passed; I am Osiris ;" and so on. Directions are given in the rubrics of certain characters for the construction of these talismans, such as the Tat of gold (ch. 155), emblematic of the vertebræ of Osiris; the buckle of red quartz (ch. 156), which the text connects with the blood of Isis and the magic words of Osiris; and the golden vulture (ch. 157), which has reference to some parts of the history of Isis and Horus. The most important probably of these talismans was the scarabaeus which had the thirtieth chapter inscribed upon it. The rubric directs it to be placed upon the heart of the deceased person. An immense number of these scarabaei have been found with the chapter inscribed upon them; there is probably no chapter of which the text can be restored with greater difficulty. Its antiquity is extreme, and the different readings already abounded at the time of the eleventh dynasty.

Words of Power.

The belief in the magic power of sacred words, whether religious formulas or the names of gods, was also acknowledged and was the source of a frightful amount of superstition. The rubric at the end of the first chapter is a specimen of what occurs in others. "If this chapter be known upon earth or if it be written upon his coffin, he will come forth every day that he pleases, and enter his house without being prevented;

there shall be given to him bread and beer, and flesh upon the tables of Ra; he will work in the fields of Aarru, and there shall be given to him the wheat and barley which are there, for he shall flourish as though he were upon earth." Another rubric says: "If this chapter be recited over him, he will go forth over the earth, and he will pass through every kind of fire, no evil thing being able to hurt him."

The power of the book of Tehuti (that is, of the Book of the Dead), it is said in one place, is the cause of the triumph of Osiris over his ghostly enemies. And in very many places the Osiris bases his claims on the simple fact of knowing the names of the gods whom he addresses, or of the localities in the divine world which he inhabits.

The superstitious repetition of names (many of which perhaps never had any meaning at all) is particularly conspicuous in numerous documents much more recent than the Book of the Dead; from the time, in fact, of the eighteenth dynasty down to Christian times. But the last chapters of the Turin copy of the Book of the Dead, which, though really no portion of it, are probably very ancient, already indulge in this gross superstition. "Iruka is thy name, Markata is thy name, Ruta is thy name, Nasakaba is thy name, Tanasatanasa is thy name, Sharusatakata is thy name."

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Moral Doctrine.

From rubbish like this, which is only worthy of the spells of vulgar conjurors, it is pleasant to pass to the moral doctrines of the Book of the Dead, which are the same which were recognized in the earliest times. No one could pass to the blissful dwellings of the dead who had failed at the judgment passed in presence of Osiris. No portion of the Book of the Dead is so generally known as the picture which represents the deceased person standing in the presence of the goddess Maat, who is distinguished by the ostrich-feather upon her head; she holds a sceptre in one hand and the symbol of life1 in the other. The man's heart, which represents his entire moral nature, is being weighed in the balance in presence of Osiris, seated upon his throne as judge of the dead. The second scale contains the image of Maat. Horus is watching the indicator of the balance, and Tehuti, the god of letters, is writing down the result. Forty-two divinities are represented in a line above the balance. These gods correspond to the same number of sins which it is their office to punish. It is with reference to these sins and the

1 Let me protest in this place against the stupid and utterly unfounded identification of this symbol of life with phallic emblems. When the Egyptians meant to represent anything phallic, they did so in such a way as to leave no doubt as to their meaning.

virtues to which they are opposed that the examination of the deceased chiefly consists.

The hundred and twenty-fifth chapter is entitled, "Book of entering into the Hall of the Two-fold Maat:1 the person parts from his sins that he may see the divine faces." The deceased begins: "Hail to you, ye lords of the Two-fold Maat, and hail to thee, great god, lord of the Two-fold Maat! I have come to thee, my lord, I have brought myself to see thy glories. I know thy name, and I know the names of thy fortytwo gods who are with thee in the Hall of the Two-fold. Maat, who live by the punishment of the wicked, and devour their blood on that day of weighing the words in presence of Unnefer, the triumphant." A good deal which follows in the Turin copy is not contained in all the manuscripts. But the following extracts deserve mention. "I have brought you Law,2 and subdued for you iniquity. I am not a doer of fraud and iniquity against men. I am not a doer of that which is crooked

1 Maat is here and elsewhere put in the dual. The reason of this is not quite clear. The word used to be translated "the two Truths;" according to M. de Rougé, "la double Justice." Dr. Ludwig Stern argues from the analogy of other Eastern expressions that the dual form here signifies Right and Wrong." I rather adhere to M. Grébaut's view, that the realm of Maat, being traversed by the sun, is thereby divided, like heaven and earth, into two parts.

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2 The kings of Egypt are constantly represented with the image or emblem of Maat in their hands as a religious offering.

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in place of that which is right. I am not cognizant of iniquity; I am not a doer of evil. I do not force a labouring man to do more than his daily task.... I do not calumniate a servant to his master; I do not cause hunger; I do not cause weeping; I am not a murderer; I do not give order to murder privily; I am not guilty of fraud against any one; I am not a falsifier of the ... I do not add to the measures in the temples.. weight of the scale; I do not falsify the indicator of the balance; I do not withhold milk from the mouth of the suckling." The catalogue of the forty-two sins, each of which has an avenging deity, includes some of those I have quoted and omits others. The sins are not catalogued according to any scientific arrangement. Besides the crimes of violence and theft, different sins against chastity are mentioned; not only evil-speaking and lying, but exaggeration, chattering and idle words are condemned; he who reviles the king, his father or his god, the evil listener and he who turns a deaf ear to the words of truth or justice, he who causes pain of mind to another, or who in his heart thinks meanly of God-all these fail to satisfy the conditions of admission into the ranks of the triumphant dead.

The 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead certainly contains the oldest known code of private and public morality. The fifteenth chapter, which is a hymn to the rising and to the setting Sun, is the most ancient