Prince Osiris, in Egyptian history, comes to us as a myth. Coh, the well-beloved Ozil, is a tangible reality; the author having in his possession his charred heart, part of which was analyzed, on September 25, 1880, by the late Professor Charles O. Thompson, at the request of Mr. Stephen Salisbury, now president1 of the "American Antiquarian Society," of Worcester, Mass. Besides, the author has also in his possession the very weapon with which the murder was committed. (Plate LXIII.) From all antiquity the Egyptian Sphinx has been a riddle, that has remained unsolved to our day. (Plate LXIV.) It is still, as Bunsen says, the enigma of history." "The name most conspicuous on the tablet in the temple between the paws of this wonderful statue is that of Armais." According to Osburn, it was the work of King Khafra; but he is still in doubt about it, for he adds: "On the other hand, the great enigma of the bearded giant Sphinx still remains unsolved. When and by whom was the colossal statue erected, and what was its signification? We are accustomed to regard the Sphinx in Egypt as a portrait of the king, and generally, indeed, as that of a particular king whose features it is said to represent." In hieroglyphic written character, the sphinx is called Neb, "the lord." 4 5 But Richard Lepsius remarks: "King Khafra was named in the inscription, but it does not seem reasonable thence to conclude that Khafra first caused the lion to be executed, as 1 Aug. Le Plongeon, Sacred Mysteries, certificate of analysis by Prof. Charles O. Thompson, pp. 84-85. 2 Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. ii., p. 388. 3 Osburn, Monumental History of Egypt, vol. ii., p. 319. 5 Ibid., vol. i., p. 311. R. Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai, Horner's translation, p. 66. |