and, were it not for the absence of all proof of it in the sculptures, we might believe that the assertion of Proclus respecting the cock applies to the religion of Egypt. That author says it held a rank among "solar animals, because it appears to applaud the Sun at its rising, and partakes like the lion of the solar influence. For though so inferior in size and strength, the cock is said to be feared by the lion, and almost revered by it, the virtue of the Sun being more suited to the former than to the latter and dæmons with a lion's head, when the cock is presented to them, are known instantly to vanish."

This notion of the lion and cock being analogous emblems, and the latter possessing power to contend with his powerful competitor, probably led to the design engraved by a Roman artist on a stone I found in the Fyoom, representing a lion and cock fighting, whilst a rat carries off the bone of contention. This, besides the obvious moral it conveys, shows that the two animals were chosen as the types of strength or courage. It also recalls the assertion of Pliny*, that "cocks are a terror to lions, the most generous of animals."

Pigeons are not generally represented in the sculptures; but an instance occurs of their introduction at the coronation ceremony, which is particularly interesting, as it shows the early custom of training carrier pigeons, and adds one more confirmation of the truth of Solomon's remark, "there is no new thing under the sun." The king is there

*Plin. lib. x. c. 21.

represented as having assumed the pshent or double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; and a priest lets fly four pigeons, commanding them to announce to "the South, the North, the West, and the East, that Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, has put on the splendid crowns of the Upper and Lower country, (that) the King Remeses III. has put on the two crowns.' "" #

The pigeon is also noticed as a favourite food of the Egyptians; and so pure and wholesome was it considered by them, that when the country was visited by epidemic diseases, and all things were affected by the pestilential state of the atmosphere, they believed that those alone who contented themselves with it were safe from the infection. Indeed, during that period, no other food was placed upon the tables of the kings and priests, whose duty it was to keep themselves pure for the service of the Gods.

There is, however, no appearance of pigeons, or even doves, having been sacred; and neither these nor the quail are found embalmed.

The quail is represented among the offerings to the Gods in the tombs, and was eaten by the Egyptians, but it was not the emblem of any Deity. Nor did the ostrich hold a place among the sacred animals of Egypt, though much esteemed for its plumes. This is the more singular, as the ostrich feather was a symbol of the Goddess of Truth or Justice. It belonged also to the head-dress of Ao;

* Vide Plate 76.

+ Horapollo, Hierog. i. 57.

it was adopted by Hermes Trismegistus, as well as some other Deities; and it was worn by the soldiery and the priests on certain religious festivals. Ostrich eggs were highly prized by the Egyptians, and were part of the tribute paid to them by foreigners whose countries it inhabited; and it is possible, as I have already observed*, that they were considered, as at the present day, the emblems of some divine attribute, and suspended in their temples, as they still are in the churches of the Copts.

THE IBIS, THE HERON, AND OTHER WADING

BIRDS.

The Ibis was sacred to Thoth t, who was fabulously reported to have eluded the pursuit of Typho under the form of this bird. It was greatly revered in every part of Egypt; and at Hermopolis, the city of Thoth, it was worshipped with peculiar honours, as the emblem of the Deity of the place. It was on this account considered, as Clemens and Æliant tells us, typical of the Moon, or the Hermes of Egypt. Its Egyptian name was Hip; from which Champollion supposes the town of Nibis to have been called, being a corruption of Ma-n-hip, or ǹ-hip, "the place of the Ibis." This name was applied to Ibeum, where it received the same honours as at the city of Thoth.

Suprà, Vol. II. pp. 6. and 20.

+ Plato in Phædro. Vide suprà, p. 7. Ælian, Nat. An. x. 29. Horapollo, i. 10. and 36.

Clem. Strom. lib. v. p. 242. Ælian, Nat. An. ii. 38.

Such was the veneration felt by the Egyptians for the Ibis, that to have killed one of them, even involuntarily, subjected the offender to the pain of death; and "never," says Cicero †, was such a thing heard of as... an Ibis killed by an Egyptian.” So pure did they consider it, that "those priests who were most scrupulous in the performance of the sacred rites, fetched the water they used in their purifications from some place, where the Ibis had been seen to drink; it being observed of that bird that it never goes near any unwholesome and corrupted water." The particular respect paid to it was supposed to be owing to its destroying venomous reptiles, which, as Cicero says, its height, its hard legs, and long horny beak enable it to do with great ease and safety; thus averting pestilence from Egypt, when the winged serpents are brought by the westerly winds from the deserts of Libya. § Pausanias, Cicero, and others T, think the existence of these serpents not impossible; and Herodotus says he only saw their bones and wings. But we may readily pardon their credulity, when we find it asserted by a modern traveller that they still exist in Egypt.

The account of Herodotus is this**:-"In Arabia (the eastern or Arabian side of the Nile), very near

* Herodot. ii. 65.; and Diodor. i. 83.

Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. i. 29. Vide suprà, p. 96.

Plut. de Is. s. 75. Ælian, vii. 45.

Cicero, Nat. Deor. lib. i.

ceant, nec odore mortuæ."

Pausan. x. 21.

"Ex quo fit, ut illæ nec morsu vivæ noHerodotus says they came from Arabia.

¶ Elian, Nat. An. ii. 38. Amm. Marcellin. xxii. 15. p. 338. ** Herodot. ii. 75.

to the city of Buto, is a place to which I went to inquire about the winged serpents. On my arrival I saw a great quantity of bones and backbones of serpents scattered about, of all sizes, in a place where a narrow gorge between two hills opens upon an extensive plain contiguous to the valley of Egypt. These serpents are reported to fly from Arabia into Egypt about the beginning of spring, when the Ibises, meeting them at the opening of this defile, prevent their passing, and destroy them: in gratitude for which service, the Arabs say that the Egyptians have great veneration for the Ibis; and they themselves allow it is for this reason they honour that bird.

very

"There are two kinds of Ibis. The first is of the size of a crex with black plumage; the legs like those of the crane, and the beak curved. This kind attacks the serpents. The other Ibises are more common, and often seen. They have the head, and all the neck, without feathers; their plumage is white, except the head, neck, and extremity of the wings and tail, all which are quite black; the legs and beak being the same as in the other species. The winged serpent is in figure like a water-snake; its wings are without feathers, and exactly like those of a bat."

Among the many fanciful animals of the Egyptian sculptures, the winged serpents mentioned by Herodotus are no where found. Even among the many monsters in the mythological subjects of their tombs, none are represented, as he describes