Deity presenting to him the shield of victory. Moreover, that the priests shall minister three times every day to the statues, and prepare for them the sacred dress, and perform the accustomed ceremonies, as in honour of other Gods at feasts and festivals. That there shall be erected an image and golden shrine of King Ptolemy in the most honourable of the temples, to be set up in the sanctuary among the other shrines; and that on the great festivals, when the procession of shrines takes place, that of the God Epiphanes shall accompany them; ten royal golden crowns being deposited upon the shrine, with an asp attached to each; and the (double) crown Pshent, which he wore at his coronation, placed in the midst." It was also usual to carry the statue of the principal Deity, in whose honour the procession took place, together with that of the king, and the figures of his ancestors, borne in the same manner on men's shoulders; like the Gods of Babylon mentioned by Jeremiah.t Diodorus speaks of an Ethiopian festival of Jupiter, when his statue was carried in procession, probably to commemorate the supposed refuge of the Gods in that country; which may have been a memorial of the flight of the Egyptians with their Gods, at the time of the shepherd invasion, mentioned by Josephus § on the authority of Manetho. This does not, however, appear to be the reason assigned by Diodorus, who says, "Ho * Vide suprà, p. 239. Epistle of Jeremiah in Baruch, vi. 4. 26. Isaiah, xlvi. 7. mer derived from Egypt his story of the embraces of Jupiter and Juno, and their travelling into Ethiopia, because the Egyptians every year carry Jupiter's shrine over the river into Africa, and a few days after bring it back again, as if the Gods had returned out of Ethiopia. The fiction of their nuptials was taken from the solemnization of these festivals; at which time both their shrines, adorned with all sorts of flowers, are carried by the priests to the top of a mountain." The usual number of priests, who performed the duty of bearers, was generally twelve or sixteen to each shrine. They were accompanied by another of a superior grade, distinguished by a lock of hair pendent on one side of his head, and clad in a leopard-skin, the peculiar badge of his rank, who, walking near them, gave directions respecting the procession, its position in the temple, and whatever else was required during the ceremony; which agrees well with the remark of Herodotus †, that "each Deity had many priests, and one high priest." Sometimes two priests of the same peculiar grade attended, both during the procession, and after the shrine had been deposited in the temple. These were the Pontiffs, or highest order of priests ‡ : they had the title of "Sem," and enjoyed the privilege of offering sacrifices on all grand occasions. When the shrine reached the temple, it was received with every demonstration of respect by the officiating priest, who was appointed to do duty * Hom. Il. i. 423. + Herodot. ii. 73. Vide suprà, Vol. I. (1st Series) p. 279. An upon the day of the festival; and if the king happened to be there, it was his privilege to perform the appointed ceremonies. These consisted of sacrifices and prayers; and the shrine was decked with fresh-gathered flowers and rich garlands. endless profusion of offerings was placed before it on several separate altars; and the king, frequently accompanied by his queen, who held a sistrum in one hand, and in the other a bouquet of flowers made up into the particular form required for these religious ceremonies, presented incense and libation. This part of the ceremony being finished, the king proceeded to the presence of the God (represented by his statue), from whom he was supposed to receive a blessing, typified by the sacred tau, the sign of Life. Sometimes the principal contemplar Deity was also present, usually the second member of the triad of the place; and it is probable that the position of the statue was near to the shrine alluded to in the inscription of the Rosetta Stone. Some of the sacred boats, or arks, contained the emblems of Life and Stability, which, when the veil was drawn aside, were partially seen; and others presented the sacred beetle of the Sun, overshadowed by the wings of two figures of the Goddess Thmei or Truth, which call to mind the cherubim of the Jews. The dedication of the whole or part of a temple was, as may be reasonably supposed, one of the * Vide Clem. Strom. v. p. 243., on the Ark of the Hebrews and the Adytum of the Egyptians; and Woodcut No. 469. in the next page. most remarkable solemnities at which it was "the prince's part" to preside. And if the actual celebra b No. 469. One of the Sacred Boats or Arks, with two figures resembling Cherubim. tion of the rites practised on the occasion, the laying No. 470. Dedication of the pylon of a temple to Amun by Remeses III., who wears on one side the crown of Upper, on the other that of Lower Egypt. nected with it, are not represented on the monuments, the importance attached to it is shown by *It is singular that the mace and rod in the king's hand on these occasions are the same as those used in the chase of the hippopotamus. the conspicuous manner in which it is recorded in the sculptures, the ostentation with which it is announced in the dedicatory inscriptions of the monuments themselves, and the answer returned by the God in whose honour it was erected. Another striking ceremony was the transport of the dedicatory offerings made by the king to the Gods, which were carried in great pomp to their respective temples. The king and all the priests attended the procession, clad in their robes of ceremony; and the flag-staffs attached to the propylæa of the vestibules were decked, as on other grand festivals, with banners.* The coronation of the king was a peculiarly imposing ceremony. It was one of the principal subjects represented in the court of the temples t; and some idea may be formed of the pomp displayed on the occasion even from the limited scale on which the monuments are capable of describing it. I have already mentioned the remarkable manner in which this subject is treated in the temple of Medeenet Haboo; and therefore refer the reader to a previous part of this work ‡, where I have described the procession given in the accompanying plate.§ Clemens introduces an account of an Egyptian procession, which, as it throws some light on similar ceremonies, and may be of interest from having *As in Woodcut, Vol. II. (1st Series) p. 129. It occurs in the same part of the Memnonium or Remesseum, as of Medeenet Haboo. ‡ Vol. III. p. 287. to 289. § Plate 76. |