a temple at Diospolis; and Horapollo* assigns to the claws of the hippopotamus the signification of "injustice and ingratitude," as to the whole animal the force of "time," or "an hour." The injury done by this animal to the cornt fields might suffice to exclude it from the respect of the agricultural population; and the Egyptian peasants were probably called upon to frighten it out of their fields on many occasions with brass saucepans and other utensils, in the same manner as the modern Ethiopians. But it probably never abounded in that part of the Nile south of the first cataract; and its worship was confined to places beyond the reach of its intrusion. The hippopotamus was also said to have been ‡ a symbol of the Western pole, or the region of darkness, distinct, of course, from that primeval darkness which covered the deep, and from which sprang the light, supposed to have been typified by the Mygale, the emblem of Buto. I have already § explained the opinions of the Egyptians on this point; and on the supposed analogy of the West, which buried the Sun in darkness ||, and the gloomy mansions of the dead; the former being termed Ement, and the latter Amenti. I have also noticed the resemblance between Eréb (or Gharb), the West, of the Hebrews, and the Erebus of Greece.¶ *Horapollo, i. 56. and ii. 20. Vide Euseb. Præp. Evang. iii. 12. + Ælian, v. 53. Vide suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 273, 274. Mummies of the hippopotamus are said to have been found at Thebes, and one is preserved in the British Museum. PIG, AND WILD BOAR. The horror in which the pig was held in Egypt, I have had occasion to mention.* According to Herodotust, the same aversion extended to the people of Cyrene, who abstained from the meat of swine, as well as "of the Cow out of respect to Isis." Herodotus says it was unlawful for the Egyptians to sacrifice the pig to any Gods but to the Moon and Bacchus, which was only done at the full Moon,—a sacred reason forbidding them to offer it on any other festival.§ It was on the former occasion alone that the people were permitted to eat its flesh,-a wise sanatory regulation having made it unclean in the hot climate of Egypt. A similar prohibition was denounced against it by the Jewish legislator, and the Abyssinian Christians continue to think it a religious duty to abstain from this unwholesome food. From the aversion felt by the Egyptians to the pig, we can readily account for their choosing it as an emblem of uncleanness, and a fit abode for the souls of wicked men. The prejudices of other people have to the present day followed its name, *Suprà, Vol. II. p. 17.; Vol. III. p. 33. &c. + Herodot. iv. 186. Herodot. ii. 47. The celebration of this rite I shall mention in treating of the Ceremonies. || Horapollo, ii. 37. Ælian, x. 16. even to a proverb, however welcome its meat may be at table*; and though we may not enter into all the horror of an Egyptian on seeing the great predilection of a Greek for the pig, we may ourselves feel surprised at Homer's respect for a feeder of pigs, who had the title "divine," and "prince of men.”+ In the fête of Bacchus, the historian tells us, they did not eat the pig, which was sacrificed before their door, but gave it back to the person of whom it had been purchased. Plutarch §, however, says that "those who sacrifice a sow to Typho once a year at the full Moon, afterwards eat its flesh; giving as a reason for the ceremony, that Typho, being in pursuit of that animal at this season, accidentally found the chest wherein was deposited the body of Osiris." But it does not appear whether he had in view the festival of Bacchus (Osiris), or that of the full Moon previously mentioned by Herodotus; and it is possible that both writers intended to confine the custom of eating swine's flesh to one single day in the year. Ælian, indeed, affirms, that they only sacrifice the sow (which they consider an animal most hateful to the Sun and Moon) once a year, on the festival of the Moon, but on no other occasion either to that or any other Deity." * Cicero does not pay a compliment to pigs, when he says they have "animam pro sale ne putrescant." Nat. Deor. lib. ii. Ælian, on the authority of Agatharcides, gives the pigs of Ethiopia horns, v. 27. † Hom. Od. xiv. 48. and 22." Aoc voopßoc," and "Zv6wrns, opxapoc avôowv." Vide also, xv. 350. 388. &c. Plut. de Is. s. 8. Herodot. ii. 48.. Though the pig may not properly be classed among the sacred animals, it was an emblem of the Evil Being; and this may account for Plutarch's supposing it to have been connected with the history of Osiris and Typho. Several instances occur of the pig in sacred subjects, principally in the tombs, where the attendance of monkeys might be supposed to connect it with the Moon. * But these seem chiefly to refer to the future state of the wicked, whose souls were thought to migrate into that unclean animal; and the presence of Anubis confirms this opinion. Pigs were kept by the Egyptians, as I have already observed t, to be employed for agricultural purposes; and Æliant, on the authority of Eudoxus, pretends that "they were sparing in their sacrifices of swine, because they were required to tread in the grain, pressing the seed with their feet from the surface into the soil, and securing it from the ravages of birds." It does not appear whether the wild boar was hunted by the chasseur, - those parts of Egypt where hunting scenes are represented, not being frequented by that animal, whose resorts were probably,' as at present, confined to the banks of the Birket el Korn §, and the vicinity of Lake Menzaleh. * Vide suprà, p. 8. Ælian, x. 16. $ Suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 46. THE HYRAX. As the Hyrax did not hold a rank among the sacred animals, I need only refer to what has already been stated respecting it *, in enumerating the animals of Egypt. THE HORSE AND Ass. Notwithstanding the great utility of the horse, it did not enjoy sacred honours, nor was it the emblem of any Deity. This is the more remarkable, as the breed of horses was considered of the highest importance in Egypt; and even among the Greeks, less scrupulous regarding the sanctity of animals, it was dedicated to one of the principal Gods of their Pantheon. For though Neptune was unknown in Egypt, and the sea was odious to the Egyptians, the warlike horse might well have found some Deity of eminence to adopt it as a type; and surely few would stand less in need of so peculiarly a terrestrial animal than the God of the Ocean, and few be less consistently chosen as the patron of the horse. But an evident distinction was conferred on the less dignified ass; and if, as some have thought, it is a greater disgrace to pass unobserved, than to be noticed even in an unfavourable or equivocal manner, the ass enjoyed the marked but uncom * Vol. III. p. 28. |
