wears the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt; in the right hand he holds 4, and in the left Nefer-Åtmu, the son of Ptaḥ and Sechet or Bast, represents the power of the heat of the rising sun. Figures of this god were made in gold, silver, bronze, and faïence. In metal, he stands upright, wearing lotus flowers and plumes on his head, in his right hand he holds 1 and in the left f. Sometimes each shoulder is inlaid in gold with an utat (B.M. No. 22,921). In faïence he has the same head-dress, but stands on a lion; in faïence, too, he is often accompanied by his mother Sechet or Bast (B.M. Nos. 2500, 260a). Ptaḥ°81, the “Opener,” perhaps the oldest of all the The oldest

god of gods of Egypt, was honoured with a temple and worshipped Egypt. at Memphis from the time of the Ist dynasty. He is said to be the father of the gods, who came .forth from his eye, and of men, who came forth from his mouth.

The god of the resurrection.

He is represented in the form of a mummy, and he holds
a sceptre composed of 1 usr,“ strength,” † anch,“ life,” and
i tet, “ stability.” Bronze and faïence figures of this god
are tolerably common, and resemble each other in form and
design. At the back of his neck he wears the mená
With reference to his connexion with the resurrection and
the nether world, he is called Ptah-Seker-Ausår, and is
represented as a little squat boy, with bent legs, and his
hands on his hips. Sometimes he has his feet on the head
of a crocodile; on the right side stands Isis, on the left
Nephthys, at his back is a human-headed hawk emblematic
of the soul, on each shoulder is a hawk, and on his head
is a beetle, the emblem of Chepera, the self-begotten god.
In faïence figures of this god are very common, but in
bronze they are rare.
i-em-ḥetep 4

, the Imouthis of the Greeks, was the first-born son of Ptah and Nut. He is represented

both standing and seated, holding a sceptre 1 in the right hand, and f in the left; at times he holds on his knees an open roli, 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. Chnemu 8 h the “Moulder,” the Xvovuis, The

“mould. Xvoußis, Xvouß, Kvý¢ or Kvovois of the Greeks, is one of er” of the oldest gods of Egypt, and was especially worshipped man. in Nubia, at Philæ, where he is represented making man out of clay on a potter's wheel, and at Elephantine. Like Amen-Rā he is said to be the father of the gods, and

Chnemu.

Chepers.

Tehuti (Thoth). 1 Father of the fathers of the gods, the lord who evolveth from himself, maker of heaven, earth, the underworld, water, and mountains

atains sa fimm UUU 710aa mmm

o mumm

with this god and Ptaḥ and Cheperá 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, 1113 ; these figures are tolerably common.

Thoth, in Egyptian Tehuti , the “Measurer," was the scribe of the gods, the measurer of time and inventor of nuinbers. 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 ne , Gr. Ene, 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 stelæ 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 Sct 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

The murderer of Osiris and opponent of Horus.

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.

Osiris, in Egyptian Àusår 1, 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 50

8 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,