"9. The ninth and last day of the festival was called the earthen vessels,' because it was usual to fill two such vessels with wine; one of which was placed towards the east, and the other towards the west. These, after the repetition of certain mystical words, were both thrown down; and the wine being spilt upon the ground, was offered as a libation."

DRESSES OF THE STATUES.

During the feasts and festivals," the statues of the Gods were dressed in "the sacred vestments and the priests ministered to them "three times " in the course of the day, according to certain regulations" ordained by law." The ceremony of clothing them was the peculiar office of a class of priests called Hierostoli by Greek writers, who had the privilege of entering the sanctuary for this purpose, like the chief priests and prophets. Each Deity had its particular emblems, and a proper dress, of a form and character prescribed in the sacred books. Thus the vestures of Osiris were of an uniform shadowless white, as we learn from Plutarch and the sculptures of the temples; those of Iris were dyed with a variety of colours, and frequently imitated the complicated hue and arrangement of feather work, as if she were enveloped in the wings of the sacred vulture. ‡ "For,"

* Conf. Jerem. x. 9.; and Baruch, vi. 12. 58. 72. Where also the custom of gilding the wooden idols of Babylon is mentioned (v. 8. 39. &c.); and of making "crowns for the heads of their Gods” (v. 9.); and "lighting them candles” (v.19.).

+Rosetta Stone, lines 7. and 40.

Like the figure of Maut, in Plate 20.

says the same author *, "as Osiris is the First Principle, prior to all beings, and purely intelligent, he must ever remain unmixed, and undefiled; consequently, when his vestments are once taken off his statues, they are ever afterwards put by, and carefully preserved untouched; while those of Isis, whose power is totally conversant about matter, which becomes and admits all things, are frequently made use of, and that too without the same scrupulous attention." This ceremony of dressing the statues is still retained in the religious rites of some people at the present day, who clothe the images of Gods or saints on particular festivals, and carry them in procession, like the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Nor can the custom of putting the kisweh, or sacred covering, upon the tomb of a Moslem shekh, fail to remind us of the Eрov xooμov (holy ornament or covering) of antiquity; as the "crowning the tomb of Osiris with flowers t," which was done on stated occasions by the priests of that Deity at Philæ, recalls that of carrying flowers and palm branches to the grave of a departed friend, in the cemeteries of modern Egypt. The same was done to individuals as well as in honour of Osiris; and sarcophagi are frequently found in the tombs of Thebes, with flowers and garlands placed in or near them, either by the priests, or the relations of the deceased, who attended at the funeral.

CONVOCATION OF THE PRIESTS AT THE CAPITAL.

In the time of the Ptolemies the religious societies* were obliged to perform an annual voyage to Alexandria, the royal residence at that period, to present themselves at the palace. This was doubtless in conformity with a custom established in the olden times of the Pharaohs, when the seat of government was at Thebes or Memphis; and it continued to be observed until dispensed with by Epiphanes.

PRIVATE FASTS AND PENANCE.

Besides the feasts and ceremonies of public rejoicing, or of general abstinence, many fasts were enjoined to each individual, either as occasional voluntary expiations of secret offences, which were dependent upon their own conscience, or in compliance with certain regulations at fixed periods. They were then required to abstain from the enjoyment of luxuries, as of the bath, the table, and perfumes; and, above all, from the gratification of the passions. Some of these, as Apuleius † informs us, lasted ten days, during which time the latter prohibition ‡ was strictly enforced: a measure which appears in Italy to have called forth great complaints from the votaries of Isis, when her wor

* Rosetta Stone, line 17.: ιερων εθνών.”

Metam. ii. p. 1000.

ship was established in that country. It is to this Propertius alludes in the following verses:

"Tristia tam redeunt iterum solemnia nobis.
Cynthia jam noctes est operata decem,
Atque utinam Nilo pereat quæ sacra tepente
Misit matronis Inachis Ausoniis.

Quæ Dea tam cupidos toties divisit amantes.
Quæcunque illa fuit, semper amara fuit.

An tibi non satis est fuscis Ægyptus alumnis ?
Cur tibi tam longa Roma petita via est ?
Quidve tibi prodest viduas dormire puellas ? " +

OTHER FÊTES.

In the time of the Greeks and Romans they had some fêtes of a wanton character, in which the object was to seek amusement and indulgences of every kind; but it does not appear whether they were instituted in early times, or were a Greek innovation. Strabo mentions ‡ one of these, "during which a dense crowd of people hurried down the canal from Alexandria to Canopus to join the festive meeting. Day and night it was covered with boats bringing men and women, singing and dancing, with the greatest licentiousness; and at Canopus itself, inns were opened upon the canal, purposely for the convenience of indulging in these amuse

ments."

Athenæus mentions a grand procession in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the splendor of which

* Propert. lib. ii. Eleg. 33. lines 1. and 15.

+ Conf. these lines of Ovid's (Amor. iii. 10. 1.):—

"Annua venerunt Cerealis tempora sacri
Secubat in vacuo sola puella toro."

Strabo, xvii. p. 551.

was surprising. The most rare and curious animals from all countries were conducted in it; and the statues of the Gods, as well as every thing which could give dignity and interest to the spectacle, were brought together on the occasion. There is reason to suppose that it resembled, in many respects, similar pomps of the early Pharaohs; I therefore refer the curious reader to the full account of it in the work of that author.*

EARLY OFFERINGS.

I have already mentioned, in a preceding chaptert, the nature of sacrifices offered in early ages, and have shown at how remote an era the mode of addressing prayers to the Deity, the adoption of the peculiar forms and attributes of the Gods, the establishment of oracles, and other matters connected with religion, were introduced among the Egyptians. If at the earliest periods of their history they were contented with herbs and incense‡, they afterwards admitted animals § into their sacrifices, and victims were bound and slain on the altar, and either offered entire or divided into portions before the statue of the God, together with cakes, fruit, and other offerings prescribed by law. To some deities oblations of a peculiar kind were made, being deemed more particularly suited to their + Beginning of chap. xii.

Athen. Deipn. v. p. 196. et seq.

Vide suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 144. 146. See Pausanias (lib. i. c. 24.) on the remains of a prejudice against slaughtering oxen; and Varro, de Re Rustica, ii. 5.