,,myths ,,and ,,legends ,,ancient ,,egypt by ,,lewis ,,spence ,author of ,the ,myths of ,mexico and ,peru1 ,the ,civilisation of ,ancient ,mexico1 ,the ,popol ,vuh1 ,the ,myths of the ,north ,american ,indians ,,boston ,,david ,d4 ,,nickerson ,,company ,,publishers #aiae ,illustration3 ,the ,presentation of ,ani to ,osiris7 ,from the ,papyrus of ,ani--,reproduced from the ,facsimile by ,permission of the ,director of the ,british ,museum ,,preface ,in this volume the religious history of ancient ,egypt has been reviewed in the light of the science of modern mythology4 ,few ,egyptologists are well informed regarding the basic laws of that science1 and much misapprehension regarding the character and attributes of many of the deities worshipped in the ,nile ,valley in times past has thereby resulted4 ,the statement that ,egyptian religious ideas cannot be collated with barbarian and savage conceptions simply because they are ,egyptian and therefore 'classic' and inviolate will no longer remain unquestioned among that section of the public accustomed to think for itself1 and such pronouncements as that the animal gods of ,egypt have no connexion with totemic origins will shortly assume their proper perspective4 ,in advancing ideas so iconoclastic--which all will remember were adumbrated by the late ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang and strongly buttressed by ,sir ,james ,frazer--it is essential that ,i should at the outset protect myself against any charges of lack of acquaintance with the science of ,egyptology4 ,such a work as this1 which attempts to further recent views concerning a well-worn subject1 must by the very circumstances of its effort be cast and written in popular style4 ,that such a treatment is sufficient to prejudice it in the eyes of a certain type of critic ,i am well aware4 ,a long series of handbooks and articles had prepared critics for my work in this series upon ,mexican and ,peruvian myth1 and it was generally admitted that ,i spoke upon these subjects out of the authority of long experience4 ,i find it necessary to state1 then1 that the study of ,egyptian hieroglyphs is not new to me4 ,for several years ,i laboured at these assiduously1 studying the languages1 ,semitic and ,african1 including ,coptic1 which are cognate with the ,egyptian4 ,in the study of hieroglyphic systems ,i was attracted toward the wonderful system of writing which prevailed among the ,maya of ,central ,america1 and through it to the consideration of ,mexican archology in general4 ,my grounding in the ,egyptian language has also stood me in good stead1 and if for reasons connected with the necessity for popular presentation my pages are not littered with hieroglyphs1 ,i can lay claim to such a knowledge of ,egyptian linguistic origins as can control any derivations here attempted--which1 however1 have not been ventured upon without the countenance of other and higher authorities4 ,if ,i have differed from ,egyptologists of standing in matters mythological1 ,i have been sedulously careful not to attempt the impertinence of contradicting them in matters linguistic4 ,their lifelong acquaintance with original texts gives them1 of course1 authority to which ,i gladly bow1 but ,i feel1 on the other hand1 that my own close studies of mythological problems1 which are as vital to the interests of the science as its linguistic and archological sides1 entitle me to advance my personal views upon such1 even when these are opposed to those of authorities whose reputation in the field of ,egyptology stands deservedly high4 ,students of myth and ,egyptology1 as well as the general reader drawn to the subjects by the glamour of the mystic atmosphere which1 let us hope1 will ever surround them1 will find that ,i have not hesitated to attack hypotheses concerning the character and attributes of certain deities the mythological type of which may have been regarded by many as ultimately fixed4 ,this applies especially to my attempted reconstruction of the natures of ,osiris1 ,isis1 ,thoth1 and several other divinities4 ,my remarks1 too1 upon totemism in ,egypt may engender opposition1 though ,i believe that the rank of the authorities ,i can call to my aid will succeed in disarming criticism of my arguments4 ,no one can rightly comprehend the trend and currents of ,egyptian faith who does not possess some acquaintance with ,egyptian history1 manners1 and customs4 ,i have therefore provided brief synopses of these1 as well as some account of ,egyptian archology4 ,to ,mr4 ,w4,g4 ,blaikie ,murdoch1 whose works and influence on modern art are well known to its more serious students1 ,i am obliged for the greatest possible assistance and guidance in the section dealing with the art of ancient ,egypt4 ,to my assistants1 ,miss ,mavie ,jack and ,miss ,katherine ,nixey1 ,i am much beholden for the collection and arrangement of valuable material and for many suggestions4 ,l4,s4 ,,contents ,i4 ,,introductory ,,ii4 ,,exploration1 ,,history1 ,,and ,,customs ,,iii4 ,,the ,,priesthood3 ,,mysteries ,,and ,,temples ,,iv4 ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,osiris ,v4 ,,the ,,great ,,gods ,,vi4 ,,egyptian ,,literature ,,vii4 ,,magic ,,viii4 ,,foreign ,,and ,,animal ,,gods3 ,,the ,,late ,,period ,,glossary ,,and ,,index ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,the ,presentation of ,ani to ,osiris ,frontispiece ,the ,egyptian ,symbol of the ,soul ,pylon1 ,karnak ,the ,pyramids of ,gizeh ,model of a ,funeral ,boat ,canopic ,jars representing the ,four ,sons of ,horus ,temple of ,horus at ,edf ,scene representing the driving of a ,herd of ,cattle ,rhetep1 a ,priest ,osiris ,osiris beguiled into the ,chest ,isis and the ,baby ,prince ,the ,departure of ,isis from ,byblos ,a ,shrine of ,osiris ,isis ,winged ,isis ,cippus of ,horus ,horus in ,battle ,nephthys ,set ,anubis ,thoth and ,mat ,the ,weighing of the ,heart ,ra ,isis and ,ra ,amen-,ra ,mut and ,ptah ,sekhmet and ,bast ,khnemu1 ,i-em-hetep and ,nefer-,tem ,aten ,hathor ,hapi ,taurt and ,khonsu ,the ,maiden of ,bekhten ,the ,goddesses as ,dancing-girls ,thoth and the ,chief ,magician ,who are you8 ,the ,treasure-,chamber of ,rhampsinites ,isis conjured ,ra to tell his ,name ,amulet of ,hathor ,bes ,procession of the ,sacred ,bull ,sebek ,rameses ,,ii accompanied by a ,lion ,mummied ,cats ,horus the ,child ,hauling ,blocks of ,stone for the ,pyramids ,head-rest ,temple of ,isis at ,phil ,,chapter ,i3 ,,introductory ,the group of beliefs which constituted what for convenience' sake is called the ,egyptian religion in an existence of some thousands of years passed through nearly every phase known to the student of comparative mythology4 ,if the theologians of ancient ,egypt found it impossible to form a pantheon of deities with any hope of consistency1 assigning to each god or goddess his or her proper position in the divine galaxy as ruling over a definite sphere1 cosmic or psychical1 it may be asked in what manner the modern mythologist is better equipped to reduce to order elements so recondite and difficult of elucidation as the mythic shapes of the divinities worshipped in the ,nile ,valley4 ,but the answer is ready4 ,the modern science of comparative religion is extending year by year1 and its light is slowly but certainly becoming diffused among the dark places of the ancient faiths4 ,by the gleam of this magic lamp1 then--more wonderful than any dreamt of by the makers of ,eastern fable--let us walk in the gloom of the pyramids1 in the cool shadows of ruined temples1 aye1 through the tortuous labyrinth of the ,egyptian mind itself1 trusting that by virtue of the light we carry we shall succeed in unravelling to some extent the age-long enigma of this mystic land4 ,one of the first considerations which occur to us is that among such a concourse of gods as is presented by the ,egyptian religion it would have been surprising if confusion had not arisen in the native mind concerning them4 ,this is proved by the texts1 which display in many cases much difficulty in defining the exact qualities of certain deities1 their grouping and classification4 ,the origin of this haziness is not far to seek4 ,the deities of the country multiplied at such an astonishing rate that whereas we find the texts of the early dynasties give us the names of some two hundred deities only1 the later ,theban ,recension 7or version7 of the ,book of the ,dead supplies nearly five hundred1 to which remain to be added the names of mythological beings to the number of eight hundred4 ,local ,gods ,another cause which made for confusion was that in every large town of ,upper and ,lower ,egypt and its neighbourhood religion took what might almost be called a local form4 ,thus the great gods of the country were known by different names in each nome or province1 their ritual was distinctive1 and even the legends of their origin and adventures assumed a different shape4 ,many of the great cities1 too1 possessed special gods of their own1 and to these were often added the attributes of one or more of the greater and more popular forms of godhead4 ,the faith of the city that was the royal residence became the religion par excellence of the entire kingdom1 its temple became the ,mecca of all good ,egyptians1 and its god was1 so long as these conditions obtained1 the ,jupiter of the ,egyptian pantheon4 ,it might have been expected that when ,egypt attained a uniformity of culture1 art1 and nationhood1 her religion1 as in the case of other peoples1 would also become uniform and simplified4 ,but such a consummation was never achieved4 ,even foreign intercourse failed almost entirely to break down the religious conservatism of priesthood and people4 ,indeed1 the people may be said to have proved themselves more conservative than the priests4 ,alterations in religious policy1 differentiation in legend and hieratic texts emanated from time to time from the various colleges of priests1 or from that fount of religion1 the sovereign himself2 but never was a change made in deference to the popular clamour unless it was a reversion to an older type4 ,indeed1 as the dynasties advance we behold the spectacle of a theological gulf growing betwixt priests and people1 the former becoming more idealistic and the latter remaining as true to the outer semblance of things1 the symbolic1 as of old4 ,the evolution of religion in ancient ,egypt must have taken the same course as among other races1 and any hypothesis which attempts to explain it otherwise is almost certainly doomed to non-success4 ,of late years many works by learned ,egyptologists have been published which purport to supply a more or less wide survey of ,egyptian mythology and to unravel its deeper significances4 ,the authors of some of these works1 however admirable they may be as archologists or as translators of hieroglyphic texts1 are for the most part but poorly equipped to grapple with mythological difficulties4 ,to ensure success in mythological elucidation a special training is necessary1 and a prolonged familiarity with the phenomena of early religion in its many and diverse forms is a first essential4 ,in the work of one foreign ,egyptologist of standing1 for example1 a candid confession is made of ignorance regarding mythological processes4 ,he claims to present the ,egyptian religion as it appears to an unprejudiced observer who knows nothing of the modern science of religions4 ,another ,egyptologist of the first rank writes upon the subject of totemism in the most elementary manner1 and puts forward the claim that such a system never existed in the ,nile valley4 ,but these questions will be dealt with in their proper places4 ,beginning with forms of the lower cultus--forms almost certainly of ,african origin--the older religion of ,egypt persisted strongly up to the time of the ,hyksos period1 after which time the official religion of the country may be found in one or other form of sun-worship4 ,that is to say1 all the principal deities of the country were at some time amalgamated or identified with the central idea of a sun-god4 ,the ,egyptian religion of the ,middle and ,late ,kingdoms was as much a thing of philosophic invention as later ,greek myth1 only1 so far as we have the means of judging1 it was not nearly so artistic or successful4 ,for1 whereas we find numerous allusions in the texts to definite myths1 we seldom find in ,egyptian literature the myths themselves4 ,indeed1 our chief repository of ,egyptian religious tales is the ,de ,iside et ,osiride of the ,greek ,plutarch--an uncertain authority4 ,it is presumed that the myths were so well known popularly that to write them down for the use of such a highly religious people as the ,egyptians would have been a work of supererogation4 ,the loss to posterity1 however1 is immeasurable1 and1 lacking a full chronicle of the deeds of the gods of ,egypt1 we can only grope through textual and allied matter for scraps of intelligence which1 when pieced together1 present anything but an appearance of solidity and comprehensiveness4 ,animism ,it has been admitted that the ancient ,egyptians1 like other early races1 could not have evolved a religion unless by the usual processes of religious growth4 ,thus we discover1 by means of numerous clues more or less strong1 that they passed through the phase known as animism1 or animatism4#a ,this is the belief that practically every object in the universe surrounding man has a soul and a personality such as he himself possesses4 ,man at an early date of his consciousness formulated the belief in a soul1 that mysterious second self which even the most debased races believe in4 ,the phenomena of sleep1 the return of consciousness after slumber1 and the strange experiences of life and adventures in dreamland while asleep would force early man to the conclusion that he possessed a double or second self1 and it was merely an extension of that idea which made him suppose that this secondary personality would continue to exist after death4 ,but what proof have we that the early dwellers in ,egypt passed through this phase8 ,besides the belief in a human soul1 the animistic condition of mind sees in every natural object a living entity4 ,thus trees1 rivers1 winds1 and animals all possess the gift of rational thought and speech4 ,how is it possible to prove that the ancient ,egyptians believed that such objects possessed conscious souls and individualities of their own8 ,first as to the early ,egyptian belief that man himself possessed a soul4 ,the ,egyptian symbol for the soul 7the ba7 is a man-headed bird4 ,now the conception of the soul as a bird is a very common one among savages and barbarians of a low order4 ,to uncultured man the bird is always incomprehensible because of its magical power of flight1 its appearance in the sky where dwell the gods1 and its song1 approaching speech4 ,from the bird the savage evolves the idea of the winged spirit or god1 the messenger from the heavens4 ,thus many supernatural beings in all mythological systems are given wings4 ,many ,american ,indian tribes believe that birds are the visible spirits of the dead4 ,the ,powhatans of ,virginia believed that birds received the souls of their chiefs at death1 and the ,aztecs that the spirits of departed warriors took the shapes of humming-birds and flitted from flower to flower in the sunshine4 ,the ,boros of ,brazil believe that the soul has the shape of a bird1 and passes in that form out of the body in dream4#b ,the ,bilquila ,indians of ,british ,columbia conceive the soul as residing in an egg situated in the nape of the neck4 ,if the shell cracks and the soul flies away the man must perish4 ,a ,melanesian magician was accustomed to send out his soul in the form of an eagle to find out what was happening in passing ships4 ,pliny states that the soul of ,aristeas of ,proconnesus was seen to issue from his mouth in the shape of a raven4 ,a like belief occurs in countries so far distant from one another as ,bohemia and ,malaysia4 ,we see from these parallel examples1 then1 that the ancient ,egyptians were not singular in figuring the soul in bird-shape4 ,this idea partakes of the nature of animistic belief4 ,but other and more concrete examples of this phase of religious activity occur to us4 ,for instance1 the objects found in early graves in ,egypt1 as elsewhere1 are sometimes broken with the manifest intention of setting free their 'spirits1' doubtless to join that of their owner4 ,again1 in the myth of ,osiris we find that his coffin when at rest in ,byblos became entangled in the growth of a tree--an obvious piece of folk-memory crystallizing the race reminiscence of an early form of tree-worship--a branch of animistic belief4 ,in the texts1 too1 statements frequently occur which can be referred only to an early condition of animism4 ,thus each door in the otherworld was sentient1 and would open if correctly adjured4 ,we find in chapter lxxxvi of the ,papyrus of ,ani the ,flame of the ,sun addressed as an individual1 as is the ferry-boat of ,ra in chapter xlii4 ,i am the knot of the ,aser tree1 says the dead man in the same chapter1 referring to the tree which wound itself around the coffin of ,osiris4 ,all these are animistic references1 and could be easily multiplied by a glance through any representative ,egyptian manuscript4 ,the practice of magic1 too1 in later times in the ,nile ,valley is to some extent merely a survival of animistic belief4 ,fetishism and ,totemism ,fetishism1 too1 bulks largely in ,egyptian religious conceptions4 ,many of the gods are represented as carrying the fetishes from which they may have originally been derived4 ,thus the arrow of ,neith is fetishistic 7a statement which will afterwards be justified71 as are the symbols of ,min and other deities4 ,fetishism1 regarding which ,i have given a prolonged explanation elsewhere1#c is a term applied to the use of objects large or small1 natural or artificial1 regarded as possessing consciousness1 volition1 and supernatural qualities--in short1 a fetish object is the home of a wandering spirit which has taken up residence there4 ,the remnants of fetishism are also to be discerned in the amulets which were worn by every ,egyptian1 living and dead4 ,all amulets partake of the nature of fetishes1 and the remark is often heard that good luck resides in them4 ,that is1 just as the savage believes that a powerful agency working for his good dwells in the portable fetish1 so the civilized man cannot altogether discredit the idea that the object attached to his watch-chain does not possess some inherent quality of good fortune4 ,many of these amulets typify divinities1 such as the 'buckle' sign which symbolizes the protection of ,isis2 the sacred eye representative of ,horus2 and the symbol of the parallel fingers might perhaps recall the fetishistic necklaces of fingers found among many savage peoples4 ,many ,egyptologists deny that totemism entered as a force into the religion of ancient ,egypt4 ,totemism may be defined as the recognition1 exploitation1 and adjustment of the imaginary mystic relationship of the individual or the tribe to the supernatural powers or spirits which surround them4 ,whereas the fetish is to some extent the servant of its owner1 a spirit lured to dwell in a material object to do the behest of an individual or a community1 the totem1 whether personal or tribal1 is a patron and protector and is often represented in animal or vegetable shape4 ,the basic difference between the individual and tribal totem is still obscure1 but for our present purpose it will be sufficient to deal with the latter4 ,the most notable antagonist of the theory that some of the divinities of ancient ,egypt are of totemic origin is ,dr4 ,e4,a4 ,wallis ,budge1 the well-known ,egyptologist4 ,in his ,gods of the ,egyptians he says3 ,it now seems to be generally admitted by ethnologists that there are three main causes which have induced men to worship animals1 i4e4 they have worshipped them as animals or as the dwelling-place of gods or as representatives of tribal ancestors4 ,there is no reason whatsoever for doubting that in neolithic times the primitive ,egyptians worshipped animals as animals and as nothing more4 ,none of the above statements approaches a definition of totemism4 ,the theory that the totem is a tribal ancestor is now regarded as doubtful4 ,dr4 ,budge continues3 ,the question as to whether the ,egyptians worshipped animals as representatives of tribal ancestors or 'totems' is one which has given rise to much discussion1 and this is not to be wondered at1 for the subject is one of difficulty4 ,we know that many of the standards which represent the nomes of ,egypt are distinguished by figures of birds and animals1 e4g4 the hawk1 the bull1 the hare1 etc4 ,but it is not clear whether these are intended to represent 'totems' or not4444 ,the animal or bird standing on the top of a nome perch or standard is not intended for a fetish or a representative of a tribal ancestor1 but for a creature which was regarded as the deity under whose protection the people of a certain tract of territory were placed1 and we may assume that within the limits of that territory it was unlawful to kill or injure such animal or bird4 ,totems are invariably carried on banners1 poles1 and shields1 and it is unlawful to kill them4 ,he also states that the totemic theory may explain certain facts connected with the animal-worship of numbers of savage and half-savage tribes in some parts of the world1 but it cannot in the writer's opinion be regarded as affording an explanation of the animal-worship of the ,egyptians4 ,wherefore1 it may be asked1 was ,egypt alone immune from the influence of totemism8 ,dr4 ,budge continues1 by way of final refutation of the totemic theory1 that on nome standards several objects besides animals were worshipped and regarded as gods1 or that they became the symbols of the deities which were worshipped in them4 ,thus on some standards were displayed representations of hills1 arrows1 fish1 and so forth4 ,these objects1 ,dr4 ,budge seems to imply1 cannot be fetishistic or totemic4 ,dr4 ,budge cannot1 for example1 find the reason why three hills were connected with a god4 ,this does not present a mythological problem of high complexity4 ,in many parts of the world mountain-peaks1 separately or in groups1 are objects of direct worship4 ,a mountain may be worshipped because it is the abode of a god2 for its own sake1 as were ,olympus1 ,sinai1 and ,carmel1 which latterly became the high places of deities2 or because they were supposed to be the birthplaces of certain tribes4 ,in old ,peru1 for example1 as we are informed by the ,indian writer ,salcamayhua1 each localized tribe or ,ayllu had its own paccarisca1 or place of origin1 many of which were mountains which were addressed by the natives in the formula3 ,thou art my birthplace1 ,thou art my lifespring1 ,guard me from evil1 ,o paccarisca6 ,these mountains were1 of course1 oracular1 as those represented on the ,egyptian standards would probably be4 ,that they were worshipped as the houses of oracles and for their own sakes1 and not as the home of a deity1 seems to be proved in that they1 rather than such a deity1 are represented in the standards4 ,neither can ,dr4 ,budge decipher in a mythological sense the symbol of two arrows placed notch to notch with double barbs pointing outward4 ,arrows of this type are common as fetishes in several parts of the world4 ,among the ,cheyenne ,indians of the ,plains the set of four sacred 'medicine' arrows constitutes the tribal palladium which they claim to have had from the beginning of the world1 and which was annually utilized in tribal ceremonial as lately as #aijd4 ,they also had a rite spoken of as 'fixing' the arrows1 which was undertaken by priests specially set apart as the guardians of this great fetish4#d ,but there are other and much more apparent proofs of the totemic nature of a number of the ,egyptian deities4 ,it is obvious1 for example1 that the cat-headed ,bast1 who was worshipped first in the shape of a cat1 was originally a cat totem4 ,the crocodile was the incarnation of the god ,sebek1 and dwelt in a lake near ,krokodilopolis4 ,ra and ,horus are represented with the heads of hawks1 and ,thoth with the head of an ibis4 ,anubis has the head of a jackal4 ,that some of these forms are totemic is not open to doubt4 ,but it was a decadent totemism1 in which the more primitive sentiment was focused on particular animals considered as divine1 totems which had become full-fledged divinities4 ,the ,egyptians carried standards on which were represented their totemic animals precisely as the natives of the ,upper ,darling engrave their totem on their shields1 and as several ,american tribes in time of war carry sticks surmounted by pieces of bark on which their animal totems are painted4 ,an instance of protection by a totem is alluded to by ,diodorus1 who states that there was a tale in ,egypt that one of the ancient kings had been saved from death by a crocodile4 ,lastly1 in many of the nomes of ,egypt certain animals were not eaten by the inhabitants4 ,this is a sure indication of the existence of totemism1 for the presence of which in ,egypt no better proof could be adduced4 ,there is no reason to suppose1 however1 that in later times animals were not worshipped in ,egypt for other than totemic reasons4 ,the later worship of animals may have been a relic of totemism1 but it is more likely to have been merely symbolic in character4 ,even when the attendant rites and beliefs of totemism cease to be recognized1 the totem animal may retain its bestial form instead of assuming a semi-human one4 ,there is a pony totem worshipped by a certain tribe of ,north ,american ,indians which is at present in course of evolution into a full-fledged divinity1 but which persists in retaining its equine form4 ,again1 the ability of the ,egyptian gods to transform themselves into animals by means of magical formul#e is eloquent in many cases of their totemic origin4 ,it has been said that not only individual animals but all the animals of a class were sacred in certain nomes4 ,in these cases1 says ,wiedemann1 the animals were not honoured as gods1 but rather as specially favoured by the gods4 ,but as this is exactly what happens among peoples in the totemic stage1 this contention must fall to the ground4 ,creation ,myths ,there are several accounts in existence which deal with the ,egyptian conception of the creation of the world and of man4 ,we find a company of eight gods alluded to in the ,pyramid ,texts as the original makers and moulders of the universe4 ,the god ,nu and his consort ,nut were deities of the firmament and the rain which proceeds therefrom4 ,hehu and ,hehut appear to personify fire1 and ,kekui and ,kekuit the darkness which brooded over the primeval abyss of water4 ,kerh and ,kerhet also appear to have personified ,night or ,chaos4 ,some of these gods have the heads of frogs1#f others those of serpents1 and in this connexion we are reminded of the deities which are alluded to in the story of creation recorded in the ,popol ,vuh1 the sacred book of the ,kiche ,indians of ,guatemala1 two of whom1 ,xpiyacoc and ,xmucane1 are called the ancient serpents covered with green feathers1 male and female4 ,we find in the account of the creation story now under consideration the admixture of the germs of life enveloped in thick darkness1 so well known to the student of mythology as symptomatic of creation myths all the world over4 ,a papyrus 7c4 #cab ,b4,c47 preserved in the ,british ,museum contains a series of chapters of a magical nature1 the object of which is to destroy ,apepi1 the fiend of darkness1 and in it we find two copies of the story of creation which detail the means by which the sun came into being4 ,in one account the god ,ra says that he took upon himself the form of ,khepera1 the deity who was usually credited with the creative faculty4 ,he proceeds to say that he continued to create new things out of those which he had already made1 and that they went forth from his mouth4 ,heaven1 he says1 did not exist and earth had not come into being1 and the things of the earth and creeping things had not come into existence in that place1 and ,i raised them from out of ,nu from a state of inactivity4 ,this would imply that ,khepera moulded life in the universe from the matter supplied from the watery abyss of ,nu4 ,i found no place1 says ,khepera1 whereon ,i could stand4 ,i worked a charm upon my own heart4 ,i laid a foundation in ,mat4 ,i made every form4 ,i was one by myself4 ,i had not emitted from myself the god ,shu1 and ,i had not spit out from myself the goddess ,tefnut4 ,there was no other being who worked with me4 ,the word ,mat signifies law1 order1 or regularity1 and from the allusion to working a charm upon his heart we may take it that ,khepera made use of magical skill in the creative process1 or it may mean1 in ,scriptural phraseology1 that he took thought unto himself to make a world4 ,the god continues that from the foundation of his heart multitudes of things came into being4 ,but the sun1 the eye of ,nu1 was covered up behind ,shu and ,tefnut1 and it was only after an indefinite period of time that these two beings1 the children of ,nu1 were raised up from out the watery mass and brought their father's eye along with them4 ,in this connexion we find that the sun1 as an eye1 has a certain affinity with water4 ,thus ,odin pledged his eye to ,mimir for a draught from the well of wisdom1 and we find that sacred wells famous for the cure of blindness are often connected with legends of saints who sacrificed their own eyesight4#g ,the allusion in those legends is probably to the circumstance that the sun as reflected in water has the appearance of an eye4 ,thus when ,shu and ,tefnut arose from the waters the eye of ,nu followed them4 ,shu in this case may represent the daylight and ,tefnut moisture4 ,khepera then wept copiously1 and from the tears which he shed sprang men and women4 ,the god then made another eye1 which in all probability was the moon4 ,after this he created plants and herbs1 reptiles and creeping things1 while from ,shu and ,tefnut came ,geb and ,nut1 ,osiris and ,isis1 ,set1 ,nephthys and ,horus at a birth4 ,these make up the company of the great gods at ,heliopolis1 and this is sufficient to show that the latter part of the story at least was a priestly concoction4 ,but there was another version1 obviously an account of the creation according to the worshippers of ,osiris4 ,in the beginning of this ,khepera tells us at once that he is ,osiris1 the cause of primeval matter4 ,this account was merely a frank usurpation of the creation legend for the behoof of the ,osirian cult4 ,osiris in this version states that in the beginning he was entirely alone4 ,from the inert abyss of ,nu he raised a god-soul--that is1 he gave the primeval abyss a soul of its own4 ,the myth then proceeds word for word in exactly the same manner as that which deals with the creative work of ,khepera4 ,but only so far1 for we find ,nu in a measure identified with ,khepera1 and ,osiris declaring that his eye1 the sun1 was covered over with large bushes for a long period of years4 ,men are then made by a process similar to that described in the first legend4 ,from these accounts we find that the ancient ,egyptians believed that an eternal deity dwelling in a primeval abyss where he could find no foothold endowed the watery mass beneath him with a soul2 that he created the earth by placing a charm upon his heart1 otherwise from his own consciousness1 and that it served him as a place to stand upon2 that he produced the gods ,shu and ,tefnut1 who in turn became the parents of the great company of gods2 and that he dispersed the darkness by making the sun and moon out of his eyes4 ,after these acts followed the almost insensible creation of men and women by the process of weeping1 and the more sophisticated making of vegetation1 reptiles1 and stars4 ,in all this we see the survival of a creation myth of a most primitive and barbarous type1 which much more resembles the crude imaginings of the ,red ,man than any concept which might be presumed to have arisen from the consciousness of 'classic' ,egypt4 ,but it is from such unpromising material that all religious systems spring1 and however strenuous the defence made in order to prove that the ,egyptians differed in this respect from other races1 that defence is bound in no prolonged time to be battered down by the ruthless artillery of fact4 ,we have references to other deities in the ,pyramid ,texts1 some of whom appear to be nameless4 ,for example1 in the text of ,pepi ,i we find homage rendered to one who has four faces and who brings the storm4 ,this would seem to be a god of wind and rain1 whose countenances are set toward the four points of the compass1 whence come the four winds4 ,indeed1 the context proves this when it says3 ,thou hast taken thy spear which is dear to thee1 thy pointed weapon which thrusteth down riverbanks with double point like the darts of ,ra and a double haft like the claws of the goddess ,maftet4 ,the ',companies' of the ,gods ,in the ,pyramid ,texts we find frequent mention of several groups consisting of nine gods each4 ,one of these companies of gods1 or ,enneads1 was called the ,great and another the ,little1 and the nine gods of ,horus are also alluded to4 ,it is not known1 however1 whether this group is in any way connected with either of the others4 ,we also read in the ,pyramid ,texts of ,teta of a double group of eighteen gods which recur in the text of ,pepi ,i4 ,these eighteen gods may simply be the ,great and ,little companies of gods taken together4 ,in the texts of ,pepi ,i and ,teta1 however1 we find a third company of nine gods1 officially recognized by the priests of ,heliopolis1 and all three companies are represented by twenty-seven symbols representing the word neter 7god7 placed in a row4 ,although these companies of gods are spoken of as containing nine deities1 that is owing to their designation of ,pesedt1 which signifies 'nine'4 ,the ,little company in reality contains eleven gods1 but nine was their original number1 and1 as ,sir ,gaston ,maspero says1 each of them1 especially the first and last1 could be developed4 ,a local company such as that of ,heliopolis might have the god of another nome or district embraced in it in one of two ways2 that is1 the alien god might replace one of the local gods or be set side by side with him4 ,again1 strange gods could be absorbed in the leader of the ,pesedt4 ,when a fresh god was admitted into a company all the other deities who were connected with him were also included1 but their names were not classed beside those of its original members4 ,these three companies of gods were fully developed by the period of the ,fifth ,dynasty1 and there is little doubt that the ,egyptian theology owed the formation of this pantheon to the caste of priests ruling at ,heliopolis4 ,to the third ,pesedt they gave no name4 ,the gods of the first company are ,tem1 ,shu1 ,tefnut1 ,qeb1 ,nut1 ,osiris1 ,isis1 ,set1 ,nephthys4 ,occasionally ,horus is given as the chief of the company instead of ,tem4 ,in the text of ,unas we find the names of the gods of the ,little company given1 but they are for the most part quite unimportant4 ,the third company is rarely mentioned1 and the names of its gods are unknown4 ,earth as well as heaven and the underworld had its quota of deities1 and it is considered highly probable that the three companies of gods are referable one to each of these regions4 ,the members of each company varied in different periods and in different cities4 ,but the great local god or goddess was always the head of the company in a given vicinity4 ,as has been said1 he might be joined to another deity4 ,at ,heliopolis1 for example1 where the chief local god was ,tem1 the priests joined to his name that of ,ra1 and addressed him in prayer as ,ra-,tem4 ,texts of all periods show that the chief local gods of many cities retained their pre-eminence almost to the end4 ,the land of ,egypt was divided into provinces called hesput1 to which the ,greeks gave the name of nome4 ,in each of these a certain god or group of gods held sway1 the variation being caused by racial and other considerations4 ,to the people of each nome their god was the deity par excellence1 and in early times it is plain that the worship of each province amounted almost to a separate religion4 ,this division of the country must have taken place at an early epoch1 and it certainly contributed greatly to the conservation of religious differences4 ,the nome gods certainly date from pre-dynastic times1 as is proved by inscriptions antedating the ,pyramid ,texts4 ,the number of these provinces varied from one period to another1 but the average seems to have been between thirty-five and forty4 ,it would serve no purpose to enumerate the gods of the various nomes in this place1 as many of them are obscure1 but as each deity is dealt with the nome to which he belongs will be mentioned4 ,several nomes worshipped the same god4 ,for example1 ,horus was worshipped in not less than six1 while in three provinces ,khnemu was worshipped1 and ,hathor in six4 ,the ,egyptian ,idea of ,god ,the word by which the ,egyptians implied deity and1 indeed1 supernatural beings of any description was neter4 ,the hieroglyphic which represents this idea is described by most ,egyptologists as resembling an axe-head let into a long wooden handle4 ,some archologists have attempted to show that the figure resembled in outline a roll of yellow cloth1 the lower part bound or laced over1 the upper part appearing as a flap at the top1 probably for unwinding4 ,it has been thought possible that the object represents a fetish--for instance1 a bone carefully wound round with cloth1 and not the cloth alone4 ,we are ignorant of most of the gods worshipped during the first four dynasties1 chiefly because of the lack of documentary evidence1 although some are known from the inscription called the ,palermo ,stone1 which alludes to several local deities4 ,some portions of the ,book of the ,dead may have been revised during the ,first ,dynasty1 and from this we may argue that the religion of the ,egyptians1 as revealed in the later texts1 closely resembled that in existence during the first three dynasties4 ,it is only when we come to the ,fifth and ,sixth ,dynasties that we discover material for the study of the ,egyptian pantheon in the ,pyramid ,texts of ,unas1 ,teta1 ,pepi the ,first1 and others4 ,by this period the first phase of ,egyptian development appears to have been entered upon4 ,at the same time it is plain that the material afforded by the ,pyramid ,texts contains stratum upon stratum of religious thought and conception1 in all probability bequeathed to the pyramid builders by innumerable generations of men4 ,in these wondrous texts we find crystallized examples of the most primitive and barbarous religious elements--animistic1 fetishistic1 and totemic4 ,these texts are for the most part funerary and1 in consequence1 relate chiefly to deities of the underworld4 ,deities of the ,pyramid ,texts ,in order to understand this earliest fixed phase of religious thought in ,egypt1 it is necessary to pass in brief review the deities alluded to in the ,pyramid ,texts1 and for the moment to regard them separately from the rest of the ,egyptian pantheon4 ,in doing so we must beware of definitely labelling these conceptions with such names as 'water-god1' 'thunder-god1' 'sun-god1' and so forth4 ,despite the labours of the last half-century1 the science of mythology is yet in its infancy1 and workers in its sphere are now beginning to suspect that mere variants or phases of certain deities1 which are by no means separate entities1 have in many cases been credited with an individual status they do not deserve4 ,the deities of the ,greek and ,roman pantheons are doubtless good examples of gods whose attributes are finally fixed4 ,thus one may say of ,mars that he is a war-god1 and of ,pallas ,athene that she is a goddess of wisdom1 but these were merely the attributes possessed by these deities which were most popular and uppermost in the public consciousness4 ,recent research has proved that most of the ,greek and ,roman deities are traceable to earlier forms1 some of which possess a variety of attributes1 others of which are more simple in form than the later conception which is developed from them4 ,again1 many deities which exhibit some particular tendency are necessarily connected with other natural forms4 ,thus many rain gods or goddesses are connected with thunder and lightning4 ,possession of the lightning arrow frequently implies a connexion with hunting or war4 ,all moon-gods are deities of moisture1 and preside over birth4 ,some deities of rain preside also over the winds1 thunder and lightning1 the chase and war1 general culture1 and so forth4 ,a sun-god1 as lord of the vault of heaven1 can preside over all the meteorological manifestations thereof4 ,he is god of growth1 of wealth1 because gold possesses the yellow colour of his beams1 of travelling1 because he walks the heavens1 and he rules countless other departments of existence4 ,from polytheism may evolve in time a condition of monotheism1 in which one god holds complete sway over mankind--that is1 one deity may become so popular1 or the priestly caste connected with him so powerful1 that all other cults languish as his spreads and grows4 ,but1 on the other hand1 polytheism1 or the multiplicity of deities1 may well spring from an early monotheism1#h itself the child of a successful fetish or totem1 for the attributes of a great single god may1 in the hands of a people still partially in the animistic stage1 become so infused with individuality as to appear entirely separate entities4 ,in dealing1 then1 with the gods alluded to in the ,pyramid ,texts1 several of which are obviously derivative1 we must recollect that although in a manner it is necessary to affix to them some more or less definite description1 it will be well to bear in mind the substance of this paragraph4 ,we are not at present finally considering the natures or characteristics of the deities mentioned in the ,pyramid ,texts1 but merely affording such a brief outline of them as will give the reader some idea of ,egyptian religion in general during the early dynasties4 ,the goddess ,net1 or ,neith1 who is mentioned in the ,pyramid ,texts of ,unas1 is a figure in which we descry a personification of moisture or rain1 because of her possession of the arrow1 the symbol of lightning4 ,the hawk-headed ,horus1 probably originally a hawk totem1 is one of the manifestations of the sun-deity1 from whom he may have evolved1 or with whom he may have been confounded4 ,khepera1 also found in the ,unas ,texts1 is another form of the sun4 ,his possession of the beetle glyph is symbolical of the manner in which the sun rolls over the face of the sky as the ,egyptian beetle or scarabus rolled its eggs over the sand4 ,khnemu1 the ram-headed1 whose name signifies 'the moulder' or 'uniter1' was probably the totemic deity of an immigrant race who had achieved godhead1 and perhaps monotheism1 or at least creatorship1 in another sphere1 and who had been accepted into ,egyptian belief with all his attributes4 ,sebek1 the crocodile-god1 ,ra and ,ptah1 two other forms of the sun-god1 ,nu1 the watery mass of heaven1 are also alluded to in the ,pyramid ,texts of ,unas and ,teta1 as is ,hathor4 ,early ,burials ,egyptian religious tenets carefully fostered the idea of the preservation of the human body after death4 ,in the earliest period the burials of the time throw much light on the nature of religious belief4 ,the corpse was buried in such a posture that it would appear to have been doubled up prior to interment4 ,the knees touch the chin1 and the hands are disposed in front of the face4 ,the head was turned to the west4 ,in later prehistoric times the body was often closely bound with wrappings which were so tightly drawn as to force all the bones parallel with each other4 ,later still1 a less contracted attitude was adopted1 which in turn gave way to a fully extended position4 ,in the late prehistoric period the corpse is found wrapped in linen cloths4 ,it was surrounded with articles provided for its use1 nourishment1 or defence in the other-world1 or perhaps for that of its ka1 or double--stone vessels containing beer1 unguents of various kinds1 flint knives and spear-heads1 necklaces and other objects of daily use which the deceased had employed during life4 ,amulets were placed upon the corpse to protect it against evil spirits both in this world and in the life beyond4 ,in the ,old ,kingdom1 which may be designated the ,pyramid ,age1 we find a new description of burial coming into fashion4 ,mummification of a simple kind became the vogue4 ,there is good reason to suppose that this custom arose out of the cult of ,osiris1 the god of the dead1 and it powerfully influenced all future ,egyptian funerary and theological practice and thought4 ,but between what may be conveniently described as the 'prehistoric' period and that of the ,pyramids several other types of tomb had found popularity4 ,the ,pharaoh1 during the ,first ,dynasty1 was buried in a large rectangular building of brick1 which had several chambers inaccessible from outside4 ,in one of these the body of the king was laid1 and in the others a variety of offerings and utensils were stored4 ,the whole was merely an elaboration of the prehistoric method of sepulture4 ,the exterior of the tomb was broken up by niches in the form of doors1 through which it was thought the ka of the dead king would be able to leave and re-enter his tomb at will4 ,round the whole a wall was built1 and fresh offerings to the deceased royalty were placed within the niches or alcoves of the tomb from time to time1 and over all a mound of earth or brick was probably heaped4 ,the name-stele of the monarch was blazoned in hieroglyphs on a large memorial slab outside1 without any allusion to his life1 character1 or actions4 ,several of the early royal burial-places contain the graves of women1 servants1 and dogs4 ,these in true ,neolithic fashion had been slaughtered at the grave of the ,pharaoh in order that they might accompany him and attend to his comfort and requirements in the new life4 ,later these sacrifices were discontinued1 and instead of a graveside holocaust the images or pictures of wives and dependents were placed in the royal tomb4 ,the ,pyramid ,from such a resting-place was gradually evolved the stupendous conception of the pyramid4 ,the pyramid is1 in effect1 nothing but a vast funeral cairn1 a huge grave-mound1 on which1 instead of stones or pieces of rock1 enormous blocks of granite were piled4 ,often the burial-chamber it contains is nothing more than a mere vault1 to which access is gained by a narrow passage or gallery1 which was carefully blocked up after the royal funeral4 ,originally these burial-chambers were quite unadorned1 and it was not until the end of the ,middle ,kingdom that it became usual to inscribe their walls with texts relating to the future life4 ,thus originated those wonderful ,pyramid ,texts from which we have learned so much of the lore of ancient ,egypt4 ,on the eastern side of the pyramid was built a temple dedicated to the defunct monarch1 in which offerings to his manes were duly and punctually made4 ,as he became deified upon death1 so his statue in his character of a divinity was placed in an apartment specially prepared for it4 ,the pile of stones proper from which the pyramid was evolved may be traced to the retaining wall of the tomb4 ,by the ,third ,dynasty this small retaining wall had become roofed over and expanded into a solid mass of brickwork1 called by the ,arabs a mastaba1 which was practically a truncated pyramid4 ,this pile of brickwork was later in the same dynasty copied in stone1 as at ,saqqara1 and enlarged by repeated additions and successive coats of masonry4 ,lastly1 the whole received a casing of limestone blocks1 and we have such a structure as the pyramid of ,medum4 ,pyramidal ,architecture ,the pyramidal form of architecture is peculiar to ,egypt1 and even there is confined to the period from the ,fourth to the ,twelfth ,dynasty1 or before #cjjj ,b4,c4 ,the ,mexican and ,central ,american teocalli1 or stepped temple1 has frequently been erroneously compared to the pyramid1 but whereas it was a place of worship1 the ,egyptian form was purely a place of sepulture4 ,a definite design lay behind each of these vast structures4 ,it seems to have occurred to some writers that the pyramids were built haphazard and by dint of brute force4 ,so far from this being the case1 they were constructed with extraordinary care1 and mathematical computations of considerable complexity are manifest in their design4 ,the early pyramids were composed of horizontal layers of rough-hewn blocks of stone1 held together principally by their own weight1 but between the interstices of which mortar was placed4 ,in the later stages of the type the core of the structure was formed chiefly of rubble1 of which stone1 mud1 and mud bricks were the principal constituents4 ,this was faced outwardly with a fine casing of stone1 carefully dressed and joined1 and the mortuary-chambers showed similar care in construction4 ,these were generally placed below the ground level1 and access was gained to them by a gallery opening on the northern side of the pyramid4 ,these are usually blocked once or more by massive monoliths1 and were sometimes closed externally by stone doors revolving on a pivot in order that the priests might gain entrance when desired4 ,the first pyramid has been definitely attributed to ,cheops or ,khufu1 and is situated at ,gizeh4 ,the second is credited to ,dad-ef-ra1 and was built at ,abu ,roash4 ,khafra was entombed in the second pyramid of ,gizeh1 and that known as 'the ,upper' at the same place was tenanted by the corpse of ,menkaura4 ,the smaller structures at ,gizeh near the great and third pyramids were constructed for the families of ,khufu and ,khafra4 ',lost' ,pyramids ,several of the pyramids alluded to in the ancient texts of these buildings have either entirely disappeared1 or cannot be identified4 ,thus the burial-place of ,shepseskaf1 known by the delightful title of 'the ,cool1' is unknown4 ,we can picture the shaven priests stealing into the recesses of its thickly shadowed galleries to shelter from the fierce ,egyptian sun4 ,no doubt the ka of ,shepseskaf found its shade acceptable enough as he played at draughts with his mummy in its inaccessible chambers4 ,it is known that the pyramid of ,menkauhor1 'the most divine edifice1' is somewhere at ,saqqara1 but which of its stately piles can be attributed to him it is impossible to say4 ,so with the pyramid of ,assa1 who is mentioned in tablets at ,saqqara1 ,karnak1 and elsewhere4 ,this was called 'the ,beautiful4' ,neither can the similarly named 'beautiful rising' of ,rameses and the 'firm life' of ,neferarkara be satisfactorily placed4 ,it is highly unlikely that these structures can have crumbled into a ruin so complete that no trace whatsoever has been left of them--that is1 unless they were built of mud bricks4 ,the brick pyramid of ,amenemhat ,,iii at ,howara1 however1 still remains1 as does that of ,senusert ,,iii at ,dahshur4 ,so much has been written of late concerning the pyramids that it would be idle to pursue the subject further in a work such as this1 which professes to give an account of the mythology of ,egypt and an outline only of its polity and arts4 ,there can be little interest for the general reader in mere measurements and records of bulk4 ,mummification ,mummification was1 as has been said1 probably an invention of the ,osirian cult4 ,the priests of ,osiris taught that the body of man was a sacred thing and not to be abandoned to the beasts of the desert1 because from it would spring the effulgent and regenerated envelope of the purified spirit4 ,in prehistoric times some attempt appears to have been made toward preservation1 either by drying in the sun or smearing the corpse with a resinous preparation2 and as the centuries went by this primitive treatment developed into the elaborate art of embalming1 with all its gloomy1 if picturesque1 ceremonial4 ,by the time of the ,middle ,kingdom1 as is evidenced by the graves of ,beni ,hassan1 the practice prevailed of removing the internal organs and placing them in a box divided into four compartments inscribed with the names of the four canopic deities who presided over them4 ,in some burials of this date1 to avoid the trouble of removing the intestines those responsible for the obsequies simply made up parcels which purported1 by written descriptions upon them1 to contain the organs in question1 believing1 doubtless1 that the written statement that these bundles contained the heart1 lungs1 and so forth was magically efficacious1 and quite as satisfactory as their real presence within the receptacle4 ,we do not find the process of mummification reaching any degree of elaboration until the period of the ,new ,kingdom4 ,at first it was confined to the ,pharaohs alone1 who were identified with ,osiris2 but the necessity for a retinue which would attend him in the dark halls of the ,tuat prescribed that his courtiers also should be embalmed4 ,the custom was taken up by the wealthy1 and filtered down from rank to rank until at length even the corpse of the poorest ,egyptian was at least subjected to a process of pickling in a bath of natron4 ,the art reached its height in the ,twenty-first ,dynasty4 ,at that period the process was costly in the extreme1 and a mummification of an elaborate kind cost about #gjj in modern currency4 ,when the relations of the deceased consulted the professional embalmers they were shown models of mummies1 one of which they selected4 ,the corpse was then placed in the hands of the embalmers4 ,first of all they injected a corrosive into the brain cavity1 after which its softened contents were removed through the nostrils by hooked instruments4 ,a mummifier1 whose office rendered him almost a pariah1 so sacred was the human body considered1 made an incision in the corpse with a flint knife1 a time-honoured instrument that seems eloquent of prehistoric practice4 ,the intestines and the principal organs were then removed1 washed1 and steeped in palm wine4 ,the body then underwent a drying process1 and1 according to the period1 was stripped of its flesh1 only the skin remaining1 or was stuffed with sawdust1 skilfully introduced through incisions1 so that the natural form was completely restored4 ,the cavity occupied by the organs might otherwise be stuffed with myrrh1 cassia1 or other spices4 ,when sewn up the corpse was next pickled in a bath of natron for seventy days1 and then meticulously bandaged with linen which had been dipped in some adhesive substance4 ,a coffin was built for it which retained the shape of the human form1 and which was gaily and elaborately painted with figures of divinities1 amulets1 symbols1 and sometimes burial scenes4 ,the carven countenance of the deceased surmounted this funerary finery1 and the short wig1 typical of the living ,egyptian1 glowed in gilded hues or in less costly colour above the conventional death-mask1 which in general bore but little resemblance to him4 ,the canopic jars in which the intestines were placed had lids so carven as to resemble human heads1 but subsequent to the ,eighteenth ,dynasty the heads of the four sons of ,horus1 the man-headed ,mesti1 the ape-headed ,hapi1 the jackal ,tuamutef1 and the falcon ,qebhsennf1 the 'genii' who guarded the north1 south1 east1 and west1 were represented upon their covers4 ,in their respective jars were placed the stomach and larger intestines1 the smaller intestines1 the lungs and heart1 and the liver and gall-bladder4 ,these jars were placed in the tomb beside the mummy1 so that upon resurrection it could easily command their contents4 ,it is a striking circumstance that we discover a parallel to these 'genii' among the ancient ,maya of ,central ,america1 who possessed four deities placed one at each point of the compass to uphold the heavens4 ,their names were ,kan1 ,muluc1 ,ix1 and ,cauac1 or1 according to other authorities1 ,hobnil1 ,kanzicnal1 ,zaczini1 and ,hozanek1 and it has been stated that the ,maya made use of funerary jars called after these1 bacabs1 which held the internal organs of their dead4#i ,strangely enough1 the ancient ,mexicans also practised a description of mummification1 as did the ,peruvians4#aj ,funeral ,offerings ,the tomb furniture of the ,egyptians of the higher ranks was elaborate and costly--chairs1 jars1 weapons1 mirrors1 sometimes even chariots1 and wigs4 ,beginning with the ,middle ,kingdom 7,eighteenth ,dynasty71 small statuettes1 called ushabtiu1 were placed in each tomb4 ,these represented various trades1 and were supposed to assist or serve the deceased in the otherworld4 ,the walls of the tomb and the sides of the sarcophagus were usually covered with texts from the ,book of the ,dead1 or formul devoting offerings of loaves1 geese1 beer1 and other provisions to the ka of the deceased4 ,the burial ceremony was stately and imposing4 ,sometimes it chanced that the corpse had to be conveyed by water1 and gaily painted boats held the funeral procession2 or else the chain of mourners moved slowly along by the western bank of the ,nile4 ,the ceremonial at the tomb appears to have been almost of a theatrical character1 and symbolized the night journey of ,ra-,osiris4 ,the prescribed prayers were recited1 and incense was offered up4 ,the kinsmen of the deceased were loud in their lamentations1 and were assisted in these by a professional class of mourners who 'keened' loudly and shrilly as the procession slowly approached the mastaba1 or tomb1 in which the mummy was to be laid to rest4 ,it was taken from the coffin when it arrived at the door of its long home1 and was placed upright against the wall of the mastaba by a priest wearing the mask of the jackal-headed god ,anubis4 ,at this point an elaborate ceremony was performed1 known as the 'opening of the mouth4' ,with many magical spells and signs the mouth of the deceased was opened by means of a hook1 after which he was supposed to be able to make use of his mouth for the purpose of speaking1 eating1 or drinking4 ,special literature had sprung up in connexion with this custom1 and was known as ,the ,book of the ,opening of the ,mouth4 ,elaborate and numerous were the instruments employed in the ceremony3 the pesh-ken1 or hook1 made of a pinkish flint1 the knife of greyish-green stone1 the vases1 small stone knives representing the 'metal of the north' and the 'metal of the south1' the unguents and oils1 and so on4 ,interminable was the ceremonial in the case of a person of importance1 at least twenty-eight formul having to be recited1 many of which were accompanied by lustration1 purification1 and1 on the part of the priests who officiated1 a change of costume4 ,the coffin containing the mummy was then lowered into the tomb by means of a long rope1 and was received by the grave-diggers4 ,the ,ka ,the dead man was practically at the mercy of the living for subsistence in the otherworld4 ,unless his kinsmen continued their offerings to him he was indeed in bad case1 for his ka would starve4 ,this ka was his double1 and came into the world at the same time as himself4 ,it must be sharply distinguished from the ba1 or soul1 which usually took the form of a bird after the death of its owner1 and1 indeed1 was capable of assuming such shape as it chose if the funeral ceremonies were carried out correctly4 ,some ,egyptologists consider the ka to be the special active force which imbues the human being with life1 and it may be equivalent to the ,hebrew expression 'spirit' as apart from 'soul4' ,in the book of ,genesis we are informed that ,god breathed the breath of life into man and he lived4 ,in like manner did ,he lay ,his arms behind the primeval gods1 and forthwith ,his ka went up over them1 and they lived4 ,when the man died his ka quitted the body1 but did not cease to take an interest in it1 and on occasion even reanimated it4 ,it was on behalf of the ka that ,egyptian tombs were so well furnished with food and drink1 and the necessities1 not to say the luxuries1 of existence4 ,the ,ba ,the ba1 as has been mentioned1 did not remain with the body1 but took wing after death4 ,among primitive peoples--the aborigines of ,america1 for instance--the soul is frequently regarded as possessing the form and attributes of a bird4 ,the ability of the bird to make passage for itself across the great ocean of air1 the incomprehensibility of its gift of flight1 the mystery of its song1 its connexion with 'heaven1' render it a being at once strange and enviable4 ,such freedom1 argues primitive man1 must have the liberated soul1 untrammelled by the hindering flesh4 ,so1 too1 must gods and spirits be winged1 and such1 he hopes1 will be his own condition when he has shaken off the mortal coil and rises on pinions to the heavenly mansions4 ,thus the ,bororos of ,brazil believe that the soul possesses the form of a bird4 ,the ,bilquila ,indians of ,british ,columbia think that the soul dwells in an egg in the nape of the neck1 and that upon death this egg is hatched and the enclosed bird takes flight4 ,in ,bohemian folk-lore we learn that the soul is popularly conceived as a white bird4 ,the ,malays and the ,battas of ,sumatra also depict the immortal part of man in bird-shape1 as do the ,javanese and ,borneans4 ,thus we see that the ,egyptian concept is paralleled in many a distant land4 ,but nowhere do we find the belief so strong or so persistent over a prolonged period of time as in the valley of the ,nile4 ,no race conferred so much importance and dignity upon the cult of the dead as the ,egyptian4 ,it is no exaggeration to say that the life of the ,egyptian of the cultured class was one prolonged preparation for death4 ,it is probable1 however1 that he was1 through force of custom and environment1 unaware of the circumstance4 ,it is dangerous to indulge in a universal assertion with reference to an entire nation4 ,but if any people ever regarded life as a mere academy of preparation for eternity1 it was the mysterious and fascinating race whose vast remains litter the banks of the world's most ancient river1 and frown upon the less majestic undertakings of a civilization which has usurped the theatre of their myriad wondrous deeds4 #a ,certain forms of belief are now spoken of by some mythologists as 'pre-animistic4' ,but these are not as yet sufficiently well defined to permit of accurate classification4 ,see ,marett1 ,the ,threshold of ,religion4 #b ,k4 von den ,steinen ,unter den ,naturvolker ,zentral-,brasiliens 7,berlin1 #ahid74 #c ,see ,myths and ,legends of the ,north ,american ,indians1 p4 #hg4 #d ,see ,handbook of ,north ,american ,indians1 article ,cheyenne4 #e ,as do many primitive supernatural beings all over the world4 #f ,this is typical of many water gods in ,america and ,australia4 ,see ,lang1 ,myth1 ,ritual1 and ,religion1 vol4 i1 p4 #dc4 #g ,see ,gomme1 ,ethnology in ,folklore4 #h ,see ,lang1 ,the ,making of ,religion and ,the ,new ,mythology1 for hypothesis of a monotheism prior to animistic belief4 #i ,h4 de ,charencey1 ,le ,mythe de ,votan1 p4 #ci4 ,there is but little substantiation for the latter part of this statement1 however4 ,the bacabs were closely identified with the ,maya chac1 or rain-gods4 #aj ,see my ,myths of ,mexico and ,peru4 ,,chapter ,,ii3 ,,exploration1 ,,history1 ,,and ,,customs ,the ,nile ,valley ,the ,river ,nile is the element which creates the special characteristics of ,egypt1 and differentiates it from other parts of the ,sahara ,desert4 ,at its annual overflow this river deposits a rich sediment1 which makes the fertile plains on either side such a contrast to the brown monotony of the desert4 ,east and west of the ,nile valley stretch great wastes1 broken here and there by green oases1 and the general scenery is too uniform to be interesting1 the ,delta itself presenting a richly cultivated level plain1 interspersed by the lofty dark brown mounds of ancient cities and villages set in groves of palm-trees4 ,in ,upper ,egypt the ,nile valley is narrow1 and is bounded by mountains inconsiderable in height1 and which never rise into peaks4 ,sometimes they approach the river in the form of promontories1 and sometimes are divided by the beds of ancient watercourses4 ,these are sufficiently picturesque1 but otherwise the landscape is not striking4 ,in colour1 however1 it is remarkably so4 ,the bright green of the fields1 the reddish brown or dull green of the great river contrasting with the bare yellow rocks seen beneath a brilliant sun and deep blue sky1 present views of great beauty4 ,racial ,origin ,the question of the racial origin of the people of ancient ,egypt is one of great complexity4 ,in graves and early cultural remains we find traces of several races which at remote periods entered the country1 and concerning whom the data are so scanty that it is highly dangerous to generalize about them4 ,according to ,professor ,sergi of ,rome1 the originator of the theory that a great civilizing stock arose at an early period on the southern shores of the ,mediterranean1 the ancient ,egyptian belonged to the eastern branch of this race1 along with the ,nubians1 ,abyssinians1 ,galla1 ,masai1 and ,somali4 ,the evidence of language is vague1 for in this1 as in other instances1 it may only be cultural4 ,another theory is that which would people the ,nile valley in early times with a pygmy race1 who were dispossessed and driven out by the immigrant ,mediterraneans4 ,the theory that the ,mediterranean people entered ,egypt directly from their original home does not agree with that which would make a stone-working race populating the country at an early period emanate from ,palestine4 ,it would appear from a consideration of the data that these were ,mediterraneans who had had long practice in working in stone in a country abounding in that material4 ,these were probably followed by successive immigrations from the east and from ,arabia or its neighbourhood1 whence came a people cognate with the ,babylonians and conversant with their culture1 which they had absorbed in a common early home which cannot now be located4 ,these imposed their ,semitic vocabulary upon the ,hamitic syntax of the people they found in the ,nile valley4 ,but although they revolutionized the language1 they only partially succeeded in altering the religion1 which remained for the most part of the ,osirian type1 blending later with the ,horus hawk-worship of the new-comers4 ,there are not wanting those who think that these immigrants from ,arabia were ,hamites1 who attained to a high civilization in ,western ,arabia1 and1 pressed on by ,semitic hordes from the north1 crossed the ,red ,sea in vessels and made their first base in ,egypt at ,berenice4 ,the dynastic ,egyptians1 according to this view1 are ,hamitic1 and not far removed in physical type from the ,galla of to-day1 but had1 perhaps1 some element of the proto-,semitic4#a ,they are thought to have concentrated themselves in the narrow strip of fertility along the banks of the ,nile4 ,it would indeed be difficult to discern where else they could have concentrated themselves4 ,the dynastic history of ancient ,egypt extends1 at the lowest computation1 over a period of more than three thousand years4 ,in view of chronological difficulties1 it has been found convenient to adopt the dynastic system of reckoning chosen by ,manetho1 an ,egyptian priest who lived in the third century before ,christ4 ,manetho divided the history of ,egypt into thirty-one dynasties1 of which some twenty-six comprise the period between ,mena's ,conquest and the ,persian ,conquest1 while the others cover the period of ,persian1 ,hellenic1 and ,latin supremacy4 ,with the ,persian ,conquest1 however1 came the disintegration of the ,egyptian ,empire1 and at that point purely native history comes to an end4 ,though ,manetho's dynastic divisions have been adopted by modern ,egyptologists1 his chronology is not so well received1 though it is supported by at least one distinguished authority--,professor ,flinders ,petrie4 ,the general tendency at the present day is to accept the minimum chronology which is known as that of the ,berlin ,school1 which places ,mena's ,conquest at #cdjj ,b4,c4 and the ,twelfth ,dynasty about #bjjj ,b4,c41 rather than that of ,professor ,petrie1 which would place these events at #eejj ,b4,c4 and #cdjj ,b4,c4 respectively4 ,it is customary to group the various dynasties into three periods--the ,old ,kingdom1 comprising ,dynasties ,i to ,,viii2 the ,middle ,kingdom1 ,dynasties ,,ix to ,,xviii2 and the ,new ,empire1 ,dynasties ,,xviii to ,,xxvi4 ,these divisions1 however1 do not imply any break in the course of ,egyptian history1 but are merely used for the sake of convenience4 ,the following ,table compares the systems of dating in vogue with students of ,egyptian history1 according to ,professor ,petrie and the ,berlin ,school1 as represented by ,professor ,breasted3 ,,petrie 7#aijf7 ,,berlin ,,school 7#aijf7 ,b4,c4 ,b4,c4 ,i #eeaj #cdjj ,,ii #ebdg ,,iii #dide #bihj ,,iv #dgca #bijj ,v #dded #bgej ,,vi #dbjf #bfbe ,,vii #djjc #bdge ,,viii #cicc ,,ix #cghg #bdde ,x #cfhg ,,xi #cejb #bafj ,,xii #cdei #bjjj ,,xiii #cbdf #aghh ,,xiv #bgic ,,xv #becc ,,xvi #bbdi ,,xvii #agca ,,xviii #aehj #aehj ,,xix #acbb #acej ,,xx #abjb #abjj ,,xxi #aajb #ajij ,,xxii #ieh #ide ,,xxiii #gee #gde ,,xxiv #gba #gah ,,xxv #gae #gab ,,xxvi #ffd #ffc ,,xxvii #ebe #ebe ,,xxviii #dje ,,xxix #cii ,,xxx #cgh ,egyptian ,exploration ,egypt1 with its mighty ruins wrapped in silence and mystery1 long ago attracted the curiosity of the traveller1 for the traditions of a high civilization1 of its religion1 government1 and culture1 lingered in the memory of man2 and there1 from temple1 pyramid1 palace1 and city1 he has sought and gained actual and manifold proofs of the existence of that ancient kingdom4 ,and not only has its own history thus been unveiled to the modern world1 but intertwined therewith has been traced that of other nations and powers1 among them ,persia1 ,greece1 and ,rome4 ,the earliest instance in this country of the collecting of ,egyptian antiques is in #afhc1 when a valuable stele belonging to the ,old ,kingdom was brought from ,saqqara and presented to the ,ashmolean ,museum at ,oxford1 while in the eighteenth century some attempt was made at planning and describing ,egyptian ruins1 and the identification of some of the sites with cities mentioned in classical writings4 ,in #agih a scientific commission1 including artists and archologists1 accompanied ,napoleon's military expedition into ,egypt1 and much valuable work was accomplished by these savants1 the record of which fills several volumes of the ,description de l',egypte1 while the large collection of antiquities gathered by them1 including the famous ,rosetta ,stone1 which proved the key to the mystery of the ,egyptian hieroglyphic writing1 came into ,british possession in the year #ahja4 ,then1 under ,mehemet ,ali1 ,egypt was opened to ,europeans1 and from this time onward great numbers of antiquities were taken from the country and found their way into ,european collections and museums1 especially the ,british ,museum1 the ,louvre1 and those at ,leyden1 ,berlin1 and ,turin4 ,the largest collection of ,egyptian objects is that at ,cairo4 ,early ,researches ,in #ahba came the decipherment of the ,rosetta ,stone by ,champollion1 and this added a new zest to exploration and collecting4 ,champollion himself1 together with ,rosellini1 was sent by the ,governments of ,france and ,tuscany on an expedition to ,egypt1 and much was done in copying stel and inscriptions4 ,but the ,prussian ,government initiated a greater undertaking in #ahdb1 under ,lepsius1 who extended his researches from ,egypt into ,nubia as far as ,khartoum1 and again into ,syria and ,palestine4 ,this expedition1 with its scientific methods1 yielded a wonderful harvest of valuable results4 ,the official preservation of the ancient monuments and ruins against exploitation by dealers or destruction by vandals was first undertaken by ,mehemet ,ali1 who appointed ,mariette to this onerous post1 and under his wise and able direction invaluable work was accomplished4 ,this has been developed under the ,british suzerainty4 ,the ancient sites are claimed by the ,government1 and the ,service of ,antiquities has an annual grant of large dimensions and employs many ,european and native officials4 ,all provinces are included in its survey1 and no excavations may take place without its permission2 and this is granted to responsible persons only1 and on the terms that half of the antiquities discovered shall become the property of the ,egyptian ,government1 the other half going to the finders4 ,sir ,gaston ,maspero1 director of the ,museum at ,cairo1 has made many brilliant contributions to ,egyptian archology4 ,as early as #ahfb the ,scottish archologist1 ,rhind1 saw the necessity for some definite scientific and comprehensive system of excavation if really valuable results were to be obtained1 and lamented the lack of any such methods in his time4 ,in #ahhc this system of investigation was inaugurated at ,tanis under ,professor ,flinders ,petrie4 ,everything1 large and small1 found during the excavation of city1 temple1 or grave is collected and interpreted1 and made to yield its quota of evidence and information4 ,this method gives every object its value4 ,attention is not concentrated on one department alone1 hence nothing is wasted or lost1 and knowledge of the arts and crafts1 the customs1 the literature and religion of ancient ,egypt is slowly gathered1 and all takes its due place in the pageant of history unfolded before us4 ,much of the mystery that hung over ,egypt has departed1 but the glamour and fascination she exerted in the past are still as great as ever4 ,these are not lessened by our more intimate knowledge of her ancient civilization1 but rather increased a hundredfold4 ,the silence of centuries has been broken1 the hieroglyphs have told their tale to modern man1 who listens with ever-deepening interest to the voice of the ,past4 ,the drifting sand of the desert has been cleared away and ancient buildings stand again in the sunlight and yield their secrets veiled for so many centuries4 ,the graves tell over again the unchanging sorrow of death and the world-old longings of man4 ,apart from the literary remains1 papyri and inscriptions1 the material results have been immense4 ,the ancient topography of the land has become known by the remains of roads1 canals1 quarries1 and mines4 ,the sites of towns1 with the temples1 fortifications1 and private dwellings1 have been comprehensively treated1 so that the record is almost complete from the building of the foundation to the decorative designs of the artists4 ,the site of each city1 again1 is generally that of several belonging to different epochs2 the ruins of the older buildings were levelled to an even surface and the newer one begun several feet higher4 ,the artificial mounds thus made are sometimes as much as #hj or #ij feet in height4 ,these foundations did not deter the ,egyptian architects from erecting lofty buildings1 such as those in ,memphis1 for in several cities walls exist to-day from #cj to #dj feet in height4 ,to support these they were thickened at the base and the floors vaulted4 ,amongst the limestone remains of houses are often found fragments of sandstone1 granite1 and alabaster quarried from some ruined temple1 which shows that the ,egyptians of those far-away days did exactly the same as their descendants1 and despoiled the neglected and ruined monuments4 ,town ,planning ,the plan of a town excavated shows the houses gathered closely around the temple and its square enclosure4 ,this served as fortress and refuge if the town were attacked4 ,the plan was regular in towns that were built in one period1 with wide paved streets running at right angles and provided with stone channels to carry off water and drainage4 ,the buildings were arranged in line4 ,in cities that were the product of centuries there was1 however1 great irregularity--houses heaped in mazes of blind alleys1 and dark1 narrow streets4 ,there was generally an open space1 shaded by sycamores1 used two or three times a month as a market-place4 ,the poorer classes were housed in hovels1 rarely exceeding #ab or #af feet in length1 and little better than the huts of the fellaheen of to-day4 ,the houses of the middle class1 such as shop-keepers1 small officials1 and foremen1 were of a better description1 though rather small4 ,they usually contained half a dozen rooms1 and some were two or three stories high1 while narrow courtyards separated them from the street1 though more often the house fronted directly on the road and was built on three sides of a courtyard4 ,that excellent sanitary and hygienic conditions were known in ancient ,egypt has been amply proved1 for even poorer houses at ,kahn boasted a stone tank1 and this luxury was universal except among the very poor4 ,at ,tell el ,amarna1 in the house of a high official of the ,eighteenth ,dynasty1 an elaborate bath and ingenious system of water-supply have been found4 ,the arrangements of the ordinary house were much the same as obtain in the ,east of to-day1 the ground floor including store-rooms1 barns1 and stables2 the next for living and sleeping2 the roof for sleeping in summer1 while here also the women gossiped and cooked4 ,an outside staircase1 narrow and very steep1 led to the upper rooms4 ,these were oblong in shape1 and the door was the only means of ventilation and lighting4 ,for decoration the walls were sometimes whitewashed1 or decorated with red and yellow1 or painted with domestic scenes4 ,palaces and ,mansions ,the palaces and mansions of the wealthy and great generally stood in the midst of a garden or courtyard planted with trees surrounded with crenellated walls1 broken only by a doorway1 which often indicated the social importance of the family4 ,at times it was a portico supported on columns and adorned with statues2 at others1 a pylon similar to those at the entrance of temples4 ,the interior1 says ,maspero1 almost resembled a small town divided into quarters by irregular walls4 ,in some cases the dwelling-house stood at the farther end2 while the granaries1 stables1 and domestic offices were distributed in different parts of the enclosure4 ,paintings and plans on walls of tombs1 the remains of houses at ,tell el ,amarna and of the palace of ,akhenaten1 have supplied the means by which we learn these details4 ,the pictorial plan of a ,theban house1 half palace1 half villa1 is thus elucidated by ,maspero3 ,the enclosure is rectangular1 surrounded by a crenellated wall4 ,the principal entrance opens upon a road bordered by trees by the side of a canal or branch of the ,nile4 ,the garden is symmetrically divided by low stone walls4 ,in the centre is a large trellis supported on four rows of small columns2 to right and left are four pools stocked with ducks and geese1 two leafy conservatories1 two summer-houses1 and avenues of sycamores1 date-palms1 and dm-palms4 ,at the back1 facing the entrance1 is the house1 two-storied and of small dimensions1 surmounted by a painted cornice4 ,on one of the tombs of ,tell el ,amarna is to be found a representation of the palace of ,a1 who later ascended the throne of ,egypt4 ,this is of large size1 rectangular in shape1 the faade wider than the sides4 ,the staircases running to the terraced roof lead into two small chambers at each corner of the back wall4 ,the dwelling-house itself is contained within this outer building1 and was sacred to the family and its head1 and only intimate friends had the right of entrance4 ,the remains of the ruined palace of ,akhenaten at ,tell el ,amarna also follows much the same plan1 with the addition of a pavilion for the queen's use1 containing a large hall #ea feet by #ba feet4 ,in this palace was another immense hall1 its dimensions being #dbc feet by #bcd feet4 ,it contained #edb mud pillars1 #eb inches square4 ,it communicated with five smaller halls4 ,the pillars were whitened1 and the ceilings were painted with vine-leaves and bunches of grapes on a yellow ground4 ,many of the mansions and houses afford some beautiful specimens of the decorative art of those days4 ,remains of the domestic architecture of the ,old ,kingdom are not numerous1 but the general plan seems to have been much the same as in the later periods4 ,the small antiquities discovered1 such as utensils1 clothes1 weapons1 amulets1 and other articles which have been found in great numbers1 fill in the picture of the domestic life of ancient ,egypt2 while temple and fortress and monument tell of the religion1 the warfare1 and the enterprise in that distant epoch4 ,these excavations cover a large area4 ,upper1 ,middle1 and ,lower ,egypt and ,nubia have been extensively explored1 likewise the ,sinai ,peninsula and ,syria1 with its numerous tablets of conquest4 ,in ,nubia1 states an authority1 owing to the poverty of the country and its scanty population1 the proportion of monuments surviving is infinitely greater than in ,egypt4 ,many temples1 tombs1 quarries1 forts1 grottos1 and pyramids have been found in a good state of preservation4 ,in ,upper ,egypt are to be found the great pyramids and the necropolis of ,memphis1 with various smaller pyramids to the south1 and it also boasts of the stupendous ruins of ,thebes on both sides of the river1 the tombs and quarries of ,assuan1 and the temples of ,phil1 though these by no means exhaust the list of sites which have been excavated1 while it is well known that many still hold mysteries as yet untouched4 ,life and ,law in ,ancient ,egypt ,the existence of ,egypt as a native monarchy stretched over such an extended period that it is extremely difficult to generalize concerning the method of its government or the life of its people4 ,at the same time no civilization with a record of thousands of years behind it exhibits less change either in political or domestic affairs4 ,it is certain that once an agricultural mode of life was accepted by the ,egyptians they quickly contracted those manners and customs which they retained up to the period of foreign invasion2 and so far as the lower classes are concerned1 there can be little doubt that the stream of daily life flowed on from century to century placid and unaltered4 ,the science of folklore has of late years proved to us how little alteration the passage of time brings to the life and thought of a people whose environment is such that outward forces are seldom brought to bear upon them4 ,especially was this the case with the inhabitants of the ,nile valley1 who for many centuries were sheltered by geographical and other peculiarities from the inroads of other civilized races1 and who by the time that foreign invaders mingled with them had attained such a settled course of existence1 and were so powerfully influenced by tradition1 as to be practically immune from the effects of racial intermixture4 ,it must also be borne in mind that such invaders as ,egypt knew would not bring their womankind with them1 and that their marriage to ,egyptian women would have the effect in a generation or two of completely absorbing them into the native population1 so that the racial standard remained practically unaltered4 ,again1 their numbers would be relatively small compared with the population of ,egypt4 ,the environment of the ,nile valley is exceptionally well suited to the continuance of type1 as is evidenced by the persistence of form in its domestic and other animals4 ,time and again have foreign sheep1 goats1 asses1 and so forth been introduced into it1 with the result that shortly afterward they became absorbed into the prevailing ,egyptian type of their kind1 with scarcely any modification4 ,the horse and the camel were comparatively late importations into ,egypt1 and the tardy introduction of the former is eloquent of the isolated character of the country4 ,the feudal system was general throughout ancient ,egypt1 and the ,pharaoh was chiefly employed in keeping his greater subjects in check4 ,these modelled their principalities upon the central power1 and even such as had no claim to royal blood kept up establishments of considerable magnitude4 ,officials swarmed in the ,nile valley1 and it does not seem that they were actuated by a very high standard of political morality1 or1 at least in practice1 they fell short of it4 ,members of the royal family were generally granted high office1 and this meant that the country was in effect administered by an hereditary bureaucracy4 ,a chancellor or vizier was directly responsible to the monarch for the condition of the country--its business1 finance1 and legal administration4 ,commerce ,we know but little concerning the commercial affairs of ancient ,egypt4 ,in all probability open-air markets were held4 ,currency was unknown until the era of the ,persian invasion1 and until then rings of gold1 silver1 and bronze were employed in exchange4 ,barter1 however1 prevailed universally4 ,corn was1 of course1 the staple produce of ,egypt1 and seems to have been exported to some extent to other countries1 as were papyrus rolls and linen2 but practically all silver and copper had to be imported1 as had precious woods1 the pelts of rare animals1 ivory1 spices and incense1 and stone for the manufacture of rare vessels4 ,many of these supplies reached ,egypt in the shape of tribute1 but records are extant of expeditions sent out by the king for the purpose of obtaining foreign rarities4 ,a great deal of ,egyptian trade was in the hands of foreigners4 ,the ,phnicians evidently opened up communication with ,egypt as early as the ,third ,dynasty4 ,in later times an extensive trade was carried on with ,greece1 and ,psammetichus ,i 7c4 #egj ,b4,c47 founded the town of ,naucratis as the centre of ,greek trade in ,egypt4 ,agriculture ,agriculture was the backbone of ,egyptian wealth2 the nature of the soil--rich1 black mud1 deposited by the ,nile1 which also served to irrigate it--rendered the practice of farming peculiarly simple4 ,the intense heat1 too1 assisted the speedy growth of grain4 ,cultivation was possible almost all the year round1 but usually terminated with the harvests gathered in at the end of ,april1 from which month to ,june a period of slackness was afforded the farmer4 ,a great variety of crops was sown1 but wheat and barley were the most popular2 durra1 of which bread was made1 lentils1 peas1 beans1 radishes1 lettuces1 onions1 and flax were also cultivated4 ,fruits were represented by the grape1 pomegranate1 fig1 and date4 ,timber was scanty and1 as has been said1 was mostly imported4 ,in early times it was probably more abundant1 but the introduction of the camel and the goat proved its ruin1 these animals stripping the bark from the trees and devouring the shoots4 ,wine was chiefly made in the district of ,mareotis1 near ,alexandria1 and appears to have possessed a very delicate flavour4 ,the papyrus plant was widely cultivated from the earliest times2 the stem was employed for boat-building and rope-making1 as well as for writing materials4 ,legal ,code ,egyptian law appears to have been traditional1 and no remains of any specific code have come down to us4 ,royal decrees and regulations were promulgated from time to time1 and these were usually engraved on stone and carefully preserved4 ,in the ,ptolemaic period travelling courts were instituted1 which settled litigation of all descriptions2 but the traditional law of the country appears to have been well known to the people and fully recognized by their rulers4 ,a favourite way of having a grievance redressed was to petition the king or one of the great feudal princes4 ,courts sitting to hear specific cases were nearly always composed of royal or territorial persons in early days1 and in later times of officials4 ,the right to appeal to the king existed4 ,evidence was given upon oath1 a favourite oath being ,by the king or ,by the life of the king4 ,only occasionally was torture employed for the purpose of extracting evidence4 ,penalties were various4 ,in many instances the accused was allowed to take his own life4 ,for minor crimes the bastinado or disfigurement by cutting off the nose1 banishment or fine1 were the usual punishments4 ,during the ,old ,kingdom decapitation was the usual means of inflicting death4 ,the drawing up of contracts was universal1 and these were1 as a rule1 duly witnessed4 ,from the time of the ,twenty-fifth ,dynasty these are discovered in abundance1 and usually refer to sales or loans4 ,although a woman could inherit property1 she had not the entire right of dealing with it1 but1 if divorced1 her dowry could not be forfeited4 ,many of these ancient documents deal with the buying and selling of slaves4 ,it is not clear1 however1 whether or not the consent of a slave was necessary to his sale4 ,science ,knowledge and learning of every description were1 of course1 subordinated to the religious idea1 which was the paramount consideration in ,egyptian life4 ,with architecture we have dealt elsewhere4 ,it would seem that scientific operations of all sorts were carried out1 not by means of any given formul1 but merely by rule of thumb4 ,wonderful results were obtained by the simplest means1 and the methods by which the pyramids were raised are still somewhat of a mystery4 ,the dates of festivals were astronomically fixed2 and it has been stated that the pyramids and other large buildings were orientated in the same manner4 ,the beginning of the inundation of the ,nile was marked by the rising of the star ,sothis or ,sirius4 ,a great many ,egyptian inventions appear to be of considerable antiquity1 but the inventive faculty of the race would seem to have been stunted or altogether lost in later times4 ,attempts at progress were absolutely unknown even when the ,egyptians came into contact with foreigners1 and all innovations were looked upon askance4 ,the ,peasantry ,it is uncertain to what extent the people followed the nobility in the very rigorous religious programme that these had set themselves4 ,that they were as deeply superstitious as their betters there can be little doubt2 but that they regarded themselves as fit subjects for the same otherworld to which the aristocracy were bound is unlikely in the extreme4 ,probably at the best they thought they might find some corner in the dark realm of ,osiris where they would not be utterly annihilated1 or that at least their kas would be duly fed and nourished by the offerings made to them by their children4 ,the ,egyptian peasant was pre-eminently a son of the soil1 hard-working1 patient1 and content1 with little in the way of food1 shelter1 and raiment--not at all unlike the fellah of the present day4 ,the lot of the ,egyptian peasant woman was1 like that of her husband1 one of arduous toil4 ,she was usually married about the age of fifteen1 and by the age of thirty was often a grandmother4 ,the care of her dwelling and children was not1 however1 permitted to occupy all her time1 for at certain seasons she was expected to assist her husband in the field1 where she probably received more blows than thanks4 ,justice was not very even-handed1 and redress for any individual of the peasant class was not easily obtained2 it is strange that the conditions under which the peasantry dwelt did not foment rebellion4 ,probably the only reason that such outbreaks did not take place was that the condition of servitude was too deep and that1 like most ,orientals1 the ,egyptians were fatalists4 ,costume ,the fashion of apparel differed considerably with the dynasties4 ,as we have already noted1 the ,pharaoh possessed a peculiar attire of his own1 upon which that of the upper ranks of society was to some extent modelled4 ,the climate did not permit or encourage the wearing of heavy material1 so that fine linen was greatly in use4 ,the upper portions of the body were only partially covered1 and amongst the nobility in ancient times a species of linen skirt was worn4 ,the women's dress from the earliest times was a dress reaching from the armpits to the ankles1 with straps over the shoulders4 ,the men's dress was usually a form of loin-cloth4 ,the wearing of wigs was practically universal1 and originated in prehistoric times4 ,at some early period native ritual had prescribed that the head must be shaved1 so that the fashion of the long peruke1 or the close-fitting cloth cap with ear-lappets1 became practically a necessity4 ,we find1 however1 that some ladies refused to sacrifice their hair1 and in the well-known statue of ,nefert we notice the bands of natural hair1 neatly smoothed down over the brow1 peeping out beneath the heavy wig she is wearing4 ,practically all classes wore sandals of leather or plaited papyrus4 ,in general appearance the ,egyptian was tall1 being considerably above the ,european average in height4 ,the race were for the most part dolichocephalic1 or long-skulled1 narrow-waisted and angular4 ,in later life they frequently became corpulent1 but during youth and early manhood presented rather a 'wiry' appearance4 ,they had1 however1 broad shoulders and a well-developed chest-cavity4 ,the examination of thousands of mummies by ,dr4 ,elliot ,smith has proved that in later times the ,egyptian race greatly improved in physique and muscular qualities4 ,in character the ,egyptian was grave1 and perhaps a little taciturn1 being in this respect not unlike the ,scot and the ,spaniard2 but1 like these peoples1 he had also a strain of gaiety in his composition1 and his popular literature is in places eloquent of the philosophy of laissez-faire4 ,it is probable that the stern religious code under which he lived drove him at times to deep disgust of his surroundings4 ,the ,egyptian peasant's amusement at times took the form of intoxication1 and pictures are extant which show the labourer being borne home on the shoulders of his fellows4 ,among the upper classes1 too1 it cannot be denied that a philosophy of pleasure had gained a very strong hold1 especially in later times4 ,they probably thought that if they committed the ,book of the ,dead to heart they were sure of a blissful future1 and that in this lay their whole moral duty4 ,as regards their ethical standpoint1 it may be said that they were rather unmoral than immoral1 and that good and evil1 as we understand it1 were almost unknown to them4 ,the ,egyptians as a race possessed1 however1 an innate love of justice and right thinking1 and they will always take their place in the roll of nations as a people who have done more than perhaps any other to upbuild the fabric of order1 decency1 and propriety4 ,,chapter ,,iii3 ,,the ,,priesthood3 ,,mysteries ,,and ,,temples ,the ,priesthood ,the power and condition of the ,egyptian priesthood varied greatly with the passing of the centuries4 ,it was in all likelihood at all times independent of the royal power1 and indeed there were periods in ,egyptian history when the sway of the ,pharaohs was seriously endangered1 or altogether eclipsed1 by the ecclesiastical party4 ,vast grants of land had enriched the hundreds of temples which crowded the ,egyptian land1 and these gave employment to a veritable army of dependents and officials4 ,under the ,new ,kingdom1 for example1 the wealth and power of the god ,amen rivalled1 if it did not eclipse1 that of the ,pharaoh himself4 ,in the time of ,rameses ,,iii this influential cult numbered no fewer than #hj1jjj dependents1 exclusive of worshippers1 and its wealth can be assessed by the circumstance that it could count its cattle by the hundred thousand head4 ,the kings1 however1 periodically attempted to diminish the power of the priesthood by nominating their own relatives or adherents to its principal offices4 ,in early days the great lords of the soil took upon themselves the title and duties of chief priest in their territory1 thus combining the feudal and ecclesiastical offices4 ,beneath them were a number of priests1 both lay and professional4 ,but in later times this system was exchanged for one in which a rigorous discipline necessitated the appointment of a professional class whose duties were sharply outlined and specialized4 ,despite this1 however1 and contrary to popular belief1 at no time did the priestly power combine itself into a caste that was distinctly separate from the laity1 the members of which continued to act along with it4 ,individuals of the priesthood were generally alluded to as hen neter 7'servant of the god'7 or uab 7'the pure'74 ,in some localities the chief priests possessed distinctive titles1 such as ,khorp hemtiu 7'chief of the artificers'7 in the temple of ,ptah1 or ,ur ma 7'the ,great ,seer'--literally1 ',great ,one of ,seeing'7 at ,heliopolis4 ,at ,mendes he was known by the title1 odd enough for an ecclesiastical dignitary1 of ',director of the ,soldiers1' and at ,thebes as ',first ,prophet of ,amen4' ,those priests who conducted the ceremonial were known as kheri-heb4 ,the duties of the priesthood were arduous4 ,a most stringent and exacting code had to be followed so far as cleanliness and discipline were concerned4 ,constant purifications and lustrations succeeded each other1 and the garb of the religious must be fresh and unspotted4 ,it consisted entirely of the purest and whitest linen1 the wearing of woollen and other fabrics being strictly forbidden1 and even abhorred4 ,the head was closely shaven1 and no head-dress was worn4 ,the priest's day was thoroughly mapped out for him4 ,if he was on duty1 he duly washed himself and proceeded to the ,holy of ,holies1 where he repeated certain formul1 accompanying them by prescribed gestures1 preparatory to breaking the seal which closed the sanctuary4 ,standing face to face with the god1 he prostrated himself1 and after performing other ritualistic offices he presented the deity with a small image of ,mat1 the goddess of ,truth4 ,the god1 powerless before this moment to participate in the ceremonial1 was then supposedly regaled with a collation the principal items in which seem to have been beef1 geese1 bread1 and beer1 having consumed which he re-entered his shrine1 and did not appear until the morning following4 ,in the entire ritual of these morning offerings it would appear that the officiating priest represents ,horus1 son of ,osiris1 who1 like all dutiful ,egyptian sons1 sees to the welfare of his father after death4 ,thus the ritual is coloured by the ,osirian myth4 ,the remainder of the day was passed in meditation1 the study of various arts and sciences1 theoretical and manual1 and officiation at public religious ceremonies4 ,even the night had its duties2 for lustration and purification were undertaken in the small hours1 the priest being awakened for that purpose about or after midnight4 ,the ,college of ,thebes ,early ,greek travellers in ,egypt1 and especially ,herodotus and ,strabo1 speak with enthusiasm of the abilities of the ,egyptian priests and the high standard of philosophic thought to which they had attained4 ,the great college of priests at ,thebes is alluded to with admiration by ,strabo4 ,its members were probably the most learned and acute theologians and philosophers in ancient ,egypt4 ,colleges of almost equal importance existed elsewhere1 as at ,anu1 the ,on or ,heliopolis of the ,greeks4 ,each nome or province had its own great temple1 which developed the provincial religion regardless of faiths which existed but a few miles away4 ,the god of the nome was its divinity par excellence1 ,ruler of the ,gods1 ,creator of the ,universe1 and giver of all good things to his folk4 ,but it must not be imagined that1 if the priesthood as a body was wealthy1 some of its members did not suffer the pinch of hardship4 ,thus1 although the best conditions attached to office in the great temples1 these were by no means overstaffed4 ,at ,abydos only five priests composed the staff1 while ,siut had ten attached to it4 ,again1 the smaller temples possessed revenues by no means in proportion to their size4 ,a study of this subject shows the stipend of the chief priests of the smaller shrines4 ,on the western border of the ,faym1 says ,erman1 on the lake of ,moeris1 was the temple of ,sobk#b of the ,island1 ,soknopaios as it is called by the ,greeks4 ,it had a high-priest who received a small stipend of #cdd drachm1 and all the other priests together received daily about one bushel of wheat as remuneration for their trouble4 ,they were not even immune from the statutory labour on the embankments1 and if this was lessened for them1 it was owing to the good offices of their fellow-citizens4 ,the revenues of the temple1 both in regular incomes and what was given in offerings1 was used for the requirements of the ceremonies1 for at every festival fine linen must be provided for the clothing of the three statues of the gods1 and each time that cost #ajj drachm2 #bj drachm were paid on each occasion for the unguents and oil of myrrh employed in anointing the statues1 #ejj drachm were for incense1 while #dj drachm were required to supply sacrifices and incense for the birthdays of the emperor4 ,and yet these priests1 who were in the position of the peasantry and of the lower classes of townspeople1 maintained that their position in no way diminished their ancient sanctity4 ,priestesses also held offices in the temples4 ,in earlier times these officiated at the shrines of both gods and goddesses1 and it is only at a later date that we find them less often as celebrants in the temples dedicated to male deities1 where they acted chiefly as musicians4 ,mysteries ,there is a popular fallacy to the effect that 'volumes' have been written concerning the ,egyptian 'mysteries1' those picturesque and unearthly ceremonies of initiation which are supposed to have taken place in subterranean dusk1 surrounded by all the circumstances of occult rite and custom4 ,the truth is that works which deal with the subject are exceedingly rare1 and are certainly not of the kind from which we can hope to glean anything concerning the mysteries of ,egyptian priestcraft4 ,we shall do better to turn to the analogous instances of ,grecian practice or even to those of savage and semi-civilized peoples concerning whose mysteries a good deal has been unearthed of recent years4 ,regarding the ,egyptian mysteries but little is known4 ,we have it on the authority of ,herodotus that mysteries existed1 possibly those in the case cited being the annual commemoration of the sufferings and death of ,osiris4 ,says ,herodotus3 ,at ,sas in the ,temple of ,minerva1 beneath the ,churche and neere unto the walle of ,minerva1 in a base ,chappell1 are standinge certayne greate brooches of stone1 whereto is adioyninge a lowe place in manner of a ,dungeon1 couered over wyth a stone curiously wroughte1 the vaute it selfe being on euery side carued with most exquisite arte1 in biggnesse matching with that in ,delos1 which is called ,trochodes4 ,herein euery one counterfayteth the shadowes of his owne affections and phantasies in the nyghte season1 which the ,aegyptians call ,mysteryes2 touchinge whiche1 ,god forbid1 ,i should aduenture to discouer so much as they vouchsafed to tell mee4 ,in chapter i of the ,book of the ,dead1 too1 we encounter the phrase1 ,i look upon the hidden things in ,re-stau--an allusion to the ceremonies which were performed in the sanctuary of ,seker1 the god of death at ,saqqara4 ,these typified the birth and death of the sun-god1 and were celebrated betwixt midnight and dawn4 ,again1 in chapter cxxv of the ,book of the ,dead 7,papyrus of ,ani7 we read1 ,i have entered into ,re-stau the other world of ,seker1 near ,memphis and ,i have seen the ,hidden ,one or mystery who is therein4 ,chapter cxlviii 7,sate ,recension7 is to be recited on the day of the new moon1 on the sixth-day festival1 on the fifteenth-day festival1 on the festival of ,uag1 on the festival of ,thoth1 on the birthday of ,osiris1 on the festival of ,menu1 on the night of ,heker1 during the mysteries of ,mat1 during the celebration of the mysteries of ,akertet1 and so forth4 ,herodotus1 who was supposed to have been initiated into these mysteries1 is righteously cryptic concerning them1 and just as he has aroused our interest to fever heat he invariably sees fit to remark that his lips are sealed on the subject4 ,but is there anything so very extraordinary in these terrible doings8 ,theosophists and others would lead us to suppose that in the gloomy crypts of ,egypt weird spiritistic rites of evocation and magical ceremonies of dark import were gone through4 ,what are the probabilities8 ,the ,greek ,mysteries ,let us briefly examine the mysteries of ancient ,greece4 ,we find that these are for the most part pre-,hellenic1 and that the conquered populations of the country adopted the mystic attitude in order to shroud their religious ceremonies from the eyes of the invaders4 ,now those early populations inherited a strong cultural influence from ,egypt4 ,the most important of the mysteries was perhaps the ,eleusinian1 and we may take it as typical of the ,greek religious mysteries as a whole4 ,the chief figures in this mysterious cult were ,demeter and ,kore 7or ,persephone7 and ,pluto4 ,now these are all deities of the underworld and1 like many other gods of ,hades all the world over1 they are also deities possessing an agricultural significance4 ,much remains uncertain regarding the actual ritual in the hall of the ,myst1 but one thing is certain1 and that is that the ceremony was in the nature of a religious drama or ,passion-play1 in which were enacted the adventures of ,demeter and ,kore1 symbolic of the growth of the corn4 ,hippolytus also stated that a cornstalk was shown to the worshippers at the ,eleusinian mysteries4 ,the whole mystery then resolved itself into symbolism of the growth of the crops4 ,exactly how the ceremonies in connexion with this came to have the appearance of those usually associated with a savage secret society is not quite clear4 ,the blackfellows of ,australia and certain ,north ,american ,indian tribes possess societies and celebrations almost identical with that of ,eleusis1 but why they should be wrapped in such mystery it is difficult to understand4 ,it has been stated that the mystic setting of these cults arose in many cases from the dread of the under-world and the miasma which emanated therefrom1 and which necessitated a ritual purification2 but this does not seem at all explanatory4 ,in the ,popul ,vuh of ,central ,america we find what appear to be the doings of a secret society among the deities of the underworld1 some of whom are gods of growth4 ,we seem to see some such society outlined in the ,book of the ,dead1 which perhaps dates from prehistoric times1 and is most probably the remains of a ,neolithic cult connected with the phenomena of growth4 ,in its pages we find password and countersign and all the magical material necessary to the existence of such a secret cult as we have been speaking of4 ,we may take it1 then1 that the ,egyptian mysteries strongly resembled those of ,greece1 that their ritual was of a character similar to that of the ,book of the ,dead1 and that it perhaps possessed an origin in common with that work4 ,these mystical associations would appear to be all of ,neolithic origin1 and to possess an agricultural basis for the most part4 ,when1 therefore1 we see in ,herodotus and elsewhere a strong disposition to preserve these mysteries intact we find ourselves once more face to face with the original question--,why are they mysteries8 ,in the first place1 all growth is mysterious1 and primitive man probably regarded it as in some manner magical4 ,secondly1 it is noticeable that nearly all these mysteries1 in the old world at least1 took place underground1 in darkness1 and that there was enacted the symbolism of the growth of corn1 probably for the purpose of inciting the powers of growth to greater activity by dint of sympathetic magic4 ,the ,egyptian ,temple ,the earliest form of temple was a mere hut of plaited wickerwork1 serving as a shrine for the symbols of the god2 the altar but a mat of reeds4 ,the earliest temples evolve from a wall built round the name-stel1 which was afterward roofed in4 ,with the advent of the ,new ,empire the temple-building became of a much more complicated character1 though the essential plan from the earliest period to the latest remained practically unchanged4 ,the simplest form was a surrounding wall1 the pylon or entrance gateway with flanking towers1 before which were generally placed two colossal statues of the king and two obelisks1 then the innermost sanctuary1 the naos1 which held the divine symbols4 ,this was elaborated by various additions1 such as three pylons1 divided by three avenues of sphinxes1 then columned courts1 and a hypostyle or columnar hall4 ,in this way many of the ,egyptian kings enlarged the buildings of their predecessors4 ,these temples stood in the midst of populous cities1 the huge surrounding wall shutting out the noise and bustle of the narrow streets4 ,leading up to the great pylon1 the chief gateway1 was a broad road carried right through the inhabited quarter and guarded on each side by rows of lions1 rams1 or other sacred animals4 ,in front of the gateway were two obelisks1 likewise statues of the king who founded the temple1 as protector of the sanctuary4 ,on either side of the entrance stood a high tower1 square in shape1 with the sides sloping inward4 ,these were of course originally designed for defensive purposes1 and the passage through the pylon could thus be successfully barred against all foes1 while from postern-gates in the wall sorties could be made4 ,tall masts were fixed in sockets at the foot of the pylon4 ,from these gaily coloured streamers waved to keep afar all menace of evil1 as did the symbol of the sun1 the ,winged ,disk1 over the great doors4 ,these were often made of wood1 a valuable material in ,egypt1 and covered with a sheathing of glittering gold4 ,the outer walls were decorated with brightly coloured reliefs and inscriptions1 depicting the deeds of the founder1 for the temple was as much a personal monument as a shrine of the tutelary deity4 ,inside the pylon was a great court1 open to the sky1 usually only colonnaded on either side1 but in larger temples1 as that of ,karnak1 a series of columns ran the length of the centre4 ,here the great festivals were held1 in which a large number of citizens had the right to take part4 ,by a low doorway from this the hypostyle was entered1 the windows of which were near the roof1 so that the light was dim1 while the sanctuary was in complete and profound darkness4 ,the ,holy ,place ,this1 the ,holy ,place1 was the chief room of the temple4 ,here stood the naos1 a box rectangular in shape and open in front1 often with a latticework door4 ,this served as the receptacle of the divine symbols or in some cases as the cage of the sacred animal4 ,on either side of the sanctuary were dark chambers1 used as the store-rooms for the sacred vestments1 the processional standards and sacred barque1 the temple furniture1 and so on4 ,it is to be noted that as the progression was from the blazing light of the first great court to the complete darkness of the ,holy of ,holies1 so the roofs grew less lofty4 ,the inside walls and columns were decorated with reliefs in brilliant colours depicting the rites and worship connected with the presiding deity in ceremonial order4 ,surrounding the temple was the temenos1 enveloped by a wall in which were situated other and smaller temples1 with groves of sacred trees and birds1 lakes on which the sacred barque floated1 the dwellings of the priests1 and sometimes palaces amid the gardens4 ,outside again were sacred ways that led in different directions1 some branching from temple to temple1 through cities1 villages1 and fields1 while at the side steps sloped down to the ,nile1 where boats were anchored4 ,along these ways went the sacred processions1 bearing the images of the gods2 by them came the monarch in royal state to make offerings to the gods2 and here the dead were carried to their tombs across the ,nile4 ,greece has frequently been alluded to as the ',land of ,temples4' ,the appellation might with greater justice be applied to ,egypt1 where fanes of ,cyclopean magnitude rose in every nome ere yet ,hellas could boast knowledge of the mason's art4 ,still they stand1 those giant shrines1 well-nigh as perfect as when fresh from the chisels of the old hierophants who shaped and designed them4 ,and so long as a fostering love of the past dwells in the heart of man so long shall they remain4 #a ,see ,seligmann1 ,journal of the ,royal ,anthropological ,institute1 vol4 xliii4 #b ,sebek4 ,,chapter ,,iv3 ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,osiris ,osiris ,one of the principal figures in the ,egyptian pantheon1 and one whose elements it is most difficult to disentangle1 is ,osiris1 or ,as-ar4 ,the oldest and most simple form of the name is expressed by two hieroglyphics representing a throne and an eye4 ,these1 however1 cast but little light on the meaning of the name4 ,even the later ,egyptians themselves were ignorant of its derivation1 for we find that they thought it meant 'the ,strength of the ,eye'--that is1 the strength of the sun-god1 ,ra4 ,the second syllable of the name1 ar1 may1 however1 be in some manner connected with ,ra1 as we shall see later4 ,in dynastic times ,osiris was regarded as god of the dead and the under-world4 ,indeed1 he occupied the same position in that sphere as ,ra did in the land of the living4 ,we must also recollect that the realm of the under-world was the realm of night4 ,the origins of ,osiris are extremely obscure4 ,we cannot glean from the texts when or where he first began to be worshipped1 but that his cult is greatly more ancient than any text is certain4 ,the earliest dynastic centres of his worship were ,abydos and ,mendes4 ,he is perhaps represented on a mace-head of ,narmer found at ,hieraconpolis1 and on a wooden plaque of the reign of ,udy-mu 7,den7 or ,hesepti1 the fifth king of the ,first ,dynasty1 who is figured as dancing before him4 ,this shows that a centre of ,osiris-worship existed at ,abydos during the ,first ,dynasty4 ,but allusions in the ,pyramid ,texts give us to understand that prior to this shrines had been raised to ,osiris in various parts of the ,nile country4 ,as has been outlined in the chapter on the ,book of the ,dead1 ,osiris dwells peaceably in the underworld with the justified1 judging the souls of the departed as they appear before him4 ,this paradise was known as ,aaru1 which1 it is important to note1 although situated in the under-world1 was originally thought to be in the sky4 ,osiris is usually figured as wrapped in mummy bandages and wearing the white cone-shaped crown of the ,south1 yet ,dr4 ,budge says of him3 ,everything which the texts of all periods record concerning him goes to show that he was an indigenous god of ,north-east ,africa1 and that his home and origin were possibly ,libyan4 ,in any case1 we may take it that ,osiris was genuinely ,african in origin1 and that he was indigenous to the soil of the ,dark ,continent4 ,brugsch and ,sir ,gaston ,maspero both regarded him as a water-god1#a and thought that he represented the creative and nutritive powers of the ,nile stream in general1 and of the inundation in particular4 ,this theory is agreed to by ,dr4 ,budge1 but if ,osiris is a god of the ,nile alone1 why import him from the ,libyan desert1 which boasts of no rivers8 ,river-gods do not as a rule emanate from regions of sand4 ,before proceeding further it will be well to relate the myth of ,osiris4 ,the ,myth of ,osiris ,plutarch is our principal authority for the legend of ,osiris4 ,a complete version of the tale is not to be found in ,egyptian texts1 though these confirm the accounts given by the ,greek writers4 ,the following is a brief account of the myth as it is related in ,plutarch's ,de ,iside et ,osiride3 ,rhea 7the ,egyptian ,nut1 the sky-goddess7 was the wife of ,helios 7,ra74 ,she was1 however1 beloved by ,kronos 7,geb71 whose affection she returned4 ,when ,ra discovered his wife's infidelity he was wrathful indeed1 and pronounced a curse upon her1 saying that her child should not be born in any month or in any year4 ,now the curse of ,ra the mighty could not be turned aside1 for ,ra was the chief of all the gods4 ,in her distress ,nut called upon the god ,thoth 7the ,greek ,hermes71 who also loved her4 ,thoth knew that the curse of ,ra must be fulfilled1 yet by a very cunning stratagem he found a way out of the difficulty4 ,he went to ,silene1 the moon-goddess1 whose light rivalled that of the sun himself1 and challenged her#b to a game of tables4 ,the stakes on both sides were high1 but ,silene staked some of her light1 the seventieth part of each of her illuminations1 and lost4 ,thus it came about that her light wanes and dwindles at certain periods1 so that she is no longer the rival of the sun4 ,from the light which he had won from the moon-goddess ,thoth made five days which he added to the year 7at that time consisting of three hundred and sixty days7 in such wise that they belonged neither to the preceding nor to the following year1 nor to any month4 ,on these five days ,nut was delivered of her five children4 ,osiris was born on the first day1 ,horus on the second1 ,set on the third1 ,isis on the fourth1 and ,nephthys on the fifth4#c ,on the birth of ,osiris a loud voice was heard throughout all the world saying1 ,the lord of all the earth is born6 ,a slightly different tradition relates that a certain man named ,pamyles1 carrying water from the temple of ,ra at ,thebes1 heard a voice commanding him to proclaim the birth of the good and great king ,osiris1 which he straightway did4 ,for this reason the education of the young ,osiris was entrusted to ,pamyles4 ,thus1 it is said1 was the festival of the ,pamilia instituted4 ,in course of time the prophecies concerning ,osiris were fulfilled1 and he became a great and wise king4 ,the land of ,egypt flourished under his rule as it had never done heretofore4 ,like many another 'hero-god1' he set himself the task of civilizing his people1 who at his coming were in a very barbarous condition1 indulging in cannibalistic and other savage practices4 ,he gave them a code of laws1 taught them the arts of husbandry1 and showed them the proper rites wherewith to worship the gods4 ,and when he had succeeded in establishing law and order in ,egypt he betook himself to distant lands to continue there his work of civilization4 ,so gentle and good was he1 and so pleasant were his methods of instilling knowledge into the minds of the barbarians1 that they worshipped the very ground whereon he trod4 ,set1 the ,enemy ,he had one bitter enemy1 however1 in his brother ,set1 the ,greek ,typhon4 ,during the absence of ,osiris his wife ,isis ruled the country so well that the schemes of the wicked ,set to take a share in its government were not allowed to mature4 ,but on the king's return ,set fixed on a plan whereby to rid himself altogether of the king1 his brother4 ,for the accomplishment of his ends he leagued himself with ,aso1 the queen of ,ethiopia1 and seventy-two other conspirators4 ,then1 after secretly measuring the king's body1 he caused to be made a marvellous chest1 richly fashioned and adorned1 which would contain exactly the body of ,osiris4 ,this done1 he invited his fellow-plotters and his brother the king to a great feast4 ,now ,osiris had frequently been warned by the queen to beware of ,set1 but1 having no evil in himself1 the king feared it not in others1 so he betook himself to the banquet4 ,when the feast was over ,set had the beautiful chest brought into the banqueting-hall1 and said1 as though in jest1 that it should belong to him whom it would fit4 ,one after another the guests lay down in the chest1 but it fitted none of them till the turn of ,osiris came4 ,quite unsuspicious of treachery1 the king laid himself down in the great receptacle4 ,in a moment the conspirators had nailed down the lid1 pouring boiling lead over it lest there should be any aperture4 ,then they set the coffin adrift on the ,nile1 at its ,tanaitic mouth4 ,these things befell1 say some1 in the twenty-eighth year of ,osiris' life2 others say in the twenty-eighth year of his reign4 ,when the news reached the ears of ,isis she was sore stricken1 and cut off a lock of her hair and put on mourning apparel4 ,knowing well that the dead cannot rest till their bodies have been buried with funeral rites1 she set out to find the corpse of her husband4 ,for a long time her search went unrewarded1 though she asked every man and woman she met whether they had seen the richly decorated chest4 ,at length it occurred to her to inquire of some children who played by the ,nile1 and1 as it chanced1 they were able to tell her that the chest had been brought to the ,tanaitic mouth of the ,nile by ,set and his accomplices4 ,from that time children were regarded by the ,egyptians as having some special faculty of divination4 ,the ,tamarisk-tree ,by and by the queen gained information of a more exact kind through the agency of demons1 by whom she was informed that the chest had been cast up on the shore of ,byblos1 and flung by the waves into a tamarisk-bush1 which had shot up miraculously into a magnificent tree1 enclosing the coffin of ,osiris in its trunk4 ,the king of that country1 ,melcarthus by name1 was astonished at the height and beauty of the tree1 and had it cut down and a pillar made from its trunk wherewith to support the roof of his palace4 ,within this pillar1 therefore1 was hidden the chest containing the body of ,osiris4 ,isis hastened with all speed to ,byblos1 where she seated herself by the side of a fountain4 ,to none of those who approached her would she vouchsafe a word1 saving only to the queen's maidens1 and these she addressed very graciously1 braiding their hair and perfuming them with her breath1 more fragrant than the odour of flowers4 ,when the maidens returned to the palace the queen inquired how it came that their hair and clothes were so delightfully perfumed1 whereupon they related their encounter with the beautiful stranger4 ,queen ,astarte1 or ,athenais1 bade that she be conducted to the palace1 welcomed her graciously1 and appointed her nurse to one of the young princes4 ,the ,grief of ,isis ,isis fed the boy by giving him her finger to suck4 ,every night1 when all had retired to rest1 she would pile great logs on the fire and thrust the child among them1 and1 changing herself into a swallow1 would twitter mournful lamentations for her dead husband4 ,rumours of these strange practices were brought by the queen's maidens to the ears of their mistress1 who determined to see for herself whether or not there was any truth in them4 ,so she concealed herself in the great hall1 and when night came sure enough ,isis barred the doors and piled logs on the fire1 thrusting the child among the glowing wood4 ,the queen rushed forward with a loud cry and rescued her boy from the flames4 ,the goddess reproved her sternly1 declaring that by her action she had deprived the young prince of immortality4 ,then ,isis revealed her identity to the awe-stricken ,athenais and told her story1 begging that the pillar which supported the roof might be given to her4 ,when her request had been granted she cut open the tree1 took out the coffin containing the body of ,osiris1 and mourned so loudly over it that one of the young princes died of terror4 ,then she took the chest by sea to ,egypt1 being accompanied on the journey by the elder son of ,king ,melcarthus4 ,the child's ultimate fate is variously recounted by several conflicting traditions4 ,the tree which had held the body of the god was long preserved and worshipped at ,byblos4 ,arrived in ,egypt1 ,isis opened the chest and wept long and sorely over the remains of her royal husband4 ,but now she bethought herself of her son ,harpocrates1 or ,horus the ,child1 whom she had left in ,buto1 and leaving the chest in a secret place1 she set off to search for him4 ,meanwhile ,set1 while hunting by the light of the moon1 discovered the richly adorned coffin and in his rage rent the body into fourteen pieces1 which he scattered here and there throughout the country4 ,upon learning of this fresh outrage on the body of the god1 ,isis took a boat of papyrus-reeds and journeyed forth once more in search of her husband's remains4 ,after this crocodiles would not touch a papyrus boat1 probably because they thought it contained the goddess1 still pursuing her weary search4 ,whenever ,isis found a portion of the corpse she buried it and built a shrine to mark the spot4 ,it is for this reason that there are so many tombs of ,osiris in ,egypt4#d ,the ,vengeance of ,horus ,by this time ,horus had reached manhood1 and ,osiris1 returning from the ,duat1 where he reigned as king of the dead1 encouraged him to avenge the wrongs of his parents4 ,horus thereupon did battle with ,set1 the victory falling now to one1 now to the other4 ,at one time ,set was taken captive by his enemy and given into the custody of ,isis1 but the latter1 to her son's amazement and indignation1 set him at liberty4 ,so angry was ,horus that he tore the crown from his mother's head4 ,thoth1 however1 gave her a helmet in the shape of a cow's head4 ,another version states that ,horus cut off his mother's head1 which ,thoth1 the maker of magic1 stuck on again in the form of a cow's4 ,horus and ,set1 it is said1 still do battle with one another1 yet victory has fallen to neither4 ,when ,horus shall have vanquished his enemy1 ,osiris will return to earth and reign once more as king in ,egypt4 ,sir ,j4,g4 ,frazer on ,osiris ,from the particulars of this myth ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer has argued#e that ,osiris was one of those personifications of vegetation whose annual death and resurrection have been celebrated in so many lands--that he was a god of vegetation analogous to ,adonis and ,attis4 ,the general similarity of the myth and ritual of ,osiris to those of ,adonis and ,attis1 says ,sir ,j4,g4 ,frazer1 is obvious4 ,in all three cases we see a god whose untimely and violent death is mourned by a loving goddess and annually celebrated by his worshippers4 ,the character of ,osiris as a deity of vegetation is brought out by the legend that he was the first to teach men the use of corn1 and by the custom of beginning his annual festival with the tillage of the ground4 ,he is said also to have introduced the cultivation of the vine4 ,in one of the chambers dedicated to ,osiris in the great temple of ,isis at ,phil the dead body of ,osiris is represented with stalks of corn springing from it1 and a priest is depicted watering the stalks from a pitcher which he holds in his hand4 ,the accompanying legend sets forth that 'this is the form of him whom one may not name1 ,osiris of the mysteries1 who springs from the returning waters4' ,it would seem impossible to devise a more graphic way of depicting ,osiris as a personification of the corn2 while the inscription attached to the picture proves that this personification was the kernel of the mysteries of the god1 the innermost secret that was only revealed to the initiated4 ,in estimating the mythical character of ,osiris1 very great weight must be given to this monument4 ,the story that his mangled remains were scattered up and down the land may be a mythical way of expressing either the sowing or the winnowing of the grain4 ,the latter interpretation is supported by the tale that ,isis placed the severed limbs of ,osiris on a corn-sieve4 ,or the legend may be a reminiscence of the custom of slaying a human victim as a representative of the corn-spirit1 and distributing his flesh or scattering his ashes over the fields to fertilize them4 ,but ,osiris was more than a spirit of the corn2 he was also a tree-spirit1 and this may well have been his original character1 since the worship of trees is naturally older in the history of religion than the worship of the cereals4 ,his character as a tree-spirit was represented very graphically in a ceremony described by ,firmicus ,maternus4 ,a pine-tree having been cut down1 the centre was hollowed out1 and with the wood thus excavated an image of ,osiris was made1 which was then 'buried' in the hollow of the tree4 ,here1 again1 it is hard to imagine how the conception of a tree as tenanted by a personal being could be more plainly expressed4 ,the image of ,osiris thus made was kept for a year and then burned1 exactly as was done with the image of ,attis which was attached to the pine-tree4 ,the ceremony of cutting the tree1 as described by ,firmicus ,maternus1 appears to be alluded to by ,plutarch4 ,it was probably the ritual counterpart of the mythical discovery of the body of ,osiris enclosed in the erica-tree4 ,we may conjecture that the erection of the ,tatu pillar at the close of the annual festival of ,osiris was identical with the ceremony described by ,firmicus2 it is to be noted that in the myth the erica-tree formed a pillar in the king's house4 ,like the similar custom of cutting a pine-tree and fastening an image to it1 in the rites of ,attis1 the ceremony perhaps belonged to the class of customs of which the bringing in the ,maypole is among the most familiar4 ,as to the pine-tree in particular1 at ,denderah the tree of ,osiris is a conifer1 and the coffer containing the body of ,osiris is here depicted as enclosed within the tree4 ,a pine-cone often appears on the monuments as an offering presented to ,osiris1 and a manuscript of the ,louvre speaks of the cedar as sprung from him4 ,the sycamore and the tamarisk are also his trees4 ,in inscriptions he is spoken of as residing in them1 and his mother ,nut is frequently portrayed in a sycamore4 ,in a sepulchre at ,how 7,diospolis ,parva7 a tamarisk is depicted overshadowing the coffer of ,osiris2 and in the series of sculptures which illustrate the mystic history of ,osiris in the great temple of ,isis at ,phil a tamarisk is figured with two men pouring water on it4 ,the inscription on this last monument leaves no doubt1 says ,brugsch1 that the verdure of the earth was believed to be connected with the verdure of the tree1 and that the sculpture refers to the grave of ,osiris at ,phil1 of which ,plutarch tells us that it was overshadowed by a methide plant1 taller than any olive-tree4 ,this sculpture1 it may be observed1 occurs in the same chamber in which the god is depicted as a corpse with ears of corn sprouting from him4 ,in inscriptions he is referred to as 'the one in the tree1' 'the solitary one in the acacia1' and so forth4 ,on the monuments he sometimes appears as a mummy covered with a tree or with plants4 ,it accords with the character of ,osiris as a tree-spirit that his worshippers were forbidden to injure fruit-trees1 and with his character as a god of vegetation in general that they were not allowed to stop up wells of water1 which are so important for the irrigation of hot southern lands4 ,sir ,j4,g4 ,frazer goes on to combat the theory of ,lepsius that ,osiris was to be identified with the sun-god ,ra4 ,osiris1 says the ,german scholar1 was named ,osiris-,ra even in the ,book of the ,dead1 and ,isis1 his spouse1 is often called the royal consort of ,ra4 ,this identification1 ,sir ,j4,g4 ,frazer thinks1 may have had a political significance4 ,he admits that the myth of ,osiris might express the daily appearance and disappearance of the sun1 and points out that most of the writers who favour the solar theory are careful to indicate that it is the daily1 and not the annual1 course of the sun to which they understand the myth to apply4 ,but1 then1 why1 pertinently asks ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 was it celebrated by an annual ceremony8 ,this fact alone seems fatal to the interpretation of the myth as descriptive of sunset and sunrise4 ,again1 though the sun may be said to die daily1 in what sense can it be said to be torn in pieces8 ,plutarch says that some of the ,egyptian philosophers interpreted ,osiris as the moon1 because the moon1 with her humid and generative light1 is favourable to the propagation of animals and the growth of plants4 ,among primitive peoples the moon is regarded as a great source of moisture4 ,vegetation is thought to flourish beneath her pale rays1 and she is understood as fostering the multiplication of the human species as well as animal and plant life4 ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer enumerates several reasons to prove that ,osiris possessed a lunar significance4 ,briefly these are that he is said to have lived or reigned twenty-eight years1 the mythical expression of a lunar month1 and that his body is said to have been rent into fourteen pieces--,this might be interpreted as the waning moon1 which appears to lose a portion of itself on each of the fourteen days that make up the second half of the lunar month4 ,typhon found the body of ,osiris at the full moon2 thus its dismemberment would begin with the waning of the moon4 ,primitive ,conceptions of the ,moon ,primitive man explains the waning moon as actually dwindling1 and it appears to him as if it is being broken in pieces or eaten away4 ,the ,klamath ,indians of ,south-west ,oregon allude to the moon as 'the ,one ,broken in ,pieces1' and the ,dacotas believe that when the moon is full a horde of mice begin to nibble at one side of it until they have devoured the whole4 ,to continue ,sir ,j4,g4 ,frazer's argument1 he quotes ,plutarch to the effect that at the new moon of the month ,phanemoth1 which was the beginning of spring1 the ,egyptians celebrated what they called 'the entry of ,osiris into the moon'2 that at the ceremony called the ',burial of ,osiris' they made a crescent-shaped chest1 because the moon when it approaches the sun assumes the form of a crescent and vanishes2 and that once a year1 at the full moon1 pigs 7possibly symbolical of ,set1 or ,typhon7 were sacrificed simultaneously to the moon and to ,osiris4 ,again1 in a hymn supposed to be addressed by ,isis to ,osiris it is said that ,thoth ,placeth thy soul in the barque ,mat ,in that name which is thine of god-moon4 ,and again3 ,thou who comest to us as a child each month1 ,we do not cease to contemplate thee4 ,thine emanation heightens the brilliancy ,of the stars of ,orion in the firmament4 ,in this hymn ,osiris is deliberately identified with the moon4#f ,in effect1 then1 ,sir ,james ,frazer's theory regarding ,osiris is that he was a vegetation or corn god1 who later became identified1 or confounded1 with the moon4 ,but surely it is as reasonable to suppose that it was because of his status as moon-god that he ranked as a deity of vegetation4 ,a brief consideration of the circumstances connected with lunar worship might lead us to some such supposition4 ,the sun in his status of deity requires but little explanation4 ,the phenomena of growth are attributed to his agency at an early period of human thought1 and it is probable that wind1 rain1 and other atmospheric manifestations are likewise credited to his action1 or regarded as emanations from him4 ,especially is this the case in tropical climates1 where the rapidity of vegetable growth is such as to afford to man an absolute demonstration of the solar power4 ,by analogy1 then1 that sun of the night1 the moon1 comes to be regarded as an agency of growth1 and primitive peoples attribute to it powers in this respect almost equal to those of the sun4 ,again1 it must be borne in mind that1 for some reason still obscure1 the moon is regarded as the great reservoir of magical power4 ,the two great orbs of night and day require but little excuse for godhead4 ,to primitive man the sun is obviously godlike1 for upon him the barbarian agriculturist depends for his very existence1 and there is behind him no history of an evolution from earlier forms4 ,it is likewise with the moon-god4 ,in the ,libyan desert at night the moon is an object which dominates the entire landscape1 and it is difficult to believe that its intense brilliance and all-pervading light must not have deeply impressed the wandering tribes of that region with a sense of reverence and worship4 ,indeed1 reverence for such an object might well precede the worship of a mere corn and tree spirit1 who in such surroundings could not have much scope for the manifestation of his powers4 ,we can see1 then1 that this moon-god of the ,neolithic ,nubians1 imported into a more fertile land1 would speedily become identified with the powers of growth through moisture1 and thus with the ,nile itself4 ,osiris in his character of god of the dead affords no great difficulties of elucidation1 and in this one figure we behold the junction of the ideas of the moon1 moisture1 the under-world1 and death--in fact1 all the phenomena of birth and decay4 ,osiris and the ,persephone ,myth ,the reader cannot fail to have observed the very close resemblance between the myth of ,osiris and that of ,demeter and ,kore1 or ,persephone4 ,indeed1 some of the adventures of ,isis1 notably that concerning the child of the king of ,byblos1 are practically identical with incidents in the career of ,demeter4 ,it is highly probable that the two myths possessed a common origin4 ,but whereas in the ,greek example we find the mother searching for her child1 in the ,egyptian myth the wife searches for the remains of her husband4 ,in the ,greek tale we have ,pluto as the husband of ,persephone and the ruler of the under-world also regarded1 like ,osiris1 as a god of grain and growth1 whilst ,persephone1 like ,isis1 probably personifies the grain itself4 ,in the ,greek myth we have one male and two female principles1 and in the ,egyptian one male and one female4 ,the analogy could perhaps be pressed further by the inclusion in the ,egyptian version of the goddess ,nephthys1 who was a sister-goddess to ,isis or stood to her in some such relationship4 ,it would seem1 then1 as if the ,hellenic myth had been sophisticated by early ,egyptian influences1 perhaps working through a ,cretan intercommunication4 ,it remains1 then1 to regard ,osiris in the light of ruler of the underworld4 ,to some extent this has been done in the chapter which deals with the ,book of the ,dead4 ,the god of the underworld1 as has been pointed out1 is in nearly every instance a god of vegetable growth1 and it was not because ,osiris was god of the dead that he presided over fertility1 but the converse4 ,to speak more plainly1 ,osiris was first god of fertility1 and the circumstance that he presided over the underworld was a later innovation4 ,but it was not adventitious2 it was the logical outcome of his status as god of growth4 ,a ,new ,osirian ,theory ,we must also take into brief consideration his personification of ,ra1 whom he meets1 blends with1 and under whose name he nightly sails through his own dominions4 ,this would seem like the fusion of a sun and moon myth2 the myth of the sun travelling nightly beneath the earth fused with that of the moon's nocturnal journey across the vault of heaven4 ,a moment's consideration will show how this fusion took place4 ,osiris was a moon-god4 ,that circumstance accounts for one half of the myth2 the other half is to be accounted for as follows3 ,ra1 the sun-god1 must perambulate the underworld at night if he is to appear on the fringes of the east in the morning4 ,but ,osiris as a lunar deity1 and perhaps as the older god1 as well as in his character as god of the underworld1 is already occupying the orbit he must trace4 ,the orbits of both deities are fused in one1 and there would appear to be some proof of this in the fact that1 in the realm of ,seker1 ,afra 7or ,ra-,osiris7 changes the direction of his journey from north to south to a line due east toward the mountains of sunrise4 ,the fusion of the two myths is quite a logical one1 as the moon during the night travels in the same direction as the sun has taken during the day--that is1 from east to west4 ,it will readily be seen how ,osiris came to be regarded not only as god and judge of the dead1 but also as symbolical of the resurrection of the body of man4 ,sir ,james ,frazer lays great stress upon a picture of ,osiris in which his body is shown covered with sprouting shoots of corn1 and he seems to be of opinion that this is positive evidence that ,osiris was a corn-god4 ,in our view the picture is simply symbolical of resurrection4 ,the circumstance that ,osiris is represented in the picture as in the recumbent position of the dead lends added weight to this supposition4 ,the corn-shoot is a world-wide symbol of resurrection4 ,in the ,eleusinian mysteries a shoot of corn was shown to the neophytes as typical of physical rebirth1 and a ,north ,american ,indian is quoted by ,loskiel1 one of the ,moravian ,brethren1 as having spoken3 ,we ,indians shall not for ever die4 ,even the grains of corn we put under the earth grow up and become living things4 ,among the ,maya of ,central ,america1 as well as among the ,mexicans1 the maize-goddess has a son1 the young1 green1 tender shoot of the maize plant1 who is strongly reminiscent of ,horus1 the son of ,osiris1 and who may be taken as typical of bodily resurrection4 ,later the vegetation myth clustering round ,osiris was metamorphosed into a theological tenet regarding human resurrection1 and ,osiris was believed to have been once a human being who had died and had been dismembered4 ,his body1 however1 was made whole again by ,isis1 ,anubis and ,horus acting upon the instructions of ,thoth4 ,a good deal of magical ceremony appears to have been mingled with the process1 and this in turn was utilized in the case of every dead ,egyptian by the priests in connexion with the embalmment and burial of the dead in the hope of resurrection4 ,osiris1 however1 was regarded as the principal cause of human resurrection1 and he was capable of giving life after death because he had attained to it4 ,he was entitled ',eternity and ,everlastingness1' and he it was who made men and women to be born again4 ,this conception of resurrection appears to have been in vogue in ,egypt from very early times4 ,the great authority upon ,osiris is the ,book of the ,dead1 which might well be called the ',book of ,osiris1' and in which are recounted his daily doings and his nightly journeyings in his kingdom of the underworld4 ,isis ,isis1 or ,ast1 must be regarded as one of the earliest and most important conceptions of female godhead in ancient ,egypt4 ,in the dynastic period she was regarded as the feminine counterpart of ,osiris1 and we may take it that before the dawn of ,egyptian history she occupied a similar position4 ,the philology of the name appears to be unfathomable4 ,no other deity has probably been worshipped for such an extent of time1 for her cult did not perish with that of most other ,egyptian gods1 but flourished later in ,greece and ,rome1 and is seriously carried on in ,paris to-day4 ,isis was perhaps of ,libyan origin1 and is usually depicted in the form of a woman crowned with her name-symbol and holding in her hand a sceptre of papyrus4 ,her crown is surmounted by a pair of horns holding a disk1 which in turn is sometimes crested by her hieroglyph1 which represents a seat or throne4 ,sometimes also she is represented as possessing radiant and many-coloured wings1 with which she stirs to life the inanimate body of ,osiris4 ,no other goddess was on the whole so popular with the ,egyptians1 and the reason for this is probably to be found in the circumstances of travail and pity which run through her myth4 ,these drew the sympathies of the people to her1 but they were not the only reasons why she was beloved by the ,egyptian masses1 for she was the great and beneficent mother-goddess and represented the maternal spirit in its most intimate and affectionate guise4 ,in her myth1 perhaps one of the most touching and beautiful which ever sprang from the consciousness of a people1 we find evolved from what may have been a mere corn-spirit a type of wifely and maternal affection mourning the death of her cherished husband1 and seeking by every means in her power to restore him to life4 ,isis as the ,wind ,although ,isis had undoubtedly many forms1 and although she may be regarded as the great corn-mother of ,egypt1 the probabilities are that in one of her phases she represents the wind of heaven4 ,this does not appear to have been recognized by students of ,egyptology1 but the record seems a fairly clear one4 ,osiris in his guise of the corn dies and comes to life again and is sown broadcast over the land4 ,isis is disconsolate and moans terribly over his loss2 in fact1 so loud and heartrending is her grief that the child of the ,king of ,byblos1 whom she is nursing1 dies of terror4 ,from her1 grateful odours emanate1 as the women of the ,queen of ,byblos experience4 ,she transforms herself into a swallow4 ,she restores the dead ,osiris to life by fanning him with her wings and filling his mouth and nostrils with sweet air4 ,it is noteworthy that she is one of the few ,egyptian deities who possess wings4 ,she is a great traveller1 and unceasingly moans and sobs4 ,if these qualities and circumstances are not allegorical of the wind1 a much more ingenious hypothesis than the above will be necessary to account for their mythological connexion4 ,isis wails like the wind1 she shrieks in tempest1 she carries the fragrance of spices and flowers throughout the country1 she takes the shape of a swallow1 one of the swiftest of birds and typical of the rapidity of the wind1 she employs the element of which she is mistress to revivify the dead ,osiris1 she possesses wings1 as do all deities connected with the wind1 and like the rest of her kind she is constantly travelling up and down the land4 ,we do not advance the hypothesis that she is a wind-goddess par excellence1 but in one of her phases she certainly typifies the revivifying power of the spring wind1 which wails and sobs over the grave of the sleeping grain1 bringing reanimating breath to the inert seeds4 ,isis is one of those deities who from fortuitous and other circumstances are fated to achieve greatness4 ,from a ,libyan spirit connected in some manner with the growth of the crops1 she rose to such supreme importance during her reign of nearly four thousand years in ,egypt that every description of attribute was heaped upon her in abundance4 ,this is invariably the case with successful deities4 ,not only do they absorb the attributes of their contemporaries in the pantheon1 but qualities which are actually at variance with their original character are grafted upon them because of their very popularity4 ,this was the case1 for instance1 with ,tezcatlipoca1 a ,mexican deity1 originally god of the air1 who later became god of fate and fortune1 and practically head of the ,aztec pantheon2 and many other instances might be adduced4 ,thus ,isis is a giver of life and food to the dead in the ,duat--that is1 she brings with her the fresh air of heaven into the underworld--and as the air-god ,tezcatlipoca was identified with justice1 so ,isis is identified with ,mat1 the goddess of justice4 ,isis may also typify the wind of morning1 from which the sun is born4 ,in most countries at the moment of sunrise a wind springs up which may be said to usher the sun into existence4 ,in her myth1 too1 we find that on leaving the house where she had been imprisoned by ,set 7the summer dwelling of the wind1 which during that season leaves ,egypt altogether7 she is preceded by seven scorpions1 the fierce-stinging blasts of winter4 ,they show her the way through swamps and marshes4 ,women shut the doors in her face2 a child is stung by one of the scorpions1 but ,isis restores it to life--that is1 the child recovers with the approach of better weather4 ,her own son ,horus is stung by a scorpion--that is1 the heat of the sun is rendered weak by the cold of winter until it is restored by ,isis1 the genial spring wind4 ,manifold ,attributes of ,isis ,the myth of ,isis became so real to the people of ,egypt that they came to regard her very intimately indeed1 and fully believed that she had once been a veritable woman4 ,in a more allegorical manner she was of course the great feminine fructifier of the soil4 ,she was also a powerful enchantress1 as is shown by the number of deities and human beings whom she rescued from death4 ,words of great and compelling power were hers4 ,her astronomical symbol was the star ,sept1 which marked the spring and the approach of the inundation of the ,nile1 an added evidence that in one of her phases she was goddess of the winds of spring4 ,as the light-giver at this season of the year she was called ,khut1 and as goddess of the fruitful earth ,usert4 ,as the force which impelled the powers of spring and sent forth the ,nile flood she was ,sati1 and as the goddess of fertile waters she was ,anqet4 ,she was further the deity of cultivated lands and fields1 goddess of harvest and goddess of food4 ,so that from first to last she personified the forces which make for growth and nourishment4 ,she personifies the power of the spring season1 the power of the earth to grow and yield grain1 motherhood and all the attributes and affinities which spring therefrom4 ,it is not necessary in this place to trace her worship into ,greece1 ,rome1 and ,western ,europe1 where it became greatly degraded from its pristine purity4 ,the dignified worship of the great mother took on under ,european auspices an orgiastic character which appealed to the false mystic of ,greece1 ,rome1 ,gaul1 and ,britain just as it does to-day to his ,transatlantic or ,parisian prototype4 ,but the strength of the cult in the country of its origin is evinced by the circumstance that it was not finally deserted until the middle of the fifth century ,a4,d4 ,horus ,as we have seen1 the god ,ra was depicted as a falcon1 but there was another god of similar form who had been worshipped before him in the land of ,egypt4 ,this was the god ,heru1 or ,horus1 ',he who is above4' ,this god had many shapes4 ,as ,horus the ,elder he is delineated as a man with the head of a falcon1 and was believed to be the son of ,geb and ,nut4 ,horus proper was perhaps regarded as the face of heaven1 the countenance of the sky1 and as ,horus the ,elder he represented the face by day in contradistinction to ,set1 who was the face by night4 ,horus the ,younger1 or ,harpocrates as he was called by the ,greeks to distinguish him from ,horus the ,elder1 is represented as a youth1 and was the son of a ,horus-god and the goddess ,rat-,tauit1 who appears to have been worshipped at ,hermonthis in the form of a hippopotamus4 ,horus the ,younger represented the earliest rays of the rising sun1 and had no fewer than seven aspects or forms4 ,to detail all the variants of ,horus would be foreign to the purpose of this work1 so it must suffice to enumerate the more important of them4 ,the ,horus of the ,two ,horizons1 the ,harmachis of the ,greeks1 was one of the chief forms of the sun-god ,ra1 and represented the sun in his diurnal course from sunrise to sunset4 ,he thus included the personalities of ,ra1 ,tem1 and ,khepera1 and this affords a good example of the widespread system of overlapping which obtained in ,egyptian mythology1 and which does not appear to such an extent in any other mythology4 ,probably a number of these ,horus-gods were local4 ,thus we find ,harmachis worshipped principally at ,heliopolis and ,apollinopolis4 ,his best-known monument is the famous ,sphinx1 near the pyramids of ,gizeh4 ,we find the first mention of the ,sphinx in inscriptions in the days of ,thothmes ,,iv1 when we read in the text inscribed on the stele between the paws of the ,sphinx the following legend of ,thothmes and the ,sphinx4 ,the ,dream of ,thothmes ,there was a king in ,egypt called ,thothmes1 a mighty monarch1 skilled in the arts of war and of the chase4 ,he was good to look upon1 too1 with a beauty like unto that of ,horus1 whom ,isis bare in the ,northern ,marshes1 and greatly was he loved by gods and men4 ,he was wont to hunt in the burning desert1 alone1 or with only a few companions1 and this is told of one of his hunting expeditions4 ,one day1 before he had ascended the throne of ,egypt1 he was hunting unattended in the desert4 ,it was noontide1 and the sun beat fiercely down upon him1 so that he was fain to seek the shadow of the mighty ,harmachis1 the ,sphinx4 ,great and powerful was the god1 and very majestic was his image1 with the face of a man and the body of a lion1 a snake upon his brow4 ,in many temples were sacrifices made to him1 in many towns did men worship with their faces turned toward him4 ,in the great cool shadow ,thothmes laid himself down to rest1 and sleep enchained his senses4 ,and as he slept he dreamed1 and behold6 the ,sphinx opened its lips and spoke to him2 it was no longer a thing of motionless rock1 but the god himself1 the great ,harmachis4 ,and he addressed the dreamer thus3 ,behold me1 ,o ,thothmes1 for ,i am the ,sun-god1 the ruler of all peoples4 ,harmachis is my name1 and ,ra1 and ,khepera1 and ,tem4 ,i am thy father1 and thou art my son1 and through me shall all good come upon thee if thou wilt hearken to my words4 ,the land of ,egypt shall be thine1 and the ,north ,land1 and the ,south ,land4 ,in prosperity and happiness shalt thou rule for many years4 ,he paused1 and it seemed to ,thothmes as if the god were struggling to free himself from the overwhelming sands1 for only his head was visible4 ,it is as thou seest1 ,harmachis resumed2 the sands of the desert are over me4 ,do that quickly which ,i command thee1 ,o my son ,thothmes4 ,ere ,thothmes could reply the vision faded and he awoke4 ,the living god was gone1 and in his place was the mighty image1 hewn from the solid rock4 ,and here the story must perforce end4 ,it is inscribed on a stele in the little temple which lies between the paws of the ,sphinx1 and the remainder of the inscription is so defaced as to be indecipherable4 ,heru-,behudeti ,one of the greatest and most important of all the forms of ,horus is ,heru-,behudeti1 who typifies midday1 and therefore the greatest heat of the sun4 ,it was in this form that ,horus waged war against ,set4 ,his principal shrines were at ,edf1 ,phil1 ,mesen1 ,aat-ab1 and ,tanis1 where he was worshipped under the form of a lion trampling upon its enemies4 ,in general1 however1 he is depicted as hawk-headed and bearing in his hand a weapon1 usually a club or mace to symbolize his character as a destroyer4 ,in the old ,arthurian romances1 and1 indeed1 in many medival tales which have a mythological ancestry1 we read of how certain knights in combat with their enemies grew stronger as the sun waxed in the heavens1 and when his beams declined their strength failed them4 ,so was it with ,sir ,belin1 with ,king ,arthur1 who in his frenzy slew thousands1 and with ,st ,george1 the patron saint of ,england1 originally an ,egyptian hero4 ,these figures were all probably sun-gods at some early period of their development4 ,they are obscure in birth and origin1 as is the luminary they symbolize--that is1 they spring from the darkness4 ,arthur's origin1 for example1 was unknown to him until the age of manhood1 and the same holds good of ,beowulf4 ,as they grew in power1 like the sun which they typify1 the solar heroes frequently became insane1 and laid about them with such pitiless fury that they slaughtered thousands in a manner of which no ordinary paladin would be capable4 ,this is typical of the strength and fury of the sun at midday in ,eastern climates4 ,heru-,behudeti1 then1 because he was god of the midday sun1 was the pitiless warrior wielding the club1 perhaps typifying sunstroke1 and the bow and arrows1 symbolizing his fierce beams which were to destroy the dragon of night and his fiendish crew4 ,he was well represented as a lion1 for what is so fierce as the tropical sun8 ,at midday he was all-conquering and had trampled the night-dragon out of sight4 ,in this manner1 too1 he represented the force of good against that of evil4 ,the following is the myth of his battles with ,set and the battalions of his evil companions4 ,the ,myth of the ,winged ,disk ,in the year #cfc of the reign of ,ra-,horakhti upon the earth it befell that the god was in ,nubia with a mighty army4 ,set1 the ,evil ,one1 had rebelled against him1 for ,ra was advanced in years1 and ,set was of all beings the most cunning and treacherous4 ,he it was also who had slain his twin-brother ,osiris1 the great and good king2 and for this reason ,horus1 the brother of ,osiris1 desired greatly to have his life4 ,with his chariots and horsemen and foot-soldiers ,ra embarked on the ,great ,river and came to ,edf1 where ,horus of ,edf joined him4 ,o ,ra1 said ,horus1 great are thine enemies1 and cunningly do they conspire against thee6 ,my son1 answered ,ra1 arm thee and go forth against mine enemies1 and slay them speedily4 ,thereupon ,horus sought the aid of the god ,thoth1 the master of all magic1 by whose aid he changed himself into a great sun-disk1 with resplendent wings outstretched on either side4 ,straight to the sun he flew1 and from the heavens he looked so fiercely upon his enemies and ,ra's1 that they neither heard nor saw aright4 ,each man judged his neighbour to be a stranger1 and a cry went up that the foe were upon them4 ,each turned his weapon against the other1 the majority were slain1 and the handful of survivors scattered4 ,and ,horus hovered for a while over the battle-plain1 hoping to find ,set1 but the arch-enemy was not there2 he was hiding in the ,north ,country4 ,then ,horus returned to ,ra1 who embraced him kindly4 ,and ,horus took ,ra and the goddess ,astarte1 and showed them the battlefield strewn with corpses4 ,ra1 king of the gods1 said to those in his train3 ,come1 let us voyage to the ,nile1 for our enemies are slain4 ,but ,set still had a large following1 and some of his associates he commanded to turn themselves into crocodiles and hippopotami1 so that they might swallow the occupants of the divine barque and yet remain invulnerable by reason of their thick hides4 ,horus1 however1 had gathered his band of smiths1 each of whom made for himself an iron lance and a chain1 on which ,thoth bestowed some of his ever-powerful magic4 ,horus also repeated the formul in the ,book of ,slaying the ,hippopotamus4 ,so that when the fierce animals charged up the river the god was ready for them2 many of them were pierced by the magic weapons and died1 while the remainder fled4 ,those who fled to the south were pursued by ,horus1 and were at length overtaken4 ,another great conflict ensued1 wherein the followers of ,set were again vanquished4 ,according to the desire of ,ra1 a shrine was raised to commemorate the victory1 and his image placed therein4 ,yet another encounter1 however1 was to take place in the ,south ,land ere the followers of ,set were utterly destroyed4 ,the ,slaughter of the ,monsters ,then ,horus and ,ra sailed northward toward the sea in search of ,set and his allies1 hoping to slay all the crocodiles and hippopotami1 which were the bodily forms of their foes4 ,but the beasts kept under water1 and four days had elapsed ere ,horus caught sight of them4 ,he at once attacked them1 and wrought great havoc with his glittering weapons1 to the delight of ,ra and ,thoth1 who watched the conflict from the boat4 ,a hundred and forty-two prisoners were taken on this occasion4 ,yet did ,horus continue to pursue his enemies1 always in the form of a burning disk with wings like unto the sunset1 and attended by the goddesses ,nekhbet and ,uazet in the shape of two snakes4 ,once more he overtook the allies of ,set1 this time at the ,western ,waters of ,mert4 ,on this occasion1 as on the others1 ,horus was victorious1 and nearly four hundred prisoners were brought to the boat of ,ra and slain4 ,then was ,set very greatly incensed1 and decided to come forth in person to do battle with ,horus4 ,horrible indeed were his cries and curses when he heard the losses his army had sustained4 ,and ,horus and his followers went out to meet the army of ,set1 and long and furious was the battle4 ,at length ,horus took a prisoner whom he believed to be ,set4 ,the wretched being was dragged before ,ra1 who gave him into the hands of his captor1 bidding the latter do with him what he would4 ,then ,horus killed his prisoner1 cut off his head1 dragged him through the dust1 and cut his body in pieces1 even as ,set had done to ,osiris4 ,but1 after all1 it was only one of ,set's associates who had perished thus miserably4 ,the ,evil ,one himself was still at large1 vowing vengeance on his enemies4 ,in the form of a large snake he hid himself under the earth1 while his followers took courage from the knowledge that he had eluded his enemy4 ,yet again1 however1 were they defeated by ,horus1 who slew great numbers of them4 ,the gods remained for six days on the canal1 waiting for the reappearance of the foe1 but none were to be seen4 ,then ,horus scattered abroad his followers to destroy the remnant of ,set's army4 ,the last two battles were fought at ,thal 7,zaru71 and at ,shas1 in ,nubia4 ,at ,thal ,horus took the form of a fierce lion1 and slew a hundred and forty-two enemies4 ,at ,shas he appeared once more in the shape of a great shining disk with wings of splendid plumage1 and with the goddesses ,nekhbet and ,uazet on either side of it in the shape of crowned snakes4 ,on these occasions also ,horus was victorious4 ,there are various endings to this myth4 ,it is said that the prisoner whom ,horus caused to be decapitated was none other than ,set1 whose fate1 however1 did not hinder him from living again and taking the form of a serpent4 ,according to this version ,horus of ,edf was accompanied by ,horus the ,child1 son of ,isis and ,osiris4 ,in the same inscription which gives an account of the battles ,horus the ,elder and ,horus the ,child are utterly confused at the end4 ,so while ,horus the ,elder fights the battles1 ,horus the ,child kills ,set4 ,they are looked upon as one and the same4 ,on capturing ,set1 therefore1 ,horus1 according to one account1 delivered him into the hands of ,isis1 who cut off his head4 ,another version1 again1 has it that the decisive battle has not yet been fought1 and that ,horus will finally destroy his enemy1 when ,osiris and the gods once more return to earth4 ,other ,horus ,legends ,yet another account states that when ,horus the ,child had become a man ,set came forth and challenged him to mortal combat4 ,so ,horus set out in a boat splendidly decorated by ,isis1 who also laid magic spells upon it1 so that its occupant might not be overcome4 ,meanwhile the arch-foe of the gods had taken upon himself the shape of a huge red hippopotamus4 ,and he caused a raging storm to break over the boats of ,horus and his train1 so that the waters were lashed into fury2 and had it not been that the boats were protected by magic1 all would assuredly have perished4 ,horus1 however1 held on his course undismayed4 ,he had taken the form of a youth of giant stature1 and towered at the gilded prow of his boat1 which shone like sunlight amid the storm and the darkness4 ,a great harpoon was poised in his hand1 such a weapon as an ordinary mortal could not lift4 ,in the water the red hippopotamus waited for the wrecking of the boat1 so that he might swallow his enemies4 ,but this he was destined never to do1 for directly he showed himself above water the mighty harpoon was launched at his head and sank into his brain4 ,and this was the end of ,set1 the ,evil ,one1 the murderer of ,osiris and the enemy of ,ra4 ,in honour of ,horus the ,conqueror hymns and triumphal choruses were sung throughout the land4 ,in the myth of the battles of ,horus it is easy to discern what is perhaps the most universal of all mythological conceptions--the solar myth4 ,horus 7called in the ,edf text ,horbehdti1 i4e4 ,horus of ,edf7 was originally a sun-god1 and as such was equivalent to ,ra1 but in time the two gods came to be regarded as separate and distinct personages1 ,ra being the highest1 and ,horus serving him as a sort of war-captain4 ,the winged disk1 therefore1 and all his train represented the powers of light1 while the wicked ,set and his companions symbolized darkness4 ,thus it is that while ,horus was always victorious over his enemies1 he never succeeded 7according to the most widespread form of the tradition7 in destroying them utterly4 ,when ,horus had routed the enemy in the form of a winged disk1 that symbol came to be regarded as an excellent protective against violence and destruction4 ,it was therefore repeated many times--especially in the ,new ,kingdom--in temples1 on monuments1 stel1 and so on1 and it was believed that the more numerous the representations of it1 the more efficacious did the charm become4 ,in its simplest form the image is merely that of a winged disk1 but at times there is a serpent on either side of the disk1 representing the goddesses ,nekhbet and ,uazet4 ,the principal version of the myth1 dealing with ,hor-,behdti1 or ,horus of ,edf1 was really a local form belonging to ,edf1 though in time it gained a wider acceptance4 ,in other forms of the legend other gods took the chief rle as destroyer of the enemies of ,ra4 ,with this legend of light and darkness came to be fused another1 that which relates how ,horus avenged the death of ,osiris4 ,it is noticeable that in this second myth there exists some confusion between ,horus the ,elder and ,horus the ,child1 respectively brother and son of ,osiris4 ,no mention is made of ,osiris in the ,edf text1 but that this myth is a sequel to the legend of ,osiris is implied by the circumstance that ,set is handed over for punishment to ,isis and ,horus the ,child4 ,in the later form of the story the conflict is not properly between light and darkness1 but rather between the forces of good and evil4 ,in this legend one of the most noteworthy circumstances is that the followers of ,horus were armed with weapons of metal4 ,his followers are called in the ,egyptian text ,mesniu1 or ,mesnitu1 which in all probability signifies 'workers in metal1' or 'blacksmiths4' ,the worshippers of ,horus of ,behudet continually alluded to him as ',lord of the ,forge-city1' or ,edf1 where tradition asserted he carried on the work of a blacksmith4 ,at ,edf1 indeed1 the great golden disk of the sun itself had been forged1 as we see from a certain inscription1 and in the temple of that city was a chamber behind the sanctuary called ,mesnet1 or 'the foundry1' where the blacksmith caste of priests attended upon the god4 ,from sculptures upon the walls of the temple we see that these are arrayed in short robes and a species of collar which is almost a cape1 that they carry their spears head downward1 and a weapon of metal resembling a dagger4 ,horus of ,behudet1 who accompanies them1 is dressed in a similar fashion1 and is represented as spearing a hippopotamus1 round which he has wound a double chain of metal4 ,this illustrates the story of the defeat of ,set by ,horus of ,behudet1 and we may be justified in believing that the legend possessed a more or less historic basis4 ,here we have a tribe or caste of metal-workers at war with what is obviously a more primitive race1 whom they defeat with their weapons of metal and bind with their chains1 afterward slaughtering them at leisure4 ,it is significant that they do not slay them out of hand4 ,for what1 then1 do they reserve them8 ,obviously for human sacrifice4 ,they are a caste of sun-worshippers1 and human blood was as necessary to the sustenance of the sun in early ,egypt as it was in ancient ,mexico1 where the military caste1 living under the patronage of the sun1 always refrained from slaying an enemy in battle if they could make him prisoner1 to be sacrificed at leisure4 ,the circumstances of the legend would appear to indicate that we are here following the adventures of some ,west ,asiatic invader who1 with followers armed with metal1 landed on the soil of ,egypt1 made himself master of ,edf1 and1 marching northward1 established himself in the land by force of arms4 ,this story1 or portion of history1 probably became amalgamated1 perhaps by priestly influence1 with the legend of ,horus1 the god of heaven in the earliest times4 ,another important form of ,horus was that known as ,horus1 son of ,isis1 and of ,osiris4 ,he represented the rising sun1 as did several other forms of ,horus1 and possessed many aspects or variants4 ,his shrines were so numerous that at one epoch or another he was identified with all the other ,horus-gods1 but he chiefly represented the new sun1 born daily1 and he was son and successor of ,osiris4 ,he was extremely popular1 as being a well-marked type of resurrection after death4 ,as ,osiris represented 'yesterday1' so ,horus1 his son1 stood for 'to-day' in the ,egyptian mind4 ,although some texts state that ,osiris was his father1 others claim this position for ,ra1 but the two in this instance are really one and the same and interchangeable4 ,osiris became the father of ,horus after he was dead2 such is the origin of several sun-heroes4 ,as has been said1 the birth of such is usually peculiar and obscure4 ,isis1 while tending the infant ,horus and in fear of the persecutions of ,set1 took shelter in the swamps of the ,delta1 and hid herself and her child amidst a dense mass of papyrus plants4 ,to the ,egyptian of the ,delta it would of course seem as if the sun took its rise from amidst the papyrus-covered swamps which stretched on every side to the horizon1 so we may regard this part of the myth as allegory pure and simple4 ,the circumstances of the escape of ,isis from ,set have already been detailed in the myth of ,osiris4 ,the filial respect which ,horus displayed for the memory of his father ,osiris won him much honour from the ,egyptians4 ,he it was who fixed the details of the god's mummification1 and who set the standard for the pious ,egyptian son4 ,in this respect he was regarded as a helper of the dead1 and was thought to mediate between them and the judges of the ,taut4 ,in his work of caring for the deceased he had a number of helpers1 known as the followers of ,horus1 who were regarded as gods of the cardinal points4 ,they are given positions of great importance in the ,book of the ,dead1 and shared the protection of the body of the deceased1 as has been mentioned in the paragraph concerning the mummy4 ,they were four in number and were named ,hapi1 ,tuamutef1 ,amset1 and ,qebhsennuf4 ,horus1 son of ,isis and ,osiris1 was regarded as of such importance that he absorbed the attributes of all the other ,horus-gods1 but in certain texts he is represented as a child1 with forefinger to lip1 and wearing the lock of hair at the side of the head which indicates youth4 ,in later times he was figured in a great many different fanciful forms4 ,the ,black ,hog ,ra1 ,set1 and ,horus are concerned in an ,egyptian myth which attempts an explanation of eclipses of the sun and moon4 ,set and ,horus were bitter enemies1 yet ,set did not dare to enter the fray openly1 for he feared ,horus as evil must ever fear good4 ,so he devised subtle and underhand schemes whereby he might compass the fall of ,horus1 and this is how the matter fell out4 ,one day ,horus sought ,ra with a request to be allowed to read the future in his eyes4 ,this request ,ra granted willingly because of his love for ,horus1 the beloved of gods and men4 ,whilst they conversed there passed them a black hog1 a huge1 sinister animal1 ferocious of aspect1 and with eyes that glinted with cunning and cruelty4 ,now1 though neither ,ra nor ,horus was aware of the fact1 the black hog was ,set himself1 who had the power to take upon him the shape of any animal he chose4 ,what an evil monster6 cried ,ra1 as he looked upon the animal4 ,horus also turned his gaze in the direction of the black hog1 in whom he still failed to recognize his enemy4 ,this was ,set's opportunity4 ,he shot a bolt of fire straight into the eye of the god4 ,horus was half crazed with the violence of the pain4 ,set hath done me this evil1 he cried2 he shall not go unpunished4 ,but ,set had vanished1 and was not to be found anywhere4 ,yet for the evil that had come upon ,horus ,ra cursed the pig4 ,when the young god recovered his sight ,ra gave to him the city of ,p1 whereat he was much delighted2 and at his smile the cloud of darkness passed away1 and all the land rejoiced4 ,a ,greek version of the myth has it that the black hog tore out the eye of ,horus and swallowed it1 but was forced by ,ra 7,helios7 to restore it4 ,the eyes of ,horus are of course the sun and moon1 one of which is swallowed or destroyed by the 'black hog' during an eclipse4 ,the restoration of light to the earth is occasioned by the joy of ,horus on being presented with the city of ,p4 ,nephthys ,the female counterpart of ,set was ,nephthys4 ,she was the daughter of ,geb#g and ,nut1 the sister and wife of ,set1 and the mother of ,anubis1 but whether by ,osiris or ,set is not clear4 ,the words ,nebt-het mean 'the lady of the house1' or sky4 ,although ,nephthys is associated with ,set1 she appears to remain more faithful to her sister ,isis1 whom she assists to regain the scattered limbs of ,osiris4 ,she is represented in the form of a woman wearing upon her head the symbol of her name1 i4e4 a basket and a house 7reading ,nebt-het74 ,she appears in some ways in the ,book of the ,dead as an assistant of her sister ,isis1 standing behind ,osiris when the hearts of the dead are weighed1 and kneeling at the head of ,osiris' bier4 ,she was supposed to possess great magical powers like her sister1 and resembles her in possessing many forms4 ,she is also supposed to protect ,osiris in his form of moon-god4 ,plutarch throws some light upon ,egyptian belief concerning this goddess4 ,he says that ,anubis was the son of ,osiris and ,nephthys1 and that ,typhon or ,set was first apprised of their amour by finding a garland of flowers which had been left behind him by ,osiris4 ,as ,isis represents fruitfulness1 so1 he says1 ,nephthys signifies corruption4 ,dr4 ,budge1 commenting upon this passage1 says that it is clear that ,nephthys is the personification of darkness and of all that belongs to it1 and that her attributes were of a passive rather than of an active character4 ,she was the opposite of ,isis in every respect4 ,isis symbolized birth1 growth1 development1 and vigour2 but ,nephthys was the type of death1 decay1 diminution1 and immobility4 ,the two goddesses were1 however1 associated inseparably with each other4 ,isis1 according to ,plutarch1 represents the part of the world which is visible1 whilst ,nephthys represents that which is invisible4444 ,isis and ,nephthys represent respectively the things which are and the things which are yet to come into being1 the beginning and the end1 birth and death1 and life and death4 ,we have unfortunately no means of knowing what the primitive conception of the attributes of ,nephthys was1 but it is most improbable that it included any of the views on the subject which were current in ,plutarch's time4 ,nephthys is not a goddess with well-defined characteristics1 but she may1 generally speaking1 be described as the goddess of the death which is not eternal4 ,dr4 ,budge proceeds to say that ,nephthys1 although a goddess of death1 was associated with the coming into existence of the life which springs from death4 ,with ,isis she prepared the funeral bed of ,osiris and made his mummy-wrappings4 ,along with ,isis she guarded the corpse of ,osiris4 ,in later times the goddesses were represented by two priestesses whose hair was shaved off and who wore ram's-wool garlands upon their heads4 ,on the arm of one was a fillet inscribed to ,isis1 and the other wore a like band inscribed to ,nephthys4 ,set ,the cult of ,set was of the greatest antiquity1 and although in later times he was regarded as evil personified1 this was not his original rle4 ,according to the priests of ,heliopolis he was the son of ,geb and ,nut1 and therefore brother of ,osiris1 ,isis1 and ,nephthys1 husband of the latter goddess and father of ,anubis4 ,these relationships1 however1 were all manufactured for him at a comparatively late period4 ,in the ,pyramid ,texts we find ,set acting as a friend to the dead1 and he even assisted ,osiris to reach heaven by means of a ladder4 ,he is also associated with ,horus and is regarded as his equal4 ,but in time they came to be regarded as mortal enemies1 who were only prevented from entirely destroying one another by the wise ,thoth4 ,horus the ,elder was the god of the sky by day1 and ,set the god of the sky by night4 ,the one was in fact the direct opposite of the other4 ,the derivation of the name ,set presents many difficulties of elucidation4 ,the determinative of his hieroglyph is either the figure of an animal or a stone1 which latter seems to symbolize the stony or desert country on either side of the ,nile4 ,as to the animal which pictorially represents him1 it has by no means been identified1 but various authorities have likened it to a camel and an okapi4 ,in any case it must have been a denizen of the desert inimical to man4 ,as ,horus was the god of the ,north1 so was ,set god of the ,south4 ,dr4 ,brugsch considered ,set symbolized the downward motion of the sun in the lower hemisphere1 thus making him the source of the destructive heat of summer4 ,as the days began to shorten and the nights to lengthen it was thought that he stole the light from the sun-god4 ,he was likewise instrumental in the monthly destruction of the moon4 ,storms1 earthquakes1 and eclipses and all natural phenomena which caused darkness were attributed to him1 and from an ethical point of view he was the god of sin and evil4 ,we find the myths of the combat between ,set and ,horus evolving from a simple opposition of day and night into a combat between the two gods4 ,ra and ,osiris1 instead of ,horus1 are sometimes ranged against ,set4 ,the combat symbolized the moral idea of the victory of good over evil1 and those of the dead who were justified were regarded as having overcome ,set as ,osiris had done4 ,in his combat with the sun-god ,set took the form of the monster serpent ,apep and was accompanied by an army of lesser serpents and reptiles of every description4 ,in later times we find him identified with ,typhon4 ,all desert animals and those which inhabited the waters were regarded as the children of ,set1 as were animals with red hair or skins1 or even red-haired men4 ,such animals were often sacrificed ritually in propitiation of ,set4 ,in the month ,pachons an antelope and a black pig were sacrificed to him in order to deter him from attacking the full moon1 and on the great festival of ,heru-,behudeti such birds and fish as were thought to be of his following were trodden underfoot to the cry that ,ra had triumphed over his enemies4 ,set had also a kingdom in the northern sky1 and his peculiar abode was the ,great ,bear4 ,as in some other countries1 the north was considered by the ,egyptians as the place of darkness1 cold1 and death4 ,thus we find that by the ,mexicans and ,maya the abode of the god of death was considered to be the north1 and that among the latter people the hieroglyph for the north is a human bone placed before the head of the death-god4 ,the goddess ,reret1 who has the head and body of a hippopotamus1 was supposed to have the evil influence of ,set in restraint4 ,she is pictured as holding darkness fettered by a chain1 and is considered to be a form of ,isis4 ,it was probably about the ,twenty-second ,dynasty that the worship of ,set began to decline1 and that he took on the shape of an evil deity4 ,the theory has been put forward that the ,hyksos invaders identified him with certain of their gods1 and that this sufficed to bring him into disrepute with the ,egyptians4 ,set and the ,ass ,plutarch1 in his ,de ,iside et ,osiride1 has an interesting passage concerning the alleged resemblance between the ass and ,set4 ,he says 7the translation is the old one of ,squire73 ,hence their ignominious treatment of those persons1 whom from the redness of their complexions they imagine to bear a resemblance to him2 and hence likewise is derived the custom of the ,coptites of throwing an ,ass down a precipice2 because it is usually of this colour4 ,nay1 the inhabitants of ,busiris and ,lycopolis carry their detestation of this animal so far1 as never to make any use of trumpets1 because of the similitude between their sound and the braying of an ass4 ,in a word1 this animal is in general regarded by them as unclean and impure1 merely on account of the resemblance which they conceive it bears to ,typho2 and in consequence of this notion1 those cakes which they offer with their sacrifices during the last two months ,pani and ,phaophi1 have the impression of an ass1 bound1 stamped upon them4 ,for the same reason likewise1 when they sacrifice to the ,sun1 they strictly enjoyn all those who approach to worship the ,god1 neither to wear any gold about them1 nor to give provender to any ass4 ,it is moreover evident1 say they1 that even the ,pythagoreans looked upon ,typho to have been of the rank or order of ,demons1 as1 according to them1 'he was produced in the even number fifty-six4' ,for as the power of the ,triangle is expressive of the nature of ,pluto1 ,bacchus1 and ,mars1 the properties of the ,square of ,rhea1 ,venus1 ,ceres1 ,vesta1 and ,juno2 of the ,dodecagon of ,juppiter2 so1 as we are informed by ,eudoxus1 is the figure of #ef angles expressive of the nature of ,typho3 as therefore all the others above-mentioned in the ,pythagorean system are looked upon as so many ,genii or ,demons1 so in like manner must this latter be regarded by them4 ',tis from this persuasion likewise of the red complexion of ,typho1 that the ,egyptians make use of no other bullocks in their sacrifice but what are of this colour4 ,nay1 so extremely curious are they in this respect1 that if there be so much as one black or white hair in the beast1 'tis sufficient to render it improper for this service4 ,for 'tis their opinion1 that sacrifices ought not to be made of such things as are in themselves agreeable and well-pleasing to the ,gods1 but1 on the contrary1 rather of such creatures wherein the souls of wicked and unjust men have been confined during the course of their transmigration4 ,hence sprang that custom1 which was formerly observed by them1 of pronouncing a solemn curse upon the head of the beast which was to be offered in sacrifice1 and afterwards of cutting it off and throwing it into the ,nile1 though now they dispose of it to foreigners4 ,no bullock therefore is permitted to be offered to the ,gods1 which has not the seal of the ,sphragist first stamped upon it1 an order of priests peculiarly set apart for this purpose1 from whence likewise they derive their name4 ,their impress1 according to ,castor1 is 'a man upon his knees with his hands tied behind him and a sword pointed at his throat'4 ,nor is it from his colour only that they maintain a resemblance between the ass and ,typho1 but from the stupidity likewise and sensuality of his disposition2 and agreeably to this notion1 having a more particular hatred to ,ochus than to any other of the ,persian monarchs who reigned over them1 looking upon him as an execrable and abominable wretch1 they gave him the nickname of the ,ass1 which drew the following reply from that prince1 ',but this ass shall dine upon your ox1' and accordingly he slew the ,apis3 this story is thus related by ,dino4 ,in certain phases of his myth ,set is symbolized as a black pig4 ,especially is this the case when he is shown by ,ra to ,horus1 and tears the latter's eye out of his head4 ,anubis ,anubis1 or1 as the ,egyptians called him1 ,an-pu1 was1 according to some1 the son of ,osiris and ,nephthys1 and to others the son of ,set4 ,he had the head of a jackal and the body of a man1 and was evidently symbolical of the animal which prowled about the tombs of the dead4 ,his worship was of great antiquity1 and it may be that in early times he had been a totem4 ,he was the guide of the dead in the underworld on their way to the abode of ,osiris4 ,in many mythologies a dog is the companion of the dead man to the otherworld4 ,its remains are found in prehistoric graves2 in both ,mexico and ,peru dogs were sacrificed at burial1 and1 indeed1 the custom is a very widespread one4 ,now it is not improbable that ,anubis may have typified the prehistoric half-domesticated jackal1 or early type of dog that was supposed to guide the wanderer through the underworld4 ,plutarch says of ,anubis that the ,egyptians imagine a resemblance between him and the dog4 ,anubis was particularly worshipped at ,lycopolis1 ,abt1 and elsewhere4 ,he plays a prominent part in the ,book of the ,dead1 especially in those passages which are connected with the justification and the embalming of the deceased4 ,he it was who embalmed the body of ,osiris4 ,indeed1 he rendered great assistance to the mourning sisters1 and in this he may typify the faithful and helpful qualities of the dog4 ,this is all the more striking if he is to be accepted as the son of ,set1 and the whole evolution of the deity would seem to imply that whereas the semi-savage1 half-domesticated dog was originally nocturnal and of doubtful value1 under domestication its virtues became apparent4 ,it is probable that1 could research be pushed back to a sufficiently remote epoch1 and did paintings of such an early period exist1 we should find ,anubis pictured as the faithful dog preceding the deceased on the journey to the ,duat4 ,later1 when every deity in the picture had received a special function through the aid of priestly ingenuity1 and perhaps in an area where the jackal or dog was totemic1 we find the companion of the dead still accompanying him indeed1 still his guide through the darkness1 but in the guise and with the attributes of a full-grown deity4 ,how he came to be the mummifier of ,osiris it would1 indeed1 be hard to say2 probably the association or the jackal with the burial-ground would account for this4 ,he was symbolical of the grave4 ,professor ,petrie has put it on record that the best guides to ,egyptian tombs are the jackal-trails4 ,a speech of ,anubis in the ,book of the ,dead1 chapter cli1 is suggestive of his protective character4 ,i have come1 he says1 to protect ,osiris4 ,in many countries the dog is dispatched with the deceased for the purpose of protecting him against various grisly enemies he may meet on the way to ,hades1 and it is not unlikely that ,anubis played a similar part in very early times4 ,it is the duty of ,anubis to see that the beam of the great balance wherein the heart of the deceased is weighed is in its proper position4 ,as ,thoth acts for the gods1 so ,anubis appears for the dead man1 whom he also protects against the ',eater of the ,dead4' ,he also guided the souls of the dead through the underworld1 being assisted in this duty by ,up-uaut1 another jackal-headed deity1 whose name signifies ',opener of the ,ways4' ,these gods have sometimes been confounded with one another1 but in certain texts they are separately alluded to4 ,the name of the latter deity is significant of his probable early function4 ,anubis1 thinks ,dr4 ,budge1 was the opener of the roads of the north1 and ,up-uaut of those of the south4 ,in fact1 he says1 ,anubis was the personification of the summer solstice1 and ,ap-uat ,up-uaut of the winter solstice4 ,he goes on to say that when they appear with the two ,utchats1 or eyes of ,ra1 they symbolize the four quarters of heaven and of earth1 and the four seasons of the year4 ,plutarch has also a passage upon the astronomical significance of ,anubis which seems far from clear4 ,at ,heliopolis1 ,anubis was to some extent fused with ,horus as regards his attributes1 and in some manner he took on the character of the old fusion between ,horus and ,set1 in this latter connexion personifying death and decay4 ,in the ,golden ,ass of ,apuleius we find that ,anubis had votaries in ,rome1 and it is noticeable that in this account he is spoken of as having a dog's head4 ,thoth ,thoth1 or ,tehuti1 was a highly composite deity4 ,his birth was coeval with that of ,ra4 ,let us enumerate his attributes before we seek to disentangle his significance4 ,he is alluded to as the counter of the stars1 the measurer and enumerator of the earth1 as being twice great and thrice great lord of books1 scribe of the gods1 and as possessing knowledge of divine speech1 in which he was 'mighty4' ,in general he was figured in human form with the head of an ibis1 but sometimes he appears in the shape of that bird4 ,he wears upon his head the crescent moon and disk1 the ,atef crown1 and the crowns of the ,north and ,south4 ,in the ,book of the ,dead he is drawn as holding the writing reed and palette of the scribe1 and as placing on his tablets the records of the deceased whose heart is being weighed before him4 ,there is no reason to suppose that ,thoth was totemic in character1 as he belongs to the cosmogonic or nature deities1 few or none of whom were of this type4 ,another form of ,thoth is that of the dog-headed ape1 which1 it has been stated1 symbolizes his powers of equilibrium4 ,his principal seat of worship was ,hermopolis1 where ,ra was supposed to have risen for the first time4 ,to ,thoth was ascribed the mental powers of ,ra1 and1 indeed1 the dicta of ,ra seem to have come from his lips4 ,he was the ,divine ,speech personified4 ,but we are looking ahead4 ,let us discover his primitive significance before we enumerate the more or less complex attributes which are heaped upon him in later times4 ,it is pretty clear that ,thoth is originally a moon-god4 ,he is called the 'great god' and 'lord of heaven4' ,among primitive peoples the moon is the great regulator of the seasons4 ,a lunar calendar is invariably in use prior to the introduction of the computation of time by solar revolution4 ,the moon is thus the 'great measurer' of primitive life4 ,thus primitive peoples speak about the 'seed moon1' the 'deer moon1' the 'grain' or 'harvest moon1' and so on4 ,thoth1 then1 was a measurer because he was a moon-god1 and conversely because of his lunar significance he was the measurer4 ,as ,aah-,tehuti he symbolizes the new moon1 as it is from the first appearance that time is measured by primitive peoples4 ,his eye signifies the full moon in the same manner that the eye of ,ra signifies the sun at mid-day4 ,but it also symbolizes the left eye of ,ra1 or the cold half of the year1 when the sun's rays were not so strong4 ,it is sometimes also called the 'black eye of ,horus1' the 'white eye' being the sun4 ,this serves to illustrate how greatly the attributes of the ,egyptian deities had become confused4 ,as he was a moon-god1 so he was to some extent connected with moisture1 and we find him alluded to in chapter xcv of the ,book of the ,dead as a rain and thunder god4 ,thoth as ,soul-,recorder ,it is1 however1 as the recorder of souls before ,osiris that ,thoth was important in the eyes of the ,egyptian priesthood4 ,he held this office because of his knowledge of letters and his gift of knowing what was right or in equilibrium4 ,again1 he had the power of imparting the manner in which words should be correctly spoken4 ,as has already been said1 the mode of speech1 the tone in which words were pronounced1 spelt success or failure in both prayer and magical incantations4 ,the secret of this ,thoth taught to men1 and this it was that the ,egyptians especially desired to learn4 ,through the formula of ,thoth the gates of the ,duat were opened to the deceased1 and he was safeguarded against its terrors4 ,the ,book of the ,dead was indeed believed to be the work of ,thoth1 as was the ,book of ,breathings1 a much later work4 ,the ,greek writers upon things ,egyptian imagined ,thoth1 whom they called ,trismegistos1 or ,hermes the ,thrice ,great1 as the prime source of all learning and wisdom4 ,they ascribed to him the invention of the sciences of astronomy and astrology1 mathematics1 geometry1 and medicine4 ,the letters of the alphabet were also his invention1 from which sprang the arts of reading and writing4 ,according to them the ',books of ,thoth' were forty-two in number1 and were divided into six classes1 dealing with law and theology1 the service of the gods1 history1 geography and writing1 astronomy and astrology1 religious writings and medicine4 ,it is almost certain that most of this mass of material was the work of ,alexandrian ,greeks sophisticated by ancient ,egyptian lore4 ,mat ,the goddess ,mat closely resembles ,thoth1 and has indeed been regarded as the female counterpart of that god4 ,she was one of the original goddesses1 for when the boat of ,ra rose above the waters of the primeval abyss of ,nu for the first time she had her place in it beside ,thoth4 ,she is symbolized by the ostrich feather1 which she either holds or which decorates her headdress4 ,dr4 ,budge states that the reason for the association of the ostrich feather with ,mat is unknown1 as is the primitive conception which underlies her name4 ,but it is likely that the equal-sidedness of the feather1 its division into halves1 rendered it a fitting symbol of balance or equilibrium4 ,among the ,maya of ,central ,america the feather denoted the plural number4 ,the word1 we are told1 indicates that which is straight4 ,the name ,mat with the ancient ,egyptians came to imply anything which was true1 genuine1 or real4 ,thus the goddess was the personification of law1 order1 and truth4 ,she indicated the regularity with which ,ra rose and set in the sky1 and1 assisted by ,thoth1 wrote down his daily course for him every day4 ,in this capacity she is called the 'daughter of ,ra' and the 'eye of ,ra4' ,as the personification of justice her moral power was immense and inexorable4 ,in fact1 she came to be regarded as that fate from whom every man receives his deserts4 ,she sat in a hall in the underworld to hear the confessions of the dead1 the door of which was guarded by ,anubis4 ,the deceased had to satisfy forty-two assessors or judges in this hall1 after which he proceeded to the presence of ,osiris1 whom he assured that he had 'done ,mat1' and had been purified by her4 ,the ,book of the ,dead ,the ,book of the ,dead1 the ,egyptian title of which1 ,pert em hru1 has been variously translated 'coming forth by day' and the 'manifestation day1' is a great body of religious compositions compiled for the use of the dead in the otherworld4 ,it is probable that the name had a significance for the ,egyptians which is incapable of being rendered in any modern language1 and this is borne out by another of its titles--',the chapter of making perfect the ,khu' 7or spirit74 ,texts dealing with the welfare of the dead and their life in the world beyond the grave are known to have been in use among the ,egyptians as early as #djjj ,b4,c4 ,the oldest form of the ,book of the ,dead known to us is represented in the ,pyramid ,texts4 ,with the invention of mummification a more complete funerary ritual arose1 based on the hope that such ceremonies as it imposed would ensure the corpse against corruption1 preserve it for ever1 and introduce it to a beatified existence among the gods4 ,almost immediately prior to the dynastic era a great stimulus appears to have been given to the cult of ,osiris throughout ,egypt4 ,he had now become the god of the dead par excellence1 and his dogma taught that from the preserved corpse would spring a beautified astral body1 the future home of the spirit of the deceased4 ,it therefore became necessary to adopt measures of the greatest precaution for the preservation of human remains4 ,the generality of the texts comprised in the ,book of the ,dead are in one form or another of much greater antiquity than the period of ,mena1 the first historical king of ,egypt4 ,indeed1 from internal evidence it is possible to show that many of these were revised or edited long before the copies known to us were made4 ,even at as early a date as #ccjj ,b4,c4 the professional writers who transcribed the ancient texts appear to have been so puzzled by their contents that they hardly understood their purport4#h ,dr4 ,budge states3 ,we are in any case justified in estimating the earliest form of the work to be contemporaneous with the foundation of the civilization which we call ',egyptian' in the valley of the ,nile4#i ,a ',discovery' #cdjj ,years ,old ,a hieratic inscription upon the sarcophagus of ,queen ,khnem-nefert1 wife of ,mentu-hetep1 a king of the ,eleventh ,dynasty 7c4 #bejj ,b4,c471 states that a certain chapter of the ,book of the ,dead was discovered in the reign of ,hesep-ti1 the fifth king of the ,first ,dynasty1 who flourished about #dbff ,b4,c4 ,this sarcophagus affords us two copies of the said chapter1 one immediately following the other4 ,that as early as #bejj ,b4,c4 a chapter of the ,book of the ,dead should be referred to a date almost #bjjj years before that time is astounding1 and the mind reels before the idea of a tradition which1 during comparatively unlettered centuries1 could have conserved a religious formula almost unimpaired4 ,thus thirty-four centuries ago a portion of the ,book of the ,dead was regarded as extremely ancient1 mysterious1 and difficult of comprehension4 ,it will be noted also that the inscription on the tomb of ,queen ,khnem-nefert bears out that the chapter in question was 'discovered' about #dbff ,b4,c4 ,if it was merely discovered at that early era1 what periods of remoteness lie between that epoch and the time when it was first reduced to writing8 ,the description of the chapter on the sarcophagus of the royal lady states that this chapter was found in the foundations beneath the ,dweller in the ,hennu ,boat by the foreman of the builders in the time of the king of the ,south and ,north1 ,hesep-ti1 whose word is truth2 and the ,nebseni ,papyrus says that the chapter was found in the city of ,khemennu or ,hermopolis1 on a block of alabaster1 written in letters of lapis-lazuli1 under the feet of the god4 ,it also appears from the ,turin ,papyrus1 which dates from the period of the ,twenty-sixth ,dynasty1 that the name of the finder was ,heru-ta-ta-f1 the son of ,cheops1 who was at the time engaged in a tour of inspection of the temples4 ,sir ,gaston ,maspero is doubtful concerning the importance which should be attached to the statement regarding the chapter on the tomb of ,queen ,khnem-nefert1 but ,m4 ,naville considers the chapter in question one of the oldest in the ,book of the ,dead4 ,a bas-relief of the ,second ,dynasty bears an inscription dedicating to the shade of a certain priest the formula of the thousands of loaves of bread1 thousands of jugs of ale1 and so forth1 so common in later times4 ,we thus see that #djjj years ,b4,c4 it was regarded as a religious duty to provide offerings of meat and drink for the dead1 and there seems to be good evidence1 from the nature of the formula in question1 that it had become fixed and ritualistic by this period4 ,this passage would appear to justify the text on the sarcophagus of the wife of ,mentu-hetep4 ,a few centuries later1 about the time of ,seneferu 7c4 #cgff ,b4,c471 the cult of the dead had expanded greatly from the architectural point of view1 and larger and more imposing cenotaphs were provided for them4 ,victorious wars had brought much wealth to ,egypt1 and its inhabitants were better able to meet the very considerable expenditure entailed upon them by one of the most expensive cults known to the history of religion4 ,in the reign of ,men-kau-,ra a revision of certain parts of the text of the ,book of the ,dead appears to have been undertaken4 ,the authority for this is the rubrics attached to certain chapters which state that they were found inscribed upon a block of alabaster in letters of lapis-lazuli in the time of that monarch4 ,we do not find a text comprising the ,book of the ,dead as a whole until the reign of ,unas 7#cccc ,b4,c471 whose pyramid was opened in #ahha by ,sir ,g4 ,maspero4 ,the stone walls were covered with texts extremely difficult of decipherment1 because of their archaic character and spelling1 among them many from the ,book of the ,dead4 ,continuing his excavations at ,saqqarah1 ,maspero made his way into the pyramid of ,teta 7#ccjj ,b4,c471 in which he discovered inscriptions1 some of which were identical with those in the pyramid of ,unas1 so that the existence of a fully formed ,book of the ,dead by the time of the first king of the ,sixth ,dynasty was proven4 ,additional texts were found in the tomb of ,pepi ,i 7#cbcc ,b4,c474 ,from this it will be seen that before the close of the ,sixth ,dynasty five copies of a series of texts1 forming the ,book of the ,dead of that period1 are in evidence1 and1 as has been observed1 there is substantial proof that its ceremonial was in vogue in the ,second1 and probably in the ,first1 ,dynasty4 ,its text continued to be copied and employed until the second century of the ,christian era4 ,it would appear that each chapter of the ,book of the ,dead had an independent origin1 and it is probable that their inclusion and adoption into the body of the work were spread over many centuries4 ,it is possible that some of the texts reflect changes in theological opinion1 but each chapter stands by itself4 ,it would seem1 however1 that there was a traditional order in the sequence of the chapters4 ,the ,three ,recensions ,there were three recensions or versions of the ,book of the ,dead--the ,heliopolitan1 the ,theban1 and the ,sate4 ,the ,heliopolitan ,recension was edited by the priests of the ,college of ,anu1 or ,on1 known to the ,greeks as ,heliopolis1 and was based upon texts not now recoverable4 ,the ,pyramids of ,unas1 ,teta1 and ,pepi contain the original texts of this recension1 which represent the theological system introduced by the priests of ,ra4 ,the essentials of the primitive ,egyptian religion are1 however1 retained1 the only modification in them being the introduction of the solar doctrine of ,ra4 ,in later times the priesthood of ,ra were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of ,osiris1 and this theological defeat is visible in the more modern texts4 ,between the ,sixth and ,eleventh ,dynasties the priests of ,on edited a number of fresh chapters from time to time4 ,the ,theban ,recension was much in vogue from the ,eighteenth to the ,twenty-second ,dynasties1 and was usually written upon papyri and painted upon coffins in hieroglyphs4 ,each chapter was preserved distinct from the others1 but appears to have had no distinct place in the entire collection4 ,the ,sate ,recension was definitely arranged at some date prior to the ,twenty-sixth ,dynasty1 and is written upon coffins and papyri1 and also in hieratic and demotic script4 ,it continued to be employed to the end of the ,ptolemaic period4 ,as we have previously noticed1 the ,book of the ,dead was for their use from the moment when they found themselves inhabitants of the otherworld4 ,magic was the very mainspring of existence in that sphere1 and unless a spirit was acquainted with the formul which compelled the respect of the various gods and demons1 and even of inanimate objects1 it was helpless4 ,the region to which the dead departed the primitive ,egyptians called ,duat4 ,they believed it to be formed of the body of ,osiris4 ,it was regarded as dark and gloomy1 containing pits of fire and dreadful monsters which circled the earth1 and was in its turn bounded by a river and a lofty chain of mountains4 ,the part of it that was nearest to ,egypt was regarded as a description of mingled desert and forest1 through which the soul of the deceased might not hope to struggle unless guided by some benevolent spirit who knew the paths through this country of despair4 ,thick darkness covered everything1 and under veil of this the hideous inhabitants of the place practised all sorts of hostility to the new-comer1 unless by the use of words of power he could prove his superiority over them4 ,but there was one delectable part in this horrid region--the ,sekhet ,hetepet1 the ,elysian fields which contained the ,sekhet ,aaru1 or the ,field of ,reeds1 where dwelt the god ,osiris and his company4 ,at first he had domain over this part of the ,duat alone1 but gradually he succeeded in extending it over the entire country of the dead1 of which he was monarch4 ,we find also a god of the ,duat named ,duati1 but who appears to have been more a personification of the region than anything else4 ,now the wish of all good men was to win to the kingdom of ,osiris1 and to that end they made an exhaustive study of the prayers and ritual of the ,book of the ,dead1 in order that they might the more easily penetrate to the region of bliss4 ,this they might reach by two ways--by land and by water4 ,the path by water was no whit less dreadful than that by land1 the passage of the soul being barred by streams of fire and boiling water1 and the banks of the rivers navigated were populous with evil spirits4 ,the ,place of ,reeds ,we learn from the ,theban ,recension that there were seven halls or mansions in the ,field of ,reeds1 all of which had to be passed through by the soul before it was received by the god in person4 ,three gods guarded the door of each hall--the doorkeeper1 watchman1 and questioner4 ,it was necessary for the new-comer to address each god by his name4 ,there were also names for the doors which must be borne in mind4 ,the name of each god was in reality a spell consisting of a number of words4 ,the ,place of ,reeds was divided into fifteen regions1 each of which was presided over by a god4 ,the first of these was called ,amentet1 where dwelt those souls who lived upon earth-offerings2 it was ruled over by ,menuqet4 ,the second was ,sekhet ,aaru1 the ,field of ,reeds proper1 the walls surrounding which were formed of the stuff of which the sky is made4 ,here dwelt the souls1 who were nine cubits high1 under the rule of ,ra ,heru-,khuti1 and this place was the centre of the kingdom of ,osiris4 ,the third was the place of the spirit-souls1 a region of fire4 ,in the fourth dwelt the terrible serpent ,sati-temui1 which preyed on the dead who dwelt in the ,duat4 ,the fifth region was inhabited by spirits who fed upon the shadows of the weak and helpless souls4 ,they appear to have been a description of vampire4 ,the remaining regions were very similar to these4 ,the ,journey of ,osiris ,we find other descriptions of the ,duat in the ,book of ,gates and the ,book of ,him that is in the ,duat1 in which is outlined the journey that the sun-god makes through the otherworld after he has set upon the earth-world4 ,immediately after sinking he takes the form of ,osiris1 which in this instance is that of a ram with a man's head4 ,coming to the antechamber of the ,duat in the west1 his entrance is heralded by songs of praise1 raised by the ,ape-gods1 while serpents blow fire from their mouths by the light of which his ,pilot-gods steer his craft4 ,all the doors are thrown open1 and the dead1 revived by the earthly air which ,osiris carries with him1 come to life again for a brief hour4 ,all the creatures of this portion of the ,duat are provided with meat and drink by command of the god4 ,such of the dead as dwell here are those who have failed to pass the various tests for entrance to his court1 and all that they exist for is the material comfort provided for them by the brief diurnal passage of the deity4 ,when the sun1 who in this form is known as ,af ,ra1 reaches the entrance to the second part of the ,duat1 which is called ,urnes1 the gods of the first section depart from him1 and do not again behold his face until the following night4 ,at this point the boat of ,af ,ra is met by the boats of ,osiris and his attendant gods1 and in this place also ,osiris desires that the dead should receive food1 light1 and air4 ,here he grapples with the serpents ,hau and ,neha-her1 as do most sun-gods during the time of darkness1 and1 having overcome them1 is led into the ,field of the ,grain-gods1 where he reposes for a while4 ,when there he hearkens to the prayers of the living on behalf of the dead1 and takes account of the offerings made by them4 ,continuing his journey1 he traverses the twelve sections of the ,duat4 ,in some of these we see what were probably quite separate realms of the dead1 such as the ,realm of ,seker1 a god who is perhaps of greater antiquity than ,osiris4 ,in this place his boat is useless1 as there is no river in the gloomy kingdom of ,seker1 which appears completely alien to ,osiris4 ,he therefore repeats words of awful power1 which compel the gods of the place to lead him by subterranean passages from which he emerges into ,amhet1 where is situated a stream of boiling water4 ,but he is not out of the kingdom of ,seker until he reaches the sixth section1 where dwell the dead kings of ,egypt and the ',khu' or ,spirit-souls4 ,it is at this point of his journey that ,af ,ra turns his face toward the east and directs his course to the ,mountain of the ,sunrise2 previous to this he has been journeying from the south to the north4 ,in the seventh section he is joined by ,isis and other deities1 and here his path is obstructed by the wicked serpent ,apep1 through whose body the attendant deities drive their daggers4 ,a company of gods tow him through the eighth section1 but his vessel sails itself through the ninth1 and in the tenth and eleventh he seems to pass over a series of lakes1 which may represent the lagoons of the eastern delta4 ,in the latter section his progress is lighted by a disk of light1 encircled by a serpent1 which rests upon the prow of the boat4 ,the twelfth section contains the great mass of celestial waters called ,nu1 and here dwells ,nut1 the personification of the morning4 ,before the boat looms the great serpent ,ankh-neteru1 and twelve of the gods1 taking hold of the tow-line1 enter this serpent at the tail and draw the god in his boat through the monstrous body1 bringing ,af ,ra out at its mouth2 but not as ,af ,ra1 for during this passage he has been transformed into ,khepera1 in which shape he is towed into the sky by twelve goddesses1 who lead him before ,shu1 the god of the atmosphere of the terrestrial world4 ,shu places him in the opening in the semicircular wall which forms the end of the twelfth section1 and he now appears to mortal eyes as a disk of light1 having discarded his mummified form1 in which he traversed the ,duat4 ,his progress is followed by the acclamations of his company of gods1 who fall upon and destroy his enemies and sing hymns of praise to him4 ,the ,duat1 as described in the ,book of ,gates1 differs considerably from that of the ,book of ,him that is in the ,duat1 but it also possesses twelve sections1 and a similar journey is outlined in it4 ,the principal gods alluded to in the ,book of the ,dead are3 ,tem or ,atmu1 ,nu1 ,ra1 ,khepra1 ,ptah1 ,ptah-,seker1 ,khnemu1 ,shu1 ,set1 ,horus1 ,thoth1 ,nephthys1 ,anubis1 ,amen1 and ,anu--in fact1 the majority of the principal divinities of ,egypt4 ,besides these there were many lesser gods and a great company of spirits1 demons1 and other supernatural beings4 ,many of these demons were very ancient forms of half-forgotten deities4 ,it will be noticed that at practically every stage of his journey ,osiris left behind him one or more of his divine companions1 who henceforth were supposed to become the rulers or satraps of the regions in which he had quitted them4 ,so might an earthly ,pharaoh reward his courtiers for services rendered4 ,it was only during the ,middle ,kingdom that the conception of ,osiris as judge of the dead took definite form and received general recognition4 ,in one of the chapters of the ,book of the ,dead we find him seated in a large hall the roof of which is covered with fire and symbols of truth4 ,before him are the symbol of ,anubis1 the four sons of ,horus1 and the ,devourer of the ,west1 a monster who serves as his protector4 ,in the rear sit the forty-two judges of the dead4 ,the deceased makes his appearance before the god and his heart is placed in a great balance to be weighed by ,anubis1 ,thoth1 the scribe of the gods1 standing by to note the result upon his tablets4 ,having communicated this to ,osiris1 the dead man1 if found worthy1 is presented to the deity1 to whom he repeats a long prayer1 in which he states that he has not committed any evil4 ,those who could not pass the test were hurried away1 and so far as is known were in danger of being devoured by a frightful monster called ,beby1 which awaited them outside4 ,the justified deceased took part in the life of ,osiris and the other gods1 which appears to have been very much the same as that of the ,egyptian aristocracy4 ,as has been said1 the deceased might also transform himself into any animal form he cared4 ,the life of the justified dead is well outlined in an inscription on the tomb of ,paheri1 prince of ,el ,kab1 which is as follows3 ,thou goest in and out with a glad heart1 and with the rewards of the gods4444 ,thou becomest a living soul2 thou hast power over bread1 water1 and air4 ,thou changest thyself into a phnix or a swallow1 a sparrow-hawk or a heron1 as thou desirest4 ,thou dost cross in the boat and art not hindered4 ,thou sailest upon the water when a flood ariseth4 ,thou livest anew and thy soul is not parted from thy body4 ,thy soul is a god together with the illuminated1 and the excellent souls speak with thee4 ,thou art among them and 7verily7 receivest what is given upon earth2 thou possessest water1 possessest air1 hast superabundance of that which thou desirest4 ,thine eyes are given to thee to see1 and thine ears to hear speech1 thy mouth speaketh1 thy legs move1 thy hands and arms bestir themselves for thee1 thy flesh grows1 thy veins are in health1 and thou feelest thyself well in all thy limbs4 ,thou hast thine upright heart in thy possession1 and thy earlier heart belongs to thee4 ,thou dost mount up to heaven1 and art summoned each day to the libation table of ,wennofre1 thou receivest the good which has been offered to him and the gifts of the ,lords of the necropolis4 ,the ,book of the ,dead is obviously an allegory of the passage of the sun through the underworld4 ,the sinking of the sun at nightfall would naturally arouse in primitive man thoughts as to where the luminary dwelt during the hours of gloom1 for the sun was to early man a living thing4 ,he could watch its motion across the sky1 and the light and other benefits which he received from it came to make him regard it as the source of all good4 ,it appeared plain to him that its diurnal career was cut short by the attacks of some enemy1 and the logical sequel of the belief in the solar deity as a beneficent power was of course that the force hostile to him must be of evil disposition4 ,it came to be figured as a serpent or dragon which nightly battled with the luminary and for a season prevailed4 ,the gods of many religions have to descend into the otherworld to do battle with the forces of death and hell4 ,we may see an analogy to the ,book of the ,dead in the ,central ,american ,popol ,vuh1 in which two hero-gods1 the sons and nephews of the sun and the moon1 descend into the dark abyss of the ,maya ,hades1 rout its forces1 and return triumphant4 ,it has been suggested that the ,book of the ,dead was nothing more or less than the ritual of a secret brotherhood1 and that the various halls mentioned in it symbolized the several stages of initiation through which the members had to pass4 ,it is curious that in his recent interesting book on ,mexican ,archology ,mr4 ,t4 ,athol ,joyce1 of the ,british ,museum1 has mentioned that the court of the ,maya underworld1 as alluded to in the ,popol ,vuh1 seems to have been conducted on the principle of a secret society with a definite form of initiation4 ,it is practically certain that the mysteries of ,eleusis1 and similar ,greek initiatory ceremonies1 were concerned with the life of the underworld1 especially with the story of ,demeter and ,kore1 or ,ceres1 and that a theatric representation of the wanderings of the mother in search of her daughter in the underworld was given in the course of the ceremonial4 ,these ,greek deities1 besides being gods of the dead1 were gods of agriculture--corn-gods2 but gods of the underworld often presided over the growth of the crops1 as it was believed that the grain germinated underneath the earth by their influence4 ,for example1 we find in the ,popol ,vuh that ,xquiq1 daughter of one of the lords of the underworld1 was able to reap a field of maize in a few minutes in a spot where before there had been none4 ,all this would seem to point to the probability that if the ,book of the ,dead did not contain an early type of initiatory ceremonial1 it may have powerfully influenced the ceremonial of mysteries when they arose4 ,the mysteries of the ,cabiri1 for example1 are supposed to be of ,egyptian origin4 ,on the other hand1 it may be possible that the ,book of the ,dead represents the ceremonial of an older prehistoric mystery1 which had been forgotten by the dynastic ,egyptians4 ,savage races all over the world possess such mysteries4 ,the ,indians of ,north ,america and the ,blackfellows of ,australia possess most elaborate initiatory ceremonies2 and it is quite possible that the ,book of the ,dead may preserve the ritual of ,neolithic savages who practised it thousands of years prior to its connexion with the worship of ,osiris4 ,the ,place of ,punishment ,although there does not appear to have been a portion of the ,duat specially reserved for the wicked1 they were sufficiently tormented in many ways to render their existence a punishment for any misdeeds committed during life4 ,at one end of this region were pits of fire where grisly deities presided1 superintending the destruction of the bodies of the deceased and hacking them to pieces before they were burned4 ,their punishment was1 however1 mitigated by the appearance of ,ra-,osiris on his nightly journey1 for as he advanced their torments ceased for the time being4 ,the deities who inflicted punishment upon the damned were the enemies of ,ra-,osiris--personifications of darkness1 night1 fog1 mist1 vapour1 tempest1 wind1 and so forth1 and these were destroyed daily by the fiery beams of the luminary4 ,these were pictured in human form1 and the scenes of their destruction by fire have often been mistakenly supposed to represent the burning of the souls of the doomed4 ,this evil host was renewed with every revolution of the sun1 so that a fresh phalanx of enemies appeared to attack ,ra each night and morning4 ,it was during the interval between dawn and sunrise that they were discomfited and punished4 ,the souls of the doomed were in no wise enabled to hinder the progress of ,ra1 but in later times these were in some measure identified with the enemies of ,ra1 with whom they dwelt and whom they assisted to attack the sun-god4 ,in the strife which ensued they were pierced by the fiery sun-rays1 symbolized as darts or spears1 and the knives which hacked their bodies in pieces were typical of the flames of fire emanating from the body of ,ra4 ,the lakes and pits of fire in which they were submerged typified the appearance of the eastern heavens at sunrise4 ,there was nothing in the ,egyptian creed to justify the belief in everlasting punishment1 and such a view is unsupported by the material of the texts4 ,there is1 in fact1 no parallel in the ,egyptian religion to the ,gehenna of the ,hebrews1 or the ,purgatory and ,hell of medieval ,europe4 ,the ,egyptian idea of death did not include the conception of the resurrection of a second physical body in the underworld1 but1 should the physical body be destroyed1 they considered that the ka or double1 the shadow and spirit of man1 might also perish4 ,it is strange1 all the same1 to observe that the ,egyptian idea of temporary punishment after death appears to have coloured the medieval ,christian conception of that state through ,coptic sources4 ,indeed1 the ,coptic ,christians of ,egypt appear to have borrowed the idea of punishment in the ,duat almost entire from their pagan ancestors or contemporaries4 ,amlineau cites a ,coptic work in which a dead ,egyptian tells how at the hour of dissolution avenging angels collected around him with knives and other weapons1 which they thrust through and through him4 ,other spirits tore his soul from his body and1 securing it to the back of a black horse1 galloped off with it to ,amentet4 ,on arrival there he was first tortured in a place filled with noisome reptiles1 and was then thrust into outer darkness4 ,he fell into another pit at least two hundred feet deep1 in which were assembled reptiles of every description1 each having seven heads1 and here he was given over to a serpent which had teeth like iron stakes4 ,from ,monday to ,friday of each week this monster gnawed and tore at the doomed wretch1 who rested only from this torment on ,saturday and ,sunday4 ,in the circumstance that it does not posit eternal punishment1 the region of torment1 if so it can be named1 differs from similar ideas in other mythologies2 but in the essence concerning the nature of the punishment meted out1 the cutting with knives1 stabbing with spears1 burning with fire1 and so forth1 it is practically at one with the underworlds of other faiths4 ,the scenery of the ,egyptian infernal regions also closely resembles that of its equivalents in other mythologies4 ,it was not to be supposed that the ,egyptians1 with their elaborate precautions against bodily attack after death1 should believe in eternal punishment4 ,they may have believed in punishment for each other1 but it is highly improbable that any ,egyptian who had devoted any time to the study of the ,book of the ,dead believed that he himself was doomed4 ,his whole future1 according to that book1 hung upon his knowledge of the words of power written therein1 and surely no one with such a comparatively easy means of escape could have been so foolish as to neglect it4 ,the ,egyptian ,heaven ,as has been said1 the exact position of heaven does not appear to have been located1 but it may be said in a general sense that the ,egyptians believed it to be placed somewhere above the sky4 ,they called it ,pet1 which expression they used in contradistinction to the word ,nu1 meaning sky4 ,the heavens and the sky they regarded as a slab1 each end of which rested on a support formed of the two mountains ,bakhau and ,manu1 the mountains of sunrise and sunset4 ,in primitive times heaven was conceived as consisting of two portions1 the east and the west2 but later it was divided into four parts1 each of which was placed under the sovereignty of a god4 ,this region was supported by four pillars1 each of which again was under the direction of a deity1 and at a comparatively late period an extra pillar was added to support the middle4 ,in one myth we find the heavens spoken of as representing a human head1 the sun and moon forming the eyes1 and the supports of heaven being formed by the hair4 ,the gods of the four quarters who guarded the original pillars were those deities known as ,canopic 7see p4 #bh71 or otherwise called the ,children of ,horus4 ,in heaven dwelt the great god ,ra1 who sat upon a metal throne1 the sides of which were embossed with the faces of lions and the hoofs of bulls4 ,his train or company surrounded him1 and was in its turn encircled by the lesser companies of deities4 ,each of the gods who presided over the world and the ,duat had also his own place in heaven4 ,beneath the lesser gods again came beings who might well be described as angelical4 ,first among these were the ,shemsu-heru1 or followers of ,horus1 who waited upon the sun-god1 and1 if necessary1 came to his protection4 ,they were regarded as being essential to his welfare4 ,next came the ,ashemu1 the attributes of which are unknown1 and after those the ,henmemet1 perhaps souls who were to become human beings1 but their status is by no means clear4 ,they were supposed to live upon grain and herbs4 ,there were also beings called ,utennu and ,afa1 regarding the characteristics of which absolutely nothing is known4 ,following these came an innumerable host of spirits1 souls and so forth1 chiefly of those who had once dwelt upon the earth1 and who were known collectively as 'the living ones4' ,the ,egyptians thought these might wander about the earth and return to heaven at certain fixed times1 the idea arising probably because they wished to provide a future for the body as well as for the soul and spirit4 ,as explained previously1 the gods of heaven had their complements or doubles on earth1 and man in some degree was supposed to partake of this dual nature4 ,the ,egyptian conception of heaven altered slowly throughout the centuries4 ,an examination of the earliest records available shows that the idea of existence after death was a sort of shadowy extension of the life of this world4 ,such an idea is common to all primitive races4 ,as they progressed1 however1 this conception became entirely changed and a more spiritual one took its place4 ,the soul1 ba1 and the spirit1 khu1 which were usually represented as a hawk and a heron in the hieroglyphic texts1 partook of heavenly food and became one with the gods1 and in time became united with the glorified body or heavenly frame1 so that the soul-spirit1 power1 shade1 double1 and name of the deceased were all collected in the one heavenly body known as sahu1 which may be described as the spiritual body4 ,it was considered to grow out of the dead body1 and its existence became possible through the magic ceremonies performed and the words of power spoken by the priests during the burial service4 ,how the ,blessed ,lived ,in the ,book of the ,dead it is stated that the spirits of heaven are in number #d1fja1bjj4 ,it has been suggested that this number was probably the ,egyptian enumeration of all those human spirits who had died and had attained to heaven2 but this is hardly probable1 for obvious reasons4 ,the manner in which these spirits employed their time is a little obscure4 ,some directed the revolutions of the heavenly bodies2 others accompanied the great gods in their journey through the heavens2 while still others superintended mundane affairs4 ,they chanted eternal praises of ,ra as supreme monarch of the gods1 and their hymns described the wonders of his power and glory4 ,they lived upon the rays of light which fell from the eye of ,horus--that is1 they were nourished upon sunlight1 so that in time their bodies became wholly composed of light4 ,according to one myth the gods themselves lived upon a species of plant called the 'plant of life1' which appears to have grown beside a great lake4 ,but such a conception is in consonance with an almost separate theological idea to the effect that the deceased dwelt in a ,paradise where luxuriant grain-fields were watered by numerous canals1 and where material delights of every kind abounded4 ,it was perhaps this place in which the 'bread of eternity' and the 'beer of eternity1' the celestial fig-tree1 and other such conceptions were supposed to form the food of the dead4 ,the blessed were supposed to be arrayed in garments similar to those which clothed the gods1 but certain of them seem to have worn white linen apparel1 with white sandals on their feet4 ,all this goes to show that the heaven of the primitive ,egyptians was nothing more than an extension of terrestrial conditions1 or perhaps it might be said an improvement upon them4 ,so long as the ,egyptian had the wherewithal to make bread and to brew beer1 and had cleanly garments1 and shelter under a homestead the ground round which was intersected with numerous canals1 he considered that to be the best of all possible heavens4 ,the crops1 of course1 would grow of themselves4 ,the whole idea was quite a material one1 if the life was simple but comfortable4 ,there is nothing sophisticated about the ,egyptian heaven like the ,mohammedan or ,christian realms of bliss2 even the manner of reaching it was primitive1 the early dwellers by the ,nile imagining that they could reach it by climbing on to its metal floor by way of the mountains which supported it1 and their later descendants believing that a ladder was necessary for the ascent4 ,in many tombs models of these ladders were placed so that the dead people might make use of their astral counterparts to gain the celestial regions4 ,even ,osiris required such a ladder1 and was helped to ascend it by ,ra and ,horus1 or by ,horus and ,set4 ,many pictures of such ladders are also found in various papyri of the ,book of the ,dead which were placed in tombs4 ,its length was regulated by the deceased himself according to the power of the magical words he pronounced over it4 ,the deceased by words of power was further enabled to turn himself into many bird and animal shapes4 ,it is difficult to understand the reason for these animal transformations in ,paradise1 but the conception has a parallel in the idea of the ,aztec warriors that when they entered the domain of the sun-god they would accompany him in his course and would descend to earth during part of his daily journey in the shape of humming-birds4 #a ,see ,zeitschrift fr ,aeg4 ,sprache1 li4 p4 #abg3 ,the ,cult of the ,drowned in ,egypt4 #b ,the moon is always masculine in ,egypt4 ,i am here following ,plutarch4--,,author4 #c ,another version gives the children of ,nut thus3 ,osiris1 ,isis1 ,set1 ,nephthys1 and ,anubis4 #d ,lang states 7art4 ,mythology in ,encyclopdia ,britannica7 that the ,osirian myth originated in the same sort of fancy as the ,pacullic story of the dismembered beaver out of whose body things were made4 #e ,golden ,bough1 vol4 ii4 p4 #acg4 #f ,see ,m4,a4 ,murray1 ,osireion at ,abydos1 p4 #bf4 #g ,or ,seb4 #h ,maspero1 ,recueil de ,travaux1 vol4 iv1 p4 #fb4 #i ,book of the ,dead1 ,papyrus of ,ani1 vol4 i1 p4 #g4 ,,chapter ,v3 ,,the ,,great ,,gods ,ra1 the ,sun-,god ,ra1 the great god of the sun1 appears to have occupied a prominent position in the ,egyptian pantheon at a very early period4 ,the ,egyptians of later days appear to have thought that the name was in some way associated with creation4 ,sun-worship in ,egypt was very ancient1 and it is probable that a number of sun-cults became fused in that of ,ra4 ,it is certain1 indeed1 that this was the case with the cult of the hawk-god ,heru or ,horus4 ,both of these deities are usually figured with the body of a man and the head of a hawk1 but they sometimes have the veritable form of that bird4 ,the hawk in ,egypt appears to have been identified with the sun from the earliest times4 ,its power of flight and the heights to which it can rise were probably the reasons assigned for its association with the great luminary of day4 ,but in many lands birds of heaven-aspiring flight have symbolized the sun4 ,among several of the ,north ,american ,indian tribes the eagle typifies the sun4 ,the condor typified the orb of day in ancient ,peru1 and perhaps the eagle did the same in some aspects of the ,mexican religion4 ,but it is not always birds of lofty flight which typify the sun4 ,thus the quetzal bird seems to have stood for it in ,mexico and ,central ,america1 and in the same countries the humming-bird or colibri was sometimes associated with it4 ,it is strange that just as we find the bird and the serpent combined in the ,mexican god ,quetzalcoatl1 so we discover them to some extent associated in ,ra1 who wears as his symbol the disk of the sun encircled by the serpent ,khut4 ,the ,egyptians had several varying conceptions as to the manner in which the sun crossed the heavens4 ,one of these was that it sailed over the watery mass of the sky in relays of boats or barques4 ,thus the rising sun occupied the barque ,manzet1 which means 'growing strong1' and the evening sun was ferried to the place of setting by the barque ,mesektet1 which means 'growing weak1' in both of which names will be readily discovered allegorical titles for the rising and setting sun4 ,the definite path of ,ra across the sky had been planned at the time of creation by the goddess ,mat1 who personified justice and order4 ,the daily voyage of ,ra was assisted by a company of friendly deities1 who navigated his barque to the place of the setting sun1 the course being set out by ,thoth and ,mat1 while ,horus acted as steersman and commander4 ,on each side of the boat swam one of two pilot fishes called ,abtu and ,ant1 but1 notwithstanding the assistance of his fellow deities1 the barque of ,ra was constantly beset by the most grisly monsters and demons1 who strove to put every obstacle in the way of its successful passage4 ,by far the most potent of these was the serpent ,apep1 who personified the darkness of night1 and concerning whom we gain much information from the ,book of ,overthrowing ,apep1 which gives spells and other instructions for the checkmating of the monster1 which were recited daily in the temple of ,amen-,ra at ,thebes4 ,in these ,apep is referred to as a crocodile and a serpent1 and it is described how by the aid of sympathetic magic he is to be speared1 cut with knives1 decapitated1 roasted1 and finally consumed by fire1 and his evil followers also4 ,these magical acts were duly carried out at ,thebes day by day1 and it was supposed that they greatly assisted the journey of the sun-god4 ,in ,apep we have a figure such as is known in nearly every mythology4 ,he is the monster who daily combats with1 and finally succeeds in devouring1 the sun4 ,he is the same as the dragons which fought with ,beowulf the sun-hero1 as the night-dragon of ,chinese mythology1 as the ,fenris-wolf of ,scandinavian story1 and the multitudinous monsters of fable1 legend1 and romance4 ,we find his counterpart also in the ,babylonian dragon ,tiamat1 who was slain by ,marduk4 ,rat ,in the late period there was invented for ,ra a female counterpart1 ,rat1 who is depicted as a woman having on her head a disk with horns and a urus4 ,she does not seem to have been of any great importance1 and perhaps only sprang from the idea that every great deity must have his female double4 ,the worship of ,ra in ,egypt during the dynastic period was centred in the city of ,anu1 ,on1 or ,heliopolis1 about five miles from the modern ,cairo4 ,the priests of the god had settled there during the ,fifth ,dynasty1 the first king of which1 ,user-ka-f1 was high-priest of the god1 a circumstance which denotes that the cult must even at this early period 7#ccej ,b4,c47 have gained great ascendancy in that part of ,egypt4 ,an ancient legend describes how the progeny of ,ra first gained the ,egyptian throne1 and will be found on page #bjj4 ,this tradition proves that in early times the kings of ,egypt believed themselves to have been descended from ,ra1 who1 it was affirmed1 had once ruled over the country1 and whose blood flowed in the veins of the entire ,egyptian royal family4 ,indeed1 ,ra was said to have been the actual father of several ,egyptian kings1 who were therefore regarded as gods incarnate4 ,such priestly fictions gave the theocratic class added power1 until at last the worship of ,ra practically superseded that of almost every other deity in the ,nile valley1 these being absorbed into the theological system of the priests of ,heliopolis1 and granted subordinate positions in the group which surrounded the great sun-god4 ,fusion of ,myths ,it is not in ,egypt alone that we find such astute subterfuges made to subserve the purposes of the priesthood4 ,in most mythologies we discover that legends of creation and of the origin of deities have in many cases been manufactured from two or more myths which have been so skilfully amalgamated that it is only by the most careful and patient study that they can be resolved into their original components4 ,thus we find in the ,book of ,genesis that beside the existence of ,jahveh1 the creative power1 we have evidences of a polytheistic pantheon called ,elohim4 ,this shows that two accounts of the ,hebrew creation1 the one monotheistic and the other polytheistic1 have become fused together4 ,perhaps one of the best examples of this dovetailing of myths is to be found in one of the creation legends of ,peru1 in which philosophic skill has fused all the forms of worship through which ,peruvian thought passed into one definite whole4 ,thus the various stages of belief from simple animism to anthropomorphism are visible to the student of mythology in perusing this one legend4 ,that the same feat had been accomplished by the ,kiches of ,central ,america in their wonderful book1 the ,popol ,vuh1 was shown by the writer in an article printed in the ,times some years ago4 ,the original local god of ,heliopolis was ,tem or ,atum1 who was united with ,ra as ,ra-,tem4 ,the power of the priests of ,ra declined somewhat about the close of the ,sixth ,dynasty1 but in the reign of ,senusert ,i#a 7c4 #bdcc ,b4,c47 the temple at ,heliopolis was rebuilt1 being dedicated to ,ra and to two of his forms1 ,horus and ,temu4 ,in this temple were kept models of the sacred boats of ,ra1 the ,manzet1 containing a hawk-headed figure of ,ra1 and the ,mesektet1 a man-headed statue of him4 ,primitive as is the nature of sun-worship1 it possesses elements which enable it to survive where many more advanced and complicated cults succumb4 ,even in such a country1 side by side with an aristocracy of real intelligence but limited opportunities1 there must naturally have existed millions of peasants and helots who were only to be distinguished from savages because of their contact with their superiors and their settlement as an agricultural race4 ,to them the sun would1 it might be thought1 appear as the god par excellence1 the great quickener and fructifier2 but we find the cult of ,ra more or less of an aristocratic theological system1 in early times at least2 and for the cult of the people we have to turn to the worship of ,osiris4 ,undoubtedly the best parallel to the worship of ,ra in ,egypt is to be found in that of the sun in ancient ,peru4 ,just as the monarch of ,peru personified the sun on earth1 and acted as his regent in the terrestrial sphere1 so the ,egyptian monarchs styled themselves 'sons of the sun4' ,in both instances the solar cult was eminently aristocratic in character4 ,this is proved by the circumstance that the paradise of ,ra was a sphere more spiritual by far than that of ,osiris1 with its purely material delights4 ,those happy enough to gain the heaven of the sun-god were clothed with light1 and their food was described as 'light4' ,the ,osirian paradise1 again1 it will be recalled1 consisted of converse with ,osiris and feasting with him4 ,indeed1 the aristocratic caste in all countries shrinks from the conception that it must in the afterlife rub shoulders with the common herd4 ,this was definitely the case in ancient ,mexico and ,scandinavia1 where only warriors killed in battle might enter paradise4 ,these beliefs1 however1 were never sufficiently powerful to obliterate the cult of ,osiris1 and as the ,egyptian mind was of a strongly material cast1 it greatly favoured the conception of a 'field of reeds' and a 'field of peace1' where man could enjoy the good things and creature-comforts that he so much desired upon earth1 rather than the unsubstantial fare and raiment of the more superlative sphere of ,ra4 ,ra and ,osiris ,a great but silent struggle was waged for many centuries between the priesthoods of ,ra and ,osiris1 but in the end the beliefs clustering around the latter deity gained pre-eminence1 and he took over the titles1 powers1 and attributes of the great god of the sun4 ,then it was probable1 as has elsewhere been stated1 that the conception of a moon- and a sun-god became fused in his person4 ,the worship of ,osiris was fundamentally ,african and ,egyptian in character1 but there is strong reason to believe that the cult of ,ra possessed many foreign elements1 possibly ,west ,asiatic in origin1 which accounts for the coldness with which the masses of ,egypt regarded his worship4 ,heliopolis1 his city1 contained many inhabitants of ,asiatic birth1 and this may account to some extent for the introduction of some of the tenets in his creed which the native ,egyptians found unpalatable4 ,there is no doubt1 however1 that1 to the aristocracy of ,egypt at least1 ,ra stood in the position of creator and father of the gods4 ,osiris stood in relation to him as a son4 ,in fact1 the relations of these two deities may be regarded as that between god the father and god the son1 and just as in certain theologies the figure of god the son has overshadowed that of god the father1 so did ,osiris overshadow ,ra4 ,the god ,tem1 or ,atum1 who1 as has been said1 was originally the local deity of ,heliopolis1 was in the dynastic period held to be one of the forms of ,ra1 and a personification of the setting sun4 ,tem was one of the first gods of the ,egyptians4 ,he is depicted as sailing in the boat of ,ra1 with whom he was clearly united in early times as ,ra-,tem4 ,he appears to have been a god who possessed many attributes in common with ,ra1 and later on he seems to have been identified with ,osiris as well4 ,in the myth of ,ra and ,isis ,ra says1 ,i am ,khepera in the morning1 and ,ra at noonday1 and ,tem in the evening1 which shows that to the ,egyptians the day was divided into three parts1 each of which was presided over by a special form of the sun-god4 ,tem was worshipped in one of his forms as a serpent1 a fairly common shape for a sun-god1 for in many countries the snake or serpent1 tail in mouth1 symbolizes the disk of the sun4 ,the ,sacred ,beetle ,khepera1 the remaining form of ,ra1 is generally represented in human form with a beetle upon his head4 ,the worship of the beetle was very ancient in ,egypt1 and we must regard its fusion with the cult of ,ra as due to priestly influence4 ,the scarabus1 having laid its eggs in the sand of ,egypt1 rolls them into a little ball of manure1 which it then propels across the sand with its hind legs to a hole which it has previously dug1 where the eggs are hatched by the rays of the sun4 ,this action of the beetle seemed to the ancient ,egyptians to resemble the rolling of the sun across the heavens1 so that ,khepera1 the rising luminary1 was symbolized by it4 ,khepera is a deity of some importance1 for he is called creator of the gods and father of the gods4 ,he was also looked upon as a type of the resurrection1 because of his symbolizing the ball enclosing living germs1 and probably in a secondary sense1 because the rising sun steps as it were from the grave of night morning after morning with the greatest certainty4 ,the scarabs which were found on ,egyptian mummies typified this hope of resurrection1 and have been found in ,egyptian tombs as old as the time of the ,fourth ,dynasty4 ,amen ,although the god ,amen appears to have been numbered among the deities of ,egypt as early as the ,fifth ,dynasty1 when he was alluded to as one of the primeval gods1#b it was not until a later period that his votaries began to exercise the enormous power which they wielded throughout ,egypt4 ,with the exception of ,ra and ,osiris1 the worship of ,amen was more widespread than that of any other god in the ,nile valley2 but the circumstances behind the growth of his cult certainly point to its having been disseminated by political rather than religious propaganda4 ,what his attributes were in the time of the ,ancient ,empire we do not know4 ,the name means 'what is hidden1' or what cannot be seen1 and we are constantly informed in votive hymns and other compositions that he is hidden to his children and hidden to gods and men4 ,it has been advanced that these expressions refer to the setting of the sun1 but there is far better reason for supposing that they imply that ,amen is a god who cannot be viewed by mortal eyes1 invisible and inscrutable4 ,it is not difficult to see that the conception of such a deity would speedily win favour with a priestly and theological class1 who would quickly tire of the more material cults by which they were surrounded1 and who would strain after a form of godhead less crude than the purely symbolical systems which held sway in the country4 ,in fact1 the whole theological history of ,amen is that of a priesthood who were determined to impose upon a rather materialistic population a more spiritual type of worship and a higher conception of ,god4 ,amen was represented in numerous forms3#c in the shape of a man seated on a throne1 with the head of a frog and the body of a man1 with a serpent's head1 as an ape and as a lion4 ,but the most general form in which he was drawn was that of a bearded man wearing on his head two long and very straight plumes1 which are coloured alternately red and green or red and blue4 ,he is clothed in a linen tunic1 wears bracelets1 and necklet1 and from the back of his dress there hangs an animal's tail1 which denotes that he was a god originating in early times4 ,in a later form he has the head of a hawk when fused with ,ra4 ,the great centre of his worship and of his rise to power was the city of ,thebes1 where in the ,twelfth ,dynasty a temple was built in his honour4 ,at that period he was a mere local god1 but when the princes of ,thebes came into power and grasped the sovereignty of ,egypt the reputation of ,amen rose with theirs1 and he became a prominent god in ,upper ,egypt4 ,his priesthood1 seizing upon the new political conditions1 cleverly succeeded in identifying him with ,ra and his subsidiary forms1 all of whose attributes they ascribed to ,amen2 but they further stated that although their deity included in himself all their characteristics1 he was much greater and loftier than they4 ,as we have already observed1 the god of the capital of ,egypt for the time being was the national deity1 and when this lot fell to the fortune of ,amen his priesthood took full advantage of it4 ,never was a god so exploited and1 if the term may be employed1 advertised as was ,amen4 ,when evil days fell upon ,egypt and the ,hyksos overran the country1 ,amen1 thanks to his priestly protagonists1 weathered the storm and1 because of internecine strife1 had become the god par excellence of the ,egyptians4 ,when the country recovered from its troubles and matters began to right themselves once more1 the military successes of the kings of the ,eighteenth ,dynasty redounded greatly to the power and glory of ,amen1 and the spoil of conquered ,palestine and ,syria loaded his temples4 ,there was of course great dissatisfaction on the part of the worshippers of ,ra at such a condition of affairs4 ,osiris1 as the popular god1 could not well be displaced1 as he had too large a hold on the imagination of the people1 and his cult and character were of too peculiar a nature to admit of usurpation by another deity4 ,his cult had been slowly evolved1 probably through many centuries1 and the circumstances of his worship were unique4 ,but the cult of ,ra was challenged by that of a deity who not only presented like attributes1 but whose worship was on the whole more spiritual and of a higher trend than that of the great sun-god4 ,we do not know what theological battles were waged over the question of the supremacy of the two gods1 but we do know that priestly skill was1 as in other cases1 more than equal to the occasion4 ,a fusion of the gods took place4 ,it would be rash to assert that this amalgamation was a planned affair between the two warring cults1 and it is more probable that their devotees quietly acquiesced in a gradual process of fusion4 ,the ,theban priests would come to recognize that it was impossible to destroy altogether the worship of ,ra1 so they would as politic men bow to the inevitable and accept his amalgamation with their own deity4 ,amen's ,rise to ,power ,many hymns of ,amen-,ra1 especially that occurring in the papyrus of ,hu-nefer1 show the completeness of this fusion and the rapidity with which ,amen had risen to power4 ,in about a century from being a mere local god he had gained the title of 'king of the gods' of ,egypt4 ,his priesthood had become by far the most powerful and wealthy in the land1 and even rivalled royalty itself4 ,their political power can only be described as enormous4 ,they made war and peace1 and when the ,ramessid ,dynasty came to an end the high-priest of ,amen-,ra was raised to the royal power1 instituting the ,twenty-first ,dynasty1 known as the 'dynasty of priest-kings4' ,but if they were strong in theology1 they were certainly not so in military genius4 ,they could not enforce the payment of tribute which their predecessors had wrung from the surrounding countries1 and their poverty increased rapidly4 ,the shrines of the god languished for want of attendants1 and even the higher ranks of the priesthood itself suffered a good deal of hardship4 ,robber bands infested the vicinity of the temples1 and the royal tombs were looted4 ,but if their power waned1 their pretensions certainly did not1 and even in the face of ,libyan aggression in the ,delta they continued to vaunt the glory of the god whom they served4 ,examining the texts and hymns which tell us what we know of ,amen-,ra1 we find that in them he is considered as the general source of life1 animate and inanimate1 and is identified with the creator of the universe1 the 'unknown god4' ,all the attributes of the entire ,egyptian pantheon were lavished upon him1 with the exception of those of ,osiris1 of whom the priests of ,amen-,ra appear to have taken no notice4 ,but they could not displace the great god of the dead1 although they might ignore him4 ,in one of his forms certainly1 that of ,khensu the ,moon-god1 ,amen bears a slight likeness to ,osiris1 but we cannot say that in this form he usurps the rle of the god of the underworld in any respect4 ,amen-,ra even occupied the shrines of many other gods throughout the ,nile valley1 absorbing their attributes and entirely taking their place4 ,one of his most popular forms was that of a goose1 and the animal was sacred to him in many parts of ,egypt1 as was the ram4 ,small figures of him made in the ,ptolemaic form have the bearded face of a man1 the body of a beetle1 the wings of a hawk1 human legs with the toes and claws of a lion4 ,all this1 of course1 only symbolizes the many-sided character of him who was regarded as the greatest of all gods1 and typified the manner in which attributes of every description resided in him4 ,the entire pesedt or company of the gods was supposed to be unified in ,amen1 and indeed we may describe his cult as one of the most serious attempts of antiquity to formulate a system of monotheism1 the worship of a single god4 ,that they did not achieve this was by no means their fault4 ,we must look upon them as a band of enlightened men animated by a spiritual fire1 which burned very brightly among the sadly material surroundings of ,egypt4 ,but1 like all priestly hierarchies1 they possessed the inherent weakness of ambition and the love of overweening power4 ,had they relegated politics to its proper sphere1 they might have been much more successful than they were2 but the true cause of their ultimate failure to conquer entirely the other cults of ,egypt lay in the circumstance of the very ancient and deep-seated nature of these cults1 and of the primeval and besotted ignorance of those who supported them4 ,the ,oracle of ,jupiter-,ammon ,no part of ,egypt was free from the dominion of ,amen-,ra1 which spread north and south1 east and west1 and had ramifications in ,syria1 ,nubia1 and other ,egyptian dependencies4 ,its most powerful centres were ,thebes1 ,hermonthis1 ,coptos1 ,panopolis1 ,hermopolis ,magna1 and in ,lower ,egypt ,memphis1 ,sas1 ,heliopolis1 and ,mendes4 ,in one of the oases in later times he had a great oracle1 known as that of ,jupiter-,ammon1 a mysterious spot frequented by superstitious ,greeks and ,romans1 who went there to consult the deity on matters of state or private importance4 ,here every roguery of priestcraft was practised4 ,an idol of the god was on occasion carried through the temple by his priests1 responding1 if he were in a good humour1 to his votaries1 not by speech1 but by nodding and pointing with outstretched arm4 ,we know from classical authors that the ,egyptians possessed the most wonderful skill in the manufacture of automata1 and there is no room for doubt that the god responded to the questions of the eager devotees who had made the journey to his shrine by means of cleverly concealed strings4 ,but the oracle of ,jupiter-,ammon in ,libya is surrounded in obscurity4 ,even ,alexander the ,great paid a visit to this famous shrine to satisfy himself whether or not he was the son of ,jupiter4 ,lysander and ,hannibal also journeyed thither1 and the former received a two-edged answer from the deity1 not unlike that which ,macbeth received from the witches4 ,mut the ,mother ,the great female counterpart of ,amen-,ra was ,mut1 the 'world-mother4' ,she is usually represented as a woman wearing the united crowns of north and south1 and holding the papyrus sceptre4 ,in some pictures she is delineated with wings1 and in others the heads of vultures project from her shoulders4 ,like her husband1 she is occasionally adorned with every description of attribute1 human and animal1 probably to typify her universal nature4 ,mut1 like ,amen1 swallowed up a great many of the attributes of the female deities of ,egypt4 ,she was thus identified with ,bast1 ,nekhebet1 and others1 chiefly for the reason that because ,amen had usurped the attributes of other gods1 she1 as his wife1 must do the same4 ,she is a striking example in mythology of what marriage can do for a goddess4 ,even ,hathor was identified with her1 as was ,ta-urt and every other goddess who could be regarded as having the attributes of a mother4 ,her worship centred at ,thebes1 where her temple was situated a little to the south of the shrine of ,amen-,ra4 ,she was styled the 'lady of heaven' and 'queen of the gods1' and her hieroglyphic symbol1 a vulture1 was worn on the crowns of ,egypt's queens as typical of their motherhood4 ,the temple of ,mut at ,thebes was built by ,amen-hetep ,,iii about #adej ,b4,c4 ,its approach was lined by a wonderful avenue of sphinxes1 and it overlooked an artificial lake4 ,mut was probably the original female counterpart of ,nu1 who in some manner became associated with ,amen4 ,she is mentioned only once in the ,book of the ,dead in the ,theban ,recension1 which is not a little strange considering the reputation she must have enjoyed with the priesthood of ,amen4 ,ptah ,ptah was the greatest of the gods of ,memphis4 ,he personified the rising sun1 or1 rather1 a phase of it--that is1 he represented the orb at the time when it begins to rise above the horizon1 or immediately after it has risen4 ,the name is said to mean 'opener1' from the circumstance that ,ptah was thought to open the day2 but this derivation has been combated4 ,dr4 ,brugsch suggests 'sculptor' or 'engraver' as the true translation1 and as ,ptah was the god of all handicrafts it seems most probable that this is correct4 ,ptah seems to have retained the same characteristics from the period of the ,second ,dynasty down to the latest times4 ,in early days he seems to have been regarded as a creator1 or perhaps he was confounded with one of the first ,egyptian creative deities4 ,we find him alluded to in the ,pyramid ,text of ,teta as the owner of a 'workshop1' and the passage seems to imply that it was ,ptah who fashioned new boats in which the souls of the dead were to live in the ,duat4 ,from the ,book of the ,dead we learn that he was a great worker in metals1 a master architect1 and framer of everything in the universe2 and the fact that the ,romans identified him with ,vulcan greatly assists our understanding of his attributes4 ,it was ,ptah who1 in company with ,khnemu1 carried out the commands of ,thoth concerning the creation of the universe4 ,to ,khnemu was given the fashioning of animals1 while ,ptah was employed in making the heavens and the earth4 ,the great metal plate which was supposed to form the floor of heaven and the roof of the sky was made by ,ptah1 who also framed the supports which upheld it4 ,we find him constantly associated with other gods--that is1 he takes on the attributes or characteristics of other deities for certain fixed purposes4 ,for example1 as architect of the universe he partakes of the nature of ,thoth1 and as the god who beat out the metal floor of heaven he resembles ,shu4 ,ptah is usually represented as a bearded man having a bald head1 and dressed in habiliments which fit as closely as a shroud4 ,from the back of his neck hangs a ,menat1 the symbol of happiness1 and along with the usual insignia of royalty and godhead he holds the symbol of stability4 ,as ,ptah-,seker he represents the union of the creative power with that of chaos or darkness3#d ,ptah-,seker is1 indeed1 a form of ,osiris in his guise of the ,night-sun1 or dead ,sun-god4 ,seker is figured as a hawk-headed man in the form of a mummy1 his body resembling that of ,ptah4 ,originally ,seker represented darkness alone1 but in later times came to be identified with the ,night-sun4 ,seker is1 indeed1 confounded in places with ,sept1 and even with ,geb4 ,he appears to have ruled that portion of the underworld where dwelt the souls of the inhabitants of ,memphis and its neighbourhood4 ,the ,seker-boat ,in the great ceremonies connected with this god1 and especially on the day of his festival1 a boat called the ,seker-boat was placed upon a sledge at sunrise1 at the time when the rays of the sun were slowly beginning to diffuse themselves over the earth4 ,it was then drawn round the sanctuary1 which act typified the revolution of the sun4 ,this boat was known as ,henu1 and is mentioned several times in the ,book of the ,dead4 ,it did not resemble an ordinary boat1 but one end of it was much higher than the other1 and was fashioned in the shape of the head of an animal resembling a gazelle4 ,in the centre of the vessel was a coffer surmounted by a hawk with outspread wings1 which was supposed to contain the body of ,osiris1 or of the dead ,sun-god4 ,the ,seker- or ,henu-boat was probably a form of the ,mesektet-boat1 in which the sun sailed over the sky during the second half of his daily journey1 and in which he entered the underworld in the evening4 ,although ,seker was fairly popular as a deity in ancient ,egypt1 his attributes seem to have been entirely usurped by ,ptah4 ,we also find the triple-named deity ,ptah-,seker-,asar or ,ptah-,seker-,osiris1 who is often represented as a hawk on coffers and sarcophagi4 ,about the ,twenty-second ,dynasty this triad had practically become one with ,osiris1 and he had even variants which took the attributes of ,min1 ,amsu1 and ,khepera4 ,he has been described as the 'triune god of the resurrection4' ,there is very little doubt that the amalgamation of these gods was brought about by priestly influence4 ,ptah was also connected with the god known as ,tenen1 who is usually represented in human form and wearing on his head the crown with ostrich feathers4 ,he is also drawn working at a potter's wheel1 upon which he shapes the egg of the world4 ,in other drawings he is depicted as holding a scimitar4 ,dr4 ,budge suggests that this weapon shows that he is the destructive power of nature or the warrior-god1 but this is most unlikely4 ,the scimitar of ,ptah in his guise as ,tenen is precisely the same as those axes which are the attributes of creative deities all over the world4 ,with this scimitar he carves out the earth1 as the god of the ,ainu of ,japan shapes it with his hatchet1 or as other deities which have already been mentioned use their axes or hammers4 ,tenen was probably a primeval creative god1 but for that reason was co-ordinated with ,ptah4 ,sekhmet ,the principal centre of the worship of ,ptah was ,memphis1 in which were also situated the temples of ,sekhmet1#e ,bast1 ,osiris1 ,seker1 ,hathor1 and ,i-em-hetep1 as well as that of ,ra4 ,the female counterpart of ,ptah was ,sekhmet1 and they were the parents of ,nefer-tem4 ,sekhmet was later identified with forms of ,hathor4 ,she had the head of a lioness1 and may be looked upon as bearing the same relation to ,bast as ,nephthys bears to ,isis4 ,she was the personification of the fierce destroying heat of the sun's rays4 ,one of her names is ,nesert1 flame1 in which she personifies the destroying element4 ,the ,seven ,wise ,ones ,we occasionally find ,ptah in company with certain beings called the ,seven ,wise ,ones of the goddess ,meh-urt1 who was their mother4 ,we are told that they came forth from the water1 from the pupil of the eye of ,ra1 and that they took the form of seven hawks1 flew upward1 and1 together with ,thoth1 presided over learning and letters4 ,ptah as master-architect and demiurge1 carrying out the designs of ,thoth and his assistants1 partook of the attributes of all of them1 as did his female counterpart ,sekhmet4 ,bast ,bast1 the ,bubastis of the ,greeks1 possessed the attributes of the cat or lioness1 the latter being a more modern development of her character4 ,the name implies 'the tearer' or 'render1' and she is also entitled 'the lady of ,sept'--that is1 of the star ,sothis4 ,she was further sometimes identified with ,isis and ,hathor4 ,in contradistinction to the fierce ,sekhmet1 she typified the mild fertilizing heat of the sun4 ,the cat loves to bask in the sun's rays1 and it is probably for this reason that the animal was taken as symbolizing this goddess4 ,she is amalgamated with ,sekhmet and ,ra in a deity known as ,sekhmet-,bast-,ra1 and as such is represented as a woman with a man's head1 and wings sprouting from her arms1 and the heads of two vultures springing from her neck4 ,she has also the claws of a lion4 ,she was the goddess of the eastern part of the ,delta1 and was worshipped at ,bubastis1 in ,lower ,egypt4 ,her worship seems to have been of very considerable antiquity in that region1 and although she is mentioned in the ,pyramid ,texts1 it is only occasionally that she figures in the ,book of the ,dead4 ,in all probability she was originally a cat totem1 and in any case was first worshipped in the shape of a cat pure and simple4 ,it has been stated that she possesses the characteristics of a foreign goddess1 but there do not appear to be any very strong grounds for this assumption4 ,although she is connected with fire and with the sun1 it would appear that she also has some association with the lunar disk1 for her son ,khensu is a moon-god4 ,cat-gods are often associated with the moon1 chiefly because of the fertility of the animal which typified the ideals of fruitfulness and growth connected with the lunar orb4 ,the ,festival of ,bast ,herodotus gives a very picturesque description of a festival of this goddess1 which took place in the months of ,april and ,may4 ,he says that the inhabitants of the city of ,bubastis sailed toward it in ships1 playing upon drums and tabors and making a great noise1 those who did not play clapping their hands and singing loudly4 ,having arrived at the city1 they danced and held festival with drinking and song4 ,of the city of ,bubastis he gives a vivid picture1 which has been translated by an old ,english author as follows3 ,the noble city of ,bubastis seemeth to be very haughty and highly planted1 in which city is a temple of excellent memory dedicate to the goddesse ,bubastis1 called in our speech ,diana1 than the which1 albeit there be other churches both bigger and more richly furnished1 yet for the sightly grace and seemelynesse of building1 there is none comparable unto it4 ,besides1 the very entrance and way that leadeth unto the city1 the rest is in forme of an ,ilande1 inclosed round about with two sundry streames of the river ,nilus1 which runne to either side of the path way1 and leauing as it were a lane or causey betweene them1 without meeting1 take their course another way4 ,these armes of the floud are each of them an hundred foote broade1 beset on both sides the banckes with fayre braunched trees1 ouershadowing ye waters with a coole and pleasant shade4 ,the gate or entry of the city is in heighth #aj4 paces1 hauing in the front a beautifull image1 #f4 cubites in measure4 ,the temple it selfe situate in the middest of ye city1 is euermore in sight to those yt passe to and fro4 ,for although ye city by addition of earth was arrered and made higher1 yet ye temple standing as it did in ye beginning1 and neuer mooued1 is in maner of a lofty and stately tower1 in open and cleare viewe to euery parte of ye city4 ,round about the which goeth a wall1 ingrauen with figures and portraitures of sundry beasts4 ,the inner temple is enuironed with an high grove of trees1 set and planted by the hande and industrie of men3 in the whiche temple is standing an image4 ,the length of the temple is in euery way a furlong4 ,from the entrance of the temple ,eastward1 there is a fayre large causey leading to the house of ,mercury1 in length three furlongs and four acres broade1 all of faire stone1 and hemmed in on each side with a course of goodly tall trees planted by the hands of men1 and thus as touching the description of ye temple4 ,nefer-,tem ,nefer-tem was the son of ,ptah and ,sekhmet1 or of ,ptah and ,bast4 ,he is drawn as a man surmounted by plumes and sometimes standing upon a lion4 ,indeed1 occasionally he is painted as having the head of a lion and with a body in mummy-shape4 ,in early times he was symbolized by the lotus-flower4 ,he was the third member of the triad of ,memphis1 which was made up of himself with ,ptah and ,sekhmet4 ,his attributes are anything but well defined1 but he is probably the young ,tem1 god of the rising sun4 ,he is perhaps typified by the lotus because the sun would often seem to the ,egyptians to rise from beds of this plant in the ,delta of the country4 ,in later texts he is identified with numerous gods all of whom appear to be forms of ,horus or ,thoth4 ,i-em-hetep ,i-em-hetep1 another son of ,ptah1 was also regarded as the third member of the great triad of ,memphis4 ,the name means ',come in peace1' and was given him because he was supposed to bring the art of healing to mankind4 ,like his father ,ptah1 he is depicted as wearing a skull-cap4 ,before him is stretched a roll of papyrus to typify his character as a god of study and learning2 but it is as a god of medicine that he was most popular in ,egypt4 ,in later times he took the place of ,thoth as scribe of the gods1 and provided the words of magic power which protected the dead from their enemies in the ,duat4 ,he had also a funerary character1 which perhaps implies that physicians may have been in some manner connected with the art of embalmment4 ,he is addressed in a text of the ,ptolemies in his temple on the island of ,phil as he who giveth life to all men4 ,he was also supposed to send the boon of sleep to the suffering1 and indeed the sorrowful and afflicted were under his especial patronage4 ,dr4 ,budge ventures the opinion that if we could trace his history to its beginning1 we should find probably that he was originally a very highly skilled medicine-man1 who had introduced some elementary knowledge of medicine amongst the ,egyptians1 and who was connected with the practice of the art of preserving the bodies of the dead by means of drugs and spices and linen bandages4 ,the supposition is a very likely one indeed1 only the medicine-man must have become fairly sophisticated in later times1 as is evidenced by his perusing a roll of papyrus4 ,i-em-hetep was the god of physicians and those who dealt in medical magic1 and his worship was certainly of very ancient date in ,memphis4 ,dr4 ,budge goes so far as to suggest that ,i-em-hetep was the deified form of a distinguished physician who was attached to the priesthood of ,ra1 and who flourished before the end of the rule of the kings of the ,third ,dynasty4 ,in the songs which were sung in the temple of ,antuf occurs the passage3 ,i have heard the words of ,i-em-hetep and of ,heru-tata-f1 which are repeated over and over again1 but where are their places this day8 ,their walls are overthrown1 their seats have no longer any being1 and they are as if they had never existed4 ,no man cometh to declare unto us what manner of beings they were1 and none telleth us of their possessions4 ,heru-tata-f was a man of great learning1 who1 as we find in the ,tale of the ,magician given elsewhere in this book1 brought that mysterious person to the court of his father ,khufu4 ,he also discovered certain chapters of the ,book of the ,dead4 ,it is likely1 thinks ,dr4 ,budge1 that the said ,i-em-hetep who is mentioned in connexion with him was a man of the same type1 a skilled physician1 whose acts and deeds were worthy of being classed with the words of ,heru-tata-f4 ,the pictures and figures of ,i-em-hetep suggest that he was of human and local origin1 and he had a great hold upon the imagination of later ,egyptians of the ,sate and ,ptolemaic periods4 ,he was indeed a species of ,egyptian ,hippocrates1 who had probably1 as ,dr4 ,budge infers1 become deified because of his great medical skill4 ,khnemu ,at the city of ,elephantine or ,abu a great triad of gods was held in reverence4 ,this consisted of ,khnemu1 ,satet1 ,anqet4 ,the worship of the first-mentioned deity was of great antiquity1 and even in the inscription of ,king ,unas we find him alluded to in a manner which proves that his cult was very old4 ,his position1 too1 had always been an exalted one1 and even to the last he appears to have been of importance in the eyes of the ,gnostics4 ,khnemu was probably a god of the pre-dynastic ,egyptians4 ,he was symbolized by the flat-horned ram1 which appears to have been introduced into the country from the ,east4 ,we do not find him referred to in any inscription subsequent to the ,twelfth ,dynasty4 ,he is usually represented in the form of a ram-headed man wearing the white crown1 and sometimes the disk4 ,in some instances he is pictured as pouring water over the earth1 and in others with a jug above his horns--a sure indication that he is connected in some way with moisture4 ,his name signifies the builder or framer1 and he it was who fashioned the first man upon a potter's wheel1 who made the first egg from which sprang the sun1 who made the bodies of the gods1 and who continued to build them up and maintain them4 ,khnemu had been worshipped at ,elephantine from time immemorial and was therefore the god of the ,first ,cataract4 ,his female counterparts1 ,satet and ,anqet1 have been identified as a form of the star ,sept and as a local ,nubian goddess4 ,from the texts it is pretty clear that ,khnemu was originally a river-god who1 like ,hapi1 was regarded as the god of the ,nile and of the annual ,nile flood1 and it may be that he and ,hapi were ,nile gods introduced by two separate races1 or by the people of two different portions of the country4 ,in the texts he is alluded to as father of the fathers of the gods and goddesses1 lord of created things from himself1 maker of heaven and earth and the ,duat and water and mountains1 so we see that1 like ,hapi1 he had been identified with the creative deities4 ,he is sometimes represented as having four rams' heads upon a human body1 and as he united within himself the attributes of ,ra1 ,shu1 ,geb1 and ,osiris1 these heads may have typified the deities in question4 ,dr4 ,brugsch considered1 however1 that they symbolized the four elements--fire1 air1 earth1 and water4 ,but it is a little difficult to see how this could be so4 ,in any case1 when represented with four heads ,khnemu typified the great primeval creative force4 ,the ,legend of the ,nile's ,source ,the powers that were ascribed to ,khnemu-,ra as god of the earthly ,nile are exemplified in a story found inscribed on a rock on the island of ,sahal in #ahij4 ,the king mentioned in the inscription has been identified as ,tcheser1 the third monarch of the ,third ,dynasty4 ,the story relates that in the eighteenth year of this king's reign a famine spread over ,egypt because for seven years the ,nile had not risen in flood4 ,thus grain of all kinds was scarce1 the fields and gardens yielded naught1 so that the people had no food4 ,strong men tottered like the aged1 the old fell to the ground and rose no more1 the children cried aloud with the pangs of hunger4 ,and for the little food there was men became thieves and robbed their neighbours4 ,reports of these terrible conditions reached the king upon his throne1 and he was stricken with grief4 ,he remembered the god ,i-em-hetep1 the son of ,ptah1 who had once delivered ,egypt from a like disaster1 but when his help was invoked no answer was vouchsafed4 ,then ,tcheser the king sent to his governor ,mter1 who ruled over the ,south1 the island of ,elephantine1 and ,nubia1 and asked him where was the source of the ,nile and what was the name of the god or goddess of the river4 ,and to answer this dispatch ,mter the governor went in person before the king4 ,he told him of the wonderful island of ,elephantine1 whereon was built the first city ever known2 that out of it rose the sun when he wanted to bestow life upon mankind4 ,here also was a double cavern1 ,querti1 in shape like two breasts1 and from this cavern rose the ,nile flood to bless the land with fruitfulness when the god drew back the bolts of the door at the proper season4 ,and this god was ,khnemu4 ,mter described to his royal master the temple of the ,nile god at ,elephantine1 and stated that other gods were in it1 including the great deities ,osiris1 ,horus1 ,isis1 and ,nephthys4 ,he told of the products of the country around1 and said that from these1 offerings should be made to ,khnemu4 ,then the king rose and offered sacrifices unto the god and made supplication before him in his temple4 ,and the god heard and appeared before the grief-stricken king4 ,he said1 ,i am ,khnemu the ,creator4 ,my hands rest upon thee to protect thy person and to make sound thy body4 ,i gave thee thine heart 444 ,i am he who created himself4 ,i am the primeval watery abyss1 and ,i am the ,nile who riseth at his will to give health to those who toil4 ,i am the guide and director of all men1 the ,almighty1 the father of the gods1 ,shu1 the mighty possessor of the earth4 ,and then the god promised unto the king that henceforward the ,nile should rise every year as in the olden time1 that the famine should be ended and great good come upon the land4 ,but also he told the king how his shrine was desolate and that no one troubled to restore it even although stone lay all around4 ,and this the king remembered and made a royal decree that lands on each side of the ,nile near the island where ,khnemu dwelt were to be set apart as the endowment of his temple1 that priests were to minister at his shrine1 and for their maintenance a tax must be levied on the products of the land near by4 ,and this decree the king caused to be cut upon a stone stele and set up in a prominent place as a lasting token of gratitude unto the god ,khnemu1 the god of the ,nile4 ,satet ,satet1#f the principal female counterpart of ,khnemu1 was also a goddess of the inundation4 ,the name probably means 'to pour out' or 'to scatter abroad1' so that it might signify a goddess who wielded the powers of rain4 ,she carries in her hands a bow and arrows1 as did ,neith1 typical of the rain or thunderbolt4 ,she was regarded as a form of ,isis from the circumstance that both were connected with the star ,sept1 and in this guise she appears in the ,book of the ,dead as a counterpart of ,osiris4 ,anqet ,anqet1 the third member of the triad of ,elephantine1 was a sister-goddess of ,satet4 ,she wears a crown of feathers1 which would go to show that her origin is a purely ,african one1 and she may have been a goddess of some of the islands in the ,first ,cataract4 ,she had been associated with the other members of the triad from very early dynastic times1 however1 and her cult was fairly widely disseminated through ,northern ,nubia4 ,in later times her worship was centred at ,sahal1 where she was regarded as a goddess of that island1 and where she had a temple built perhaps in the ,eighteenth ,dynasty4 ,she had also a shrine at ,phil1 where she was identified with ,nephthys1 as was almost necessary1 seeing that ,osiris had been identified with ,khnemu and ,satet with ,isis4 ,dr4 ,brugsch considered her a personification of the waters of the ,nile1 and thought that her name signified 'to surround1' 'to embrace1' and that it had reference to the embracing and nourishing of the fields by the river4 ,aten ,aten1 the disk of the sun1 stands in a class by himself in ,egyptian mythology4 ,although he possesses certain broad characteristics in common with other sun-gods of ,egypt1 yet an examination of this deity shows that he differs widely from these in many respects1 and that his cult is indeed entirely foreign to the religious genius of the ,egyptian people4 ,the cult of ,aten1 of which there is little record before the time of ,amen-hetep ,,iv1 sprang into sudden prominence during that monarch's reign and became for a time the ,state religion of ,egypt4 ,of its origin nothing is known1 and it would appear that under the ,middle ,kingdom ,aten was an obscure local deity1 worshipped somewhere in the neighbourhood of ,heliopolis4 ,his important position in the ,egyptian pantheon is due to the fact that his cult was directly responsible for a great religious1 social1 and artistic revolution which occurred during the reign of ,amen-hetep ,,iv4 ,with the overthrow of the ,hyksos kings and the consequent establishment of the ,theban monarchy 7at the beginning of the ,eighteenth ,dynasty71 ,amen1 the local god of ,thebes1 took the place of honour in the ,egyptian pantheon1 and was worshipped as ,amen-,ra4 ,however1 it is known that ,thothmes ,,iv did much to restore the worship of ,ra-,harmachis4 ,his son1 ,amen-hetep ,,iii1 built temples to this deity and to ,aten at ,memphis and ,thebes4 ,in this he would appear to have been supported by his wife ,tyi1#g daughter of ,iuaa and ,thuau1 who1 though not connected with the ,egyptian royal line1 became chief of the royal wives4 ,possibly she herself was originally a votary of ,aten1 which would account for the reverence with which her son1 ,amen-hetep ,,iv1 regarded that deity4 ,on the accession of the last-named monarch he adopted the title of 'high-priest of ,ra-,heru-,akhti1#h the exalted one in the horizon1 in his name of ,shu who is in ,aten1' this implying that1 according to the view generally current at that period1 he regarded ,aten as the abode of the sun-god rather than as the divinity himself4 ,in the early part of his reign ,amen-hetep worshipped both ,amen and ,aten1 the former in his rle of monarch1 the latter in his private capacity1 while he also built a great obelisk at ,thebes in honour of ,ra-,harmachis4 ,then it became apparent that the king desired to exalt ,aten above all the other gods4 ,this was by no means pleasing to the worshippers of ,amen1 whose priesthood was recruited from the noblest families in the land4 ,a struggle ensued between the votaries of ,amen-,ra and those of ,aten1 and finally the king built a new capital1 dedicated to the faith of ,aten1 on the site of what is now ,tell-el-,amarna1 in ,middle ,egypt4 ,thence he withdrew with his followers when the struggle reached its height4 ,to the new city he gave the name of ,akhet-,aten 7',horizon of ,aten'74 ,his own name1 ,amen-hetep1 he changed to ,akh-en-,aten 7',glory of ,aten'74 ,a ,religion of ,one ,god ,one of the features of the new religion was that it was essentially monotheistic1 and could not tolerate the inclusion of other deities4 ,thus whereas certain sun-gods in like circumstances might have become fused with ,ra1 such fusion was impossible in the case of ,aten4 ,not only was he king of the gods1 he was the god1 the divinity par excellence4 ,yet did this monotheistic religion retain many of the forms and rites of other cults1 paradoxical as this must have appeared4 ,the king retained his title of 'son of the sun' 7,aten71 while he exchanged his ,horus and other titles for ,aten titles4 ,the burial customs and the use of scarabs were still continued4 ,yet the name of ,amen-,ra1 with which they had previously been associated1 was everywhere obliterated by order of the king1 even where it formed part of proper names4 ,the temple which the king built to his god in ,akhet-,aten he called ,het-,benben1 the ',house of the ,pyramidion4' ,it was never completed4 ,the religion thus thrust upon the people of ,egypt met with a by no means ready acceptance4 ,the deities which had hitherto been evolved in each nome or province had each his special attributes and ritual1 any or all of which might be absorbed by the central deity4 ,but1 as has been said1 ,aten was incapable of this fusion with the local gods4 ,he was indeed a much more colourless deity than ,amen or ,horus4 ,it is interesting to speculate upon the probable motives of ,akh-en-,aten in introducing this new cult into ,egypt4 ,it has been suggested that his inauguration of ,aten-worship was an enlightened1 if somewhat misplaced1 attempt to unite ,egypt under the sway of one religion1 a religion in which all could participate1 which did not bear the cachet of any one race or caste1 and which in consequence would prove equally acceptable to ,syrian1 ,ethiopian1 or ,egyptian4 ,if such were his aim1 it is evident that the people of ,egypt were not prepared for the upheaval4 ,the drastic and fanatical measures1 too1 of ,akh-en-,aten defeated his own ends and roused distrust and hatred of the ',aten heresy4' ,a ,social ,revolt ,accompanying this religious revolution came a social and artistic revolt of no less striking proportions4 ,aten as a deity was freed1 in theory at least1 from the trammels of myth and ritual which had grown up round his predecessors in ,egypt4 ,his was essentially a naturalistic cult4 ,social life in ,akhet-,aten1 therefore1 tended to become much freer and more natural4 ,the king and queen moved among the people with less formality than had hitherto obtained2 family life was subject to fewer restraints2 in short1 a decided tendency to all that was natural and spontaneous was observable4 ,the movement spread in time even to the art of the nation1 which shows a certain departure from established traditions in the matter of colouring1 while during this reign ,egyptian artists show for the first time that they appreciated the effects of light and shade as well as of mere outline4 ,we have unfortunately no means of knowing the exact period of ,akh-en-,aten's reign4 ,probably it covered about a score of years4 ,after him came various other rulers1 but none of these upheld the ,aten cult1 which speedily declined1 while the supremacy of ,amen-,ra was triumphantly restored4 ,all monuments and temples in honour of ,aten were effaced1 and only recovered within recent times by ,lepsius1 ,petrie1 and ,davies4 ,the last refuge of the god was at ,heliopolis1 where a sanctuary remained to him4 ,aten's ,attributes ,now as to the attributes of ,aten4 ,as already stated he was a somewhat colourless deity1 and is perhaps better to be distinguished by the attributes which are not ascribed to him than by those which are1 though in time some of the attributes of ,ra1 ,horus1 and other forms of the sun-god were given to him4 ,from his original subordinate position as the abode of ,ra--the material disk wherein the sun-god had his dwelling 7',ra in his ,aten'7--,aten came in time to signify both the god and the actual solar disk4 ,attempts made to identify him with the ,semitic ,adonai1 the ,greek ,adonis1 have met with no success4 ,evidence of ,aten's early position in the pantheon is to be found in the ,book of the ,dead1 where ,ra is addressed thus3 ,o thou beautiful being1 thou dost renew thyself and make thyself young again under the form of ,aten4 ,thou turnest thy face toward the underworld1 and thou makest the earth to shine like fine copper4 ,the dead rise up to see thee1 they breathe the air and they look upon thy face when ,aten shineth in the horizon4 ,a ,hymn to ,aten ,during the period when his cult was supreme in ,egypt ,aten was regarded by his worshippers as the creator1 self-existent and everlasting1 fructifier and nourisher of the earth and all it contains1 measurer of the lives of men4 ,aten was invested with a cartouche1 wherein he is styled ',lord of heaven1' ',lord of earth1' ',he who liveth for ever1' ',he who illumineth the earth1' ',he who reigneth in truth'4 ,a singularly beautiful and poetic version of a hymn to ,aten1 in which he is exalted as the giver of life and fruitfulness to all things1 has been found in the tomb of ,a1 a high official under ,amen-hetep1 or ,akh-en-,aten4 ,it begins thus3 ,beauteous is thy resplendent appearing on the horizon of heaven1 ,o ,aten1 who livest and art the beginning of life6 ,he it was who made the ,nile in the ,duat and conducted it to men1 causing its waters to rise2 he1 also1 who sent the rain to those lands which were beyond the reach of the ,nile's beneficent flood4 ,thou makest the ,nile in the underworld1 thou conductest it hither at thy pleasure1 ,that it may give life to men whom thou hast made for thyself1 ,lord of ,all6 ,thou givest the ,nile in heaven that it descendeth to them4 ,it causeth its waters to rise upon the rocks like the sea2 it watereth their fields in their districts4 ,so are thy methods accomplished1 ,o ,lord of ,eternity6 thou who art thyself the celestial ,nile3 ,thou art the king of the inhabitants of the lands1 ,and of the cattle going upon their feet in every land1 which go upon feet4 ,the ,nile cometh out of the underworld to ,egypt4 ,the ,aten hymns1 then1 ascribe to the deity such attributes as any people might see in their sun-god4 ,all the paraphernalia of the cult of ,ra1 ,osiris1 and like divinities are absent4 ,there is no mention of the barques in which they sailed across the heavens2 of ,apep1 the great serpent1 and the other enemies of ,ra2 of the companies of gods and goddesses which formed his train4 ,we find in the cult of ,aten no myths such as that of the battles of ,horus1 nor do the ceremonies and ritual of the domain of ,osiris enter into it4 ,all these are without parallel in the ,aten-worship4 ,it is easily understood why it failed in its appeal to the ,egyptian people4 ,aten was not even figured as anthropomorphic1 as were ,ra and ,osiris1 but was invariably represented as the sun-disk1 with rays emanating from it in a downward direction4 ,each ray terminated in a human hand1 to which were sometimes attached the sign of life1 the sign of power1 and so on4 ,reliefs of this period frequently depict the king and queen seated with their children1 over their heads the symbol of ,aten1 one of whose numerous hands presents the sign of life to each member of the royal family4 ,in short1 the cult of ,aten was the worship of the sun-god pure and simple1 shorn of the picturesque story and ritual so dear to the heart of the ,egyptian4 ,hathor ,it is no easy matter to gauge the true mythological significance of the ,egyptian goddess ,hathor1 patron of women1 of love1 and of pleasure1 ,lady of ,heaven1 and ,mistress of the ,underworld4 ,she occupied a very important position in the pantheon of ancient ,egypt1 dating as she did from archaic or even pre-dynastic times4 ,we find a multitude of mythological ideas fused in the ,hathor conception3 she is a moon-goddess1 a sky-goddess1 a goddess of the east1 a goddess of the west1 a cosmic deity1 an agricultural goddess1 a goddess of moisture1 even on occasion a solar deity4 ,though her original status is thus in a measure obscured1 it is supposed that she is primarily a moon-goddess1 for reasons which follow hereafter4 ,the original form under which ,hathor was worshipped was that of a cow4 ,later she is represented as a woman with the head of a cow1 and finally with a human head1 the face broad1 kindly1 placid1 and decidedly bovine1 sometimes retaining the ears or horns of the animal she represents4 ,she is also shown with a head-dress resembling a pair of horns with the moon-disk between them4 ,sometimes she is met with in the form of a cow standing in a boat1 surrounded by tall papyrus-reeds4 ,now in mythology the cow is often identified with the moon--why it is hard to say4 ,perhaps it may not be too far-fetched to suppose that the horned appearance of the moon at certain seasons has suggested its association with the cow4 ,mythology is largely based on such superficial resemblances and analogies2 it is by means of these that the primitive mind first learns to reason4 ,or it may be that the cow1 naturally of great importance to agricultural peoples1 was1 by reason of this importance1 associated with the moon1 mistress of the weather and principle of growth and fruitfulness4 ,the fact that ,hathor the cow is sometimes shown in a boat suggests that she was also a water-goddess1 and heightens the probability that she was identified with the moon1 for the latter was regarded by the ,egyptians as the source of all moisture4 ,the name ,hathor signifies ',house of ,horus'--that is1 the sky1 wherein dwelt the sun-god ,horus1 and there is no doubt that at one time ,hathor was regarded as a sky-goddess1 or a goddess of the eastern sky1 where ,horus was born2 she has also been identified with the night sky and with the sunset sky4 ,if1 however1 we regard her as a moon-goddess1 a good deal of the mythology concerning her will become clear4 ,she is1 for example1 frequently spoken of as the ',eye of ,ra1' ,ra1 the sun-god1 probably possessing in this instance the wider significance of sky-god4 ,she is also designated ',the ,golden ,one1' who stands high in the south as the ,lady of ,teka1 and illumines the west as the ,lady of ,sas4 ,that she is mistress of the underworld is likewise not surprising when we consider her as identical with the moon1 for does not the moon make a daily pilgrimage through ,amentet8 ,neither is it astonishing that a goddess of moisture and vegetation should be found in the underworld dispensing water to the souls of the dead from the branches of a palm or a sycamore4 ,hathor as ,love-,goddess ,on the same hypothesis we may explain the somewhat paradoxical statement that ,hathor is 'mother of her father1 daughter of her son'--that she is mother1 wife1 and daughter to ,ra4 ,the moon1 when she appears in the heavens before the sun1 may be regarded as his mother2 when she reigns together with him she is his wife2 when she rises after he has set she is his daughter4 ,it is possible that the moon1 with her generative and sustaining powers1 may have been considered the creative and upholding force of the universe1 the great cosmic mother1 who brought forth not only the gods and goddesses over whom she rules1 but likewise herself as well4 ,it was as the ideal of womanhood1 therefore1 whether as mother1 wife1 or daughter1 that she received the homage of ,egyptian women1 and became the patron deity of love1 joy1 and merry-making1 lady of music and mistress of song1 lady of leaping1 and mistress of wreathing garlands4 ,temples were raised in her honour1 notably one of exceptional beauty at ,denderah1 in ,upper ,egypt1 and she had shrines without number4 ,she became in time associated or even identified with many local goddesses1 and1 indeed1 it has been said that all ,egyptian goddesses were forms of ,hathor4 ,as guardian of the dead ,hathor is figured as a cow1 issuing from the ,mountain of the ,west1 and she is also represented as standing on its summit receiving the setting sun and the souls of the dead 7the latter travelling in the footsteps of the sun-god74 ,in this case ,hathor might be regarded as the western sky1 but the myth might be equally significant of the moon1 which sometimes stands on the mountains of the west after the time of sunset1 with horns resembling hands outstretched to welcome the unseen souls4 ,yet another point is worthy of note in connexion with the mythological aspect of ,hathor4 ,when she was born as the daughter of ,ra 7her mother was ,nut1 the sky-goddess7 she was quite black4 ,this fact admits of several interpretations4 ,it may be that ,hathor's swarthy complexion is indicative of an ,ethiopian origin1 or it may be that she represents the night sky1 which lightens with the growth of day4 ,it is still possible1 however1 to regard her as typifying the moon1 which is 'born black1' with only a narrow crescent of light1 but which grows brighter as it becomes older4 ,it is unlikely that the keen eyes of these primitive peoples would fail to observe the dark disk of the new moon1 faintly outlined with light reflected from the earth4 ,the ,slaying of ,men ,in the following myth of ,ra and ,hathor the latter is plainly identified with the lunar deity3 ,long ago there dwelt on earth ,ra1 the sun-god1 the creator of men and things1 and ruler over the gods4 ,for a time men gave to him the reverence due to his exalted position1 but at length he began to grow old1 and they mocked him1 saying1 ,behold6 his bones are like silver1 his limbs are like gold1 his hair is like unto real lapis-lazuli4 ,now ,ra was very wroth when he heard their blasphemy1 so he called together his followers1 the gods and goddesses of his train1 ,shu and ,tefnut1 ,geb and ,nut1 and ,hathor1 the eye of ,ra4 ,the gods assembled secretly1 so that the race of mankind might know nothing of their meeting4 ,and when they were all gathered about the throne of ,ra1 he said to ,nun1 the oldest of the gods3 ,o ,nun1 thou first-born of the gods1 whose son ,i am1 ,i pray thee give me thy counsel4 ,the men whom ,i have created have conceived evil against me1 even those men who have issued forth from mine eye4 ,they have murmured in their hearts1 saying1 ',behold6 the king has become old1 his bones are like silver1 his limbs like gold1 his hair like unto real lapis-lazuli4' ,tell me what shall be done unto them8 ,for this have ,i sought thy counsel4 ,i will not destroy them till thou hast spoken4 ,then answered ,nun3 ,o thou great god1 who art greater than he who made thee1 thou son who art mightier than his father1 do thou but turn thine eye upon them who blaspheme thee1 and they shall perish from off the earth4 ,ra turned his eye upon the blasphemers1 according to the counsel of ,nun4 ,but the men fled from the eye of ,ra1 and hid them in deserts and rocky places4 ,then did all the gods and goddesses give counsel to ,ra that he should send his eye down among men to smite them sorely4 ,and the eye of ,ra descended in the form of the goddess ,hathor1 and smote the men in the desert and slew them4 ,then ,hathor returned to the court of ,ra1 and when the king had given her welcome she said1 ,i have been mighty among mankind4 ,it is well pleasing to my heart4 ,all night ,sekhmet#i waded in the blood of those who had been slain1 and on the morrow ,ra feared that ,hathor would slay the remnant of the human race1 wherefore he said unto his attendants1 ,fetch to me swift messengers who can outstrip the wind4 ,when the messengers appeared the majesty of ,ra bade them bring a great number of mandrakes from ,elephantine4 ,these ,ra gave to ,sekhmet1 bidding her to pound them1 and when this was done he mixed the mandrakes with some of the blood of those whom ,hathor had slain4 ,meanwhile servant-maids were busy preparing beer from barley1 and into this ,ra poured the mixture4 ,thus were seven thousand jars of beer made4 ,in the morning ,ra bade his attendants carry the beer to the place where ,hathor would seek to slay the remnant of mankind1 and there pour it out4 ,for the sun-god said within himself1 ,i will deliver mankind out of her hands4 ,and it came to pass that at dawn ,hathor reached the place where the beer lay1 flooding the fields four spans deep4 ,she was pleased with her beautiful reflection1 which smiled at her from the floods2 and so deeply did she drink of the beer that she became drunken1 and was no more able to destroy men4 ,henceforward festivals were celebrated with high revelry in commemoration of this event4 ,there is no doubt that in this myth the beer represents the annual rise of the ,nile1 and if further evidence be required than that contained in the story1 it lies in the fact that the ,intoxication festivals of ,hathor fall in the month of ,thoth1 the first month of the inundation4 ,the vengeance of ,ra is doubtless the plagues and starvation which accompany the dry season immediately preceding the rise of the river4 ,the eye of ,ra--that is1 ,hathor--must be either the sun or the moon2 but ,ra himself is the sun-god1 therefore ,hathor is most probably the moon4 ,it must be borne in mind1 of course1 that the ,egyptians believed the moon wilfully to prevent the inundation1 and thus were likely to regard her as the source of disasters arising from the drought4 ,it is evident1 too1 that the eye of ,ra wrought havoc among men during the night--,day dawned1 after this goddess had been slaughtering men as she went upstream4 ,the ,forms of ,hathor ,hathor is sometimes identified with the star ,sept1 or ,sothis 7,sirius71 which rose heliacally on the first day of the month of ,thoth4 ,when ,ra entered his boat ,sothis1 or the goddess ,hathor1 took her place on his head like a crown4 ,reference has already been made to the numerous forms of this goddess4 ,she was identified with ,aphrodite by the ,greeks1 and by the ,egyptians with a multitude of local deities4 ,the ,seven ,hathors1 sometimes stated to be independent deities1 were in reality but a selection of forms of the goddess1 which selection varied in the various localities4 ,thus the ,seven ,hathors worshipped at ,denderah were ,hathor of ,thebes1 ,hathor of ,heliopolis1 ,hathor of ,aphroditopolis1 ,hathor of the ,sinaitic ,peninsula1 ,hathor of ,momemphis1 ,hathor of ,herakleopolis1 and ,hathor of ,keset4 ,these were represented as young women carrying tambourines and wearing the ,hathor head-dress of a disk and a pair of horns4 ,in the ,litanies of ,seker other groups of ,seven ,hathors are mentioned1 while ,mariette includes yet a different company under that title4 ,briefly1 ,hathor is a personification of the female principle--primitive1 fruitful1 attractive--such as is known to most barbaric peoples1 and becoming more sophisticated as the centuries pass4 ,hapi1 the ,god of the ,nile ,this deity was especially connected with the great river whence ,egypt drew her sustenance1 and as such was a god of very considerable importance in the ,egyptian pantheon4 ,in time he became identified with ,osiris4 ,the name ,hapi still baffles translation1 and is probably of pre-dynastic origin4 ,perhaps the first mention of this deity is in the ,text of ,unas1 where the ,nile god is exhorted to fructify grain for the requirements of the dead monarch4 ,in the same texts ,hapi is alluded to as a destructive force1 symbolizing1 of course1 the inundations so frequently caused by the ,river ,nile4 ,in appearance ,hapi possesses both male and female characteristics1 the latter indicating his powers of nourishment4 ,as god of the ,north ,nile he is crowned with papyrus plants1 and as god of the southern part of the river with lotus plants4 ,these two forms of ,hapi resulted from the geographical division of the country into ,upper and ,lower ,egypt1 and they are sometimes combined in a single figure1 when the god is shown holding in his hands both plants4 ,on the thrones of certain of the ,pharaohs we often find the lotus and papyrus conjoined with the emblem of union1 to signify the sovereignty of the monarch over both regions4 ,the very position of ,hapi made it certain that he would become successful as a deity4 ,the entire country looked to the ,nile as the source of all wealth and provender1 so that the deity which presided over it rapidly rose in public estimation4 ,thus ,hapi quickly became identified with the greater and more outstanding figures in early ,egyptian mythology4 ,he thus became a partner with the great original gods who had created the world1 and finally came to be regarded as the maker and moulder of everything within the universe4 ,we find him credited with the attributes of ,nu1 the primeval water-mass1 and this in effect made him a father of ,ra1 who had emerged from that element4 ,hapi1 indeed1 stood in more immediate relationship to the ,egyptians than almost any other god in their pantheon4 ,without the sun ,egypt would have been plunged into darkness1 but without the ,nile every living creature within its borders would assuredly have perished4 ,the circumstance1 too1 that the source of the ,river ,nile was unknown to the ,egyptians tended to add a mystery to the character of its presiding deity4 ,the people of the country could not understand the rise and fall of the river1 which appeared to them to take place under supernatural auspices4 ,on the occasion of the annual rise of the ,nile a great festival was held in honour of ,hapi1 and statues of the god were carried about through the towns and villages4 ,it is noticeable in many mythologies that gods of fructification are those honoured by the circulation of their images throughout the region where they are worshipped1 and it is a little difficult to see why this should be so4 ,it cannot be said that none but deities with an agricultural significance were thus carried about1 but it is noteworthy that these are by far the most numerous to receive such honours4 ,counterparts of ,hapi ,isis was in a manner regarded as the female counterpart of ,hapi1 but we also find that in the north of ,egypt the goddess ,natch-ura was regarded as the female companion of ,hapi1 and that ,nekhebet reigned in the south in a like capacity4 ,the following hymn to ,hapi1 found in a papyrus of the ,eighteenth or ,nineteenth ,dynasty1 clearly shows the great importance of his worship in ,egypt3 ,homage to thee1 ,o ,hapi1 thou appearest in this land1 and thou comest in peace to make ,egypt to live4 ,thou art the ,hidden ,one1 and the guide of the darkness on the day when it is thy pleasure to lead the same4 ,thou art the waterer of the fields which ,ra hath created1 thou givest life unto all animals1 thou makest all the land to drink unceasingly as thou descendest on thy way from heaven4 ,thou art the friend of bread and of ,tchabu1 thou makest to increase and be strong ,nepra1 thou makest prosperous every workshop1 ,o ,ptah1 thou lord of fish2 when the ,inundation riseth1 the waterfowl do not alight upon the fields that are sown with wheat4 ,thou art the creator of barley1 and thou makest the temples to endure1 for millions of years repose of thy fingers hath been an abomination to thee4 ,thou art the lord of the poor and needy4 ,if thou wert overthrown in the heavens the gods would fall upon their faces and men would perish4 ,he causeth the whole earth to be opened by the cattle1 and princes and peasants lie down and rest4444 ,thy form is that of ,khnemu4 ,when thou shinest upon the earth shouts of joy ascend1 for all people are joyful1 and every mighty man receiveth food1 and every tooth is provided with food4 ,thou art the bringer of food1 thou art the mighty one of meat and drink1 thou art the creator of all good things1 the lord of divine meat1 pleasant and choice4444 ,thou makest the herb to grow for the cattle1 and thou takest heed unto what is sacrificed unto every god4 ,the choicest incense is that which followeth thee1 thou art the lord of the two lands4 ,thou fillest the storehouses1 thou heapest high with corn the granaries1 and thou takest heed unto what is sacrificed unto every god4 ,the choicest incense is that which followeth thee1 thou art the lord of the two lands4 ,thou fillest the storehouses1 thou heapest high with corn the granaries1 and thou takest heed to the affairs of the poor and needy4 ,thou makest the herb and green things to grow that the desires of all may be satisfied1 and thou art not reduced thereby4 ,thou makest thy strength to be a shield for man4 ,nut ,the goddess ,nut was the daughter of ,shu and ,tefnut1 the wife of ,geb1 and the mother of ,osiris and ,isis1 ,set and ,nephthys4 ,she personified the sky and the vault of heaven4 ,a good many other goddesses probably became absorbed in her from time to time4 ,she is1 however1 the personification of the day sky1 a certain ,naut representing the sky of night1 but this distinction was an early one4 ,she was indeed the counterpart of ,nu1 and represented the great watery abyss1 out of which all things originally came1 so that ,nut1 the spouse of ,nu1 and ,nut1 the spouse of ,geb1 are one and the same being4 ,she is usually represented as a woman carrying upon her head a vase of water1 which plainly indicates her character4 ,sometimes she wears the horns and disk of ,hathor1 but she has many other guises as the great mother of the gods4 ,her most general appearance1 however1 is that of a woman resting on hands and feet1 her body forming an arch1 thus representing the sky4 ,her limbs typified the four pillars on which the sky was supposed to rest4 ,she was supposed originally to be reclining on ,geb1 the earth1 when ,shu raised her from this position4 ,this myth is a very common one among the aborigines of ,america1 but in an inverted sense1 as it is usually the sky which takes the place of the original father1 and the earth that of the great mother4 ,these are usually separated by the creative deity1 just as were ,geb and ,nut1 and the allegory represents the separation of the earth from the waters which were above it1 and the creation of the world4 ,according to another myth ,nut gave birth daily to the sun-god1 who passed across her body1 which represented the sky4 ,in a variant account he is represented as travelling across her back4 ,the limbs and body of the goddess are bespangled with stars4 ,in another pictorial description of ,nut we see a second female figure drawn inside the first1 and within that again the body of a man1 the last two conforming to the semicircular shape of the sky-goddess4 ,this is explained as meaning that the two women personify the day and night skies1 but it does not account for the male body1 which may represent the ,duat4 ,again we read that ,nut was transformed into a great cow1 and she is frequently represented in this form4 ,the deceased are described in the ,book of the ,dead as relying on her for fresh air in the underworld1 over the waters of which she was supposed to have dominion4 ,she possessed a sacred tree1 the sycamore1 which was situated at ,heliopolis1 at the foot of which the serpent ,apep was slain by the great cat ,ra4 ,the branches of this tree were regarded as a place of refuge for the weary dead in noonday during the summer1 and in its shade they were refreshed by the food on which the goddess herself lived4 ,it was asserted by the priests of ,denderah that ,nut had her origin in their city1 and that there she became the mother of ,isis4 ,her five children1 ,osiris1 ,horus1 ,set1 ,isis1 and ,nephthys1 were born on the five epagomenal days of the year--that is1 the five days over the three hundred and sixty4 ,as in ,mexico1 certain of these were regarded as unlucky4 ,nut plays a prominent part in the underworld1 and the dead are careful to retain her good offices1 probably in order that they may have plenty of air4 ,indeed1 her favour renewed their bodies and they were enabled to rise and journey with the sun-god each day1 even as did ,ra1 the son of ,nut4 ,a portrait of the goddess was often painted on the cover of the coffin as a mark of her protection1 and this was rarely omitted in the ,egyptian burial ceremonies4 ,taurt ,taurt is usually pictured as a hippopotamus standing upon her hind legs1 holding in her hand an amulet which has not yet been satisfactorily explained4 ,she wears on her head the solar disk and two tall feathers4 ,occasionally she is pictured in human form with the cow-horns worn by all ,egyptian goddesses4 ,she was regarded as the mother and nurse of the gods1 and had a counterpart in ,apet1 the hippopotamus-goddess of ,thebes1 who was supposed by some ,egyptians to have been the mother of ,osiris4 ,in later times ,taurt was known as ,rert or ,reret1 the female hippopotamus1 but she was also identified with ,isis1 ,hathor1 ,bast1 and other goddesses4 ,her image in faience formed a favourite amulet1 which1 indeed1 was almost as popular as that of ,bes4 ,indeed1 figures which appear to have been copied from that of ,taurt are to be seen on ,mykenan wall-scenes1 so widespread was her fame4 ,she was supposed to be the guardian of the mountain of the west1 through which lay the road to ,hades4 ,it would appear that she was certainly of totemic origin4 ,her popularity seems to have been greatest during the ,new ,empire1 and increased greatly during the latter period4 ,hekt ,hekt1 the frog-headed goddess1 was regarded as the wife of ,khnemu1 although in some degree she may be looked upon as a form of ,hathor4 ,her character has not been made very clear by writers on ,egyptian mythology1 but the circumstance that she possesses the head of a frog obviously shows her connexion with water1 and therefore with the powers of fructification4 ,she appears also to have been associated with the deities of growth4 ,many corn-gods are deities of resurrection and re-birth4 ,at the festival of a certain ,mexican goddess of the maize a frog was placed upon the top of a sheaf of grain as being symbolical of the goddess4 ,it might be hazardous to identify ,hekt with the ,greek ,hecate1 who was perhaps a moon-goddess1 and as such associated with water4 ,it is noticeable that ,hecate is regarded by ,farnell as a foreign importation from ,thrace4 ,she is1 of course1 the goddess of the lower world as well1 just as ,osiris1 the moon-god1 was god of the ,egyptian dead4 ,she was also worshipped at the ,samothracian mysteries1 which probably had an ,egyptian origin4 ,we find that ,hecate was also a goddess of fertility4 ,khonsu ,khonsu was a lunar deity1 and as such was often identified with ,thoth4 ,indeed1 at ,hermopolis and ,edf the two were occasionally joined under the name of ,khonsu-,thoth4 ,the name is derived from the root khens1 to traverse1 showing that he was the traveller who nightly crossed the heavens4 ,he was depicted as a hawk-headed god crowned with the lunar crescent and the solar disk4 ,rameses ,,iii built him a great temple at ,thebes between those of ,amen and ,mut4 ,he had two distinct forms3 ,khonsu in ,thebes ,neferhetep1 and ,khonsu the carrier out of plans4 ,the ,greeks compared ,khonsu to ,heracles1 for what reason it would be difficult to say4 ,occasionally the ,egyptians fused him with ,horus1 ,shu1 and ,ra1 which shows that he could assume a solar character1 as is indicated by his hawk-head4 ,it would appear as if ,khonsu1 originally a moon-god1 became also a sun-god when the lunar calendar was merged into or abandoned for the solar method of computation4 ,the following tale illustrates the healing power of ,khonsu3 ,the ,princess and the ,demon ,in the reign of ,king ,rameses there were many fair women in ,egypt1 but lovelier than them all was the daughter of the prince of ,bekhten1 one of the king's vassals4 ,tall and slender and very shapely1 of exquisite form and feature1 there was nothing on earth with which to compare her beauty1 so men compared it with the beauty of ,amen-,ra1 the great sun-god1 the god of the light of day4 ,now ,king ,rameses was a great conqueror and a mighty man of valour1 who numbered among his vassals princes of no mean degree4 ,these latter came every year to ,naharaina1 at the mouth of the ,euphrates1 to do homage to their overlord and to render tribute to him4 ,rich indeed was the tribute that the king received1 for every prince who bowed before him was accompanied by a retinue of slaves bearing treasures of gold and precious stones and sweet-smelling woods1 the choicest things that their dominions could afford4 ,on one such occasion ,rameses and his princes were gathered at ,naharaina1 and the vassals vied with each other in the splendour of their offerings4 ,but the ,prince of ,bekhten had a treasure which far surpassed that of the others1 for he had brought his beautiful daughter1 she whose beauty was as that of ,amen-,ra4 ,when the king saw her he loved her beyond all else1 and wished to make her his wife4 ,for the rest of the tribute he cared nothing1 and the homage of the remaining princes was a weariness to him4 ,so he married the princess1 and gave to her a name which signifies ',beauty of ,ra4' ,and when they returned home the queen fulfilled her royal duties as became the ,great ,royal ,wife1 and was beloved of her husband and her people4 ,now it came about that on the festival of the god ,amen1 when the sacred barque is born aloft for all to see1 the king and queen went up to the temple to do honour to the sun-god4 ,and while they worshipped1 attendants sought them with the news that a messenger from the ,prince of ,bekhten waited without and would have speech with them4 ,the king bade that the messenger be admitted4 ,rich gifts he bore from the ,prince of ,bekhten to his daughter1 the ,great ,royal ,wife1 while to the king he bowed very low1 saying3 ,behold1 ,o king1 the little sister of the ,great ,royal ,wife lies ill4 ,i pray thee1 therefore1 to send a physician to heal her of her malady4 ,then the king called his wise men about him and deliberated whom he should send to the succour of his wife's sister4 ,at length the wise men brought before the king one of their number1 a scribe named ,tehuti-em-heb1 who was accordingly appointed to accompany the messenger to ,bekhten1 there to heal the queen's sister1 ,bent-reshy4 ,but1 alas6 when they reached the domains of the ,prince of ,bekhten ,tehuti-em-heb found that the demon who was the cause of the princess's affliction was far too powerful to be expelled by his skill4 ,when the maid's father heard that the ,egyptian scribe was powerless to cast out the demon he fell into despair1 thinking his last hope had gone4 ,but ,tehuti-em-heb comforted him as best he might1 bidding him send once more to ,egypt to beseech the intervention of ,khonsu1 ,expeller of ,demons1 on his daughter's behalf4 ,so the ,lord of ,bekhten sent yet another messenger to the court of ,rameses4 ,now the land of ,bekhten was far from the land of ,egypt1 and the journey between them occupied a year and five months4 ,when the messenger of the ,prince of ,bekhten reached ,egypt he found ,rameses in ,thebes1 in the temple of ,khonsu1 for it was the month which was sacred to that god4 ,and the messenger bowed before ,rameses and gave him the message sent by the queen's father4 ,in the temple at ,thebes there were two statues of the god ,khonsu1 one called ,khonsu in ,thebes ,neferhetep1 the other ,khonsu1 ,expeller of ,demons1 both representing the god as a handsome youth4 ,rameses approached ,khonsu in ,thebes ,neferhetep and prayed that he would permit ,khonsu1 the ,expeller of ,demons1 to go to the land of ,bekhten for the healing of ,bent-reshy1 the queen's little sister4 ,khonsu in ,thebes ,neferhetep bowed his assent1 and gave his protection to the ,expeller of ,demons4 ,when this was done ,khonsu1 ,expeller of ,demons1 was dispatched to ,bekhten1 accompanied by a large retinue1 and with ceremony befitting a king4 ,they journeyed for a year and five months1 and at length reached the land of the queen's father4 ,the prince himself and all his people hastened to greet ,khonsu1 prostrating themselves and offering rich gifts even as they might have done to the ,king of ,egypt himself4 ,meanwhile ,bent-reshy's illness had continued unabated1 for the demon who possessed her was very potent4 ,but when ,khonsu was conducted to her chamber1 behold6 she grew well in a moment1 to the joy of her father and his courtiers4 ,the demon who had come out of her acknowledged ,khonsu as his superior1 and those who stood by heard with awe a conversation pass between them4 ,o ,khonsu1 said the spirit1 ,i am thy slave4 ,if thou commandest that ,i go from hence1 ,i will go4 ,but ,i pray thee ask of the ,prince of ,bekhten that he will make a holy day for me and a sacrifice4 ,then shall ,i go in peace4 ,it shall be as thou hast said1 replied ,khonsu1 and he commanded the ,prince of ,bekhten to make a sacrifice and a holy day for the demon who had possessed ,bent-reshy4 ,first the people made a great sacrifice to ,khonsu1 the ,expeller of ,demons2 then they made one for the demon1 who thereafter departed in peace4 ,but when he had gone the mind of the ,prince of ,bekhten was grievously troubled1 for he thought3 ,perchance he will come again unto our land1 and torment the people even as he has tormented my daughter1 ,bent-reshy4 ,so he determined that ,khonsu1 the ,expeller of ,demons1 must not be allowed to depart from ,bekhten1 but must be kept there always1 lest the demon should return4 ,for more than three years1 therefore1 the ,prince of ,bekhten kept ,khonsu within his domains1 and would not allow him to depart4 ,but one night he had a dream which altered his determination4 ,in his dream he stood before the shrine of ,khonsu1 ,expeller of ,demons4 ,and as he looked1 behold6 the doors of the shrine were flung wide1 and the god himself issued forth1 took the form of a hawk with wonderful golden plumage1 and flew toward ,egypt4 ,when he awoke the ,lord of ,bekhten knew that the real god had departed to ,egypt1 and that it was useless to keep any longer his statue4 ,moreover1 he feared the vengeance of ,khonsu4 ,so on the morrow he loaded the statue of ,khonsu1 the ,expeller of ,demons1 with rich and beautiful gifts1 and sent him away to ,egypt with a princely retinue4 ,when the return journey was accomplished ,khonsu1 ,expeller of ,demons1 bestowed all the costly gifts on ,khonsu in ,thebes ,neferhetep1 keeping nothing for himself of all he had received4 ,minor ,deities ,there were hundreds of minor gods surrounding the ,egyptian pantheon1 and the characteristics of only a few of these can be dealt with4 ,each hour of the day had its representative deity1 as had each hour of the night4 ,the four winds were also represented in the ,egyptian pantheon1 as in the ,greek4 ,the north wind was called ,qebui1 and is pictured as a four-headed ram with wings2 the south wind1 ,shehbui1 is represented as a man with a lion's head1 and wings2 and the west wind1 ,huzayui1 has a serpent's head on the body of a winged man4 ,the east wind1 ,henkhisesui1 sometimes times occurs in anthropomorphic shape1 and1 like the north wind1 has a ram's head1 but he is occasionally figured as a winged beetle with the head of a ram4 ,the senses were also symbolized by deities4 ,saa was the god of the sense of touch or feeling4 ,he is depicted in human shape and wears upon his head a sign composed of parallel lines1 which as they rise grow smaller4 ,in the ,theban ,recension of the ,book of the ,dead he is shown in the judgment scene amongst those gods who watch the weighing of the heart of the deceased4 ,saa is sometimes shown as sailing with ,thoth and other gods in the boat of ,ra4 ,in one passage he is alluded to as the son of ,geb4 ,he is the personification of intelligence1 human and divine4 ,the god of taste was called ,hu4 ,he is also depicted as a man1 and is said to have come into existence from a drop of blood which fell from ,ra4 ,he became the personification of the divine food upon which the gods and the blessed dead lived4 ,maa was the god of sight4 ,he is also drawn as a man having an eye placed over his head1 which is also the symbol of his name4 ,setem was the god of hearing1 and in his case his head is surmounted by an ear4#aj ,the planets were also deified4 ,saturn was called ,horus1 the bull of heaven2 ,mars was also identified with ,horus under the name of the 'red ,horus1' but1 strictly speaking1 was under the guardianship of ,ra2 the god of ,mercury was ,set1 and of ,venus1 ,osiris4 ,some of the constellations were also identified with deities4 ,the ,great ,bear was known as 'the haunch1' and ,draco was identified with the hippopotamus ,reret4 ,the days of the month had also patron gods4 #a ,or ,usertsen4 #b ,there is a mention in the pyramid of ,unas 7,sixth ,dynasty7 of a deity which may mean ,amen1 but may also mean ',the ,hidden ,one1' and the epithet which follows appears to apply to ,osiris4 #c ,budge1 ,the ,gods of ,egypt1 ii4 p4 #b4 #d ,budge1 op4 cit4 i4 p4 #ejc4 #e ,or ,sekmet4 #f ,or ,setet shooter 7with arrows74 #g ,or ,thi4 #h ,or ,ra-,heru-,khuti4 #i ,or ,sekhet4 ,sekhmet is the same personage as ,hathor in the original text4 ,the beer was made by the people of ,on1 who mixed the 'mandrake' with it1 and ,sekhmet-,hathor drank it4 #aj ,personifications of the senses with appropriate names4 ,,chapter ,,vi3 ,,egyptian ,,literature ,egyptian ,language and ,writing ,the earliest knowledge we have of the ,egyptian language is furnished by ancient inscriptions belonging to the ,first ,dynasty1 about #ccjj ,b4,c4 ,from these onward its rise and its decay may be traced down through the different writings on temples1 monuments1 and papyri to the fourteenth century ,a4,d41#a when ,coptic manuscripts end the tale4 ,of the living tongue1 as apart from the purely literary language of the hieroglyphic inscriptions1 the truest idea is given by the popular tales1 letters1 and business documents which have come down to us1 wherein the scribes naturally kept close to the current forms of speech1 thus revealing the changes the language underwent4 ,that ,egyptian is related to ,semitic is practically certain1 though here a racial problem intervenes and confuses1 for the ,egyptian race proper is not and never was1 so far as can be ascertained1 ,semitic in type4 ,erman tries to explain this by the quite probable theory that in the prehistoric period a horde of warlike ,semites conquered a part of ,egypt and settled there1 like the ,arabs of a later period1 and imposed their language on the country1 but as a distinct race died out1 either by reason of the climate or absorption by the native population1 who1 however1 had acquired the strangers' language1 though but imperfectly4 ,under these conditions the language gradually changed4 ,the consonants were mispronounced1 strong consonants giving place to weak1 and these in turn1 disappearing altogether1 produced biliterals from the triliteral roots4 ,this tendency1 together with periphrastic instead of verbal conjugation1 continued to the end4 ,coptic1 the latest form1 is thus biliteral in character1 and tenses of remarkable precision were developed in the verb by means of periphrases2 but the great resemblances between ,coptic and ,semitic must also be traced to the continuous ,semitic influences of late periods4 ,the ,egyptian language naturally divides into its progressive stages4 ,these are ,old ,egyptian1 ,middle and ,late ,egyptian1 ,demotic and ,coptic4 ,old ,egyptian is the language belonging to the ,old ,kingdom4 ,it supplied the literary model for the later period1 as evidenced by the inscriptions1 but that it should be affected by the changing forms of contemporary speech was inevitable1 though in the main its chief characteristics were preserved4 ,the earliest specimens we have are inscriptions belonging to the ,first ,dynasty1 which1 however1 are too brief to give much insight into the language and speech of that period4 ,next come many inscriptions and some few historical texts in the language of the ,fourth1 ,fifth1 and ,sixth ,dynasties4 ,the greatest amount belonging to this phase is the large collection of ritual texts and spells inscribed in the ,pyramids belonging to the ,sixth ,dynasty4 ,middle and ,late ,egyptian belong to the ,middle and ,new ,kingdoms respectively1 and approximate to the common speech of the people4 ,writings in the former1 extant to this day1 are tales1 letters1 and business documents of the ,twelfth ,dynasty on to the beginning of the ,new ,kingdom1 written on papyri in hieratic script4 ,the ,eighteenth to the ,twenty-first ,dynasty furnish us with specimens of ,late ,egyptian in various hieratic papyri4 ,in regard to these an authority states3 ,the spelling of ,late ,egyptian is very extraordinary1 full of false etymologies1 otiose signs1 etc41 the old orthography being quite unable to adapt itself neatly to the profoundly modified language4 ,nevertheless1 this clumsy spelling is expressive1 and the very mistakes are instructive as to the pronunciation4 ,demotic represents the vulgar dialect of the ,sate period1 and is really applied to the character in which it is written4 ,it may be traced back to the ,twenty-fifth ,dynasty1 about #ijj ,b4,c41 and it continued in use until the fourth century ,a4,d4 ,demotic documents are mostly contracts of sale and legal matters1 though some magical texts and a curious tale1 the ,papyrus of ,setna1 are also written in this character4 ,coptic is the latest form which the language took1 or rather it is a dialect form of ,egyptian1 of which four or five varieties are known4 ,coptic is written with the letters of the ,greek alphabet1 and is really the only stage of the language where the spelling gives a clear idea of the pronunciation4 ,to the ,greek characters were added six taken from the ,demotic in order to express sounds peculiar to the ,egyptian language4 ,this1 together with ,greek transcriptions of ,egyptian names and words1 have supplied the only means of arriving at some idea of the accurate vocalization of the ,egyptian language4 ,one reason for this ignorance that of necessity prevailed is the fact that the ,egyptian system of writing gives merely the consonantal skeletons of words1 never recording the internal vowel changes1 and often omitting semi-consonants4 ,the ,hieroglyphs ,the ancient ,egyptian system of writing would seem to be1 from all available evidence1 of purely native origin4 ,its rise1 development1 and final extinction can all be traced within the ,nile valley1 though it travelled by conquest into ,syria under the ,eighteenth ,dynasty and onward for the engraving of ,egyptian inscriptions in that country4 ,again1 it is held by some authorities to be quite possible that the merchants of ,phnicia and the gean had evolved from the ,egyptian hieratic the cursive form of writing1 their ',phnician' alphabet1 about #ajjj ,b4,c4 ,the hieroglyphic character was originally picture-writing in its simplest form1 but had become more complex by the time it is met with first1 in inscriptions belonging to the ,first ,dynasty4 ,it underwent some changes1 but the final mode it assumed persisted practically unaltered from the ,fourth ,dynasty down to its expiry in the fourth century ,a4,d4 ,by that time all knowledge of the meaning of the characters had died out1 and it was not until the discovery of the ,rosetta ,stone#b and the decipherment of its lingual inscription in ,greek and ,egyptian that any progress could be made in the reading of hieroglyphic writing4 ,the signs are of two kinds1 one to represent sounds1 the phonetic--which is again divided into two varieties1 the alphabetic and syllabic--and the other to represent ideas1 the ideographic4 ,these latter signs are pictorial representations of the object spoken of1 which are placed after the phonetically written words as 'determinatives1' or representative symbols4 ,these again are of two kinds1 generic1 being determinative of a class1 and specific1 of a particular object4 ,there is no rule#c as to the arrangement of the text4 ,it is read either from right to left1 left to right1 or in columns1 its commencement being from that side toward which the bird and animal characters face4 ,about five hundred characters were used4 ,hieratic writing is to be found in the ,first ,dynasty1 approximating closely to the hieroglyphic1 but by the time of the ,middle ,kingdom this resemblance is lost4 ,the commercial era of the ,twenty-sixth ,dynasty brought into everyday use the ,demotic form1 and thenceforth hieratic was used for the copying of religious and traditional texts on papyrus1 and in time was understood by the learned only1 for in the ,ptolemaic period1 whenever the text of a royal decree was inscribed upon a stele which was to be set up in a public place1 a version of the said decree in the ,demotic character was added4 ,stel inscribed in hieroglyphic1 ,demotic1 and ,greek have been found1 the most famous of these being the ,decree of ,canopu1 belonging to ,ptolemy ,,iii1 #bdg ,b4,c41 and the ,rosetta ,stone1 set up in the reign of ,ptolemy ,v1 ,epiphanes1 #bje ,b4,c4 ,it was this latter stone and its inscription which gave the key to unravelling the mystery of hieroglyphic writing in the last century1 and thus restoring to modern times the knowledge of ancient ,egyptian language and literature4 ,as has been shown1 the hieroglyphic system of writing had fallen into disuse long before the close of ,roman rule in ,egypt1 and again the widespread use of ,greek and ,latin among the aristocratic and official classes had caused the disappearance of ,egyptian as the language of state4 ,it probably lingered1 together with the study of hieroglyphs1 among learned men and priests in remote districts1 but by the fourth or fifth century ,a4,d4 had become a lost art4 ,then in #agii came the finding of the ,rosetta ,stone with its lingual inscription1 consisting of fourteen lines of hieroglyphs1 thirty-two lines of ,demotic1 and fifty-four lines of ,greek4 ,by the comparison and decipherment of these versions the ,egyptian alphabet was discovered1 and the clue thus found to the lost language of ancient ,egypt4 ,to ,akerblad in #ahjb1 ,young in #ahah1 and ,champollion in #ahbb must be given the honour for this momentous discovery1 restoring to our knowledge the wonderful civilization1 art1 and literature of a great race4 ,literature ,if one commences the study of ,egyptian texts with an examination of the ,book of the ,dead1 and turns from its gloomy1 if picturesque1 pages to the rest of the national literature1 he is perhaps doomed to disappointment1 for the field of ,egyptian letters1 though somewhat widespread1 presents a poverty of invention and verbiage exhibited by few literatures1 ancient or modern4 ,in the early periods1 as might be expected1 the style is simple to banality1 whilst later a stiff and pompous fashion too often mars what might otherwise have been meritorious work4 ,documents of almost every conceivable kind have come down to us--letters of business men1 legal scripts1 fragments of historical information1 magical papyri2 scientific1 theological1 and popular works1 even fiction and poetry1 are fairly well represented4 ,most of the standard works1 such as books of proverbs or instructions like those attributed to ,ptah-hotep and ,kagemni1 appear to have been of great age1 dating not later than the ,middle ,kingdom4 ,the style of these was imitated by most writers1 just as the shape and colour of the hieroglyphs and wall-paintings were sedulously copied by draughtsmen and scribes4 ,amenemhat ,i wrote a work resembling ,machiavelli's ,the ,prince for the instruction of his son in the principles of good government1 and the instructions of ,ani to his heir are of similar character4 ,in ,egyptian literature we frequently find parallelisms of phrase like those of ,hebrew poetry1 and repetitions are common4 ,philosophical treatises1 although rare1 appear to have had some vogue1 and the great problems of existence seem to have been disputed in their pages in the form of a dialogue4 ,a papyrus of the ,middle ,kingdom 7c4 #bejj ,b4,c47 now in the ,berlin ,museum descants upon the justification of suicide4 ,the disputants are a man and his khu or other-self4 ,the man in question appears to be weary of existence and has made up his mind to destroy himself4 ,he trembles for the future1 and seems afraid that his corpse may be neglected4 ,in this dilemma he turns to his khu and entreats it to perform for him the duties of a relative4 ,this request the khu refuses point-blank1 and urges its possessor to forget his sorrows and to render his life as happy as possible4 ,it indicates that after death the remembrance of the deceased speedily vanishes1 and even granite monuments cannot retain it for long4 ,this counsel the man bitterly rejects1 exclaiming that his relatives have forsaken him and that his name is utterly condemned2 everywhere the proud triumph and the humble are oppressed2 the wicked man flourishes and dishonesty is universal2 of just and contented men there are none4 ,death appears to him very pleasing2 in his coffin he will be surrounded by the fragrance of myrrh1 will repose in the cool shadows and partake of the offerings made to him4 ,after this outburst the khu argues no longer and assents to the man's proposals1 agreeing that when he is at rest it shall descend to him1 and together they will prepare for themselves an abiding-place4 ,the ,cat and the ,jackal ,another such discussion1 which possesses some rather amusing characteristics1 is found in a ,late ,demotic papyrus1 and is perhaps tinged with ,greek ideas4 ,the dialecticians in this instance are a monster cat1 who represents the goddess ,bast1 and a diminutive jackal4 ,the feline adopts orthodox views and gives it as her opinion that the world is directed by the gods1 who will see to it that vice is vanquished and that virtue is triumphant in the end4 ,if even a little lamb be injured1 the violence offered will rebound upon the man who harms it4 ,the sun may be darkened by clouds for a season1 thunderstorms may roll1 the sunrise may be veiled by the vapours of morning2 but eventually the light of day will break forth through all1 and joy will reign supreme4 ,the jackal1 on the other hand1 is a realist4 ,according to him might is right on earth4 ,the lizard1 he remarks1 devours the insect1 and in its turn becomes the prey of the bat1 which is swallowed by the snake1 upon which the hawk pounces4 ,nature is ever at strife4 ,the scheme of the jackal's reasoning reminds one of that advanced by ,darwin in his theory of the survival of the fittest3 ,nature is careless of the single life4 ,how is the sinner to be punished1 and what prayer1 however powerful1 can deter him8 ,the contest between the animals grows warmer2 they adduce many proverbs and fables to illustrate the various points at issue1 and occasionally specific complaints are made against the gods themselves4 ,the author has evidently a leaning toward the jackal1 whose subtle reasoning occasionally throws the cat into a rage4 ,most unfortunately the text is badly preserved1 and many of its passages are exceedingly obscure2 but it stands as an early example of the never-ending war between the optimist and the pessimist4 ,travellers' ,tales ,some of the most interesting passages in ,egyptian literature are those which deal with travel and adventure4 ,the natives of ,egypt were by no means travellers1 and for the most part confined their journeyings and excursions to the precincts of their own country1 and even to their own nomes or provinces4 ,to pass beyond the borders of ,khemi appeared to them a formidable undertaking4 ,but it was necessary that ambassadors should be sent to the surrounding states1 and that tribute which had been agreed upon should be properly enforced4 ,as the benefits of trade grew apparent ,egyptian merchants pushed their way into the surrounding regions1 and criminals often saved themselves by flight into foreign countries4 ,those who had sojourned abroad were wont upon return home to gather their friends and neighbours about them and regale them with an account of their travels4 ,some of these are in the best style of ,sir ,john ,maundeville1 while others again are simple and correct narratives of possible events4 ,the ,story of ,saneha ,one of these1 the story of ,saneha1 dates from the ,middle ,kingdom1 and possessed a great vogue for at least a thousand years4 ,it is unknown whether its central figure is real or fictitious1 as the name was a fairly common one at that period4 ,saneha was an official under the first king of the ,twelfth ,dynasty1 ,amenemhat ,i4 ,when ,amenemhat died and his son ,senusert ,i#d came to the throne1 he chanced to be hidden near by where a secret reception of a certain embassy was held1 all knowledge of which his royal master desired should be kept inviolate4 ,in terror lest his presence should have been observed by someone1 he fled eastward across the ,delta1 passed the frontier1 and journeyed to the ,bitter ,lakes1 where he became overpowered by thirst4 ,here he felt that death had come upon him1 but1 summoning his courage1 he pressed forward and1 hearing the lowing of cattle1 walked in their direction4 ,tending the cattle was a man of the desert1 who provided him with water and boiled milk1 and offered him a home with his tribe4 ,but ,saneha considered himself unsafe so near the frontier1 and proceeded to the ,upper ,tenu1 perhaps the south of ,palestine4 ,here he encountered a tribe1 with which he dwelt for some time1 marrying the eldest daughter of its chief1 and he became wealthy in land and cattle and was regarded with much respect4 ,but as he grew older a great longing came upon him to behold the land of ,egypt once more4 ,king ,senusert was communicated with1 and permission was granted to ,saneha to return4 ,the king received him kindly and his bedouin garments were exchanged for costly ,egyptian robes4 ,a splendid tomb was built for him1 and he was once more received into the royal favour4 ,the papyrus is valuable as affording vivid descriptions of the life of the tribes of ,southern ,palestine1 the forays of the various clans and the picturesque barbarism of nomadic life4 ,but the narrative is often interrupted by irritating eulogies upon the ,king of ,egypt4 ,the ,shipwrecked ,sailor ,in sharp contradistinction to this is a tale of the ,twelfth ,dynasty1 known as the ,story of the ,shipwrecked ,sailor1 preserved in the ,hermitage ,collection at ,petrograd4 ,a wandering sailor1 recounting his adventures to his superior officer1 begs of him an introduction to ,pharaoh4 ,his master will not credit his story1 but the man protests that it is true4 ,he was bound for the mines of the king1 he says1 and took ship on a vessel #aej cubits long and #dj cubits wide1 manned by one hundred of the best sailors of ,egypt1 whose hearts were stronger than lions1 and who were inured to hardship and voyage4 ,they laughed at the thought of tempests1 but as they approached land a great wind arose and mighty waves dashed against the vessel4 ,the narrator seized upon a piece of timber1 and not too soon1 for the ship and all who remained in her were submerged4 ,he floated for three days and then was cast on an island1 where he crawled into the shadow of some bushes upon which grew figs and grapes4 ,he also succeeded in finding melons1 berries1 and grain1 and in snaring fishes and birds4 ,contented to remain there awhile1 he dug a pit and lighted a fire1 and offered up a sacrifice to the gods4 ,all at once a terrible uproar like to the rumbling of thunder surprised him out of his equanimity4 ,at first he took it to be the noise of a tempest at sea1 but shortly he perceived that the trees shook and that the earth had become violently agitated4 ,just before him lay a great serpent thirty cubits long1 with a beard two cubits in length2 its back was covered with scales of gold1 and its body was the colour of lapis-lazuli4 ,terrified1 the sailor threw himself on his face before this monster1 which regarded him for a moment with its terrible eyes1 and then1 opening its ponderous jaws1 addressed him as follows3 ,what has brought thee to this island1 little one8 ,speak quickly1 and if thou dost not acquaint me with something ,i have not heard1 or knew not before1 thou shalt vanish like flame4 ,without giving the unfortunate mariner time to answer1 it raised him in its jaws and carried him to its lair1 where it laid him down gently enough1 safe and sound4 ,once more it demanded of him what power had brought him to that island1 and the sailor1 trembling in every limb1 replied that on his way to the mines of ,pharaoh he had been wrecked4 ,on hearing his tale the serpent told him to be of good cheer and not to be afraid2 that ,god had brought him to a blessed island where nothing was lacking1 and which was filled with all good things2 that in four months' time a ship should come for him2 that he should return into ,egypt2 and that he should die in his own town4 ,to cheer him up the benevolent monster described the island to him4 ,its population consisted of seventy-five serpents1 young and old1 and there these beings dwelt in harmony and plenty4 ,the sailor on his part was none the less friendly1 and in the goodness of his heart offered to recount to ,pharaoh the presence and condition of the serpent island1 promising to bring to the monster personally sacred oils and perfumes and the incense with which the gods were honoured4 ,he would also slay asses for him in sacrifice1 pluck birds for him1 and bring him ships full of the treasures of ,egypt4 ,in reply the serpent merely smiled at him indulgently and a little disdainfully4 ,tell me not1 he said1 that you are rich in perfumes1 for ,i know that all you have is but ordinary incense4 ,i am ,prince of the ,land of ,punt and possess as much perfume as ,i require1 and let me tell you that when you depart from this place you shall never behold it again1 for it shall be changed into waves4 ,in due time the ship approached1 as the serpent had prophesied1 and in order to observe by what sort of company it was manned the sailor climbed into a high tree4 ,as it neared the shore the serpent bade him farewell1 and provided him with gifts of precious perfumes1 sweet woods1 cassia1 kohl1 incense1 ivory tusks1 apes1 baboons1 and all kinds of precious merchandise4 ,embarking with these1 he was finally told by the genius of the island that in two months he should behold his wife and children4 ,the rescued mariner then sailed through ,nubia down the ,nile to the residence of the ,pharaoh1 and the tale ends with the request on the part of its narrator that his captain should provide him with an escort so that he might present himself before the ,pharaoh and recount his story4 ,the island upon which he had been wrecked was the island of the ,ka--that is1 the ,soul4 ,such a story would not by any means seem astounding to the ancient ,egyptians1 among whom many such romances were current4 ,indeed1 so abundant were these1 and so many absurd notions did they propagate1 that we find the spirit of satire aroused against them in a ,london papyrus dating about #abej ,b4,c41 which relates an imaginary journey through ,palestine and ,phnicia1 the aim of which is not to describe the journey itself1 but to laugh to scorn the artificialities and absurdities of the popular romances of the day4 ,the ,fable of the ,head and the ,stomach ,romances regarding life in ,egypt1 such as that dealing with ,king ,rhampsinitus given elsewhere1 are frequent4 ,a papyrus of about #abej ,b4,c4 has for its background the war against the ,hyksos1 and describes an encounter between rival princes--,apepi1 leader of the ,hyksos1 and the nationalist prince1 ,ra-sekenen1 who dwelt in ,upper ,egypt4 ,they propounded riddles to one another1 and on their solutions the fate of one of them depended4 ,fables were extremely popular in the ,nile valley from an early period4 ,in the ,turin ,museum an example1 dating about #ajjj ,b4,c41 is painted upon two small boards and contains the story of a dispute between the head and the stomach4 ,the ,court of the ,thirty1 the supreme tribunal of ,egypt1 sits in judgment4 ,the stomach first brings forward its case2 but here the document is defective4 ,we have1 however1 the reply of the head1 who at considerable length argues that he is the principal beam1 from which all the other beams that support the house radiate4 ,his is the eye that sees1 the mouth that speaks1 the nose that breathes4 ,the rest of the proceedings and the verdict are unfortunately wanting4 ,it is interesting1 however1 to know of this early progenitor of the widespread fable of the strife between the stomach and its principals which was adduced by ,menenius ,agrippa to the ,roman plebeians1 when1 in #dib ,b4,c41 they threatened to forsake the city1 as a symbol of what might happen if they proceeded to extremities4 ,it contains good proof that the popular story has1 as a rule1 a lease of life spreading over many centuries1 and that1 originating in one country1 it becomes in time the property of many4 ,it has often been asserted that in all likelihood the fables of sop must have originated in ,egypt1 the land of animal-worship2 and it is noteworthy that in the ,leyden ,demotic papyrus we find the fable of the grateful mouse and the lion which had become entangled in the net4 ,but this dates within the ,christian era1 and is probably ,greek in conception4 ,however1 we discover stories of animals acting as human beings1 playing games1 engaging in war1 just as we do in the folklore of other barbarian peoples4 ,lepsius imagines that the purport of most of these is satirical4 ,the ,rebuking of ,amasis ,in a papyrus of the ,ptolemaic period we find the old expedient of rebuking a king by recounting to him an apposite story4 ,the monarch in question was ,amasis 7died #ebf ,b4,c471 a pleasure-loving ruler1 who was wont to imbibe too freely and too often of an ,egyptian intoxicating beverage called kelebi4 ,it happened one day that he spake to his nobles1 ,it is my good pleasure to drink ,egyptian kelebi4 ,they spake1 ,o our mighty lord1 it is hard to drink ,egyptian kelebi4 ,he said unto them1 ,hath that which ,i say unto you an evil savour8 ,they said1 ,o our mighty lord1 that which pleaseth the king1 let him do4 ,the king commanded1 ,let ,egyptian kelebi be brought to the lake1 and they did according to the word of the king4 ,the king washed himself1 with his children1 and there was no other wine set before them but ,egyptian kelebi4 ,the king feasted with his children1 he drank much wine for the love which he bore to ,egyptian kelebi2 then1 on the evening of that day1 the king fell asleep by the lake1 for he had commanded a couch to be placed in an arbour on the shore of the lake4 ,when the morning dawned the king could not arise because of the heaviness of his carouse4 ,when an hour had passed and he still could not arise1 then the courtiers lamented1 saying1 ,can such things be8 ,behold1 the king drinketh himself drunken like a man of the people4#e ,a man of the people cannot come into the presence of the king on matters of business4 ,therefore the courtiers went to the place where the king was lying1 and spake1 ,o our mighty lord1 what wish doth the king cherish8 ,the king said1 ,it is my will and pleasure to make myself drunken4 ,is there none among you can tell me a story that ,i may keep myself from sleep8 ,now among the courtiers there was a high official named ,peun1 who knew many tales4 ,he stood before the king1 and began3 ,o our mighty lord1 knoweth the king not the story of the young sailor8 ,in the days of ,king ,psammetichus there was a young sailor and he was wedded4 ,another sailor fell in love with the wife of the first1 and she loved him in return4 ,then it happened one day that the king summoned him to his presence4 ,when the feast was over great desire took hold upon him--here a hiatus occurs in the text--and he wished once more to come into the presence of the king4 ,he returned to his home and washed himself1 with his wife1 but he could not drink as aforetime4 ,when the hour came for bed he could not bring himself to sleep because of the great grief that oppressed him4 ,then said his wife unto him1 ',what hath befallen thee on the river8' ,most unfortunately the remainder of the text is wanting1 and exactly in what manner the relation of what happened to ,king ,psammetichus edified ,king ,amasis we cannot tell4 ,tales of ,magic ,as was only to be expected1 a goodly number of ,egyptian stories abounded in the magical element4 ,notably is this the case in the ,westcar papyrus written about #ahjj ,b4,c4 and now in the ,berlin ,museum4 ,unluckily both the beginning and end of this manuscript are wanting1 yet sufficient of it remains to permit us to glean the purport of the whole4 ,it recounts how ,khufu1 or ,kheops1 the famous builder of the great pyramid at ,gizeh1 gathered his sons and his councillors around him and asked if any of them were aware of a man who could recount to him tales of the magicians4 ,his son ,khafra1 in reply1 stated that he was aware of one such tale1 which had been handed down from the days of the king's forefather ,nebka1 and that it dealt with what occurred when he went into the temple of ,ptah of ,ankhtaui4 ,whilst proceeding to the temple ,nebka turned aside to visit his chief reciter1 ,uba-aner4 ,he was followed by his retinue1 among whom was a certain page1 with whom ,uba-aner's wife fell in love1 and sent her servant to him with a present of a chest full of beautiful raiment4 ,they met clandestinely in a summer-house or pavilion in the garden of ,uba-aner1 where they quaffed wine and made merry4 ,but the steward of the house considered it his duty to inform his master of these happenings1 and ,uba-aner1 being a man versed in magic1 resolved to avenge himself thereby4 ,he called for his casket of ebony and electrum1 and when they had brought it he fashioned a crocodile of wax of the length of seven fingers1 and he laid a spell upon it2 and toward evening the page went to the lake1 which was in the garden1 to bathe1 whereupon1 acting on his master's instructions1 the steward threw in the waxen crocodile behind him4 ,at once it became a great crocodile1 seven cubits in length1 and1 opening its horrid jaws1 seized on the page and dragged him under4 ,during this time the king had been staying with ,uba-aner1 and at the end of seven days he went forth again4 ,as he was about to leave the house ,uba-aner requested him to come and see the marvel which had happened4 ,they went to the lake-side1 and the reciter called upon the crocodile1 which at once arose from the water holding the page4 ,o king1 said ,uba-aner1 whatever ,i desire this crocodile to do1 he will do4 ,the king requested that the animal should be returned to the water2 but ,uba-aner lifted the crocodile in his hand1 and straightway it turned to wax again4 ,he then acquainted the king with what had passed between the page and his wife1 and the monarch indignantly ordered the crocodile once more to seize the page1 which it immediately did1 plunging into the water with its prey and disappearing for ever4 ,nebka then commanded that the wife of ,uba-aner be brought forth and that she be burned with fire and her ashes cast into the river4 ,so pleased was ,khufu with this story that he ordered that the shade of ,nebka should be presented with a thousand loaves1 a hundred draughts of beer1 an ox1 and two jars of incense1 and that the ka of ,uba-aner should receive a loaf1 a jar of beer1 a jar of incense1 and a portion of meat4 ,the ,parting of the ,waters ,another of the king's sons then told of a marvellous happening which came to pass in the days of ,king ,seneferu4 ,seneferu1 feeling extremely bored and jaded1 sought in every apartment of his palace for something with which to amuse himself1 but in vain2 so he called for ,zazamankh1 his chief reciter and scribe of the rolls1 to whom he told his predicament4 ,zazamankh advised that the king should command that a boat be made ready1 and that he should go upon the lake of the palace and be rowed to and fro upon its glassy surface by the royal ladies4 ,he asked for twenty oars of ebony inlaid with gold1 with blades of light wood inlaid with electrum4 ,these were to be rowed by twenty ladies4 ,the king's heart was gladdened by the exercise2 but one of the ladies who was steering lost a jewel of malachite from her hair4 ,immediately she ceased her singing1 and so did her companions1 and they ceased to row4 ,seneferu inquired the reason1 and they replied1 ,the steerswoman rows not4 ,the king then turned to the lady who had lost her jewel and asked her why she did not row4 ,alas6 she replied1 my jewel of malachite has fallen in the water1 and my heart is sad4 ,the king bade her be of good cheer and said that he would replace it2 but she childishly replied that she wanted her own piece of malachite back in its setting4 ,the king then called for ,zazamankh and acquainted him with the circumstance which had befallen4 ,zazamankh then uttered a powerful spell1 and behold6 one part of the waters of the lake was piled upon the other1 so that far below them the king and the rowers could see the jewel lying upon a piece of potsherd4 ,zazamankh descended from the boat and secured the jewel and brought it back to its owner1 after which he once more commanded the waters to return to the place whence they came4 ,this surprising act lightened the hearts of the entire company1 so that they spent a joyful afternoon1 and ,zazamankh was richly rewarded for his magical skill4 ,pharaoh was so pleased with this tale that he commanded that the shade of ,seneferu should receive an offering similar to what had been presented to ,nebka1 and that the ka of ,zazamankh should have presented to it a loaf1 a jar of beer1 and a jar of incense4 ,the ,prophecy of ,dedi ,but a third son told the king that1 so far from recounting tales concerning persons of bygone times1 he could tell him a magical story of a man who lived in his own days4 ,his name was ,dedi1 and he dwelt at ,dedsneferu4 ,he was #aaj years old1 and he ate daily five hundred loaves of bread and a side of beef1 and drank a hundred draughts of beer4 ,so great was his magical learning that if the head of a man or an animal were smitten off1 ,dedi could restore the deceased to life4 ,he could tame wild beasts1 and knew the designs of the ,house of ,thoth4 ,this design the king1 ,khufu1 might like to know1 and it would perhaps be of use to him in the construction of his pyramid4 ,khufu at once ordered his son to bring this ,dedi before him1 and the prince1 whose name was ,hordedef1#f took ship up the ,nile to where the venerable magician dwelt4 ,he was carried in a litter to the house of ,dedi1 whom he found lying on a couch at the door of his house in process of being massaged by his servants4 ,hordedef told him that he had come from afar to bring him before his father1 ,khufu4 ,dedi replied with the salutation of praise1 and together they went toward the ship which had brought the prince thither4 ,dedi asked that he might be given a boat and that his youths and his books might be brought to him4 ,he was provided with two boats1 in which these were stowed1 and ,dedi himself sat in the barge of the prince4 ,they duly reached the palace1 where ,hordedef announced to the king that he had brought the ancient sorcerer4 ,the ,pharaoh at once gave orders that he should be led before him1 and when he came asked how it was that he had not before heard of him2 and ,dedi replied1 ,he only who is called cometh2 the king calleth me1 and behold ,i come4 ,khufu said to him1 ,is it sooth1 as is said of thee1 that if the head is smitten off a man or an animal1 thou canst restore either to life8 ,dedi replied in the affirmative4 ,the king then requested that a prisoner be brought to him1 but ,dedi begged that a man should not be used for this purpose1 saying1 ,behold1 we do not even thus to our cattle4 ,a duck was then brought to him and decapitated1 and its body was laid on the west side of the hall1 and its head on the east side4 ,dedi then spoke some magic words1 and lo6 the body and the head of the bird approached each other and joined1 and the duck stood up and quacked4 ,he then performed the same feat with a goose and an ox4 ,khufu1 delighted with the success of these experiments1 then asked ,dedi if he knew of the designs of the ,house of ,thoth4 ,the magician replied that he did not know their number1 but that he knew where they were4 ,pharaoh then asked him their hiding-place1 and was told that in a chamber in ,heliopolis1 called the ,plan-room1 was a chest of whetstone in which the plans were concealed1 ,dedi adding1 ,o king1 it is not ,i that shall bring them to thee4 ,who1 then1 asked ,khufu1 shall bring them to me8 ,and ,dedi replied1 ,the eldest of the three children of ,rud-didet shall bring them to thee4 ,and who is ,rud-didet8 asked ,khufu4 ,she is1 replied ,dedi1 the wife of a priest of ,ra1 lord of ,sakhebu4 ,but these three sons of hers are the sons of ,ra the god1 who has promised her that they shall reign over all this land1 and that the eldest of them shall be high-priest in ,heliopolis4 ,at this the king's heart was much troubled1 and ,dedi1 seeing that he was in fear of the future1 said to him1 ,be not afraid because of what ,i have said1 ,o king2 for thy son shall reign1 and thy son's son1 before ,rud-didet's sons shall rule the land2 and behold6 this progeny of ,ra is not yet born4 ,khufu then announced his intention of visiting the temple of ,ra when the banks of the canal of ,letopolis were cut1 and ,dedi promised that the banks of the canal should hold at least four cubits of water4 ,the sorcerer was then placed in the palace of ,hordedef1 and was daily provided with a thousand loaves1 a hundred draughts of beer1 an ox1 and a hundred bunches of onions4 ,the ,visit of the ,goddesses ,now when the sons of ,ra and ,rud-didet were born1 that deity requested ,isis1 ,nebhat1 ,meskhent1 ,hakt1 and ,khnumu to go to her1 and taking the form of dancing-girls1 all except the god ,khnumu1 who followed them as a porter1 they descended to earth and approached the house of the priest ,ra-user1 ,rud-didet's husband1 and played before him with their instruments of music4 ,they endowed the children with various attributes1 and called them ,user-ref1 ,sah-ra1 and ,kaku4 ,they then quitted the house and bade ,ra-user rejoice4 ,in return for their good wishes he bestowed upon them a bushel of barley1 which ,khnumu placed upon his head2 but as they were on the way back to their divine abode ,isis said unto the others1 ,would it not have been better had we done a marvel for these children8 ,to this the others assented1 and they there and then fashioned a likeness of the crowns of ,egypt1 of the crown of the ,upper ,land1 and of the crown of the ,lower1 and hid them in the bushel of barley4 ,they then returned to the house of ,ra-user and requested permission to leave the barley in a closed chamber1 which they sealed up1 and then took their leave4 ,a few weeks afterward ,rud-didet asked her handmaid if the house and all that was in it were in good condition1 and the handmaid replied that all was satisfactory except that the brewing barley was not yet brought4 ,her mistress then inquired why that had not been done1 and the servant answered that their store had been given to the dancing-girls1 who had arrived on the day of the children's birth1 and that it now lay in the closed chamber under their seal4 ,rud-didet then ordered the maid to use it for the present1 saying that ,ra-user could replace it before their return4 ,the girl opened the chamber and1 entering1 was surprised to hear people talking and singing1 music and the sound of dancing1 and such sounds as one hears in the palace of the king4 ,she quickly returned and acquainted her mistress with what she had heard4 ,rud-didet then entered the room herself and also heard the sounds1 but could not locate them4 ,at last she laid her ear to the sack which held the barley1 and found that the sounds proceeded from it4 ,she at once placed it in a chest1 which she put for security in a greater chest1 and this she bound round with leather and laid in a store-room1 taking the precaution to seal it1 and when ,ra-user returned she told him what had occurred4 ,some days after1 ,rud-didet had occasion to rebuke her servant and beat her with stripes1 and the maid grumbled and said to her companions1 ,why has this been done to me8 ,i will go to ,king ,khufu and tell him that her three sons are destined to become kings4 ,she then betook herself to her uncle2 but he would not hearken to her treachery and struck her a violent blow with a bunch of flax which he held4 ,feeling faint1 she went down to the riverside for a draught of water1 but was seized upon by a crocodile1 who carried her away4 ,her uncle then presented himself to ,rud-didet1 whom he found in a most dejected condition4 ,he asked her what made her downcast1 and she replied that she feared treachery from the handmaiden4 ,you need not fear for her1 replied the man1 because she has been seized upon by a crocodile4 ,at this point the manuscript fails us4 ,it is indeed unfortunate that such an interesting domestic passage has not been spared4 ,the three kings whose names appear in the story as the triplet sons of ,rud-didet reigned during the ,fifth ,dynasty1 so that they could hardly have been born in the ,fourth4 ,the tale would seem to be based upon the official adoption of the worship of ,ra in ,egypt4 ,it may be mentioned that the real names of the three children1 ,user-ref1 ,sah-ra1 and ,kaku1 are intended as a play upon the names of the first three kings of the ,fifth ,dynasty1 ,user-kaf1 ,sahu-ra1 and ,kaka4 ,the story of the fatal children born to usurp a throne is a very common one in all mythologies1 and it is inevitable that the monarch whose line is doomed to extinction should make an effort to destroy them while yet they are in the cradle4 ,the ,greek myth of ,dana and the old romance of ,sir ,torrent of ,portugal are examples of this4 ,medival romance is1 indeed1 full of such stories1 but this is probably the earliest example on record4 ,lyric and ,folk ,poetry ,egypt was not without its lyric and folk poetry2 however1 the romantic was not the forte of the ,egyptians4 ,it is noteworthy at the same time that most ,oriental peoples sing while at their work1 and it would be strange if the labourer on the banks of the ,nile had not done so4 ,the fellah of to-day chants monotonously and endlessly while toiling1 repeating the same words and music over and over again2 but the scribe of early ,egypt regarded the folk-song as unfit for transmission to posterity4 ,occasionally a song is recaptured from mural inscriptions4 ,the shepherd who wades through the half-submerged fields1 driving his sheep before him1 sings3 ,in the water walks the shepherd with the fishes4 ,he talks with the cat-fish2 with the fish he exchanges a greeting4 ,we have also a threshing song3 ,thresh ye1 ,o oxen2 thresh for yourselves4 ,thresh straw for your fodder and grain for your masters4 ,rest not1 for the air is cool this day4 ,a few love-songs have also survived4 ,these were probably very numerous4 ,for the most part they are intense and passionate4 ,three collections of love-songs of about #abjj ,b4,c4 have been unearthed1 one of which is contained in a papyrus now in the ,british ,museum4 ,on a stele in the ,louvre the praise of the wife of a king of about #gjj ,b4,c4 is sung as follows3 ,the sweet one1 sweet in love2 the sweet one1 sweet in love in the presence of the king2 the sweet one1 sweet in love before all men2 the beloved before all women2 the king's daughter who is sweet in love4 ,the fairest among women1 a maid whose like none has seen4 ,blacker is her hair than the darkness of night1 blacker than the berries of the blackberry bush4 ,harder are her teeth than the flints on the sickle4 ,a wreath of flowers is each of her breasts1 close nestling on her arms4 ,the ,true ,history of ,setne and his son ,se-,osiris#g ,this story was discovered written on some papyrus belonging to the ,british ,museum4 ,an ,english translation was published in #aijj by ,mr4 ,f4 ,ll4 ,griffiths1 and one in ,french by ,sir ,g4 ,maspero in #aija4 ,it is written on the back of some official documents in ,greek and dates from the seventh year of the ,emperor ,claudian4 ,the papyrus is much dilapidated and pasted end to end2 it is incomplete1 and the beginning of the history has disappeared4 ,by the writing one would judge the copy to belong to the latter half of the second century of our era4 ,the ,setne alluded to is the same who figures in the story of ,setne and the ,mummies related in the chapter on ,magic4 ,once upon a time there was a king called ,ousimares1 and he had a son called ,setne4 ,this son was a scribe2 he was clever with his hands1 indeed in all things1 and he excelled all men of the world learned in the arts or those among the renowned scribes of ,egypt4 ,it happened that the chiefs of certain foreign lands sent a message to ,pharaoh challenging him to find one who would do such and such a thing under certain conditions4 ,if this were done1 then these chiefs would acknowledge the inferiority of their country to ,egypt2 but if1 on the other hand1 neither scribe nor wise man could accomplish it1 then they would proclaim the inferiority of ,egypt4 ,now ,ousimares called his son ,setne and repeated these words to him1 and immediately ,setne gave the answer to that which the chiefs had propounded1 so that the latter were forced to carry out the conditions and admit the superiority of ,egypt4 ,and thus were they robbed of their triumph1 so great was the wisdom of ,setne1 and none other ever dared to send such messages to ,pharaoh4 ,now ,setne and his wife ,mahtouaskht were greatly grieved1 for they had no son4 ,one day when he was troubled more than usual over this his wife went to the temple of ,imhetep1 and she prayed before him1 saying1 ,turn thy face to me1 ,o ,imhetep1 son of ,ptah1 thou who workest miracles1 who art beneficent in all thy doings4 ,it is thou who canst give a son to those who are sonless4 ,oh1 hear my prayer1 and grant that ,i shall bear a son6 ,and that night ,mahtouaskht slept in the temple1 and there she dreamed a dream wherein she was directed to prepare a magical remedy1 and told that by this means her desire for a son should be fulfilled4 ,on waking she did all according to her dream1 and in time it was known that a child was to be born to her and ,setne1 who told it before ,pharaoh with great joy1 while to his wife1 for her protection1 he gave an amulet and put spells about her4 ,and one night ,setne dreamed1 and a voice said to him1 ,mahtouaskht1 thy wife1 will bring forth a son1 and through him many wonders shall be accomplished in the land of ,egypt4 ,and the name of thy son shall be ,se-,osiris4 ,when ,setne awoke and remembered these words he rejoiced and was glad in heart4 ,se-,osiris ,in due time a son was born1 and according to the dream he was called ,se-,osiris4 ,and the child developed rapidly beyond all other children1 and ,setne loved him so greatly that scarce an hour passed without his seeing him4 ,in time he was put to school1 but soon showed that he knew more than the tutor could teach him4 ,he began to read the magical papyri with the priestly scribes in the ',double ,house of ,life' of the temple of ,ptah1 and all those about him were lost in astonishment4 ,then was ,setne so pleased that he led his son before ,pharaoh to the festival that all the magicians of the king might strive against him and have to acknowledge their defeat4 ,and one day1 when ,setne1 together with the boy ,se-,osiris1 was preparing for the festival1 loud voices of lamentation rose upon the air1 and ,setne1 looking forth from the terrace of his apartments1 saw the body of a rich man being carried to the mountains for burial with great honour and loud wailing4 ,again he looked forth1 and this time he saw the body of a peasant borne along wrapped in a mat of straw and without a soul to mourn him4 ,and seeing this ,setne exclaimed1 ,by the life of ,osiris1 god of ,amenti1 may it be that ,i come into ,amenti as this rich man comes1 honoured and lamented1 and not as the peasant1 alone and already forgotten6 ,upon hearing this ,se-,osiris said1 ,nay1 my father1 rather may the fate of the poor man be thine1 and not that of the rich one6 ,setne was astonished and hurt at this and cried1 ,are they the words of a son who loves his father8 ,se-,osiris answered him3 ,my father1 ,i will show to thee each in his place1 the peasant unwept and the rich man so lamented4 ,a ,vision of ,amenti ,then ,setne demanded of him how he could accomplish this4 ,the child ,se-,osiris began to recite words from the magical books1 words of power4 ,next he took his father by the hand and led him to an unknown place in the mountains of ,memphis4 ,here there were seven great halls filled with people of all conditions4 ,they traversed three of these without hindrance4 ,upon entering the fourth ,setne saw a mass of men who rushed hither and thither1 writhing as creatures attacked them from behind2 others1 famished1 were springing and jumping in their efforts to reach the food suspended above them1 whilst some1 again1 dug holes at their feet to prevent them attaining their object4 ,in the fifth hall were venerable shades who had each found their proper and fitting place1 but those who were accused of crimes lingered kneeling at the door1 which pivoted upon the eye of a man who ceaselessly prayed and groaned4 ,in the sixth hall were the gods of ,amenti1 who sat in council1 each in his place1 whilst the keepers of the portals called out the causes4 ,in the seventh hall was seated the great god ,osiris on a golden throne1 crowned with the plumed diadem4 ,on his left was ,anubis1 and on his right the god ,thoth4 ,in the midst were the scales wherein were weighed the faults and virtues of the souls of the dead1 while ,thoth wrote down the judgment that ,anubis pronounced4 ,then those whose faults outweighed their virtues were delivered to ,amait1 the attendant of the ,lord of ,amenti2 their souls and bodies were destroyed for ever4 ,but those whose virtues were greater than their failings took their place among the gods and shades1 and there their souls found a heaven4 ,those1 again1 whose merits and faults were equal were put amongst the servitors of ,sekerosiris4 ,then ,setne saw near the place of ,osiris one of exalted rank and robed in the finest linen4 ,and while ,setne was marvelling at all he had seen in the land of ,amenti1 ,se-,osiris1 his little son1 said unto him1 ,my father ,setne1 seest thou that great personage in fine robes and near to ,osiris8 ,that peasant whom thou didst see carried out of ,memphis without a soul to accompany him1 and his body wrapped in a mat1 dost thou remember1 my father8 ,well1 that peasant is the one beside ,osiris6 ,when he had come to ,amenti and they weighed his faults and virtues1 lo6 his virtues outweighed all4 ,and by the judgment of the gods all the honours that had been the share of the rich man were given to the peasant1 and by the law of ,osiris he takes his place midst the honoured and exalted4 ,but the rich man1 when he had come to ,hades and his merits were weighed1 lo6 his faults weighed heavier1 and he is that man you have seen upon whose eye pivots the door of the fifth hall1 the man who cries and prays aloud with great agony4 ,by the life of ,osiris1 god of ,amenti1 if upon earth ,i said to thee1 ',rather may the fate of the peasant be thine than that of the rich man1' it was because ,i knew their fates1 my father4 ,and ,setne answered and said1 ,my son ,se-,osiris1 numberless marvels have ,i seen in ,amenti2 but tell me the meaning of those people we saw rushing before creatures who devoured them1 and the others ever trying to reach the food beyond their reach4#h ,se-,osiris answered him3 ,in truth1 my father1 they are under the curse of the gods2 they are those who upon earth wasted their substance1 and the creatures who devour them without ceasing are the women with whom they squandered both life and substance1 and now they have naught1 though they should work day and night4 ,and so it is with all3 as they have been on earth1 so it is with them in ,amenti1 according to their good and bad deeds4 ,that is the immutable law of the gods1 the law that knows no change and under which all men must come when they enter ,hades4 ,then ,setne and his son returned hand in hand from the mountains of ,memphis4 ,a fear was upon ,setne because of ,se-,osiris1 who answered not1 and then he pronounced words that exorcize the ghosts of the dead4 ,always afterward he remembered all he had seen and marvelled thereat1 but spoke of it to no man4 ,and when ,se-,osiris was twelve years of age there was no scribe or magician in ,memphis who was his equal in the reading of the magical books4 ,the ,reading of the ,sealed ,letter ,after this it happened one day that the ,pharaoh ,ousimares was seated in the ,hall of ,audience with the princes1 the military chiefs1 and the nobles of ,egypt1 each according to his rank1 gathered about him4 ,one said unto ,pharaoh1 ,here is a rascally ,ethiopian who would fain have speech with you and who carries a sealed letter4 ,and ,pharaoh commanded that the man be brought before him4 ,and when he was come he made obeisance and said1 ,here is a sealed letter which ,i bear1 and ,i would fain know if amongst your wise men there are any who can read its contents without breaking the seals4 ,if1 ,o king1 you have not such a one among your scribes and magicians1 ,i shall take back to my country1 the land of the ,negro1 the story of ,egypt's failure and inferiority4 ,upon hearing these words all were amazed1 and those about the king exclaimed loudly1 while ,pharaoh bade some bring to him his son ,setne4 ,when he had come1 instantly obeying the royal command and bowing low before him1 ,pharaoh said1 ,my son ,setne1 hast thou heard the words of this insolent ,ethiopian8 and then he repeated the challenge4 ,then was ,setne astonished1 but he answered immediately1 ,great ,lord1 who can read a letter without its being opened and spread before him8 ,but if you will give me ten days1 ,i will think upon it and do what ,i can to avoid the report of ,egypt's failure being carried to the ,negroes1 eaters of gum4 ,and ,pharaoh said1 ,those days are granted1 my son4 ,then were rooms appointed for the ,ethiopian1 and ,pharaoh rose from his palace sad at heart and went fasting to his couch4 ,and ,setne1 pondering and much disturbed1 threw himself upon his couch1 but knew no rest4 ,his wife ,mahtouaskht came to him and would fain have shared his trouble1 but he said that it was not for a woman to share or one that she might help him in4 ,later1 his son ,se-,osiris came and begged to know what so sorely troubled his father1 and again ,setne refused to speak1 saying that it was not for a child4 ,but the boy persisted1 and at last ,setne told him of the challenge of the ,ethiopian4 ,the moment he had finished ,se-,osiris laughed1 and his father asked the reason of his mirth4 ,my father1 he answered1 ,i laugh to see you there1 so troubled in heart because of such a small affair4 ,i will read that letter of the ,ethiopian1 read it all without breaking the seals4 ,hearing this1 ,setne rose instantly4 ,but what proof can you give me of the truth of what you say1 my son8 ,se-,osiris answered1 ,my father1 go thou to the lower floor of this house and take what books you please from their place4 ,as you do so ,i shall read that which you have taken from its place while ,i stand before you4 ,and it happened as ,se-,osiris had said4 ,each book that his father lifted the boy read without its being opened4 ,upon this ,setne lost no time in acquainting ,pharaoh with all that ,se-,osiris had done1 and so lightened was the heart of the king that he made a feast in honour of ,setne and his young son4 ,after this ,pharaoh sent for the ,ethiopian4 ,and when he entered the ,hall of ,audience he was placed in the midst of all1 and the young ,se-,osiris took up his place beside him4 ,but first the boy put a curse upon the man and his gods if he should dare to say falsely that what he read was not true4 ,and seeing the boy1 the ,ethiopian prostrated himself before him in fear4 ,then ,se-,osiris began to read the letter with its seals still unbroken1 and all heard his voice4 ,and the words were3 ,the ,contents of the ,letter ,it happened during the reign of the ,pharaoh ,manakhphr-,siamon1 who was a beneficent ruler and in whose time the land overflowed with all good things1 who endowed the temples richly1 that when the ,king of ,nubia was taking his rest in the pleasure-kiosk of ,amen he overheard the voices of three ,ethiopians who were talking behind the house4 ,one of them was speaking in a high voice1 saying1 among other things1 that if the god ,amen would preserve him from the enmity of the ,king of ,egypt he could put a spell on the people of that country so that a great darkness should reign and they should not see the moon for three days and three nights4 ,then the second man said that if ,amen would guard him he would cause the ,pharaoh to be transported to the land of the ,negroes1 and there1 before the king of that country and in public1 he should suffer five hundred blows1 and afterward he should be taken back to his country in not more than six hours4 ,after this the third man spoke1 saying that if ,amen would preserve him he would then send a blight upon the land of ,egypt1 a blight for the space of three years4 ,when the king heard this he ordered that these three men be brought before him4 ,he said unto them1 ',which of you said that he would cause that the people of ,egypt should not see the moon for three days and three nights8' ,and they answered that it was ,horus1 the son of ,tririt 7the sow74 ,again the king said1 ',which of you said that he had power to cause the ,king of ,egypt to be brought hither8' ,and they answered that it was ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit 7the negress74 ,again the king said1 ',which of you said that he would cause a blight to fall upon ,egypt8' ,and they answered that it was ,horus1 the son of ,tripht 7the princess74 ,then the king bade ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 come near1 and he said to him1 ',by ,amen1 the ,bull of ,meroe1 if thou canst accomplish what thou hast said1 then rich rewards shall be thine4' ,and ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 fashioned a litter and four bearers of wax4 ,over them he chanted magical words1 he breathed upon them and gave them life1 and finally he bade them wend their way to ,egypt and bring back the king of that land in order that he might suffer five hundred blows from the kourbash before the ,king of the ,negroes4 ,here ,se-,osiris paused and1 turning to the ,ethiopian1 said1 ,the curse of ,amen fall upon thee6 ,these words that ,i have said1 are they not written in the letter thou holdest in thine hand8 ,and the rascally ,ethiopian bowed low before him1 saying1 ,they are written there1 my lord6 ,then ,se-,osiris resumed his magical reading3 ,and all happened as ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 had devised4 ,by the power of sorcery was ,pharaoh taken to the land of the ,negroes1 and there suffered five hundred blows of the kourbash4 ,after that he was carried back to ,egypt1 as had been said1 and1 wakening the next morning in the temple of the god ,horus1 he lay in great pain1 his body sorely bruised4 ,bewildered1 he asked his courtiers how such could have happened in ,egypt4 ,they1 thinking some madness had fallen upon their king1 and yet ashamed of their thoughts1 spoke soothingly to him1 and said that the great gods would heal his afflictions4 ,but still they asked him the meaning of his strange words1 and suddenly he remembered all that had happened to him and recounted it to his courtiers4 ,magic versus ,magic ,when they saw his bruised body they made a great clamour4 ,and then ,pharaoh sent for his chief magician1 and he at once cried out that the evil and affliction of the king were due to the sorceries of the ,ethiopians4 ',by the life of ,ptah1' he continued1 ',i shall bring them to torture and execution4' ,and ,pharaoh bade him make all speed lest he should be carried away the next night4 ,and the chief magician carried his secret books and amulets to the place where ,pharaoh lay1 and chanted above him magical words and incantations4 ,then1 with many gifts1 he embarked in a boat and made haste to reach the temple of ,khmounon1 and there he prayed to the god ,thoth that all evil should be averted from ,pharaoh and the land of ,egypt4 ,and that night he slept in the temple1 and he dreamed a dream in which the god ,thoth appeared to him and instructed him in divine magic that would preserve the king from the wiles of the ,ethiopians4 ,on waking the magician remembered all1 and without losing a moment fulfilled all that he had been told in his dream4 ,and then he wrote the charm to preserve ,pharaoh from all sorcery4 ,on the second day the ,ethiopians endeavoured to renew their enchantments1 but all was now unavailing against the person of ,pharaoh4 ,the third morning ,pharaoh recounted to his chief musicians all that had happened during the night1 and how the ,ethiopians had failed in their attempts4 ,then the magician fashioned a litter and four bearers of wax4 ,he put a spell upon them and breathed life into them1 bidding them go and bring before ,pharaoh the ,king of the ,negroes1 that he might suffer five hundred blows upon his body and then be carried back to his own land again4 ,and the waxen figures promised to do all as the magician had commanded4 ,again ,se-,osiris paused1 and again he demanded of the ,ethiopian if his words were not the words of the sealed letter4 ,and the ,ethiopian bowed low to the ground1 saying they were the words in very truth4 ,se-,osiris began again to read the hidden words3 ,and as it happened to ,pharaoh1 so was the fate of the ,king of the ,negroes1 who awoke sorely bruised in the morning following4 ,he called loudly for his courtiers1 and when they saw the state of their king they made a great clamour4 ,again he called and commanded that ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 be brought before him4 ,when he had come the king threatened him1 and commanded him to go to ,egypt and there learn how to save him from the sorceries of ,pharaoh's chief magician4 ,but no spell devised by the ,ethiopian could preserve the king from the magic of the ,egyptians1 and three times was he carried to that country and humiliated1 whilst his body was in great pain1 so sorely bruised was it4 ,then he cursed ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 and threatened him with a slow and dreadful death unless he could preserve him from ,pharaoh's vengeance4 ,then in fear and trouble ,horus went to his mother ,tnahsit and told her all1 and that he must go to ,egypt to see the one who had worked these powerful sorceries and endeavour to inflict upon him a fitting punishment4 ,and his mother1 ,tnahsit1 on hearing this1 warned him against coming into the presence of ,pharaoh's chief magician1 for against him he would never prevail1 but know defeat4 ,but he answered that he must go4 ,then she arranged with him that by signs and signals between them he should let her know how he fared1 and if he were in danger1 then she should try to save him4 ,and he promised1 saying that if he were vanquished1 then that which she ate1 that which she drank1 and the sky above should turn to the colour of blood4 ,the ,war of ,enchantments ,and after this he journeyed to ,egypt1 tracking the one whose sorceries had prevailed against his own4 ,he penetrated to the ,royal ,hall of ,audience and came before ,pharaoh1 crying in a high voice1 ',who is it among you who is putting spells upon me8' ,and ,pharaoh's chief magician called out in answer1 saying1 ',ha6 ,ethiopian1 is it thou who workedst evil against ,pharaoh8' and ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 cried out in great anger and by a spell he caused a great flame to rise from the midst of the hall1 at which ,pharaoh and the ,egyptians cried out to the chief of the magicians to succour them4 ,then by his power he caused a shower of rain to fall so that the flame was extinguished4 ,again the ,ethiopian wrought his magic and thereby caused a great darkness to fall upon them all so that the people could not see each other1 but this also was dispersed by the magician of the ,egyptians4 ,then followed more machinations by ,horus1 the son of ,tnahsit1 but each time was he vanquished4 ,at last he asked for mercy and vowed before the gods that never again would he trouble ,egypt or ,pharaoh4 ,they gave him a boat and sent him back to his own land4 ,so were the sorceries of the ,ethiopians rendered as naught4 ,with this ,se-,osiris finished the reading of the sealed letter4 ,and then he began to reveal to all there1 ,pharaoh1 the princes1 and the nobles1 that the ,ethiopian now before them was none other than that ,horus1 son of ,tnahsit1 returned after five hundred years to trouble ,egypt and its king again4 ,but against this day he himself1 ,se-,osiris1 had been born again1 for he was that former chief magician of the ,pharaoh ,manakhphr come back once more to protect ,egypt and ,pharaoh from the wiles of the ,ethiopians4 ,and with these words he caused a great flame to consume the ,ethiopian1 there in the midst of the ,hall of ,audience1 so that not a vestige of the creature remained4 ,but afterward when they looked for ,se-,osiris he had disappeared as a shadow from before ,pharaoh and his father ,setne1 and never again was he seen of them4 ,at these happenings everyone marvelled1 and ,pharaoh said that ,se-,osiris was the wisest and most wonderful of all magicians1 and that never again would the world see his like4 ,but the hearts of ,setne and his wife were troubled1 and they grieved sorely for their son ,se-,osiris4 ,then comfort came to them1 and again the wife of ,setne bore a son1 and they called him ,ousimanthor4 ,and so the heart of ,setne was glad and he made offerings in the name of ,se-,osiris in remembrance4 ,how ,setnau ,triumphed over the ,assyrians ,after the close of the reign of ,amysis a priest of ',vulcan' named ,setnau ascended the throne4 ,and this king treated the army with contempt and disdain1 thinking he had no need of them4 ,among other injustices he appropriated the lands which former kings had given to them4 ,now it came to pass that when ,sennacherib1 ,king of the ,arabs and ,assyrians1 led his hosts against ,egypt1 the soldiers of the ,egyptian army refused to fight and repel them4 ,setnau1 thus reduced to powerlessness1 went to the temple and prayed the gods to help him in his dire straits4 ,while thus troubled a sleep fell upon him1 and in a dream it seemed that the god himself appeared and exhorted him to courage1 saying that all would fall to his advantage in the campaign against the ,assyrians4 ,greatly cheered by this dream1 ,setnau called upon those of the army who would follow him1 and they camped at ,peluce1 a main approach into ,egypt4 ,not only soldiers followed him1 but merchants1 artisans1 and men of the street4 ,now when the ,assyrians besieged the town1 as they lay encamped about the field rats during the night gnawed and devoured all the quivers1 bows1 and fittings of shields of the invaders1 so that1 on the morrow1 when they would have given battle1 behold6 they were weaponless4 ,thus disarmed1 many of the hosts fled and many perished4 ,and now in the temple of ,vulcan stands a stone image of the god1 bearing in his hand the figure of a rat4 ,and the legend inscribed thereon runs1 ,who beholds me beholds ,god4 ,the ,peasant and the ,workman ,a tale of the ,ninth ,dynasty1 which from the number of copies extant would seem to have been very popular1 relates how a peasant succeeded in obtaining justice after he had been robbed4 ,justice was not very easily obtained in ,egypt in those times1 for it seems to have been requisite that a peasant should attract the judge's attention by some special means1 if his case were to be heard at all4 ,the story runs thus3 ,in the ,salt ,country there dwelt a sekhti 7peasant7 with his family4 ,he made his living by trading with ,henenseten in salt1 natron1 rushes1 and the other products of his country1 and as he journeyed thither he had to pass through the lands of the house of ,fefa4 ,now there dwelt by the canal a man named ,tehuti-nekht1 the son of ,asri1 a serf to the ,high ,steward ,meruitensa4 ,tehuti-nekht had so far encroached on the path--for roads and paths were not protected by law in ,egypt as in other countries--that there was but a narrow strip left1 with the canal on one side and a cornfield on the other4 ,when ,tehuti-nekht saw the sekhti approaching with his burdened asses1 his evil heart coveted the beasts and the goods they bore1 and he called to the gods to open a way for him to steal the possessions of the sekhti4 ,this was the plan he conceived4 ,i will take1 said he1 a shawl1 and will spread it upon the path4 ,if the sekhti drives his asses over it--and there is no other way--then ,i shall easily pick a quarrel with him4 ,he had no sooner thought of the project than it was carried into effect4 ,a servant1 at ,tehuti-nekht's bidding1 fetched a shawl and spread it over the path so that one end was in the water1 the other among the corn4 ,when the sekhti drew nigh he drove his asses over the shawl4 ,he had no alternative4 ,hold6 cried ,tehuti-nekht with well-simulated wrath1 surely you do not intend to drive your beasts over my clothes6 ,i will try to avoid them1 responded the good-natured peasant1 and he caused the rest of his asses to pass higher up1 among the corn4 ,do you1 then1 drive your asses through my corn8 said ,tehuti-nekht1 more wrathfully than ever4 ,there is no other way1 said the harassed peasant4 ,you have blocked the path with your shawl1 and ,i must leave the path4 ,while the two argued upon the matter one of the asses helped itself to a mouthful of corn1 whereupon ,tehuti-nekht's plaints broke out afresh4 ,behold6 he cried1 your ass is eating my corn4 ,i will take your ass1 and he shall pay for the theft4 ,shall ,i be robbed1 cried the sekhti1 in the lands of the ,lord ,steward ,meruitensa1 who treateth robbers so hardly8 ,behold1 ,i will go to him4 ,he will not suffer this misdeed of thine4 ,thinkest thou he will hearken to thy plaint8 sneered ,tehuti-nekht4 ,poor as thou art1 who will concern himself with thy woes8 ,lo1 ,i am the ,lord ,steward ,meruitensa1 and so saying he beat the sekhti sorely1 stole all his asses and drove them into pasture4 ,in vain the sekhti wept and implored him to restore his property4 ,tehuti-nekht bade him hold his peace1 threatening to send him to the ,demon of ,silence if he continued to complain4 ,nevertheless1 the sekhti petitioned him for a whole day4 ,at length1 finding that he was wasting his breath1 the peasant betook himself to ,henen-ni-sut1 there to lay his case before the ,lord ,steward ,meruitensa4 ,on his arrival he found the latter preparing to embark in his boat1 which was to carry him to the judgment-hall4 ,the sekhti bowed himself to the ground1 and told the ,lord ,steward that he had a grievance to lay before him1 praying him to send one of his followers to hear the tale4 ,the ,lord ,steward granted the suppliant's request1 and sent to him one from among his train4 ,to the messenger the sekhti revealed all that had befallen him on his journey1 the manner in which ,tehuti-nekht had closed the path so as to force him to trespass on the corn1 and the cruelty with which he had beaten him and stolen his property4 ,in due time these matters were told to the ,lord ,steward1 who laid the case before the nobles who were with him in the judgment-hall4 ,let this sekhti bring a witness1 they said1 and if he establish his case1 it may be necessary to beat ,tehuti-nekht1 or perchance he will be made to pay a trifle for the salt and natron he has stolen4 ,the ,lord ,steward said nothing1 and the sekhti himself came unto him and hailed him as the greatest of the great1 the orphan's father1 the widow's husband1 the guide of the needy1 and so on4 ,very eloquent was the sekhti1 and in his florid speech he skilfully combined eulogy with his plea for justice1 so that the ,lord ,steward was interested and flattered in spite of himself4 ,now at that time there sat upon the throne of ,egypt the ,king ,neb-ka-n-ra1 and to him came the ,lord ,steward ,meruitensa1 saying3 ,behold1 my lord1 ,i have been sought by a sekhti whose goods were stolen4 ,most eloquent of mortals is he4 ,what would my lord that ,i do unto him8 ,do not answer his speeches1 said the king1 but put his words in writing and bring them to us4 ,see that he and his wife and children are supplied with meat and drink1 but do not let him know who provides it4 ,the ,lord ,steward did as the king had commanded him4 ,he gave to the peasant a daily ration of bread and beer1 and to his wife sufficient corn to feed herself and her children4 ,but the sekhti knew not whence the provisions came4 ,a second time the peasant sought the judgment-hall and poured forth his complaint to the ,lord ,steward2 and yet a third time he came1 and the ,lord ,steward commanded that he be beaten with staves1 to see whether he would desist4 ,but no1 the sekhti came a fourth1 a fifth1 a sixth time1 endeavouring with pleasant speeches to open the ear of the judge4 ,meruitensa hearkened to him not at all1 yet the sekhti did not despair1 but came again unto the ninth time4 ,and at the ninth time the ,lord ,steward sent two of his followers to the sekhti1 and the peasant trembled exceedingly1 for he feared that he was about to be beaten once more because of his importunity4 ,the message1 however1 was a reassuring one4 ,meruitensa declared that he had been greatly delighted by the peasant's eloquence and would see that he obtained satisfaction4 ,he then caused the sekhti's petitions to be written on clean papyri and sent to the king1 according as the monarch had commanded4 ,neb-ka-n-ra was also much pleased with the speeches1 but the giving of judgment he left entirely in the hands of the ,lord ,steward4 ,meruitensa therefore deprived ,tehuti-nekht of all his offices and his property1 and gave them to the sekhti1 who thenceforth dwelt at the king's palace with all his family4 ,and the sekhti became the chief overseer of ,neb-ka-n-ra1 and was greatly beloved by him4 ,story of the ,two ,brothers ,the manuscript of this tale of the ,nineteenth ,dynasty was bought in ,italy by ,mme4 ,elizabeth d',orbiney1 and is called the d',orbiney ,papyrus4 ,it was acquired by the ,british ,museum in #aheg and copied in facsimile4 ,it has been translated over and over again4 ,the manuscript extends to nineteen pages of ten lines each1 the first five pages having been considerably torn4 ,several gaps have been filled in by the modern possessors of the manuscript1 and the restorations are signed4 ,the original manuscript is stamped in two places with the name of its ancient owner1 ,sety ,merenptah1 whom we know as ,sety ,,ii4 ,it was executed by ,anena1 a scribe who lived during the reigns of ,rameses ,,ii1 ,merenptah1 and ,sety ,,ii1 and is more than three thousand years old4 ,bitou1 the hero of the story1 a herd and husbandman1 is perhaps identifiable with the ,greek god ,bitys4 ,anapou and ,bitou were two brothers who lived in ,egypt a long time ago4 ,to ,anapou1 as the elder1 belonged house1 cattle1 and fields2 and ,bitou1 the younger1 worked for him4 ,bitou was marvellously clever in his management of the cattle and in all things relating to agriculture--he could even tell what the cattle said to him and to each other4 ,one day1 as the brothers were working in the fields1 ,anapou sent ,bitou home for a large quantity of seed1 as he saw the time had come for sowing4 ,bitou went and got the seed1 and after their day's work the two returned1 to find ,anapou's wife lying moaning1 and saying she had been thrashed by ,bitou until she was sore because she would not yield him something he had asked of her when he came for the seed4 ,then ,anapou sought to kill ,bitou by stealth1 but ,bitou1 warned by the cattle1 fled4 ,his brother overtook him1 but the god ,phra-,harmakhis caused a wide stream full of crocodiles to arise between them1 and ,bitou asked his brother to wait till break of day1 when he would explain all that had happened4 ,when day broke ,bitou told ,anapou the truth1 refusing at the same time ever to return to the house where ,anapou's wife was4 ,i shall go1 he said1 to the ,vale of the ,acacia4 ,now listen to what will happen4 ,i shall tear out my heart by magic so as to place it on the topmost bough of the acacia1 and when the acacia is cut down1 and my heart will fall to the ground1 you will come to look for it4 ,after you have looked for seven years do not be discouraged1 but put it in a vessel of cold water2 that will bring me to life again4 ,i shall certainly live again and be revenged on my enemies4 ,you will know that something of moment is about to happen to me when a jug of beer is given you and the froth shall run over4 ,they will then give you a jug of wine of which the sediment will rise to the top4 ,rest no more when these things come about4 ,he went to the valley and his brother returned home1 killed his wife1 and mourned for ,bitou4 ,bitou1 in the valley1 spent his days in hunting1 and at night slept under the acacia1 on top of which his heart was placed4 ,one day he met the nine gods1 who gave him the daughter of the gods for his wife2 but the ,seven ,hathors swore she should die by the sword4 ,he told her about his heart1 and that whoever should find the acacia would have to fight with him4 ,the ,treachery of ,bitou's ,wife ,pharaoh1 hearing of this beautiful woman1 desired to take possession of her1 and sent armed men into the valley1 all of whom ,bitou killed4 ,pharaoh at last enticed her away and made her his chief favourite4 ,she told him her husband's secret and bade him cut down the acacia-tree1 which was accordingly done1 and ,bitou fell down dead at the same moment4 ,then what ,bitou had foretold happened to his brother4 ,beer that foamed was brought to him1 and then wine which became muddy while he held the cup4 ,by these signs he knew that the time had come to act1 and taking his clothes and sandals and weapons1 he set off for the valley4 ,when he got there he found his brother lying dead on his bed4 ,he went to the acacia to look for the heart1 but could find only a berry1 which1 however1 was the heart4 ,he placed it in cold water1 and ,bitou was restored to life4 ,they embraced each other1 and ,bitou said to his brother1 ,i shall now become a sacred bull 7,apis74 ,lead me1 then1 to ,pharaoh1 who will reward you with gold and silver for having brought me4 ,i shall then find means to punish my wife for having betrayed me4 ,anapou did as ,bitou directed1 and when the sun rose again next day1 ,bitou having then assumed the form of a bull1 he led him to court4 ,there were great rejoicings over the miraculous bull1 and ,pharaoh rewarded ,anapou richly and preferred him before any other man4 ,some days after1 the bull entered the harem and addressed his former wife4 ,you see1 ,i am still alive1 after all1 he said4 ,who are you8 she replied4 ,he said1 ,i am ,bitou4 ,you knew well what you were doing when you got ,pharaoh to have the acacia cut down4 ,then she was very much afraid1 and begged ,pharaoh to grant her any request she would make4 ,pharaoh1 who loved her so much that he could refuse her nothing1 consented4 ,then1 she said1 give me the liver of the sacred bull to eat1 for nothing else will satisfy me4 ,pharaoh was very much grieved at this1 but he had sworn1 and one day when the people were offering up sacrifices to the bull he sent his butchers to cut its throat4 ,when the bull was being killed two big drops of blood fell from his neck1 and flowing till they were opposite ,pharaoh's doorway1 they sprang up in the form of two great trees1 one at either side of the portal4 ,at this second miracle all the people rejoiced again and offered sacrifices to the two trees4 ,a long time after1 ,pharaoh1 in his crown of lapis-lazuli1 with a garland of flowers round his neck1 got into his electrum chair and was carried out to look at the two trees4 ,his chief favourite--,bitou's wife--was brought after him and they were set down1 one under each tree4 ,then ,bitou1 the tree under which his wife was seated1 whispered to her1 ,faithless woman6 ,i am ,bitou1 and ,i am still alive in spite of you4 ,you made ,pharaoh cut down the acacia1 and killed me4 ,then ,i became a bull and you had me slain4 ,afterward1 when she was seated again with ,pharaoh at table1 she made him swear another oath to do whatever she asked him1 and ,pharaoh swore again4 ,then she said1 ,cut me down these two trees and make them into two good beams4 ,what she demanded was done1 but as the trees were being cut down a chip flew into her mouth4 ,in due time she brought forth a male child1 whom ,pharaoh loved and made ,prince of the ,upper ,nile1 and when ,pharaoh died1 ,bitou1 for he was this child1 succeeded him4 ,then he summoned all the great officials1 had his wife brought before him1 and told them all that had happened4 ,so she was put to death4 ,bitou lived and reigned for twenty years1 and then his brother ,anapou1 whom he had made his successor1 reigned in his stead4 ,the ,doomed ,prince ,this story is to be found in the ,harris ,papyrus in the ,british ,museum4 ,it was complete when first discovered1 but an unfortunate accident partly destroyed it1 so that the end of the tale is lost4 ,it is supposed to belong to the end of the ,eighteenth ,dynasty4 ,there was once a king who was sore in heart because no son had been born to him4 ,he prayed the gods to grant his desire1 and they decreed that as he had prayed1 so it should be4 ,and his wife brought forth a son4 ,when the ,hathors came to decide his destiny they said1 ,his death shall be by the crocodile1 or by the serpent1 or by the dog4 ,and those who stood round1 upon hearing this1 hurried to tell the king1 who was much grieved thereat and feared greatly4 ,and because of what he had heard he caused a house to be built in the mountains and furnished richly and with all that could be desired1 so that the child should not go abroad4 ,when the boy was grown he went one day upon the roof1 and from there he saw a dog following a man upon the road4 ,then he turned to his attendant and said1 ,what is that which follows the man coming along the road8 ,and he was told that it was a dog4 ,and the child at once wished to possess a dog1 and when the king was told of his desire he might not deny him1 lest his heart should be sad4 ,as time went on and the child became a man he grew restive1 and1 being told of the decree of the ,hathors1 at once sent a message to his father1 saying1 ,come1 why and wherefore am ,i kept a prisoner8 ,though ,i am fated to three evil fates1 let me follow my desires4 ,let ,god fulfil ,his will4 ,and after this he was free and did as other men4 ,he was given weapons and his dog was allowed to follow him1 and they took him to the east country and said to him1 ,behold1 thou art free to go wheresoever thou wilt4 ,he set his face to the north1 his dog following1 and his whim dictated his path4 ,then he lived on all the choicest of the game of the desert4 ,and then he came to the chief of ,nahairana4 ,and this chief had but one child1 a daughter4 ,for her had been built a house with seventy windows seventy cubits from the ground4 ,and here the chief had commanded all the sons of the chiefs of the country of ,khalu to be brought1 and he said to them1 ,he who climbs and reaches my daughter's windows shall win her for wife4 ,and some time after this the prince arrived1 and the people of the chief of ,nahairana took the youth to the house and treated him with the greatest honour and kindness4 ,and as he partook of their food they asked him whence he had come4 ,he answered them1 saying1 ,i come from ,egypt2 ,i am the son of an officer of that land4 ,my mother died and my father has taken another wife1 who1 when she bore my father other children1 grew to hate me4 ,therefore have ,i fled as a fugitive from her presence4 ,and they were sorry for him and embraced him4 ,then one day he asked the climbing youths what it was they did there4 ,and when they told him that they climbed the height that they might win the chief's daughter for wife1 he decided to make the attempt with them1 for afar off he beheld the face of the chief's daughter looking forth from her window and turned toward them4 ,and he climbed the dizzy height and reached her window4 ,so glad was she that she kissed and embraced him4 ,and thinking to make glad the heart of her father1 a messenger went to him1 saying1 ,one of the youths hath reached thy daughter's window4 ,the chief inquired which of the chief's sons had accomplished this1 and he was told that it was the fugitive from ,egypt4 ,at this the chief of ,nahairana was wroth and vowed that his daughter was not for an ,egyptian fugitive4 ,let him go back whence he came6 he cried4 ,an attendant hurried to warn the youth1 but the maiden held him fast and would not let him go4 ,she swore by the gods1 saying1 ,by the being of ,ra ,harakhti1 if he is taken from me1 ,i will neither eat nor drink and in that hour ,i shall die6 ,and her father was told of her vow1 and hearing it he sent some to slay the youth while he should be in his house4 ,but the daughter of the chief divined this and said again1 ,by the great god ,ra1 if he be slain1 then ,i shall die ere the set of sun4 ,if ,i am parted from him1 then ,i live no longer6 ,again her words were carried to the chief4 ,he caused his daughter and the youth to be brought before him1 and at first the young man was afraid1 but the chief of ,nahairana embraced him affectionately1 saying1 ,tell me who thou art1 for now thou art as a son to me4 ,he answered him1 ,i come from ,egypt2 ,i am the son of an officer of that land4 ,my mother died and my father has taken another wife1 who1 when she bore my father children1 grew to hate me4 ,therefore have ,i fled as a fugitive from her presence6 ,then the chief gave him his daughter to wife2 he gave him a house and slaves1 he gave him lands and cattle and all manner of good gifts4 ,the time passed4 ,one day the youth told his wife of his fate1 saying to her1 ,i am doomed to three evil fates--to die by a crocodile1 a serpent1 or a dog4 ,and her heart was filled with a great dread4 ,she said to him1 ,then let one kill the dog which follows thee4 ,but he told her that could not be1 for he had brought it up from the time it was small4 ,at last the youth desired to travel to the land of ,egypt1 and his wife1 fearing for him1 would not let him go alone1 so one went with him4 ,they came to a town1 and the crocodile of the river was there4 ,now in that town was a great and mighty man1 and he bound the crocodile and would not suffer it to escape4 ,when it was bound the mighty man was at peace and walked abroad4 ,when the sun rose the man went back to his house1 and this he did every day for two months4 ,after this as the days passed the youth sat at ease in his house4 ,when the night came he lay on his couch and sleep fell upon him4 ,then his wife filled a bowl of milk and placed it by his side4 ,out from a hole came a serpent1 and it tried to bite the sleeping man1 but his wife sat beside him watching and unsleeping4 ,and the servants1 beholding the serpent1 gave it milk so that it drank and was drunk and lay helpless on its back4 ,seeing this1 with her dagger the wife dispatched it4 ,upon this her husband woke and1 understanding all1 was astonished4 ,see1 she said to him1 thy god hath given one of thy dooms into thy hand4 ,surely he shall also give thee the others6 ,and then the youth made sacrifices to his god and praised him always4 ,one day after this the youth walked abroad in his fields1 his dog following him4 ,and his dog chased after the wild game1 and he followed after the dog1 who plunged into the river4 ,he also went into the river1 and then out came the crocodile1 who took him to the place where the mighty man lived4 ,and as he carried him the crocodile said to the youth1 ,behold1 ,i am thy doom1 following after thee4444 ,at this point the papyrus is so extensively mutilated that in all probability we shall never know what happened to the prince4 ,was he at last devoured by the crocodile8 or perchance did his faithful dog lead him into still graver danger8 ,let everyone concoct his own ending to the tale6 ,the ,visit of ,ounamounou to the ,coasts of ,egypt ,on the sixteenth day of the thirteenth month1 the harvest month1 ,ounamounou1 the chief priest of the temple of ,amen-,ra1 departed on a voyage to procure wood for the fashioning of the sacred barque of the god4 ,when ,i arrived at ,tanis1 he says1 ,i gave them the edicts of ,amen-,ra1 which they read and decided to obey4 ,i stayed at ,tanis till the fourteenth month of ,shomou1 when ,i embarked to voyage upon the ,syrian sea4 ,when the ship arrived at ,dora1 city of ,zakkala1 the ,prince of the place1 ,badl1 sent bread1 meat1 and wine unto me4 ,while in this place a man of the vessel deserted1 carrying with him much gold and silver4 ,thereupon ,i went to the ,prince and made my complaint to him1 saying that the gold belonged to ,amen-,ra4 ,and the ,prince answered and said he knew naught of it1 but if the robber were of his country1 he would reimburse me out of his own treasury2 if1 on the other hand1 the robber were of my own company1 ,i must stay there for some days and he would search for the thief4 ,i stayed nine days in that port4 ,then ,i went again to the ,prince1 saying1 ',you have not yet found the stolen gold4 ,but now ,i must go4 ,if you should find it in my absence1 then keep it against my return4' ,this was so arranged between us4 ,then ,i embarked again and reached ,tyre1 to whose ,prince ,i recounted my loss1 and complained that the ,prince of ,dora had not found my gold1 but1 being a friend of ,badl1 he would not listen--indeed1 threatened me4 ,at break of day we set out in the direction of ,byblos1 and on the way a vessel of ,zakkala overtook us with a coffer on board4 ,on opening this coffer ,i discovered money1 and took possession of it4 ,i said to them that ,i would keep and use it until my stolen gold was restored to me4 ,when they saw ,i was firm they accepted the situation and left me1 and we at last reached ,byblos4 ,i disembarked1 carrying the naos containing the statue of ,amen-,ra1 having put therein the treasure4 ,but the ,prince of ,byblos bade me begone4 ,i said to him1 ',is this because the men of ,zakkala have told you that ,i took their money8 ,that money is my own1 for in their port the gold of ,amen-,ra was stolen4 ,besides1 ,i come from ,herihor to procure wood for the sacred barque of the god ,amen-,ra4' ,i stayed in this port for nineteen days1 and each day the ,prince sent this message bidding me begone4 ,then one eve when the ,prince of ,byblos sacrificed to his gods1 and one danced before them1 he mocked me and bade me bring my god to life4 ,that night ,i met a man whose vessel was bound for ,egypt1 and ,i charged him with all concerning me4 ,i said to him that ,i would embark and depart unknown to any1 and surely the gods ,i trust would watch over me4 ,while so debating the commander of the port came to me1 saying1 ',stay2 it is the will of the ,prince4' ,and ,i answered him1 ',are you not the one who brought me the message each day bidding me begone1 and never bade me stay8 ,now why is it that you bid me rest8' ,he turned and left me and went to the ,prince1 who this time sent a message to the captain of the vessel bidding him wait till the morrow4 ,the next morning he sent for me to be brought to the palace in which he lived beside the sea4 ,i was taken to his chamber1 and there he asked me how long it was ,i had been on this journey4 ,i answered five months1 but he doubted me1 asking where were the edicts of ,amen-,ra which ought to be in my hands1 and where was the letter of the high-priest8 ,i told him that ,i had given them to other princes4 ,he was angered1 and said that ,i came with no proofs1 and what was there to hinder him ordering the captain of the vessel to kill me8 ,again ,i answered that ,i had come from ,egypt for wood for the sacred barque4 ,and then he told how formerly those from ,egypt had come in state to visit his city4 ,after a long altercation with the ,prince1 and when ,i had told him that if he executed the commands of ,amen-,ra much good would be his1 he still hesitated4 ,then ,i asked for a messenger to take a letter from me to the other ,princes1 ,smendes and ,tantamounou1 and he would see how they would do my bidding and succour me4 ,it seemed that the ,prince had changed his mind1 for after he had given my letter to his messenger he ordered a ship to be loaded with wood1 seven pieces in all1 and to be taken to ,egypt4 ,his messenger went to ,egypt and returned to me in the first month of the winter4 ,and soon the ,princes ,smendes and ,tantamounou sent me ships laden with many gifts4 ,seeing this1 the ,prince was rejoiced1 and soon he commanded much wood to be hewn for me4 ,and when it was finished he came saying that he had done as his fathers had done before him1 and giving orders that the wood should be loaded on a vessel4 ,he also said that ,i had not been treated as were the envoys of ,khamos1 who had lived seventeen years in the country and died there4 ,turning to his courtier1 he bade him show me their tomb4 ,but ,i had no desire to see it1 and said so4 ,i also said1 ',the envoys of ,khamos were but men of his household2 ,i came as the messenger of the great god ,amen-,ra4' ,then ,i bade him erect a stele and this inscription to be engraved thereon3 ',amen-,ra1 the great god of the gods1 sent me a divine messenger1 together with ,ounamounou as his human ambassador1 for the wood wherewith his sacred barque should be fashioned4 ,i cut down trees for this and loaded them1 furnishing the vessels by which it was carried into ,egypt4 ,i did this that ,i may obtain immortal life from the great god ,amen4' ',and1' ,i continued1 'a messenger shall come from the land of ,egypt who shall read your name upon the stele1 and you shall receive the water of ,amenti even as the gods4' ,he said1 ',this is a wonderful thing you tell me4' ,then ,i told him that when ,i returned ,i should acquaint the high-priest of ,amen of how he1 the ,prince1 had done all as he was commanded1 and that he should assuredly receive the gifts4 ,when ,i went down to the shore where the wood was loaded ,i beheld eleven vessels sent from ,zakkala to seize and imprison and prevent me from reaching ,egypt4 ,then ,i was distressed and cried out1 and a messenger from the ,prince approached me1 saying1 ',what troubles you8' ,i explained to him what menaced me1 and he went and told the ,prince1 who was much distressed4 ,to cheer me he sent gifts of food and wine1 and an ,egyptian singer1 ,tantnouit1 whose songs he thought might chase away my sorrow4 ,his message was1 ',eat1 drink1 and be not troubled4 ,you shall hear my plans in the morn4' ,and when the day was come the ,prince called his men1 and they set out and spoke to the men of ,zakkala1 asking them the object of their coming4 ,they answered that they had come to seize the vessels and their rascally crews4 ,he answered1 ',i have not the power to take prisoner the messenger of ,amen-,ra in my country4 ,i shall let him go1 and after you can do with him as you please4' ,i embarked and left the port1 and the wind drove me into the country of ,alasia4 ,there the people of the town came to put me to death1 dragging me to the presence of ,hatibi1 the ,princess of the city4 ,i looked at the men around1 and asked was there not one who could understand ,egyptian8 ,one came forward saying that he understood it4 ,i said that ,i had heard that if justice was to be found anywhere it was in ,alasia1 and yet here were they ready to work an injustice4 ,the ,princess inquired what ,i had said4 ,again ,i spoke1 and pleaded that as the storm had driven me into their country they should not slay me1 for in truth ,i was a messenger of the great god ,amen-,ra4 ,then ,i pointed out that if harm came to me ,i would be avenged4 ,in a little while the ,princess called her people and caused them to relinquish their evil designs1 saying to me1 ',be not troubled4444 ,here the papyrus ends4 ,it is tantalizing not to know how ,ounamounou managed to return to ,egypt1 but we may be sure a person of such infinite resource and determination1 not to say doggedness1 accomplished all he desired4 ,the ,story of ,rhampsinites ,the oldest form of this legend has been handed down to us by ,herodotus4 ,it occurs in the ancient folklore of both ,eastern and ,western peoples and its origin has often been debated4 ,if not really of ,egyptian origin1 it had certainly become ,egyptianized when ,herodotus found it4 ,it relates how ,king ,rhampsinites possessed so much treasure that none of his successors ever surpassed or even came near to having a like amount4 ,to ensure its safety he had a seemingly impregnable stone house built1 in which he placed all his great wealth4 ,by a clever trick1 however1 the architect contrived to provide access to the treasure4 ,he made one of the stones in two parts1 so that one part could be removed2 but so skilfully were the two parts placed together that they presented a perfectly even surface1 as of one single stone4 ,before he died he acquainted his two sons with the secret of the treasure-house1 and after his death they did not delay in putting their knowledge into practice4 ,they went by night1 found the stone without any difficulty1 withdrew it1 stole a large sum of money1 and replaced it in position4 ,when the king discovered that thieves were at work he had man-traps placed near the site of the treasure-house4 ,one night the two brothers came as usual1 and one of them was caught in a trap4 ,seeing his danger1 he called his brother and said to him1 ,we shall both perish and the treasure be lost unless you cut off my head and take it away1 so that no one will recognize us as the thieves4 ,the brother did as he advised3 he moved the stone back into position1 cut off his brother's head and carried it home4 ,when the king found the headless body he was much disturbed1 for there were no traces of entrance to or exit from the treasure-house1 and he bethought himself of this expedient3 he had the dead body exposed on the city wall and placed a guard round it with instructions to watch and report whoever manifested any sign of grief on seeing the body4 ,this act was contrary to the practice of the ,egyptians1 who had usually too much respect for the dead to indulge in it4 ,even in the case of an executed criminal the remains were returned to the relatives to be embalmed4 ,nevertheless ,rhampsinites considered himself justified in adopting this measure4 ,the body was exposed1 and the mother1 although she did not betray any sign of grief1 insisted on her other son bringing it to her2 otherwise she threatened to divulge his secret to the king4 ,seeing that he dared not disobey1 the son devised a stratagem4 ,he saddled some asses and loaded them with goatskins full of wine--skins were used in ,egypt for water only at most times1 wine being held in short narrow vases--he drove the asses past the guard and1 when passing1 stealthily untied one or two of the skins1 and as the wine ran down and flowed on the ground began to beat his head and make a great outcry4 ,the guards ran for vessels to save the precious liquid1 and over the catastrophe they became quite friendly with the thief and gave him meat1 for which he offered in exchange one of his skins of wine4 ,they all sat down to drink together1 and as they became merry over the wine he offered them the remainder of his wine1 which they took and drank until they were quite tipsy4 ,the thief1 needless to say1 had taken care to remain tolerably sober4 ,after the guards were in a drunken sleep1 he waited till nightfall and then cut down his brother's body and took it home on the asses to his mother4 ,before quitting the guards he shaved off all the hair on one side of their faces4 ,when the king heard of the trick he was furious1 and1 determined by fair means or foul to discover its author1 he hit upon the following plan4 ,he ordered the princess1 his daughter1 to receive any man in the land1 no matter whom1 and to grant him whatever favour he might ask of her1 but first she must make him tell her what was the cleverest and wickedest thing he had ever done4 ,when the thief told her his trick she was to have him bound before he could escape4 ,the princess was ready to do her father's bidding1 but the thief1 knowing well what the king had in his mind1 resolved to circumvent him a third time4 ,he cut off the arm of a newly dead man and1 hiding it under his robe1 obtained admission to the princess4 ,on being asked the question that she put to all comers1 he told her first about cutting off his brother's head in the trap1 and then went on to tell how1 having made the guards tipsy1 he had cut down his brother's body4 ,she at once called out and tried to seize him1 but he placed in her hand that of the dead man1 which she grasped firmly1 believing it to be the thief's1 and he escaped in the darkness of the room4 ,the king now owned himself beaten1 and offered a free pardon and rich rewards to the man who had so boldly outwitted him4 ,trusting to his word1 the thief presented himself before the king1 and received not only what ,rhampsinites had promised1 but also the hand of the princess in marriage1 for he held the thief to be the cleverest of men in that he had duped the ,egyptians1 who prided themselves on their astuteness4 ,civil ,war in ,egypt3 ,the ,theft of the ,cuirass ,in the reign of the ,pharaoh ,petoubastis the ,delta and great part of ,lower ,egypt were divided into two rival factions1 one part being headed by the chieftain ,kamenophis1 ,prince of ,mendes1 and the other ruled by the king-priest of ,heliopolis1 ,ierharerou1 and his ally ,pakrourou1 the great chieftain of the east4 ,only four nomes in the middle of the ,delta were subject to ,kamenophis1 whilst ,ierharerou had succeeded in establishing either his children or relations in most of the other nomes4 ,ierharerou possessed a cuirass to which he attached great value and which was generally regarded as a talisman4 ,at his death ,kamenophis1 taking advantage of the mourning and confusion in ,heliopolis1 seized the cuirass and placed it in one of his own strongholds4 ,prince ,pimon 'the little'--,pimon of the strong fist1 as he is sometimes called in the narrative--the successor of ,ierharerou1 demanded its restoration4 ,kamenophis refused1 and hence arose a quarrel in which all the provinces of ,egypt were implicated4 ,pimon and ,pakrourou both presented themselves before ,king ,petoubastis1 asking his permission to be revenged on ,kamenophis2 but ,pharaoh1 who knew that this would entail civil war1 endeavoured to dissuade ,pimon from taking steps against ,kamenophis and1 indeed1 forbade him to proceed with his intentions1 promising as compensation a splendid funeral for ,ierharerou4 ,unwillingly ,pimon submitted1 but after the funeral ceremonies were over resentment still burned within him1 and he and ,pakrourou1 the great chieftain of the east1 returned again to ,petoubastis at his court in ,tanis4 ,he received them rather impatiently1 asking them why they troubled him again and declaring that he would not allow civil war during his reign4 ,they1 however1 would not be satisfied and said they could not go on with the celebration of the feast that was to follow the religious rites of ,ierharerou's funeral until the shield or cuirass was restored to its rightful owner4 ,pharaoh then sent for ,kamenophis1 and requested him urgently to return the shield1 but in vain4 ,kamenophis declined to do so4 ,then said ,pimon1 ,by ,tem1 the lord of ,heliopolis1 the great god1 my god1 were it not for ,pharaoh's decree and that my respect for him protects you1 ,i should kill you this very instant4 ,kamenophis replied1 ,by the life of ,mendes1 the great god1 the war which will break out in the nome1 the battle which will break out in the city will stir up clan against clan1 and man against man1 before the cuirass shall be wrested from the stronghold where ,i have placed it4 ,the ,horrors of ,war ,pakrourou then said before the king1 ,is it right what ,kamenophis has done1 and the words he has just spoken are they not said to provoke us to anger that we may measure our strength against his8 ,i will make ,kamenophis and the nome of ,mendes feel the shame of these words uttered to provoke civil war which ,pharaoh has forbidden2 ,i will glut them with war4 ,i said nothing because ,i knew the king did not want war2 but if the king remains neutral ,i shall be silent no longer1 and the king shall see all the horrors of civil war4 ,pharaoh said1 ,be neither boastful nor timid1 ,pakrourou1 great chieftain of the east1 but now go each one of you to your nomes and your towns in peace1 and give me but five days1 and ,i swear by ,amen-,ra that ,i shall cause the cuirass to be put back in the place from which it was taken4 ,pimon then said that if the cuirass were replaced nothing more should be said about it1 and there should be no war2 but if it were withheld1 he would fight for it1 against the whole of ,egypt if necessary4 ,kamenophis at this respectfully asked and obtained permission from ,pharaoh to order all his men to arm themselves1 and to go with him to the ,lake of the ,gazelle and prepare to fight4 ,then ,pimon1 encouraged by ,pakrourou1 sent messages of a similar import to all his nomes and cities4 ,pakrourou further advised him to hasten to the ,lake of the ,gazelle and be there before ,kamenophis had assembled all his men1 and ,pimon1 with only one band of men1 took his advice and was first in the field1 intending to wait there till his brothers1 at the head of their respective clans1 should join him4 ,news of this was taken to ,kamenophis1 and he hastily assembled his four nomes1 ,tanis1 ,mendes1 ,tahait1 and ,sebennytos4 ,arrived at the lake1 he at once challenged ,pimon1 and ,pimon1 though his other forces had not yet arrived1 accepted the challenge4 ,pimon put on a shirt of byssus embroidered with silver and gold1 and over that a second shirt of gold tissue2 he also donned his copper corselet and carried two golden swords2 he put on his helmet and sallied forth to meet ,kamenophis4 ,while they were fighting1 ,zinonfi1 ,pimon's young servant1 ran off to watch for the forces that were to come to ,pimon's aid1 and he soon descried a flotilla so large that the river could hardly carry all the barges4 ,they were the people of ,heliopolis coming to help their chief4 ,as soon as they came within earshot ,zinonfi called out to them to hurry1 because ,pimon was being hard pressed by ,kamenophis1 which1 indeed1 was true1 for his horse was slain under him4 ,kamenophis redoubled his efforts when he saw the fresh forces arriving1 and ,petekhousou1 ,pimon's brother1 challenged ,anoukhoron1 the king's son1 to single combat4 ,when ,pharaoh heard this he was very angry4 ,he went in person to the field of battle and forbade the combatants to proceed1 and also commanded a truce until all the forces should be assembled4 ,petoubastis and all the chieftains occupied prominent positions so that they could watch what was going on1 and the men were as numerous as the sands of the seashore and their rage against each other uncontrollable4 ,the bands of the four nomes were ranged behind ,kamenophis1 and the bands of the nome of ,heliopolis behind ,pimon the ,little4 ,then ,petoubastis gave ,pakrourou a signal and he armed himself and went down among the forces1 stirring them all to deeds of valour2 he pitted man against man1 and great was the ardour he aroused in them4 ,succour for ,pakrourou ,after ,pakrourou had left the mle1 he met a mighty man in armour leading forty galleys and eight thousand soldiers4 ,this was ,moutoubaal1 a prince of ,syria1 who had been warned in a dream to repair to the ,lake of the ,gazelle to help to regain the stolen cuirass4 ,pakrourou gave him a place1 though all the forces were now disposed2 but he ordered him not to join in the fight until the opposite side--the men of ,kamenophis--should attack their vessels4 ,moutoubaal1 therefore1 remained in his barque1 and ,pakrourou went back to his point of vantage to watch the progress of the battle4 ,the two factions fought from four in the morning to nine in the evening4 ,finally ,anoukhoron1 the king's son1 broke under the stress of the bands of ,sebennytos and they rushed toward the boats4 ,then ,moutoubaal took his opportunity and went against the bands of ,sebennytos and overthrew them4 ,he went on spreading destruction among the forces of ,kamenophis till ,pharaoh called a halt2 then proceeded with ,pakrourou to ,moutoubaal and besought him to stay his hand1 promising that he would see to it that the shield was restored4 ,moutoubaal accordingly quitted the lists after having wrought great havoc among the men of ,kamenophis4 ,then ,pharaoh and ,pakrourou went with ,moutoubaal to the place where ,pimon was found engaged in mortal combat with ,kamenophis4 ,pimon had got the upper hand and was about to slay his adversary1 but they stopped him1 and ,pharaoh ordered ,kamenophis to quit the lists4 ,after this ,anoukhoron1 the royal prince1 was overthrown by ,petekhousou1 the brother of ,pimon1 but ,pharaoh interposed and persuaded ,petekhousou to spare his son1 so the young man was allowed to withdraw unhurt4 ,the king said1 ,by ,amen-,ra1 the sceptre has fallen from the hands of ,kamenophis1 prince of ,mendes4 ,petekhousou has vanquished my son1 and the bands of the four strongest nomes in ,egypt have been overthrown4 ,the ,shield ,regained ,then ,minnemai1 ,prince of the ,eupuantine1 the son of ,ierharerou1 the priest-king1 to whom the shield had belonged1 advanced from ,thebes with all his forces4 ,they assigned him a place next the ship of ,takhos1 the chief soldier of the nome of ,mendes1 and it happened that in the galley of ,takhos lay the cuirass itself4 ,and ,minnemai called upon his gods to let him behold his father's cuirass that he might be the instrument of its recapture4 ,he armed himself1 went to the galley of ,takhos1 and met there nine thousand soldiers guarding the cuirass of ,ierharerou1 son of ,osiris4 ,minnemai placed thirty-four guards on the footbridge of the galley to prevent anyone from getting off1 and he fell upon the soldiers guarding the cuirass4 ,takhos fought well and killed fifty-four men1 but finally gave in and retired to his vessel1 where ,minnemai followed him with his ,ethiopian warriors4 ,the children of ,ierharerou supported him and they seized the cuirass of ,ierharerou4 ,thus was the armour recaptured and brought back to its former place4 ,there was great joy among the children of ,ierharerou and the troops of ,heliopolis4 ,they went before ,pharaoh and said to him1 ,great master1 have the history of the war of the cuirass written1 and the names of the warriors who waged it1 that posterity may know what a war was made in ,egypt on account of the cuirass1 in the nomes and in the cities2 then cause the history to be engraved on a stone stele in the temple of ,heliopolis4 ,and ,king ,petoubastis did as they asked4 ,the ,birth of ,hatshepsut ,the following story of the birth of ,hatshepsut1 the great queen1 the beloved of the gods1 mistress of all lands under the sun1 is not a direct translation from the old papyrus which recounts it1 but is told in the writer's own words3 ,in the land of the gods ,amen-,ra held court4 ,king of the gods was ,amen-,ra1 and the maker of men4 ,on his right was ,osiris1 with the twin goddesses ,isis and ,nephthys1 ,hathor the goddess of love1 and ,horus and ,anubis4 ,on his left was ,mentu1 the god of war1 with ,geb1 the earth-god1 and ,nut1 the sky-goddess1 the gods ,atmu and ,shu1 and the goddess ,tefnut4 ,and to the assembled gods ,amen-,ra spake thus3 ,i will make a great queen1 who shall rule over ,egypt and ,syria1 ,nubia and ,punt1 so that all lands may be united under her sway4 ,worthy must the maiden be of her great dominions1 for she shall rule the whole world4 ,as he spoke the god ,thoth entered1 he who has the form of an ibis1 that he may fly more swiftly than the swiftest arrow4 ,in silence he listened to the words of ,amen-,ra1 the mightiest of the gods1 the maker of men4 ,then he said3 ,behold1 ,o ,amen-,ra1 there is in the land of ,egypt a maiden of wondrous beauty4 ,the sun in his circuit shines not on anything more fair4 ,surely it is fitting that she be the mother of the great queen of whom thou speakest4 ,thou sayest well1 said ,amen-,ra4 ,where shall we seek this fair princess8 ,what is her name8 ,her name is ,aahmes1 answered ,thoth2 she is wife to the ,king of ,egypt1 and dwelleth in his palace4 ,i will lead thee to her4 ,it is well1 said ,amen-,ra4 ,then ,thoth1 in the shape of an ibis1 flew toward the land of ,egypt1 and with him went ,amen-,ra1 in the form of the ,king of ,egypt1 and all the gods and goddesses1 among them ,neith1 goddess of ,sais1 and the scorpion goddess1 ,selk1 on whose head was a scorpion bearing in each claw the sign of life4 ,silently the gods and goddesses entered the sleeping palace1 and were conducted by ,thoth to the chamber of ,queen ,aahmes4 ,the queen lay asleep on a couch shaped like a lion1 and as they gazed upon her they saw that ,thoth had spoken truly1 that she was indeed the fairest of mortal women1 and they stood speechless with admiration for her beauty4 ,but the fragrance which they had borne with them from the land of ,punt awoke the maiden1 who looked with astonishment on her supernatural visitors4 ,very magnificent was ,amen-,ra1 the king of the gods1 the maker of men1 as he stood before the queen4 ,jewels of gold and precious stones adorned his person1 and his beauty was as the beauty of the sun1 so that the maiden's heart was filled with delight4 ,amen-,ra placed in her hand the sign of life and the emblem of power1 and the goddesses ,neith and ,selk raised her couch above the ground1 so that she might be above the earth while she conversed with the gods4 ,at length the gods returned to the land of ,punt1 and ,amen-,ra called for ,khnum1 the creator1 the fashioner of the bodies of men4 ,fashion for me1 said ,amen-,ra1 the body of my daughter1 and the body of her ka4 ,a great queen shall ,i make of her1 and honour and power shall be hers all the days of her life4 ,o ,amen-,ra1 answered ,khnum1 the creator1 it shall be done as thou hast said4 ,the beauty of thy daughter shall surpass that of the gods1 and shall be worthy of her dignity and glory4 ,so ,khnum fashioned the body of ,amen-,ra's daughter and the body of her ka1 the two forms exactly alike1 and more beautiful than the daughters of men4 ,he fashioned them of clay with the aid of his potter's wheel1 and ,hekt1 goddess of birth1 knelt by his side1 holding the sign of life toward the clay that the bodies of ,hatshepsut and her ka might be filled with the breath of life4 ,then did the gods bring the bodies to the palace of the ,king of ,egypt4 ,khnum1 the creator1 and ,hekt1 the goddess of birth1 ,isis1 the great mother1 and her twin sister ,nephthys1 ,bes1 the protector of children1 and ,meskhent and ,ta-urt1 all were present to hail the birth of ,hatshepsut1 the great queen1 the daughter of ,amen-,ra and ,queen ,aahmes4 ,great were the rejoicings when the child was born1 and loud the praises chanted in her honour4 ,and in time she became ruler of all countries1 rich and powerful and beloved of ,amen-,ra1 the great queen for whom she had been designed by the king of the gods4 ,in the valley of the ,nile there was erected a temple to ,queen ,hatshepsut4 ,the temple stands to this day1 and is now known as ,deir-el-,bahari1 the ,northern ,convent4 ,how ,thoutii took the ,town of ,joppa ,the fragments of this story are inscribed on the ,harris ,papyrus4 ,like the story of the ,predestined ,prince1 they were discovered in #ahgd by ,goodwin1 who recognized in them the remnants of an historical narrative1 and who informed the ,archological ,society of his find4 ,the beginning is lost4 ,at the point where the narrative commences there are three characters3 an ,egyptian officer called ,thoutii1 the prince of a town in ,syria1 and his equerry4 ,the tale deals with the recapture of ,joppa 7a town of ,palestine mentioned in the ,bible7 by ,thoutii's stratagem4 ,the stratagem employed bears some resemblance to that related in the story of the robber-captain in the ,arabian ,nights4 ,in the reign of ,thothmes ,,iii1 ,king of ,egypt 7,eighteenth ,dynasty71 the ,prince of ,joppa rose in rebellion and murdered all the ,egyptian soldiers that were quartered in the town4 ,this news naturally excited ,pharaoh's wrath1 and he called together his nobles and generals and scribes to see what could be done4 ,none of them1 however1 had any suggestion to make except ,thoutii1 a brilliant young infantry officer4 ,give me1 he begged1 your magic cane1 ,o my king1 and a body of infantry and of charioteers1 and ,i undertake to kill the ,prince of ,joppa and to take the town4 ,pharaoh1 who esteemed this officer highly and knew his worth1 granted all that he asked--not exactly a modest request1 for the cane was a talisman supposed to render invisible anyone into whose possession it fell4 ,thoutii then marched to ,palestine with his men4 ,having arrived there1 he had a large skin bag made1 big enough to hold a man1 and he had irons made for feet and hands1 one pair being especially large and strong2 also shackles and yokes of wood1 and four hundred jars4 ,then he sent to the ,prince of ,joppa the following message3 ,i am ,thoutii1 the ,egyptian infantry general4 ,king ,thothmes was jealous of my bravery and sought to kill me2 but ,i have escaped from him1 and ,i have stolen his magic cane1 which is hidden in my baggage2 and1 if you like1 ,i will give it to you1 and ,i will join forces with you1 ,i and my men1 the pick of the ,egyptian army4 ,this message was very pleasant news to the ,prince of ,joppa1 for he knew ,thoutii's reputation1 and knew that he had no equal in all ,egypt4 ,he sent to ,thoutii1 accepting his offer1 and promising him a share of his territory4 ,he then left ,joppa1 taking with him his equerry and the women and children1 to greet the man whom he took to be a new and powerful ally4 ,he welcomed him warmly1 and invited him into his camp to dine with him4 ,in course of conversation1 as they were eating and drinking together1 he asked ,thoutii about the magic cane4 ,thoutii replied that it was concealed in the baggage with which his horses were laden1 and requested that his men and horses should be brought into the camp to be refreshed and rested4 ,this was done3 his horses were fed and tied up1 the baggage was searched1 and the magic cane found4 ,the ,stratagem ,hearing this1 the ,prince of ,joppa expressed his eager wish to behold the magic cane4 ,thoutii went and fetched it2 then suddenly seizing the ,prince by his clothes1 he said1 ,behold here ,king ,thothmes' magic cane1 and with that he raised his hand and struck the ,prince on the forehead so that the latter fell down unconscious before him4 ,then he put him into the big leather sack he had with him and clapped the handcuffs on his wrists and the irons on his feet4 ,the face of the dead man being invisible1 ,thoutii's stratagem was to pass off the corpse as his own4 ,he had the two hundred soldiers put into an equal number of the four hundred jars he had brought with him and filled the remainder with the ropes and wooden shackles2 then he sealed them1 corded them1 and gave them to as many strong soldiers1 saying1 ,go quickly and tell the ,prince of ,joppa's equerry that ,i am slain4 ,let him go and tell his mistress1 the ,princess of ,joppa1 that ,thoutii is conquered1 that she may open the city gates to receive the dead body of the vanquished and the jars of booty that have been taken from him4 ,the equerry received this message and ran to tell the joyful news to his mistress4 ,the gates of the town were opened1 and ,thoutii's men carried the jars containing the other soldiers into the town4 ,then they released their companions1 and the ,egyptian force fell upon the inhabitants of the city and took them and bound them4 ,after he had rested ,thoutii sent a message to ,pharaoh saying1 ,i have killed the ,prince of ,joppa and all the people of ,joppa are prisoners4 ,let them be sent for and brought to ,egypt1 that your house may be filled with male and female slaves who will be yours for ever4 ,let ,amen-,ra1 thy father1 the god of gods1 be glorified4 #a ,vansleb at the end of the seventeenth century perhaps heard it spoken4 #b ,the ,rosetta ,stone is written in three scripts1 hieroglyphic1 ,demotic1 and ,greek4 #c ,properly speaking1 it should be written from right to left horizontally4 ,only for decorative purposes is it inscribed from right to left or in columns4 #d ,or ,usertsen4 #e ,this expression argues a greater decency in matters convivial in the ,egypt of #ebf ,b4,c4 than obtained in ,georgian ,england4 #f ,called ,her-tata-f in another part of this manuscript4 #g ,the ,demotic gives the name 7or title7 as ,setne or ,setme1 and the name of the miraculous child as ,si-,osiris 7i4e4 son of ,osiris74 #h ,the whole of this is very obscure in the original4 ,,chapter ,,vii3 ,,magic ,to the peoples of antiquity ,egypt appeared as the very mother of magic4 ,in the mysterious ,nile country they found a magical system much more highly developed than any within their native knowledge1 and the cult of the dead1 with which ,egyptian religion was so strongly identified1 appeared to the foreigner to savour of magical practice4 ,if the materials of the magical papyri be omitted1 the accounts which we possess of ,egyptian magic are almost wholly foreign1 so that it is wiser to derive our data concerning it from the original native sources if we desire to arrive at a proper understanding of ,egyptian sorcery4 ,most of what has been written by ,egyptologists on the subject of ,egyptian magic has been penned on the assumption that magic is either merely a degraded form of religion1 or its foundation4 ,this is one of the results of the archologist entering a domain 7that of anthropology7 where he is usually rather at a loss4 ,for example1 we find ,sir ,gaston ,maspero stating that ancient magic was the very foundation of religion4 ,the faithful who desired to obtain some favour from a god had no chance of succeeding except by laying hands on the deity1 and this arrest could only be effected by means of a certain number of rites1 sacrifices1 prayers1 and chants1 which the god himself had revealed and which obliged him to do what was demanded of him4#a ,then we find ,dr4 ,budge stating that in the religious texts and works we see how magic is made to be the handmaiden of religion1 and that whereas non-,egyptian races directed their art against the powers of darkness1 and invoked a class of benevolent beings to their aid1 the ,egyptians aimed at complete control over their native deities4 ,let us glance for a moment at the question of the origin of magic4 ,considerable diversity of opinion exists regarding this subject among present-day anthropologists1 and the works of ,frazer1 ,marett1 ,hubert1 and ,mauss1 etc41 although differing widely as regards its foundations1 have thrown much light upon a hitherto obscure problem4 ,all writers on the subject1 however1 appear to have ignored one notable circumstance in connexion with it--that is1 the element of wonder1 which is the true fount and source of veritable magic4 ,according to the warring schools of anthropology1 nearly all magic is sympathetic or mimetic in its nature4 ,for example1 when the barbarian medicine-man desires rain he climbs a tree and sprinkles water upon the parched earth beneath1 in the hope that the deity responsible for the weather will do likewise2 when the ignorant sailor desires wind1 he imitates the whistling of the gale4 ,this system is universal1 but if our conclusions are well founded1 the magical element does not reside in such practices as these4 ,it must be obvious1 as ,frazer has pointed out1 that when the savage performs an act of sympathetic magic he does not regard it as magical--that is1 to his way of thinking it does not contain any element of wonder at all2 he regards his action as a cause which is certain to bring about the desired effect1 exactly as the scientific man of to-day believes that if he follows certain formul certain results will be achieved4 ,now the true magic of wonder argues from effect to cause2 so it would appear as if sympathetic magic were merely a description of proto-science1 due to mental processes entirely similar to those by which scientific laws are produced and scientific acts are performed--that there is a spirit of certainty about it which is not found1 for example1 in the magic of evocation4 ,it would1 however1 be rash to attempt to differentiate sympathetic magic entirely from what ,i would call the 'magic of wonder' at this juncture2 indeed1 our knowledge of the basic laws of magic is too slight as yet to permit of such a process4 ,we find considerable overlapping between the systems4 ,for example1 one of the ways by which evilly disposed persons could transform themselves into werewolves was by means of buckling on a belt of wolfskin4 ,thus we see that in this instance the true wonder-magic of animal transformation is in some measure connected with the sympathetic process1 the idea being that the donning of wolfskin1 or even the binding around one of a strip of the animal's hide1 was sufficient to bestow the nature of the beast upon the wearer4 ,in passing1 ,i may say1 for the sake of completeness1 that ,i believe the magic of wonder to be almost entirely spiritistic in its nature1 and that it consists of evocation and similar processes4 ,here1 of course1 it may be quoted against me that certain incenses1 planetary signs1 and other media known to possess affinities for certain supernatural beings were brought into use at the time of their evocation4 ,once more ,i admit that the two systems overlap2 but that will not convince me that they are in essence the same4#b ,antiquity of ,egyptian ,magic ,like all magic1 ,egyptian magic was of prehistoric origin4 ,as the savage of to-day employs the sympathetic process1 so did the savage of the ,egyptian ,stone ,age make use of it4 ,that he also was fully aware of the spiritistic side of magic is certain4 ,animism is the mother of spiritism4 ,the concept of the soul was arrived at a comparatively early period in the history of man4 ,the phenomenon of sleep puzzled him4 ,whither did the real man betake himself during the hours of slumber8 ,the ,palolithic man watched his sleeping brother1 who appeared to him as practically dead--dead1 at least1 to perception and the realities of life4 ,something seemed to have escaped the sleeper2 the real1 vital1 and vivifying element had temporarily departed from him4 ,from his own experience the puzzled savage knew that life did not cease with sleep1 for in a more shadowy and unsubstantial sphere he re-enacted the scenes of his everyday existence4 ,if the man during sleep had experiences in dreamland or in distant parts1 it was only reasonable to suppose that his ego1 his very self1 had temporarily quitted the body4 ,grant so much1 and you have two separate entities1 body and soul1 similar in appearance because the latter on the dream plane exercised functions identical with those of the former on the corporeal plane4 ,the ,wandering ,spirit ,but prehistoric logic did not stop here4 ,so much premised1 it extended its soul-theory to all animate beings1 and even to things inanimate4 ,where1 for example1 did the souls of men go after death8 ,their bodies decayed1 so it was only reasonable to suppose that they cast about them for other corporeal media4 ,failing their ability to enter the body of a new-born infant1 they would take up their quarters in a tree1 a rock1 or any suitable natural object1 and the terrified savage could hear their voices crying down the wind and whispering through the leaves of the forest1 possibly clamouring or entreating for that food and shelter which they could not obtain in their disembodied condition4 ,all nature1 then1 we see became animate to early man1 and not less so to the early ,egyptian than to others4 ,but his hunting life had made prehistoric man exceptionally cunning and resourceful1 and it would soon occur to him 7in what manner we do not presume to say1 as the point greatly requires elucidation7 that he might possibly make use of such wandering and masterless spirits as he knew were close to his call4 ,in this desire1 it appears to me 7if the statement be not a platitude71 we have one of the origins of the magic of wonder1 and certainly the origin of spiritism4 ,trading upon the wish of the disembodied spirit to materialize1 prehistoric man would construct a fetish#a either in the human shape or in that of an animal1 or in any weird presentment that squared with his ideas of spiritual existence4 ,he usually made it of no great dimensions1 as he did not believe that the alter ego1 or soul1 was of any great size4 ,by threats or coaxings he prevailed upon the wandering spirit 7whom he conceived as1 like all the dead1 cold1 hungry1 and homeless7 to enter the little image1 which duly became its corporeal abode1 where its lips were piously smeared with the blood of animals slain in the chase1 and where it was carefully attended4 ,in return it was expected1 by dint of its supernatural knowledge1 that the soul contained in the fetish should assist its master or coadjutor in every possible way4 ,coercing the ,gods ,egyptian magic differed from most other systems in the circumstance that the native magician attempted to coerce certain of the gods into action on his behalf4 ,instances of this elsewhere are extremely rare1 and it would seem as if the deities of ,egypt had evolved in many cases from mere animistic conceptions4 ,this is true in effect of all deities1 but at a certain point in their history most gods arrive at such a condition of eminence that they soar far above any possibility of being employed by the magician as mere tools for any personal purpose4 ,we often1 however1 find the broken-down1 or deserted1 deity coerced by the magician4 ,of this class ,beelzebub might be taken as a good example4 ,a great reputation is a hard thing to lose1 and it is possible that the sorcerer may descry in the abandoned1 and therefore idle1 god a very suitable medium for his purpose4 ,but we find the divinities of ,egypt frightened into using their power on behalf of some paltry sorcerer even in the very zenith of their fame4 ,one thing is of course essential to a complete system of sorcery1 and that is the existence of a number of spirits1 the detritus of a vanished or submerged religion4 ,as we know1 there were numerous strata in ,egyptian religion--more than one faith had obtained on the banks of the ,nile1 and it may be that the worshippers of the deities of one system regarded the deities of another as magical on the first introduction of a new system2 in fact1 these may have been interchangeable1 and it is possible that by the time the various gods became common to all the practice had become so universal as to be impossible of abandonment4 ,if our conclusions are correct1 it would seem that ,maspero's statement that magic is the foundation of religion is scarcely consonant with fact4 ,we have seen that at least the greater part of barbarian magic so-called 7that is1 sympathetic magic7 is probably not of the nature of magic at all1 so that the scope of his contention is considerably lessened4 ,budge's dictum that the magic of every other nation of the ,ancient ,east but the ,egyptian was directed entirely against the powers of darkness1 and was invented to frustrate their fell designs by invoking a class of benevolent beings1 is so far an error in that the peoples of the ,ancient ,orient invoked evil beings equally with good4 ,at the same time it must be admitted that ,egyptian magic had much more in common with religion than most other magical systems1 and this arose from the extraordinary circumstances of the evolution of religion on ,egyptian soil4 ,names of ,power ,one of the most striking circumstances in connexion with ,egyptian magic was the use of what has come to be known as 'names of power4' ,the savage fancies that there is a very substantial bond between a man and his name--that1 in fact1 magic may be wrought on a man just as easily through his name as through the possession of his hair or his nails4 ,indeed1 primitive man regards his name as a vital portion of himself4 ,sir ,john ,rhys has shown that among the ancient ,celts there was a universal belief not only that the name was a part of the man1 but that it was that part of him which is termed the 'soul1' and many barbarian races at the present day regard their names as vital parts of themselves and take extraordinary precautions to conceal their real names lest these should give to the witch1 or shaman1 a handle by which to injure their owners4 ,howitt has shown in a monograph on ,australian medicine-men that the ,australian aborigine believes that if an enemy has his name he has something which he can use magically to his detriment4 ,the ,australian black is always reluctant to reveal his real name to anyone4 ,thus in many ,australian tribes a man gives up his name for ever at the time when he undergoes initiation into the ceremonies which confer upon him the rites of manhood4 ,this results in the use of such titles among the members of the tribe as 'brother1' 'nephew1' or 'cousin1' as the case may be4 ,new names are thus probably given at initiation1 and carefully concealed for fear of sorcery4 ,we find the same superstition in ,abyssinia1 ,chile1 ,senegambia1 ,north ,america1 and a score of other countries4 ,to return to ,egypt1 we find that many ,egyptians received two names--the 'great' name and the 'little' name1 or the 'true' name and the 'good' name2 the latter was that made public1 but the 'true' or 'great' name was most carefully concealed4#d ,we find the use of these 'names of power' extremely common all over the ,east4 ,even to-day1 in reading the sacred name1 ,jahveh1 the ,jews render it ',adonai'2 but nowhere was its use in such vogue as in ,egypt4 ,a good illustration of the power possible to the wielder of a name is found in the legend of the manner in which ,isis succeeded in procuring his secret name from ,ra4 ,isis1 weary of the world of mortals1 determined to enter that of the gods1 and to this end made up her mind to worm his secret name from the almighty ,ra4 ,this name was known to no mortal1 and not even to any god but himself4 ,by this time ,ra had grown old1 and1 like many another venerable person1 he often permitted the saliva to flow from the corners of his mouth4 ,some of this fell to the earth1 and ,isis1 mixing it with the soil1 kneaded it into the shape of a serpent1 and cunningly laid it in the path traversed by the great god every day4 ,bursting upon the world in his effulgence1 and attended by the entire pantheon1 he was astounded when the serpent1 rising from its coil1 stung him4 ,he cried aloud with pain1 and1 in answer to the agitated questions of his inferior divinities1 was silent4 ,the poison swiftly overcame him1 and a great ague seized him4 ,he called all the gods to come that their healing words might make him well1 and with them came ,isis1 who cunningly inquired what ailed him4 ,he related the incident of the serpent to her1 and added that he was suffering the greatest agony4 ,then1 said ,isis1 tell me thy name1 ,divine ,father1 for the man shall live who is called by his name4 ,ra attempted a compromise by stating that he was ',khepera' in the morning1 ',ra' at noon1 and ',atem' in the evening2 but the poison worked more fearfully within him than before1 and he could no longer walk4 ,isis conjured him to tell her his name in order that he might live2 so1 hiding himself from all the other gods1 he acquainted her with his hidden title4 ,when this was revealed ,isis immediately banished the poison from his veins1 and he became whole again4 ,the scribe takes infinite care not to communicate the sacred name to his readers1 and the probabilities are that1 although he knew the legend1 he did not know the name himself1 which was possibly 'unknown' to the wizards of ,egypt4 ,the speech of ,ra1 ,i consent that ,isis shall search into me and that my name shall pass from my breast into hers1 would seem to show that not only was the power of the god inextricably bound up with his real name1 but that it was supposed to be lodged in an almost physical sense1 somewhere in his breast1 whence it could be extricated and transferred with all its supernatural powers to the breast of another4 ,what ,isis was able to do was aspired to by every ,egyptian magician1 who left no stone unturned to accomplish this end4 ,we find magicians threatening ,osiris that if he does not do the bidding of the sorcerer1 he will be named aloud in the port of ,busiris4 ,the practice is by no means extinct in ,egypt1 for we find in ,lane's ,manners and ,customs of the ,ancient ,egyptians that the man who knows the most great name of ,god can1 by the mere utterance of it1 kill the living1 raise the dead1 and perform most marvellous miracles2 and if this was true of the ,egypt of sixty years ago1 we may be sure that it is true of the ,egypt of to-day4 ,occasionally the gods themselves vouchsafed to mankind the secret of their names1 and divulged the formulas by which they might be evoked4 ,we find a parallel in the mythology of certain ,north ,american ,indian tribes1 where the secrets of initiatory ceremonies and 'medicine' in general are divulged by deities to men4 ',right ,speaking' ,there is no exact evidence that magical force was supposed in ,egypt to be drawn from a great central reservoir like the orenda of the ,north ,american ,indians1 the kramat of the ,malays1 or the mana of the ,melanesians4 ,but it is possible that an examination of the texts which had for its end the discovery of the belief in such a force would prove successful4 ,magic had its recognized representatives2 these were the 'kheri-heb' priests1 and in the period of the ,old ,kingdom the higher offices in this caste were filled by sons of the ,pharaohs4 ,great importance was laid upon the manner in which the spell or magical formula was spoken4 ,when a magician once found that a certain formula was effective at a certain time1 he was careful to repeat it1 when next he desired to say it1 in an exactly similar tone and in similar circumstances4 ,this was called 'right speaking1'#e and was practised by practically everyone in ,egypt1 as in the next world a correct knowledge of magic words and formul was absolutely essential4 ,the guardians of the various gateways who are pictured in the ,book of the ,dead do not open to those who know not their names and who do not utter them correctly4 ,unless certain prescribed prayers were uttered with the true intonations food was not forthcoming4 ,the number of these formul was great4 ,each doorway in the otherworld had a title1 and would not open to the new-comer unless invoked by him correctly4 ,a ,magical ,conspiracy ,in these circumstances1 then1 we see how universal must have been the belief in magic1 and1 trading upon this1 many magical books were written and doubtless sold4 ,one of the most interesting of those that have come down to us is the ,harris ,papyrus1 which contains many spells and charms4 ,such manuscripts seem to have been housed in the royal libraries1 and we read of how a certain official at the court of ,rameses ,,iii 7about #abjj ,b4,c471 holding the office of overseer of the ,treasury1 conspired with certain of his fellows to dethrone the king4 ,the conspiracy was discovered1 and in the official account of it we read that ,hui1 overseer of the royal cattle1 procured a magical book from the king's library by means of which he attempted to injure the king4 ,betaking himself to a secret place1 he moulded figures of men in wax1 and these he succeeded in smuggling into the royal palace through another official4 ,the figures were evidently intended to work harm to the king4 ,he was charged with carrying out all the wickednesses which his heart could imagine1 to the horror of the gods2 and with making gods of wax and figures of men1 which should cause the persons whom they represented to become paralysed and helpless4 ,the conspiracy was carefully investigated by two separate courts of inquiry1 and the king ordained that those who were guilty should die by their own hands4 ,he further desired that he should be told nothing whatever about the matter4 ,hui1 amongst others1 was doomed to the fate of a suicide4 ,such wax figures as were employed by him were greatly in use among sorcerers throughout the ,middle ,ages1 and are not yet quite dispensed with4 ,only a few years ago a clay figure stuck full of pins and placed in a running stream was found in the ,highlands of ,scotland4 ,it was1 of course1 modelled to represent the person it was desired to bewitch1 and placed in the water in order that it should slowly wear away1 the hope of the amateur sorcerer doubtless being that his enemy might1 through the powers of sympathetic magic1 peak and pine into a mortal illness4 ,the method with the figures of wax was1 of course1 to place them close by a fire so that they might slowly melt4 ,amulets ,in no country was the amulet more in use than in ancient ,egypt4 ,it was worn both by the dead and the living1 and1 indeed1 every member of the body was under the specific protection of some such talisman4 ,a number of the amulets found upon mummies are inscribed with words of power1 or magic formul1 which would prove of use to them in the otherworld4 ,some of the more important amulets were those of the ,heart1 the ,scarab1 which protected the heart2 the ,pillow1 which was placed under the neck of the mummy with the object of protecting its head2 the ,collar of ,gold1 which was intended to give the deceased power to free himself from his swathings2 the amulet of the ,eye of ,horus1 the use of which was almost universal1 and which brought strength1 vigour1 protection1 and safety4 ,spells ,the use of spells was universal4 ,in the most primitive times the magician seems to have imagined that all that was necessary for him to do was to inform the evil demon that he intended to exorcize it4 ,to the dead who haunted a certain house and brought illness into it he threatens destruction of their graves and deprivation of food-offerings4 ,to a disease which has attacked a patient he explains that it has fastened upon a most unlikely subject1 who would probably do it more harm than good4 ,later1 however1 we find the magician requesting the aid of the gods4 ,he invokes ,ra1 begging that he will keep watch over the evil spirits1 and relates to that god their delinquencies4 ,occasionally he himself takes the name of a divinity1 and hurls his thunders at the demon or the malady that threatens his client1 saying1 for example1 ,thou hast not the upper hand over me2 ,i am ,amen2 ,i am the ,great ,one1 the ,lord of ,might4 ,the magician was often guided in his choice of a guardian deity by episodes that occurred in the legends connected with him4 ,for example1 a god who had once triumphed over serpents would probably be the best protection against them4 ,we find a certain spell which was supposed to cure scorpion stings desiring ,ra to remove the poison as the goddess ,bast the ,cat was cured--an incident in the history of the goddess4 ,but we find that the deities who were nearest humanity1 and should typify in their legends the life of a man1 were most generally invoked4 ,the crocodile1 for example1 will hurry off when he is told how the body of ,osiris lay in the water and was guarded by the gods4 ,isis and ,horus at one time hid in the swamps of the ,delta1 and if this be recalled it will act as a safeguard against the sting of a scorpion1 an insect which haunts the swamp-lands4 ,the ,gibberish of ,magic ,all this is1 of course1 of the nature of sympathetic magic1 and we can observe from it how often the spoken word can partake of the character of proto-science4 ,but even in the case of the spoken word we have a cleavage between the two systems1 for we find that it may consist1 as in these last examples1 of sympathetic allusion to an incident in the life of a god1 or else of mere gibberish1 which certainly constitutes it a part of the magic of wonder4 ,a great many of these seemingly nonsensical spells consist of foreign words and expressions1 some of them of ,syrian origin4 ,it is well known that the shamanistic class in savage communities is prone to invent a secret language or dialect of its own1 and that the vocabulary of such a jargon is usually either archaic or else borrowed from a neighbouring language4 ,for example1 we find in one magical formula such a sentence as the following3 ,i am he that invokes thee in the ,syrian tongue1 the ,great ,god1 ,zaalar1 ,iphphon4 ,do thou not disregard the ,hebrew appellation ,ablanathanalb1 ,abrasila4 ,the ,tale of ,setne ,a tale which well instances the high standing of the magician in ancient ,egypt and the use of magical models or figures is that related in a papyrus of the ,ptolemaic period regarding the prince ,setne1 who had studied to good purpose the manuscripts in the ,double ,house of ,life1 or ,library of ,magical ,books4 ,he was conversing on one occasion with one of the king's wise men who appeared sceptical of his powers4 ,in reply to his strictures upon the efficacy of magic ,setne offered to take him to a place where he would find a book possessed of magical powers written by ,thoth himself1 and containing two potent spells1 the first of which was capable of enchanting the entire universe1 and so powerful that all animals and birds and fishes could be commanded by it4 ,the second enabled a man in the tomb to see ,ra rising in heaven with his cycle of gods2 the ,moon rising with all the stars of heaven2 the fishes in the depths of the ocean4 ,the wise man thereupon very naturally requested ,setne to tell him the repository of this marvellous volume1 and learned that it was in the tomb of ,nefer-ka-,ptah at ,memphis4 ,thence ,setne proceeded1 accompanied by his brother1 and passed three days and nights in seeking for the tomb of ,nefer-ka-,ptah1 which he eventually discovered4 ,uttering over it some magical words1 the earth opened1 and they descended to the chamber where the actual tomb was situated4 ,the book1 which lay in the sarcophagus1 illuminated the place so brilliantly that they required no torches1 and by its light they perceived in the grave not only its original inhabitant1 but his wife and son1 who1 buried at ,coptos1 had come in their ka-shapes to reside with their husband and father4 ,setne informed them that he desired to remove the book1 but ,ahura1 the wife of ,nefer-ka-,ptah1 earnestly requested him not to do so1 and informed him how its possession had already proved unfortunate to others4 ,her husband1 she said1 had given up most of his time to the study of magic1 and for the price of a hundred pieces of silver and two elaborate sarcophagi had bought from the priest of ,ptah the secret of the hiding-place of the wonderful volume4 ,the book was contained in an iron chest sunk in the middle of the river at ,coptos2 in the iron box was a bronze box2 in the bronze box a box of palm-tree wood1 which again contained a box of ebony and ivory1 in which was a silver box1 which lastly contained a gold box1 the true receptacle of the book4 ,swarms of serpents and noxious reptiles of all kinds guarded the volume1 and round it was coiled a serpent which could not die4 ,nefer-ka-,ptah1 his wife and child1 set out for ,coptos1 where he obtained from the high-priest a model of a floating raft and figures of workmen provided with the necessary tools4 ,over these he recited words of power1 so that they became alive4 ,shortly afterward they located the box1 and by further magical formul ,nefer-ka-,ptah put the reptiles which surrounded it to flight4 ,twice he slew the great serpent which lay coiled round the chest of iron1 but each time it came to life again4 ,the third time1 however1 he cut it in twain1 and laid sand between the two pieces1 so that they might not again join together4 ,opening the various boxes1 he took out the mysterious volume which they had contained1 and read the first spell upon its pages4 ,this acquainted him with all the secrets of heaven and earth4 ,he perused the second and saw the sun rising in the heavens1 with all the accompanying gods4 ,his wife followed his example with similar results4 ,nefer-ka-,ptah then copied the spells on a piece of papyrus1 on which he sprinkled incense1 dissolved the whole in water1 and drank it1 thus making certain that the knowledge of the formul would remain with him for ever4 ,a ,game of ,draughts with the ,dead ,but the god ,thoth was angry with him for what he had done1 and acquainted ,ra with the sacrilegious act4 ,ra at once decided that ,nefer-ka-,ptah1 his wife and child1 should never return to ,memphis2 and whilst returning to ,coptos1 ,ahura and her son fell into the river and were drowned4 ,shortly afterward ,nefer-ka-,ptah himself met a like fate4 ,all that they could say1 however1 could not prevail with ,setne1 who had made up his mind to possess the book4 ,the disembodied ,nefer-ka-,ptah proposed1 however1 that its ownership should be settled by playing a game of draughts1 the winner to retain the volume4 ,to this ,setne agreed4 ,nefer-ka-,ptah did his best to win1 first honestly1 and then by fraud1 but in the end he lost the game4 ,setne requested his brother1 who had accompanied him into the mausoleum1 to ascend to the place above and bring him his magical writings4 ,this was done1 and the spells in question were laid upon ,setne1 who grasped the wonderful book of ,thoth and ascended to heaven with marvellous swiftness4 ,as he departed1 however1 ,nefer-ka-,ptah remarked to his wife that he would soon make him return4 ,the prophecy of ,ahura that ,setne would be unlucky if he persisted in keeping the volume was fully borne out1 for he fell in love with a beautiful woman who worked him much woe1 and such were his troubles that the ,pharaoh commanded him to return the book to the keeping of ,nefer-ka-,ptah4 ,medical ,magic ,magic very naturally played a large part in the practice of ,egyptian medicine4 ,many illnesses were supposed to be caused by demoniac possession1 and the only cure was the expulsion of the evil spirit who had taken up his abode in the body of the afflicted person4 ,the ,egyptian physician could not have found the practice of his art very arduous1 for he theoretically divided the human body into thirty-six parts1 each of which was presided over by a certain demon1 and if the demon who attacked a specific part was properly invoked1 it was considered that a cure should result4 ,there were gods of healing for each of the bodily divisions4 ,several medical papyri are in existence which contain formul to be employed against the demons of disease1 as well as prescriptions for the remedies to be used in specified cases of illness4 ,prayers were prescribed to be spoken while preparing the drugs4 ,often the unfortunate patient had to swallow the prescription written upon papyrus4 ,amulets were regarded as most efficacious in cases of illness4 ,it is said that the peculiar letter which figures before modern medical prescriptions1 and which physicians interpret as implying the word 'recipe1' is in reality an invocation to the god ,ra1 whose symbol it is1 and that it signifies in the name of ,ra1 or ,o ,ra1 ,god of ,light and ,health1 inspire me4 ,alchemy ,it has been averred with much likelihood that the science of alchemy originated in ancient ,egypt4 ,the derivation of the word is usually referred to the ,arabic al khemeia1 but it has also been stated#f that it may be derived from the ,egyptian word kemt1 which means 'black' or 'dusky1' and which was applied to the country on account of the dark colour of the mud which forms the soil on each side of the ,nile4 ,the ,christian ,egyptians or ,copts1 it is thought1 transmitted the word in the form khme to the ,greeks1 ,romans1 ,syrians1 and ,arabs4 ,at an early period in their history the ,egyptians had attained to considerable skill in the working of metals1 and according to certain ,greek writers they employed quicksilver in the separation of gold and silver from the native ore4 ,the detritus which resulted from these processes formed a black powder1 which was supposed to contain within itself the individualities of the various metals which had contributed to its composition4 ,in some manner this powder was identified with the body which the god ,osiris was known to possess in the underworld1 and to both were attributed magical qualities1 and both were thought to be sources of light and power4 ,thus1 says ,dr4 ,budge1 side by side with the growth of skill in performing the ordinary processes of metal-working in ,egypt1 there grew up in that country the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes and alloys2 and the art of manipulating the metals1 and the knowledge of the chemistry of the metals and of their magical powers1 were described by the name khemeia--that is to say1 'the preparation of the black ore1' which was regarded as the active principle in the transmutation4 ,if this ingenious theory be correct1 we have perhaps here not only the genesis of practical alchemy1 but also the origin of a part of alchemistical science1 which until recently has been strangely neglected4 ,the allusion is to spiritual alchemy1 which employed the same symbols and language as were used in the practical science1 and which is credited with containing1 in allegory1 many a deep psychical and mystical secret4#g ,animal ,transformation ,the idea of animal transformation was evidently a very ancient one in ,egypt4 ,we find from the texts that it was thought that in the future life both the gods and men were able at will to assume the form of certain animals1 birds1 and plants4 ,nearly twelve chapters of the ,book of the ,dead are occupied with spells which provide the deceased with formul to enable him to transform himself into any shape from a bird1 a serpent1 or a crocodile to a god in the otherworld4 ,he was able to assume practically any form1 and to swim or fly to any distance in any direction4 ,strangely enough1 no animal is alluded to in the texts as a type of his possible transformation4 ,in his valuable work upon ,egyptian ,magic1 by far the most illuminating text-book on the subject1 ,dr4 ,budge says3 ,the ,egyptians believed that as the souls of the departed could assume the form of any living thing or plant1 so the 'gods1' who in many respects closely resembled them1 could and did take upon themselves the forms of birds and beasts4 ,this was the fundamental idea of the so-called ',egyptian animal-worship1' which provoked the merriment of the cultured ,greek1 and drew down upon the ,egyptians the ridicule and abuse of the early ,christian writers4 ,he further states that the ,egyptians paid honour to certain animal forms because they considered they possessed the characteristics of the gods1 to whom they made them sacred4 ,in another chapter we have dealt with the question of the totemic origin of certain of the ,egyptian deities4 ,there can be little doubt that the origin of the conception whereby the gods took upon themselves the forms of animals was a totemic one1 and not magical at all in its basis4 ,regarding ,dr4 ,budge's other statement that it is wrong to say that the ,egyptians worshipped animals in the ordinary sense of the word1 one must differentiate between the attitude of primitive man toward his personal or tribal totem and toward the full-fledged deity4 ,it is extremely difficult at this time of day1 even with the example of living totemic tribes before us1 to ascertain the exact status of the totem as regards worship or adoration4 ,the ,egyptian god certainly received worship of a very thorough description1 and if he received it in his totem form1 we may take it that it was on account of his status as a deity1 and not as a totem4 ,the contention that the animal form of many of the ,egyptian gods is not of totemic origin is a vain one1 and cannot be upheld in the light of modern researches4 ,to state that the ,egyptian gods were not totemic in their origin simply because they were ,egyptian is to take up a totally untenable position--a position which cannot be supported by a single shred of evidence4 ,we do not hear very much concerning animal transformation on earth--that is1 few tales exist which describe the metamorphosis of a sorcerer or witch into an animal form4 ,so far as one can judge1 the idea of the werewolf or any similar form was unknown in ancient ,egypt4 ,but a kindred type of great antiquity was not wanting--that of the vampire4 ,we do not find the vampire in any concrete form1 but figured as a ghost--indeed1 as the wicked or spiteful dead so common in ,hindu1 ,burmese1 and ,malay mythology4 ,the ,egyptian ghost slew the sleeping child by sucking its breath1 and1 strangely enough1 the charm employed against such a being was the same as that used to-day in the ,balkan peninsula against the attacks of the vampire--to wit1 a wreath of garlic1 a plant the vampire is known to detest4 ,the astrological knowledge of the ,egyptians appears to have been exercised chiefly in the casting of horoscopes4 ,certain gods presided over certain periods of time1 while others were identified with the heavenly bodies1 and all were supposed to have power over the events which occurred in the periods subject to their control4 ,in the later papyri spheres or tables of nativity are found1 by means of which the fate of a man could be calculated from such data as the hour of his birth and so forth4 ,as among most ,oriental peoples1 astrological calendars1 stating which days were auspicious or otherwise1 were greatly in vogue1 and these were to some extent founded on mythological events which had taken place on such and such a date1 thus lending to it a certain significance for all time4 ,dreams ,dreams were also greatly relied upon in the affairs of life4 ,these were believed to be sent by the gods1 and it is probable that the ,egyptian who was exercised over his private affairs sought his repose in the hope of being vouchsafed a dream which would guide him in his conduct4 ,such a practice is in vogue amongst certain ,north ,american ,indian tribes to-day4 ,savage man goes to sleep trusting that his totem will grant him a vision for the regulation of his future affairs4 ,if the ancient ,egyptian desired such illumination1 he considered it wiser to sleep within a temple famous as the seat of an oracle4 ,a class of professional interpreters existed whose business it was to make clear the enigmatic portions of dreams4 ,it was thought that diseases might be cured by nostrums communicated by the gods during sleep4 ,mummy ,magic ,the treatment of the mummy and the various ceremonies in connexion with embalmment were undoubtedly magical in origin4 ,as each bandage was laid in its exact position certain words of power were uttered which were supposed to be efficacious in the preservation of the part swathed4 ,after consecration the priest uttered an invocation to the deceased and then took a vase of liquid containing ten perfumes1 with which he smeared the body twice from head to foot1 taking especial care to anoint the head thoroughly4 ,the internal organs were at this juncture then placed on the body1 and the backbone immersed in holy oil1 supposed to be an emanation from the gods ,shu and ,geb4 ,certain precious stones were then laid on the mummy1 each of which had its magical significance4 ,thus crystal lightened his face1 and carnelian strengthened his steps4 ,a priest who personified the jackal-headed god ,anubis then advanced1 performed certain symbolical ceremonies on the head of the mummy1 and laid certain bandages upon it4 ,after a further anointing with oil the deceased was declared to have received his head4 ,the mummy's left hand was then filled with thirty-six substances used in embalming1 symbolical of the thirty-six forms of the god ,osiris4 ,the body was then rubbed with holy oil1 the toes wrapped in linen1 and after an appropriate address the ceremony was completed4 #a ,etudes de ,mythologie et d',archologie ,egyptienne1 ,paris1 #ahic1 vol4 i1 p4 #ajf4 #b ,i hope to elaborate this theory more fully in a later work4 #c ,for a very full account of ,fetishism see my article in the ,encyclopedia of ,religion and ,ethics4 #d ,lefbure1 ,la ,vertu et la ,vie du ,nom en ,egypte4 #e ,this expression ,ma kheru etymologically means 'acquitted1' and is a legal term4 #f ,see ,budge1 ,egyptian ,magic1 p4 #bj4 #g ,see ,a4 ,waite1 ,hidden ,church of the ,holy ,grail1 pp4 #ecc et seq4 ,,chapter ,,viii3 ,,foreign ,,and ,,animal ,,gods3 ,,the ,,late ,,period ,foreign ,deities ,the attitude of the ,egyptians as a nation toward 'other gods' seems to have been singularly free from any bigotry for their native deities1 though of course the priesthood1 of necessity1 were more jealous and conservative in this respect4 ,but the middle and lower classes adopted foreign gods freely1 and in time the widespread belief in certain of these compelled official recognition and consequent inclusion in the ,egyptian pantheon4 ,various reasons for this lack of exclusiveness are quite apparent4 ,the state religion was purely a matter of royal and priestly organization1 of moment to the attendant court of nobles and officials1 but having no permanent or deep-seated effect on the people generally1 each district following its local cult4 ,polytheistic worship was thus a national tendency1 and therefore1 when the people came into contact with foreign deities who possessed desirable qualities and powers1 there was no sufficiently restraining force in their own religion to prevent them from becoming devotees of the strange god4 ,again1 the divinity of another nation's god never seems to have been disputed1 for if a nation were powerful1 then that itself was sufficient proof of the divine and magical nature of their deity1 and by so much1 therefore1 his power was to be feared and propitiated4 ,that an element of fear was present in much of this god-adoption cannot be doubted4 ,this would hold true especially in the case of the soldiery1 who would propitiate gods of war belonging to nations who had shown themselves savage and furious in warfare2 also in that of merchants1 who1 convoying their precious cargoes1 would seek the gods who ruled the sea4 ,there was yet another aspect of the question and an important one4 ,according to ,egyptian thought1 war between peoples was in fact war between their respective deities1 a trial of their powers2 and as the vanquished king and people might be taken captive1 so might the god4 ,indeed1 it was a necessity1 for without the possession of the god it could not be said that the conquest was completed and the kingdom won4 ,we find traces of many of these adoptions1 not to be found among the official deities1 in the numerous small stel belonging to private people and dedicated by them to these strange gods2 in the small images which stood in the people's houses2 while many an inscription carven on the rocks of the desert yields its quota of evidence4 ,libya1 ,palestine1 ,phnicia1 and ,syria1 each furnished the ,egyptians with new gods2 ,ethiopia also4 ,it is considered probable by some authorities that the goddesses ,bast and ,neith were of ,libyan origin1 though of this no positive statement can be made4 ,the worship of ,bast and ,neith was prevalent chiefly in the parts where the majority of the population were ,libyan1 and the latter was almost neglected where the people were of pure ,egyptian race4 ,asiatic ,gods ,semitic ,asia supplied the greatest number of gods borrowed by the ,egyptians1 foremost among them being ,baal1 ,ashtoreth1 ,anthat1 ,reshpu1 and the goddess ,qetesh4 ,the greatest of all is1 of course1 the ,syrian ,baal1 the terrible god of war1 also a personification of those terrors of the desert1 the burning heat of the sun and the destroying wind4 ,this god first became known to the ,egyptians under the ,eighteenth ,dynasty1 when they were at war with the ,syrians for centuries1 and1 as they had proved anything but easily vanquished foes1 their god must be regarded with due reverence and awe4 ,the ,ramessides especially esteemed this deity1 and had a special predilection for calling themselves as brave and mighty as ,baal in heaven1 and under ,rameses ,,ii a temple of the god existed at ,tanis1 where this king carried out his architectural undertakings on such a large scale4 ,to a certain extent ,baal was identified with ,set1 for a figure of the fabulous animal in which the latter became incarnate is placed by the ,egyptians after their transliterations of the name ,baal1 from which it is evident that they believed the two gods to have qualities and attributes in common4 ,indeed1 in one case1 that of the texts of ,edf1 wherein is related the legend of the ,winged ,sun ,disk1 the name of ,baal is substituted for that of ,set4 ,unfortunately1 of his form and rites nothing is known4 ,anthat was a war-goddess whose cult was widespread in ,syria1 and at the time when the ,egyptians were making their ,asiatic ,empire she naturally became one of the adopted deities4 ,again1 the huge number of ,syrian captives brought into ,egypt would undoubtedly introduce her worship as well as that of others into the country1 and therefore it is no surprise to learn that in the reign of ,thothmes ,,iii a shrine was built and dedicated to ,anthat at ,thebes4 ,rameses ,,ii1 of the ,nineteenth ,dynasty1 honoured this goddess often in his inscriptions1 a custom followed by ,rameses ,,iii1 also a great warrior1 and the latter gave to his favourite daughter the name of ,banth-,anth1 'daughter of ,anth4' ,of the form of her worship little is known1 but on ,egyptian monuments she is called the lady of heaven and mistress of the gods1 and is depicted seated on a throne or standing upright4 ,seated1 she wields a club with her left hand1 and with her right holds spear and shield2 standing1 she is shown wearing a panther-skin1 with the emblem of life in her left hand1 while in the right she holds a papyrus sceptre4 ,on her head is the ,white ,crown4 ,her worship was well established in ,egypt1 and in time she was identified with the native gods1 and even said to have been produced by ,set4 ,ashtoreth ,ashtoreth was called by the ,egyptians mistress of horses1 lady of the chariot1 dweller in ,apollinopolis ,magna4 ,she is a ,syrian deity1 the terrible and destroying goddess of war1 and her cult would seem to have been brought into ,egypt during the ,syrian campaign of ,thothmes ,,iii4 ,her worship seems to have been well established in the country by the time of ,amen-hetep ,,iii1 for in a letter from ,tushratta1 king of the ,mitanni1 to this ,pharaoh1 he speaks of ,ishtar of ,nineveh1 ,lady of the ,world1 going down into ,egypt in his own reign and that of his father1 and seems to infer that her worship there has declined1 for he begs ,amen-hetep to make it increase tenfold4 ,that it was widespread cannot be doubted4 ,it flourished in the ,delta1 and was known there down to ,christian times4 ,the eastern quarter of ,tanis was dedicated to ,ashtoreth as was a temple near by on the shores of the ,serbonian lake4 ,mention is made of a priest of ,memphis who served ,ashtoreth together with the moon-god ,ah1 for she was also regarded as a moon-goddess1 and was identified with one of the forms of ,hathor1 or ,isis-,hathor4 ,in the treaty concluded between the ,kheta and the ,egyptians she is mentioned as the national goddess of the ,syrians1 though by this time she was also a familiar deity to the ,egyptians1 for proper names compounded with hers were current1 and ,rameses ,,ii1 who had named his daughter after ,anthat1 also named one of his sons after ,ashtoreth3 ,mer-,astrot4 ,her designation 'lady of horses and chariots' shows the comparatively late period at which she entered ,egypt1 for it was only about #ahjj ,b4,c41 at the earliest during the ,hyksos period1 that the ,egyptians learned from the ,semites of the ,eastern ,desert how to use horses in war for charging and for drawing war-chariots4 ,ashtoreth is depicted as lioness-headed1 and mounted on a quadriga1 she drives her rampant horses over prostrate foes1 and thus was the guide of the madly rushing war-chariot on the battlefield4 ,qetesh in her native ,syria seems to have been worshipped as a nature-goddess with rites that tended to the licentious4 ,in ,egypt she came to be identified with one of the forms of ,hathor1 the goddess of love and beauty1 also as a moon-goddess4 ,by some authorities she is considered to have been another form and aspect of ,ashtoreth4 ,in ,egyptian art she is represented as standing upon a lion1 her figure entirely nude2 in her right hand she holds lotus blossoms and a mirror1 while in her left are two serpents4 ,at a later period she is still depicted in the same attitude1 but on her head she wears the headdress of ,hathor4 ,on inscriptions of the ,eighteenth and ,nineteenth ,dynasties she is called lady of heaven1 mistress of all the gods1 eye of ,ra1 who has none like unto her4 ,she was prayed to for gifts of life and health1 and that after extreme old age her devotees might have a good burial in the west of ,thebes1 proving that her worship existed in the capital of the country4 ,she sometimes appears with ,amsu and the god ,reshpu1 with whom she seems to be associated as one of a trinity4 ,reshpu is another ,syrian god whose cult became known in ,egypt1 the chief centre of his worship being at ,het-,reshp1 in the ,delta4 ,in ,syria he was regarded as a god of war1 and in ,egyptian monuments and temples he is depicted in the form of a warrior with shield and spear in his left hand and a club in his right4 ,above his forehead projects a gazelle1 which would seem to be an ancient symbol of the god denoting his sovereignty over the desert4 ,his titles as given in the ,egyptian texts1 where he is described as the great god1 the lord of eternity1 the prince of everlastingness1 the lord of twofold strength among the company of gods1 are largely borrowed from the native deities4 ,reshpu corresponds to the god known to the ,phnicians and worshipped both in ,cyprus and ,carthage1 and is considered by some authorities to be a god of the burning and destructive power of fire1 also of the lightning4 ,semitic and ,african ,influence ,besides supplying the ,egyptians with specific deities1 ,semitic thought influenced their religious ideas regarding the mythology and nature of their own gods4 ,certain inanimate objects--especially stones1 and in some cases trees--under this influence came to be looked upon as incorporations of deity1 as that of the sun-god in ,heliopolis1 while a sign representing the archaic form of the symbol ,kh is the usual determinative of the name ,set4 ,it is a circumstance of some significance that the ,asiatic deities in representation1 as regards physical appearance and symbolism1 are depicted according to the ,egyptian religious convention2 but with gods of ,african origin it is far otherwise4 ,they are figured as hideous1 frightful1 distorted1 and enormously fat creatures1 resembling the negro human fetish which may be found to-day among ,african tribes4 ,bes is the most important of the ,african deities1 and though he underwent many changes as time went on1 which would seem to point to other origins1 his original conception is decidedly ,african1 and his cult in ,egypt is coeval with dynastic civilizations4 ,his representations point to a savage origin4 ,he is depicted as a deformed dwarf with large stomach1 bowed legs1 and a huge1 bearded face4 ,from his thick lips hangs a protruding tongue2 his nose is flat1 while his eyebrows are very shaggy4 ,he wears a tiara of feathers#a on his head1 and round his body a panther-skin1 the tail of which hangs down and usually touches the ground behind him4 ,another distinction is that he is generally drawn in full face1 the ,egyptian deities being usually presented in profile4 ,though many names were given to him later1 ,bes was his usual appellation1 which1 according to ,wiedemann1 is derived from besa1 a word designating one of the great felid1 the ,cynlurus guttatus1 whose skin formed his clothing4 ,his cult existed over a long period--from the time of the ,old ,kingdom down to ,roman times1 in which his oracle at ,abydos was consulted down to a late period--and his influence may be traced in ,alexandrian1 ,hellenistic1 and ,phnician art4 ,the god ,bes had varied characteristics4 ,he was associated with birth1 and one of the oldest representations of him is to be found in a relief in the temple of ,hatshepsut1 where he appears as attendant at the birth of the ,great ,queen4 ,in this connexion he appears in all the ',birth ,houses' of ,egyptian temples1 places where the presiding god was supposed to have been born4 ,as the child grew ,bes was supposed to provide it with amusement1 and in this aspect he is shown as laughing at it1 dancing grotesquely and playing on the harp4 ,from this he came to be regarded as god of the dance1 of music and joviality1 hence of rest1 joy1 and pleasure2 and his quaint figure is to be found carved upon the handles of mirrors1 on palettes1 and on kohl vessels4 ,he was appointed guardian of the young sun-god1 and therefore becomes the foe of all serpents1 and is shown as gripping and strangling them in his hands1 or biting them in pieces4 ,in time he was wholly identified with his ward ,horus1 and depicted with all the symbols and attributes of that deity1 though his peculiar solar province was the east4 ,in the underworld ,bes underwent a transformation4 ,he became an avenging deity1 carrying a menacing knife with which he essayed to tear out the hearts of the wicked1 yet1 even thus1 to the good and deserving he never failed to be a true friend and cheering companion4 ,in his menacing aspect he was called 'the ,warrior1' and sometimes this character was ascribed to him on earth also1 where1 bearing a shield and wielding a sword1 he wages war for those under his protection1 and those who wear his image as an amulet4 ,it is undoubted that many local cults existed in different parts of ,egypt and that gods of many and varied origins were the presiding deities1 but usually their power remained purely local and never attained to any great influence or fame4 ,sacred ,animals ,from the many sources whence comes our knowledge of ancient ,egypt there is to be gathered a most comprehensive survey of the great extent and influence which animal-worship attained to in that country4 ,it prevailed there from the earliest times and was far older than ,egyptian civilization4 ,that much of it is of totemic origin cannot be gainsaid1 an origin to be found among the pre-dynastic tribes whence sprang the ,egyptian people4 ,the inspiring cause of animal-worship was undoubtedly at first nothing more or less than fear1 with an admixture of awesome admiration of the creature's excelling power and strength4 ,later there developed the idea of animals as typifying gods1 the actual embodiments of divine and superhuman attributes4 ,thus the bull and the ram1 possessors of exceptional procreative energy1 came to represent gods of nature and the phenomena of yearly rejuvenescence1 as is stated by ,wiedemann3 ,the generative power in the animal was identical with the force by which life is renewed in nature continually and in man after death4 ,throughout ,egypt the bull and the cow1 the latter as typifying fertility1 were worshipped as agricultural gods4 ,again1 to the ,egyptian mind1 incapable of abstract thought1 an immaterial and intangible deity was an impossible conception4 ,a god1 and more so by reason of his godhead1 must manifest and function in an actual body4 ,the king was believed to be an incarnation of a god1 but he was apart and only one1 and as the ,egyptian everywhere craved the manifestation of and communion with his gods1 it thus came about that incarnations of deity and its many attributes were multiplied4 ,certain animals could represent these to a greater degree than man1 though of course to ,egyptian thought man was the standard by which all in the universe was to be measured and weighed4 ,the gods were but little greater than men2 they were limited1 and might know death4 ,their immortality was only acquired by the power of transmigration from one body to another1 escaping human death by transference to successive forms and a renewal of the life force4 ,the symbolism of the ,egyptian religion is mostly expressed by means of animals4 ,thus the god of the dead is spoken of as a jackal1 the water-god as a crocodile1 while the sky is a cow1 the sun a falcon1 the moon an ibis4 ,because of this exaltation of certain animals whole species were held as sacred1 and this led to the many strange ideas and customs amongst the ,egyptians mentioned so often by classic writers1 as1 for instance1 considering a man fortunate who was eaten by a crocodile4 ,when these animals died their owners mourned as for a relative1 and the greatest care was taken in the disposal of their remains4 ,cows were held in such veneration that their bodies were cast into the sacred waters of the ,nile1 and a bull was buried outside the town1 its horns protruding above the ground to mark the place of interment4 ,other instances might be adduced4 ,apis ,from the earliest times the bull was worshipped in ,egypt as the personification of strength and virility and might in battle4 ,manetho traces the cult of ,apis to ,kaiekhos1 a king of the ,second ,dynasty1 who appointed a chosen bull1 ,hap1 to be a god2 but lian ascribes this to ,mena1 the first historical king of ,egypt4 ,much of our knowledge concerning this cult is derived from ,greek sources4 ,herodotus gives the following description of ,apis3 ,he is the calf of a cow which is incapable of conceiving another offspring1 and the ,egyptians say that lightning descends upon the cow from heaven and that from thence it brings forth ,apis4 ,this calf has the following marks3 it is black and has a square spot of white on the forehead2 and on the back the figure of an eagle2 and in the tail double hairs1 and on the tongue a beetle4 ,again1 ,diodorus gives an account of the finding of the ,apis and the method of its installation on the death and funeral of a former incarnation of the god ,osiris3 ,after the splendid funeral of ,apis is over those priests who have charge of the business seek out another calf as like the former as they can possibly find1 and when they have found one an end is put to all further mourning and lamentation1 and such priests as are appointed for that purpose lead the young ox through the city of ,nile and feed him forty days4 ,then they put him into a barge wherein is a golden cabin and so transport him as a god to ,memphis and place him in ,vulcan's grove4 ,during the forty days before mentioned none but women are admitted to see him1 and these1 naked1 are placed full in his view4 ,afterward they are forbidden to come into the sight of this new god4 ,for the adoration of this ox they give this reason4 ,they say that the soul of ,osiris passed into an ox and therefore whenever the ox is dedicated1 to this very day the spirit of ,osiris is infused into one ox after another to posterity4 ,but some say that the members of ,osiris 7who was killed by ,typhon7 were thrown by ,isis into an ox made of wood covered with ox-hides1 and from thence the city of ,bubastis was called4 ,great honour was also paid to the mother of the chosen bull1 and apartments in the temple were set apart for her beside the splendid ones occupied by the ,apis4 ,this animal was given rich beds to lie upon1 its food was of the purest and most delicate1 while water from a special well at ,memphis was given to it alone1 the water of the ,nile being considered fattening4 ,a number of carefully selected cows were presented to the ,apis1 and these again had their attendant priests4 ,usually the sacred bull was kept in seclusion1 but when on certain occasions he appeared in public a crowd of boys marched in procession beside him singing hymns4 ,the birthday of the ,apis was celebrated for seven days with great rejoicings1 and it was believed that during this period no man was attacked by a crocodile4 ,the ,apis ,oracle ,thus in the temple of ,ptah were great honours paid to the ,apis bull1 and the ,pharaohs gave lavishly of their wealth to its cult1 and foreigners1 such as ,alexander the ,great and ,titus1 presented it with offerings4 ,oracles1 as usual1 were looked for from this god1 and the method of obtaining them is thus described by ,wiedemann3 ,chiefly it was renowned for its oracles1 which were imparted in very various ways4 ,when the bull licked the garments of the celebrated ,eudoxus of ,cnidus1 this signified the astronomer's approaching death2 a like fate was predicted to ,germanicus when it refused to eat at his hand2 and the conquest of ,egypt by ,augustus was announced beforehand by its bellowing4 ,some inquiries were answered by the animal's passing into one or other of the two rooms placed at its disposition1 and others by dreams which were vouchsafed to inquirers who slept in the temple1 and which were explained by the sacred interpreters4 ,other inquiries1 again1 though presented to the creature itself1 found their reply through the voices of children playing before the temple1 whose words assumed to the believing inquirer the form of a rhythmic answer to his question4 ,prophecies of a general kind took place during the procession of the ,apis4 ,of this ,pliny says3 ,then the youths who accompanied him sang hymns in his honour1 while the ,apis appeared to understand all1 and to desire that he should be worshipped4 ,suddenly the spirit took possession of the youths and they prophesied4 ,there were also sacrifices made to the ,apis1 and these1 strangely enough1 were oxen1 chosen with the greatest care4 ,the head of the slaughtered animal was usually thrown into the ,nile with the following words pronounced above it3 ,if any evil be about to befall either those who now sacrifice or upon the land of ,egypt1 may it be averted on this head4 ,some authorities state that after a certain number of years the ,apis was slain and a new one obtained1 but it is generally believed that the ,apis died a natural death4 ,its body was embalmed and general mourning was observed4 ,the mummy was buried with all magnificence4#b ,in #ahea ,mariette discovered the famous ,serapeum wherein had been buried the sacred bulls of ,memphis from the middle of the ,eighteenth ,dynasty1 #aejj ,b4,c4 ,here in the gigantic sarcophagi1 weighing about fifty-eight tons each1 were discovered some of the remains of these animals4 ,the chapels of the ,serapeum were evidently places of pilgrimage1 for many votive statues and stel have been found there dedicated to the dead ,apis1 in hopes of thereby gaining his favour and the fulfilment of their various wishes4 ,the ,apis1 though dead1 was even yet more powerful1 for his soul became joined to that of ,osiris1 and thus the dual god ,osiris-,apis was formed1 a name more familiar in the ,grecian form ,serapis4 ,to this god the ,greeks ascribed the attributes of their own deity ,hades1 convinced of the similarity to ,osiris1 the great god of the underworld4 ,in both ,egypt and ,greece ,serapis came to be looked upon as the male counterpart of ,isis4 ,under the ,romans the cult of ,serapis extended in all directions of the ,empire1 claiming devotees of all classes and races4 ,it reached as far north in ,britain as ,york4 ,at ,heliopolis another bull1 ,mnevis1 was worshipped as typifying the sun and its life-giving powers4 ,manetho ascribes this cult also to ,kaiekhos1 of the ,second ,dynasty1 as well as the worship of the ,ram of ,mendes4 ,this obtained chiefly in the ,deltaic cities1 such as ,hermopolis1 ,lycopolis1 and ,mendes1 the last named being the most famous shrine4 ,the origin of this worship was merely that of a local and tribal animal god1 but1 persisting through the changing civilization1 it became of more than local influence as the city grew in wealth and importance1 while the priesthood were among the most wealthy and powerful in ,egypt1 and the animal god was identified first with the indigenous god ,osiris1 secondly with the sun-god ,ra1 and thirdly with the great ,ram-god of the ,south and ,elephantine1 i4e4 ,khnemu4 ,greek writers furnish us with much graphic material concerning these animal cults1 as in some instances they were eye-witnesses of the ritual connected with them4 ,herodotus states that the god ,pan and another goat-like deity were worshipped with a wealth of symbolic display and gorgeous rite as gods of generation and fecundity4 ,as in many countries where animal worship obtained the beast chosen for adoration was picked from a number because of certain distinguishing marks upon its hide1 was enthroned with much pomp and received an imposing public funeral on its decease4 ,on the stele of ,mendes deciphered by ,mariette was found an inscription stating that ,ptolemy ,,ii ,philadelphus rebuilt the temple of ,mendes and assisted in person at the enthronement of two ,rams1 and in a relief on the upper portion of this stele are to be seen the figures of two royal ,ptolemies and an ,arsino making offerings to the ,ram and his female counterpart ,hatmehit4 ,the ,crocodile ,the crocodile was the incarnation of the god ,sebek4 ,it would seem beyond doubt that abject fear was the primal origin of the worship of this repulsive creature1 and the idea that its evil and menacing traits might be averted by propitiation1 for in the dry season these reptiles wandered over the cultivated lands and devoured all at will4 ,later1 beneficent attributes were ascribed to it1 but the dark side always persisted4 ,in the benign aspect he is connected with ,ra1 and again with ,osiris1 though in legendary lore he is both the friend and foe of ,osiris4 ,one version tells how a crocodile carried the dead body of ,osiris safely to land upon its back1 whilst another relates that only by ,isis placing ,horus in a little ark woven of papyrus reeds was she able to protect him against the attacks of the malevolent ,sebek4 ,this clearly identifies him with ,set1 the murderer of ,osiris1 and in this connexion the powers of darkness are symbolized by four crocodiles1 who are shown in the ,book of the ,dead as menacing the deceased4 ,whilst still living1 men sought deliverance from these horrible shapes of the underworld by means of incantations4 ,but again he is said to be beneficent to the dead1 and in the ,pyramid ,texts it is ,sebek who restores sight to the eyes of the deceased1 who1 indeed1 revives all his faculties1 is his guide in the untried new life1 and helps him to overthrow ,set1 the evil one who preys upon every ',osiris4' ,in this character he is the helper and protector of the child ,horus4 ,but his characters are multiple1 and he is to be found participating in the rites of all the other gods of the ,egyptian pantheon4 ,quite in consonance with this is the fact that while in some parts of ,egypt the crocodile was held sacred1 in other districts it was killed2 indeed1 the hunting of it was a popular sport with the nobles of the ,old ,kingdom4 ,by some the crocodile was looked upon as a protector of ,egypt1 ,diodorus stating that but for them ,arabian and ,african robbers would swim across the ,nile and pillage the country in all directions4 ,herodotus also states these conflicting views regarding the crocodile1 together with many of the fabulous stories of its wisdom and habits4 ,he tells how at ,thebes and ,lake ,moeris they were held sacred1 and how when tame the people bedecked them with jewels1 placing bracelets on their fore-paws1 while they were fed on the most delicate foods4 ,after death the body was embalmed with many rites and buried in the subterranean ,labyrinth1 a place held so sacred that ,herodotus was not allowed to enter it4 ,the centre of this worship was ,krokodilopolis1 in the ,faym1 and ,strabo1 who visited ,egypt during the reign of the ,emperor ,augustus1 gives the following account in which he tells that the sacred crocodile was kept apart by himself in a lake2 it is tame and gentle to the priests4 ,it is fed with bread1 flesh1 and wine1 which strangers who come to see it always present4 ,our host1 a distinguished person1 who was our guide about the city1 accompanied us to the lake1 and brought from the supper table a small cake1 dressed meat1 and a small vessel containing honey and milk4 ,the animal was lying on the edge of the lake4 ,the priests went up to it2 some of them opened its mouth1 another put the cake into it1 then the meat1 and afterward poured down the honey and milk4 ,the animal then leaped into the lake and crossed to the other side4 ,when another stranger arrived with his offering1 the priests took it and1 going round to the other side1 caught the animal and repeated the process in the same manner as before4 ,this cult lasted far into the ,roman period4 ,sebek also had his oracle1 and foretold the demise of ,king ,ptolemus by refusing to listen to him or obey the attendant priests4 ,in religious art ,sebek is often represented as a crocodile-headed man wearing the solar disk with a urus1 or1 again1 with a pair of horns and the plumes of ,amen4 ,the ,lion ,the lion could hardly fail to be the centre of a cult1 and there is ample proof that this animal was1 from early dynastic times1 worshipped for his great strength and courage4 ,he was identified with the solar deities1 with the sun-god ,horus or ,ra4 ,the ,delta was the home of the ,egyptian lion1 and the chief centre of the cult was the city of ,leontopolis1 in the ,northern ,delta1 where1 according to lian1 the sacred lions were fed upon slaughtered animals1 and sometimes a live calf was put in the den that they might have the pleasure of killing it4 ,whilst the feeding was proceeding the priests chanted and sang4 ,but the same writer also states that lions were kept in the temple at ,heliopolis1 as well as at many other places throughout ,egypt4 ,the ,lion ,guardian ,the outstanding characteristic of the lion was that of guardianship1 and this is to be found in the part played by the ancient lion-god ,aker1 who guarded the gate of the dawn through which the sun passed each morning4 ,the later idea that the sun-god passed through a dark passage in the earth which hid his light1 and so caused the darkness of night1 while his emergence therefrom was the signal of day1 necessitated the existence of two guardian lions1 who were called ,sef and ,dua--that is1 ',yesterday' and ',to-morrow4' ,from this was derived the practice of placing statues of lions at the doors of palaces and tombs as guardians of both living and dead against all evil4 ,these statues were often given the heads of men1 and are familiar under the ,greek name of ',sphinxes1' though the characteristics of the ,egyptian lion-statue were very different from those of the ,grecian ',sphinx4' ,the most famous of all is1 of course1 the wonderful ',sphinx' at ,gizeh1 the symbol of the sun-god ,ra1 or rather his colossal abode erected there1 facing the rising sun that he might protect the dead sleeping in the tombs round about4 ,there were many lion-headed gods and goddesses1 in some cases personifying the destructive power4 ,in the underworld lion-headed deities guarded some of the halls and pylons there1 and that the lion was connected in some way with the dead is proved by the fact that the head of the bier was always made in the form of a lion's head1 while the foot was not seldom decorated with a lion's tail4 ,a curious point is that it was evidently permissible to kill the lions of another country1 if not those of ,egypt1 for we find that ,amen-hetep ,,iii boasted of having shot with his own bow one hundred and two fierce lions4 ,rameses ,,ii and ,rameses ,,iii both kept a tame lion1 which accompanied them into battle and actually attacked the enemy4 ,in this case1 however1 it is evident that primarily the lion was a symbol of guardianship4 ,the ,cat ,the cat was regarded both as an incarnation of ,bast1 the goddess of ,bubastis1 and therefore sacred to her1 and as a personification of the sun4 ,throughout ,egyptian mythology the cat is to be found1 and generally in a beneficent aspect4 ,in the ,book of the ,dead it is a cat who cuts off the head of the serpent of darkness and who assists in the destruction of the foes of ,osiris4 ,on every side there is ample evidence that everywhere in ,egypt the cat was held in great reverence after the ,twenty-second ,dynasty4 ,the classical writers are again our authorities4 ,diodorus relates that the cats were fed on bread and milk and slices of ,nile fish1 and that the animals came to their meals at certain calls4 ,after death their bodies were carefully embalmed and1 with spices and drugs1 swathed in linen sheets4 ,the penalty of death was meted out to anyone who killed a cat1 be it by accident or of intent1 and a case is given in which a ,roman who had killed a cat was set upon by the enraged populace and made to pay for the outrage with his life4 ,a passage from ,herodotus further illustrates the esteem in which these animals were held3 ,when a conflagration takes place a supernatural impulse seizes on the cats4 ,for the ,egyptians1 standing at a distance1 take care of the cats and neglect to put out the fire2 but the cats1 making their escape1 and leaping over the men1 throw themselves into the fire2 and when this happens great lamentations are made among the ,egyptians4 ,in whatsoever house a cat dies a natural death all the family shave their eyebrows only1 but if a dog die they shave their whole body and the head4 ,all cats that die are carried to certain sacred houses1 where1 being first embalmed1 they are buried in the city of ,bubastis4 ,the ,dog ,dogs were held in great honour by the ,egyptians1 as in the city of ,cynopolis1 yet strangely enough1 they were never looked upon as a possible incarnation of a god1 though there seems to have been some confusion of the dog with the jackal1 sacred to ,anubis1 who ministered to ,osiris and acted as guide to the souls of the dead4 ,another animal so confounded was the wolf1 which was specially venerated at ,lycopolis4 ,the fact that the jackal was to be found chiefly in the deserts and mountains where tombs were usually located led to its early association with the dead and the underworld in ,egyptian mythology1 the character ascribed to it being beneficent and that of a guide4 ,the ,hippopotamus ,another cult probably founded on fear was that of the hippopotamus4 ,ta-urt1 the hippopotamus-goddess1 came in time to be identified with nearly every goddess in the ,egyptian pantheon1 and though her attributes are those of benevolence and protectiveness1 the original traits of ferocious destructiveness were not wholly obliterated1 for we find these personified in the monster1 half-hippopotamus1 called ,amemt1 who attends the ,judgment ,scene4 ,in this same scene is the dog-headed ape1 who sits and watches the pointer of the scales and reports the results to ,thoth4 ,this animal was greatly revered by the ,egyptians4 ,the cult is probably extremely ancient4 ,apes were kept in many temples1 mostly those of the lunar deities1 as that of ,khensu at ,thebes4 ,other ,animals ,two animals1 the ass and the pig1 attained a peculiar reputation for evil1 though in some aspects looked upon as sacrosanct4 ,they were always connected with the powers of darkness and evil4 ,in the case of the ass opinion seems to have fluctuated1 for in some instances this animal figures as a personification of the sun-god ,ra4 ,many smaller animals are to be found in the mythology of ,egypt1 among which may be mentioned the hare1 which was worshipped as a deity1 the shrew-mouse1 sacred to the goddess ,buto1 the ichneumon1 and the bat1 whilst reptiles were represented by the tortoise1 associated with night1 therefore with darkness and evil2 and the serpent1 clearly propitiated through fear at first1 though afterward credited with beneficent motives4 ,the urus became the symbol of divinity and royalty1 a symbol worn by the gods and the kings4 ,but the evil side was undoubtedly prominent in the mind of the ,egyptian1 for all the terrors of death and the ,unknown were personified in the monster serpent ,apep1 who led his broods of serpents against both gods and men in the gloom of the underworld4 ,others were the scorpion1 associated sometimes with evil1 but also sacred to ,isis2 and the frog1 worshipped in pre-dynastic times as the symbol of generation1 birth1 and fecundity4 ,this cult was the most ancient in ,egypt and is connected with the creation myth4 ,the goddess ,heqt1 identified with ,hathor1 is depicted with the head of a frog4 ,the ,ibis ,amongst birds worshipped by the ,egyptians1 one of the most important was the ibis4 ,it was associated with ,thoth and the moon1 and in the earliest period the city of ,hermopolis was the centre of this cult4 ,a passage in ,herodotus gives many interesting details concerning the ideas held regarding the bird4 ,he tells us that he went to a certain place in ,arabia1 near the city of ,buto1 to learn about the winged serpents1 brought into ,egypt by the west wind1 which the ibis was believed to destroy along with the ordinary reptiles common to the country4 ,arriving there1 he saw the backbones and ribs of serpents in such numbers as it was impossible to describe2 of the ribs there were a multitude of heaps1 some great1 some small1 some of medium size4 ,the place where the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow gorge between steep mountains1 which there opens upon a wide plain communicating with the great plain of ,egypt4 ,the story goes that1 with the spring1 the winged snakes come flying from ,arabia toward ,egypt1 but are met in this gorge by the birds called ibises1 who bar their entrance and destroy them4 ,the ,arabians assert1 and the ,egyptians admit1 that it is on account of this service that the ,egyptians hold the ibis in so much reverence4 ,the ibis is a bird of a deep black colour1 with legs like a crane2 its beak is strongly hooked1 and its size that of the landrail4 ,this is a description of the black ibis which contends with the serpents4 ,another bird held in great reverence was the bennu1 a bird of the heron species which gave rise to the mythical bird1 the phnix4 ,it is identified with the sun1 a symbol of the rising and the setting sun4 ,many fables arose concerning this bird1 and are recounted by ,herodotus and ,pliny4 ,another sun-bird was the falcon1 sacred to ,horus1 ,ra1 and ,osiris1 and this was worshipped throughout ,egypt in the pre-dynastic period4 ,in another form1 represented with a human head1 it was symbolic of the human soul1 a distinction it shared with the heron and swallow1 in both of which it was believed the human soul might reincarnate itself4 ,plutarch says that it was in the form of a swallow that ,isis lamented the death of ,osiris4 ,also sacred to ,isis was the goose1 though one species of it was devoted to ,amen-,ra2 while the vulture was the symbol of the goddesses ,nekhebet and ,mut4 ,there is some evidence to prove that certain fish were held as sacred1 and worshipped because of their mythological connexion with divers gods and goddesses4 ,sacred ,trees ,though as a country ,egypt was not rich in trees1 yet certain of the family played a not unimportant part in the religious cult1 so much so that tree-worship has been accepted as a fact by most ,egyptologists4 ,that these trees were held in special veneration would support that belief1 though recorded instances of actual tree-worship are rare4 ,this ,wiedemann attributes to the same reason that accounts for the scant notice taken in ,egyptian texts of animal-worship1 though we know from other sources that it formed the most considerable part in popular religion4 ,and the reason is that official religion took but little notice of the 'minor' divinities to whom the people turned rather than to the greater gods2 that the priestly class hardly admitted to their pantheon the 'rustic and plebeian' deities of the lower classes4 ,he goes on to say that so far as we can judge1 the reception of tree-worship into temple-service and mythology was always the result of a compromise2 the priests were compelled to make concessions to the faith of the masses and admit into the temples the worship of the people's divinities2 but they did so grudgingly1 and this explains the apparent insignificance of the official cult of vegetation in ,egypt as compared with the worship of the great gods and their cycles4 ,in their religious symbolism we find the ancient sacred tree which grew in the ',great ,hall' of ,heliopolis on the place where the solar cat slew that great serpent of evil1 ,apep1 the place1 too1 from which the ,phnix rose4 ,the leaves of this tree possessed magical powers1 for when ,thoth or the goddess ,safekht wrote thereon the name of the monarch1 then was he endowed with immortality4 ,again1 there was the wonderful tree1 a tamarisk1 which wound its stem and branches about the chest that held the dead ,osiris4 ,an olive-tree is mentioned1 too1 the habitation of a nameless demon4 ,the sycamore1 whose shade was so welcome in the brazen glare of ,egypt1 had its counterpart in the ,land of the ,dead1 and from its midst leaned out a ,hathor1 ,lady of the ,underworld1 offering sustenance and water to the passing souls4 ,sometimes it is a palm-tree from which she ministers to the dead1 and perhaps it is a leaf from this tree circled by inverted horns which stands for the peculiar symbol of ,safekht1 the goddess of learning4 ,but the sycamore seems to have been first favourite1 and on some monuments it is represented with peasants gathered round fervently paying their devotions to it and making offerings of fruit and vegetables and jars of water4 ,it was always held as sacred to ,nut and ,hathor1 and their doubles were believed to inhabit it1 a certain species being regarded as the living body of ,hathor on earth2 indeed1 the ,memphite ,hathor was called the ',lady of the ,sycamore4' ,as to the later development of this belief ,wiedemann states3 ,in ,ptolemaic times a systematic attempt was made to introduce this form of cult into the temple of every nome2 according to the contemporary lists relating to the subject1 twenty-four nomes worshipped the ,nile acacia1 seventeen the ,corda myxa1 sixteen the ,zizyphus ,spina ,christi1 while other trees1 such as the sycamore1 the ,juniperus ,phnica1 and the ,tamarisk ,nilotica1 are named but once or twice4 ,ten kinds of sacred trees are here mentioned1 in all of which as many as three were sometimes worshipped in the same nome4 ,again1 there is evidence to prove that every temple had its sacred tree and sacred groves1 whilst it is recorded that rare trees were brought as precious spoil from conquered countries1 their roots carefully encased in great chests of earth that they might be planted about temples and palaces4 ,the ,lotus ,amongst flora the only kind which may be said to be sacred is the lotus4 ,in ,egyptian symbolism and decoration it is to be found everywhere4 ,from the cup of a lotus blossom issues the boy ,horus1 the 'rising sun1' and again it is the symbol of resurrection1 when ,nefer-tem1 crowned with the flowers1 grants continuance of life in the world to come4 ,on the altars of offering the blossoms were laid in profusion4 ,religion of the ,late ,period ,the conclusion of the ,new ,empire and the succession of political chaos during what is known as the ,libyan period witnessed what was really1 so far as ,egyptian religion is concerned1 the beginning of the end4 ,thenceforward a gradual decline is apparent in the ancient faith of the ,pharaohs1 a subtle decay which the great revival of the eighth century and onward was powerless to arrest4 ,the ever-increasing introduction into it of foreign elements1 ,greek and ,persian and ,semitic1 and the treasuring of the dry husks of ancient things1 from which the soul had long since departed--these sapped the strength and virility of the ,egyptian religion1 hampered true progress1 and contributed to its downfall1 till it was finally vanquished and thrown into obscurity by the devotees of ,christianity4 ,at the beginning of the ,libyan period1 then1 there were a number of petty rulers in the land of ,egypt--a monarch held court at ,tanis1 in the ,delta2 at ,thebes the priesthood of ,amen's cult were the rulers2 other districts were governed by the chief men among the ,libyan soldiery4 ,one of these latter1 ,sheshonk by name1 attained supremacy about the middle of the tenth century ,b4,c41 and as his capital was at ,bubastis1 ,bast1 the cat-headed goddess of that locality1 became for a time supreme deity of ,egypt1 while other ,delta divinities also came into vogue4 ,a share of the worship also fell to ,amen4 ,it is remarkable that this deity was himself the ruler of ,thebes1 being represented by a ,divine ,wife1 always the eldest princess of the ruling family4 ,so firm was the belief in the divine government of ,thebes that no human monarch of the ,late period1 however powerful1 made any attempt to take the city4 ,meanwhile a revulsion of feeling occurred against ,set1 the dark brother of ,isis and ,osiris4 ,hitherto his position among the gods of the ,egyptian pantheon had been unquestioned1 but now he was thrown from his high estate and confused or identified with the dragon ,apep2 he was no longer a god1 but a devil4 ,the cult of the oracle flourished greatly during the decadent period1 and afforded1 as we may conjecture1 considerable scope for priestly ingenuity4 ,the usual method of consulting the oracle was to write on papyrus certain words1 whether of advice or judgment1 which it was proposed to put into the mouth of the deity1 and to which he might assent by nodding4 ,a ,religious ,reaction ,toward the end of the eighth century ,b4,c4 a great religious reaction set in4 ,hitherto the brilliant opening of the ,new ,empire1 particularly the time of ,rameses ,,ii1 had set a model for the pious of the ,late period2 now the ,old ,kingdom1 its monuments1 rites1 and customs1 its fervent piety and its proud conservatism1 was become the model epoch for the whole nation4 ,it was1 however1 less a faithful copy than a caricature of the ,old ,kingdom which the ,decadent period provided4 ,all that was most strange and outr in the ancient religion was sought out and emulated4 ,old monuments and religious literature were studied2 the language and orthography of long-past centuries were revived and adopted2 and if much of this was incomprehensible to the bulk of the people1 its very mystery but made it the more sacred4 ,in the funerary practices of the time the antiquarian spirit is very evident4 ,ancient funerary literature was held in high esteem2 the ,pyramid ,texts were revived2 old coffins1 and even fragments of such1 were utilized in the burying of the dead4 ,the tomb furniture was elaborate and magnificent--in the case of rich persons1 at least--while even the poorest had some such furnishings provided for them4 ,ushabti figures of blue faience were buried with the deceased1 to accomplish for him any compulsory labour he might be called upon to do in the domain of ,osiris1 and scarabs also were placed in his coffin4 ,the rites and ceremonies of mummification followed those of the ,old ,kingdom1 and were religiously carried out4 ,the graves of even the royal ,thebans were not so magnificent as those of private persons of this era4 ,yet because their inscriptions were almost invariably borrowed from the ,old ,kingdom1 it is hard to guess what their ideas really were on the subjects of death and the underworld4 ,it may be that these also were borrowed4 ,from the tombs of foreigners--of ,syrians belonging to the fifth century ,b4,c4--some little information may be gathered relative to the status of the dead in the underworld which probably represents the popular view of the time4 ,herodotus asserts that the ,egyptians of this epoch believed in the transmigration of souls1 and it is possible that they did hold this belief in some form4 ,it may well have been a development of the still more ancient idea that the soul was capable or appearing in a variety of shapes--as a bird1 an animal1 and so on4 ,the ,worship of ,animals ,a very prominent feature of the religion of the ,late period1 and one which well illustrates the note of exaggeration already mentioned1 was the worship of animals1 carried by the pious ,egyptian to a point little short of ludicrous4 ,cats and crocodiles1 birds1 beetles1 rams1 snakes1 and countless other creatures were reverenced with a lavishness of ceremony and ritual which the ,egyptian knew well how to bestow4 ,especially to ,apis1 the bull of the temple of ,ptah in ,memphis1 was worship accorded4 ,the ,sate king ,amasis1 who did a great deal in connexion with the restoration of ancient monuments1 is mentioned as having been especially devoted to the sacred bull1 in whose honour he raised the first of the colossal sarcophagi at ,saqqara4 ,but these elaborate burial rites were not reserved for individual sacred animals2 they were accorded to entire classes4 ,it was a work of piety1 for instance1 to mummify a dead cat1 convey the remains to ,bubastis1 where reigned the cat-headed ,bast1 and there inter the animal in a vault provided with suitable furnishings4 ,dead mice and sparrowhawks were taken to ,buto2 the ibis found his last resting-place at ,eshmunn2 while the cow1 the most sacred of ,egyptian animals1 was thrown at death into the ,nile4 ,it is notable that1 despite the exclusiveness which characterized this phase of the ,egyptian religion and the contempt with which the ,egyptians regarded everything that was not of their land1 several foreign elements crept into their faith and were incorporated with it during the ,satic and ,persian supremacies4 ,the oracles1 which played a conspicuous part in the religious government of the country1 were probably not of ,egyptian origin2 the burning of sacrifices was a ,semitic custom which the people of the ,nile valley had adopted4 ,already there was a considerable ,greek element in ,egypt1 and in the time of ,amasis a ,greek town--,naukratis--had been founded there4 ,it is therefore not improbable that ,greek ideas also entered into the national faith1 colouring the ancient gods1 and perhaps suggesting to ,herodotus that resemblance which caused him to identify the divinities of ,egypt with those of ,greece--,osiris with ,dionysos1 ,isis with ,demeter1 ,horus with ,apollo1 ,set with ,typhon1 and so on4 ,naturally this identification became much more general and complete in later years1 when the ,hellenes were masters in ,egypt4 ,besides these foreign ideas grafted on the ,egyptian religion1 there were innovations suggested by the native priests themselves1 such as the deification of certain national heroes admired by the populace for their skill in learning and magic4 ,such hero-gods were ,imhotep1 a distinguished author and architect under ,king ,zoser at an early period of dynastic history1 and ,amenhetep1 son of ,hpu1 who was thought to have seen and conversed with the gods4 ,both heroes were adored with the gods at ,thebes and ,karnak4 ,religion under ,persian ,rule ,if the ,sate rulers endeavoured to keep on good terms with the priesthood1 the ,persian monarchs who succeeded them were no whit behind in this matter4 ,even the boldest of them found it to his advantage to bow before the native deities1 and to give to these his protection4 ,meanwhile the ,egyptian dynasts1 who ruled contemporaneously with the ,persians1 were allowed to proceed unmolested with the building of temples and monuments4 ,strangely enough1 in view of the nearness of the ,greek conquest and the consequent amalgamation of the religions of ,greece and ,egypt1 this period was characterized by a hatred and contempt on the part of the ,egyptians for all foreigners dwelling in their cities4 ,kambyses1 who heaped indignity upon the ,apis bull and finally slew the animal1 was afterward persuaded by his physician1 ,usa-hor-res-net1 to recant his heresy1 and was further induced to banish foreigners out of the temple area and to destroy their houses4 ,other rulers levied taxes on ,greek imports1 devoting the revenue thus obtained to the goddess ,neith4 ,the ,ptolemaic ,period ,as has been said1 ,greek ideas had already found their way into the religion of ,egypt when the ,alexandrine conquest in the fourth century ,b4,c4 made the ,greeks dominant4 ,yet the ancient religion held its ground and maintained its established character in all essential respects4 ,the ,hellenic monarchs vied with their predecessors in the tolerance and respect which they accorded to the native religion4 ,it was they who maintained the ,egyptian deities in splendid state2 restored statues1 books1 and so on which the ,persians had taken from the country2 even they themselves worshipped the absurd animal deities of the ,egyptians4 ,this was the great epoch of temple-building in ,egypt4 ,the temples of ,dendereh1 ,edf1 ,kom ,ombo1 ,phil1 and many other famous structures were raised under ,ptolemaic and ,roman rulers4 ,for the favours shown them by the conquerors the priests were duly grateful1 even to the extent of deifying their rulers while they were yet alive4 ,it was said of ,ptolemy and his consort that the beneficent gods have benefited the temples in the land and greatly increased the dignity of the gods4 ,they have provided in every way for ,apis1 ,mnevis1 and the other esteemed sacred animals with great sumptuousness and cost4 ,there was even a new order#c of priesthood instituted1 known as the priesthood of the beneficent gods4 ,during the period of ,roman ascendancy the high-priest was the most important religious official within a considerable area1 acting as the representative of a still higher ,roman official1 the high-priest of ,alexander and of all ,egypt4 ,the priests of the larger temples1 on which grants of money and land had been lavishly bestowed1 were doubtless sufficiently well provided for1 but in the smaller temples things were far otherwise1 if we are to judge from the evidence at our disposal4 ,the ,theban priests especially were regarded as sages well versed in the lore of antiquity1 and as such were much sought after by travellers from ,rome4 ,in ,thebes also were priestesses1 consecrated to the service of ,amen1 the god of that district1 to whom the ,greeks as well as the ,egyptians rendered homage1 identifying him with ,zeus4 ,the worship of animals continued unabated during the ,hellenic period2 it is even probable that this phase of the ,egyptian religion had become more pronounced under the ,greek rule1 for ,strabo1 writing in the time of ,augustus1 asserts that statues of sacred animals had practically displaced those of the gods4 ,the sacred ,ram 7,khnemu7 of ,mendes was worshipped both by conquered and conquerors1 as was the ,apis bull and the sacred crocodile1 and it would seem that the temple revenues were at times increased by the displaying of these animals to the curious gaze of strangers4 ,fusion of ,greek and ,egyptian ,ideas ,meanwhile ,greek and ,egyptian ideas were becoming more and more completely fused4 ,as already mentioned1 ,amen was identified with ,zeus1 ,isis with ,demeter1 ,hathor with ,aphrodite1 ,osiris with ,pluto1 ,set with ,typhon1 ,bast with ,artemis1 and ,horus with ,apollo4 ,this feature was very strikingly exemplified in the god ,sarapis1#d a deity equally reverenced by the ,greeks and the ,egyptians4 ,sarapis1 as the former called him1 or ,asar-,hapi1 as he was known to the latter1 was a name compounded from ,osiris and ,apis4 ,so early as the beginning of the ,new ,empire these two deities--,apis1 the sacred bull of ,mendes1 and ,osiris1 the ',bull of the ,west'--had been to some extent identified1 and finally the ,apis had been given the attributes of a god of the underworld4 ,to the ,greeks1 it would appear1 ,sarapis was the form taken by the deceased ,apis bull4 ,tradition assigns the identification of ,sarapis with ,pluto to the reign of ,ptolemy ,soter4 ,plutarch gives the following version of the legend4 ,the ,legend of ,sarapis ,ptolemy1 surnamed the ,saviour1 had a dream wherein a certain colossean statue1 such as he had never seen before1 appeared unto him1 commanding him to remove it as soon as possible from the place where it then stood to ,alexandria4 ,upon this the king was in great perplexity1 as he knew neither to whom the statue belonged nor where to look for it4 ,upon his relating the vision to his friends1 a certain person named ,sosibius1 who had been a great traveller1 declared that he had seen just such a statue as the king described at ,sinope4 ,soteles and ,dionysius were hereupon immediately dispatched in order to bring it away with them1 which they at length accomplished1 though not without much difficulty and the manifest interposition of providence4 ,timotheus the ,interpreter and ,manetho1 as soon as the statue was shown to them1 from the ,cerberus and ,dragon that accompanied it concluded that it was designed to represent ,pluto1 and persuaded the king that it was in reality none other than the ,egyptian ,sarapis2 for it must be observed that the statue had not this name before it was brought to ,alexandria1 it being given to it afterward by the ,egyptians1 as the equivalent1 in their opinion1 to its old one of ,pluto4 ,another version of the tale asserts that the people of ,sinope would not consent to part with the statue of their god1 whereupon the statue of its own accord set sail for ,alexandria1 which it reached at the end of three days4 ,but whatever the means by which ,ptolemy contrived to bring the statue to ,egypt1 there is no doubt that his provision of a god which could be worshipped both by ,greeks and ,egyptians1 without violation of the principles of either1 was a diplomatic move which was justified in its results4 ,in the temples ,sarapis was figured as a mummy with a high crown and plaited beard2 or1 as ,asar-,hapi1 he was represented as a bull1 with the solar disk and urus between his horns4 ,in the small figures which were worshipped privately1 however1 he is shown in human shape1 bearded and curly-haired after the ,greek fashion4 ,if ,sarapis was one of the most important of ,egyptian deities of this period1 ,horus the ,child 7the ,greek ,harpocrates7 was one of the best-loved4 ,in the early centuries of the ,christian era he is shown as a child1 sometimes seated in a lotus-blossom1 sometimes in a ship1 or again enthroned as a follower of the sun-god2 frequently he carries a cornucopia or a jar4 ,it is as a child that he was loved and worshipped by the people1 with whom he seems to have been a universal favourite4 ,another popular deity was ,isis1 some of whose forms were decidedly ,grecian4 ,she was the goddess of ,alexandria and patron of sea-faring1 the ,aphrodite of the ,greeks and the ,isis of the ,egyptians1 and at times she is confused with ,hathor4 ,she and ,osiris are also figured as serpents1 though the god of the dead is more often represented in his ,sarapis form1 ruling in the underworld and accompanied by ,cerberus4 ,another deity who became popular during the ,hellenic period1 though formerly occupying a very obscure position in the ,pantheon1 was the god ,bes1 figured as an armed warrior1 still1 however1 retaining his grotesque character4 ,a figure borrowed1 doubtless1 from ,christianity represents ,isis and ,horus in a posture strongly reminiscent of the ,madonna and ,child4 ,an ,architectural ,renaissance ,the cult of the ,old ,kingdom persisted through the early1 and perhaps even into the later1 ,hellenic period4 ,those temples raised in the time of the ,ptolemies exhibit strong resemblances to those of the ,old ,kingdom4 ,dendereh1 for example1 was built to a design of the time of ,kheops1 and ,imhotep1 the hero-god1 was the architect of ,edf4 ,the walls of these ,ptolemaic temples were covered with inscriptions dealing with the rites and customs used therein4 ,temple ceremonials and festivals1 such as that of ,horus of ,edf1 were held as in ancient times4 ,the ancient written language was studied by the priests1 who thus had at their command a tongue unknown to the laity4 ,a reversion to ancient things was evident in every phase of the ,egyptian religion1 and the ,greeks1 far from dispelling the dust of long-past centuries1 entered partly into the spirit of the time1 gave their protection to the old customs and cults1 and themselves worshipped at the shrines of sacred cats1 cows1 and crocodiles4 ,truly a strange position for the fathers of classicism6 ,during the early centuries of the ,christian era foreign religions began to penetrate the land of the ,pharaohs and to mingle with the ,grco-,egyptian compound in a manner most perplexing to the student of the period4 ,the predominant alien faith1 and the one which finally triumphed1 was ,christianity4 ,osiris1 the ,greek gods1 and the archangel ,sabaoth are mentioned in the same breath4 ,in the magical texts especially this confusion is noticeable1 for they frequently contain ,christian1 ,jewish1 ,greek1 and ,egyptian allusions4 ,doubtless the magicians reasoned that if the deities of one faith failed them those of another might prove more successful1 and so1 to make assurance doubly sure1 they included all the gods they knew in their formul4 ,change in the ,conception of the ,underworld ,meanwhile a change took place in the popular conception of the underworld4 ,it was still the ,duat1 governed by ,osiris or ,sarapis2 but now it tended to be a place of punishment for the wicked1 where the future of the deceased was influenced less by his tomb-furnishings and inscriptions than by the conduct of his life while on earth4 ,nevertheless1 the burial rites continued to be elaborate and costly4 ,mummification was extensively practised even among ,christians1 and amulets were buried in their coffins4 ,in the fourth and fifth centuries there was still a considerable proportion of pagans in the country3 in ,alexandria ,sarapis was the principal deity2 in ,memphis ,imhotep was worshipped under the name of ,asklepios2 ,zeus1 ,apollo1 and ,rhea were favourite divinities1 while at ,abydos the oracle of ,bes was worshipped4 ,twilight of the ,gods ,at length1 however1 ,christian fanaticism blotted out the ancient religion of the ,pharaohs1 as well as many of its priests and adherents4 ,the temple of ,sarapis was stormed amid scenes of riot and turbulence1 and the last refuge of the ,egyptian faith was gone4 ,henceforth the names and myths of the ancient deities survived only in the spells and formul of the magicians1 while their dreary ghosts haunted the ruined temples wherein they were nevermore to reign4 #a ,in the earliest representations the feathers do not appear4 #b ,in the earliest sarcophagi in the ,serapeum no mummies were found1 only a few bones4 #c ,cf4 the priests of the kings of the ,old ,kingdom4 #d ,or ,serapis4 ,,chapter ,,ix3 ,,egyptian ,,art ,the output of the great ,egyptian masters of the graphic arts has virtually no counterpart1 and1 bold as this statement may appear at first sight1 it will be found to withstand tolerably close scrutiny4 ,looking at some of the incomparable embroideries of bygone ,persia1 studying the divine porcelain of medival ,china1 or turning over woodcuts by the great ,japanese artists of the ,ukiyo school--men like ,hokusai and ,utamaro1 ,hiroshige1 ,yeizan and ,toyokuni--we no doubt feel ourselves in touch with something different from ,european art1 yet only partly different4 ,strange as these ,eastern objects are1 we find in them a certain familiarity1 we find them expressive of emotions and sentiments not altogether unknown to us2 and herein ,egyptian things are different1 for these seem to us entirely novel1 they suggest some weird1 enchanted world untrodden by the foot of man1 perhaps a supernatural world4 ,nor is their strangeness1 their almost sinister unfamiliarity so very hard to explain1 it being due not only to the curious conventions which the ,egyptian masters obeyed so implicitly century after century1 but to the fact that the arts were indigenous to ancient ,egypt4 ,japan derived her painting from ,china about the fourteenth century ,a4,d42 ,chinese work1 in turn1 frequently discloses affinities with that of ancient ,greece2 and the great ,italian masters of the ,renaissance owed much to the ,grco-,roman school2 while the old ,spanish artists1 again1 were under obligations to the ,moors and ,arabs1 and in ,england and in ,scotland1 in ,germany and in ,france1 painting did not grow up like a flower1 but was rather an exotic imported chiefly from the ,low ,countries4 ,in short1 throughout bygone times1 no less essentially than in modern periods1 the arts in nearly every country owed something to those of other countries1 a great interchange going forward perpetually2 but the mighty works of ,egypt were mostly wrought long before the advent of this interchange1 and painting and sculpture1 architecture and other domestic arts1 would seem to have arisen of their own accord in the land of ,isis1 there to thrive and develop throughout ons of years a pure ,african product1 uninfluenced in any way by the handiwork of other races4 ,it is always difficult to speak of the origin of anything1 for even the oldest thing has its ancestry4 ,and while it is possible to treat with some definiteness of the first great period of ,egyptian art1 the ,thinite1 which commenced about #ejjj ,b4,c41 we have to remember that the output of this period was no exception to the rule aforesaid1 but had its ancestry1 this consisting in the work of the shadowy pre-dynastic time4 ,even at that far-off era crude images of living animals were made in ,egypt1 mud1 of course1 being the material commonly used2 while a great deal of pottery1 some of it incised with quaint patterns1 was also produced2 and if many of these vases and the like are no better than those of most primitive artists1 others1 again1 manifest a distinct feeling for shapeliness and proportion4 ,nor did the ,egyptians of this period eschew that immemorial practice1 the decoration of themselves2 for among the oldest relics of the country's art are numerous personal ornaments1 some made of bone or of shell1 some of stone or ivory1 and some even of precious metals4 ,moreover1 rude forms of architecture were early essayed1 this in its turn begetting pristine efforts at mural embellishment4 ,in pre-dynastic ,egypt the dead were usually interred in shallow graves with no embellishment1 only one painted tomb of that early period being known4 ,when1 however1 we pass to the study of the period which succeeded1 it is the art of sepulchral decoration which first claims attention4 ,not even in ,roman ,catholic countries1 not even in ,china1 has the welfare of the dead ever been thought of so lovingly1 so constantly and zealously1 as in ancient ,egypt4 ,a very solid affair was the ,egyptian tomb of this era1 built commonly of limestone or sandstone1 but occasionally of granite1 or of breccia from the ,arabian mountains2 and in the case of a notable person the sides of his tomb were duly carved with pictures of his deeds while on earth1 and more especially with pictures illustrating his prospective passage through the underworld4 ,generally1 too1 a statue glorified the outside of his tomb1 this statue being wrought of alabaster1 schist or serpentine1 diorite or limestone1 granite or sandstone2 and the sculptor1 be it noted1 never aimed primarily at decoration1 but invariably at a portrait of the defunct4 ,moreover1 he would seem to have pondered very deeply on the question of durability1 attaching his work firmly to its repoussoir1 or1 more often1 making it a very part thereof2 and to illustrate the ,egyptian's predilection in this respect we may mention two works1 both in the ,cairo ,museum1 the one showing the ,pharaoh ,mycerinus seated1 the other depicting a group of three people1 likewise seated4 ,in both cases the statuary have been hewn out of the great pieces of rock supporting them1 and could not possibly be removed therefrom save by elaborate cutting with mallet and chisel4 ,a wealth of other statues belonging to the early dynastic era are still extant1 many of them possessing rare artistic value4 ,and if the same can hardly be said with reference to existing specimens of the relief-cutting of this period1 when turning from these to early domestic art we are struck repeatedly by its infinite loveliness4 ,prominent among such things as merit this praise are numerous bracelets1 while the ,cairo ,museum contains two fine carved ivory feet of a stool which express great vigour of artistic conception1 and the same collection includes sundry tiny figures of monkeys1 lions1 and dogs1 all of them manifestly the work of a master who had a keen sense for the curious beauty which lurks in the grotesque4 ,to an early period also1 that of the ,pyramid ,kings1 should be assigned those amazing monuments of the industry and ingenuity of bygone ,egypt1 the ,pyramids and the ,sphinx--works which have evoked nearly as much eloquence1 alike in prose and verse1 as the ,monna ,lisa of ,leonardo da ,vinci and the ,elgin ,marbles of ,phidias4 ,usually supposed to have been wrought early in the era in question1 their inception is1 however1 wrapped in mystery2 but whatever the true solution of that enigma1 this ,memphite period was certainly one which witnessed considerable developments in ,egyptian art4 ,true1 there is little opportunity of studying the architecture of the time1 such relics as exist consisting in little more than heaps of stone or masses of sun-dried brick2 yet in the field of sculpture1 on the contrary1 we are enabled to note and scrutinize progress4 ,heretofore sepulchral statues had been virtually a preserve of the rich and great1 but now all sorts and conditions of tombs--or1 at least1 the tombs of many comparatively poor people--were garnished in this way2 and as the defunct was often portrayed in an attitude indicating his career on earth1 this statuary offers a valuable sidelight on ,memphite ,egyptian life4 ,thus we find1 here a man engaged in brewing1 there another seated at secretarial work1 his posture practically that of the modern tailor2 while we observe also that care for the welfare of a deceased magnate of any kind was being manifested on a more intricate scale than hitherto4 ,that is to say1 suppose his friends and relations should be anxious that he should be well fed in the hereafter1 they would embellish his resting-place with statuary delineating a kitchen in being2 while sometimes1 with an analogous end in view1 they would represent in the tomb-chapel a group of musicians1 each depicted with his instrument in his hands4#a ,and in all these works1 as also in divers others of a different nature1 we notice a more fluent handling than that characterizing the generality of those of pre-dynastic days1 as witness what is possibly the very crown of the ,pyramid age 7,fourth ,dynasty7 sculpture1 the full-length at ,cairo of the ',sheikh-el-,beled' 7whose real name was ,ka-aper71 a figure wrought in a fashion vigorous and confident as anything from the hand of ,rodin or ,mestrovic4 ,furthermore1 we mark again and again that artists were now beginning to express their respective individualities1 they were showing themselves less prone to conform slavishly to a given rgime2 and it is significant that one of the ,pyramid age sculptors1 ,ptah-,ankh1 far from hiding his identity like all his predecessors1 saw fit on one occasion to model a stone relief in which he himself figured as sitting in a boat4 ,the ,materials of ,painting ,it should be noted at this juncture that these ,egyptian bas-reliefs were not usually left in a monochromatic state as is customary in modern ,europe2 for the painter1 on the contrary1 was generally called to the sculptor's aid1 while even portrait statues were frequently coloured also4 ,and apart from work of this order1 the craft of painting on sun-dried clay was carried to no mean height of excellence during ,pyramid days1 as also was that of painting on papyrus1 while mummy cases were often decked with multitudinous hues4 ,the colours in many of these old ,egyptian works still possess great depth and brilliance1 while1 indeed1 some of them have lasted far better than those in divers ,italian frescoes of the ,renaissance1 and infinitely better than those in numerous pictures by ,reynolds and ,turner2 and thus we naturally pause to ask the questions3 ,what manner of pigments were commonly used in ,egypt8 and what1 exactly1 was the modus operandi of the country's painters8 ,well1 an ,egyptian artist usually kept his paints in the condition of powder1 and on starting work he liquefied them with a mixture of water and gum tragacanth2 while he next proceeded to apply this solution with a reed pen1 or with brushes made of soft hair1 few men being in the habit of using more than two brushes1 a thick one and a thin4 ,then as to the colours themselves1 the gold we sometimes see is1 of course1 easily accounted for2 while black1 it would seem1 was obtained by burning the bones of animals1 and white was made of gypsum mixed with honey or albumen4 ,red and yellow1 again1 were procured by more familiar processes1 the former being derived from sulphuret of mercury1 the latter simply from clay2 while blue1 a comparatively rare shade in natural objects other than the sea and sky1 and therefore hard to obtain1 was evolved from lapis-lazuli4 ,the picture duly finished1 some painters would cover it with a coat of transparent varnish1 made from the gum of the acacia2 but the men who did this were really few in number1 and the colours in their works have not lasted well--not nearly so well as those in paintings by masters who left varnish severely alone4 ,leaving these technical details and returning to the actual history of the arts in ,egypt1 we must speak now of the ,middle ,kingdom1 which commenced with the ,ninth ,dynasty 7c4 #bdde7 and lasted to the ,seventeenth ,dynasty4 ,during this time the craft of building developed apace1 among the results being the obelisk of ,heliopolis4 ,and if these are works reflecting thaumaturgic mechanical ingenuity rather than great artistic taste1 the latter is certainly manifest in two other vast structures of early ,theban days1 the temple of ,kom-es-,sagha and the portico of ,sa ,renput ,i4 ,much fine domestic art was also made at this time1 as witness the diadem and crown of ,khnemit1 both of which are now at ,cairo4 ,a more natural style became discernible1 both as regards bas-reliefs and paintings4 ,indeed1 many sketches and paintings of this period1 especially those which delineate scenes of sport1 war1 and athletics1 possess a spirit and dash which show that the race of ,egyptian artists was becoming more skilled in the free use of the brush4 ,one of the most remarkable paintings of this period is a picture at ,beni ,hassan1 the subject of which is a series of wrestling bouts4 ,new ,empire ,art ,in the period of the ,new ,empire 7,eighteenth to ,thirty-first ,dynasties7 the student of ,egyptian art is confronted with a veritable embarrassment of riches1 chiefly architectural4 ,it was this period which witnessed the completion of such imposing structures as the hypostyle hall at ,karnak1 the temple of ,rameses ,,iii at ,medinet-hab1 and the great assemblage of ecclesiastical edifices at ,dr-el-,bahari4 ,the finest and most imposing buildings at ,luxor likewise belong to this era1 as do the rock-cut temples at ,bt-el-,wl and ,abu-,simbel4 ,the sculptors of the period also achieved lasting triumphs1 especially in the two colossal figures of ,memnon at ,thebes1 and the famous ,avenue of ,sphinxes at ,karnak4 ,the statue of ,thothmes ,,iii1 ,amenophis1 the son of ,hapu1 and ,queen ,tyi are also of great sthetic interest4 ,turning to bas-relief1 the likenesses of ,seti ,i 7,abydos71 ,septah ,meneptah1 and ,queen ,aahmes 7a plaster cast in the temple at ,dr-el-,bahari7 claim our attention1 the last-named being among the loveliest of all ,egyptian works of the kind4 ,the delicacy and refinement of this masterpiece surpasses almost any relief executed in ,egypt before it4 ,in fact1 a greater refinement begins to be apparent in the ,egyptian art work of this period1 even the domestic arts showing greater attention to delicacy4 ,lines of great subtlety appear chased on table utensils1 while equal skill is apparent in numerous amulets and much of the jewellery of the period4 ,little boxes1 handles of mirrors and spoons designed to hold cosmetics are in many cases the result of craftsmanship of a very high order4 ,one of the spoons depicts a woman swimming behind a swan1 and inevitably recalls the myth of ,leda4 ,finally1 much beautiful furniture was made during this period1 perhaps the best existing specimen being a chair in the ,cairo ,museum1 its arms adroitly carved in the form of stealthy-looking panthers4 ,during this period the use of wood as a medium for artistic representation seems to have been on the increase4 ,contemporaneously the craft of casting in metal was improved and then virtually perfected1 a consummation which had an important influence upon sculpture4 ,this1 too1 was the epoch at which the ,egyptian artists in colour revolted against the conventionality which had in ancient times beset their craft4 ,until this time they had not attempted to colour realistically4 ,certain objects were tinted according to tradition as taught in their schools4 ,thus the flesh of a man was painted a reddish brown1 that of a woman yellow1 that of a priest blue1 and so forth4 ,and it was not until the period of the ,new ,empire that artists began to revolt seriously against this system4 ,one unknown master went so far as to indulge in rosy flesh-tints1 and it is natural to inquire whether it was foreign influence which aroused this iconoclastic act4 ,be that as it may1 there can be no doubt that ,egyptian artists began to learn from those of other lands--the ,assyrians1 for instance--and this circumstance renders the study of ,egyptian art during this period somewhat difficult and complex4 ,the last period of ,egyptian art1 the ,sate1 commenced about #gba ,b4,c4 ,during this epoch the incursions of the ,persians1 ,greeks1 and finally of the ,romans are seen acting materially on the country's productions1 often to their detriment1 for instead of working naturally1 instead of employing their own national style1 the ,egyptian artists of the ,sate period were prone to imitate1 uttering themselves haltingly in fashions borrowed from other races4 ,but it is a mistake to maintain1 as is occasionally done1 that this waning of lofty traditions began with the very advent of the ,sate age4 ,it is a mistake to contend that no vital art was executed by the ,egyptians thenceforward4 ,not till the eve of the advent of ,christ did ,egyptian jewellery and craftsmanship in general begin to decline2 while as to architecture1 ,herodotus speaks in the most eulogistic terms of the great buildings at ,sas4 ,unfortunately most of these are demolished1 and we have no chance of studying them at first hand4 ,the ,pharaohs of the ,satic period lost the vast command of labour of their ,theban and ,memphite predecessors2 nevertheless the dawn of the last period in ,egyptian art saw the completion of many noble edifices4 ,the pronaos of ,komombos1 the temple of ,isis at ,phil1 and the kiosk of ,nectanebu at the same place1 deserve citation1 as also do the ,mammisi and temple of ,horus at ,edf4 ,yet everywhere are to be seen structures of this period influenced by ,greek or ,roman ideas1 and others which are clearly the work of ,egyptian masons acting under the instructions of alien masters4 ,the painting of this period embraces numerous works equal to any product of earlier times--for example1 the vignette of the ,judgment before ,osiris contained in the papyrus of ,queen ,mat-ka-r4 ,but we also observe ,egyptian artists forsaking their time-honoured colour-schemes and using such tints as green and mauve1 probably copied from ,hellenic decorations4 ,in the bas-reliefs of the time1 moreover1 we find much which is sadly mechanical--so mechanical that we are persuaded that it was done to order from drawing supplied by foreigners4 ,nor is the history of ,sate statuary greatly different from that of those arts mentioned above1 for while at first a wealth of splendid things were achieved--notably a study of ,osiris recumbent and a portrait of ,petubastis--the mechanical element crept into this domain as it had done into the others4 ,sculptors became mere artisans1 slaving at the reproduction of prescribed patterns4 ,some actually kept in stock ready-made statues of the human body1 the heads to be added as clients presented themselves4 ,egyptian ,art ,influences ,still1 the expression of a nation's soul does not entirely vanish1 and if ,egyptian artists were ultimately influenced by the conquering ,romans1 the ,italian craftsmen came no less surely under the sway of the great ,egyptian schools1 and1 as noted at the outset of this chapter1 the ,romans inspired much of the work of the ,italian masters of the ,renaissance1 whose output was long regarded as the flower of ,european art4 ,we find ,egyptian influences strong in ,spain1 for the art of the ,nile had cast its potent spell over the ,arabs1 who at a later date became almost the fathers of the domestic arts in the ,iberian peninsula2 and so it is with no surprise that1 when looking at old ,spanish ornaments1 we frequently find them bearing a close resemblance to analogous articles made for the belles of ,memphis and of ,thebes4 ,nor was ,france without some more direct ,egyptian influence than that which reached her indirectly through ,italy4 ,the characteristic art of the ,french ,empire was directly descended from ,egyptian art4 ,under ,louis ,,xiv ,french painting and craftsmanship were ornate and pompous in the extreme1 but in the following reign luxury in all departments of life was at a discount4 ,a new simplicity was demanded1 and while craftsmen were casting about for patterns suited to this taste1 the ,comte de ,caylus published his monumental work on the antiquities of ,greece1 ,rome1 and ,egypt1 its pages embellished throughout with illustrations from the author's own hand4#b ,it speedily kindled inspiration in the minds of numerous artists1 and we may place to its credit some of the most tasteful and beautiful furniture ever designed4 ,the ,egyptian expedition of ,napoleon1 too1 led to the importation of ,egyptian articles1 and thenceforth until the eve of ,waterloo scarcely a table1 chair1 or mirror of ,french manufacture with any claims to artistry but disclosed the influence of the ,egyptian schools4 ,not only were actual shapes borrowed1 but it was quite common to decorate furniture with pseudo-,egyptian statuettes and reliefs1 or with brass plaques chased in imitation of parts of ,egyptian pictures4 ,the pseudo-,egyptian craftsmanship of the ,empire--so apt an expression of the temper of ,french thought at that time--may be studied well at ,fontainebleau or at ,marlborough ,house in ,london1 while of course it is in evidence in the backgrounds of many ,empire pictures1 in particular those of ,louis ,david4 ,indeed1 that master himself1 the most influential ,french painter of his day1 owed something to the ,egyptian school1 while a similar debt is suggested by sundry works of the sculptors ,chinard and ,houdon2 and a study of ,empire buildings reveals that the architects of the period1 mainly devoted though they were to ancient ,greece and ,rome1 were not uninfluenced by the art of the land of the ,pharaohs4 ,nor was this true only of the ,french architects1 for that great ,scottish artist in stone1 ,robert ,adam1 who died the year the ,french ,republic was established1 would seem to have shared the attraction4 ,he often introduced ,egyptian objects into his decorative schemes1 while the large1 imposing simplicity he frequently attained is rich in suggestion of notable ,egyptian edifices4 ,the same massive ',egyptian' simplicity is to be seen in the statuary of the mighty ,serb1 ,ivan ,mestrovic1 as also in that of the ,swede1 ,david ,edstrm4 ,indeed1 it would be wearisome to enumerate all the artists of different nationalities who have clearly been indebted to the genius of ,egypt1 but we must not conclude without some reference to the influence of the school on the ,post-,impressionist painters4 ,the ,post-,impressionists were not1 as is commonly said1 direct descendants of the ,impressionist group1 but rather seceders therefrom4 ,their watchword was simplicity1 and in pursuance of this ideal they turned lovingly to study primitive art1 especially that of the ,egyptians1 finding therein that simple element which they desired4 ,artistic ,remains ,returning to our main subject1 we may ask1 ,what is the actual sthetic value of ,egyptian art to our own generation8 ,imagine a museum1 some thousands of years hence1 ostensibly representing the art of ,france from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the nineteenth2 and suppose this crammed with the off-scourings of the ,salon school and the autotypes and bric--brac of the ,rue de ,rivoli1 with only here and there a ,clouet1 a ,boucher1 or a ,lancret1 only here and there a ,clodion1 a ,dalou1 or a ,rodin4 ,would not visitors to such a collection be certain to conclude that the ,french were anything but artistic8 ,conditions such as those indicated above obtain in nearly every ,egyptian collection of the present day4 ,the point of view of those in charge of museums and exhibits seems to be that anything of ,egyptian origin should be treasured1 however lacking it may be in artistic merit1 and small wonder if the average visitor of taste has not the patience to search through such heterogeneous collections in which the few vital articles are buried4 ,the great mass of ,egyptian remains are far inferior to those of ,greek origin1 wrought in the time of ,phidias and ,apelles2 the master works of ,egypt1 on the other hand1 are equal to the artistic products of any age1 and it is with these master works1 and only with these1 that we must concern ourselves here4 ,egyptian ,colour-harmonies ,the ,egyptian painter seldom or never sought to blend his different shades into each other1 he seldom or never dealt in gradations2 instead he painted in large patches1 each patch clearly demarked from its neighbour4 ,but with this system he achieved some of the grandest colour-harmonies1 as witness the papyrus of ,ani1#c wherein the prominent notes are brown and yellow1 green1 white and black4 ,even more beautiful is the papyrus of ,queen ,mat-ka-r1 slightly higher in pitch than the last-named1 and dominated by an exquisite reddish yellow2 while1 turning to polychromatic sculpture1 surely there was never a lovelier piece of colouring than the statue of ,princess ,neferet1 with its rich greens and reds1 its browns and whites4 ,scarcely inferior to this is the coffin of ,khnumu-,hotep1 painted with gold1 black1 and brown1 and with stripes of peacock-blue decorated with patterns in gold4 ,if the ,egyptian was a divine colourist1 he was still more surely a master of composition4 ,the artist striving after harmony in design may arrange a host of figures upon a canvas1 or he may take for his purpose only a very few objects4 ,the former1 the usual practice of the ,european school1 is infinitely the easier of the two2 but the ,egyptian commonly chose the latter1 and on his piece of papyrus or on his plaque of stone he placed his few objects so happily and in such perfect sthetic relationship to each other that the whole space used appears to be decorated4 ,his draughtsmanship1 besides1 is usually of high excellence2 here1 too1 he faces a difficulty1 giving a bold impression rather than a detailed drawing1 yet so expressive are his lines that the work possesses abundantly the illusion of life4 ,the ,great ,simplicity of ,egyptian ,art ,we have spoken of sundry ,egyptian works as subtle1 delicate1 and refined2 but these are not characteristic examples1 they are not those which chiefly command homage4 ,subtlety1 an exquisite quality1 one of the ultimate qualities1 is nevertheless closely allied to weakness1 and the sustained effort to express it is apt to prove injurious to the artist4 ,whistler1 for one1 striving after the delicate1 the refined and subtle1 too often approximated effeminacy2 and some of the greater ,japanese painters1 preoccupied with dreamy half-tints and febrile lines1 came dangerously near producing the merely pretty4 ,in the characteristic work of the ,egyptians1 however1 we never detect a hint of this failing2 for theirs is before all else a powerful1 bold1 simple art1 often reflecting a grand1 ruthless brutality like that in the great ,english dramatists4 ,we have seen that it was their simplicity which engaged the ,frenchmen of the ,empire1 eager to make something of a strenuous temper2 we have seen that it was this element1 too1 which commanded homage from the ,post-,impressionists1 so intensely serious and aspirational a group4 ,and may we not add that this simplicity is the loftiest factor discernible in ,egyptian art8 ,may we not add that the ,egyptians achieved this merit with a triumph almost unrivalled by other races8 ,and may we not say1 finally1 that simplicity is the noblest of all artistic qualities8 ,the great poems1 those which live from generation unto generation1 are most assuredly those in which the subject is expressed with divine simplicity1 the poet attaining the maximum of expression with the minimum of means1 which is exactly what the great painters and sculptors of ,egypt compassed4 ,but simplicity1 like subtlety1 has its concomitant danger1 for what is very simple is apt to be deficient in mystery1 so essential an item in a vital work of art4 ,yet here1 again1 we find the ,egyptian victorious2 he has adroitly evaded the peril of baldness4 ,the ,egyptian sculptor1 producing a portrait1 always adumbrates the character of his sitter1 itself a mysterious quality1 and there is in a host of ,egyptian works of art a curious sense of infinity1 a suggestion of the eternal riddle of the universe4 ,they are the most mysterious works ever wrought by man1 some seeming verily eloquent of silence2 we feel in their presence a strange mood of awe1 a feeling which has been thus happily expressed3 ,tread lightly1 ,o my dancing feet1 ,lest your untimely murmurs stir ,dust of forgotten men who find death sweet1 ,at rest within their sepulchre4 ,these lines1 written by ,lady ,margaret ,sackville while tarrying at ,assouan1 crystallize the reverential mood which often possesses us in the presence of ,egyptian art2 and yet1 are these entombed men of whom the writer sings really forgotten8 ,past ruined ,ilion ,helen lives1 eternal life vouchsafed to her by the song of ,homer2 surely bygone ,egyptians have1 in like fashion1 won immortality through the genius of their mighty artists4 #a ,single statues in the ,old ,kingdom1 figures in groups in ,middle ,kingdom4 #b ,recueil d'antiquits gyptiennes1 trusques1 grecques1 romaines et gauloises4 ,six vols4 ,paris1 #ageb-agee4 #c ,see ,frontispiece and illustration facing p4 #abj reproduced in black and white in the present edition4 ,,glossary ,,and ,,index ,,the ,,pronunciation ,,of ,,egyptian ,the correct pronunciation of ,old1 ,middle1 and ,late ,egyptian can only be gleaned by analogy from that of ,coptic1 which represents the popular language of ,egypt from the third to the ninth century ,a4,d4 ,but this tongue was strongly reinforced by ,greek loan-words1 and as it was rendered in writing by the ,greek alphabet it is difficult to say how much of the native linguistic element it really represents4 ,but its orthography gives a clear idea of its pronunciation1 and it is the mainstay of ,egyptian philologists in restoring the word-forms of the ancient language1 or at least ,late ,egyptian1 between which and the ,middle and ,old dialects there is a wide linguistic gap4 ,indeed1 the pronunciation of these archaic forms is probably for ever lost to modern scholarship4 ,speaking generally1 ,egyptian words and names are usually pronounced by scholars as they are spelt4 7,index not retained in text-version47