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XIV, XV. The amulet of the Tesher crown

sented the crown of Lower Egypt; and Het the crown of Upper Egypt.

XVI. The amulet of the Menat

repre

represented

signified Miscel

laneous

1

"joy" and "health," and perhaps "life." It is always worn amulets. by Ptah at the back of his neck, and it is frequently an emblem of the goddess Hathor.

XVII. The Cartouche is thought by Pierret (Dict. d'Archéologie Egyptienne, p. 118) to be nothing more than an elongated seal (see No. XIII), and to represent natural reproduction and eternity.

XVIII. The amulet Neha

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or

represented "protection"; it was made chiefly of hæmatite, and is found in the breast of the mummy.

XIX. The amulet of the Serpent's head is made of stone, red jasper, or paste to imitate red jasper, and carnelian. It was placed on mummies to prevent their being bitten by snakes and other reptiles in the underworld. The 34th chapter of the Book of the Dead, entitled, "Chapter of not allowing a person to be bitten in the underworld by a serpent," is sometimes found engraved upon this amulet. In

later times glass and faïence models of serpents &

were

worn by men and women round the neck; they were probably connected in some way with Isis.

XX. The amulet of the Disk and Plumes

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probably represented the head-dress of Seker, the god of the resurrection; the feathers often occur without the disk. The use of this amulet is unknown.

XXI. The Frog represents "myriads." This amulet is made of steatite, jasper of various colours, faïence, etc.; it

1 For a discussion on this amulet see Lefébure, Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., 1891, PP. 333-349. REESE

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The frog emblem of the

resurrec

tion.

Ring amulets.

is often found with and s, and was probably placed with

these on the neck of the mummy, although examples are known which were taken from the chest. The frog-headed goddess Heqt is a form of the goddess Hathor, the wife of Chnemu; she was considered to be connected with the resurrection. On lamps of the Greek and Roman periods found in Egypt the frog often appears on the upper part, and one is known which has the legend Eгw EIMI ANACTACIC, "I am the resurrection." The use of this amulet appears not to be older than the XVIIIth dynasty.

XXII. The Stairs or. This amulet is usually made of glazed faïence, but the use of it is unknown to me. In the vignette of the 110th chapter of the Book of the Dead it is figured placed in a boat (Naville, Das Todtenbuch, Bl. CXXIII.); in the 22nd chapter the deceased says, "I am Osiris, lord of Re-stau (the passages of the tomb), and of those who are at the top of the stairs"; and in the 85th chapter the deceased says, "I am the lord of the stairs, I have made my nest on the borders of the sky."

XXIII. The amulet of the two Fingers, the index and medius, is found in the interior of mummies, and is generally made of hæmatite or obsidian. The use of the amulet is unknown to me.

In every Egyptian collection of importance a large number of rings, having a gap in each, will be found; they are made of gold, red jasper, obsidian, red glazed faïence, shell, stone, and glass. Those made of gold have a small ring at each end for a wire to pass through (?), and they may thus have been used as earrings or pendants for necklaces; on the other hand they may have been used as amulets. Some believe that they were used as buttons.

FIGURES OF GODS.

The gold, silver, bronze, wooden and faïence figures of gods in Egyptian collections may be reckoned by thousands, and they vary in size from half an inch to fifteen inches or

1 Figured in Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 853.

manufac

ture.

more. Bronze statues were usually cast in moulds, in one or more pieces, the core being made of sand or earth. When cast in pieces the limbs were soldered together and the edges smoothed with a file or scraper. The core is frequently found Method of inside the statue, where it was left by the workmen to strengthen the casting. Figures of gods in gold are comparatively few, the gods most often represented in this metal being Amen-Rā, Chensu, and Nefer-Atmu; figures of these gods were also made of silver and plated with gold, and a figure of the god Set, made of bronze plated with gold, is also known (B.M. No. 18,191). Bronze figures of gods were sometimes inlaid with gold, and the eyes were made of gold or silver with obsidian pupils. Glazed faïence figures of gods are very common, and certain gods were made of this substance, which up to the present have rarely been met with in bronze. They were usually cast from moulds, and follow fairly closely the design and patterns of the bronze figures; they do not occur earlier than the XXVth or XXVIth dynasty, and although wretched copies of them were made for hundreds of years after, they do not appear to have continued in use among all classes of people in Egypt. It may be mentioned in passing that the natives of Egypt at the present day make use of the old moulds, found chiefly in Upper Egypt, to cast figures of the gods in gold and silver which they sell to the traveller as genuine antiquities.

Figures of the gods of Egypt are found among the ruins of houses and in temples and tombs. According to M. Mariette' those found among the ruins of towns are of two kinds: 1, those placed in a niche, cut in the form of a shrine, which represented the divinity to the service of which the inhabitants of the house were attached, and before which, on certain days, offerings were laid; 2, those which were placed in crevices of the walls of the inner chambers of the house, and which were supposed to be able by magical influence to protect the inhabitants of the house from spells and the results of incantations, and from other malignant influences. The use of this latter class of statues or small

1 Catalogue Général des Monuments d'Abydos, p. 1.

Uses of

bronze

figures.

Funereal bronzes.

figures is as old as the XVIIIth dynasty, at least. The figures of gods found in temples are very numerous and are votive. The Egyptians seem to have believed that the gods inhabited statues or figures, made in their honour, and on this account they often made them very beautiful, so that they might form worthy habitations for them. On certain days prayers were said before them, and offerings were made to them. As figures of many different gods are found in the same temple, it follows that a worshipper wishing to place a figure of a god in a temple was not bound to offer one of the god to whom the temple was dedicated; supposing the temple to be one of Ptaḥ, he could offer a figure of Rā, or Chnemu, or of any god he pleased. Figures of gods were supposed to answer questions, for it will be remembered that when Chensu was asked if he would go to the land of Bechten to cure a daughter of the prince of that land of her sickness, he inclined his head in assent. When he arrived in that land, he held a conversation with the demon that possessed the maiden, and when the demon agreed to come out from her, provided that a feast were made in his honour, the god through his priest, assented. Figures of gods other than Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys are not commonly found in tombs; it is true that many examples in faïence are found in the wrappings of mummies, but in these cases they were simply used as amulets like the buckle, tet, pillow and many others. Figures of gods made of every sort of material were also buried in the sand around temples and tombs with the view of guarding them from every evil influence. The following is a list of the most important of the gods and goddesses of whom figures were made in bronze and glazed faïence :—

Amen-Rã

and Mut and Chensu formed the great triad of Thebes; the word Amen means "hidden." Amen was said to be the son of Ptah, and he seems to have Åmen the usurped the attributes of all the other gods. Before the ex

national

god of Egypt.

pulsion of the Hyksos by Se-qenen-Rā his position was that of the local god of Thebes; subsequently he became the national god of Egypt. He was said to be the maker of things above and of things below, and to have more forms

than any other god. He made the gods, and stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth; he was lord of eternity and maker of everlasting. The Egyptians affirmed of him that he was ONE, the ONLY ONE. In bronze figures he stands upon a plinth, he holds the sceptre

in his left

; at

hand, and on his head he wears the disk and feathers times he holds a scimitar (B.M. Nos. 28, 29). He is also represented seated on a throne, and the throne was sometimes placed inside a shrine, the top of which was ornamented with uræi, winged disk, etc., and the sides and back with hollow-work figures of Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris (B.M. No. 11,013). On the pedestals he is called "Amen-Ra, lord of the thrones of the world, the president of the Apts (ie., Karnak), lord of heaven, prince of Thebes."

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one of a triad consisting of Amen, Amsu, and Rā (B.M. No. 18,681). The faïence figures of this god are similar to

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