt,  black  (tf-X  i.  272.  •  SphraaieUr.  chus  o(,  L  157. 

,  music  pvribraied  by,  L  459.  SyimlU,  use  of  the  .  itX  i.  817. 

oflhruig  wUm  at  a  party  (il.X  U.  87-    IMmIIss.  various  forms  and  ons  of  (iL^U. 

89.  ,      171, 171. 


69i 


INDEX. 


BpimiiM,  vniverMil  emi^ojnMiit  In  (ll.)i 

AwofM,  aoootmt  ol^  ii  18. 

,  wioiis  (O.),  ii  45^7. 

8qmart^mM9mn$^^  886L 
i^MIn^,  metbod  ^{fL),  L  811. 
fifaMtiy  zeprawQtod  witb  tho  god  Pftah 

(fL\  UL  17. 
^toblet,  me  of,  L  870. 
Ate  nofekM  of  the,  iiL  288, 801,  aOfi. 
8k^  (iL),  U.  90. 
SUmd^  wooden,  for  a  oap  (AX  i  487. 

,  wtHi  a  boitle-OMe  (iLX  L  «^. 

iSkcMMlanl^tfafvn,  L  19& 

iSloiuiaftb,  Tarknu  (tl.),  i.  195. 

8kmd9for  oferimf^  (0.),  iii.  408. 

SkWt  oonneotioii  of  a,  with  the  attttade  of 

prayer,  lit  48. 
SUUUUet,  military,  i.  188. 
ifitoluary,  work  of  the  (jl\  IL  810, 81L 
Blaiue  of  Scrapie,  in  glaos,  iU  148. 
BUAntM  of  Amaaifl,  in  wood,  at  8amo%  L 

128. 
— ,  origin  and  oonyentional  ohaiaetei^ 

isties  ut  a  268,  269. 
— ^,  deacoiption  of  details  and  proportiona 

0^  il  270,  271. 
— — ,  mode  of  transporting  colossal  (A),  ii 

805. 

of  gods,  dothed  (AX  iiL  895. 

Skim  erected  hj  Sesostris,  i  65. 66. 

— *  erected  by  Sesostris  still  standing, 

166-68. 
BUwardt  superintending  bouses,  grounds, 

and  agricultural  operutlons  (il.),  i  372. 
Stibium,  vase  fur  {il),  ii.  12. 

,  use  of,  ii.  348,  349. 

Stone,  arches  of,  ii.  299. 
^— ,  arrow -heads  and  other  early  imple- 
ments of  (tZ.),  ii.  259-261. 
,  method  of  transporting  large  blocks 

of01),ii.  302-310. 
— — ,  documents  on,  ii.  183. 

saw  found  at  the  pyramid  of  Zowaryet 


el  Arriun,  i.  4  ;  ii.  261. 
—  Tase(i2.),  ii.  8. 

period  in  E^ypt,  i.  4. 


StooU,  various  (il.),  i.  411, 418. 

SU,ra^e  of  wine  (rf.),  i.  388. 

Strainen,  bronze,  ii.  48. 

Straw,  uses  of,  ii.  425. 

Stringy  seat  of  a  chair  formed  of  inter- 
laced {il.),  i.  412. 

Stringed  instruments  of  more  or  less  harp- 
like character  (il),  I  468-470,  473,  474. 

Suicide,  i.  307. 

Sun,  worship  of  the,  ilL  44-48. 

,  festivals  of  the,  iii.  384. 

,  invociition  of  the,  iii.  481, 

Superstition  of  the  ancients  and  modems 
contrasted,  iii.  300. 

Superstitions,  variety  of,  ii.  454-456. 

Suphis,  or  Cheops,  occurrence  of  his  name, 
ii273. 


Bmpkli^  or  Gbeopa,  enota  pyxunidl^  1 1% 

Suie^  temple  oi;  bidlt,  i  IS. 
Swdiow^  occanence  of  Hie,  ilL  8t9L 
SwordB  {{L\  i  811. 
8ffeamor0  represented  In  the  tooibi^  tL  418. 

»oQlti?alioii  of  the,  tf.  414. 

wood,  uses  €i,  ii.  416, 417. 

-*---  saored  to  Nut,  iiL  118, 119. 

,  basket  of  fin  {U.%  iii.  419. 

i^yeiM,  eataraets  <4  tilie  tiiad  of  tilOb  tL  481^ 

518;iu.28. 
SpMU  on  sails,  iL  286, 228. 

of  Yictory  and  peaee,  L  87O9  37L 

Syria^  rebellion  oC  L  48L 


T. 


TohAo^  the  eow  goddess,  aooomil  of  (ftX 

iiL  816, 8ia 
TViaiiaiNMt,  or  Danai  (A),  L  180. 
Table  carried  behind  the  staine  of  fiie  god 

Khem  (O-X  L  404. 
2ViftIfl^  Tarions  (AX  i  ^H,  4ia 
— -  nr  dinner,  nse  o(  iL  88-44. 
with  ofGmogs,  placed  in  tonliB(a.X 

iiL  488, 4^ 
MM  •nrmonnted  by  a  mimia^ed  bm^ 

(tLX  iiL  186. 
IVistfef  of  the  army,  L  868. 
IViJharfta,  aee  Turhakah. 
TctHj  an  emblem  supposed  to  be  a  (A.X  ^ 

428. 
Takkari,    or    Teucrians,    conquered    by 

Barneses  IIL,  i.  57. 

,  uniform  of  the  (tZ.X  iL  246,  247. 

,  carts  of  the  (il),  I  247-249. 

Tamahu,  or  Libyans,  origin  of  the.  L  2. 
Tamarind  depicted  in  tombs,  ii.  413. 
Tamarisk  of  Osiris,  sacred  (U,),  iL  135. 
,  uses  uf  the  wood  of  the  tree,  iL  195, 

416. 

,  cultivation  of  the,  ii.  407. 

,  represented  in  tombs,  iL  413. 

-,  sacred  to  Osiris  {il),  iiL  349,  350. 


Tambourine,  uses  of,  L  491,  492. 

Tambourines  (tL),  L  439,  443. 

Tanen,  goddess,  account  of  (tLX  iiL  224, 

227,  231. 
Tania,  or  Zoan,  foundation  of^  i.  4,  5. 

,  siege  of,  L  15. 

,  shepheitl  monuments  at,  L  16. 

TaniU  dynasty,  i.  23,  30. 

Tanning,  ii.  185,  186,  190. 

TajpMtrM,  reputed  burial-place  of  Osiris, 

iiL  86. 
Target,  shooting  at  a  (ilX  L  27,  406,  407. 
Targets,  young  men  shooting  at(iLXL  406. 
Tartarus,  origin  of,  iL  479. 

,  a  deitv,  ii.  488,  491. 

Taruau,  or  Negroes,  costumes  of  the  (tl\« 

L259.  ^^ 

Torsen-t-nefeTf  myth  of  (il),  iiL  176. 


INDEX. 


525 


TAT. 

Tat,  the  emblem  of  Odiis,  iii.  68,  82. 
Tai-mmy  an  inferior  deity  (t/.),  iil  288,  240. 
Tau.  or  Mcred  sign  of  life  (0.),  iiL  852, 

363,864. 
Tatir,  or  Thouerit,  an  erfl  godd6H,  hiitorj 

Md  myihB  of  (a.\  iii.  145-147. 

,  soddeM,  flguret  oC  oo  pillows,  L  419. 

TVix,    land,    institoted    by    JUmaiiei   the 

Great,  i.  50,  51. 
Taxۤ,  ftory  iUnstratiTe  of  the  relaetanoe 

to  paving,  L  90tS,  807. 

i  direct,  L  337. 

Tef nu,  soddeM,  historj  and  mTthologj  of 

(ilXuL  191,192. 

,  deitj,  tister  to  Shu,  iii.  173. 

— ,  lUaghter  of  mankiiid  bj,  iii.  161. 
Td-BaUa,  mounds  of,  iii.  85. 

,  temple  of  Bast  at,  A. 

Tel-4!t'Mai,  monolithic  remaina  ai,  IL  807. 
Temple  in  the  prorince  of  CrooodilopoUa, 

L32. 

of  Ileliopnlis,  i.  32. 

ere(*ted  in  the  Wadee  Jaaooa,  L  88. 

,  subjecta  of  oiTeringi  in  the,  iii  414. 

lit  Kdfoii  (a.X  iii.  354. 

TentyrU,  goddeai  of  the  town  (0.),  iU.  212, 

213. 
Terrn-^vaa  bottles  (a,\  il  19. 
Tfrraee  of  a  house  (il),  i.  359. 
Tutudo,  use  of  the  (it.),  L  46,  47,  242-244. 
Teirakiff*,  mystic  name  of  oieatife  power, 

ii.  492. 
TkamuM^  a  king  of  Egypt,  legend  rcapeet- 

ing,  iii.  164. 
Thank^airing  aOer  Yictory,  L  270,  271. 
Tkebaidy  appellations  of  the,  L  9,  10. 

,  limiU  of  the,  L  326. 

,  southern  part  of  the,  chief  seat  of 

the  womhip  of  Chnrmmis,  lit.  1. 
TheftfB,  king»  of,  aooording  to  Eiatotthanca, 

i.  2.%-27. 

,  dynasty  of,  1.  84,  85. 

,  t4;mples  of,  adorned  bj  Tiibakmh, 

i.  96. 

,  nature  of  sacriflops  ai,  it  467. 

,  sacred  women,  psOtesf  or  Pallakidca, 

of,  it  496. 
,  tnmbiofthekingiat,L42:  iii.  488, 

43D. 

,  etTmology  of  the  name,  i.  61. 

,  ffiuiMlem  of,  i.  G7. 

,  dtieument  relating  to  sale  of  land  al, 

i.  301. 

,  pUn  of  (a,\,  it  1. 

-,  e«»l4iMi  of  (i/.),  ii  1. 


.  topitf^mphiral  details  of.  In  relation 

t<»  tnundatioiis,  ii.  434. 
,  triaul  of  dfitiot  worshipped  at,  iL 

4H4.  513:  iii.  10-12. 
.  charges  againM  the  priesthood  oC  ii. 

1,  the  i^T^-at  trUd  of  (J  ),  ii.  513. 

,  Mut,  the  seooud  deity  of  the  triad  of, 

iiLSi. 


TOUIAEAB. 

Thebes,  imam  of  Ilea  at,  iii.  149. 

,  A  p.  the  goddess  of  the  city  of  (fl.), 

iii.  210-212. 
i  interior  of  a  mummT-pit,  or  sepol- 

chral  chamber,  at  [d,\  iii.  427. 
,  scene  of  a  funeral,  from  a  tomb  at 

(i/.),  iii.  449,  4.'iO. 
TheodontiuB,  testimony  of,  respiirtifig  ori- 

ginal  belief  in  a  sole  deity,  ii.  479. 
Thfology,  notions  of  the  priests  ooooerning. 

L  178,  179. 

,  twofold  explication  of,  iil  33,  84. 

Tkermuthis,  name  of  the  a»p,  iii  884. 
Thieves,  i.  307-309. 

,  profession  of,  i.  309. 

ThiniU  or  Theban  dynasties,  L  17,  18,  28. 
Thong  inside  a  shield  {iL},  i.  199. 
T*oni,  holy,  ii.  417. 
Thoih  (i/.X  lit  152. 

worshipped  at  Silsilis,  iii.  147. 

,  in  connection  with  Anubis,  iii  160. 

,  hhitory  and  mythology  of  (iL\  UL 

162-171. 

with  Rameaes  II.  (tZ.),  iii  203. 

,  the  ibis  an  emhlem  ol,  iii  SBH. 

,of  Uat,  purifying  AmeoophisIL  (fl.), 

iii  862. 
,  connection  of,  with  coronatiooa  and 

with  festivaK  iii.  3**3,  866. 

,  festival  of,  iii.  386. 

ThUh'lMHus,  notice  of  (i/.X  iii  226. 
Thoihwtes  /.,  history  of  his  reign,  i  37. 
Thi4hwtes  111.,  history  of  his  ramarkable 

reign,  i  3^40. 
-^— ,  styles  of  art  daring  his  reign,  IL 

272. 

,  bottle  with  name  of  (iZ-X  ii  142. 

.  name  of ,  on  a  gold  bracelet  (ill  U* 

342,343. 
instructed  in  the  use  of  the  bow  by 

Nubti,  and  bj  Ilarhjit  in  the  use  </  the 

spear  \%l\  iii  l:t4,  137. 

offering  A  pylon  {U.),  Ui  415. 

Thotkmm  /r.  as  a  sphinx    U.),  iii  46. 
Thimeris,  Sfe  Taur. 
7'Araef  reduced  by  8e!«>tris,  i.  (Vl 
Thrta*l,  fineneMS  of.  for  nt-tis  ii  165. 
Thrt$himj  {iiy,  li.  418,  41*J. 

.  fiesiTipti«m  of,  ii  423w 

,  implt  ment  for.  or  n6rt^  (iL\  i  408. 

Thnphis,  Koddeas,  hist*»ry  and  myiholugj 

of,  iii  Vj\. 

,  cnc»|ittnion  f»f  Khem,  iii.  27. 

Throtr-Biirk  for  fowling    tL),  u.  104,  105, 

107.  108. 

.  use  of  the,  iii  32.%. 

Thmmmim,  hi»tt^  of  the,  i.  29«*s297. 

Ttmher,  vsrit  tint  ••t.  li.  414-416. 

riM'*  lieaii>n  to  the  music  with  the  handa 

(ii),  i440.  444.  4t.2,490. 

,  division*  of.  ii  :tl8  ..20. 

rill,  t-arly  comment  in,  ii.  rJ9  232. 
7'ir>i«iAr(il^  histtH^  «»f  h'S  rvi«:n.  i.  94-87. 
,  prisuncn  of  {U,),  i.  253, 


626 


INDEX. 


TXBHAKAH. 

Tirkakah  conqaering  the  ABsyriang  (tL\ 

iU.  401. 
TVMkiw,  or  Mut,  goddess,  tee  Mut. 
Tnepkachthut,  history  of  his  reign,  L  86. 
Toilet  bottles,  u.  11. 

,  objecU  of  the,  ii.  845. 

Takkari,  see  Takkari. 

TanA  of  Osymandyas,  i.  73-75. 

—  of  Amasis,  site  of  the,  i.  129. 

at  Saqqara,  arched  with  stune  (tL), 

ii  262. 
*— ,  preparation  of  a,  iii.  435, 436. 

,  rooms  in  a,  ib. 

Tombe  near  Pyramids,  date  of  the,  L  13. 

of  lyings  at  Thebes,  i  42. 

,  ornamented  doors  of  (ttX  i.  856. 

,  cost  and  beauty  of,  L  339,  340. 

,  period  of  the  oonstruction  of  the,  ii. 

272. 
— ,  srt  of  painting  and  sculpture  in  the, 

it  277. 
— ,  tables  with  offerings  placed  in  the 

(tl),  iii.  433. 

—  seized  by  creditors,  iii.  483. 

,  richness  and  extent  of,  iii  433-435, 

438. 

,  account  of,  by  Diodorus,  iiL  4.S4. 

*— ,  seals  found  in  (ti),  iii.  436,  437. 

—  of  the  poorer  clashes,  iii.  438. 

,  early,  at  Thebes  and  Memphis,  iii. 

489 
Tooii,' carpenters*  (a.),i  401;  ii  196-199. 

of  curriers,  ii.  187. 

of  saiidal-miikers  (%l.\  ii.  188. 

—  for    sculpturing    hieroglyphics,  ii. 
253-255. 

,  various  woods  used  for,  ii  416. 

Tortoieef  notice  of  the,  iii.  329. 
Torture^  notice  of,  i.  307. 
Tower  over  terrace  (t7.),  i.  860, 361. 
Totims,  ancient,  on  banks  of  the  canal,  i.  49. 

,  number  of,  i  145. 
Toyt  (fl.),  ii.  64, 65. 
Trade  of  Egypt  with  the  East,  i  151. 
Trades,  yarious,  i.  284. 
Tradesmen  and  shopkeepers,  castes,  i.  158. 
Tranemigration,  theories  concerning,  iii. 

464   466. 
Trap  with  hyaBua  (il),  ii  78. 
Traps,  see  bird. 
2Veef   with  roots  earthed  round  (tL),  i, 

375,  376. 
— ,  fondness  for,  i.  403. 
,  various  uses  of,  ii.  195. 

,  cultivation  of  various,  ii  414-416. 

,  various  sacred  kinds  of,  iii  349-351. 

Triad  of  Isis,  Honu,  and  Nephthys  (iZ.), 

iii.  112. 
Triads  of  Gods,  local  worship  of,  ii.  484. 
,  divine  mystery  of  the  number  three, 

ii  491,  513. 
— ,  various,  ii.  518. 
Trials,  conduct  of,  i  296-298. 
Tribulum,  or  threshing  machine,  ii  424. 


UBHKRU. 

TrUnUe,  foreign,  i  150. 

TribuU  from  Africa,  nature  of  the,  ii  416. 

of  Ethiopians,  i  262. 

of  the  Kufa,  i  256. 

of  the  Fount,  i  252. 

of  the  But-en-nu,  i  254. 

Trigons  as  stringed  musical  instruments 

(tl.),  i  469,  470. 
Trinity,  notions  and  arrangements  of  the,  ac- 
cording to  various  theogonies,  11.485-488. 
Trismegittus,  application  of  the  title,  iii  169. 
Triumphal  ceremonies,  accotmt  o(^  iii  364- 

366. 
Triumphs  of  Sesostris  and  Rameeea  IIL, 

i71. 
Tnrici  Lapidis  MonSj  triad  at  the  quarries 

of,  ii  518. 
Troops,  disciplined  (<Z.X  i  92. 
Troy  captured,  i  22. 
Trumpet  used  in  manceuvres,  i  197. 
Trumpeter  (ii),  i  456, 457. 
Truth,  goddess  of  (0.),  i  296,  297. 

,  attributes  of  the  goddess,  iii  185. 

Trypanan,  i  244. 

Tuautmut/,  a  genius  of  the  lower  regions 

(0.),  iii.  219^222. 
,  sepulchral  vases  in  form  of  (tZ.),  iii 

491-493. 
Tuirsha,  or  Etruscans  (O.),  i  189. 
,  a  maritime  people,  character   and 

costume  of  (tZ.),  i  255. 
Turn,  deity  (iL),  iii.  179 ;  see  Atom. 
Tuot,  or  Tuphium,  unknown  deity  of  (tXl 

iii  177,  178. 
Tupifiium,  triad  of,  iii.  282. 
Twuses,  costumes  of  the  (iL%  i  259. 
Tutor  to  a  princess,  funeral  of  a,  iii  447. 
Twirte,  manu&cture  of  (il,),  ii  173. 
Types,  divine,  ii  500. 
Typho,  the  evil  one,  ii.  486. 

,  birth  of,  iii.  61. 

,  his  destruction  of  Osiris,  iii  75-79. 

,  connection  of  Nubti  with,  iii  136. 

,  history,  myths,  and  sacred  nature  of 

(it,),  iii  138-148. 
Tuphoma,  or  temples,  iii  147. 
lyphonian  head  on  a  vase  (tZ.X  ii  7. 
monster  on  a  box  (tZ.),  ii  13. 

V. 

Uas,  or  Thebes,  personification  of  (tL\  iii 

199. 
Uashasha,  or  Osci  (il),  i  189. 
Uat,  or  Uati,  goddess,  equivalent  to  the 

Greek  Buto  (U.),  iii  197-200. 
Vlomus,  a  Phoenician  deity,  ii.  488. 
Umbrella  (0.).  u.  202. 

,  Ethiopian  (ii),  i  235. 

Unguents,  vases  for,  ii.  11. 

Unnu,  goddess  of  the  hours,  acooont  of 

(U,),  iu.  217,  2ia 
Urheku,  or  Urhek,  froddess,  history  and 

mythology  of  (ii),  iii  192, 193. 


INDEX. 


527 


Urim  and  Tkummiwi^  tigniftmiioo  of,  iiL 

183. 
U$er,  a  foake  deity  (tlX  iii-  1^ 
VterUten  /.,  hiatnry  of  bit  reigOt  t  31,  82. 

,  bi«  A»iiiUo  ormquefU,  i.  15. 

Vierteten  IIL^  his  name  scolpiiired   oo 

rocks,  L  3.S. 
-^,  floari«hing  stale  of  arts  during  bis 

reign,  iL  272. 
represented  at  Samneb  as  performing 

divine  ftmciiuns.  ii.  473. 
Vtury,  laws  of,  i.  310-312. 


Y. 

Vatten  of  Egifpt,  deseripiion  of  the  soil  of 

tbe,  if.  440,  441. 
Vanmus^  the  mystio  {iL^  iiL  358. 
Vamisk,  ii.  ISM. 
Vote,  game  c»f  >  ii,\  ii.  61. 
Vdfet  for  wine  (t7.X  i.  387.  388. 

,  TariiHis  kintis  of  (il.\  it  1-12. 

,  ▼arif't  J  of  earthen,  ii.  198. 

.  imbricated  gold  «/.),  U.  258. 

umkI  for  UbaUons  (iL),  iiL  415-417, 

419-423. 

,  »  puicbral  (il\  m,  491-493. 

,  Cauopic  (ii.),  iii.  493. 

Vegftallt^  yarioos,  forbidden  to  priests,  L 

180. 
«^— ,  uses  of,  ii.  23. 

used  as  food,  it  23-25. 

,  great  caUitatirm  of.  it  401. 

u^  as  ncriflcfs  {U.\  il  459-401. 

Veneering  (i/.X  ».  198.  199. 

Veterinarjf  arU  efficteooj  of  Egyptian,  il. 

4.V3. 
VietimM,  seleetinn  of,  iiL  899,  400. 

.  mitiKjd  of  slaying,  ill  406-411. 

VWas,  extent  and  cunstmotkin  of  (iL%  L 

Vine,  cultivatiun  of  tbe.  iL  408. 

reprtteiitiHl  in  toinba,  iL  413. 

.  trares  of  early  culture  of  the,  iL  441. 

rinryarWs  (iLX  L  379-383. 

VutUi  found  in  Kfcypt,  iL  410. 

r«iiii  statue  of  Mrmnuii,  L  40. 

loyoy^  mrliest,  ii.  228. 

-^—  of  tbe  Pliisnicians  round  AfHra»  L 

108.  109. 
Vulran,  t>ie  etiuivalt- nt  to  Ptab,  iii.  16. 
Vulimrt,  n*prt  st-ntatiTe  of  a  "  mother,**  iii. 

31. 
.  narn^i  ntiture  and  attributes  of  thr, 

iii.  M'Z, 


Tr.«/»W.  or  bymx.  dr*»ribrd.  iL  IK,  fj. 
Wii'ftati,  (icriirrtnc**  of  ti»r.  iiL  319. 
nakimM^rk*   i/.).  li.  351.  353. 
HWi  of  8i-wMtris,  Iroa  I'dusium  to  Bj«M, 
L71. 


ITaflf  erowned  with  spikes  (it),  L  367. 

,  panelled  {iL\  L  36a 

Waram,  or  Uxard-monitor,  aocoant  of  the, 

iiL  283. 
War,  return  from.  L  269,  270. 
War  gaOey  (0.),  L  275. 
War  gaileyt  and  vessels,  history  nod  oon* 

strodion  of  (iLX  iL  211-224. 
ITarfl  with  tbe  Kebu.  L  250,  251. 
Watking^  frequent,  iL  48. 
WaUr,  carrier  of  ( i/.X  L  282. 

sprinkled  at  f^ntnUs  (il),  UL  449. 

Watering  poU  (i/..,  L  37^ 

1Fa(«ivdbM(i2.),L375. 

Water  tanki  (iL\  L  875-^8,  381. 

Water-wheel,  L  374. 

Weaiik  of  Khampsinitus.  and  tale  iM  by 

Herodotus  orioceming  it,  L  81-84. 

of  Egypt,  L  154. 

Weapons  of  the  Hcrtbians,  L  45.  46. 

of  offenee  and  defence,  L  198-219.  * 

— -  of  foreigners,  L  245. 

Weaed^  a  saored  animal,  iii.  258,  272. 

Weaving  (iL\  L  317. 

ITeiyArrs,  public  (i/.X  L  285.  28& 

Weights^  feaU  of  raiding  {ii.\  iL  73. 

Werdan,  encruacbment  of  sand  at,  ii.  486. 

Wmty  tbe :   liisU>ry  and  attributes  of  the 

goddess  (iL).  IiL  200.  201. 
Wheat  ruaped  (iLX  iL  427. 
WkeeU,  construction  of  (iLX  L  233,  234. 
WheeiterigkU,  iL  201. 
Whip,  or  wbdg  (iLX  iL  126,  127. 
Whips,  various  (i/.),  L  225,  226. 
WkiU  slate  {il),  iL  38. 
Wife  embracing  her  husband's  mommy, 

iiL\  iiL  428. 
Wigs,  use  of  (i/.X  iL  329.  330.  33a 
IFirrs.  number  and  duties  of,  L  318. 
Windows,  L  .S63. 
Wine,  manufacture  of;  i.  386-398. 

jani(iLXL387. 

.  OTer-iiidulgetice  in  (il.X  L  .S92-894. 

otfcml  t*»  a  gut-sl  ( i7  X  i.  430. 

offertKl  at  a  party  (i7.X  iL  37-89. 

,  uae  of,  liy  prit^U,  ni.  51. 

,  oiTfritigB  of  (iL).  iii.  416, 417. 

,  glass  liottles  of  (iL),  iii.  429. 

I  Winrs^  Tarious  ijualittos  and  uses  of,  L  889- 

3tH. 
Wineprts^s  (if.),  i.  lUCt-^iS*;. 
Winiffd  di*k,  sjrmljoh»iu  nf  thf*,  iiL  184, 

13.V 
Winkelm^inn,  opinion  of.  ufton  ancient  gla•^ 
'      iL  143-115. 

W  irt^  niii  nuts' lore  of.  in  ir>1d,  iL  167. 
i  Witnetsn  to  d«it'uni(Mit«.  iiutiiemus,  L  315. 
'  Ho//,  tiffure  of  a  (•/.».  ii   'Ml 

?aneti««  of  th-.  it.  \h\,  1»7. 

a  asentl  aniiiuii.  ni  2.'»8.  '/77-27J. 

in  tlie  pni^tbomL  i-  171. 
of  t>ie  Uut-«n-nu  (i/.).  i  272. 
ponishmants  of,  i.  Mui,  3jI. 

,  UUOtt|Mti«llM  oi.  i.  31U. 


528 


INDEX. 


WOMKN. 

Won^m  weaving;  and  spinning  (il-X  i.  Rt7. 

playing  guitars  (tZ.),  i  407,  481-483 ; 

u.  14. 

—  sinfdng  (t7.).  i.  441. 

performers  of  Bacred  moBic,  i.  496. 

talking  of  earrings  (t'L),  ii.  21. 

tumblers  and  acrobats  (tl.X  ii*  54. 

carrying  children  in  a  funeral  proces- 
sion (i7.),  ii.  334. 

,  costumes  of  (tl),  ii  337.  338. 

— •,  b^^-dresses  of  (il.),  ii-  339. 

^  rings  and  earrings  of  (i7.),ii.  339-341. 

,  ornaments  of  (t7.),  iL  343-3  i9. 

,  effects  of  drink  upon  (il),  I  392, 398. 

at  a  party  (i7.),  il.  21. 

Wood,  rarity  of.  i.  357. 

,  variuties  of,  used  by  the  Egyptians, 

ii  194-196,  416-418. 

,  chariots  of  (t7.),  i.  229. 

— ^,  ancient  statues  of,  ii.  483. 

Wooden  boxes  of  various  lands  (tL),  ii 

13-18. 

comb  for  tow  (iZ.),  ii  174. 

combs  (tZ.),  ii.  347. 

—  dolls  and  toys  (t7.),  ii.  64. 
draughtmen  (t7.),  ii  56. 

heifer,  a,  containing  the  body  of  the 

daughter  of  Mycerinus,  at  Sais,  i  85. 

hoes  (t7.),  ii.  252. 

ladles  (t7.),  ii  47. 

pillows,  i.  186. 

pillows  (tZ.).  i.  419,  420. 

reel  inscribed  (t7.),  ii.  176. 

spindle  (t7.),  ii.  172. 

spoons  (i7.),  ii.  4.5,  46. 

siuiid  for  a  cup  {il.),  i  427. 

statues  ia  the  tomb  of  Osymandyas.  i. 


75. 


statiias  at  Samoa,  i.  123. 


Woodsy  various,  in  use  with  carpenters  and 

cabinet-makers,  ii.  41G. 
Woollen  garmctittf  proliibited,  i  185. 


ZOWABTBT. 

WooQen  garmeni$,  use  of.  ii.  157. 
Workman  beaten  (iZ.),  i  306. 
WresUerSf  in  various  positions  (tT.),  ii.  71. 
Writing^  character  of  the  variouB  kinds  of, 

i  175,  176. 

,  characters  used  in,  i  287. 

J  universal  employment  of^  IL  449. 

.  method  of,  ii  489,  490. 

Writing  impUment$  (tl),  ii  445. 
Writing  mcUeriaU,  papyrus,  ii.  180-182. 

—'f  parchment,  ii  182. 

,  potsherds  and  other  misoella- 

neons  materials,  ii  183. 
,  bones,  ii  184. 


Xenophane$  derides  Egyptian  religioa,  ii 
ZoOe  dynasty,  i  15,  20. 

Y. 

Yam  exported,  i  150. 

,  hand-made,  ii  169. 

Year,  connection  of  the  Phoenix  with  the, 

iii  58. 
,  Egyptian,  calculation  of  the,  iii  103- 

107. 
Yoke  for  irrigators  (t7.),  i  878. 

of  an  ancient  plough  (iL),  ii  392. 

Young  (Dr.),  extract  from  hia  work    on 

Hieroglyphic  Literature,  i  813. 

Z. 

Zipporah,  practice  of  circumcision  bv,  iii. 
8SG. 

Zoocephalic  deities,  iii.  240, 

Zowaryet  el  Arrian^  stone  saw  from  the  py- 
ramid of,  i.  4 ;  ii.  261. 


1,  2.  Bes. 


3.  rtah-8*»cliaris- 
Osiris. 


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