*

Horapollo states some curious reasons for Cynocephali being chosen as emblems of the Moon. Iamblichus also speaks of certain physical analogies common to them and to that luminary; and the former supposes that they were brought up in the temples, in order to enable the priests to ascertain from their habits the exact instant of the conjunction of the Sun and Moon. Several equally ridiculous reasons are given for their relation to Thoth, and to other hieroglyphic symbols.

The place where this animal was particularly sacred was Hermopolis, the city of Thoth. Thebes and other towns also treated it with the respect due to the representative of the Egyptian Hermes ; and in the Necropolis of the capital of Upper Egypt, a particular spot was set apart as the cemetery of the sacred Apes.

Mummies of the Cynocephalus are put up in a sitting posture, which is that usually given to the animal in the sculptures, when representing the God Thoth; and its head forms one of the covers of the four sepulchral vases deposited in the tombs of the dead. t. It was then the type of the God Hapi, one of the four Genii of Amenti, who was always figured with the head of a Cynocephalus. Many of this species of ape were tamed and kept by the Egyptians, and the paintings show that they were even trained for useful purposes, as I have already had occasion to observe.‡

* Horapollo, i. 14.; and Plin. viii. 54.
† Vide suprà, p. 5. and 72.

‡ Vide Vol. II.

p. 150.

It was a native of Ethiopia, as Pliny* and other authors state, where it is still common; and many are brought down to Cairo at the present day, to amuse the crowds in the streets, by exhibiting the antics they are taught, to the sound of drums and other noisy instruments; but the constant application of the stick shows the little respect now paid in Egypt to the once revered emblem of Hermes.

Strabo agrees with other writers t, in stating that the Hermopolitans worshipped the Cynocephalus. He afterwards mentions the Cepus, which was sacred in Babylon ‡, near Memphis; but from his description of that animal, "with a face like a satyr, and the rest between a dog and a bear," we may suppose he had in view the sacred Ape of Thoth, as no animal worshipped in Egypt answers his description so well as the Cynocephalus. §

Indeed, it is possible that he mistook the Cynocephalus of Hermopolis for one of the smaller kind of monkeys, and applied the name Cepus to the sacred type of the Egyptian Hermes. This is further confirmed by the account given by Pliny || of "the Cepus, whose hind feet resembled human feet and thighs, and the fore feet were like human hands," and by its being "a native of Ethiopia." Some might suppose that he had in view the Ty.

* Plin. viii. 54., and vii. 2.

+ Strabo, xvii. p. 559.

The modern town of Old Cairo stands on the site of Babylon, of which the principal remains are the Roman station mentioned by Strabo (xvii. p. 555.). Vide my Egypt and Thebes, p. 309.

S. Passalacqua mentions a monster resembling a Cynocephalus found at Hermopolis. Vide Pettigrew on Mummies, p. 184. ; and Passalacqua's Catalogue, p. 149.

|| Plin. viii. 19. Vide Elian. Nat. An. xvii. 8.

phonian figure which occurs so often in the astronomical subjects; but this is generally represented with the head of a hippopotamus and the body of a bear, or of some fanciful monster.*

The green monkey of Ethiopia was frequently brought to Egypt with the Cynocephalus by those who paid tribute to the Kings of Egypt; there is, however, no evidence of its having been sacred to any Deity.

Some writers mention the Cercopithecus, which, from the expression

"Si mihi cauda foret cercopithecus eram,"

seems to have been remarkable for the length of its tail. This might even apply to the green monkey of Ethiopia. Indeed, Pliny's description of the Cercopithecus with a black head accords with one species still found there. They seem to have been embalmed at Thebes and other places, and may therefore have some claim to a rank among the animals revered by the Egyptians; and, if we may believe Juvenal ‡, the Cercopithecus was worshipped in the capital of the Thebaïd. It was frequently represented as an ornament in necklaces, in common with other animals, flowers, and fanciful devices; and the neck of a bottle was sometimes decorated with two sitting monkeys.

* Vide Plate 40.; and suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 429.

Pliny (viii. 21.) does not place the Cercopithecus among the monkey tribe.

Juv. Sat. xv. 4.

THE BAT.

This animal is represented in the paintings of Beni Hassan.* It does not appear to have been sacred, nor do I know any instance of its being found embalmed. Egypt produces several species, some of which are of great size. The ancient Egyptians classed it among birds; but this was probably in reference to the element in which it moved, in the same manner as they introduced the crocodile and hippopotamus with the fish of the Nile.

THE HEDGEHOG.

Small figures of the hedgehog were sometimes made of earthenware and other materials, to serve as ornaments. Lamps of terra-cotta are also met with in the tombs, having the form of this animal. They do not, however, appear to have been connected with a religious feeling; but, like the small porcelain figures of the ibex, hippopotamus, fly, frog, and others, frequently found in Egypt, were probably intended for ornamental purposes, and frequently used as toys or trinkets.

THE MYGALE, OR SHREW-MOUSE.

The Mygale + held a conspicuous place amongst the sacred animals of Egypt, but I never observed any representation of it in sculptures relating to the

* Vide Vol. III. p. 50.

+ Sorex myosurus, Pall.

religion, or the natural history of the country. It has been found embalmed in the tombs of Thebes, and S. Passalacqua has thence brought specimens of two species. It is remarkable that one of these is larger than any with which we are acquainted. Herodotus tells us that they removed the shrews which died to Butos, where they were buried; in consequence of their being sacred to Buto, or Latona, the Goddess of that city; and Plutarch† asserts that it received divine honours from being blind, and was therefore looked upon as a proper emblem of darkness, which was more ancient than light. The notion of its blindness they doubtless derived from its habit of coming forth only at night, when all was darkness, and from their impression that no animal who had the power of sight could neglect to take advantage of so valuable a gift; but however we may ridicule the Egyptians for believing the blindness of the Mygale, we find a parallel in the proverbial stigma we have attached to the mole and the bat.

I have already noticed ‡ the character of the Goddess Buto, or Latona, of whom it was the emblem. According to the metaphysical notions of the priesthood, she was that primordial "darkness which covered the deep," represented, according to their custom, by the name and under the form of a Deity. The Gods of Egypt consisted, as I have frequently shown, of abstract ideas, as well as those things on which the divine intellect operated.

*Herodot. ii. 67.

Plut. Symp. iv. Quæst. 5. ‡ Suprà, Vol. I. (2d Scries) p. 273.