* In the Boheiric dialect there are thirty-two.

+ Six letters of the Coptic alphabet are modifications of the forms of Egyptian characters in demotic. See p. 40. The names of the letters in Coptic are &λa, Biza, ramma, aadaa, ei, ZIT&, HT&, eit&, i&rta, kanna, darda, ei, NI, ZI, O, N, ро, ciееε, т&V, VE (2E), BI, XI, VI, &r, wyer, yes, Dei, Ɛopi, xanxia, TIME, TI.

EGYPTIAN.

NAMES OF THE MONTHS.

ALEXANDRIAN MONTHS (COPTIC FORMS).

The ancient Egyptians had: I. the vague or civil year, which consisted of 365 days; it was divided into twelve months of thirty days each, and five intercalary days were added at the end; II. the Sothic year of 365 days. The first year of a Sothic period began with the rising of Sirius or the dog-star, on the 1st of the month Thoth, when it coincided with the beginning of the inundation; III. the Egyptian solar year,* which was a quarter of a day shorter than the Sothic year, an error which corrected itself in 1460 fixed years or 1461 vague years. The true year was estimated approximately by the conjunction of the sun with Sirius. Dr. Brugsch thinks (Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. II., p. 176) that as early as B.C. 2500 four different forms of the year were already in use, and that the "little year" corresponded with the lunar year, and the "great year" with a lunar year having intercalated days. Each month was dedicated to a god. The Egyptians dated their stele and documents by the day of the month and the year of the king who was reigning at the time. The Copts first dated their documents according to the years of the INDICTION; the indictions were periods of fifteen years, and the first began A.D. 312. In later times the Copts made use of the era of the Martyrs, which was reckoned from the 29th of August, A.D. 284. About the ninth century after Christ they began to adopt the Muḥammedan era of the Hijrah or "flight," which was reckoned from A.D. 622.

* It was practically the same as the civil year.

+ Some of the Coptic names of the months show that they have een derived from the ancient Egyptian: thus Thôth is from

Mesôre from

mes-Heru, "the birth of Horus " festival,

etc. The Copts have I. an agricultural year, and II. an ecclesiastical year; the latter consists of twelve months of thirty days, with a thirteenth month called Nissi of five or six intercalary days.

THE RELIGION AND GODS OF

EGYPT.

The religion of the ancient Egyptians is one of the most difficult problems of Egyptology, and though a great deal has been written about it during the last few years, and many difficulties have been satisfactorily explained, there still remain unanswered a large number of questions connected with it. In all religious texts the reader is always assumed to have a knowledge of the subject treated of by the writer, and no definite statement is made on the subject concerning which very little, comparatively, is known by students today. For example, in the texts inscribed inside the pyramids of Unȧs, Pepi, and Tetȧ (B.C. 3300-3233), we are brought face to face with religious compositions which mention the acts and relationships of the gods, and refer to beliefs, and give instructions for the performance of certain acts of ritual which are nowhere explained. It will be remembered that Ptolemy II. Philadelphus instructed Manetho to draw up a history of the religion of the ancient Egyptians. If such a work was needed by the cultured Greek who lived when the religion of ancient Egypt, though much modified, was still in existence, how much more is it needed now? The main beliefs of the Egyptian religion were always the same. The attributes of one god might be applied to another, or one god might be confused with another; the cult of one god might decline in favour of another, or new gods might arise and become popular, but the foundation of the religion of Egypt remained unchanged. Still, it is asserted by some that the religion of the dynasties of the Early Empire was simpler and more free from specu

lation than that of the Middle and New Empires, in which the nature and mutual relationships of the gods were discussed and theogonies formulated. Speaking generally the gods of Egypt were the everlasting and unalterable powers of nature, i.e., 'day and night,' 'light and darkness,' etc. The great god of the Egyptians, Rã, or Amen-Rã, as he was called in the Middle Empire, was said to be the maker of all things; the various gods Horus, Atmu, etc., were merely forms of him. Rā was self-begotten, and hymns to him never tire in declaring his absolute and perfect unity in terms which resemble those of the Hebrew Scriptures. It will be seen from the translation of a hymn given in the following pages that he is made to possess every attribute, natural and spiritual, which Christian peoples ascribe to God Almighty. The one doctrine, however, which lived persistently and unchanged in the Egyptian mind for five thousand years, is that of a future life. During the earliest dynasties beautiful, and enduring tombs * were built in order that the bodies which were placed in them might be preserved until such time as the resurrection of the body should take place. It is clear from the papyri that man was supposed to possess a body, a soul, ‘genius’Ļ ka, and an intelligence,

ba, a

xu. The

body, freed from all its most corruptible portions, was preserved by being filled with bitumen, spices, and

* "Les belles tombes que l'on admire dans les plaines de Thèbes et de Sakkârah ne sont donc pas dues à l'orgueil de ceux qui les ont érigées. Une pensée plus large a présidé à leur construction. Plus les matériaux sont énormes, plus on est sûr que les promesses faites par la religion recevront leur exécution. En ces sens, les Pyramides ne sont pas des monuments de la vaine ostentation des rois'; elles sont des obstacles impossibles à renverser, et les preuves gigantesques d'un dogme consolant." (Mariette, Notices des Principaux Monuments, P. 44.)