Mars, the animal itself being worshipped at Papremis, the city of that Deity.* I have only found him so represented in small pottery figures, but never in the sculptures; though the Hippopotamusheaded Goddess occurs on monuments of early date. The connection, indeed, of the God Mars and this Typhonian animal is remarkable. HERON, ANTEUS, PERSEUS, BUSIRIS, THUERis, CANOPUS. The first of these I have supposed to correspond to Atmoo, and the second to Ombte, but of Perseus I have not yet been able to form any conjecture. Nor do I know if Busiris is a character of Osiris, or a separate Deity. Of the form of Thueris, the concubine of Typho, of Canopus, and of his supposed wife Menuthis (or Eumenuth), worshipped in a town of the same name ‡, I am also ignorant; as well as of the two Deities of Winter and Summer, whose statutes are said, by Herodotus §, to have been erected by Rhampsinitus. GENII OF THE LOWER REGIONS. I have described the form and general character of the principal Deities, who compose the Pantheon of Egypt. Those minor Divinities, who held various offices in the regions of the dead, I have not introduced; their attributes and functions being as yet imperfectly ascertained, or altogether * Vide Herodot, íi. 59. 63. and 71. Herodot. ii. 121. unknown; and many were only inferior emanations of some of those already described. Others were Genii or Demons; and some were of that class of beings who were thought to people every part of the universe, and to be present unseen amongst mankind, sometimes influencing their actions, and sometimes themselves acting in obedience to their commands. They were mostly represented under a human form, with the heads of different quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, or fishes; among which may be mentioned the cat, lion t, ape, fox, cow, ram, hare, hawk, duck, crane, crocodile, tortoise (generally the entire animal, in the place of a head), and the garmóot‡ fish. Some were figured as mere emblems; and one even assumed the form of the usual sceptre of the Gods. In concluding this imperfect notice of the Egyptian Deities, I must observe, that whatever opinion I have ventured to express, is offered with great diffidence, owing to the intricacy of the question, the imperfect information to be obtained from the monuments, and the doubtful authority of Greek writers. I have therefore given little more than the forms of the Gods, and their principal characters whenever they could be ascertained; and I conclude in the words of Seneca §, applied to an observation of Aristotle,-" Egregie Aristoteles ait, numquam nos verecundiores esse debere, quam cum de Diis agitur." * Vide suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 112. 217. 221, 222. Silurus Carmuth, or Heterobranchus bi-dorsalis. VIGNETTE N. View of the modern town of Manfaloót, showing the height of the banks of the Nile in summer. In the mountain range, opposite Manfaloot, are the large crocodile mummy caves of Maábdeh. CHAP. XIV. The Sacred Animals. I NEXT proceed to mention the sacred animals. Of these, many different grades existed. Some were looked upon as Deities, others were merely emblems of the Gods. The worship of some was general throughout Egypt, that of others was confined to particular districts; and the same animal which received Divine honours in one part of the country, was often execrated and held in abhorrence in another. In one city a sacred fish was venerated, in another it was served up among the delicacies of the table; and many serious quarrels ensued between whole towns and provinces, owing to the circumstance of a sacred animal having been killed, either from accident or design, by the inhabitants of a neighbouring district, where its worship was not acknowledged. It is, however, very improbable that such lawless disputes took place, in the early periods of Egyptian history, during the reigns of the Pharaohs; when a vigorous government had the power of maintaining order, and when a wise priesthood watched equally over the interests of all. No opinion indeed is more liable to error, than one which judges the customs and character of the Egyptians, from the degraded state of the country under the rule of the Ptolemies and Cæsars. as De Pauwt justly observes, there is no more reason to believe such excesses were perpetrated at that period, than to expect the modern towns of Europe to make war on each other, in order to maintain the pre-eminence of their saints and patrons. For, Herodotus says, "They are obliged by law to feed the sacred animals, and certain persons of both sexes are appointed to take care of each kind. The employment is an honourable one, and descends from father to son." And "so far," observes Diodorus §,"are they from declining, or feeling ashamed, openly to fulfil this office, that they pride * Juv. Sat. xv. 36. "Numina vicinorum Odit uterque locus; cum solos dicit habendos Esse Deos quos ipse colit." Vide suprà, Vol. I. (2d Series) p 159. § Diodor. i. 83. themselves upon it; going in procession through the towns and country, with the distinguishing mark of their occupation, as if they were purtakers of the highest honours of the Gods. And being known by a peculiar embem belonging to each, the people perceive, on their approach, of what animal they have the care, and show them respect by bowing to the ground, and by other marks of honour." "When parents, living in towns, perform vows for the recovery of their children's health, they offer prayers to the Deity to whom the animal is sacred, and then shaving a portion, or half, or the whole, of the child's head, they put the hair into one scale of the balance and money into the other, until the latter outweighs the former; they then give it to the person who takes care of the animal, to buy fish (or other food)." It was not, however, on accidental bounty that the nourishment of these creatures depended. The value of a whole head of child's hair, even when they paid its weight in gold, or any other gift, depending upon accidental vows (frequently performed after a long interval), would be a precarious means of support for the unremitting appetite of the Divine beasts; it was, therefore, wisely managed, that a fixed revenue should be provided for the purpose; and each had a piece of land belonging to it, the produce of which was sold for its maintenance, and sufficed for the payment of the curators. t * Herodot, and Diodor. loc. cit. + Diodor. i. 83. |
