Page images
PDF
EPUB

both standing and seated, holding a sceptre in the right hand, and in the left; at times he holds on his knees an open roll, upon which is inscribed his name. The bronze figures of this god are usually of very fine workmanship, often having the inscriptions inlaid in gold; in faïence, figures of this god are very rare.

"mould

man.

Chnemu the "Moulder," the Xvovus, The Χνούβις, Χνουβι, Κνήφ or Κνουφις of the Greeks, is one of erof the oldest gods of Egypt, and was especially worshipped in Nubia, at Philæ, where he is represented making man out of clay on a potter's wheel, and at Elephantine. Like Amen-Ra he is said to be the father of the gods,1 and

R

Chnemu.

Cheperȧ.

Teḥuti (Thoth).

1 Father of the fathers of the gods, the lord who evolveth from himself, maker

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

Thoth the

accurate scribe of the gods.

The murderer of Osiris and

opponent

of Horus.

with this god and Ptah and Cheperȧ he shared the name of
"creator of men." Chnemu put together the scattered limbs
of the dead body of Osiris, and it was he who created the
beautiful woman who became the wife of Bata in the Tale
of the Two Brothers. In bronze and faïence, figures of
this god represent him with the head of a ram, and wearing
plumes, ; these figures are tolerably common.
M;

Thoth, in Egyptian Teḥuti , the "Measurer," was the scribe of the gods, the measurer of time and inventor of numbers. In the judgment hall of Osiris he stands by the side of the balance holding a palette and reed ready to record the result of the weighing of the heart as announced by the dog-headed ape who sits on the middle of the beam of the scales. In bronze figures he is represented with the head of an ibis, but he has upon it sometimes horns and plumes. In faïence figures he has also the head of an ibis, and occasionally he holds an ut'at, between his hands in front of him (B. M. No. 490a).

Set or Sut, Gr. Σne, was one of the sons of Seb and Nut, and was brother of Osiris, and husband of Nephthys. -His worship dates from the Vth dynasty, and he continued to be a most popular god in Egypt until the XIXth dynasty; kings delighted to call themselves "beloved of Set," and to be compared to him for valour when the records of their battles were written down. He probably represented the destructive power of the sun's heat. Between the XXIInd and XXVth dynasties a violent reaction set in against this god, his statues and figures were smashed, his effigy was hammered out from the bas-reliefs and stele in which it appeared, and from being a beneficent god, and a companion of Amen and his brother-gods, he became the personification of all evil, and the opponent of all good. His persistent enmity of Osiris will be mentioned below. Set, or Sutech, was chosen by the Hyksos for their god. Bronze figures of Set are very rare indeed. The British Museum possesses two examples, Nos. 18,191 and 22,897; each represents the god standing upright, in each he has the characteristic animal's

head, and wears the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, ; each figure was originally gilded, and each has a hole drilled in a projecting piece of metal, from which it was suspended and worn. When I bought the larger figure it was bent double, evidently by a violent blow, given probably when the reaction against this god's worship set in. Faïence figures of Set I have never seen.

[blocks in formation]

Osiris, in Egyptian Ausår, the great god and king of the underworld, the judge of the dead, was the son of Seb and Nut, and husband of Isis; he was murdered by his brother Set, who was in turn slain by Horus, the son of Osiris, and the "avenger of his father." According to Plutarch (De Plutarch's Iside et Osiride, xii.-xx.) Osiris was the wise and good king Osiris. of Egypt, who spent his life in civilizing his subjects and in improving their condition. Having brought them out of degradation and savagery, he set out to do the like for the other nations of the world. Upon his return his brother Set,

story of

together with seventy-two other people, and the queen of Ethiopia, made a conspiracy against him. They invited him into a banqueting room, and by an artful device made Osiris get into a box which Set had previously caused to be made to fit him. As soon as Osiris had lain down in it, the conspirators nailed the cover on it, and having poured molten lead over it, they carried it by river to the sea, the waves of which washed it up at Byblos. As soon as Isis heard of what had happened, she set out to search for her husband's body, and eventually found it; but having carried it off to another place, it was accidentally discovered by Set, who forthwith broke open the chest, and tore the body into fourteen pieces, which he scattered up and down the country. Isis then set out to search for the pieces of her husband's body, and she found all but one; wherever she found a piece she buried it, and built a temple over it. He was the type of all mummies, like unto him, and named after him. Bronze figures of this god represent him as a mum

and the deceased is made

[blocks in formation]

mified figure wearing the crown

in his right hand he

holds the whip, and in the left the crook. Figures of

this god in faïence are not very common.

Isis, in Egyptian Auset £,

of Osiris.

was a daughter of Seb and The family Nut; she married her brother Osiris. Bronze figures represent her 1, standing and wearing upon her head, and 2, seated suckling her naked child Horus, who is sitting on her knees, at her left breast, and wearing disk and horns upon her head. In faïence many figures of both kinds are found. In funereal scenes Isis stands at the foot of the bier mourning the deceased.

Nephthys, in Egyptian Nebt-ḥet, was also a daughter of Seb and Nut; she married her brother Sct. Bronze figures, which are not common, represent her standing draped in a long tunic, and wearing

on her head; in

faïence, figures of this goddess are very numerous, and follow the style and design of those in bronze. A number of rectangular faïence pendants have been found in which Isis, Nephthys and Harpocrates or Horus stand side by side.

of the

tomb.

Anubis, in Egyptian Ånpu, was, according to some legends, the son of Nephthys and Osiris, who mistook that goddess for Isis; elsewhere he is said to be the son of Rā. He is always represented as having the head of a jackal, and he is one of the chief gods of the dead and the netherworld. He presided over the embalming of the mummy, he The god led the mummy into the presence of Osiris, and watched over the ceremony of weighing the heart, and he is often represented standing by the bier with one hand laid on the mummy. The belief that this god acted in this capacity survived for some centuries after Christ, and a remarkable proof of this fact is given by a light green, glazed faïence plaque in the British Museum, No. 22,874. On the obverse PersistAnubis, jackal-headed, in relief, stands by the side of a bier ence of Pagan bein the shape of a lion, also in relief; on the reverse, in relief, liefs among the Copts.

« PreviousContinue »