and similar occasions, would tend materially to increase the embarrassments of modern education. The same marked difference does not appear to have existed in the sacrifices of an Egyptian temple, though peculiar forms, as well as offerings, were suited to some Deities, and at certain festivals.* Even those presented at the same altar varied on particular occasions. In slaying a victim, the Egyptians suffered the blood to flow upon the ground, or over the altar, if placed upon it; with the Jews it was either poured upon the ground, or purposely brought by the priest to be sprinkled over the horns, and poured out at "the bottom of the altar." The Egyptians were not so strict in regard to the use of the blood on ordinary occasions, when animals were slaughtered for the table, as the Jews and modern Moslems; to both of whom it is forbidden by the strictest ordinance of religion §; and we even find them represented in the kitchen catching the blood for the purposes of cooking.|| The mode of cutting up the victim appears to have been the same as when it was killed for the table. The head was first taken off; and after the skin had been removed, they generally cut off the * Vide suprà, p. 182. 300. 337. et seq.; Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 300. 328. 335. 363. 380. +"Yesood," 10" ‡ Levit. iv. 7. and viii. 15. The Moslems slay the animal over the altar stone. § Levit. xvii. 13. Whoever "hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust." The Moslems generally attend to the custom of covering it with dust, and they are always scrupulous about its use. || Vide Vol. II. p. 383. Woodcut, No. 276. right shoulder*, and the other legs and parts in succession; which, if required for the table, were placed on trays, and carried to the kitchen, or if intended for sacrifice, were deposited on the altar, with fruit, cakes, and other offerings. With the Greeks, the thight was the part selected as a chosen offering to the gods, which was burnt on a clear fire of wood. Apollonius Rhodius also states this ; and Lucian tells us that the sa; crifices depended in some degree on the quality or employment of the person by whom they were presented; as in the first offering made by Cain and Abel. Thus, "the tiller of the land immolated an ox, the shepherd a lamb, and the goatherd a goat. Some were permitted to present simple cakes or incense; and a poor man made his oblations by kissing his right hand." The joints and parts most readily distinguished in the sculptures are the legs, the hind leg (fig. 1) with No. 477. Different joints placed on the altars or the tables. Thebes. its thigh (or upper joint (2)), the kidneys (4), the ribs (5 and 8), the heart (3), and the rump (6); * Conf. Levit. viii. 25. It is supposed to have been styled C&T, "the chosen" part. Sometimes the left was the first taken off. Vide Woodcut, No. 273. Apollon. Rhod. lib. i. 432. + Pausan. in Attic. and in Arcad. and those most commonly seen on the altars are the head, the hind leg, and the ribs. When the Egyptians offered a holocaust, they commenced with a libation of wine t, a preliminary ceremony common, according to Herodotus, to all their sacrifices; and after it had been poured upon the altar, the victim was slain. They first removed the head and skin (a statement, as I have already shown, fully confirmed by the sculptures); they then took out the stomach, leaving only the entrails and the fat; after which the thighs, the upper part of the haunches, the shoulders, and the neck, were cut off in succession. Then, filling the body with cakes of pure flour, honey, dried raisins, figs, incense, myrrh, and other odoriferous substances, they burnt it on the fire, pouring over it a considerable quantity of oil. The portions which were not consumed were afterwards given to the votaries, who were present on the occasion, no part of the offering being left; and it was during the ceremony of burning the sacrifice at the fête of Isis, that they beat themselves in honour of Osiris. Similar to this was the burnt offering § of the Jews; when the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the *This in hieroglyphics signified "power" or "strength." + Herodot. ii. 39, 40. This mode of filling the body with raisins and other sweet things recalls a common dish of modern Egyptian, and other Eastern tables; but they fortunately omit the myrrh and incense, which, however well adapted to the taste of the gods, would be by no means palatable to men. Levit. viii. 25. 28. right shoulder," were taken together with "one unleavened cake, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer," placed "on the fat, and upon the right shoulder," and burnt on the altar. Herodotus describes "the sacrifice of a pig to the Moon," in which "the end of the tail, the spleen, and the cault, were covered with all the fat that was upon the inwards,' and then burnt, the rest of the victim being eaten on the day of the full moon." But this I have already noticed ‡, as well as the difference observed in the manner of making offerings to some Deities. § Many of the religious rites of the Jews bear a striking resemblance to those of Egypt, particularly the manner in which the sacrifices were performed; it may therefore not be irrelevant to state the nature of some of the principal offerings mentioned in the Levitical law. Among the first were the holocaust or burnt offering; the meat offering; the sin and trespass offering, or sacrifice of expiation; and the peace offering, or sacrifice of thanksgiving. 1. The holocaust was ordered to be a bullock, a sheep, or a goat, a male without blemish; and the person who offered it, having brought it to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and having put his hand upon its head, it was accepted to make atonement for him. He then killed it; and the priests taking the blood, and sprinkling it upon the altar of meat offering, flayed the victim, and + Epiploon, or omentum. *Herodot. ii. 47. Vide suprà, p. 182. and 300. $ Herodot. ii. 39. Suprà, p. 182. 337. 355. Levit. i. 2. et seq. Vide Calmet. cut it into pieces. The head, with the fat, and the other parts were laid upon the wood of the fire which was kindled upon the altar, the legs and the inside of the body having been previously cleansed with water. The whole of it was consumed; and neither the priests, nor the individual who presented it, were permitted to reserve any portion of the sacrifice. Turtle doves, or young pigeons, were also accepted as a burnt offering; and the priest having plucked the bird, and wrung off its head, burnt it on the wood.* The fire upon the altar was required to burn incessantly; and the priest replenished it with wood every morning, the offering being laid in order thereon, and the fat of the peace offering being burnt upon it. 2. The meat offering † consisted of fine flour, with oil and frankincense. The priest took a handful of the flour, and a portion of the oil, with all the frankincense, and burnt them on the altar, the remainder belonging to the priest who officiated on the occasion. This offering was also permitted to consist of unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or of unleavened cakes anointed with oil, which might be baked either in the oven or the pan; and being cut into pieces, oil was poured upon them, and a portion was burnt on the altar by the priest, who reserved the remainder for himself. No honey or leaven were allowed, but an abundance of salt was required in every offering which was * Levit. vi. 12, 13. "The fire upon the altar.... shall not be put out." "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar: it shall never go out." † Levit. ii. 1. et seq. |