cially wor shipped in Thebes. No sheep sacrificed. Mythic story of Zeus and AFRICA. Southern Aegypt and Aethiopia, who represents the CHAP. V. divine Spirit, with Amun, the blue-coloured god of Zeus espe- Thebes, who represents the divine Intellect. The worship of Zeus, or Ammon, (Amun,) as he was the nome of called by the Aegyptians, more especially belonged to the nome of Thebes. The Thebans, and all those who erected a temple to this deity, abstained from sheep, and only sacrificed the goat.' This peculiarity arose from the following circumstance. Heracles was very anxious to see Zeus, who, on his part, was very unwilling that Heracles should see him. Heracles however persisted, and at last Zeus adopted this contrivance. He flayed a ram, cut off the head and held it before him, and then, clothing himself in the fleece, showed himself to Heracles in that form.2 In consequence also of this incident, the Aegyptians represented Zeus with the head of a ram; and on one day in the year, at the festival of Zeus, the Thebans killed and flayed one ram, and clothed the image of Zeus in the manner described, and then brought near to it another image of Heracles. When this was done, all who were in the temple beat themselves in mourning for the ram, and then buried it in the sacred vault.* 3 This fact is confirmed by the sculptures of Thebes, from which we learn that sheep were neither sacrificed nor used for food. The large flocks of sheep in the Thebaid were kept only for their wool.Wilkinson. 2 A scriptural fact is supposed to be disguised in this extraordinary myth. Heracles wishing to see, i. e. to offer sacrifice to, Zeus, is the Aegyptian garbled account of Abraham, about to sacrifice his son. Zeus, or Amun, does not wish to be seen, i. e. God does not wish to receive the sacrifice; he causes a ram to be slain however, and with this sacrificial intervention shows himself to Abraham. The patriarch's sojourn in Aegypt, his intimate connexion with that country, and the high antiquity of that connexion-these at once prove the source of the Aegyptian tale, and account for its perversion. The "seeing" and "showing," in Herodotus involve devotional Hebraisms, that throw still stronger light upon this source; and the very Hebrew term, Amon, "faithful," closely connects this history with the title given to Abraham. Ency. Met. Lit. of Ancient Greece. 3 We may conclude from this ceremony that Amun was not always represented with the head of a ram; but we need not remark further upon the confusion between Kneph and Amun, which indeed is not surprising when we consider how easy it is to confound their several attributes-"Spirit" and "Intellect." 4 ii. 42. Horned sacred. Horned serpents were also sacred to this deity, which AFRICA. were not at all hurtful to men. They were small in CHAP. V. size, and had two horns growing on the top of their head. When When any of them died they were buried in serpents the sacred precinct. A splendid temple of Zeus Temple and was erected at Thebes, and there also was an oracle Zeus. where responses were delivered in the same manner as at Dodona. oracle of women. Female attendants were employed Sacred in the service of the temple, whom Herodotus calls yuvaīkas ipnias, or "sacred women." γυναῖκας A woman also constantly resided in the temple, and, like the female in the Babylonian temple, had no intercourse with any mortal man.1 PTHAH, the "creative power," whom the Greeks Aegyptian degraded into a mere artisan or physical agent, was tion of 1 ii. 74. Herodotus is wrong in supposing that the bite of the horned snake, or vipera cerastes, is harmless, and it is fortunate for us that the father of history did not prove by experience its fatal effects. These snakes are still to be found embalmed in the necropolis of Thebes. Diodorus (i. 87) correctly places them among the poisonous reptiles. Wilkinson. 2 ii. 57. Cf. also p. 89 and 442. The oracle of Dodona was given by the wind rustling through the foliage of lofty oaks, (Hom. Od. xiv. 328, xix. 297,) whence Aeschylus (Prom. 832) mentions the speaking oaks of Dodona as great wonders. In order to render the sounds produced by the winds more distinct, brazen vessels were suspended on the branches of trees, which being moved by the wind came in contact with one another, and thus sounded till they were stopped. (Suidas, s. v. Aodúvn ; Philostrat. Imag. ii.) According to other accounts, oracles were also obtained through pigeons, which sitting upon oak-trees pronounced the will of Zeus. (Dionys. Hal. i. 15.) The sounds were in early times interpreted by men, but afterwards, when the worship of Dione became connected with that of Zeus, by two or three old women, who were called πελείαδες, οι πέλαιαι, because pigeons were said to have brought the command to found the oracle. Cf. Smith, Dict. of Ant., art. Oraculum. 3 ii. 54. Diodorus (i. 47) mentions the tombs of the waλakıdeg, or concubines of the Theban Zeus, but they are supposed to be the tombs of the consorts of the kings. Twenty-four have been counted, and twelve are known to have been the tombs of queens, but the sculptures are much destroyed. The confusion between the waardes and the queens may be accounted for by a circumstance mentioned by Champollion, that they all bear the title of " Wife of Amun." Lettres, p. 286. Lepsius, Einleitung, p. 307. Quoted by Kenrick. i. 182. Strabo tells us that a noble and beautiful virgin was sacrificed to the Theban Zeus, and that a class of harlots were dedicated to his service. (xvii. p. 561.) Sir J. G. Wilkinson regards the story as incredible, but similar revolting circumstances are to be found amongst the Hindoos, who certainly are as pious and moral as the ancient Aegyptians. Sir J. G. Wilkinson has already remarked upon the similarity between the names of Amun-re and Zeus-Belus; and Herodotus has pointed out the peculiarity in their worship. Cf. also pp. 261, 445. representa creative power. AFRICA. generally represented as a mummy holding the emCHAP. V. blems of life and the staff of purity, and wearing a Pthah, the close cap without any ornaments, or sometimes a disk with the large ostrich feathers of Osiris. Sir J. G. Wilkinson has also met with a representation of Pthah drawing with a pen the figure of Harpocrates, the emblem of youth; being probably an allusion to the idea first formed in the mind of the Creator of the being he was about to make. PthahSocari-Osiris was the form of this deity, which was worshipped at Memphis; and numerous pigmy figures of him with disproportioned heads, phallic, bow-legged, and with almost an Aethiopean physiognomy, are to be found in the ruins of Memphis and the vicinity, frequently with the scarabaeus, or beetle,' on the head, and sometimes holding the crook and flagellum of Osiris. Sometimes also a representation of Pthah appears with a hawk's head both in temples and on sarcophagi. Identified with Hephaestus, and especishipped at ally wor Memphis. Aegyptian representation of Khem, the generative Pthah may be identified with the HEPHAESTUS of Herodotus, and, according to our author, was espe cially worshipped at Memphis under the form of a pigmy figure, which resembled the Phoenician pataici, and excited the ridicule of Cambyses.* Herodotus, however, gives us no information respecting the manner in which this deity was worshipped, though he mentions his magnificent temple at Memphis, which we have already described." KHEM, the generative principle, is the ithyphallic god, and is represented with a peculiar form, which is a coarse indicative of creative power. His office, principle. however, was not confined to the procreation of the human species, but extended also over the vegetable world; hence the Greeks and Romans assigned to Priapus the office of presiding over their gardens. The scarabaeus was particularly sacred to Pthah, for, as there were no females but only males of this species, it was considered to be a fitting type of the creative power, self-acting and self-sufficient. Plutarch, de İsid. s. 10. Quoted by Wilkinson. 2 iii. 37. 3 See p. 388. may 3 and espc shipped at Khem! be identified with the PAN of AFRICA. Herodotus, and was especially worshipped in the CHAP. V. Mendesian nome. Here he had a temple, and Identified indeed in the Aegyptian language he was called with Pan, Mendes. He was considered by the Mendesians to cially worbe one of the eight original gods which existed prior Mendes. to the twelve. The Aegyptian painters and sculptors represented him with the face and legs of a goat, in the same way that the Greeks did; not however because they imagined that this was his real form, for they considered him to be like the other gods, but for a reason which Herodotus would rather not mention. In consequence, all the Ae- No goats gyptians who frequented his temple at Mendes, or belonged to the Mendesian nome, would not sacrifice the goat either male or female. Moreover, they paid great reverence to all goats, more especially to males, and particularly to one he-goat, on whose death a public mourning was observed throughout the nome. In the Aegyptian language both a goat and Pan were called Mendes, and in the time of Herodotus a prodigy occurred in this district which came to the knowledge of all men-γυναικὶ τράγος ἐμίσγετο ἀναφανδόν.4 sacrificed. statements Some of the statements in the foregoing descrip- Herodotus's tion of Herodotus have been questioned. It is evi- doubted. dent from his ranking Pan amongst the eight primary deities, that he alludes to Khem, but neither Khem nor any god in the Aegyptian Pantheon has been found on the monuments with the head and legs of a goat. The name of Mendes also seems to belong rather to the god Mandoo, who is however totally distinct from the god of generation. Moreover, the Coptic for "goat" is not Mendes, but Baampe. Our author's account of the honour paid 1 The Aegyptian Khem is identical with the Hebrew word Ham, and in the hieroglyphic legends Aegypt was denominated Khemi, or the land of Ham. 3 ii. 145. 4 ii. 46. 2 ii. 42. 5 The Greek Pan was represented with attributes indicating a general resemblance to Khem, (κατωφέρης καὶ συνουσιαστικός,) and hence the confusion. Mr. Kenrick however has pointed out that the goat was evidently consecrated to the god of Mendes, if not employed as its sym AFRICA. to the goat in the Mendesian nome has therefore CHAP. V. been rejected by Sir J. G. Wilkinson; but, notwithstanding the horrible extent to which it was carried, we see no reason to doubt the plain statement of Herodotus, and we preserve it as a damning proof of the impurity which ever attends idolatry, however elevated and refined its symbols may appear in the eyes of the initiated.1 Four prim- Hera, not mentioned. Maut, or Buto, iden tified with Leto. brated ora ple. 2 Of the four great Aegyptian goddesses, SATE, or Hera, was not known to Herodotus as an Aegyptian deity. MAUT, or Mother or Nature, has been identified with Buro, and is represented with the pshent on her head, and has such titles as Mistress of Heaven, Regent of the World, etc. She has been identified with the LETO of Herodotus, though perhaps Her cele- there is scarcely sufficient evidence for it. Her cle and tem- oracle was the most celebrated in Aegypt; it warned Mycerinus of his approaching death, and promised the crown to Psammitichus. The temple was situated in the large city of Buto near the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile; it was visited by Herodotus, and has already been described. Our author also saw the floating island of Chemmis which did not float, and upon which had been erected a temple of Apollo." Here Leto received Horus from Typhon, but this myth we shall have occasion to explain when we treat of Osiris and Isis. bol, since the type appears upon the coins of the nome in Greek and Roman times. That there may have been an element of revealed religion and pure worship in the mythology of the Aegyptians need not be denied, and that element was doubtless reproduced in the Mosaic code of civil and ceremonial law, which presents here and there some points of resemblance with that of Aegypt. But, when we contemplate the actual state of the people from whom the divine lawgiver delivered the chosen people of God, we feel the full force of those first commandments written by the hand of Jehovah-" Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." Comp. also Ex. xxii. 19. 2 ii. 50. 3 The name Bourw, the Buto of the Greeks, is nearly allied to Maut or Muth, M and B being interchangeable letters. 4 ii. 83. 5 ii. 133. • See page 377. 6 ii. 152. 7 See page 376. |