B ook s o n E gyp t a nb Ghal oaea

EG YPTIA N M A G IC

E . A . WA L L IS BU D GE, M A . .
,
LI T T D
. .
, D LIT
. .

K E E PE R O F T H E E G Y P T I A N A N D A S S Y R I A N A N TI Q U I TI E S
IN T H E BR I T I SH M U SE U M

WI T H T WE NT Y ILLU S T RAT IO NS

S E C ON D I M P R E S S I ON

LOND ON

K E G A N P A U L , T R E N C H , T R U B N E R as: C O .
, LT :“

P AT E R N O S TE R HO USE , C H A R IN G C RO SS R OA D

1 90 1
 PR I N T E D BY
L I A M C L O\VE S A N D S O N S LI I T D ,
M E
WI! ,

L O N D O N A N D B E CC L E S
.
 J . N OR M A N L O C K Y E R ,

E TC .
,
E TC E TC .
,

O
A T KE N O F E STE E M F OR G R E AT A S T RO NO M E R ,

A 1\ D

A M A RK OF T RU E RE G A R D FOR

A FR I E N D .
 P R E FA CE .

A S T U D Y o f the remains of the native religious litera

tur e o f ancient Egypt which have c o me d o wn t o u s
has r e vealed the fact that the belief in magic that is to ,

say ,
in the power of m agical names and spells and
, ,

ench a n tments and fo rmul ae and pictures and fi gures

, , , ,

and a mulets and i n the perfo rmance o f ceremonies

,

acc o m panied by the utterance of words of p o wer to ,

~

pro du c e supernatural results fo rmed a large

, an d
imp o r tant part of the Egyptian religion . A nd it is
cer t ai n that n o twithstan ding the continuous progress
,

whic h the Egyptians made in civilizati o n and the high ,

intell e ctual devel o pment to which they eventually

attain ed this belief influenced their minds and
, ,
f ro m

the e a rliest to the latest peri o d of their hist o ry shaped ,

the i r views c o ncerni n g things temporal as w e l l as

sp i rit u al i n a m anner which at this stage in t h e ,

histo ry of th e world is very

,
di fficult to u nderstan d .

The crupulous care with which they perfo rmed their

s

EG P MAG I C
. . b 2
vfii PRE F A CE .

innumerable reli gi o us ceremonies and carried out the ,

rules which they had formulated concerni ng the

wo rship of the divine P o wer or p o wers ,
and their
devotion t o religi o us magic gained for them among the ,

nati o ns with wh o m they came in contact the reputatio n

of being at o nce the m o st religious and the most
superstiti o us of men That this reputatio n was o n
.
,

th e whole well deserved is the object of this little

, ,

book to she w .

Egyptian magic dates fro m the time when the pre

dynastic an d prehistoric dwellers in Egypt believed
that the earth and the underwo rld and the air and
, , ,

the sky were pe o pled with countless beings visible and ,

in visible which were held to be friendly or unfriendly

,

to man acc o rding as the operations of nature which

,

they were supp o sed to direct were fav o urable

, or

unfav o urable to h i m . In nature and attributes these

beings were th ought by prim itive man to cl o sely
resemble hi m self and to p o ssess all human passi o ns ,

and em o ti o ns and weaknesses and defects

, , ; and th e

chief o bject o f m agic was t o give man the pre e m inenc e -

o ver such beings The fav o ur o f the beings who were

.

placable an d friendly t o man might be o btained by

means o f gifts and o fferings but the cessation o f ,

h o stilities on the part of th o se that were implacable a nd

unfriendly c o uld o nly be obtained by whee dling ,

a nd
 PRE F A CE . ix

c a o ll e r y ,
j and flattery or by making use of an amulet
, ,

or cret name or magical formula or fi gure o r

se , , ,

pic t ur e which had the effect o f bringing to the aid

‘

of t h e m o rt a l wh o p o ssessed it the power of a being

tha t w a s mightier than the fo e who t h rea te n e d t o do
‘

evil to him . The magic of m o st early nation s aimed

at (ca u sing the transference of p o wer from a super
nat u ra l being to man whereby he was to be enabled
, to

o bt a in superhuman results and to become for a time as

migh t y as the o riginal p o ssess o r of the po wer but the
o bj e c t of Egyptian magic was t o endow man with
'

the m eans o f c o mpelli ng both friendly and hostile

p o w e r s nay at a later time even G o d Himself to do
, , , ,

wh a t he wished whether they were willing or not

, .

T h e b elief in magic the word being used in its best

,

sen s e is o lder in Egypt than the belief i n G o d an d it

, ,

is ce r tain that a very large number of the Egyptian

re l i g io us ceremonies which were performed in later
,

ti m e s as an integral part of a hi ghly S piritual worsh ip ,

h a d t heir ori g i n i n superstitious customs which date

fro m a peri o d when G o d, under any name or in any
fo rm , was unco nceived in the m inds of the Egyptians .

In d e e d it is pr o bable that even the use of the sign

w h ich represents an axe and which stands as the ,

”
h i e r o glyphic character b o th fo r G o d and god indi “
,

c ate s that this weapon and to o l was employed in the

X P RE F A CE .

performance of some cere m o ny c o nnected with religi o us

magic in prehistoric or at any rate in predynastic
,

times when it in some mysteri o us way symbolized the

,

presence o f a supreme Power But be this as it may.

,

it is quite certain that magic and religio n devel o ped

a nd fl o urished side by side in E gypt throughout all
peri o ds of her histo ry and that any investigati o n which
,

we may mak e o f the one necessarily includes an

examinati on o f the other .

Fro m the religi o us b o oks of ancient Egypt we learn

that the p o wer possessed by a priest or man who was
skilled in the kn o wledge and working o f magic was
believed to be alm o st boundless . By pro nouncin g
certain wo rds or names of p o wer in the pro per manner
a nd in the pro per t o ne o f vo ice he could heal the sick ,

and cast ou t the evil spir its which caused pain and
su ffering in those wh o were diseased and resto re the
,

dead to life and bestow upon the dead man the p o wer
,

totrans for m the corruptible into an in corruptible body ,

wherein the soul might li ve t o a l l etern ity His words .

enabled human beings t o ass ume divers fo rms at will ,

and t o pr oject their souls int o animals and o ther

creature s ; and in o bedience to his commands inanimate ,

fi g ures an d
pictures became li ving beings and things
w h ich hastened t o perfo rm his behests The p o wers o f
’

n ature acknowledged his might and wind , a nd rain ,

 PRE F A CE . xi

sto r m an d tempest river and sea and disease and

, ,

de a th worked evil an d ruin upon his fo es and up o n the ,

en e m ies of those who were provided with the know

ledg e of the w o rds which he had wrested from t h e go ds
of h e aven and earth and the under world Inanimate
, , .

n at u r e likewise o beyed such w ords of po wer and even

,

t h e w orld itself came into existence through th e utter ~

an c e of a w o rd by Thoth ; by their means the earth could

be r e nt asunder and the waters forsaking their n ature
,

’
o
c u ld be piled u p in a heap and even the sun s course,

in th e heavens coul d be stayed by a word No g od .

,

or sp irit , or devil or fi en d could resist words of p o wer

, , ,

a nd th e Egyptians invoked their aid in the smallest as

w e ll as in the greatest events of their l ives . T o him
th a t was versed in the l o re c o ntained in the books of

th e double house of li fe the future was as w el l

k n o w n as the past and neither time nor distance could
,

l im i tthe o perati o ns of his power ; the mysteries o f life

a n d death were laid bare befo re him and he could draw ,

a sid e the veil which hid the secrets of fate and destiny

fro m the knowledge of ordinary mortals .

’
Now if views such as these concerning the m a gician s
po w er were held by the educated folk of ancient Egypt
there is little -

to w o nder at when we fi nd that beliefs

a nd superstitions of the most degraded character
fl o u r ished with rank luxuri a nce amo ng the peasants
xfi PREF A CE .

and working classes of that country who failed to ,

understand the symb o lism of the elaborate ceremo nies

which were performed in the temples and wh o were too ,

ignorant to distinguish the spiritual conceptions which

lay at their ro o t . To meet the religious needs of such
pe ople the magician and in later times the priest
, ,

fo und it necessary to pr o vide pageants and ceremo nies

which appealed chiefly to the senses and following ,

their example ,
unscrupulous but clever men to o k
advantage of the i gn o rance of the general public and
pretended to knowle dge of the supernatural and laid ,

clai m t o the p o ssession o f p o wer over gods and spirits , ,

and dem ons S u ch false knowledge and power they

.

s o ld for money and fo r purposes o f gain the s o called

,
-

magician was ready to further any s o rdid transaction

o r wicked scheme which his dupe wished to carry out .

This magic degenerated into s o rcery and demonology , ,

and witchcraft and those who dealt in it were regarded

,

as associates of the Devil and servants of the powers of

,

“ ”
darkness and w o rkers of the black art In the white “
, .

”
and black magic of the Egyptians m o st of the
“

magic known in the other countries of the world may

be fo und ; it is impossible yet t o say e xactly how much
the beliefs and religious systems of o ther nations were
influenced by them but there is
, no do ubt that certain
views and religious id e as of m an y heathen and
 PREF ACE .
X iii
Ch r i s tian sects may be traced directly to them .
Many
int e re sting pro o fs m ight be adduced in support o f this
sta t e m ent b u t the l i mits of this book will not a dmit of
‘

th e ir being given here .

W h e n we consider the l o fty spiritual character of th e

gre a t e r part of the Egyptian religion and remember its ,

gre at antiquity it is hard t o understand why the

,

Egy p tians careful ly preserved in their writings and

c e r e m onies so m u ch which sav o ured of gross and childish

s u p e r stition and which must have been the pr o d u ct of

,

th e i r predynastic or prehisto ric ancestors even duri ng ,

t h e p eriod o f their greatest intellectual enlightenment .

B u t the fact remains that they di d believe in O ne G o d

W h o was almighty and eternal and invisible Wh o
, , ,

c r e a t ed the heavens and the earth and a ll beings

, ,

a n d thing s therein and in the resurrection of the b o dy

i n a changed and glori fi ed fo rm which w o uld live t o all
,

ete rn ity in the company of the spirits and souls of the

rig h teous in a kingdom ruled by a being who was of
-

d i v i ne origin but who had li ved upon the earth and had
, ,

su ffe red a cruel death at the hands of his enemies and ,

h a d ris en from the dead and had become the God and
,

king o f the w o rld which is beyond the grave and that ,

al th ough they believed a ll these things a nd pro cl a imed

th e i r belief with almost passionate earnestness they ,

s e e m never to have freed them s elv e s from a hankeri ng .

x iv PRE F A CE .

aft er amul e ts and talismans ,

a nd magical names and ,

words of power and seem to have trusted in these

, to

save their souls and b o dies b o th living and dead with

, ,

something of the same c o n fi dence which they placed in

the death and resurrection of Osiris . A matter fo r

surpri se is th at they seem to see nothing inc o ngruous in

such a mixture of magic and religi o n and the general ,

attitude of the m ind of the Egyptian on the p o int is

well illustrated by the foll o wing facts . A ttached
tothe service o f Ra the Sun god at Thebes were
,
-

numero us companies of priests whose duties consisted

as much in making 00 pies of religious bo oks and in
”
keepi ng ali ve the divine traditi o ns ,
as in ministering
to the god in thei app o inted seasons The members of
r
.

these companies who wro te the copies o f the B oo k of

the Dead which were buried with kings and queens and
personages of ro yal or exalted rank declare d the p o wer
and omnipotence of Almighty G o d W hose v isible ,

emblem to mankind was the Sun and His sovereignty ,

over things celestial and things terrestrial with no

uncertain voice and we should expect them to bel ieve

,

what they proclaime d i e that G o d was suffi ciently

,
f
,

powerful to pro tect His emblem in the sky Y e t th e .

priests of Thebes made Copies o f wo rks which c o ntai ned

texts to b e recited at speci fi ed ho urs of the day an d
night ,
and gave directions for the performan ce o f
 PREF A CE . xv

ma gi cal ceremonies the av o wed Obj ect of such being t o

,

pr e v e nt the mythical m o nster Ap e p from vanquishing

th e S u n g o d
-
. A nd it is stated in all seriousness that if
a p iece of papyrus upon which a fi gure of the monster
h a s b een drawn and a ,
wa x figure o f him be b u rnt in a
fire m ade of a certain kind of grass and the prescribed ,

w o rd s be recited over them as t hey burn the Sun g o d ,

-

wil l be delivered fro m Ap ep and that neither rain nor

, ,

c o l u d nor mist shall be

,
a ble to prevent his light
fro m fal ling up o n the earth M o re o ver the rubric .
,

d e sc r ibes the perfo rmance Of the cerem o n y as a meri

t or i o u s act !
E . A WALL I S
. B UD GE .

L O N D ON ,

A u g u s t 2 8 th , 1 8 9 0
 CO NT E NT S .

1 CH A P TE R
I . A NT I Q U I I Y ' ‘
OF M A G I C AL P R A C T I C E S IN E GY PT

M A G I C AL ST O NE S OR A M U L E T S
I II . M A G I C AL FI G U R E S

IV . M A G I C AL P I C T U R E S A ND F OR M U L E , S PE LL S, E TC .

V . M A G I C AL N A M E S

M A G I C A L CE R E M O N I E S

V II . DEM O NIA C AL P O SSE SS I O N , D R E A M S , G no s rs , L U C K Y

'

A ND U NL U C K Y D A Y S , H ORO SCO P E S , P ROG N O ST I C A

T I ON S ,
T R A N S FOR M A T I O NS , A ND TH E W OR S H I P OF
A NI M AL S
 E G Y PT IA N M A G IC .

CH AP TER I .

AN TI QU ITY OF M A G C A I L I
PR ACT CE S I N EG YP T .

I N t h e fi rstv o lum e of this series an attempt was made

to s e t before th e reader a statement of the ideas and
beli e fs which the ancient Egyptians held in respect of
”
G o d the gods the Judgment the Resurrecti o n and
“
, , , ,

Im m ortality ; in short t o sketch i n brief outline much

,

of wh at was beautiful and n o ble and sublime i n their

, ,

religi o n The facts of this statement were derived who lly

.

fro m native religi o us w o rks the latest of which is s o me

,

tho u sands of years Ol d and the earliest o f which may

,

be s a id to p o ssess an antiquity o f between S i x and seven

th o usand years ; the extracts quo ted in supp o rt o f the
dedu cti o ns set fo rth in it were intended to enable the
reader to judge for himself as to the general accuracy
of th e conclusi o ns there given Many writers o n the .

Egyptian religi o n have somewhat blinked the fact that

it h a d t wo sides ; on the on e it cl o sely resembles in
EG P M AG IC
. . B
2 M AG I C IN TH E EG Y P TI AN RE LIG ION .

many respects the Christian religi o n o f to day and on -

the o ther the religi o n Of many of the sects which

fl o urished in the fi rst th ree o r fo ur centuries o f o u r era ,

and which m a y be said t o have held beliefs which were

part Christian and part n o n Christian In its n o n
-
.

Christian aspect it represents a collecti o n o f ideas and

superstiti ons which bel o ng t o a savage or semi savage -

state o f existence and which maintained their h o ld in

,

a degree upon the m inds of the Egyptians l o ng after

they had advanced t o a high state of civ ilizati o n W e .

may think that such ideas and beliefs are b o th childish

and fo olish but there is no possible reas o n for d o ubting
,

that they were very real things t o th o se who held them ,

and whether they are childi sh o r foolish or b o th they

certainly passed int o the religi o n o f the people o f Egypt ,

wherein they grew an d fl o urished and were at least , ,

many of them ado pted by the Egyptian c o nverts t o

,

Christianity or Copts
,
Reference is made t o them
.

i n the best classical w o rks of the ancient Egyptia n s ,

and it is m o re than pr o bable that from them they fo u n d

their way int o the literatures o f the o ther great nati o ns
o f antiqui ty and thr o ugh the Greeks Romans A r a bs
, , , ,

and o thers int o the countries o f Eur o pe In the fo ll o w .

i ng pages an attempt will be made t o place in t h e

reader s hands the evidence as to the magical S id e of
’

the Egyptian religi o n which would have been o u t o f

,

place in the fo rmer work the Obj ect of which w a s

,

to describe beliefs o f a m o re S pirit ual n ature But as .

,
 “

W H I TE AND B LA C K M AG IC .
3

in the book on the Egyptian Ideas o f the Futu r e Life ,

the fa c ts here given are drawn from papyri and other

n ative documents and the extracts are quoted from
,

compo s itions which were actually empl o yed by the

Egypti a ns to pr o duce magical e ffects .

”
The magic of the Egyptians was o f two kin ds
“

1
( ) th a t which was empl o yed for legitimate pu r poses

and with the idea o f bene fi ting either the living or the
dead ; a nd (2 ) that which was made use o f in the
furthe rance of ne farious pl o ts and schemes and was
intend e d to bring calamities up o n those against whom
it was d irected In the religious texts and works we
.

see h o w magic is made t o be the handmaiden o f religion ,

and h o w it appears in certain passages S ide by side with

the most exalted spiritual c o nceptio ns ; an d there can
be no d o ubt that the chi ef object o f magical b o oks and
ceremonies was t o bene fi t those wh o had by some means
obtained s u fli ci ent kn o wledge to make use of them .

But the Egyptians were unfortunate enough not to be

understood by many of the strangers wh o fo und their
way into their co u ntry and as a result wro ng and
,

exaggerated ideas Of their religion were circulated among

th e surroundi n g nations and the magical cerem o nies
,

which were perfo rmed at their funerals were represented

by the ign o rant either as sill y acts o f s uperstition or as
“
tricks Of the black art But whereas the magic o f
.

every other nation of the ancient East was directed ,

entirely against the powers of darkness and was ,

4 T H E P OW E R OF W OR DS .

invented in order t o frustrate their fell designs by

invoking a class of benevolent beings to their aid the ,

Egyptians aimed at being able to c o mmand their g o ds

t o work for them and t o compel them to appear at t hei r
,

desire These great results were t o be Obtained by the

.

use o f certain words which to be e ffi cacio us must be

, ,

uttered i n a proper tone o f v o ice by a duly quali fi ed

man ; such words might be written up o n some sub
stan ce papyrus precious stones and the like and w o rn
, , , ,

on the person when their e ffect could be transmitted

,

t o any dis tance A s almost every man woman and

.
, ,

child in Egypt wh o c o uld afford it wore some such

charm or talisman it is not to be wondered at th at the
,

Egyptians were at a very early period regard ed as

a nation o f magicians and s o rcerers Hebrew and .
,

Greek and Ro man writers referred t o them as experts

,

in the o ccult sciences and as the possessors Of powers

,

which could according to circumstances be empl o yed

, ,

to do either good or harm t o man .

From the Hebrews we receive incidentally it is , ,

true c o nsiderable informatio n ab o ut the powers of the

,

Egyptian magician Saint Stephen b o asts that t h e

.

great legislat o r Mo ses was learn ed in all the wi sd o m

”
of the Egyptians and declares that he was m igh ty
,

” 1
“
in w o rds and in deeds and there are numero us
,

features in the life o f thi s remarkable man which s h ew

th a t he was acquainted with many of the practice s o f
A cts vii . 22 .
 ’
TH E M A G I C I AN S R OD .
5

Egy ptian magic The phrase mighty in words

.

prob ably means that like the g o ddess Isis he was , ,

”
s t rong o f tongue and uttered the w o rds of p o wer
whi ch he knew with correct pronunciation and halted ,

not in his S peech and was perfect both i n giving the ,

c o m mand and in saying the word The turning of a .

serpent int o what is apparently an in a nimate wo o den ,

1
stic k and the turning o f the stick back into a writhi ng
,

2
snak e are feats which have been perfo rmed in the
,

Eas t fro m the most ancient period ; and the p o wer to

c o ntro l and direct the movements Of such venomous
rep t il es was o n e o f the thi ngs o f which the Egyptian
w a s most pr o ud and in which he was most skilful, ,

alre ady in the time when the pyramids were being

buil t But this was by no means the only pro o f whi ch
.

Mo s es gives that he was versed in the magic of the

Egyptians for like the sage Aba aner and kin g N ecta
, ,
-

nebns and all the other magicians o f Egypt fr o m time

,

3
imm em o rial he and A aron possessed a wonderful r o d
,
.

by means o f whi ch they worke d their w o nders A t .

the wo rd of Moses A aron lifte d up his ro d and sm o te

the waters and they became bl o od ; he stretched it out
E x o du s T wo o f M o s e s Op p o ne nts we r e ca ll e d Ja nn e s
’
vii . 1 0 if .

a nd Ja mb r e s Ti m o t h y i i i
(Se e 2 .

2
T h a t M o s e s ro d o r s er p e n t s h o u ld s wa llo w u p th e r o ds o r s e rp ent s
’

o f t h e E g yp t i a ns i s o f co u rs e ,
to b e e x p e c te d j u s t a s h i s m a g i c a l
, ,

p o we r s a re d e cl r e d t o b e s p e r i o t o t h o s e o f t h e E g yp ti a ns
a u r .

3
A n i n te r e s t i n g p a p e r o n t h e u s e o f t h e o d b y t h e E g y p t i a n s a n d
r

H e b r e ws wa s p u b l i sh e d b y Ch a b a s i n Ann lee d M u se e G i me t
'

a a u ,

to m i p p 3 5 4 8 P a ri s 1 8 8 0
. . .
—
, , .
6 THE M IR ACLE S OF M O SE S .

over the waters and fr o gs in numerable appeared ; when

,

the dust was smitten by the rod it became lice ; and

”
so on Moses sprinkled ashes t o ward heave n and
.
,

it became boil s and blains upon man and beast ; he

stretched out his ro d and there was hail and fi re
,
“
,

“
mingled with the hail very grievous and the flax , ,

and the barley was s mi tten he stretched o u t his rod

and the locusts came and after them the darkness , .

No w M o ses did all thes e things and brought about ,

the death of the fi rstborn am o ng the Egyptians by the

command of hi s G o d and by means Of the w o rds which
,

He t o ld him to speak But although we are told by .

the Hebrew writer that the Egyptian magicians could .

not imitate all the miracles of M o ses it is quite certain ,

that every Egyptian magi cian believed that he c o uld

perform t hings equally marvell o us by merely uttering
the name of o ne o f hi s g o ds or thr o ugh the words of ,

power which he had learned to recite ; and there are

many instances o n rec o rd of Egyptian magicians utterly
destro ying their enemies by the recital of a few words
possessed of magical p o wer and by the perfo rmance ,

1
o f some apparently simple ceremony
, , But one great .

distinctio n must be made between the magic of M o ses

and that o f the Egyptians am o ng wh o m he lived ; the
former was wro ught by the c o mma n d o f the G o d o f
the Hebrews but the latter by the go ds o f Egyp t at
,

the command of man .

F o r de ta i ls , see Ch a p te r III .
( M a g ic a l F ig u r es ) .
8 SE NE FE RU S AILS ON A LAK E .

Tch a t ch a em ankh It seems that o n a certain da y

- -
.

king S e n e feru was in low spirits and he applied t o ,

the n o bles Of his ro yal h o useh o l d expecting that they

w o uld fi n d s o me means whereby his heart might be
made glad ; but as they c o uld do n o thin g t o cheer up
the king he gave o rders that the priest and writer o f
,

b o o ks Tch a tch a em ankh sh o uld be bro ught into his

,
- -

presence immediately and in accordance with the royal

,

c o mmand he was at o nce br o ught When he had .

arrived S e ne feru said t o him My bro ther I turne d

, ,
“
,

t o the n o bles o f my r oyal h o useh o ld seeking fo r s o m e

means whereby I might cheer my heart but they have ,

”
fo und n o th ing fo r m e T h en the priest made answer
.

and advised the king t o betake himself t o the lake near

the palace and t o g o fo r a sail on it in a b o at which
,

had been c omfo rtably furnished with things fro m the

ro yal h o use F o r said he
. the heart o f thy Majesty
, ,

will rej o ice and be glad when th o u s a il e s t ab o ut hither

and thither and dost see the beautiful thickets which
,

are o n the lake and when th o u seest the pretty banks

,

there o f and the beauti ful fi elds then shall thy heart
”
feel happiness He next begged that the king w o uld
.

all o w hi m t o o rganize the j o urney and asked his per ,

missi o n t o let him bring twenty eb o ny paddles inlaid

with g old and als o t wen ty y o ung virgins having
,

beautifu l heads o f hair and l o vely fo rms and shapely

limbs and t wenty nets wherein these virgins may
,

array themselves instead o f in their o wn o rdinary

 A R OWE R D R OP S A T U R Q U O I SE OR N AM E N T .
9

garm e nts The virgins were t o row an d sing to h i s

.

Maj e s ty To these pr o p o sals the king assented and

.
,

wh e n all was ready he t o ok his place in the b o at ;

while the y o ung women were r o wing him about hither
a n d thith er the king watched them and his heart b e ,

cam e released fro m care N o w as o ne Of the y o ung .

wo m e n was rowing she entangl ed herself in some way

,

in h e r hair and one o f her ornaments which was made

,

”
of n ew turqu o ise fe l l int o the water an d sank she
“

ceas e d t o row and not herself o nly but all the o ther
, ,

mai d e ns ceased to row als o W hen the king saw that .

the m aidens had ceased f ro m their work he said t o ,

them ,
W ill ye n o t r o w 2 and they replie d
“
Our ,

”
“
le a der has ceased to row Then turning to the maiden .

wh o h a d dro pped her ornament o verboard he asked ,

h e r why she was not r o wing whereup o n Sh e told him ,

wh a t had happened O n this the king pro mised that.

he w o uld get back the ornament fo r her .

T hen the king c o mmanded that Tch a t ch a em ank h - -

S ho u ld appear befo re him at o nce and as s o o n as the ,

sage had been bro ught int o his presence he said to hi m ,

O T ch a t ch a em ankh my br o ther I have d o n e

- -

, ,

acc o rding t o th y w o rds and the heart Of my Majesty ,

b e c a me glad when I saw h o w the maiden s rowed But .

n o w an o rnam ent which is made o f new turqu o ise and

,

b e longeth t o o n e of the maidens wh o r ow hath fallen

i n t o the water and S h e hath in consequence bec o m e
,

silent and h ath ceased to r o w and hath disturbed the

, ,
IO TH E W AT E R S OF TH E LAK E P I LE D IN A HE AP .

r owi ng of th o se in her c o mpany I said t o her Wh y .

,

d o st th o u not row and she replied A n o rnament ,

[ o f min e ] made o f new turqu o ise hath fall e n i nt o the

’
water Then I said to her I will get it back fo r
.
,
‘

thee .
’
Thereupon the pri est and writer Of b o o ks
Tch a t ch a em ankh spake certain w o rds of p o wer (h elca n )
- -

and having thus caused o ne sectio n o f the water of the

lake to g o up upon the o ther he fo und the ornament ,

l ying upon a p o t S herd and he to o k it and gave it t o

-

the maiden N o w the water was twelve cubits deep

.
,

but when Tch a tch a em ankh had lifted up o ne secti o n

- -

of the water o n t o the o t h er t h a t p o rtion became fo ur

'

a n d twenty cubits deep The magician again uttered .

certain w o rds o f p o wer and the water of the lake becam e

,

as it had been before he had caused one p o rtion o f it

t o go up o n t o the o ther ; and the king prepared a feast

fo r all his r o yal h o useh o ld and rewarded Tch a t ch a em ,

-

ankh with gifts Of every kind Such is a story o f .

the p o wer p o ssessed by a magician in the ti m e o f ki ng

K hufu ( Che o ps ) who reigned at the beginning o f the
,

I V th dynasty ab o ut R C 3 8 00 ,
The c o py Of the st o ry
. .

which we p o ssess is Older than the peri o d when M o ses

lived and thus there can be n o p o ssibility o f our seeing
,

in i t a dist o rted versio n o f the miracle Of the waters

o f the sea standing like walls o n e on the right han d ,

and o n e o n the left o n the o ther hand M o ses miracle ’

may well have some c o nnexi o n with that o f Tch a t ch a

em —ankh .
 TE L EPH RON IN LA R I SS A . I I

A m o ng the Greeks and R o mans c o nsiderable respect

”
w a s entertained n o t only for the wisd o m o f t h e
“
,

Egy ptians but als o fo r the p o wers Of working magic

,

w h ich they were supp o sed t o p o sse ss The Greek .

tra v ellers who visited Egypt br o ught back t o thei r o wn

co u ntry much info rmati o n c o ncerning its religio n and
civi lizati o n and th o ugh they misundersto o d many
, ,

th i n gs which they saw and heard there some Of th e ,

gre atest o f thinkers am o ng the Greeks regarded that

c o u ntry no t only as the h o me o f knowledge an d the
s ou rce o f civili z ati o n and o f the arts but als o as the
,

”
fo u ntain head o f what has been called white magic ,

”
a n d the black art In s o me respects they exaggerated
.

t h e p o wers o f the Egyptians but frequently whe n the

,

cl a s s ma l writers were well informed they on l y ascribed

t o them the magical kn o wledge which the Egyptian

m a gicians themselves claimed t o p o ssess A striking .

in s tance o f this is given in the sec o nd b o o k of the

M e ta m orp h os es of A p u l et u s where it will be remem
’

be r ed the fo ll owing is narrated The student Te l e p h r o n

,
.

a rrzi ve d o n e day at L arissa and as he was wandering

,

a b nu t in an alm o st penniless conditi o n he saw an Ol d

m a n standing o n a large b l o ck o f st o ne I ssu i ng a

pro clamatio n t o the e ff ect that any o ne wh o w o uld
u n d ertake t o guard a dead b o dy sh o uld receive a g o o d

re w ard W hen Te l e p h ro n asked if dead men were in

.

th e habit of running away the Ol d man replied testily

t o the effect that the witches all o ver Thessaly used

[2 T E LE P H R O N W ATCH E S A CO R P S E .

to tear o ff pieces o f flesh from the faces of the dead

with their teeth in o rder t o make magical spells by
,

means o f the m and t o prevent this dead b o dies must

,

needs be watched at night The young man then asked

.

what his duties w o uld be if he undert o ok the p o st and ,

he was t old that he w o uld have to keep th o r o ughly

awake all night to gaze fi xedly upon the dead body
, ,

t o look neither t o the right hand no r to the left and ,

n o t to cl o se the eyes even t o wink This was abs o lutely

.

necessary because the wit ches were able to get out

o f their skins and to take the fo rm Of a bird or d o
g , ,

or m o use and their craftiness was such that they could

,

take the fo rms o f flies and cast S leep up o n the watcher .

If the watcher relaxed his attention and the body

became mutilated by the witches the pieces o f flesh ,

t o rn away would have to be made go o d fro m the body

of the watcher Te l e p h ro n agreed t o undertake the
.

duty for one th o usand nummi and was led by the Ol d,

man to a house and having been taken int o the r o o m

, ,

where the dead b o dy was fo und a man making notes

,

o n tablets t o the e ffect that n o se eyes ears lips , , , ,

chin etc were unt o uched and wh o le Having been

, .
, .

pr o vided with a lamp and some Oi l that night he began

h i s watch and all went well n o twithstanding that he
, ,

was g reatly afraid unti l the dead o f night when a

,

weasel came int o the chamber and l o o k ed c onfi di ngl y

at the watcher ; but he dro ve the animal— which was
n o d ubt a witch
o — from the r o o m and then fell fa st,
 TH E B U R I AL OF T H E C OR P SE . I3

asl e ep In the early morning he was suddenly wakened

.

by t h e trumpets o f the soldiers and almo st immediately ,

the wid o w o f the dead man came t o him with seven

witn e s ses an d began to examine the body t o see if
,

it w as intact ; fi nding that n o injury had been done

t o i t she o rdered her steward t o pay Tel e p h ro n his
fee a nd was so grateful to him that she promise d
,

t o m a ke him one o f her household In attempting t o .

expr e s s hi s thanks h o wever he made use o f s o me

, ,

inau spicious w o rds and immediately the servants of

,

the h o use fel l up o n him and buffeted him and plucked

, ,

out his hair by the r o ots and tore his clothes and , ,

fi nal ly cast him out o f the h o use So o n afterwards .

,

whil st wandering ab o ut he saw the funeral pr o cession

,

pas s; through the forum and at that m o ment an Ol d ,

m a n w ent t o the bier and with sobs and tears accus e d

,

the w id o w Of p o is o ning his nephe w s o that she might

inh e rit his pro perty and marry her lover Presently .

the m o b which had gathered together wanted to set

her h o use o n fi re and s o me pe o ple began to st o ne her
‘

the s mall b o ys also threw st o nes at her W hen S h e .

had denied the accusati o n and had called up o n the go ds,

to b e witnesses Of her inn o cence the o ld man cried o u t , ,

“
L e t then Divine Pr o viden ce decide the truth in
, , ,

“
an s wer to her denial Beh o ld the famous pro phet
.
,
,

Z a cl a s the Egyptian dwelleth among us and he hath

, ,

pro mised me that fo r much m o ney he will m ake the

s o u l of the dead man t o return from the place of death
I4 TH E EG Y P TI AN Z A G LA S R A I SE S TH E DE AD .

in the underworld an d t o make it t o dwell in his

,

b o dy again fo r a sh o rt time W ith these w ords he .

”
,

led fo r ward a man dressed in linen and wearing palm ,

leaf sandals wh o like all the Egyptian priests had

, , ,

his head shaved and having kissed his hands and

,

embraced his legs he implored him by the stars a nd ,

by the g o ds of the underworld and by the i slan d of ,

the N ile and by the Inundati o n etc t o rest o re life

, , .
,

to the dead body if o nly for the smallest possib le time

, ,

s o that the truth o f h i s accusation against the widow

might be proved Thus adjured Z a cl a s tou ched the

.

m o uth and the breast o f the dead man three times

with some plant and having turned his fac e t o the
,

East and prayed the lungs o f the corpse began to fil l

,

with breath and hi s heart t o beat and raising his head

, ,

and sh o ulders he asked why he had been called back

t o life ,
and then he begged t o be all o wed t o rest in
peace . At this moment Za cl a s addressed him and ,

telling him that he had the power through his prayers , ,

t o cause the fi ends t o come and t o rture hi m o rdered ,

him t o make kn o wn the means by which he had died .

W ith a gro an he replied that the wife wh o m he had

recently married gave him p o ison t o drink and that he ,

died in consequence The wife at o nce contradicted the

.

w o rds o f her husband and of the pe o ple wh o were

,

standing rou nd some t o o k o n e side and some an o ther .

A t length t h e husband declared that he w o uld prov e

the truth o f his o wn w o rds and p o inting to Tel e p h r o n
, ,
 H E R U T AT AF T H E SO N O F C H E OP S .

R C . 3 8 00)
called H e ru tataf wh o was fam o us as a learned
,

man and wh o se name is preserved in the B o o k of the

” “
Dead in connectio n with the disc o very o f certain
1
Chapters of that wonderful compilatio n was o n e da y , ,

talking t o his father presumably on the subj ect of the

,

p o wers of working magic p o ssessed by the ancients .

In answer to s o me remark by K hufu he replied U p ,

t o the present th o u hast only heard reports c o ncerning

the things which the men of o lden time knew and man ,

knoweth no t whether they are true or n o t ; but no w

I will cause thy Maj esty t o see a sage in thine own
”
time and one who kn o weth thee not
,
In reply t o .

Kh u fu s questi o n
’
W h o is thi s man 0 H er u tataf
,
“
,

the you ng man replied It is a certai n man called ,

Teta who dwelleth in Tet S en e fer u and is on e hundred

,
-

and ten years o l d and t o this very day he eateth fi v e

,

hundred l oaves o f bread and the Shoulder o f an ox a nd

, ,

he drinketh o n e hundred measures of ale He know e th .

how t o fasten o n again to its body a head that h a th

b e en cut o ff ; he knoweth h o w to make a li o n foll ow
him whilst his snare is trailing o n the ground ; a n d he
kn o weth the number of the ap tot o f the sanctuary o f
Th o th No w Khufu had for a long time past sou g ht
.

o u t the ap tet of the san ctu ary of Th o th because he w a s ,

”
anxio us to m ake o ne similar for his o wn horiz o n “
.

Though at the present it is impossible to say w hat t h e

1
Ch a p t e rs , . I ,C
XXX LX V . XXXV II . S e e m y Cha p ter s f Co m i ng
o

F o r th by D a y (t e x t ) , pp 9 7, 1 4 1 , 3 09
. .
 V I S IT S THE M A G I C I AN T E T A . I7

ap te t was it I s quite clear t hat it was an o bj ect or

,

ins t rument used in c o nnecti o n with the w o rking o f

mag ic of some sort and it is clear that the king was
,

as much interested in the pursuit as his subj ects .

In repl y t o h i s son s w o rds Khufu told him to go’

a n d bri n g the sage int o his presence and the r o yal ,

barg e o r b o at having been brought H er u t ataf Se t out ,

for t h e place where the sage dwelt Having sailed up .

the river some distance he and his party ar rived at

Tet S e n e fe r u and when the boats had bee n tied t o
-

the quay the prince set out to perfo rm the rest o f the
j o u r ney which was overland in a s o rt of litter made o f
, ,

eb o n y w hich was borne by men by means of p o les

,

of s es n eteh em w oo d inlaid wi th g o ld When he had

, .

arri v ed at the abode of Teta the litter was set down ,

upon the gr ound and the prince came out t o gr eet the
,

sage wh o m he fo und lying up o n a basket w o rk bed o r

,
-

mat t ress which had been placed fo r him in the c o urt

,

yard o f his h o use whil st o ne servant shamp o oed his

,

hea d and an o ther rubbed his feet A fter a suitable

, .

gre e ting and reference t o the sage s h o nourable con ’

diti o n had been made H eru tataf t o ld him that he had

,

c o m e fr o m a great distance in o rder t o bring t o h i m

a m essage fro m Khufu his father and the sage bade ,

him W elcome heartil y and pro phesied that Khufu

“ ”
,

w o ul d greatly exalt hi s rank The gr eetings ended .

,

H e ru t ataf assiste d Teta t o rise a n d the o l d man set o u t,

’
for t h e quay leaning upon the arm o f the king s s o n ,

E G P M AG I C
. . C
I 8 T E TA W OR KS M AG IC

and when he had a rri ve d th ere he asked that a b o at °

might be pro vided for the transp o rt of his chil dren and
his b o oks Two b o ats were at o nce prepared and fi lled
.

with their c o mplement of sail o rs and Teta sailed d o wn ,

the N ile w ith H eru tataf W hile his family fo ll o wed

, .

After a time the party arrived at K h u fu s palace and ’

H e r u t at af went into the presence o f his father and ,

reported t o h i m that he had bro u ght Teta the sage for

him to see Khufu gave o rders that he was to be
bro ught before him quickly and having g o ne fo rth into ,

the col o nnade o f the palace Teta was led in t o him , .

Khufu said t o him H o w is it Teta that I have n ever

, , ,

seen thee and the sage replied 0 Prince he who is , ,

called c o meth ; and since th o u hast called me beh o ld , ,

K hufu said to h i m
’
here I a m . Is it true acc o rding , ,

to what is reported that th o u kn o west how t o fasten

,

o n again t o its body the head which hath been cut

“

o ff and the sag e replied Y e a verily O my l o rd the , , ,

”
Prince I do kn o w h o w t o do this thing
,
A nd K hufu .

said L et a captive wh o is shut up i n pris o n be br o ught

,
“

”
t o me s o that I may inflict his d oo m up o n him but ,

Teta made answer N ay my l o rd the king let n o t this

, , ,

thing be perfo rmed up o n m a n but up o n s o m e creat u re ,

that bel ongeth t o the sacred animals Then s o me o n e .

bro ught t o him a go o se and havi ng cut o ff it s head he

, ,

laid the body o f the go o se o n the west side o f the .

c o l o nnade and the head o n the east side Teta then

,
.

st o o d up and spake certain wo rds o f magical po w er ,

 IN T H E PRESE N CE OF C H E OPS . 1 9

wh ereup o n the b o dy began t o move and the head like

wi s e and each time that they m o v ed the o ne came
,

ne a rer to the other until at length the head moved t o

,

its right place o n the bird which straightway cackled

,
.

Aft er this Teta h a d a k h et da bird brought t o him and

-

up o n it he perform ed the same miracle which he had

wro ught upon the goose ; and to prove that he had
si m ilar power over the animal creati o n an ox was ,

bro ught to him and having cut o ff its head which fell
, ,

u p o n the gr o und he uttered words o f magical p o wer

, ,

a n d the o x st o o d up and lived as befo re .

T h e t wo st o ries from the W e s t ca r Papyrus given

ab o ve are suffi cient to prove that already in the I V t h
dy n asty the w o rking of magic was a rec o gnized art
am o ng the Egyptians and everything we learn from
,

lat e r texts indicates that it is well nigh imp o ssible t o -

°
im a gine a time in Egypt when S uch was n o t the case .

B u t th e wisd o m o f the Egyptians was o f t w o kinds ,

th a t is t o say they were p o ssessed o f the t w o kinds

,

”
of W isd o m which enabled them t o deal with b o th
“

t h e materia l world and the S piritual w o rld the nations

aro u nd h owever c o nfused the two kinds and mis
, , ,

un d erst o o d matters i n c o n sequence .

O ne o f the o ldest names o f Egypt is K amt or

“

” ” ”
Q e m t a word which means black o r dusky “ “
, ,

an d it was applied t o the country o n account o f the

dark col o ur o f the mud which fo rms the land on each

sid e o f th e N ile ; the Christian Egyptians o r Cop t s
 20 EG YPT A ND AL C H E M Y .

transmitted the w o rd under the fo rm Kh ém e to the

Greeks R o mans Syrians and A rabs A t a very early
, , , .

peri o d th e Egyptians were fam o us for their S kill in

the w o rki ng of metals and in their attempts to trans
mute them and according t o Greek writers they
, , ,

emplo yed quicksilver in the pro cesses whereby they

s eparated the metals gold and silver fro m the native
”
ore Fro m these processes there resulted a black
.

powder or substance which was supposed to p o ssess

the most marvellous powers and t o c o ntain in it the ,

individualities of th e vari o us metals ; and in it their

actual substances were incorporated In a mystical .

”
manner this black powder was identi fi ed with the
body which the go d O siris was known t o p o ss ess in
the underworld and t o both were attributed magical
,

qualities and bo t h were th ou ght to be s o urces o f

,
”
life and p o wer Thus S ide by side with the growth o f
.
,

skill in perfo rming th e ordinary pro cesses o f metal

w o rking i n Egypt there grew up in that country the
,

belief that magical p o wers existed in fluxes and all o ys ;

and the art o f manipulating the metals and the kn o w ,

ledge o f the chemistry o f the metals an d o f their

magical p o wers were described by the name K h em ei a “
,
”

”
that is t o say the preparati o n of the black o re (o r
,
“

”
p o wder ) which was regarded as the active principle
in the transmutati o n o f metals To this na m e the .

A rabs a ffi xed the article a l and thus we o btain the ,

w o rd A l l Kh e m ei a o r Alchemy which will perpetuat e

, ,
 TH E EG Y P TI AN S AND M A G I C AL B O O K S . 2 I

the reputati o n o f the Egyptians as successful students

b o th o f white magic and o f the black art .

But in additio n t o their skill as handicraftsmen and

artisan s the Egyptians were skilled in literary co m
positi o n and in the pro ducti o n o f b o oks especially o f
, ,

that cl ass which related t o th e cerem o nies which were

perfo rm ed fo r the bene fi t o f the dead W e have u nfor .
,

t u n a t el y n o means o f kn o wing what early c o ntemp o rary

,

peoples th o ught o f the Egyptian funeral cerem o nies ,

but it seems t o be certain that it was chiefly by

mean s of these that they o btained their reputatio n as
w o rkers o f miracles If by chance any m embers o f a
.

desert tribe had been permitted t o beh o ld the cere

mo nies whi ch were perfo r med when the kings fo r
wh o m the Pyramids had been built were laid to rest
in them the st o ries that they took back t o their kins
,

men w o uld be receiv ed as sure proofs that the Egyptians

had the p o wer t o give life t o the dead to animate ,

statues and t o command the services of their g ods by

,

the mere utterance o f their names as w o rds of p o wer .

The c olumns of hier o glyphics with which the walls o f

’

the t o mbs were o ften c o vered and the fi gures o f the ,

go ds painted o r sculptured up o n stel ae o r sarc o phagi

, ,

w o uld still further impres s the barbarian folk wh o

always regard the written letter and th o se wh o under
stand it with great awe The fo ll o wing sto ry fro m .

M a s ii di will illustrate the v iews which the A rabs

‘ 1

L es P r a i r i e s d or B r
de M e y na d
’
(e d . by . a nd P de Cou rt e i ll e ) ,
.

P a r is , 1 8 63 , to m ii p 3 9 8 f
. . . .
22 Q UEE N D A L UK A H W OR K S M AG IC .

held concerning the inscriptions and fi gures o f gods

in the temples o f Egypt It seems that when the
.

a rmy o f Phara o h had been dr o wned in the Red Sea ,

the w o men and Slaves feared lest they sh o uld be

attacked by the kings o f Syria and the W est ; I n this
diffi culty t h ey elected a w o man called D a l uk a h as their
queen because she was wise and prudent and skill ed
,

’
in magic . D a l uk a h s fi rst act was to surro und all
Egypt with a wall which she guarded by men who
,

were stati o ned al o ng it at short intervals h er o bject

being as much to protect her s o n wh o was addicted
,

to the chase fro m the attacks of wild beasts as Egypt

,

fr o m i nvasion by n o mad tribes ; besides this she placed

roun d the enclosure fi gures of cro c o diles and o ther
fo rmidable animals During the c o urse o f her reign
.

o f thirty years she fi lled Egypt with her temples an d

with fi gures o f animals ; she als o made fi gures of men

in the fo rm o f the dwellers in the c o untries ro und
ab o ut Egypt and in Syria and in the West and o f
, , ,

the beasts which they ro de In the temples she col

.

l ect e d all the secrets o f nature and all t h e attracting

o r repelling p o wers wh i ch were c o ntained in minerals ,

plants and animals

,
She perfo rmed her s o rceries at
.

the m o ment in the rev o luti o n o f the celestial b o dies

when they w o uld be amenable t o a higher p o wer .

And it came t o pass that if an army set o u t fro m any

part of A rabia or Syria to attack Egypt the queen ,

made the fi gures o f its soldiers and o f the animals

24 A JE W I S H M A G I C I AN R A I SE S TH E DE AD .

fi nally having slain a man he cut o ff the head and

,

rem o ved it fro m the trunk and then by passing his

,

sword o ve r the t wo parts they united and the man

,

came alive again This last act recalls the j o ining of

.

the head o f the dead go o se t o its body and the c o ming

back o f the bird to life which has been described ab o ve .

W e have now to describe briefly the principal means

up o n which the Egy ptians relied fo r w o rki ng magic ,

that is t o say magical st o nes o r amulets magical

, ,

figures magical pictures and fo rmul ae magi cal names

, , ,

magical ceremonies etc and such p o rtions o f the Book

, .
,

o f the Dead as bear upon these subjects general l y .

 ( 2 5 )

CH A PTE R II .

M G IC
A AL S TO NES OR AM ULETS .

AM ULET is a n ame give n t o a class o f o bjects and

o rnaments and articles o f dress and wearing apparel
, ,

made o f vari o us substances which were employed by

the Egyptians and later by other nations t o pro tect
, ,

the human b o dy either living o r dead fr o m baleful

, ,

influences and from the attacks o f visible and invisible

,

fo es The w o rd amulet is derived fr o m an A rabic

.
“

” ” “
root meaning t o bear t o carry hence amulet is
“
, ,

”
“
s o mething which is carried o r w o rn and the name ,

is applied br o adly t o any kind o f talisman o r o rnament

t o which supernatural p o wers are ascribed It is no t .

clear whether the amulet wa s intended fi rst o f all t o

protect the living o r the dead b o dy but it seems that ,

it was originally worn t o guard its o wner fro m savage

animals and fro m serpents A S time went o n the
.

d evel o pment o f religi o us ideas and beliefs pr o gresse d ,

a n d as a result new amulets repr e senting new views

were invent ed ; an d the obj ects which were able t o

prote ct the l i v i ng were made by an easy transiti o n
,
26 J
OB EC T OF AM U LE TS .

in the minds o f th o se wh o w o re them t o pro tect ,

the dead . M o re over as the preser vati o n o f the co r

,

r u p ti b l e b o dy with the number o f its members c o mplete

,

and intact was o f the most vital imp o rtan ce fo r the

,

life of the spiritual and incorruptible body which W as

believ ed t o spring therefr o m under the influence of ,

the new b eli efs t h e dead b o dy became a veritable

‘

st o reh o use o f amulet s Each member was placed

.

under the specifi c pr o te cti o n of s o me amulet and a ,

number o f o bjects which were believed to pr o tect the

b o dy generally fro m serpents wo rms mildew decay , , ,

and putrefactio n were laid with a lavish hand in and ,

up o n and ab o ut it and bet ween the bandages with

, ,

which it was swathed When men in Eg ypt began to

.

lay am ulets on their dead cann o t be sai d and it is ,

equally imp o ssible t o say when the belief I n the e ffi cacy

o f such and such an a m ulet sprang int o b eing it
seems clear ho wever that certain amulets represent
, ,

beliefs and superstiti o ns s o old that even the Egyptians

were at times doubtfu l ab o ut their o rigin and meaning
, , .

A mulets are of t w o kinds : ( 1 ) th o se which are

i ns cribed with magical fo rmul ae and ( 2) th o se which ,

are not In the earliest times fo rmul ae o r prayers were

.

recited o ver the amulets that were w o rn by t h e living

o r placed o n the dead by priests o r men set apart t o

perfo rm religio us services by the c o mmunity ; but it

was not in the power of every man t o empl oy them ,

and at a c o mparatively early date wo rds of magical

 ”
A M U LE T S W OR D S P OW E R
“
AND OF . 2 7

po wer and prayers were cut upon the amulets which ,

thu s became p o ssessed of a t wo fo ld p o wer that is t o ,

s a y the p o wer which was thought t o be inherent in

,

the substan ce o f which the amulet was m ade and that ,

which lay in the words inscribed u p o n it The earlies t .

name for the fo rmulae fo und up o n amulets is h ek a a ,

and it was so necessary fo r the deceased to be provided

”
with these h ek a a or w o rds o f p o wer that in the
, ,

XV I th century B TC and pro bably m o re than a th o usand

1
years earlier a special secti o n was inserted in the
,

B o o k o f the D ead with the o bject o f causing them

to c o me to h i m fr o m whatever place they were in ,

”
“
swifter than greyh o unds and quicker than light .

The earliest Egyptian amulets kn o wn are pieces o f

green schist of vari o us S hapes an i m al and o ther wise
, , ,

wh i ch were laid up o n the breast o f the deceased ; these

are found in large numbers in the pre —hist o ric or pre
dynastic graves at several places in Egypt It is m o st .

unlikely that they were made by the ab o riginal i nh a b i

tants of Egypt fo r n o twithstan ding the vari o us c o n
, ,

j e ct u re s which have been made as t o their o bject and

use it is pretty certain that as M J de M o rgan sai d 2
, , . .
,

”
“
they bel o ng t o the cult A cc o rding t o this writer
.

their use was exceedingly W idespread until the end

o f the ne o lithic period but with the advent Of the
,

1
,La
C h a p t e r I V XX
, w h i c h i s e n ti t l d
e ,
“
T h e Ch a p t e r of r
b i n g i ng
wo rds o f po we r u n to Os i r is i n t h e u n de r wo rl d
”
.

2
E th no gra p hi c P re h i s to r z q ue , p 1 4 4
'

. .
2 8 AN TI Q UIT Y OF TH E U SE OF AM U L E T S .

pe o ple wh o m we call Egyptians they bec o me very

rare In the subseque nt peri o d the animal fo rms dis
.

appear and their place is taken by plaques o f schist

, ,

rectangular in shape up o n which a re inscribed in

, ,

ro ugh o utline fi gures o f animals etc The theory that

, , .

these o bjects were intended as whetstones o r as S labs ,

u p o n which t o rub d o wn paint will n o t h o ld for the , ,

reasons which M J de M o rgan has given More o ver

. . .
,

in the green stone scarab which was laid upon the

breast of the deceased in dynastic times we pr o bably ,

have a survival of the green schist amulet o f pre

dynastic times i n Egypt both as regards the Obj ect ,

with which it was made and the material But the .

cu stom o f writing h ek a u o r w o rds o f p o wer up o n , ,

papyrus is alm o st as o l d as th a t of writing them upon

stone and we see fr o m th e I nscri ption o n the walls
,

o f the c o rridors and chambers o f the pyramid o f U nas ,

king o f Egypt ab o ut B C 3 3 00 that a b o o k with w o rds

. .
,

”
1
o f magical p o wer was buried with him Else
“
.

2
where we are t o ld that the book which T eta king ,

o f Egypt ab o ut R C 3 2 6 6 had with him hath e ffect “

.
,

”
“
up o n the heart o f the go ds a n d there is n o d o ubt

that the o bject o f every religi o us text ever written o n

t o mb stele amulet c o ffi n papyrus etc was to bring
, , , , , .
,

the g o ds under the p o wer o f the deceased S O that he ,

might be able t o compel them t o d o his will .

1
Una s, e d M a s p e r o , l i ne 5 8 4
. .

2
Teta , e d M a s p e r o , l i ne 3 5 1
. .
 BE L I E F S A S TO TH E HE AR T . 29

1 . TH E A M ULET OF TH E H E ART 0 ,

Theheart was n o t only the seat o f the p o wer o f life ,

but als o the s o urce o f b o th go o d and evil th o ughts ;

and it sometimes typi fi ed the c o nscience It was .

guarded after death W ith S pecial care and was mum ,

m i fi e d separately and then with the lungs was pre , , ,

served i n a j a r which was placed under the protectio n

o f the god Tu a m u t e f Its preservatio n was considered
.

1
t o be of such importance that a text was introduced
int o the Book o f the Dead at an early period with ,

the view of provi di ng the deceased with a heart in the

place of that which had been removed in the process
of m u m m i fi ca ti on The text reads .

May my heart be with me in the H o use o f He ar ts !

“

2
May my breast be with me in the H o use o f Hearts !
May my heart be wi t h me and may it rest there or , ,

I shall no t eat of the cakes o f Osiris on the eastern

side o f the L ake o f Flowers neither shall I have a ,

b o at wherein t o g o d o wn the N ile nor another wherein ,

to go up n o r shall I be able t o sail down the N ile

,

with thee May my m o uth [be given ] t o me that

.

I m a y speak therewith and m y t wo legs t o wal k ,

therewith and my t wo hands and arms t o o verthrow

,

my fo e May the d o o rs o f heaven be o pened unt o

.

me ; may Seb the prince o f the go ds o pen wide h i s

, ,

1
C h p t e r X XV I e nt i t le d
a T h e Ch p te r f g i vi ng a h e r t t th e
.
, , a o a o
”
de ce a s e d .

2
L te r lly
i a , r r
p e i c a di u m .
30 A M U LE T S .

two jaws unt o me may he o pen my t wo eye s which

are blindfo lded ; may he cause me t o stretch apart
my tw o legs which are b o und t ogether ; and may
Anpu (Anubis) make my thighs t o be fi r m s o that
I m a y stand up o n them May the goddess Sekhet
.

make me t o rise so that I m a y asce nd int o heaven ,

and may that which I c o mman d in the H o use o f the

K a o f Ptah be d o ne I S hall understand with my
.

heart I shall gain the mastery o ver m y heart I S hall

, ,

gain the mastery over my t w o han ds I Shall gain ,

th e mastery o ver my legs I shall have the p o wer t o

,

do whats o ever my lea (73a d o uble) pleaseth My

,
.

s o ul shall n o t be fettered t o my b o dy at the gates

of the underwo rld but I shall enter in and come
,

”
fo rth in p eace .

W hen the deceased had uttered these words it was ,

believed that he w o uld at o nce o btain the p o wers

which he wished t o p o ssess in the n ext w o rld ; and
when he had gained the mastery o ver his heart the ,

heart the d o uble and the s o ul had the p o wer t o g o

, ,

wh ere they wished and t o do what they pleased T he .

menti o n of the g o d Ptah an d o f his c o ns o rt S ekhet .

indicates that the Chapter was the w o rk o f the pri ests

o f Memphis and that t h e ideas emb o die d in it are o f
,

great antiquity A cc o rding t o the Papy rus o f N e k h tu

.

Amen the amulet o f the heart w hich is refe rr ed t o

, ,

in the ab o ve Chapter was t o be made o f lapis lazuli

,
-

and there is no d o ubt that this st o ne was believed to

32 A M U LE T S

and X XXB ) were written The XXV I I th Chapter .

was c o nnected with a heart am u l et made of a white ,

semi transparent st o ne and reads

-

Hail ye wh o carry away hearts ! Hail ye w h o

“
, ,

steal hearts and w h o make the hear t o f a man t o g o

,

thro ugh its transfo rmati o ns acc o rding t o its deeds let ,

n o t what he hath d o ne harm him befo re y o u H o mage

t o y o u O ye l o rds Of eternity ye p o ssess o rs o f ever
, ,

1
lastingness take ye n o t this heart of Osiris int o y o ur
,

grasp and cause ye not w o rds of evil t o S pring up

,

against it ; fo r it is the heart o f Osiris and it bel o ngeth ,

2
unto him o f many names the mi ghty o ne wh o se w o rds ,

are his limbs and who sendeth fo rth his heart t o dwell
,

in his b o dy The heart o f Osiris is triumphant and

.
,

“
it is made new befo re the g o ds : he hath gained p o wer
over it and he hath n o t been j udg ed acc o rding to wh at
,

he hath d o ne He hath go tten p o wer o ver his own .

members His heart o beyeth him he i s the l o rd

.
,

thereof it is in his b ody and it shall never fall away

, ,

therefr o m I Osiris victo ri o us in peace and t ri u m

.
, , ,

phant in the beautiful A menta and o n the m ountain

of eternity bid thee [0 heart] t o be o bedient unt o
,

”
me in the underw o rld .

A n o ther Chapter (X X I XB ) was c o nnected with a

heart amul et made o f carnelian o f which so many ,

examples m a y be found in large museums ; the text

1
La ,
t h e de ce a s e d wh o wa s i de nt i fied wi t h Os i r i s , th e g o d a nd

j u dg e o f th e d e a d .

1
Le , Th o th .
 TH E G REE N S TO NE SC ARAB .
33
“ 1
reads : I am the Bennu the soul of B a and the , ,

“
guide of the gods who are in the underworld Their .

divin e souls came forth upon earth t o do the w ill of

their doubles let therefore the s o ul of the Osiris come
,

forth to do the will o f his d o uble The Bennu was .

also the soul of O siris and thus the amulet brought

,

with it the protecti o n o f both Osiris and Ra .

But of all the Chapters which related to the heart ,

the most popular among the Egyptians was that which

is commonly know n as X X X B and its imp o rtance ,

from a religious point o f V iew cann o t be overstated .

T he antiquity of the Chapter i s undoubted for accord ,

!1
ing to the Pap y rus of N u a d o cument of the early ,

part of the X V II I th dynasty it dates from the time ,

o f B esep ti king of Eg y pt about B C 4 3 00 and it seems

-

,
.
,

that it fo rmed a pendant or supplement to the L X IV t h

Chapter which professed to give the substance of all
,

”
the Chapters of C o ming Forth by Day in a single
Chapt er In the rubri c t o the lo nger version of t h e
.

Chapter g iven in the same papyrus Ch apter X XX B

,
8
,

is c o nnected with H eru tat af the s o n o f Khufu ( Che o ps) , ,

a man famed for wisd o m and it is there o rdered that ,

the words o f it be recited over a hard green stone ,

scarab which shall be laid in the breast of the deceased

,

where the heart would ordinarily be ; this amulet

w o uld then perfo rm for him the o p ening of the
' “

1
T h e B e nnu b i rd i s u su a ll y i de ntifi e d wi th th e p hoeni x .

3
B ri t M u s , No
. . s h e et 1 3 . Se e s h ee t 2 1
3
.

EC F . M G IC
A . D
34 T H E CH APTE R OF T H E H E AR T .

” 1
m outh , for the words o f the Chapter would be
”
I ndeed words of power
“
From reciting the words
.

of the Chapter over a scarab to engraving them up on

it was but a step and this step wa s taken as early
,

as the I V th dynasty The text is as follo ws

.

My heart my m o ther ; my heart my mother ! M y

, ,

heart whereby I came into being ! May naught stand

up t o o pp o se me at [my ] judgment ; may there be
n o Opposition to me in the presence of the sovereign

princes ; may there be no parting o f thee from me

in the p resence of him that keepeth t h e Balance !
Thou art my d o uble (lea ) the dweller i n my body , ,

the god Kh ne m u who k ni t te th and s tr eng th e ne th my

limbs Mayest th o u c o me forth int o the place o f
.

happiness whither we g o May the Sh em e who form

’

.
,

the c o nditions of the lives of men n o t make my ,

name t o stink L et it be satisfacto ry unto us and

.
,

let the listening be satisfactory unto us and let there ,

be j oy of heart unto us at the weighing o f words .

L et n o t that which is false be uttered against me

befo re the great god t h e lord o f A m e nt e t V erily
, .

how great shalt thou be when th o u risest in triumph .

It was t his Chapter which the deceased recited when

he was in the Judgme nt Hall o f Osiris whilst his ,

heart was being weighed in the Balance against the

feather symbolic of right an d truth Fro m certain .

papy ri it seems as if the above words should properly , ,

1
S e e Ch a p te r VI .
( M a g i ca l C e r e m o ni e s ) .
 TH E SC A R A B .
35

be said by the deceased when he is being weighed

against his o wn heart a conception which is quite ,

different from tha t of the j udg m ent of the heart befo re

the gods .

Th e ri b
sc e Neb s enl be i ng w i gh ed e b g h r
i n a a l ance a a i ns t h i s e a t i n th e p r e s e nce o f
r
Os i i s .
( Fr r
o m t h e Pa p y us o f Ne b se ni , s ee th

2 . THE A M ULET OF T H E S CARAB ,

Q
From what has been said abo ve it will be seen that
the amulet o f the heart which was connected with the ,

most important and most p o pular o f the Chapters fo r

protecting the heart was directed to be made in the ,

form of the scarab at a very early date W e can trace .

the ideas which the Egyptians held ab o ut this insect

as far back as the time of the building of the Pyramids 1 ,

and there is no doubt that they represented beliefs

which even at that early peri o d were very ol d The .

1
K i ng T e ta is sa id to “
l i ve l i k e l i ne
th e s ca a br ( Te ta , a nd

a gain i t i s s a i d P e pi i s th e s on o f t h e S ca r a b w h i c h i s
,
“
b o rn in
H e te pe t u nde r th e h a i r of th e no r t h er n I u saa s ( P ep i l i ne ,
36 TH E SC ARAB A ND K H E PE RA .

Egyptian seems to have reasoned thus : S in ce the

physical heart is taken from the body before mum
mifi c a ti o n and the body has need of another to act
,

as the s o urce of life and m o vement in its ne w life ,

a no ther must be put in its place But a stone heart

.
,

whether made o f l apis Ia z u l i or carnelian is only a

-

stone heart after all an d even though by mean s of

,

prayers properly recited it prevents the physical heart

”
from being carried o ff by those wh o plunder hear ts ,

it possesses n o thing o f itself which can be turned t o

account in giving ne w life and being to the body on
which it lies But the scarab or beetle itself possesses
.

remarkable powers and if a fi gure o f the scarab be

,

made and the proper w ords of power be written upon

,

it not o nly pro tecti o n of the dead physical heart but

, ,

als o ne w life and existence will be given to him to

wh o se b o dy it is attached Mo reover the scarab was
.
,

the type and symbol of the g o d Khepera the invisible ,

power of creatio n which pro pelled the sun across the

Sk y . The particular beetle ch o sen by the Egyptians
to copy for amulets belongs to the family o f dung
feeding L amellic orns which live in tro pical countries .

T he species are generally o f a black h u e b u t am o ngst

, ,

them are to be found some ad o rned with the richest

metal lic colours A remarkable peculiarity exists in
.

the s tructure and situation of the hind legs which ,

a re placed so near th e extremity of the body and s o ,

far from each o ther as t o give the insect a m o st

,
 A N C I E N T I D E A S A B O UT TH E SC A R AB .
37

extraordinary appearance when walking This peculiar .

fo rmation is nevertheless p a rticularly serviceable to

, ,

its possessors i n rolling the balls of e xcrementitious

matter in which they enclo se their eggs These balls .

are at fi rst irregular and s o ft but by degr ees and , , ,

during the process of ro lling al o ng become rounded ,

and harder ; they are pro pelled by means o f the hind

legs S ometimes these balls are an inch and a h a l f
.

or two in ches in diameter and in ro lli ng t h cm along ,

the beetles stand almos t upon th eir heads with the ,

heads turned from the balls These man oeuvres have .

for their Object the bury ing of the balls in h o les which ,

the insects have previously dug for their reception ;

and it is upon the dung thus deposited that the larv ae ,

when hatche d feed It do es no t appear that these

, .

beetles have the ability to distinguish their o wn balls ,

as they will seize up o n th o s e bel o nging to another ,

in the case of their having lost their own ; indeed it ,

is said that several of them o ccasionally assist i n rolli ng

the same ball The males as well as the females assist
.

i n rolling the pellets They fly during the hottest part

.

1
of the day .

A mong the ancients several curi o us views were held

about the scarab whether o f the type sca r a baeu s s a ce r
,

2
or the a teu ch u s AEo p ti or u m and ZE Ii a n P o rphyry , , ,

1
S ee J O. . W o s t wo o d ,
I ntro du c t i on to the Mo de rn Cl a ss ifica ti o n of
L
I n s ects , on don , 1 8 3 9 , vo l i p 2 04 fi . . . .

3
S e e m y M u mmy, p 2 33 . .
38 TH E S CA R A B A N D TH E R E S U R R E C TI O N .

and H o ra p ol l o declared that no femal e scarab existed .

The last named writer stated that the scarab den o ted
o nly bego tten because it w as a creat u re self produced
,
-

being unco nceived by a female He goes o n t o say .

that having made a ball o f dung the beetle r o lls it

, ,

from east t o west and having dug a h o le he buries

, ,

it in it fo r eight and twenty days ; on the twenty ninth -

day he opens the ball and thro ws it int o the water , ,

and fro m it the scarab aei c o me fo rth The fact that .

the scarab flies duri ng the h o ttest part o f the day

made the insect t o be identi fi ed with the sun and the ,

ball of eggs t o be compared t o the sun itself The .

unseen p o wer of G o d made manifest under the fo rm ,

o f the g o t e p era caused th e sun t o r o ll acr o ss the

,

sky and the act of rolling gave t o the scarab its name
,

”
lclz ep er i e
,
he wh o r o lls
. .
,
“
The sun c o ntained the .

’
germs o f all life and as the insect s ball c o ntained
,

the germs o f the y o ung scarabs it was identi fi ed als o

with the sun as a creature which pro duced life in a
speci al way No w the g o d K hepera also represented
.
,

inert but living matter which was about to begin a ,

c o urse of existence and at a very early perio d he was

,

c o n sidered t o be a g o d o f the res u rrecti o n ; and since the

s carab was identi fi ed with him that insect became at

o nce the symb o l of the g o d and the type o f the resur

rectio n But the dead human body from o ne aspect

.
, ,

c ontained the germ o f life that is to say the germ , ,

o f the S piritual b o dy which was called into being ,

40 TH E N E C KLA C E AND PE CT O R AL .

granite limest o ne green marble blue paste blue glass

, , , , ,

purple blue and green gla z ed p o rcelain etc and the

, , .

wo rds of power are usually cut in o utline on t h e base .

In rare instances the scarab has a hu man face o r head

, ,

and s o met imes the backs are inscribed with fi gures of

”
the b o at o f R a of the B ennu bird the s o ul of B a
, ,
“
,

and o f the eye o f Horus The green stone scarabs a re .

o ften s e t in gold and have a band of gold acr o ss and

,

Th e sc ri b A l h l d i g n kl wi th p
e n o n a ec a ce r
e ct o a l , o n h h
w i c Is a g r b
fi u e o f th e o a t o f
Ra . t i ni g
co n a r b b tl n t h
n a s ca a or ee e, I e p re s e nce of A bi
nu s, d
t h e go d o f t h e ea d
( Fr m t h P p y
, .

o ef A nt p l t
a ru s o , a e

d o wn the back where the wings j oin ; s o metimes the

wh ole back is gilde d and s o metimes the base is c o vered ,

with a plate o f go ld up o n which the w o rds o f p o wer

have b e en stamped o r engraved O ccasi o nally the .

base o f the scarab is made in the fo r m o f a heart a ,

fact which pr o ves the cl o se n ess o f the relati o nship

which existed between the amulets of the heart and
s carab In late times that is t o say about
. 1 2 00 , ,
 S C A R A BS W OR N BY TH E L IVI N G .
4 1

large funeral scarabs were set in pylon shaped pectorals -

made of porcelain o f vario us c o l o urs upon which the ,

boat o f the S im was either traced in c o lo urs or worked

in relief and the scarab is pl a ced so as to appear t o
,

be carried in the boat ; o n the left stands Isis and on

'
l
the right N e p h th y s The ol dest green st o ne funeral
.

scarab known t o me is in the British Museum

N it was fo und at Kurna near Thebes and
( o .

belo ngs t o the perio d of the K Ith dy nasty ab o ut R C , .

2 600 The name o f t h e man for whom it was made

.

he appears to have been an o ffi cial of the Temple o f

(
A men ) was traced on it in light coloured paint which
was afterwards varnished ; there are no w o rds of “

powe r on this interesting o bj ect

”
.

W hen once th e custom o f b u ryi ng scarabs with the

bodies o f the dead became rec ogn i z ed the habit o f ,

wearing them as o rnaments by the living came int o

fashi o n and as a result scarabs o f alm o st every sort a n d
,

kind may be fo un d by the th o usand in m any c o llee

ti o ns and it is pro bable that the number o f varieties
,

o f them was o nly l i m ited by the ability o f th o se wh o

m anufactured them 1 11 anc i ent days t o inve n t ne w s o rts .

The use of the s carab amulet passed into W estern A sia

and i nto several countries which lay o n the M e di te r
r a n e a n and th o se who wore it seem t o have attached
,

to it much t h e same idea as its early invento rs the ,

1 I h a ve r
g i ve n a su m m a y of the c hi e f va r i e ti e s of t h e fu ne ra l
r
s ca a b in r
m y P a p y u s of Am ,
’

Lo nd on , 1 8 9 5 , p 2 62
. .
4 2 TH E SC AR A B AND TH E R ING O F H OR US .

Egyptians Fr o m a Greek magical papyru s translated

.

1
by G o o dwi n we may see that certain s olemn cere
r

m o n i es were ge rfo r m e d over a scarab befo re it was

w o rn even in the peri o d o f the rule o f the Greeks and
,

”
Romans Thus about the ring o f H o rus and the
.
“

”
cerem o n y o f the beetle we are t o ld to take a beetle ,

sculptured as described bel o w and t o place it on a ,

paper table and under the table there shall be a pure

,

lin en cl o th ; under it put some oli ve w o o d and set ,

on the m iddle o f the table a small censer wherein

myrrh and k yph i shall be o ffered A nd have at hand .

a small vessel o f chrys o lite int o which o i ntment o f

lilies or myrrh or cinnam o n sh a ll be put and take
, , , ,

t he ring and lay it in the o intment having fi rst made ,

it pure and clean and o ffer it up in the censer with

,

k yp h i and myrrh ; leave the ring fo r th ree days and ,

take it o u t and put it in a safe place A t the celebra .

tion let there lie near at han d s o me pure l o aves and ,

such fruits as are in seas o n and having made an o ther ,

sacri fi ce up o n vine sticks during the sacri fi ce take the,

ring o u t o f the o intment and an o int thyself with the ,

uncti o n fr o m it Th o u shalt an o int thyself early in

.

the morning and turning t o wards the east shalt p ro

,

nounce the w o rds wri tten bel o w The beetle shall be .

carved out o f a preci o us emerald ; b o re it and pass a

g o ld wire thr ough it and beneath the beetle carve the
,

F r a gme nt of a G r a ce E g yp ti a n Wo r k
-
u p on M a gi c ( P u b l i ca ti o ns of

th e Ca mb ri dg e A nti q u a r i a n S o ci e ty ,
 P OW E R o r TH E B LO OD O F rs rs .
43

holy Isis and having c o n secrated it as ab o ve written

, ,

u s e it The proper days fo r the celebratio n were the

.

7 th 9 th 1 0th 1 2th 1 4 th l 6 th 2 1 s t 2 4 th and 2 5 t h

, , , , , , , , ,

fro m the beginning of the m o nth ; on other days

abstain The spell to be recited bega n I am Th o th
.
,
“
,

the in ventor and fo under o f medicines and letters ;

come to m e th o u that art under the earth rise up t o
, ,

”
me thou great spirit
,
.

3 . TH E A M U LE T o r TH E BU CKLE ( ) ,
h
This amulet represents the buckle o f the girdle o f
Isis and is us u ally made of carnelian red jasper red
, , ,

g lass and ,
of other substance s of a red colour ; it is
sometimes made of gold and of substances covered with ,

gold It is always associated with the CLV I th Chapter

.

o f the B o o k of the Dead which is frequently inscribed ,

upon it and which reads

,

“
The blo o d of I sis and the stre ngth of Isis and the
, ,

w o rds of power of Isis shall be mighty to act as

p o wers to protect this great and divine being and to ,

guard him from h i m that w o uld do unto him anythi ng

that he holdeth in ab o mination .

But befo re the buckle w a s attached to the neck o f

the deceased where the rubric ordered it t o be placed
, ,

it had t o be dipped in water in wh ich ankh a m fl o wers

h a d b een steeped ; and when the words of the Chapte r
o f the Buckle given above h ad been recited o ver i t ,
44 OSI R I S A ND TH E TR E E TR U N K .

the amulet bro u ght t o the deceased the protection of the

bl o od of Isis and of her words o f p o wer It will be
,
.

remembered that she raised the dead b o dy o f O siris

by means o f her w o rds o f p o wer a n d there is a legend ,

to the effect that she sm o te th e Sun g o d B a with severe -

sickness by the magical p o wer which she pos sessed .

An o ther obj ect of the buckle was t o give the deceased

access t o every place in the under world and t o enable ,

him t o have o ne hand towards heaven and one hand ,

”
towards earth .

4 TH E A M ULE T o r T HE TE T ,
fi
‘

This amulet pro ba bly represents the tree trunk in

which the go ddess Isis c o ncealed the dead b ody of her
husband and the fo ur cro ss bars indicate the fo ur
,
-

cardinal p o ints ; it became a symb o l o f t h e highest

religi o us i m p o rtance t o the Egypti a ns and the setting ,

up o f the Tet at B u siris which sy m b o lized the r e ,

c o nstituting o f the b o dy o f Osiris was o ne o f the m o st ,

s o lemn o f all the cerem o nies perfo r m ed in c o nnexio n

wi th the wo rsh i p o f Osiris The Tet represents neither
.

the mas o n s table no r a N il o meter as s o me have th o ught

’

, .

It is always ass o ciated with the CLV th Chapter o f the

B oo k o f the Dead which re ads ,

“
Rise up th o u O Osiris ! Th o u hast thy backbone
, ,

O Still Heart
-
T hou hast th e fastenings of thy neck
“
an d back 0 Still Heart ! Place thou thysel f upon
,
-
48 ISIS T H E D IVI NE M OTH ER .

6 . TH E A M ULET OF THE V ULTURE ,

x
This amulet was intend ed to cause the p o wer o f
Isis as the divine mother to be a protection for the
“

deceased a nd was made of gold in the form of a vulture

,

hovering in the air with outstretched wings a n d h o lding

E
in each talon the symbol of “
life S and was placed
on the neck o n the day of the funeral W ith this .

amulet the C LV I I th Chapter of the Bo o k of the D ead

was associated and it wa s ordered by the rubric t o it to
,

be recited over it ; this text reads

Isis c o meth and h o vere th over the city and she ,

goeth about seeking the secret habitations o f Horus

as he em erge th from his papyru s swamps a nd she ,

raiseth up his shoulder which is in evil case He is .

made one o f the company in the divine boat a nd the ,

sovereignty o f the wh o le world i s decreed for him .

He hath warred mighti ly and he maketh his deeds t o

,

be remembered ; he hath made th e fea r of him t o

exist and awe of him t o have its being His mother .

the mighty lady p ro t e ct eth him an d she hath

, ,

transferred her power unt o him The fi rst allusion

.

is to the care which Isis shewed for H o rus when she

was bringing him up in the papyr u s swamps and the ,

second to his combat with Set whom he vanquished ,

through the might of I sis .

 A M U LE T S O F T H E CO LLA R A ND S CE P T R E .
49

7 TH E AM ULET
. OF TH E C OLLAR OF G OLD ! ,

This amulet was intended t o give the deceased power

to free himself from his s w a t h i ng s I t is ordered by the
r u bric t o the CLV I I I th Chapter o f the B o o k o f the
Dead to be placed o n hi s neck o n the day o f the funeral ,

and to be made of gold : The text of the Chapter

reads my father my brother my mother Isis
, , ,

I am unswathed a nd I see I am one of those wh o

, .

”
are unswathed an d who see the god Seb This .

amulet is very rare and appears to have been the

,

expression of beliefs which grew up in the period of

the XX V I th dynasty about B C 55 0 ,
. . .

8 THE
. A M ULET OF TH E PAPYRU S S CE PTRE
K
This amulet was intended to give the deceased vigour
and ren ewal of youth ; it was made of mother o f -

emerald or of light green o r bl u e p o rcelain a ndf wh en

, ,

t h e words of the CLI X th Chapter of the Book of the

D ead had been recited over it it was placed o n hi s ,

neck on the day of the funeral In the XXV I th .

dynasty and later it seems as if the amul et represented

the power of Isis who derived it from her father the
, ,

husband of R e n en e t the goddess of abundant harvests

,

a n d food A t an earlier period judging fr om the text

.
,
'

of the CLXth Chapter the amulet is put by th e g o d

,

EG P M AG I C
. . E
50 A M U L ETS .

Thoth into the hands o f the deceased wh o says It is , ,

in s o un d state and I am in s o und state ; it is n o t

,

i nj u re d a nd I am n o t injured ; it is n ot w o rn aw a y
'

, ,

”
and I am no t worn away .

9 . TH E A M ULET OF TH E S OUL

T his a m ulet was made of g o ld inlaid with precious

stones in the form o f a human headed hawk a nd -

, ,

when the words of the LXXX I Xth Chapter o f the

Book of the Dead had been recited over it it was ,

directed by the rubric to the Chapter to be placed

upon the breast of the deceased The object of the .

am u let is a pparent fro m the text in which the deceased

“
is made to say Hail thou go d An ni u ! H a il th o u
, , ,

“
god P eh r er who d wellest in thy hall ! Grant thou
,

that my s o ul may c o me unto me from wheresoever

it may be If it w o uld tarry then let my s o ul
.
,

be brought unto me from wheresoever it may be .

L et me have possession of my s o ul and of m y .

sp i ri t and let me be true o f voice with them

,

“
wheresoever they may be Hail ye gods who .
, ,

t o w along the boat o f the l o rd o f milli o ns o f years ,

w ho bring it abo ve the un derw o rld and wh o make it ,

t o t ravel over N ut who make souls to enter into their

,

1
s piritual bodies grant that the s o ul of the Osiri s
,

L a , th e decea se d, wh o i s i de nti fie d wi th t h e g od Os i ri s .
 T H E SO U L AN D TH E LA D D E R .
51

may come forth before the gods and that it may be ,

true of voice with you in the east of the sky and ,

follow unto the p lace where it was yesterday and ,

e njoy twofold peace in A m ente t May it look upon .

i ts natural body may it rest upon its S piritual b o dy

, ,

and may its body neither perish nor su ffer corruption

”
“
for ever ! Thus the amulet of the soul was intended
to enable the soul both to unite with the mummi fi ed

body and to be with its spirit (Ich u ) and spiritual body

,

a t will .

1 0 TH E
. A M ULET OF T H E LAD D ER ,

In t o mbs of the A ncient and Middle Empires small

obj ects of wood and other substances in the form o f
ladders have often been found but the signifi cation of
,

them is not always apparent From the texts i n

.

scribed upon the walls o f the corri dors and chambers

o f t h e pyramids o f U nas Teta Pepi and other early
, , ,

kings it is clear that the primitive Egyptians beli eved

,

that the fl o o r of heaven whi ch als o formed the sky o f

,

this w o rld was made of an immense plate of iron rec

, ,

ta ngu l a r in shape the fo ur corners o f which rested upon

,

four pillars which served to mark the car di nal p oi nts .

O n this plate of iron lived the gods and the blessed

dead and it was the aim of every good Egyptian to go
,

there after death A t cert a in sacred spots the edge of

.
52 A M U L ETS .

the plate was so near the tops o f the m o untains that

the deceased m ight easily clamber on to it and s o
obtain admissi o n in t o heaven but at others the dista nce ,

between it and the earth was so great that he needed

help to reach it There existed a belief that O siri s
.

himself experienced some di ffi culty of getting up t o

the ir on plate and that it was only by means of the
,

ladder which his father Ra provided that he at length .

ascended into heaven On one side of the ladder sto o d .

1
B a and on the other sto o d Horus the son o f Isis and
, , ,

e a cli god assisted Osiris to mount it Originally the .

t wo guardians o f the ladder were Horus the Elder and

Set and there are several references in the early texts
,

to the help which they re ndered to the deceased who ,

was o f course identifi ed with the god Osiris But

, , .
,

with a V iew either of remi nding these go ds of their

supposed duty or o f c o mpelli ng them to do it t h e
, ,

model of a ladder was o ften placed on or near the dead

body in the t o mb and a special comp o sit ion was,

prepared w hich had the e ffect of m aking the ladder

become the m eans o f the ascent o f the deceased into
2
heaven Thus in the text written fo r Pepi the
.

deceased is made to address the l adder in these words

H o mage t o thee O divine L adder ! Homage to
,

thee 0 L adder of Set

,
Stand thou upright O divine ,

L ad der ! Stand th o u upright 0 L adder of Set ! Stand ,

thou upright 0 L adder of Horus whereby Osiris

, ,

Una s , li ne 5 7 9 .
2
L i ne 1 9 2 f
.
 TH E LA D D E R S O F H OR US AND SET 53

came fo rth into heaven when he made use o f hi s

m agical p o wer upon R a For Pepi is thy son
.
,

a n d Pepi i s Horus and thou hast give n birth unto

,

Pepi even as thou hast given birth un to the g o d who

is the lord of the L a dder Horus ) and thou shalt
give unto Pepi the L adder of the god Horus ) thou ,

shalt give unto hi m the L adder o f the god Set whereby

this Pepi sh a ll come forth into heaven when he shall
have made use of hi s magical power upon 0
thou go d of those whose doubles (k a u ) pass onwards ,

when the Eye o f Horus s oa re th u pon the wi ng of

Thoth o n the east side of the divine L adder (or
L adder of God) 0 men whose bodies [would go ]
,

“
into heave n Pepi is the Eye of H o rus and when th e
, ,

Eye turneth itself to any place where he is Pepi ,

goeth side by side with the Eye o f Horus and O ,

’

ye who are the brethren of the go ds rej oice ye that ,

P epi j ou rne y e th among you A nd the brethren of

.

Pepi who are the go ds shall be glad when they meet

Pepi eve n as Horus is glad when he meeteth his
,

Eye He hath placed his Eye before his father Seb

.
,

and every g o d and every S pirit stretcheth out his

hand t o wards Pepi when he c o meth fo rth int o heaven
fro m the L adder Pepi hath need neither to pl o ugh
.

‘ ’
the earth nor t o c o llect the o fi e ri ng ; and he hath
,
’

n eed neither t o go to the Hall which is in A nnu

( Heli o p olis ) nor to the Hall of the M o rning which is

,

in A nnu for that which he seeth and hat which he

p
 54 AM U LE T S .

heareth shal l feed him a nd nourish him when he

appeareth in he aven from t h e L adder Pepi riseth .

li ke th e uraeus on the forehead of Set a nd every ,

god and every spirit stretcheth o u t h i s hand to Pepi

on the L adder Pepi hath gathered t o gether his
.

bones he hath c o llected his flesh an d he hath gone

, ,

quickly int o heaven by means o f the t wo fi ngers 1

2
of the g o d o f the L adder Elsewhere
the g o ds K h ons u Sept etc are inv o ked t o bring the
, , .
,

ladder t o Pepi and the ladder itself is adjur ed t o

,

3
come with its name and in another place we read , ,

“
Homage to thee O thou L adder that s u p p orte s t the
,

golden vase o f the Spirits o f P e and the Spirits o f

Ne k h e n stretch o u t thy han d t o this Pepi and let
, ,

him take his seat between the t wo great gods wh o

are in the place o f this P epi ; take him by the hand
and lead him towards Sekhet H e t e p the Elysian -

Fiel ds ) and let him take his seat am o ng the stars

,

which are in the S k y .

In the Theban Recensi o n of the B o o k o f the Dead

the imp o rtance of the ladder i s als o seen for i n ,
.

4
Chapter C XL I X the deceased says . I set up a ,
“

L adder among th e g o ds and I am a divine being ,

“
am o ng them and in Chapter C LIII h e says The .
,

Co mp a re, G i ve t h o u to P e p i th e se t wo fi ng e rs wh ic h th o u h a s t
g i ve n t o N e fe rt, t h e d a u g h t e r o f t h e g re a t g od , a s m e s se ng e r s fr o m
“

h e a ve n t o ea rt h ( P ep i , l i ne
3
P ep i , l ine 2 00 . P ep i , l i ne 4 7 1
3
.

S e e m y Ch a p te rs f
o Co mi ng F o r th by D a y, tr a nsl a ti o n, p 2 7 0 . .
56 A M U LE T S .

should be made either of lapis laz uli or of m a k s ton e -

The U tch a t is o f t wo kinds one facing to the left ,

and the other t o the right and t o gether they represent ,

the two eyes of Horu s o n e of which according t o an

, ,

ancient text was white and the other black ; from

,

another point of V iew one U tch a t represents the Sun

and the other the M o on or R 5 and Osiris respectively , . .

But S peaking generally when the Egyptians w o re the ,

U t ch a t as an amulet they intended it t o bring t o them

the blessings of strength vigour protection safety good , , , ,

health and the like and they had in their minds the
, ,

Eye of H o rus pro bably the whit e one or the Sun

, , .

In rel i g i oii s texts the expression m eh U tch a t i e t h e , . .

,

”
fi lling of the U t ch a t is often used and fro m many
, ,

consideratio ns it is clear that we must understand it

to refer t o the Sun at the summer solstice ; thus the
amulet seems to have been intended to bring to its
w earer strength and health similar to that o f the Sun
at the seas o n of the year when it is most powerfu l In .

the C L XV I I th Chapter of the Book of the Dead th e

deceased is made to say The g o d Th o th hath brought ,
“

the U tch a t and he hath made it t o rest after it

,

departed 0 B a It was griev o usly a fflicted by the

,
.

“
st o rm but Tho th made it to rest after it departed
,

o u t of the st o rm I am sound and it is sound ; I

.
,

am s o und and it is sound ; and Neb s eni the l ord o f

, ,

”
piety is s o und
,
To obtain the full bene fi t of the
.

U t ch a t amulet fo r the deceased it was o bligat o ry t o

 TH E U T CH AT U SE D AS A S P E LL .
57

make o n e in lapis lazuli and to plate it with gold

-

a n d the n to o ffer t o it offer i ngs at the summer solstice ;

a n o ther had then t o be made of j asper and if after ,

the specifi ed Chapter ( C XL ) had been recited over it .

,

it was laid on any part of the body of the deceased ,

he w o uld become a g o d and take his place in the boat

1
of Ra A t this s olstice twelve altars had t o be
.

lighted fo ur for B a Temu four for the U t ch a t and

,
-

, ,

four fo r the other gods who had been mentioned in

the Chapter A n interesting example o f the use of the
.

u tck a t occurs in a Greek spell for th e d i scovery of a

thief w ritten as late as the I V th century of our era 2

.

In it we are told to take the herb k h elk bei and bu g loss ,

press o u t the juice and burn the crushed leaves and

mix the ashes with the j uice A noint and write .

up o n a wall K ho o with these materials A nd t ake .

“
a c o mmon piece o f wood and cut a hammer out of ,

“
it and strike with it up o n the ear pronouncing t hi s
, ,

S pell : I adjure thee by the holy names render up

“
,

the thief wh o has carried away su ch [and such ] a

,

thing Kh a l k h a k Kh al k o u m K hiam Khar K h ro u m

, , , , ,

Zb a r B eri Z b a rk o m K hr e K a ri ob P h a ri b o u and by
, , , , , ,

the terrible names a rermmu t o o o o o vv vv vv www www w 3 .

’

Follo wing these words we have a picture o f the u tch a t

One for h m o nt h o f th e ye a r
eac .

2
K e nyon Ca ta log u e of G reek P a p yr i p 6 4
, , . .

3
Th e s e ve n vo we l s we r e s u p p os e d i n th e G no sti c s y s te m t o c o nta i n
a l l th e na m e s o f G o d a nd we r e t h e r e fo r e m o s t p o we r fu l wh e n u s e d
, , ,

a s a s p e ll .
58 A M U LET S .

with an arr angement of certain vowels on each S ide of

it thus
a

68

1 70 77

ti l l

nnnnn
as s es s

aa a aaa a

The spell c o ntinues Render up the thief who has

,
“

stolen such [and such ] a thing : as long as I strike

the ear with this hammer let the eye o f the thief ,

’
be smitten and inflamed until it betrays him Saying .

1 ”
these words strike with the h ammer .

fi
l
1 3 THE A M ULET LI FE (ANKH )
“
. OF , .

The obj ect which is represented by this amulet is

unknown and o f all the suggestions which have been
,

made con cerning it none is more unlikely than that

which would give it a phallic o rigin W hatever it .

”
may represent it certainly symbolizes li fe ; every “

g o d carries it and i t,
seems even in th e earliest times
, ,

t o be a c o nventi o nal representatio n o f some o bject

which in the rem o test period had been used as an

o f A ni
O
a mulet In. the Papyrus (2 md edit
pla te 2) the Ankh rises from the Tet a n d the ,

arms which proj ect from it s u pp o rt the disk o f

i the sun as here seen This amu let is made o f
.

l
S ee G o o dwi n, F r a gment of a G ra mE gyp ti a n wor k up on Ma g i c , p 7
-
. .
 ” "
‘
L I FE A ND
“
G OO D L U CK .
59

various subst a n ces and was c h iefly employed

,
as a
pendant of a n ecklace .

14 . TH E AM ULET NE FER ,
I
This a mulet signi fi es happiness good luck etc “
, , .
,

a n d represents a musical instrument ; it was made

o f carnelian r e d sto n e
,
red p o rcelain and th e like
, , ,

a nd was a very fav o urite form fo r the pendants o f

necklaces and strings of beads .

A M ULET
’
15 . TH E OF TH E S E RP ENT S H EAD ,
Lg

This amulet was placed on the dead body to keep

it from being bitten by snakes in the underworld or
tomb It is m ade of red stone red jasper red paste
.
, , ,

and carnelian A s the g o ddess Isis is o ften typi fi ed

.

by a serpent and red is a c o lour peculiar to her it

, ,

seems as if the idea underl y ing the use of this a mulet

was to vanqu ish the snakes in the t o mb by means of
the power o f the great snake goddess Isis This power -
.

had been transferred to it by m eans o f the w o rds of

the XXX I V th Chapter of the Bo o k of the Dead ,

which are often inscribed upon it The text reads .

O Serpent ! I am the flame which shineth upon the

Opener of hundreds of th o usands of years and the ,

”
“
standard of the god Te np u or as o thers say , ,

the standard of y o ung p l ants a nd fl o wers Depar t ‘

from me for I am the divine L ynx S o me

“
y e , .
60 A M U LE T S .

’
have thought that the snake s head represents the
’
serpent which surmounts the ram s head on the
u r h ek a u instrument used in perfo rming the ceremony

1 ”
of Opening the m o uth .

Th e K h rh
e -
eb r h g d d h
p i e s t t o u c i n th e s ta t u e ”o f t h e ece a se w i t th e u r hek a u i ns t r u m e nt
to e ffe c t t h e o p eni n g of th e m o u t h Fr
( o m t h e P a p y r u s of A n t, p l a te
.

16 . TH E AM ULET or TH E M E NAT ,
Gt]
This amulet was in use in Egypt as early as the
V I th dynasty and it was worn or held or carried
,

with the sistrum by gods kings priests priestesses , , , ,

etc ; usually it is held in the hand but it is often

.
,

worn o n the neck Its obj ect was t o bring j oy an d

.

health to the wearer and it was believed to possess

,

m agical properties ; it represented nutrition 2

an d
S ee th e des cr i p t i on o f th i s c e r e mo ny i n Ch a p te r V I .

M ena t i s co nne c te d wi th th e r o o t fr o m wh i ch t h e wo rd fo r nu r s e
( menfit) i s d e rv ;
i e d s e e th e a r l y
t i c e b L e feb u re, L e M e na t e t l e No m
“

d e l E u nu q u e i n P r oc S oc B i bl A rch , 1 8 9 1 , p 3 3 3 f
’ ”
. . . . .
 ”
UN I O N A ND E T E R N IT Y . 61

strength and the might o f the male and female

,

organs o f generation mystically considered was sup

, ,

p o sed to be united therein The amulet is made in .

bro nze sto ne p o rcelain and other substan ces and

, , , ,

when laid upon the body o f the dead brought t o it

the p o wer o f life and reproductio n .

17 . TH E A M U LET OF TH E SAM ,
Y
T his amulet is probably intended represent an to

organ of the human body and its use is very ancient ; ,

it is made o f lapis la z uli and other hard stone sub

-

s tances and in the late period is often fo und in

,

t h e s wa t h i ng s o f mummies Its primary meaning is .

”
“
union and refers to animal pleasure
, .

18 . TH E A M ULET OF TH E S H EN Q ,

’
This amulet is intended t o represent the sun s orbit ,

a n d it became the symbol of an unde fi ned peri o d of

t ime i e eternity ; it was l aid up o n the body of the

,
. .
,

d e a d with the V iew of giving t o it lif e which sh o uld

e n dure as long as the sun rev o lved in its orbit in

1
t h e h eavens f
In the picture o the mummy chamber
.

t he goddesses Isis a n d N e p h th ys a r e seen kneeling and

r e s ting their hands on s i ren Figures of the sl um were .

S ee P ap y ru s o f A ni , 2 nd e di t , p l a te s 3 3 , 3 4 .
62 TH E H E AV E NLY S TE PS .

painted upon stel ae c o ffi ns etc as a n amulet it

, , .

is c o mmonly m ade of lapis lazuli or carnelian The -

.

amulet of the c a rtouche

D has been supposed to be
nothing more than s k en elonga ted but it , probably
0
”
refers to the ordinary meaning of i . e
.
, name .

19 . TH E A M ULET o n TH E STEPS , i ]
H

This amulet seems to have two meanings : t o lift up

t o heaven a nd the throne o f Osiris
,
A cc o rding to one .

legend when t h e god Shu wished to lift up the goddess

,

Nut from the e mbrace o f the god Seb so that her body , ,

supported by her stretched out arms and legs might -

form the sky he found that he was not tall enough

,

to do so ; in this di ffi culty he made use of a flight

o f steps and having mounted to the top of these he
,

fo und himself able to perfo rm his w o rk In the fo urth .

1
section of the Elysian Fields three such flights of
steps are depicted In the XX I I nd Chapter of the
.

Book of the Dead the deceased prays that he may “

have a portion with him who is o n the top of the

’
“

”
steps i e Osiris and in funeral vignettes this god
,
. .
, ,

is seen seated upon the t op of a flight of steps and

h o lding h i s usual symb o ls o f sovereignty and domini o n .

The amulet of the Steps is usually made of green or

blue gla z ed porcelain .

S e e P a p yr u s of Ani , 2nd e di t , p l a te 3 5 .
64 A M U LETS I N G R ZE CO R O M
-
AN TI M E S .

erased from it The use of amule ts was c o mmon in

.

Egypt from the earliest times to the R o man Peri o d ,

and when the Egyptians embraced Christianity th ey , ,

in co m mon with the Gn o stics and se m i Christian sects

-

imported into their new faith many o f the v iews an d

beliefs which the i r s o called heathen ancesto rs had
-

held and with them the use o f the names o f ancient

,

Egyptian go ds and go ddesses and dem o n s and fo rmul ae

, , , ,

which they empl o yed in much the same way as they

were e m plo yed in the days o f o l d .
 CH A PTE R II I .

M A G I C AL I URES
F G .

IT has been said above that t h e name o r th e emblem

o r the picture o f a god or dem o n c o uld bec o me an

amul et with p ower to pro tect him that w o re it and ,

that such p ower lasted as long as the subs tance of

which it was made l a sted if the name or emblem or
, , ,

picture was no t erased from it But the Egyptians

.

went a step fur ther than this and they believed that
,

it was possible to transmit to the fi g u r e of any man ,

o r woman o r animal
,
or living creature the soul o f
, ,

the being which it represented and its qualities an d

,

attributes The statue of a god in a temple contained

.

the S pirit of the god w h ich it represented and fro m

‘

.
,

t ime imme m o rial the pe o ple of Egypt bel ieved that

every statue and every fi gure p o ssessed an indwelling

S piri t
. W hen the Christianized Egyptians m ade their
”
attacks o n the id o ls o f the heathen they pro ved
“

that they p o ssessed this belief for they always e n

,

dea vo u re d to throw down the statues of the g o ds o f

E G P M AG I C
. . F
66 S P I R IT S D WE LL I N ST AT U E S .

the Greeks and Ro mans kn o wing that if they were

,
,

o nce Shattered the spirits which dwelt in t hem would

‘

have no place wherei n to dwell and w o uld there by,

be rendered h o meless and powerless It w ill be re

.

membered that it is stated in the A p o cryphal G o spels

that wh en the V irgin Mary and her S o n arrived in
Egypt there was a movement and qu ak ing thr o ugh o ut
all the land a n d all the idols fell d o wn fro m their
,

”
pedestals and were bro ken in pieces Then all the .
,

priests and n o bles went t o a certain priest with w h o m

”
a devil used t o speak fro m o u t o f the ido l and they ,

asked him the meaning o f these things ; and whe n he

had explained t o them that the fo o tstep of the s o n
”
o f the
“
secret and hidden god h a d fallen up o n the
land o f Egypt they accepted his c o unsel and m ade a
,

fi gure o f this god .The Egyptians ackn o wledged that

the new g o d w a s greater than all their gods t ogether ,

and they were quite prepared t o set up a statue o f h i m

because they believed that in s o d o in g they w o uld
c o mpel at least a p o rti o n o f the spirit of the secret “

”
and hidden g o d t o come and dwell in it In the
.
.

follo wing pages we S hall endeavour t o describe the

principal uses which the Egyptians made of the fi gures
o f g o ds and men and beasts t o which magical p o wers
, , ,

had been imparted by means o f the perfo rman ce o f

certain symbolic cerem o n ies and the recital o f certain
words of power ; and how they could be empl o yed to
do b o th g o o d and evil .
 WIFE
’
A B A A NE R S
-
U N F A IT H F U L . 67

One of the earliest in stances of the use of a magical

fi gure 1 s related I n the W e s tca r Papyrus where we
l
,

read th a t Prince Kh af B a t o ld Khufu (Che o ps) a

-

sto ry of an event which had happened in the time o f

N eb k a or N eb kau R a a king o f the I I Ird dynasty
- - -

, ,

wh o reigned ab o ut R C 3 8 3 0 It seems that th is king

. .

onc e paid a visit to one of his high o ffi cials called A ba

aner whose wife fell vi o lently in love with o n e of the
,

s oldiers in the royal train This lady Sent her tire.

w o man to hi m with the gift of a chest of cl o thes and ,

apparently she made known to him her mistress s ’

desire for he return e d with her to A ba a ne r s h o use

,
-
’
.

There he saw the wife and made an app o intment t o

meet her in a little house which was situated on her '

’
husband s estate an d she gave instructions t o o ne of
,

the stewards o f A b a aner to prepare it fo r the arrival

-

o f herself an d her l o ver W hen all had been made

.

ready she went to the house and stayed there the

wh o le day drinking and making love with the man
until su n set ; and when the evening had come he ro se
up and went down to the river and the tirewoman
bathed h i m in the water thereof But the steward .
,

wh o had made ready the house declared that he must ,

make the matter known unto his master a nd on the ,

fo llowing mornin g as soon as it was light he went ,

t o A ba —aner and related to him everything which

had happened .The o ffi cial made no ans wer to his

E d E rm a n p p 7
. . . a nd 8 .
68 T H E C R O COD I LE OF WA x

servant s report but ordered him to bring him certain

’

materials and his box made of ebony and precious

metal Out o f the box h e to o k a quantity o f wax
.
,

which was no doubt kept there for purp o ses similar

, ,

t o that to which a portion of it was now to b e put ,

and made a m o del of a crocodile seven spans l o ng ,

and then reciting certain magical words over it he ,

said ,
“
W h eii the man cometh d o wn to bathe in
“
my waters sei z e thou him .
”
Then turning to the ,

steward he gave the wax crocodile to him and s aid

, ,

When the man according to his daily wont

, ,

cometh d o wn to wash in the water thou shalt cast

the cro c o dile in after him and the steward
having taken the wax crocodile fro m his master went
his way .

And again the wife of A b a aner o rdered the steward

-

who had charge o f the estate t o m a ke ready the h o use

”
which was in the garden fo r she sa id behold I
,
“
, , ,

”
“
am c o mi ng to pass s o me time therei n S o the house
.

was made ready and p ro vided wi th all g o od things ,

and she came with the man and passed some time
with him there N ow when the evenin g was come
.

the man went down to the water t o wash acco rding t o

his daily wo nt and the steward went do wn after him
,

and threw into the water the wax cro co dile which ,

s traightway turned int o a livi n g cr o c o dile seven cubits

about twelve feet) in length and sei z ed upon t h e

,

man and dragged him down in t h e water .

 B E CO M E S A L I V I N G C R O CO D I LE . 69

Meanwhile A ba aner tarried with his ki n N eb kau - g -

Ra for seven days and the man remained in the depths ,

o f the water and had no air t o breathe And on the .

1
seventh day A ba aner the kk er h e?) went out with -

t h e king fo r a wal k and invited His Maj esty t o c o me ,

and see fo r himsel f a w o nderful thing which had

happen ed to a man i nhis own days ; so the king went
with him W hen they had c o me t o the w ater A ba aner
.
-

”
adjured the cr o c odile saying Bring hither the man , , ,

and the crocodile came out o f the water bringing the

man with him A nd when the king remarked that .

the cr o codile was a h o rrid l oo king monster A ba aner ,

-

st oo ped d o wn and t o o k it up into his han d when it s

straightway became a wa xe n cro c o dile as i t was befo re .

A fter these th ings A ba aner related t o the king what -

h a d happened between his wife and the man wh o m

the cr o c o dile h a d brought up out o f the water where ,

up o n the king said to the cro c o dile Take that which ,

“

“
is thin e and bego ne and immediately the croc o dile
seized the man an d sprang into the water with hi m ,

an d disappeared in its depths A nd by the r o yal .

’
c o mmand A b a a ner s wife was seized and having been
-

led to the n o rth side o f the p alace was burnt and ,

her ashes were cast int o the stream Here then we .

h ave already in the I I Ird dynasty the existence o f a

belief that a wax cro c o dile o ver which certain w o rds ,

I . e .
, th e p r i e s tl y offi c i a l wh o p e r fo rm e d th e mo s t i mp or ta nt o f th e
fu n e ra l c e r e m o n i e s : h e wa s a l wa y s a m a n o f g r e a t l e a rn i n , a nd
g
g e ne r a lly of h i g h r a nk .
70 M AG IC WOR K E D BY WA X F IG U R E S .

h ad been sai d could change itself into a living reptile

,

at pleasure and that a man could be made by the

,

sam e means to live at the b o tt o m of a stream for

seven days without air W e may also notice that
.

the great priestly offi cial the kh er h eb was so much in

, ,

the habit of performing such acts o f magic that he kept

in a room a box of materials and instruments always
ready for the purp o se ; and apparently n either hi mself
, , ,

nor his ki ng nor his servant tho u ght the working

, ,

o f magic inconsistent with his high religious o ffice .

But at the time when A ba aner was working magic -

by means o f wax fi gures probably to the harm and ,

injury o f his enemies the p riests were making pro

,

visi o n for the h appiness and well bei ng of the dead -

also by means of fi gures made of vario u s substances .

A ccording t o o n e ve ry early belief the dead mad e their

way t o a regi o n called Sekhet A aru where they l ed -
,

a life which was no t very di fferent from that which

they had led upon earth Fro m the pictures of this .

place which are painted o n coffi ns of t h e X I th dy nasty ‘

we see that it was surrounded by streams of water ,

and t hat it was intersec ted by canals and that in , ,

fact it was very mu ch like an ordinary well kept

,
-

estate in the Delta The beings who lived in this

.

p l ace however had th e same wants as human beings

, ,

that I s t o say they needed b o th food and drink or

, ,

bread cakes and ale The existence of bread and ale

-
.

presupp o sed the existence o f wheat and barley and ,

 72 U S H A BTI U F G I U RES .

provided with representati o ns of the ro pe basket and ,

pl o ugh it and flail A such as were employed by

, ,

the Egyptian la b o urer in carry i ng fi eld pro duce and ,

in pl o u ghing and in thr e shi ng grain The fo rmula 1

, .

o r words o f p o wer w hich were I nscribed o n s u ch

fi gures varied at di ff erent peri o ds but o ne o f the ,

o l dest which was in use in the XV I I I th dynasty

, ,

m akes the deceased say t o the fi gure which was ,

called Shabti
O t h o u Shabti fi gure of t h e scribe Ne b s eni if I ,

be called o r if I be a dju dged t o do any w o rk what

,

s o ever of the labours w hich are to be do n e in the

un derw o rld by a man in his turn— beh o ld any ,

o bstacles (or opp o siti o n ) to t hee will be d o ne away

with there— let the ju dgment fall up o n thee i n stead

of u p o n me always in the matter o f sowing the fi elds
, ,

o f fi lling t h e water c o urses with water and of bringing

-

the sands fro m the east t o the west A fter these .

w o rds c o mes the answer by the fi gu re V erily I a m ,

here an d [will do ] whats o ever t h o u b i ddes t me to

do . The Egyptians were m o st anxi o us to escape
2
the lab o urs o f to p dressing the land an d o f s owing
-

the seed a w o rk which had t o be d o n e by a man

,

standing in water in the sun and the t o ils o me t ask ,

o f w o rking the sh a duf o r in strument fo r raising water

,

I .Ch a p t e r V o f th e B o o k o f th e D e a d
e .
, . .

2
Th i s i s , I th i nk , t h e m ea ning o f b r ing ing th e s a nd f r o m th e ea s t
to th e we s t .
 R A M E SE S III . A ND TH E CO N S P I R A CY .
73

fr o m the Ni l e and turni ng it o n to the land In .

graves n o t o ne fi gure o nly is fo und but several and , ,

it is said that I n the t o mb of Seti I king o f Egypt .

,

ab o ut 1 3 7 0 n o less than seve n hundred w o oden

,

u s h a bti u insc ri b ed wi t h t h e V I th Chapter o f the Bo o k

of t h e Dead an d c o vered with bitumen were fo und

, , .

The u s e o f the s k a bti fi gure continued unabated down

t o the Roman period whe n b o xe s fu ll of ill shaped
,
-

uninscribed porcel ain fi gures were buried in the tombs

with the dead .

The n ext instance worth mentioning of the use o f

magical fi g u res we o btain from the o ffi cial acc o unt
o f a conspiracy agai n st Rameses I I I king of Egypt .
,

ab o ut E C 1 200 It seems that a number of high

. .

o ffi cials ,
the Overseer of the Treasury included and ,

certain scri b es conspired together against this king

, ,

apparently with the view o f dethroning him They .

to o k i nt o their counsels a number of the ladies attached

t o t h e c o urt ( s o me think they bel o nged to the k a r i r n) ,

and the chief abode of these ladies became the head

quarters o f the conspi rat o rs One o ffi cial was charged
.

“
wi th carrying abr o ad their w o rds t o their m o thers
“
and sisters wh o were there to stir up men an d t o
incite malefactors t o do wro ng t o their lo rd an o ther
was charged with aiding and abetting the conspira cy
by making himself o ne with the ringleaders ; an o ther
w as charged with being c o gnizant of the whole matter ,

and with co nceali ng h i s kn o wledge o f it ; another with

74 H UI M AK E S WA X I URES
F G

givi ng ear to the c o nversatio n held by the men c o n

s p i rI n g W i th t h e w o men of the Per k h e nt and no t -

”
bringing it fo rward against them and s o o n The , .

c o nspiracy so o n extended fr o m Egypt t o Ethi o pia and ,

a military o ffi cial of high ran k in that c o untry was

drawn int o it by his si s ter wh o urged him t o Incite
,
“

the m e n to commit crime and do th o u thyself c o me

,

_
t o do wr o ng t o t h y l o rd ; n o w the S ister of this

o ffi cial was in the Per khe u t and s o she was able to

-

give her br o ther the latest info rmati o n o f the prog ress
o f the disaffection . N ot content with endeavo uri ng
t o dethrone the king by an uprising o f b o th soldiers
and civilians Hui a certa i n h i gh o ffi cial wh o was
, , ,

the overseer o f the [royal ] cattle beth o ught h i m o f ,

applying magic t o help t heir evil designs and with ,

this o bj ect in view he went to some o ne wh o had

’
access t o the king s li b rary and he o btained fro m him
,
.

a b o o k c o ntaining fo rmulae o f a magical nature and ,

directions fo r working magic By means o f this b o o k

.

“ ”
he Obtained divine p o wer and he became able t o ,

cast spells up o n fo lk Having gai ned p o ssessio n o f

.

the b o o k he next l o o ked out for some place where he

c o uld carry o n his magical w o rk W i th o ut interr u ptio n ,

and at length fo und o ne Here he set t o work t o

.

make fi gu res of men in wax, and amulets inscribed

with w o rds o f m a gical p o wer which w o uld pro v o ke
l o ve and these h e succeeded in intro ducing into the
,

r o yal palace by means o f the offi cial A t h i r m a ; and

 AND W R IT E S M A G I C A L FO R M U L /E .
75

it seems as if tho se who took them into the palace

and those wh o received them were under the magical
influence of H u i It is probable that the l o ve philtres
.

were intended for the use of the ladies wh o were i n

volved in the conspiracy but as to the object of the
,

wax fi gures there is no doubt fo r they were intended ,

to w o rk harm to the king Meanwhile Hui studied

.

his magical work with great diligence and he suc ,

ce ede d in fi nding e ffi cacious means for carrying out

all the horrible things an d all the wickednesses

”
“
which his heart could imagin e ; these means b e
employed in all seriousness and at length committed
,

great crimes whic h were the horror of every god and

goddess and the punishment of such crimes was death
,
.

I n another place Hui is accused of writing books o r

fo rmulae o f magical w o rds the e ffect of which would
,

be t o drive men o u t of their senses and to strike terror ,

into them ; and of making go ds of wax and fi gures of

men o f the same substance which S hould cause the ,

hum an beings whom they represented t o become

paralysed and helpless .But their e fforts were in
vain the conspiracy was discovered and the whole
, ,

matter was carefu lly investiga ted by t wo small courts

of enquiry the members o f which con sisted for the
, ,

’
m o st part of the king s pers o nal friends ; the king s
,
’

“
o rders t o them were that those who are guilty shall
die by thei r o wn hands and tell me nothi ng whatever
,

”
about it . The fi rst c o ur t which consisted o f six
,
76 CO N S P I R ATO R S SE N T E N CE D TO D E AT H .

members sat t o investigate the o ffences o f the husban ds

,

and relatives o f the ro yal ladies an d th o se o f the ladies,

th emselves but befo re their business was done three

,

Of them were arrested because it was fo und that the

ladies had gained great influence over them that they ,

and the ladies had feasted t ogether and that they had ,

ceased t o be in consequence impartial judges They

, , .

were rem o ved from their trusted p o sitio ns befo re the

king and having been examined and their guilt clearly
,

bro ught home t o them their ears and n o ses were cut
,

o ff as a punishment and warning to o thers not to fo rm

friendships with the enemies of the king The sec o nd .

c o urt which consisted o f fi ve members investigated

, ,

the cases o f th o se w h o were charged with having

“
stirred up men and incited malefact o rs to do wro ng
”
t o their l o r d and having fo u n d them guilty they
,

sentenced six o f them t o death one by o n e i n the , ,

fo llowing terms — P e n ta u ra w ho i s als o called by

“
,

“
another n ame He was brought up o n acc o unt o f the
.

o ffence which he had committed in c o nnexion With

his m o ther Thi when she fo rmed a c o nspiracy with
the w o men o f the Per kheut and because he had -

intent t o do evil unto h i s lord He was bro ught .

befo re the court o f ju dges that he might receive

sentence and they fo u nd him guilty and dismissed
, ,

him t o his o wn death where he s u flered death by

,

”
his o wn hand The wretched man Hui wh o made
.
,

wax fi gu res and S pells wi t h t h e intent t o in flict pain

 A N TI Q U IT Y OF U SE OF WA X F G I U RES .
77

and su ffering and death up o n the king was also com ,

1
p el l e d to c o mmit suicide .

The above story o f th e famous c o nspiracy against

Rameses III is most useful as pr o ving that b oo ks o f
:

magic existed in the Royal L i b rary: and that they were

not mere treatises on magical practices but de fi nite ,

w o rks with detailed instructions t o the reader how t o

perform t h e ceremonies whi ch were necessary to mak e
the fo rmulae o r words o f power e ffi cacious W e have .

no w see n that wax fi gures were used b o th t o do good

and to do harm from the I I I rd to the X Xth dynasty

, ,

and that the ideas which the E gyptians held concerning

them were much the same about R C 1 2 00 as they were .

t wo th o usand fi ve hun dred ye a rs earlier ; we have als o

seen that the use of u s h a bti u fi gures which were ,

intended t o set the deceased free from the necessity of

labour in the w o rld beyond the grave was widespread , .

'
That such fi gures were used in the pre dy na sti c da y s -

when the Egyptians were slowly emerging into civili

z a ti on from a state o f semi barbarism is not to be -

w o ndered at an d it need n ot surprise us that they

,

existed as a survival in the early dynasties befo re the

pe o ple generally had realized that the great powers of
N ature which they dei fi ed could not be ruled by man
, ,

and by his petty w o rds and deeds however my sterio u s ,

and solemn It is however very remarkable t o fi nd

.
, ,

Se e D e véri a , L e P ap yr u s Ju di ci a i r e de Tu r i n i n Jo u rna l As t a ti q u e ,
‘

1 8 65 a nd C h a b a s , L e P a p yr u s M a gi q u e H a r r i s , p 1 6 9 ff
. .
78 WA X F G I U RE S I N T HE T E M P LE OF AM E N .

that the use of wax fi gures played a prominent part in

certain o f the daily services which were performed in
the temple of the god A men Ra at Thebes and it is still
-

more remarkable that these services w e re p erform e d at '

a time when the Egyptians were ren o wned among the

nations of the civilized world for their learning and
wisdom . One c o mpany of priests attached to the
temple was empl o yed in transcribi ng hymns and re
l ig i o u s c o mpositions in which the unity power and , ,

might o f G o d were set fo rth in unmi stakable terms ,

and at the same time another company was engaged in

perfo rming a service the o bj ect of which was to free
the Sun which was dei fi ed under the form of B a and
, ,

was the type and symb o l o f God up o n earth from the ,

attacks o f a monster called A p ep !

It will be remembered that the X X X I Xth Chapter
o f the B oo k o f the Dead is a composition which was

writ ten with the object of defeating a certain serpent ,

to which many names are given and o f delivering the ,

deceased from his attacks In it we have a descriptio n

.

of how the monster is vanquished and the deceased “

says to him R a maketh thee to turn back 0 thou

,
“
,

“
that art hateful t o him ; he looketh upon thee get ,

thee back He pierceth thy hea d he cutteth thro u gh

.
,

thy face he divideth thy head at the t wo sides o f the

,

ways and it is crushed in his land ; thy b o nes are

,

smashed i n pieces thy members are hacked from o ff

,

thee and the g o d A ker hath condemned thee O A p e p

, , ,
80 D ES T R U C TI O N O F AP E P

flame the E y e o f H orus shall gnaw into that enemy

of

o f B a ; and the flame of the Eye o f H o rus shall eo n

sume all the enemies o f the Mighty G o d life ,

strength ! health ! both in death and in l ife W hen .

”
A p e p is given t o the flame says the rubric tho u “
, ,

shalt say these w o rds o f p o wer z— T aste th o u death ,

0 A p e p get thee back retreat O enemy o f Ra fall

, , , ,

d o wn h e repulsed get back and retreat ! I have

, ,

d riven thee back and I have cut thee in pieces

, .

Ra triumphs
. over A p ep . Taste th o u death ,
A p ep .

Ra trium phs Over A p ep . Taste thou death ,

A p ep .

R a triumphs
. over A p ep . Taste thou death ,
A p ep
Ra triumph s o ver A p ep . Taste thou death ,
A p ep .

These last sentences were said fo ur times that is to ,

say once for each of the gods o f the cardinal points

,
.

“
The text continues Back Fiend an end to thee !
, , ,

Therefo re have I driven flame at thee a nd therefo re ,

have I m ade thee t o be destro yed and therefo re have ,

I adjudged thee t o evil A n end an end t o t hee ! .

,

Taste th o u death ! A n end t o thee ! Thou shalt never

”
rise again Such are the wo rds o f p o wer and thes e
.
,

are fo ll o wed by t h e directi o ns for perfo rming the

ceremony which read thus 1,

“
I f th o u wouldst destr o y A p ep thou shalt say this ,

c h apter over a fi gure o f A p e p whi ch hath been drawn

in green c o lo ur up o n a sheet of ne w papyrus and o ver ,
 BY ME AN S OF WA X F G I UR ES . 81

1
wa x fi gure
of A p e p up o n which his name hath been
’

cut and inlaid with green col o ur ; a nd th o u shalt lay

them upon the fi re s o that it may c o nsume the enemy
of Ba A nd th o u shalt put such a figure o n the fi re
.

at dawn and an o ther at noon and an o ther at even

, ,

tide whe n B a setteth i n the land o f li fe and another ,

at m idnight and another at the eighth h o ur o f the

,

day and an o ther towards evening ; [and if necessary ]

,

thou mayest do thus every h o ur during the day and

the night and on the days of the festivals
, and
every da y By means o f this A p ep the enemy of Ra
.
, ,

shall be overthrown in the shower for B a shall shi ne ,

”
and A p ep shall indeed be overthro wn A nd the .

“
papyr us an d the fi gure having been burnt i n a fire
made of k h es a u grass the re m ains thereof shall be ,

mixed with excrement and thrown upon a fir e thou

shalt do this at the S ixth h o ur o f the night and at ,

dawn o n the fi fteenth day [of the month] A n d .

when the fi gure o f A p e p is placed in the fi re thou

’

shalt S pit upon h i m several times each h o ur during

the day until the shad o w turneth roun d Thou shalt
,
.

do these thi ngs when tempests rage in the east of the

sky as R a setteth in o rder to prevent the c o ming,

o nward o f the storms Th o u shalt do this and s o .

1 Th e oc ri tu s h a s p re s e r ve d fo r u s a p roo f th a t th e G re e k s m a de u se
o f wa x fi g u r e s a t a n e a rl y d a t e Th u s i n P ha rma keu tr i a ( 1 27 if ) th e
. . .

l a dy s p inni ng h e r whe e l a nd a dd re s si ng th e L ynx s a y s E ve n a s I ,

“
me l t th i s wa x wi th t h e g od to a i d s o s p ee di l y m a y b e b y l o ve b e
, ,

m o l te n ! ( L a n g s Tr a ns la ti o n p
’
.
,

E G P M AG I C
. .
 M A G I CAL CE R E M O NY .

prevent the co m i ng o f a sh o wer o r a rain storm and -

”
there b y S hall the sun be made to shine .

In a n o ther part of this book the reciter is t old t o

say the following fi rmly with the mouth “
Down
“
up o n thy face 0 A p ep enemy o f R a ! The flame
, ,

which c o meth fo rth fr o m the Eye o f Horus a dva nce th

“
against thee Th o u art thrust d o wn into the flame
.

o f fi re and it cometh against thee Its fl a me is deadly .

t o thy soul and to thy spirit and t o thy w o rds of

, ,

power and t o thy body and to thy Shade Thelady

, , .

o f fi re prevaileth o ver thee the flame pi erceth thy ,

sou l it maketh an end of thy person and it da rt e th

, ,

“
into thy fo rm The e ye o f Horus which is powerful
.

“
against its enemy hath c a st thee d o wn it devoureth ,

thee the great fi re trieth thee t h e Eye o f R a prevaileth

, ,

“
over thee the flame devoureth thee and what escapeth
, ,

“
fro m it hath no being Get thee back fo r th o u art .
,

“
cut asunder thy s o ul is shrivelled up thy accursed
, ,

“
name is buried in o blivio n and silence is up o n it , ,

and it hath fallen [o u t o f remembrance ] Th o u hast .

“
c o me to an e nd th o u hast been driven away and
, ,

th o u art fo rgo tten f o rg o tten forgotten etc

, To , , .

make these words t o be o f e ffect the speaker is told

to W rite the names of A p e p up o n a new papyrus and
to burn i t in the fi re either when B a is rising o r at
—
,

n o o n or at sunset etc In an o ther part of the work

, ,
.
,

after a series of curses which are o rdered t o be said

o ver A p e p the rubric directs that the shall be recited
, y
84 P TA H -
SE K E R A U S AR -
F I G U R E S,

Hauna aru her hra

-
Make an o ther with the face o f
- -
.
’

a duck and with a knife stuck in his back and call it

, ,

Aluti Make another with the face of a white cat and

.
’
,

with a knife stuck in his back and tie it up and bind ,

’
it tightly a n d call it A p e p the Enemy
,
S uch are .

the means which the Egyptians ado pted when they

wanted to keep away rain and storm thunder and ,

lightning and mist and cloud and to ensure a bright

, ,

clear sky wherein the sun might run his c o urse

“
U nder the hea ding o f Magical Figures m u st
certainly be included the S O called Ptah Seker A usar - - -

fi gure which is us u ally made of wood ; it is often

solid but is s o metimes made hollow and is usually
, ,

let int o a rectangular wooden stand which may be

either solid or holl o w The three gods or t ri ni ty o f .

Ptah Seker ( Soch a ri s ) and A usar (Osiris) are intended

, , ,

t o represent the god of the sunrise ( Ptah ) the god ,

o f the night sun ( Seker ) and the god of the resurrecti o n ,

”
(Osiris)
“
. The name Ptah means Opener and is ,

usually applied to the sun as the o pener o f the

”
day ; and the name Seker means He who is shut in ,

that is to say the night sun who was regarded as the

, ,

s u n buried temp o rarily N ow the life o f a man upon .

”
earth was identifi ed with that o f the sun he o pened
or began his life as Ptah and after death he was shut ,

” ”
“
in or co ffi ned like it als o B u t the sun rises again
,
.

when t h e night is past and as it begins a new life , ,

with renewed strength and vig our it became the type ,

 OR BI R T H , DE AT H ,
A ND RES U R R E CTI O N . 85

Of
'

the ne w life which the Egyptian hoped to live in

the world bey o nd the g rave But the di fli cu l ty was .

how to obtai n the protection of Ptah Seker and Osiris , , ,

and h o w t o make them do for the man that which

they did fo r themselves and so secure their attributes
, .

To attain this end a fi gure was fashioned in such a

way as to include the chief characteristics o f the form s
o f these gods an d was inserted in a rectangular woode n
,

stand which was intended to represent the co ffi n or

chest o u t of which the trinity Ptah Seker Ausar came - -

fo rth . On the figure itself and o n the sides o f th e

st and were in scribed prayers on behalf of the man fo r
whom it was made and the E gyptian believed that
,

these prayers caused the might and powers of the three

go ds t o come and dwell in the wo o de n fi g u re But
’

I n o rder to make the stan d of the fi gure as much like

a c o ffi n as possible a small portion of the body of the

,

deceased was carefully mummi fi ed and placed in it ,

and it was thought that if the three g o ds pro tected

and preser ved that piece and if they re vi vi fi e d it in
,

due season the whole b o dy w o uld be pro tected and

, ,

preserved and re vi vi fi e d
,
Frequently especially in
.
,

the late period a cavity was made in the side o f the

,

stand and in this was laid a small roll of papyru s

,

inscribed with the text o f certain Chapters o f the Book

o f the Dead and thus the deceased was pr o vided with
,

additio nal security fo r th e resurrection of hi s spiritual

bo dy in t h e w o rl d to c o me T he little rolls of papy ru s
.
86 I
F GU R E S O F G OD S A S A M U LE TS .

are ofte n inscribed with but S hort and fragmentary ‘

texts b ut occasionally as in the case of the priestess

, ,

An h ai a fi ne large papyrus inscribed with numerous

,
1
,

texts and illustrated with vignettes was placed inside

“

the figure o f the god who in this instance is in the

,

2
form of O siris only It seems that the Ptah Seker
.
-

A us ar fi gure was much used in the late period in Egypt ,

for many inscribed examples have been found which

are not only illegible but which prove that t h e artist
,

had no t the rem o test idea of the meaning o f the things

which he was writing It is possible that they were
.

employed largely by the po o r among wh o m they seem ,

to have served t h e p u rp o se of the costly tomb

Returning once more to the s u bj ect of wax fi gures ,

it may be wdndere d why such a very large proporti o n

.

o f th e fi gures of the gods which were worn by the

living and attached to the bodies of the dead as amulets

are made of almost every kind o f substance except
wax But the reason of this is not far t o seek : wax
.

is a substance which readily changes its fo rm under

heat and pressure and it is also p o ssible that the fact
,

of its having been employed from time immemorial fo r

making fi gures which were intended t o w o rk harm
and not goo d to man ind u ced those who made amulets
,

in the fo rms o f the g o ds t o select s o me other material .

A s a matter o f fact h o wever se veral fi gures of go ds

, ,

1
Thi s p a pyr us i s p re s e r ved i n th e B r i ti s h M u s e u m ( N0 .

1
B r i ti s h M u s eu m No
,
 T H E F OU R CH ILD R E N OF H OR US . 89

made o f wax t o serve as pro tective amul ets are k no wn ,

and a set of fo ur representing the fo ur children of

,

Horus no w preserved in the British Museum are

, ,

wo rthy of n o tice The four children of H o rus or the

.
,

go ds of the fo ur cardinal points were called M es th a , ,

Hapi Tu a m u t e f and e h s e nnu f and with them were

, , ,

ass o ciated the go ddesses Isis N ephthys N ei th an d , , ,

S erq e t respectively M e s th a was man headed an d

.
-

represented the south and pro tected the stoma ch ,

and large intestines ; H api was do g headed and re p re -

sented the north and protected the small intestines ;

,

Tu a m u t e f was jackal headed and represented the east

-

, ,

and protected the lungs and the heart ; and e h s e nnu f

was hawk headed and represented the west and p ro
-
, ,

t ect e d the liver and the gall bladder The vari o us -

.

internal organs of m en were removed from the body

befo re it was mummi fi e d a nd h a vi ng b ee n steeped in ,

cer tain astringent substances and bitumen were wrapped

up i n bandages and laid in four j ars made o f stone
, ,

marble porcelain earthenware o r w o od Each j ar was

, , , .

placed under the pro tectio n o f o ne of the fo ur children

o f H o rus and as it was h o llow and its cover was made
, ,

in the form o f the head o f the god wh o was represented

by it and as the j ar by means o f the inscription up o n
,

it became an ab o de o f the go d it might well be said ,

that the organ o f the deceased which was put in it

was actually placed insi de the god The custom o f .

embalmi ng the int estines separately is very o l d and ,

 90 TH E G OD S OF T H E C A R D I NAL PO I N TS .

several examples of it in the KI th dynasty are known ;

eve n at that early peri o d the fo ur j ars o f mummi fi ed
intestines were placed in a funeral chest o r coffer , ,

w hi ch was mounted on a sledge and drawn along in ,

the fu neral processi o n immediately after the c o ffi n .

In later times we fi nd that many attempts were made

t o secure for the deceased the bene fi t o f the pr o tecti o n

o f these fo u r gods W ithout incurring the expense of

Th e F r Ch i l dr n f H r
ou e o o us .

T u a m u te f .
e h s ennu f .

Os i ri s ri ing fr
s om th e f r
u ne a l c h est h ld i ng th
o e s ym bo l of
“
li f
e in e ac h h nda
( Fro m
.

t h e P a p y r us of A n t, p l a te

st o ne j ars ; this c o uld be done by burying with h i m

fo ur m o dels or dummy j ars or four p o rcelain fi gures ,

of the fo ur go ds ,
EEfi fi
, , , ,
or fo ur wax ones . For

some u nknown reason the set referred to ab o ve Wa s

1
made o f wax The fo ur children o f Horus played a
.

1
No s . a nd i n th e S eco nd E gy p ti a n
R oo m .
9 2 N E C T AN E B U S D ES T R OY S H I S F OE S

Whenever he was threatened with invasi o n by sea o r

by land he succeeded in destroyi ng the p o wer of his
enemies and in driving them from his coasts or
,

frontiers ; and this he did by the fo llowing means .

If th e enemy came against him by sea instead of ,

sending ou t his sailors to fi ght them he retired into ,

a certain chamber and having brought fo rth a bowl

,

which he kept fo r the purpose b e fill ed it with water , ,

and then having made wax fi gures of the ships and

,

m e n of the enemy and als o of his own men and ships

, ,

he set them u pon the water in the bowl his men on ,

o ne side an d those of the enemy on the other He

, .

then came out and having put o n the cloak of an

,

Egyptian pr o phet and taken an ebony ro d in his han d ,

he returned into the chamber and uttering words o f ,

p o wer he invoked the go ds wh o help men to work

magic and the winds and the subterranean demo ns
, , ,

which straightway came to his aid By their means .

the fi gures of the men in wax sprang into life and

began t o fi ght and the ships of wax began t o move
,

abo u t likewise ; but the fi gures which rep resented his

own men vanquished tho se W hich repres ented the
en emy and as the fi gures o f the ships and men of the
,

hostile fleet sank thro ugh the water to the bottom of the
bowl even so did the real ships and men sink through
,

the waters to th e bottom of the sea In this way he .

succeeded in maintaining hi s power a nd he continued ,

t o o cc u py h i s kingd o m in peace for a c o nsiderable

 BY M E AN S O F A BOW L OF W A T ER .
93

peri od But it fell out on a day that certain scouts

.

came and informed N ectanebus that a multitude of

the nations of the East had made a league together
against Egypt and that their allied forces were at that
,

moment marching against hi m W hen the king h eard .

the news he laughed and having Said s o me scornful

,

words about his enemies he went int o his private

,

chamber and p o uri ng water into the bowl began to

,

work magic i n the usual way But when he had .

spoken the words of power he l o oked at the wax ,

fi gures and saw to his dismay that the gods of Egypt

, , ,

’
were steering the enemies ships and leading their ,

so ldiers to war against himself No w as so o n as .

Nectanebus saw this he understood that the end o f

,

the kingdom of Egypt was at han d fo r hitherto the ,

gods had been wont to hold converse with him readily ,

and to lend him their help whenever he had need o f

it He then quitted the chamber hastily and havi ng
.
,

shaved o ff his hair and his beard and disguised ,

himself by putting on c o mm o n apparel he t o o k ,

ship and fled t o Pella in Macedonia where he estab ,

l i s h ed himself as a physician and as a n Egyptian , _

so o thsayer .

Omitting for the present any reference to the co n

, ,

tents o f the I V th chapter o f Pseudo Ca l l i s th e ne s I n -

which the castin g of the nati vity o f Olympias by

Ne ct a neb u s is described we come t o the pass a ge in
,

which the story of the wa y in which he sent a dream

94 O LY M P I A S A ND TII E G OD AM E N .

to the queen by mean s of a wax fi gure i s t o ld His .

o bject was to persuade the queen that the Egyptian

god A men would co m e t o her at night To do this .

he left her presence and going ou t into the desert he

,

collected a number of herbs which he k new h o w to

'

empl o y in ca u s i ng p e opl e to dream dreams and having ,

brought them back with him he squee zed th e jui ce

out o f them He their made the fi gure of a woman
.

in wax and wrote upon it the name of Olympias just

,
’

as the priest o f Thebes made the figure o f Ap e p in

wax and cut his name upon it N ectanebus then lit .

h i s lamp and having p o ured the juice o f t h e herbs

, ,

over the wax fi gure of the qu een he adjured the ,

demons t o such purpose that Olympias dreamed a

dream in which the go d A m en came t o her and
embraced her and t o ld her that she should give birth
,

to a man child who should avenge her o n her husband

Phili p But the means described ab o ve were not the
.

o nly ones known t o N ectanebus fo r procuring dreams ,

fo r when he wanted t o make Philip o f Maced o n t o

see certain things in a dream and t o take a certain ,

V ie w about what he saw he sent a hawk which he , ,

had previously be witched by mag i cal wo rds to Philip ,

as he lay asleep and in a single night the hawk flew

,

fro m Macedo nia to the place where Philip was and ,

c o ming to h i m to ld him What things he sh o uld see

in his dream and he saw them On the morro w Ph il ip
, .

had the drea m explained by an exp o u nder of dreams ,

9 6 TH E LOV E R A ND H IS M S I T R E SS .

kn o w o f the ideas which underlay the use of wax

fi gures by the Egy ptians and Greeks it is clear that , ,

i n pro vidi ng A lexander with these models and the

wo rds of power to use with them A ristotle believed ,

he was giving him the means o f making his enemies

t o become like the fi gures in the box and s o they ,

1
w o uld h e powerless t o a ttack him .

2
In the G raeco R o man period wax figures were used
-

in the perfo rmance of magical cerem o nies o f every

kind and the two following examples indicate that the
,

ideas which underlay their use had not changed in the

least . If a lover Wished to secure the favours of his
mistress he is directed t o make a fi gure of a do g in
,

wax mixed with pitch gum etc eight fi ngers l o ng and

, , .
, ,

certain words of power are t o be written over the pla ce

where his ri b s should be N ext it was necessary t o .

write o n a tablet other words o f p o wer o r the na m es , ,

o f beings W h o were supposed t o possess magical powers ;

o n this tablet the fi gure o f the dog must be placed and ,

the tablet is made to rest up o n a tripod W hen this .

has been done the l o ver must recite the w o rds o f po wer
’
which are written o n the dog s side and also the names ,

which have been inscribed on the tablet and o n e o f ,

t wo things will happen : i a the do g will either snarl . .

,

1
S e e my L i fe a nd E xp lo i ts f
o Al exa nd er th e G r e a t ( o ne l
vo u me

e di ti o n) , p xvi
-
. .

2
T he G re ek s u s e d i nca nta ti ons a t a n e a rl y da te a s we ma y , see

fr o m P i nda r P yth i a i v 2 1 3 ; th i s wr i te r l i ved i n th e fi r s t h a l f o f

, , .
th e
fi f th c e nt u ry b e fo re Ch ri s t .
 L OV E I URES
F G .
97

and snap at the l o ver or he will b ark If he snarl s ,

.

and snaps the lover will not gain the o bject o f his
a ffections but if h e barks the lady will co me t o him
,
.

In the second example the l o ver is ordered to make t wo

waxen fi g u res ; one in the fo rm of A res and the other ,

in the fo rm of a w o man The female fi gure is to be in .

the posture of kneeling upon her knees with her hands

tied behi nd her and the male fi gure is to stand over ,

her with hi s sword at her throat On the limbs of the

‘

female fi gure a large number of the names of dem o ns

are to be written and when this has been done the , ,

l o ver must take thirteen bron z e needles and stick them ,

”
in her l imbs saying as he does s o I pierce (here he
, ,

mentions the name o f the limb ) that she may think o f “

”
“
me The lover must next write cert a in words o f
.

power on a leaden plate which must be tied to the ,

wax fi gures with a string c o ntaining three hundred and

sixty fi ve knots and b o th fi gure and plate a re t o be
-

buried in the grave o f s o me o ne who has died y o ung o r

wh o has been slain by vi o lence He must then recite .

a l o n g incantation to the infernal g o ds and if all these ,

things be done i n a pro per manner the l o ver will obtain

1 ’
the woman s a ffecti o ns .

Fro m Egypt by way o f Greece and H o m e the use of

, ,

I o we h e se t wo e x a m p l e s o f th e u s e o f wa x fi g ur es
t h e f a c ts of t
a nd t h e t wo s p e ll s fo r p r o c u r i ng vi s i o ns a nd d re a ms ( s ee p a nd .

th e e x a m p l e o f th e u s e o f th e s p h e r e o f D e m o c r i tu s ( p to M r . .

F G Ke nyon A s s i s ta nt Ke e pe r i n th e D e pt o f M S S
. .
, B ri t i s h . .
,

M u s eu m .

EG P . M GIC
A .
9 8 U SE O F WA X I U RE S I N
F G SCOT LAN D .

wax fi gures passed into W estern Euro pe and England ,

and in the Middle Ages it fo und great fav o ur with th o se

who interested themselv es in the w ork ing of the black
art or who w
,
”
ished t o do their neighbo u r or enemy an
injury Many st o ries are current of how in Italy and
.

England ignorant or wicked minded pe o ple made models -

of their enemies in wax and hung them up in the chim

ney n o t too close t o the fi re s o that they might melt
, ,

away slowly and of how the people that were re p r e

,

sented by such fi gures gra dually l o st the p o wer over

their lim bs and co ul d not sleep and slowly sickened
, ,

and died If pins and needles were stuck into the wax
.

fi gures at stated times the su fferings o f the living were

made m o re ago ni z ing and their death much m o re ,

painful .

l
Sharpe relates that about the end o f the V I I th
century king Duffus was so unpopular that a company
of roasted his image made of wax upon a wo oden
b a gs
spit reciting certain words of enchantment and basting
, ,

the fi gure with a pois o nous liquor These w o men when .

apprehended declared that as the wax mel t e d the body ,

of the king should decay and the w o rds o f enchant ,

ment prevented him from the refreshm ent of sleep .

’
The two foll o wing extracts from Tho mas Middlet o n s -

Th e Wi tch illustrate the views held about wa x fi gures

2

3
in England in the time of this writer .

S e e 0 K S h a rp e ,
. . Wi tchcra f t i n S tla nd, L ond on, 1 8 8 4 , p 2 1
co . .

7 L ondon , 1 7 78 . B or n a b o u t 1 5 7 0, di e d a b o u t 1 6 26 .
 1 00 TH E BU R N I N G O F T H E H E AR T .

in recent years Thus an old woman at Mendip had

.

a pig that fell ill and she at once made up her mind
,

”
t hat t h e animal had been overlooked in her trouble
”
s h e consulted a white witch i e a wise man and
“
. .
, ,

by his orders she acted thus She obtained a sheep s .

’

1
heart and having stuck it full o f pins set it to roast
,

before a fi re whilst her friends and neighbours sang :

,

It is h h e a r t I m e a n to b u r n
no t t is ,

B u t t h e p e rs o n s h e a r t I wi s h to tu r n
’
,

W i s h i ng th e m ne i th e r re s t nor pe a ce
T i ll the y a re de a d a nd g o ne .
”

At inter vals her son George sprinkled salt on the fi re

which added greatly to the weirdness of the scene and ,

at length when the r o asting h a d been continued until

,

far into the night a black cat j umped out from some
,

where and was of course instantly declared to be the

, ,

demon which had been exorcised A gain in October .

, ,

1 8 8 2 a heart stuck full of pins was found in a recess

,

o f a chimney in an old house in t h e village of A sh

brittle ; and in 1 8 9 0 another was fo und nailed up inside

the clavel in the chimney o f an ol d house at Staple
gro ve .

The art of making such fi gures King James I .

”
attributes to the Divell and say s in describing the
“
,

I n th e No r th R i di ng o f Y rk s h i re e vi l i nfl en es we re a ve r te d
o u c

b y m e a ns o f a l i vi ng b l ck c k wh i h wa s p i e c e d wi th p i n a nd
a oc c r s

roa sted l i ve a t d a d f ni g h t wi th ve ry doo r wi ndo w nd ra nny

a e o , e , , a c

a nd c re vi e s t ff ed
c p ( s e B l k eb o ro g h Wi t Ch r t r F lh l e
u u e a u a ac e o or
-
, , , .

a nd C s tom
u f th e N r th R i di ng f Yo rk hi e L ondon 1 8 9 8 p
s o o o s r , , , .
 K I N G JA M E S I . ON WAX F G I U RES . 101

things which witches are able to e ffectuate by the “

“ 1
power of their master To s o me others at these
times hee teacheth how to make pictures of wa xe,

or clay That by the ro asting thereof the pers o n s ,

t h at they beare the n ame o f may be continually ,

melted or dried away by co nti nu a ll s i ck nes s e .

They can bewitch and take the life of men or women ,

by ro a sting of the pictures as I spake of before which , ,

l ikewise is ve ri e possible to their Maister to performe ,

for altho u gh (as I said be fore ) that instrument of wa xe

have no vertue in that turne doing yet may hee not ,

very well even by the s a me measure that his conjured

,

slaves melts that wa xe at the fi re may hee not I say

, , ,

at these same times s u b til y as a s p lri te so weaken

, , ,

and scatter the spirites o f life of the patient as may ,

make him on the one part for fa i nt nes s e so s wea t e , ,

out the humour of his bodie A nd on the other parte ,

for the not co n currence of these Spirites which causes ,

his digestio n s o debilitate his s to m a ck e that this

, ,

humour ra di c a l l c o ntinually sweating out on the one

p a rt and no n e w g o od s u ck e being put in the place
,

there o f for lacke of digesti o n o n th e other he at last

, ,

shall vanish away even as his picture will di e at the

,

fi re ? A nd that knavish and cunning wo rk e m a n by ,

troubling h i m onely at sometimes makes a pro portion

, , ,

so meere betwixt the working of the o ne and the other ,

T h e fo llo wi ng wo r ds a re p u t i nto th e m o u th o f E p i s te m o n i n
D ae mo no lo g i e , i n F o r me o ne D i a lo g u e, L o ndr n, 1 6 03 , S e co nd B oo k e ,
f
o

Ch a p . V .
pp 4 4 4 5 . .
[0 2 A WOU N D E D EYE IS H E AL E D

that both shall end as i t were at one time Thus we .

have seen that the belief in the efficacy of wax figures

is at least six thousand years o ld and ju dging fro m ,

passages in the works o f m o dern writers its existence is

n o t unknown in ou r o wn country at the present time .

This chapter may be fi tti ngl y ended by a notice of

the bene fi ts which accrued to a Christian merchant in
the L evant from the use of a wax fi gure A ccording t o .

1
an Ethiopic manuscript in the British Museum this
man was a ship o wner as well as a merchant an d h e ,

was w o nt to send his goods to market in his o wn ships ;

in his day however the sea was infested with pirates
, , ,

and he l o st greatly thro ugh their success ful attacks

.

up o n his vessels A t length he determined to travel in

.

o n e of his own ships with a numb er of armed men s o ,

that he might be able t o resist any attack which th e

pirates might make and punish them for their r o bberies
,

in times past S oo n after he had sailed he fell in wi t h

.

a pirate vessel and a fi ght at once took place betwee n

,

his crew and the r o bbers in the course of which he

,

w a s shot in the eye by an arro w ; he stopped the

c o m bat and then sailed for a port which was situ ated
near a monastery wherein the V irgin M ary was r e
,

p o rted to wo rk miracles by means o f a picture of hersel f

which was hung up in it When the merchant arrived
.

i n p o rt he was so ill through the wound in his eye that

he c o uld n o t be moved and it was fou hd that a p o rti o n
,

O r i e n ta l 64 6 fo l 2 9 1) fi
‘

, . .
 ( 1 04 )

CH AP TER I V .

M AG I C AL P I CTUR ES AND FORM ULZE, S PE LLS ,

E TC .

FROM what has been said above it is clear that the

Egyptian believed it possible to vivify by means of
formul ae and words of power any fi gure made i n the
form of a man or animal and to make it w o rk either
,

o n behalf o f o r against his fellow man Besides this

.
,

he believed greatly in the effi cacy of representations or

pict ures of the gods and of divine beings and things
, ,

pr o vided that words of power properly recited by

pro perly app o inted people were recited over them If .

this fact be b o rne in mind a great many diffi culties in

understanding religi o us texts disappear and many ,

apparently childish facts are seen to have an important

meaning If we l o o k into the tombs o f the early
.

perio d we see painted o n the walls numbers of scenes

i n which the deceased is represented making o fferings
to the go ds and performing religi o us ceremo nies as ,

wel l as numbers of others in which he is directing the

w o rk of his estate and ruling his h o useho ld It was .

n o t alt o gether the resu l t of pride that such pictures

 T H E G O D D E SS H AT H OR IN TH E SY C A M OR E . 1 05

were painted o n the walls o f tombs fo r at the bott o m ,

o f his heart the Eg y ptian hoped and believed that th e y

were in reality representations of what he would do in

the next world and he trusted that t h e words of his
,

prayers w o uld turn pictures into realities and drawi n gs ,

int o substances The wealthy Egyptian left behind

.

h i m the means for m aking the o fferings which his h a ,

Th e godd s s H tb or gi vi ng th cri b e A ni m at nd dri nk f

e a e s e a ro m o u t o f a s y ca m o e r tr ee
w hi h gro ws b y t h e Sid
c f a tr m
e o s ( Fr m t h e P ap y
ea . o rus o f A mi, p l a t e

or d o uble needed and was able t o provide for the

, ,

maintenance o f his tomb and of the Zea chapel and o f

the priest o r priests wh o ministered t o it It was an .

article o f faith am o ng all cl a sses that unless the h a was

pr o perly fed it w o uld be driven to wander about and
pick up fi lth and anything else o f that nature which it
1 06 O FF E R I NG S TO TH E DE AD PR O VID E D

fo und in its path as we may see fro m the LI I nd

,

Cha pter of the Bo o k of the Dead in which the deceased ,

says ,
hat which is a n abomination unto me that ,

“
which is an abominati o n u nto me let me not eat .

That which is an abominatio n unt o me that which is ,

an abomination unt o me is fi lth ; let me not eat o f it

instead o f the cakes [which are o ffered unto ] the
D o ubles (k a rt ) L et it n o t light up o n my body ; l e t
.

me no t be o bliged t o take it into my hands ; and let

Th e ri b
sc e A ni a nd f d g r
h i s w i e s ta n i n i n a s t ea m drink ing r
wa t e
(F
.

ro m t h e P ap yr u s of A n i , p la te

me no t be o b liged to walk there o n in my sandals .

A nd in the CLX X X I X th Chapter he prays that h e

may not be o b l iged to drink fi lthy water or be de
fi l ed in any way by it The rich man even was n o t.
, ,

certain that the app o int e d o fferings o f meat and dri nk

could o r would be made in his t o mb in perpetuity :
what then was the p o or man to do to save his Ira from
the ignominy o f eating fi lth and dri nking dirty water
 TH E JU D G M E N T H ALL OF O SI R I S .

besides the pill o w they placed little else in the

tomb.

A bout a thousand y e ars later when the religious ,

texts which fo rmed the Book o f the D ead were writt e n

upon papyri instead of co ffi n s a large number of illus
,

t ra t i o ns or vignettes were added t o them ; to man y of

these special importance was attached and the fol l o wm g ,

are w o rthy of note .

It will be remembered that the CXX V th Chapter o f

the B o ok of the Dead contains the s o called N egative -

Confession which is recited in the H a ll of Ma ati and ,

a number of names of gods and beings the knowle dge ,

of which is most i mportant for the welfare of the

deceased A t the end o f the Chapter we fi nd the
.

following statement This chapter shall be said by

“
the deceased after he hath been cleansed and puri fi ed ,

and when he is arrayed in apparel and is shod with ,

white leather sandals and his eyes have been painted

,

with antimony and his body hath been anointed with

,

“
Ei n ti unguent and when he hath made o fferings o f
,

o xen and birds and incense and cakes and ale and
, , , , ,

garden herbs A nd behold th o u shalt paint a picture

.
,

of what shall happen in the Hall of M a ati up o n a

new tile m o ulded from earth upon which neither a ,

pig n o r any other animal hath tro dden A nd if th o u .

writest up o n it this chapter the deceased shall

flourish and his children shal l fl o urish and his
name shall never fall int o oblivi o n ; and bread and ,
 TH E G I F T OF A IR AND W ATE R . 1 09

cak es and s weetmeats and wine and m eat S hall be

, , ,

gi v e n unto him at the altar of the great god and he

“
sh a ll n o t be turned back at any do o r in the under
world ; and he shall be brought in along with the
Kings o f the N orth and S o uth ; and he shall be in
t h e foll o wing o f Osiris always and for ever Here .
,

the n w e have an e xcellent example of the far reachin g

,
-

e ffects of a picture accompan ied by the proper words of

p o w er and every picture in the Book of the Dead was
,

equ a lly e ffi cacious in producing a certain re sult that re ,

sult being al ways c o nnected with the welfare o f the dead .

A ccor ding to several passages and chapters the

dec e ased was terri fi ed lest he sh o uld lack b oth air and
wate r as well as food in the underw o rld and to do
, , , ,

a w a y with all risk of such a calamity happening ,

pictures i n which he is represented holding a sail (the

,

symb o l of air and wind and breath) in his hands and ,

1
stan ding up to his ankles in water were painted on ,

/
his papyrus and texts similar to the following were
writte n bel o w them My m o uth and my nostrils are
.

“
opened in Ta t tu (Busiris ) and I have m y place o f ,

peace i n A nnu ( Heli o p olis ) which is my ho use ; it

was bu ilt for me by the go ddess S e s h e ta and the god ,

K h n e m u set it upon its walls fo r me Hail .

,

th o u god Tem grant th o u unto me the sweet breath

,

“
which dwelleth in thy nostrils ! I embrace the great
throne which is in Kh em ennu (Hermop olis ) and I ,

Se e th e vi g ne t te s t o C ha p te r s L 1 V —L X
. . of th e B oo k o f th e D ea d.
1 IO M A G I C AL P I C TU R E S .

keep watch over the Egg o f the Great Cackler ; I

germinate as it ge rm i n a t et h ; I live as it liveth and
1
my breath is its breath But yet another exceed
i ngl y great mystery had t o be perfo rmed if the
deceased w a s t o be enabled to enter int o heaven by its
~

fo ur d o o rs at will and t o enj o y the a n which came

,

thro ugh each The north wind be l onged t o Osiris the

.
,

s o uth wind t o R a the west wind to Isis a nd the east

, ,

wind t o N ephthys ; and for the deceased t o o btain

p o wer o ver each and all o f these it was necessary for
him to be master o f the d o ors thr o ugh which they blew .

This power c o uld o nly be o btained by causi ng pictures

o f the fo ur d oo rs t o be p a inted o n the co ffi n with a

fi gure o f Th o th o pening each Some special imp o r tance

.

was attached t o these for the rubric says L et n o ne

, ,
“

who is outside kn o w this chapter fo r it is a great ,

mystery and those wh o dwell in the swamps

, the
ignorant) kn o w it not Th o u shalt n o t do this in the
.

presence of any person except thy father or thy s o n , ,

o r thyself al o ne ; for it is indeed an exceedingly great

mystery which no man whatever knoweth 2 .

”

.
One of the delights c o veted by the deceased was t o
sail over heaven in the boat o f R s in c o mpany with ,

the go ds o f the funeral cycle o f Osiris ; this happiness

c o uld be secured for him by painting certain pictures ,

and by saying over them certain words of p o wer On .

1
S e e Ch a p ters f Co mi ng
o F o r th by D a y, p 1 06 .

2
I bi d , p 28 9
. .
l 1 2 M A G I C AL P I C TU R E S .

papy rus is probably contemporaneous The two foll o w.

ing rubrics from Chapters C XXX III and C XXX I V .

respectively will explain still further the imp o rtan ce o f

,

such pictures
1 This chapter shall b e recited over a boat four
.
“

cubits in length and made of green porcelain [on

,

which have been painted ] the divine soverei gn chiefs

of the cities ; a nd a fi gure of heaven with its stars
shall be made also a n d this th o u shalt have made
,

ceremonially pure by m e ans of n atron and incense .

A n d behold thou shalt make an image of R5 in

, .

y ellow c o l o ur upo n a n ew plaque and set it at the

b o ws of the b o at A n d behold th o u s halt make an
.
,

image of the spirit w hich thou d o s t wish t o make

perfect [and place it] in this b o at and thou shalt ,

make i t to travel about in the b o at [which shall be

made in the form of the boat] of B a ; and he shall
see the fo rm of the god R a h imself therein L et n o t .

the eye o f any man whatsoever lo o k up o n it with the ,

“
exception o f thine own s elf o r thy fa ther or thy son
, , ,

and guard [this] with g reat care Then shall the

.

spirit be perfect in the heart of B a an d it shall give

,

unto h i m p o wer with the c o mpany o f the g o ds and

the g o ds shall l o ok upon him as a divine bei ng lik e
unt o themselves ; and m ankin d a nd the dead shall
fal l d o wn up on their faces a nd he shall be seen i n
,

the underworld in the fo rm o f the ra diance o f B a .

”

“
2. T his chapter shall be recited over a haw k
 T H E SO U L C OM I N G T O T H E B O D Y . 1 1 3

standing and h a V I ng the white cro wn upon his head ,

[and over fi gures of ] t h e g o ds Tem Shu T e fnu t Seb , , , ,

Nut O siris Isis Suti and N e p h th y s painted in yell o w

, , , , ,
”

col o ur upon a new plaque which shall be placed in ,

[a model of] the b o at

[ o f Il a
] along with a fi gure of ,

the spirit whom thou wouldst make perfect These .

th o u shalt an o int with cedar o il and incense shall be ,

o ffered up t o them o n the fi re and feathered fo wl , ,

Th e s o ul o f r
th e s c i b e A ni vi si ti n g
h i s m u mm i fi e dbd
o y as i t l i e s o n i ts b i er i n th e
t om b . r
( F o m t h e P a p y r u s of A nt, p la t e

shall be roasted It is an act of prai se to R 5 as he

. .

j o u rn e e t h and it shall cause a man to have his being

y ,

along with B a day by day whithersoever the g o d ,

voy a g e t h an d it shall destroy the e n e m I e s o f R s in

“
.

”
very truth regularly and continually .

Many of the pictures or vignettes carry their own

interpretations with them e g the picture o f the so ul ,
. .
,

hovering over the dead body which lies beneath it on

the bier at onc e suggests the reunion of the soul with
E G P M AG I C
. .
T
1 1 4 SO UL A ND S PI R I T L E A V I N G
_ TH E TOM B .

the body ; the picture o f the deceased walking away

fro m a bl o ck o f slaughter and a kn ife dri p p I ng with
“

blood suggests escape fro m a cruel death ; the picture

o f a s o ul and spirit standing before an open d o o r
suggests that the soul has freedom t o wander about at
will ; and the picture of the soul and the shadow in
the act o f passing out thr o ugh the d o o r o f the tomb
’
indicates clearly that these parts o f man s economy are

An u bi s h l d i ng
o rb
th e m u m m y o f t h e sc i e A n i b y t h e o o d r of t h e to m b d
s ta n th e
s o u l a n d s p i ri t o f t h e d
ec e a s e d fr
i n th e o m o f a h
u ma n -
h d d h a wk
ea e a nd be nn u
b rd r i Fr .

i e s p e c t ve l y .
( o m t h e P ap y ru s of A nt, p l a t e

no t shut up in the t o mb for all eternity But the ideas .

which pro mpted the painting of other vignettes are

no t s o clear eg th o se which accompany Chapters
,
. .
,

C LX I I —C LXV in the late or S aite Recension of the

. .

B o o k of the Dead alth o ugh fo rtunately the rubrics to

, , ,

these chapters make their obj ect clear Thus the picture .

which stands ab o ve Chapter C LX II is that of a co w .

having up o n her head horns a disk a nd two p l u mes , , ,

1 1 6 M A G I C AL P I C T U R E S A N D T E XT S .

both the w o rds and the picture refer to some event in

the life of Rs o r Hor us It is quite evident that the
,
.

words of p o wer o r charm uttered by Isis Hathor

, ,
-

delivered the god o u t of s ome trouble and the idea is ,

that as it delivered the go d and was o f bene fi t to him , ,

even so w ill it deliver the deceased and be of bene fi t t o

him The words of power read
. O A men O A men , ,

who art in heaven turn thy face up o n the dead body

,

o f thy son and make him sound and str o ng in the

,

under world A nd again we are warned that the

.

“ “
w o rds are a great mystery and that the eye o f no
“
man whatsoever must see it for it is a thin g of ,

ab o mination for [every man ] to know it Hide it .

,

therefore the Book of th e lady of the hidden temple

is its name .

A n examinati o n o f mummies of the late period

‘

shews that the Egyptians did actually draw a fi gure o f

the c o w up o n papyrus and lay it under the head o f the
deceased a nd that the cow I s only o ne figure among
,

a number o f o thers whi ch were drawn o n the sama

papyrus W ith the fi gures m agical texts were I nscribed
.

and in course o f time when the papyrus had bee n ,

m o unted up o n linen it superseded the go ld fi gure ,

of the cow which was fastened to the neck of the

de ceased and became strictly speaking an amulet
, , , ,

though its usual name am o ng arch aeolo gists is hypo “

”
cephalus The fi gure on the opposite page well
.

illu s trates the obj ect It will be noticed that the

.
Hy p o ce p h alu s or o bj ect p l a ce d nd r t h h d
u e e ea of th e d ece a se d Sh a i -
e ne n t o k e ep r h
wa m t
i n th e bo dy .
1 20 M A G I C AL P I C TU R E S A N D T E X TS .

“
sa ffron c o l oured form I have come fo rth fro m the
-
.

underworld at pleasure I have come I have come

. .

fo rth from the Eye o f H o rus I have c o me forth from .

the underworld with R a fro m the House of the Great

A ged One in Heliop o lis I am one of the spirits who
.

come fo rth from the underworld : grant thou unt o

me the things which my body needeth and heaven ,

”
for my soul and a hidden place for my mummy
, .

2 May the god who himself is hidden and who se

“
, ,

face is c o ncealed who shineth upon the world in his

,

fo rms of existence and in the underwo rld grant that

, ,

my s o ul m ay live fo r ever ! May the great g o d in his

disk give his rays in the underworld of Heliopolis !
“
Grant thou u nto me an entrance and an exit in the
”
underworld with o ut let or hindrance .

Chapter C LX III o f the Book of the Dead was

.

written t o prevent the body of a man moul dering

away i n the underworld and to deliver him from the
,

s o uls which were so unfortunate a s to be shut in the

vario us places thereof but in order t o make it
,

tho roughly effi cacious it was ordered to be recited over

three pictures : (1 ) a serpent with legs havi ng a disk ,

and two ho rns upon its head ; (2) an a teh a t or Eye

1
,

of H o rus in the pupil o f which shall be a fi gure o f

,
“

the G o d of the lifted hand with the face o f a di vine

“

s o ul and having plumes and a back like a hawk

,

“
an a tch a t o r Eye of H o rus in the pupil of which
( 3 ) , ,

S ee a b o ve , p 55.
 TH E G O D D E SS M U T W IT H TH RE E H E AD S . 1 2 1

there shall b e a fi gure of the G o d o f the lifted han d

with the face of the go ddess N eith and having plumes ,

”
and a back like a hawk If these things be done
.

“
for the deceased he shall no t be turned back at any
“
gate o f the underworld he shall eat and dri nk an d
, , ,

perfo rm the natural fu nctions o f his b o dy as he did

when he was upon earth ; and n o ne shall rise up t o
cry o u t against him ; and he shall be pr o tected from
1 ”
the hands of the enemy for ever and ever .

The w o rds of power w hich fo rm the CLX I V th

Chapter to be e ff ectual had t o be recited over a fi g u re
of the goddess Mut which was to have three heads .

The fi rst head was like that of the go ddess P e k h a t and

had plu m es ; the second was like that of a man and
had up o n it the cro wns of the S o uth and N orth ; the
third was like that o f a vulture and had upon it
plumes ; the fi gure had a pair o f wings and the claws ,

of a lio n This fi gure was painted in black green and

.
, ,

yello w c o l o urs up on a piece o f a nes linen ; in fro nt o f

it and behind it was painted a dwarf wh o w o re plum es
upon hi s head O ne hand and arm o f each dwarf were
.

raised and each had two faces o ne being that of a

, ,

hawk and the other that of a man ; the body o f each

wa s fat . These fi gures having been made we are told ,

that the deceased s h a l l b e like unto a god with the

' “

“
gods of the underworld ; he shall ne ver never be ,

turned back ; his flesh and his bones shall be like

S e e Ch a p te r s of Co mi ng F o rth by D a y, p 2 9 2
. .
1 22 T H E G OD O F T H E Iz I F T E D H AN D .

tho se of one who hath never been dead he shall drink

water at the source of the stream a homestead shall
be given unto him in Sekhet A aru ; he shall become -

a star of heaven ; he shall set o u t to do battle with

t h e serpent fi end N ekau and with Tar wh o are in the ,

under world ; he shall n o t be shut in along with the

s o u ls which are fettered ; he shall have p o wer t o
deli ver himself wherever he may be ; and worms
1 ”
shall not dev o ur him .

A gain the words of power which fo rm the CLX V t h

,

Chapter to be e ffectual were ordered by the rubri c to

be recited o ver a fi gure of the G o d o f the lifted hand ,

which shall have plumes upon its head ; the legs

thereof shall be wide apart and the middle p o rtion o f
,

it shall be in the fo rm of a beetle and it shall be ,

painted blue with a paint m ade of lapis lazuli mixed -

with ga m a i water And it shall be recited over a

.

fi gure with a head like unto that of a man and the ,

hands and the arms there of shall be stretched away fro m

his body ab o ve its right shoulder shal l there be the
head of a ram and above its left shoulder shall there
,

be the head o f a ra m A n d th o u shalt paint the

.

fi gure o f the God o f the lifted hand u pon a piece o f

linen immediately over the heart of the deceased and ,

thou shalt paint the o ther over his breast ; but let
n o t the g o d S u k a ti who is in the under wo rld kn o w
”
th e deceased shall
“
it. If these things be done ,

S e e Cha p ter s f Co mi ng
o Forth by D a y, p 29 4. .
1 24 TH E BOO K OF T H E D E AD

him in the under wo rld and in heaven and up o n , ,

earth and in every place wherever he may enter

, .

W e have seen ab o ve in the description of the amulets

,

which the Egyptians used how both the substance of ,

the amulet and the w o rds which were inscribed upon it

p ossessed magical p o wers but we may learn from several
,

instances given in the papyri that the written words

al o n e were su ffi cient in s o me cases t o produce remark
able effects This is of course a very natural devel op
.
, ,

ment and charms o r words of power which needed

,

nothing but to be written on papyrus or lin en to p ro

duce a magical effect would be popular with all classes
o f men and w o men and especially among the p o or and
,

the ignorant The written w o rd has been regarded in

.

the East with reverence from time immemorial and a ,

copy of a sacred writing or text is w o rn o r carried

about t o this day with much the same ideas an d beliefs
about its power to pro tect as in the earliest ti mes In .

ancient Egypt the wh ole Book o f the Dead as wel l as ,

the vario us secti o n s o f it which are usually c o pied o n

”
papyri consisted o f a series of words of p o wer and
, ,

the modern Egyptian l o o ks upon the Ko ran in the

same light as his ancestor lo o ked up o n the o lder w o rk .

A curious passage in the text inscribed o n the m s rde of

“
the pyramid o f U nas reads (1 The b o ne and .

“
flesh which possess no writin g are wretched but , ,

behold th e writing of U nas is under the great seal

, ,

”
and beho ld it is n o t under the little seal
,
It is .
 A S E R I E S OF W OR D S OF P O WE R . 1 2 5

diffi cult to e xplain the passage fully but there is n o ,

doubt that we have here an allusion to the custom o f

placing writings believed to be possessed of magical
powers with the dead C ertain passages or sectio ns o f
.

the religious bo o ks of ancient nations have always been

held to be of more importance than o thers and co n ,

s ide ri ng the great length of such compositions this is

not to be wondered at A mong the Egyptians two .

fo rms of the LX I V th Chapter o f the B o ok of the Dead

were in use and there is no doubt whatever that the
,

shorter form as far back as the Ist d ynasty about

, ,

4 3 00 was I ntended to be a summary of the whole

,

work and that the recital of it was held to be as

,

1
e ffi cacious as the recital of all the rest of i t I t is a .

remarkable fact that th is form is called T he Chapter o f

“
kno wing the Chapters of Co m ing Forth by Day in
”
a single Ch a pter and that it is declared to date fro m
,

the time o f H e s ep t i a king of the Ist dynasty about

, ,

B C 4 3 00 whilst the
. .
,
fi nding of the longer form i s
attributed to the reign o f Men kau B a (M ycerm u s ) a - -

king of the I V th dynasty about B C 3 6 00 It is , . . .

interesting to note how persistently certain chapters

and fo rm u l as occur in funeral p a pyri of different periods ,

and the explanation seems to be that a popular selection

was m ade at an early date and that this selection was ,

In a si mi a l r w a y th e A r b s a tt h a s mu ch i mp o r ta n e t
a ac c o th e
F a th a , or Op e n i n g c ha pte r a nd t o th e c h p te r wh i c h de c l a re s
, a th e
U ni ty o f G od a s to th e r e s t o f th e Ko ra n .
I26 M A G I C AL FORM U L /E .

cop ied with such additi o ns o r o missi o ns as the means o f

the friends o f the deceased all o wed or made necessa ry .

One thing is quite certain every man i n Egypt died in -

the fi rm belief that in the course of his j ourney into the

next world he would be provided with w o rds of power
which would enable him to make his way thither u h
hindered and give him abundance of meat and drink W e
,
.

may see thi s view whi ch was held concerni ng w o rds

of power from the foll owing passages May Thoth ,

“
who is fi lled and furnished with words o f p o wer ,

c o me and loose the bandages even the bandages of ,

Set which fetter my mouth N ow as co n cerning

.

the w o rds o f power and all the words which may be

S p o ken against me may the gods resist them and
“
, ,

may each and every one of the company o f the gods

” 1
withstand them Behold I gather t o gether the
.
“
,

word of power from wherever it is and fro m any ,

pers o n with who m it is s wifter than greyh o unds and

,

2 ”
quicker than light To the croc o dile whi ch c o meth
.

to carry o ff fro m the deceased his words of power he

“
says ,
Get thee back return get thee back thou
, , ,

“
crocodile fi end Sui ! Thou shalt not advance to me ,

for I live by reason o f the words o f p o wer which I

have with m e Heaven hath power over its
.

seasons and the words of power have dominion over

,

that which they possess ; my mouth therefore shall

“
have power over the words of p o wer which are
S e e Ch a p ters f Co mi ng
o F or th by D a y, p 7 0
. .
2
Ibi d , p 7 1
. .
1 2 8 T H OT H T H E G OD OF WORD S OF P OW E R .

millions o f years the lord of laws the subduer o f

, ,

1 ”
the two lands etc , .

From the above passages we no t o nly learn h o w

great was the con fi dence which the deceased placed in
his w o rds of power but also that the so u rces from which
,

they sprang were the go ds Tho th an d Isis It will b e .

remembered th at Th o th is called the scribe o f t h e

” ”
“ g ds the lord f writing the master papyrus
“
o ,
o o f , ,

”
the maker o f the palette and the ink j ar the l o rd -

,
“

o f divine words t e the holy writings or scriptures

,
. .
, ,

and as he was the lord of books and m aster o f th e

power of speech he was considered t o be the possessor
,

o f all knowledge both human and divine A t th e .

creation of the world it was he wh o reduced to word s

the will of the unseen and unkn o wn creative Power ,

and who uttered them in such wise that t h e univers e

came into being and it was he who proved himself b y
,

the exercise of his knowledge to be the protect o r a nd

friend of O siris and o f Isis and of their s o n H o rus
, , .

From the evidence o f the texts we know that it wa s

n o t by physical m ight that Tho th helped these thre e

gods but by giving them w o rds o f power and instruct

,

ing them h o w to use them W e know that Osiri s .

vanquished his foes and that he rec o nstituted his body

, ,

and became the king o f the under wo rld and g o d of t h e

dead but he was o nl y able to do these things by mean s
,

of the words o f power which Thoth had given to him ,

S e e Ch a p te r s f Co mi ng
o F o rth by D a y, p 3 4 0 f
. .
 T H OT H TH E PRO T E CT OR OF O S I R I S . 1 29

and which he had taught hi m to pro nounce properly

and in a proper tone o f voice It is this belief which .

makes the deceased cry o u t Hail Thoth who madest , , ,

Osiri s V ictorious over his enemies make th o u A ni t o ,

b e V ictorious over his enemies in the presence of the

great and sovereign princes who are in Ta ttu or in any ,

other place W ithout the words of po wer given to him

.

; ”

by Thoth O siris would have been powerless un der the

,

attacks of his fe es and similarly the de ad man wh o

, ,

was always identi fi ed with O siris would have passed ,

out of e xistence at his death but for the words of power

provided by the writings that were buried with him .

I n the J u dgment S cene it is Thoth who reports to the

gods the result of the weighin g of the heart in the
balance and who has supplied its owner with the
,

w o rds which he has uttered in his supplications and ,

whatever can be said in favour of the deceased he says

to the gods and whatever can be done for hi m he does
, .

But apart fro m being the pro tector a nd friend o f Osiris ,

Thoth was the refuge to which Isis fled in her trouble .

The words of a hymn declare that she knew how t o “

“
“
turn aside evil hap and t hat she was stro ng of ,

“
tongue and uttered the w o rds of power which she
,

k n ew with correct pronunciation and halted n o t in her ,

speech and was perfect both in giving the comman d

,

1 ”
and in saying the word but this des cription only,

1
Ch a b a s , R evu e A r cheo lo g i q u e, 1 8 57 , p 6 5 if ; L e dra i n, M on u ments
.

Eg yp ti ens, p l xx i i . a nd fo r a r ecen t t r a ns l a ti on s e e my F i rs t
.

S tep s i n E gyp ti a n , p p 1 7 9 —1 8 8 . .

EG P . M AG I C .
1 30 T H OTH TH E PRO T E CT O R OF I SI S .

prov e s that she h a d been instructed by Thoth I n the

art o f uttering words o f power with e ffect an d to him , ,

indeed she o wed m o re than this W hen she found the

, .

dead body of her husband Osiris she hovered about ,

over it in the form o f a bird making air by the beating ,

o f her wings and sen ding forth light from the sheen of
,

her feathers an d at length she roused the dead t o life

,

by her w o rds o f power ; as the result of the embrace

which foll o wed this meeting Horus was born and his ,

mother suckled him and tended him in her hiding place -

in the papyrus swamps A fter a time she was perse .

’
o uted b y Set her husband s murderer w h o it seems
r
, , , ,

shut her and her son Horus up in a h o use as prisoners .

O wing h o wever to the help which T h o th gave her S h e

, , ,

came forth by night and was accompanied o n her

1
journey by seven scorpio ns cal led respectively Tefen , ,

Befen M e st et M es t e te f Petet Th e te t and Matet the

, , , , , ,

last three o f which pointed out the way The guide o f .

2
the way bro ught her t o the swamps o f Per sui and t o -

the t o wn o f the t wo goddesses o f the sandals where the

s w ampy c o untry o f A thu b e gIn s Jo u rneyi ng on they .

3
came t o Teb where the chief of the district had a h ou se
,

fo r his ladies ; now the mistress o f the h o use would n o t

r y i s to l d o n
“

T he s to t h e fa m o u s M etter n i ch s te l e, ed . G o l é ni s ch e fi ,
L ei p z i g , 1 8 77 .

2
I . e .
, C ro co di l o p ol is .

3
Th e c i ty o f th e two l
s a nda s . Th e two s a nda s l we re m a de of

l e a th e r fr o m th e sk in of th e g o d Ne h e s or S e t, th e o
p p o ne nt o f

H o ru s .
1 32 TH E E N CH AN T M E N T S OF ISIS .

in order to bring back the spirit into his body

said
Come Tefen appear upon the ground depart hence
, , ,

come not nigh

“
Come poison o f Befen appear upon the ground I
, .

am Isis the goddess the lady o f words of power w h o

, , ,

doeth deeds of magic the words o f whose v o ice are

,

charms .

Obey me O every reptile that stingeth and fal l

, ,

d o wn headl o ng !
“
O p o ison o f [M es t e t and ] M e s tet ef mount n o t ,

u pwards !

O poison of Petet and Th et e t draw not nigh ,

O Matet fall down headlong

,

Th e goddess Isis then uttered certain words of the

charm whi ch had been given to her by the g o d S eb
in order to keep p o ison away from her and said Turn , ,

away get away retreat O poison adding the words

, , , ,

Mer R a in the morning and The Egg of the Go o se

-
,

appeareth from out of the sycam o re in the evening ,

as she turned to the scorpions Both these sentences .

were talismans A fter this Isis lamented that she was

.

m o re lonely and wretched than all the people of Egypt ,

and that she had become like an old man who hath
ceased to l o o k up o n and to v isit fair women in their
h o uses ; and she o rdered the sc o rpions t o turn away
their lo o ks from her and t o sh o w her the way t o the
marshes and to the secret place which is in the city of
 T H E SO R R O W S OF I S IS . 1 33
'

Kh e b t Then the words of the cry The b o y liveth

.
,
“
,

“
the poison dieth ! A s the s u n liveth s o the p o ison ,

”
dieth were uttered and the fi re in the house o f the
, ,

woman was extinguished and heaven rej oiced at the ,

words of Isis When Isis had said that the s o n o f

.
“

“
the woman had been stung because his mother had
shut the door of her house in her face and h a d done ,

nothi ng for her t h e w o rds of the cry ,

The boy ,
“

”
liveth and the poison di eth were again uttered an d , ,

the s o n of the woman recovered .

Isis then continues her narrati ve thus I Isis

conceived a child and was great with child o f Horus
, .

I a goddess gave birth to Horus the s on of Isis

, , , ,

upon an island (or nest) in A thu the region o f

swamps ; and I rej o iced greatly becau se o f this; for
I regarded Horus as a gift which would repay me for
the l o ss o f his father I hid him m o st carefully and .

conc ea led him in my anxiety and indeed he was well ,

hidden and then I went away t o the city o f A m

,
.

When I had saluted the inhabitants there o f I turned

back t o seek the chil d s o that I mi ght give him suck ,

and take h i m in my arms again B u t I found my

‘

sucking child H o rus the fair g o lden o n e well nigh

-

, ,

dead ! He had bedewe d the ground with the water

“
from h i s eye and with the fo am fro m his lips hi s ,

body was stiff his heart was still and n o muscle in

, ,

1
any of his limbs moved Then I uttered a bitter cry .

Thi s i s an e x a c t de s cri p ti o n o f th e s ta te o f a n a ni m a l wh i ch h a s
1 34 H OR US S TU N G BY A S CO R P I O N .

ofgrief a nd the dwellers in the papyrus swamps ran

,

to me straightway from out o f t hei r houses and they ,

“
be wailed the greatness of m y cal a mity ; but n o n e o f
them o pened his m o uth to S peak for every o n e was in ,

deep sorro w fo r me and no man knew h o w t o bri ng

,

back life into Horus Then there came t o me a .

certain woman who wa s well known in her cit y fo r ,

she belonged to a noble family and she tried to ,

rekindle the li fe in H o rus but although her heart ,

was full o f her k n owledge my s on remained m o tio n

less Meanwhile the folk remarked that the son
.

o f the divine mother Isis had been protected against

his bro ther Set that the plants among which he had
,

been hidden c o uld not be penetrated by any hostile

being that the words of power o f Temu the father o f
, ,

”
the g o ds who is in heaven should have preserved
,
“
,

the life of Horus that Set hi s brother could no t possibly

,

have had access to where the child was wh o i n any , ,

case had been protected against his wickedness ; and

,

at length it was disc o vered that H o rus had been stung

“
by a scorpion and that the reptile which destroyeth
,

b ee n s t u n g b y th e s m a ll b l a c k s co r p i o n i n E g yp t a nd t h e S udan I .

s a w C o l o ne l W . H D r ge
.a
’
e d og
“
b
S h ii ra ”
b i t te n a t M e r awi i n
S e p t em b e r , 1 8 9 7 , b y a b l a c k s co r p i o n, a nd i n a b o u t a n h o u r s h e wa s
i n t h e s t a te o f H o ru s a s d e s c r i b e d a b o ve , a n d t h e wh o l e c a m p wa s
d i s tre s s e d , fo r b o t h m a s te r a nd re g r e a t fa vo u r i tes Whe n i t
do g we .

wa s no l o n g e r p o s s i b l e t o a dmi n i s te r s p i r i t to h e r M aj o r G R G r i ffi th
, . .

a n d o th e r s i mm e r s e d h e r b o dy i n p a i l s o f ve r y h o t wa t e r fo r se ve r a l

hou rs a nd a t s u ndo wn s h e wa s b r e a thing comfo r ta bl y a nd s h e s oon

, ,

a fte r wa r d s r ec ove r e d .
1 36 T H E R E CO VE RY OF H OR U S .

p o ssesseth what is [here] written W hat t o ok

place ne xt is of c o urse evident T he child Horus was
, , .

rest o red to life t o the great j o y o f his m o ther Isis wh o

, ,

was more indebted than ever to the god Th oth fo r ‘

coming to deliver her o u t of her tro uble on the death

of her son j ust as he had do n e on the death of her
,

husband N ow because I sis had re vi vi fie d both her

.

husband and her son by the words of p o wer and talis

man s which she p o ssessed mortal man th o ught it was ,

absolutely necessary for him to secure her fav o ur and

pr o tection at any cost for etern a l life and death were ,

in her hands A s time went on the Egyptians revered

.

her more and more and as she was t h e lady of the ,

gods a n d o f heaven power equal to that p o ssessed by

, ,

R e himself was ascribed to her

. Indeed according t o .
,

a legend which has c o me d o wn t o us and which written ,

up o n papyrus or linen fo rmed a magical fo rmula

against the p o ison of reptiles o f all kinds Sh e made ,

a b o ld attempt to wrest the power of R a from him and

to make herself mistress of the universe The way .

in w hich she did th is is t old in a hieratic papyrus pre

1
served at Turin fro m which the fol lowing rendering
,

has been made ; the meri t of fi rst disc o vering the correct
meaning of the text belon gs to M L efebure . .

S e e P l e yte a nd r
R o s s i , Le P ap y u s d e Tu r i n , 1 8 6 9 —1 87 6 , p l l 3 1 —3 7 , .

a nd 1 3 1 — 1 3 8 s ee a s o l L ’

r
e fe b u e i n E g yp ti s ch e Ze i ts ch r ft, 1 8 8 3 , p 2 7 ii i ;
i .

Wi e de m a nn, R eli g i o n der a lte n E g yp ter , 1 8 9 0 p 2 9 if ; a n d m y P a p y u s

, . r
f
o A ni , 1 89 5, p . lxxx i x .
, a nd F i r s t S tep s i n E gyp ti a n, 1 8 9 5 , p p '

24 1 — 25 6.
 IS IS CO VETS T H E P OWE R O F R A . 1 37

THE LE G E ND or RA A ND I S IS .

The Ch a pter of the divine god the self created ,

-

being who made the heavens and the earth an d the

, ,

winds [which give ] life and the fi re and the gods , , ,

and m en and beasts and cattle and reptiles and the

, , , ,

fo wl of the air and the fi s h of the sea ; he is the king

of m e n and of gods he hath o n e peri o d o f life
, an d
with hi m periods of one hundred and twenty years
each are but as years ; his names are manifold and
unknown the gods even know them not
,
.

“
N ow Isis was a woman who p o ssessed words o f
power ; her heart was wearied with the millions of
men therefore she chose the million s of t h e g o ds but
,
’
,

s h e esteemed more highly the millions of the S pirits

(lch u ) A nd she meditated in her heart sayi ng Can

.
, ,

not I by means o f the sacred name o f G o d make

m y self mistress o f the earth and bec o me a goddess
like unto R5 in heaven and upon earth ?
. No w
’

beh old each day R a entered at the head of his holy

,

mariners and established himself upon the throne of

the two h o rizons No w the divine o ne . R a) had
gr own old he dribbled at the mouth h i s spittle fell
, ,

u pon the earth and his slobbering dropped up o n the

,

groun d A nd Isis kneaded it with earth in her

.

hand and formed thereof a sacred serpent in the

,

“
form o f a dart ; she did no t set it upright befo re her
face but let it lie up o n the g round in the path
,
1 38 RA ST U NG BY A S E R PE NT .

whereby the great g o d went fo rth acc o rding t o his ,

heart s desire into his d o uble kingd o m No w the

’

,
.

holy g o d ar o s e and the g o ds w ho fo ll o wed h i m as

,

though he were Pharao h went with him ; an d he came

fo rth according t o his daily w e nt ; and the sacred
serpent bit him The flame of life departed fro m .

him and he who dwelt among the cedars

,
was
overcome The ho ly god Opened his m o uth and th e
.
,

cry o f his majesty reached unto heaven ; his company

o f gods said W hat hath happened ? and his gods
,
‘ ’

exclaimed What is it ? ,
But R a c ould n ot answer ’
,

fo r his j aws trembled and all his members quaked

the p o is o n spread swiftly through his flesh just as the
‘

N ile rusheth through all his land W hen the great .

g o d had stablished his heart he cried unto those w h o ,

were in his train saying C o me unto me O ye wh o , , ,

have come into being from my b o dy ye g o ds wh o ,

have come forth fro m me m a k e y e kn o wn unt o ,

K hepera that a dire calamity hath fallen upon me .

My heart p erceiveth it but my eyes see it no t ; my ,

hand hath n ot cau sed it nOr do I kn o w wh o hath ,

done this unt o me N ever have I felt such pain .

,

neither can sickness cause m o re wo e than this I .

am a prince the son of a prince the sacred essence

, ,

which hath proceeded from G o d I am the great .

o n e the s o n o f the great one and my father planned

, ,

my nam e ; I have multitudes of names and multitudes

o f fo rms and my bei n g is in every o d I have been
, g .
1 40 TH E S U FFE R I NG S OF RA .

thro ugh the t wo regions o f my lands according to

’
my heart s desire to see that which I had created
, ,

w hen 1 0 I was bitten by a ser p ent which I saw n o t .

Is it fi r e ? Is it water ? I am c o lder than water I ,

am h o tter than fi re All my flesh s we a te th I quake

.
, ,

m y eye hath n o strength I cannot see the sky and , ,

the s weat rusheth to my face even as in the time o f

’
summer Then said Isis unt o B a 0 tell me thy
.
,
‘

name h o ly Father for whos o ever shall be delivered

, ,

’
by thy n ame shall live A nd R a said I have made .
,

the heav ens and the earth I have knit together the ,

m o untains I have created all that is above them

, ,

I have made the water I have made to come int o ,

being the go ddess M eh t urt and I have made the -

”
Bull o f his mother fro m wh o m spring the delights,

o f l o ve .I have made the heavens I have stretched ,

o u t the t wo h o riz o ns like a curtain and I have placed ,

the s o u l of the go ds within them I am he wh o if .

,

he openeth his eyes doth make the light and if he , , ,

cl o s e t h th em darkness c o meth int o being A t his

, .

command the Nil e riseth and the g o ds kn o w n o t ,

his n ame I have made th e h o urs I have created

.
,

the days I bring fo rward the festivals of the year

, ,

I create the Nile fl o od I make the fir e o f life and

-

.
,

I provide foo d in the h o uses I am K hepera in the .

m o rni ng I am Ra at n o o n and I am Temu at even

, , .
’

Meanwhile the p o is o n was n o t taken away fro m his

b o dy but it pierced deeper and the great go d could
, ,

n o l o ng er walk .
 RA R E VE A L s H IS NA M E TO I SIS . 1 4 1

Then s ai d I sis unto R a W hat thou hast said is ,

‘

not thy name 0 tell it unto me and the poison

.
,

shall depart ; for he shall live whose name shall be

No w the poison burn ed like fi re and it
’
revealed .
,

was fi e r c e r than the flame and the furnace and the ,

majesty of the great god said I consent that Isis ,

‘

shall S earch int o me an d that my name shall pass ,

’
fro m me into her Th en the god hid himself from
.

the gods and his place in the B e a t of Milli o ns of

,

Y ears was empty And when the time had arrived

.

"

for the heart of R a t o come forth Isis spake unto. ,

her son H o rus saying The god hath bound hi mself

, ,
‘

by o ath to deliver up his two eyes the sun and

Thus was the name of the great god taken
from him an d Isis the lady of words of magical
, ,

po wer said D epart poison go fo rth from B a 0

, ,
‘
, , .

Eye o f Horus go fo rth fro m the god and s hi ne o utside

, ,

his m o uth It is I who w o rk it is I who make t o fall

.
,

do wn upon the earth the vanquished pois o n for the ,

“
name o f the great god hath been taken away from
him L et R a live and let the p o ison die ! L et the
.
,

’
poison die a nd let R a l ive !
,
These are the words
o f Isis the m i ghty lady the mistress of the gods who
, , ,

”
knew Ra by his o wn name .

N ow from a few w o r ds of t ext which follow the above

narrative we learn that the o bject of writin g it wa s
no t so much to instruct the reader as to make a magic

fo rmula for we ar e told th at it was t o be recited o ver

,
 TH E W OR D S OF P OW E R OF ISI S .

figures of Temu and H o rus and Isis and H orus that , ,

is t o say over fi gures o f Temu the evening sun H o rus

, ,

the Elder Horus the s o n o f Isis and Isis herself

, , .

Temu apparently takes the place o f R a for he represents ,

the sun as an ol d man t e R 5 at the close of his daily

,
. .
,
.

life when he has l o st his strength and power The .

text is a charm or magical fo rmula against sn ake bites ,

and it was thought that the written letters which ,

represented the words of Isis w o uld save the life of ,

any o n e who was snake bitten just as they saved the

-

life o f Re If the full directions as to the use o f the

.

fi gures o f Temu Isis and the two Horus gods were

, , ,

known unto us we should probably fi nd that they were

t o be made to act in dumb show the scenes w hi ch

took place between B a and Isis when the goddess

succeeded in taking fro m him his name Thus we .

have ample evidence that Isis p o ssessed marvell o us

magical powers and this being so the issues o f life
, ,

and death as far as the deceased was concern ed we

, ,

kn o w from the texts t o have been in her hands Her .

w o rds o f power t oo were a priceless p o ssessi o n fo r

, , ,

Sh e obtained them from Thoth wh o was the p e rs o ni fi ca ,

tion o f the mind and intelligence o f the Creat o r and ,

thus their origin was divine and from this p o int of ,

V iew were inspired .

Fro m a papyrus o f the P tol em al c perio d we o btain

some interesting facts about the great skill i n workin g
magic and about the knowledge of magical fo rmul ae
1 44 SE T NA U SE E KS TH E M A G I C AL B O O K .

son N o w A hura and M erh u were buried at C o pto s

.

but their doubles had come to live with Ptah n e fer k a - -

by means of the magical power of Thoth S e t n a u t o ld .

them that he had c o me to take a way the bo o k but ,

A hura begged him n o t to do so and related to h i m the ,

misfortunes whi ch had already fo llowed the p o ssession

of it She was it seems the sister of Ptah n efe r k a
.
, ,
- -

whom she married and after the birth of her son

,

M erh u her husband seemed to dev o te himself ex

,

elusively to the study o f magical bo o ks and o ne day ,

a priest o f Ptah pro mised t o tell hi m where the magical

book described ab o ve might be fo und if he w o uld give
h i m a hundred pieces of silver and pr o vide him with t wo
,

hands o me coffi ns When the m o n ey and the coffi ns had

.

been given t o him the priest of Ptah t o ld Ptah n efe r k a

,
- -

that the book was in an ir o n b ox in the middle o f the

river at C o ptos The ir o n box is in a bro n z e box the
.
,

“
bronze box is in a b o x of palm tree wood the pal m -

“
tree wood box is in a box of ebony and ivory the ,

eb o ny and ivory box is in a silver b o x the silver box ,

is in a gold box and in the gold (s i c) box lies the book

, .

The box wherein is the bo o k is surr o unded by s warms

of serpents and sc o rpions and reptiles of all kinds and ,

”
r o und it is c o iled a serpent which cann o t die Ptah .

n e fe r k a t o ld his wife and the ki ng what he had heard

-

and at length set out for C o ptos with A hura and M erh u
in the royal barge ; having arr ive d at Coptos he went
to the te m ple of Isis and Harpocrates and o ffered up
 M A G I C AL F G I U R ES SE A RC H F OR TH E B OO K . 1 45

a sacri fi ce and p o ured out a libati o n t o these gods .

Five days later the high priest of C o pt o s made for h i m

the model of a fl o ating stage and fi gures o f w o rkmen
provided with t o o ls ; he then recited w o rds o f p o wer
o ver them and they became living breathing men an d , ,

the search for th e box began Having w o rked for

.

three days and three nights they came to the place

where the box was Ptah n efer k a dispersed the ser
.
- -

pents and sc o rpi o ns whi ch were r o und abo ut the nest ’

o f boxes by his words of power and twice succeeded ,

in killing the serpent c o iled ro und the box but it came ,

to life agai n ; the third time he cut it into t wo pieces ,

a n d laid sand between them and this time it did n o t

,

take its old fo rm again He then Opene d the boxes

.

one after the other and taking out the go ld b o x with

,
,

the b o o k inside it carried it to the r o yal barge He .

next read o n e of the t wo fo rmul ae in it and s o enchanted

or bewitched the heavens and the earth that he learned
all their secrets ; he read the second and he saw the
sun rising in the heavens with his c o mpany o f the g o ds ,

etc. His w ife Ah u ra then read the book an d saw

.

all that her husband had seen Ptah nefer k a then .

- -

copied the writings on a piece of n e w papyrus and ,

having c o vered the papyrus with incense dissolved it

in water and drank it thus he acquired the kn o wledge
which was in the magical book Meanwhile these acts .

had stirred the g o d Th o th to wrath and he t o ld R a ,

n -
r —
what Ptah e e k a had done A s a result the decree
f .

Ea »
M AG I C
. . L
1 4 6 SET NA U A ND P TA H -
N E F E R K A P L AY D R
-
AU G H T S .

went fo rth that P tah ne fe r k a and his wife an d child

- -

sh o u ld never return t o Memphis an d o n the way back ,

t o C o ptos A hu ra and M e rh u fell int o t h e river and

were dro wned ; and while returni ng t o Memphis with

the b o ok Ptah ne fer k a himself w a s drowned als o
- -
.

S e t na u h o wever refused t o be diverted fr o m his pur

, ,

pose and he insisted on having the b o o k which he saw

,

in the p o ssessi o n o f Ptah n e fer k a the latter then - -

p pro d s e d t o play a game o f draughts and t o let the

winner have the b o o k The game was for fi fty t w o .

-

points and alth o ugh P tah ne fer k a tried t o cheat

,
- -

S e t n a u he l o st the game
,
A t this j uncture S e t na u .

sent his br o ther A nh a h e ru ra u u p to the earth t o bring

h i m his talismans o f Ptah and his o ther magical writings ,

an d when he returned he laid them upon Set n a u who ,

straight way fi e w up to heaven grasping the w o nderful

book in his hand A s he went up fr o m the to mb light
.

went be fo re him and the darkness closed in behi nd

,

him ; but Ptah n e fe r k a said t o his wife I will make

- -

,
“

him bri n g back this b o ok s o o n with a knife and a ,

”
ro d in his hand and a vessel o f fi re u p o n his head .

Of the bewitchment o f Se t na u by a beautiful w o man

called Ta b u b u and o f his tro ubles in consequence
there o f we need make n o mentio n here it is su ffi cient
to say that the king o rdered h i m t o take the bo o k back
t o its place and that the prophecy o f Ptah ne fe r k a
,
- -

}
was f ul filled
F o r t r a n s l a t i o ns s ee Br u g s ch , Le R o ma n d c S etna u ( i n Revu e
1 48 T H E M ET T E R N I C H S T E LE .

magical names and myth o logical allusi o ns

,
In the .

principal scene we see Horus or Harp o crates standing , ,

up o n t wo cro c o diles ; o n his brow is the uraeus and

‘

he wears o n the r ight side o f his head the l o ck of

hair emblematic o f youth In hi s hands he grasps .

serpents a li o n and an antel o pe and it is clear by the

’

, , ,

l oo k o n his face that he is in n o wise afraid of them .

A bove his head is a bearded head which is usually said ,

to represent that of Bes On his right are an

.

u tch a t} with human hands and arms ;

( )
2 Horus R é -

’
hawk headed and wearing the sun s disk and uraeus
-

, ,

and stan ding o n a serpent coiled up ; (3 ) Osiris in the ,

fo rm o f a hawk standing upon a sceptre and wearing ,

the a tef crown ; (4 ) The go ddess Isis standing upon

a serpent c o iled up ; ( 5 ) The goddess Nekhebet in the ,

fo rm of a vulture standing upon a papyrus sceptre

,
.

On his left are A n a tch a t with human hands

and arms ; (2) a papyrus standard with plumes and
2
m ena ts ; (3 ) the god Thoth standing upon a serpent
c o iled up ; (4 ) the goddess U a t ch et in the fo rm of a ,

serpent standing upon a papyrus sceptre No w H orus

,
.

ty pifi es y o uth and strength and the rising sun and ,

the head above h i m is probably intended to repre sent

that o f R a (or Bes) as an old man ; the allusi o n here
is clearly t o the god who is old at eventide and who “

“
bec o mes young again The u tck a ts and the figures
.

of the gods symboli z e the solar powers and the deiti es

S ee a b o ve , p . 55 .
2
Se e a b o ve , p 60
. .
Cip p us o f H or us .
( See M e tte m i ch s tel e, ed. G o l é n is ch o ff, p l a te
 1 52 T AL I S M AN S OF AL E XAN D E R THE G RE AT .

and the skill shewn by the designer o f this tali sman

are very remarkable Th e small cipp i of Horus contain .

n o thing but extracts from the scenes and te xts which

we fi nd on the M e tt erni ch st el e and it or similar
“
,
”
,

o bjects und o ubtedly fo rmed the source fr o m which s o

,

many o f the fi gures of the strange gods which are found

o n Gn o stic gems were derived Certain of the fi gures .

of the gods on the cippi were cast in bro nze in the

'

Ptolemai c and Roman periods o r hewn in stone and

’

, ,

were buri e d in tombs an d under the fo undati o ns o f

houses to drive away any o f the fi ends who m i ght come
to do harm either to the l iving o r the dead .

The A rab histo rian M s fi di has preserved a curi ous

a
1 ‘

legend of the tal ismans which were empl o yed by Alex

ander th e Great t o protect the city o f Alexandria w h ilst
it was being built and as the legend is of Egyp tian ,

o rigin and dates from a period not greatly rem o ved

,

fro m that in which the Metternich stel e was made it ,

is w o rthy o f mentio n W hen the fo undati o n s o f the .

city h a d been l aid and the walls had begun t o rise up

, ,

certain savage animals came up each night fro m the

sea and threw down everything which had been built
,

during the day ; watchmen were app o inted t o drive

them away but in Spite o f this each m o rning saw the
,

w o rk d o ne during the previ o us day destro yed A fter .

much thought Al exa nde r de vi s e d a plan whereby he .

S e e L es P r a i r i es d Or , e d B de M e yna r d
’
a nd P a ve t de Co u rt e ill e ,
1
. .

P a r i s , 1 8 6 1 , t o m ii p 4 25 if
. . .
Cip p u s of H ru s
o .
( Se e M etter n i ch s tel e , e d. G o l é ni s c b e fi , p l a t e
1 56 TH E FO U ND ING or AL E XAN D R I A .

sea shore and c o ntinued hi s w o rk of building the city

-

, .

W hen the night came the sea monsters appeared as

,

usual but as s o on as they saw that fi gures o f them

,

selves had b een put up o n the shore they returned at

o nce to the water and did not shew themselves again .

W he n h o wever th e city had been built and was

, ,

inhabited the sea m o nsters made their appearance

,

again and each m orning a considerable number o f

,

pe o ple w er e fo und t o be missing ; t o prevent this ‘

A lex a nder placed talismans upon the pillars which ,

acc o rdi ng t o Mas u di were there in his day Each

, .

pillar was in the shape o f an arro w and was eighty ,

cubits in height and rested upon a plinth o f brass ;

,

the talismans were placed at their bases and were in ,

the fo rm o f fi gures o r statues of certain bei ngs with

suitable inscriptio ns and as they were put i n positi o n
,

after careful astronomical calculatio ns had been m ade

fo r the purp o se we may assume that they pr o duced
the effect desired b y th e king .
 ( 1 57 )

C H A PTER V .

M A G I CA L N A ME S .

TH E Egyp tian s like m o st Oriental nati o ns attached

, ,

very great i m portance to the kn o wle dge o f names and ,

the kn o wledge o f how to use and t o make menti o n o f

n ames which possessed m agical p o wers was a necessity

b o th fo r the living and the dead I t was believed that .

if a man knew the name o f a g o d o r a devil and ,

addr essed him by it he was b o und t o answer h i m and

,

t o do whatever he w ished ; and the p o ssessi o n o f the

knowledge o f the name o f a man enabled his neighb o ur

to do him g o o d o r evil The name that was the o bj ect
.

o f a curse br o ught d o wn e vil u p o n its o wner and ,

si m ilarly the name that was the o bj ect o f a blessing

o r prayer fo r bene fi ts secured fo r its m aster many g o o d

things To the Egyptian the name w a s as much a

.

’
part o f a m an s being as his soul o r his d o uble (K A ) , ,

o r his b o dy a n d it i s q u i te certain that this view was

,

held by him in the earliest times Thus i n the text .

1
which is inscribed o n the walls inside the pyramid

Lin e 1 69 .
1 58 I M P O R T AN C E OF T H E NA M E .

of Pepi I king o f Egypt ab o ut

.
,
3 2 00 we read , ,

“
Pepi hath been puri fi ed He hath taken in his .

“
hand t h e m at h sta ff he hath pr o vided h imself wi t h ,

his throne and he hath taken his seat in the

,

b o at Of the great and little companies of the gods .

Ra m aketh Pepi t o sail t o the W est he stablisheth ,

his seat ab o ve those o f the lords Of doubles and ,

he writeth down Pepi at the head o f th o se who live .

The d o ors o f Pekh k a which are in the abyss Open -

themselves to Pepi the d o o rs Of the iron which ,

is the ceiling o f the sky Op e n themselves to

Pepi and he passeth through them ; he hath his
,

panther skin up o n him and the staff and whip are ,

“
in his han d Pepi go eth fo rward with his flesh Pepi
.
,

is happy with his name and he liveth with his lea ,

Curio usly enough only the b o dy and

name and d o uble of the king are menti o ned just as ,

if these three constituted his whole economy ; and it

is notew o rthy what importance is attached to the name
in this passage In the text fro m the pyramid of .

1
another king we have a prayer c o ncerning the pre
servatio n o f the name which is o f such interest that ,
'

a rendering o f i t in full is here given : it reads 0 ,

“

Great C o mpany o f the gods w h o dwell in Annu

( Heli o polis ) grant that Pepi N efe r
,
k a B a may fl o urish - -

(li ter a lly germinate and that his pyramid his ever
‘
,

lasti ng building may flourish even as the name of , ,

P e pi II .
( e d M a s p e ro
.
, l . 6 69 , if Rec u e i l , to m . xi i . 1 8 9 2, p .
1 60 OF M AK I N G TH E NA M E TO F L O U R I SH .

eternity ! If the name Of R a flo u ri s h eth in the

h o riz on then the name o f Pepi shall fl o urish and
, ,

this his pyramid s h all fl o urish and this his building ,

shall fl o urish u nt o a ll e t ernity ! If the na m e Of

K h e n t m erti flo u ri s h e t h in S ek h e m (L et o p olis ) then
-

the name o f Pepi shall fl o uris h and th i s his pyra m id,

shall fl o urish and this his building shall fl o urish

,

unt o all eternity ! If the n ame o f U a t ch et in Tep

flo u ri s h e th then the n ame o f Pepi shall fl o urish and
, ,

this his pyramid shall fl o urish and this his b u ilding ,

”
shall flo urish unt o all eternity ! The ab o ve prayer
o r fo rmula was the o rigin o f m o st o f the prayers and

texts which had fo r their Object the making the name “

”
t o germinate or fl o urish and which were c o pied s o
,

frequently in the Sai te Pt olemai c and R o man peri o ds

’

.
, ,

A l l these c o mp o siti o ns sh o w that fr o m the earliest t o

the latest times the belief as t o the i mp o rtance Of the
preservati o n o f the nam e never changed in Egypt and ,

t h e son wh o assisted in keeping green his father s

’

name and in consequence his mem o ry perfo rmed a

, ,

m o st meritori o us duty But in the present chapter we

.

are n o t s o much c o ncerned with the o rdinary as with

the extra o rdinary uses t o which a name might be put ,

and the a bove facts have o nly been m enti o ned to pro ve
that a man s name was regarded as an essential part
’

of himself and that the bl o tting o u t o f the name o f

,

an i ndividual was syn o nymo us with his d e structi o n .

W ith o ut a name n o man c o ul d be identi fi ed in the

 K H E PE R A T H E G OD OF C R E A TI O N . 1 61

j udgment and as a man

,
only came int o being upon
this earth when his name had been pronounced so th e ,

future life could o nly be attained after the gods o f the

w o rl d beyond the grave had become acquainted with
it an d had uttered it .

A ccording to the story o f the Creation which is

1
related in t h e Pap y rus of N esi A m su befo re th e w orld -
,

and all that therein is came in t o being only the great ,

god N eb er t ch er existed for even the gods were no t

- ‘

born No w when the time had co m e for the g o d t o

.

“
create all things he says I brought fashioned) my
,

“
mouth and I uttered my own name as a w o rd o f
,

power and thus I evo lved myself u n der the e vol u

,

tions of the god Khepera and I devel o ped myself out ,

Of th e primeval matter which had ev o lved multitudes

o f ev o lutions from the beginning of time N othing .

existed on this earth [before me ] I made all things , .

There was n o ne other who w orked with me at that

’
time . Elsewhere that is to say in the other version
, ,

o f the story the god K hepera says

, I developed ,
“

“
mysel f from the primeval matter which I made I ,

devel oped m yself out of the primeval m atter My .

’ ”
name is Osiris the germ o f primeval matter Here
, .
,

then we have a pro of that the Egyptian s regarded the

,

creation as the result of the utterance o f the name o f

the g o d N e h er t eh er or Khepera by himself A gain
- -
.
,

in the story of B a and Isis given in the preceding ,

S e e m y p a p e r i n A r ch aeo lo gi a , V ol L II . L ondon , 1 89 1 .

E G P MAG I C
. . M
1 62 RE LA TI O N S H I P OF T H E G OD S T O R A .

chapter we have seen that a lthough Isis was able to

,

make a serpent and t o cause it to bite B a and t o make ,

h i m very ill she was powerless to do as she wished in

,

heaven and upon earth until she had persuaded the g o d

t o reveal t o her his name by which he ruled the

uni verse I n yielding up his name to the go ddess he

.

placed himself in her power and in this example we ,

have a striking instance of the belief that the know

le dge o f the name of g o d or devil or human being , , ,

implied dominion over that being W e have seen else .

where that R é the type and symbol o f G o d is described

, ,

”
as the god of many names and in that wonderful
“
,

c o mposition the X V I I th Chapter o f the B o ok o f the

1
Dead we have the fol l owing statement
,
I am the “

great go d Nu who gave birth unt o himself and who

, ,

”
made his name to become the c o mpany Of the g o ds .

Then the questio n W hat does this mean , or W h o

is thi s ? is asked A nd this is the ans wer : It is
.
“

R a the creat o r of the name [s ] of his limbs which

, ,

came int o being in the fo rm of the gods who are in

the fo llowing of B a From this we see that all the
.

”
g o ds o f Egypt were merely p ers o ni fi ca ti on s of the
NAM E S o f B a and that each g o d was one of his mem
,

bers a nd that a name Of a g o d was the god himself

, .

W i t h o ut the knowledge of the names of the g o ds an d

devil s o f the underw o rld the dead Egyptian would have
fared badly for his personal liberty wo uld have been
,

S e e Ch a p te rs o f Comi ng Fo rth by D a y , p 4 9
. .
1 64 TH E NA M E S O F T H E SE VE N G OD S .

tells n o t only its n ame b ut als o the m ystical names ,

o f his two legs and feet wherewi t h he is ab o ut t o tread

upon it W hen all this has been done the guardian o f

.

“
the Hall says t o him I will no t announce thy name ,

[to the god ] unless thou tellest me my name and

the deceased replies Discerner of hearts and searcher
,

’ ”
“
of the reins is thy name In reply to this the .

“
guardian says If I announce thy name thou must
,

”
utter the name of the god who d welleth in his hour ,

and the deceased utters the name M aa u Taui But “

-

.
”

still the guardian is not satis fi ed and he says If I , ,

“

“
announce thy name thou must tell me w h o is he
whose heaven is of fi re whose walls [are surm o unted ,

by ] living uraei and the floor o f wh o se house is a

,

stream of water W h o is he I say ? . what is his ,

name ? ) But the deceased has of course learnt th e , ,

“ ”
name of the Great God and he replies Osiris The , , .

guardian o f the Hall is ne w content and he says , ,

A dvance verily thy name S hall be menti o ned t o

,

”
him ; and he further pr o mises that the cakes and ,

ale and sepulchral meals which the deceased shall

,

”
e nj oy S hall com e from the Eye o f B a “
.

1
In an o ther Chapter the deceased addresses seven
gods and says
,
Hail ye seven beings w h o make
,
“
,

decrees wh o su pp o rt the Balance on the night o f the

,

“
ju dgment o f the U t ch a t wh o cut Off heads who hack , ,

“
ne cks in pieces who tak e possession o f hearts by
,

S ee Ch a p te r s o f Co mi ng F or th by D a y, p 1 2 8 . .
 TH E NA M E S OF T H E SE VE N G ATE S . 1 65

violence a n d rend the places where hearts are fi xed ,

w h o make slaughterings in t h e L ake of Fire I kn o w ,

y o u and
,
I kn o w yo u r names therefore kn o w ye me
'

e ven as I k n ow y o ur names The deceased having

“
.
,

de clared that the seven go ds know his name and he

their n ames has n o fu rther app rehension that evil will
,

b e fall h i m .

I n one portion o f the kingd o m of Osiris there exis ted

se v en halls or mansions thro ugh which the deceased
wa s an xious to pass but each of the gates was guarded
,

b y a d o orkeeper a watcher and a heral d and it

, , ,

required special provisi o n on the part of the deceased

to satisfy these beings that he had a right to pass them .

I n the fi rst place fi gures of the seven gates had t o be

,

made in s o me substance (o r painted upon papyrus) as ,

well as a fi gure of the deceased : the latter was made t o

approach each o f the gates and to stand before it and to
recite an address which had been specially prepared
fo r the purpose Meanwhile the thigh the head the
.
, ,

hear t and the hoof o f a red bull were Offered at each

,

gate as well as a very large number Of miscell ane o us

,

Offerings which need not be described in detail But .

a l l these ceremonies would not help the deceased t o

pass through the gates unless h e knew the names o f,

the seven doorkeepers and the seven watchers and the

, ,

seven heral ds who guarded them T h e gods of the fi rst .

gate were — S ekhet hra as ht aru S em et u and E u

- - -

, ,

kheru those of the sec o nd Tun h at Seqet hra and ,

-

,
-

,
 1 66 NA M E S OF T H E T WE N T Y -
ONE P YL O N S .

Sabes ; of the thir d A m huat ent p eh fi Res hra and ,

- - -

,
-

U aa u ; of the fourth Kh es ef—hra a sht kheru Res a b and ,

- -
,
-

Net eka hra k h e s ef atu ; of the fi fth A nkh em —fe ntu

-
- - -

,
-

A sheh u and Te b h erk e h a a t ; of the sixth A k en t a u k h a

, ,
-

kheru A n hra and Metes hra ari she ; of the s eventh

,
-

,
- - -

Metes s en A a a kh eru and K h ese f hra k h e m i u And

’

- - - -
, , .

the te xt which the deceased recites to the Halls

,

collectively begins Hai l ye Halls ! Hai l ye who

, ,
“
, ,

“
m ade the Halls for Osiris ! Hail ye wh o watch ,

your Halls ! Hail ye who herald the a ffairs of the ,

two lands for the god Osiris each day the deceased ,

1 ”
knoweth you and he knoweth your names , The .

names havi ng been uttered and the addresses duly ,

recited the deceased went wherever he pleased in t h e

,

seven Hall s of Osiris .

But beside the seven halls the deceased had t o pass

thr o ugh the t wenty one hidden pylons of the house o f -

Osiris in the Elysian Fields and in order to do so he ,

had t o declare the n ames of the p y lon and the door

keeper o f each and t o make a sh o rt address besides
, .

Thus t o the fi rst pylon he says I have m ade my way , ,

I know thee and I know thy name and I know the ,

name Of the god who g u ar de th thee Thy name is .

L ady of tremblings with lo fty walls the sovereign , ,

lady the mistress of destructi o n wh o setteth I n order

, ,

the words which drive back the whirlwin d and the

“
storm who delivereth from destruction him that
,

S ee Ch ap te r s f Co mi ng
o F o r th by D a y, p 2 4 1 . .
1 68 TH E B OA T OF T H E E LY S I AN F E I LD S .

drawn up o n the papyrus upon which the selection Of ,

Chapters from the Book o f the Dead had been inscribed

for h i m and a kno wledg e of the text o f the chapter
,

which belonged to it made the drawing t o become an

actual b o at B u t befo re he could enter it the post
.
,

to which it was tied up and every par t Of the boat ,

itself demanded that he S hould tell them their names

, ,

t hus
“
P os t a t wh i ch to ti e up Tell me m y name .

D 1
L ord of the t wo lands d w eller in the shrine
. , ,

is thy name .

R u dd er Tell me my name
. D L eg o f H ap i u is . .

thy name .

R op e Tell me my name
. D Hairs with which . .

”
A npu fi ni s h e th the w o rk Of my e i n b a l m rne nt is
thy name .

“
Oa r r es ts
-
Tell us our name
. D Pillars of the . .

”
under wo rld is your name .

H ol d Tell me my name
. D A kau is thy name . .

Ma st Tell me my name
.
“
D Bringer back o f the . .

”
lady after her departure is thy name .

“
Lo wer d eck Tell me my name . D Standard o f . .

A p uat is thy name -

.

“
Upp er P os t Tell me my name . D Th re at o f . .

M e s t h a is thy name .

”
Sa i l Tell me my name
. D N ut is thy name . . .

”
L ea th er S tr ap s
““
Tell us o u r name D Those who
. . .

1
D . th e dece a se d .
 TH E NA M E S O F IT S P AR T S . 1 69

are made fr o m the hide of the Mnevis Bull which ,

”
was burned by Suti is y o ur name , .

P a d dl es Tell us our name

.
“
D Fingers of H o rus . .

t h e fi rstb o rn is y o ur name .

“
P u mp Tell me my name D The hand o f Isis
“
. .
,

”
which w ipeth away the bl o o d o f the E y e Of H o rus ,

is thy name .

P la nk s Tell us o u r names
. D M es th a H api . .
“
, ,

T u a m u t e f e h s e nnu f H a q a u Thet em au a Maa

, , ,
- -

”
a n tef Ar i nef t c h es e f
-

,
a r e y o ur names
- -

,
.

Bo ws . Tell us o u r name D He who is at the . .

head o f his n o mes is y o ur name .

”
H u ll .
“
Tell me my name D Mert is thy name . . .

R u dder Tell me my name

. D Aq a is thy name ; . .

Shiner in the water hidden beam is thy , ,

name .

Keel . Tell me my name

“
D Thigh o f Isis which . .
“ '

B a cut o ff with th e knife t o bri ng blood int o the

”
S ek tet boat is thy name , .

” ”
S a i l or . Tell me my name
“
D Traveller is t h y . .

name .

Wi n d Tel l m e my name
.
“
D f The N orth W in d . .
‘

w hich c o meth fr o m Tem t o the n o strils Of Osiris ,

is thy name .

A n d when the deceased h a d declared to these their

names befo re he c o uld set o u t o n h i s j o urney he was
,

obl i ged to tell the river and the river banks and the ,
-

gro und thei r mystical names This d o ne the b o at .

,
1 70 T H E F OW LE R S A ND TH E I R N ET .

admitted him as a passenger a nd he was able to sail,

ab o ut to any part of the Elysian Fields at will .

B u t amo ng the beings whom the deceased wi s hed

“
to avoid in the u nderworld were the beings who lay
snares and who work the nets and who are fi sh e rs
, , ,

and who would draw hi m into their nets I t s e ems .

as if it were absolutely necessary that he should fall

in with these beings and their nets for a w hole ,

chapter of the Book Of the Dead was written with the

view of enabli ng him t o escape from them unharm ed ;
the god their leader is called the god wh o se fac e i s “

“
behind him and the god who hath gained the
,
“

mastery over his heart To escape fro m the net which

.

“
was w o rked by the fi shers who lay snares with
their nets and who go round about in the cham bers
o f the waters the deceased had to know the n a me s
,

o f the n e t a n d of the ropes

,
.
and o f the pole a n d o f
, ,

the hooks and of each and every part of it ; with o ut

,

this kn o wledge n othing could save h i m fro m calamity .

W e u nfo rtunately understand very few of the allu

si o ns to mythol ogical events which are c o ntain e d in
the names of the various parts o f the machinery which
work the net but it is quite certain that they have
,

reference to certain events in the lives of the g o ds

who are mentioned and that these were well k n own
,

t o the writers and readers of religious texts .

From the above descriptions of the mean s wh e reby

the d e cease d made his way through the gates a nd the
1 72 TH E NA M E S OF AM E N -
RA .

Kh e s ef -
hra Kha k ah Nai U a i B e tesh u
hra ,
Sek h e m -

,
-

, , , ,

Kh a reb u t u the fourfo ld fi end etc All these names , .

represent as may be seen from the few Of which trans

,

l a t i o ns are give n various aspects Of Ap e p the devil , ,

o f thunder lightni ng cl o ud rain ,

mist st o rm and the , , , , ,

like and the anxiety t o personify t hese so that t h e

,

p e r s o n i fi ca t i o ns might be attacked by means of m a g i c a l

cerem o nies and words of p o wer seems positively childish .

Passing no w to certain chapters of the B o o k o f the

1
Dead w hich are rich in nam es o f magical power we ,

n o tice that the go d A men whose name meant the ,

“
hidden o ne possessed n umerous names up o n the
, ,

knowledge o f which the deceased relied fo r protectio n .

2
Thus he says 0 A men A men ; O B e Inkasa ; O
,
“
,
-

God Prince of the g o ds of the east thy name is

, ,

Na ari k or (as o thers say ) Ka ari k a K a s a i k a is thy

- -

,
- -

name A re thik a s a th i k a is thy name A men na a n

. .
- -

k a entek share o r (as o thers say) Th ek share Amen

- -

,
- -

k e re t h i is thy name ,
0 A me n let me make suppli .
,

cation unto thee for I even I know thy name , , , .

A men is thy name I re q a i is thy name M a rq a th a i . .

is thy name R erei is thy name N a s a q b u b u is thy

. .

name Th a n a s a Th a n a s a is thy name S h a res h a th a

.
-
.

katha is th y name 0 A men O A me n O G o d 0 .

, , ,

”
G o d 0 A men I ad o re thy name
,
In another
, .

3
place the deceased addresses Sekhet Bast B a sayi ng - -

, ,

C ha pt e r s C LX II .
, C LX II I
C I ,C .
,
LX V . LXV .

S e e Ch a p te r s o f Co mi ng F o r l h by D a y , p 2 9 5 . .
3
I bi d .
, p 29 3
. .
 TH E N AM E S OF AM E N -
RA . 1 73

Thou art the fi r e goddess A mi s es h e t whose Opp o r

- -

t u n i ty escapeth her not ; thy name is Ka h a r e s a p u s a

r em k a k a re m e t . Th o u art like unt o the mighty fl ame

o f S a q e n a q a t which is in t h e h ow o f the boat Of

thy father H a re p u k a k a s h a re s h a b a i u fo r beh o ld thus , ,

is [the n ame uttered ] in t h e speech of the N egro es ,

and o f the A nti and Of the pe o ple of Nubia

, .

S efi p e re m h e s i h ra h a p u tch et e f is thy name ; A t a re a m

t ch e rq e m t u r e n nu p a r s h e t a is the name o f on e of thy
”
divine sons and P a n em m a that of the ot her
,
And in .

1
yet another chapter the deceased addressing the god
Par says Thou art the mighty o n e o f names among
,

the gods the mighty runn er wh o se strides are mighty ;

,

thou art the g o d the mighty one w h o comest and

r e s cu e s t t h e needy one and the a fflicted from him
“

that Oppresseth him ; give heed to my cry I am .

the Co w and thy divine name is in my m o uth and

, ,

I will utter it ; H a q a h a k a h e r is thy name ; Aurana

a q e rs a a n q r e b a t hi is thy name ; Kh ers era u is th y
name ; Kh ars a th a is thy name I praise thy name . .

0 be graci o us unt o the deceased and cause ,

th o u heat t o exist under h i s head fo r indeed h e is , , ,

the s o ul o f the great divine B o dy which resteth in

A nnu (Heli o polis ) whose names are Kh u k h e p e ru ru
,

”
and B a rek a th a tch a ra .

The examples of the use of names posse ssi ng m agical

p owers described above illustrate the s emi religiou s -

S e e Ch a p ters f Co m i ng
o F o r th by D a y p 2 8 9
. . .
1 74 A DJU R A TI O N O F T H E C R O COD I LE .

views on the subject o f names which the Egyptians

held and we have now to consider briefly the manner in
,

which the kno wledge Of a name was employed in uses

less important than those which had for their o bj ect
the attainment of life and happiness in the world to
1
come In the famous magical papyrus which Chabas
.

2
published we fi nd a series Of interesting charms and
magical fo rmul ae which were written to preserve its
possess o r from the attacks of sea and river monsters
o f every kind o f which the fo llowing is an example
, .

“
Hail lord of the gods ! Dri ve away from me the
,

lio ns of the coun try o f Mer u (Mero e and the

“
crocodiles which c o me fo rth from the river and ,

the bite of all pois o nous reptiles which crawl forth

from their holes Get thee back 0 crocodile Mak
.
, ,

thou son Of Set ! Move no t by means of thy tail !

W ork not thy legs and feet ! O pen not thy mouth !
L et the water which is before thee turn into a con
s u m i ng fi r e 0 th e n whom the thirty seven gods did
,
-

make and wh o m the serpent o f Ra did put in chains

, ,

0 thou wh o wast fettered wi th links of iro n befo re

the boat of Ra ! Get thee back 0 crocodile M ak , ,

thou son o f Set ! T hese words were to be said

o ver a fi gure Of the g o d A men painted on clay ; the
’

g o d was to have four rams heads up o n one neck under ,

.

his feet was to be a fi gure of the crocodi le M ak and ,

B r i ti s h M u s e u m , N o .

2
L e P a p y r u s M a gi q u e H a rr i s , Ch a l o n su r -
S a bne , 1 8 60 .
1 76 M O SE S T H E P R OP H E T O F O SI R I S .

I nscribing up o n their amulets and upon the called so -

magical papyri The last class of documents u n

.

d o ubtedly c o ntains a ve r v large pr o por ti o n o f the

magical ideas beliefs fo rmulae etc which were current
, , ,
.
,

in Egypt fro m the time o f the Pt o le m ies to t h e end

o f the R o man Peri o d but from about , 1 5 0 to A D
2 00 the papyri exhibit traces o f the influence o f Greek ,

Hebre w and Syrian phil o sophers and m agicians and

, ,

1
fro m a passage like the fo llo wing we may get a pro o f
I call thee the headless o n e that didst
“
o f this -

, ,

“
create earth and heaven that didst create night and ,

day thee the creat o r o f light and darkness T h o u

, .

art Os or o nn o p h ri s wh o m n o man hath seen at any

,

time ; thou art I a b a s th o u art I a p OS th o u hast dis

, ,

ti ng u i s h ed the just and the u njust th o u didst make ,

female and male thou didst pr o duce seeds and fruits

, ,

thou didst make men t o l o ve o ne an o ther and t o hate

one an o ther I am Moses thy pro phet t o wh o m th o u
.
,

didst c o mmit thy mysteries the cerem o nies o f Israel ,

tho u didst produce the moist and the dry and all
“
manner o f fo o d L isten to me : I am an angel of
.

P h a p r o Os o ro nn o p h ri s ; th is is thy true name handed ,

d o wn to the pro phets Of Israel L isten t o m e é .

In this passage the name Os oro nnOp h ri s is clearly

a corruptio n Of the old Egyptian n ames of the

1
S e e G o o d wi n, F r a gm ent of a G reece E gyp ti a n Wo r k u p on M a gi c, p 7
-

.
,

2
H er e fo ll o w a nu mb e r o f na me s of wh i ch R e i b e t, A th e l e b e rs th e,
E l a th a , b e u , E b e np h i , a re e x a m p l e s
A .
 T H E SE V E N V OW E L S . 1 77

great god of the dead Ausar U nnefer and P h a pr o “ ‘

seems t o represent the Egyptian P er d a (literally -

“ ””
“
great house ) o r P haraoh with the article p a ,

the prefi xed It is interesting to note that Moses is

.

mentioned a fact which seems to indicate Jewish

,

influence .

1 “
In another magical fo rmul a we read I call u p o n ,

thee that di dst create th e e a rth and bones and all ,

flesh and all spirit that didst establish th e sea a nd ,

that Sh ak es t the heavens that didst divide the li ght ,

from the darkness the great regulative mind that , ,

di s p o s es t every t hing ey e of the w o rld S pirit of spi rits

, , ,

o d o f gods the lord of spirits the i m m o ve a b l

g , ,

I AOOU EI hear my v o ice I call up o n thee the

,
.
,

the g o ds h i gh thundering Zeus Zeus king

,
-

, , ,

lord I a o ou ee I am he that invo kes thee i n the

,
.

Syr ian tongue th e g reat g o d Za a l a ér I p h p h o u do

, , , ,

t hou n o t disregard the Hebrew appellati o n A blana

t h a n a l b A b ra s i l b a
,
For I am Sil th a k h Oo u k h La il a m
.
, ,

B l a s a l é th I a O I eO Ne b o u th Sa b i oth a r B eth A r
, , , , , ,

“
b a th i a o, I a o th , S a b a Ot h , P a to u re , Za g o u r e, B a r o uk h
B a rb a ra nO, Na u , Si p h , etc
”
A donai E l Oa i I a b r a a m
, , , .

The spell ends w ith th e statement that it lo o sens “

chains blin ds brings dreams creates favour ; it may

, , ,

be used in comm o n fo r whatever purpose y o u Will I n

”
.

the above we notice at o nce the use of the seven vowels

wh i ch fo rm a n a me wherein be co ntained all Names
“
,
’

G o o dwin, op . ci t , p 21. .

EGP M AG I C
. .
 1 78 C O M BI NA TI O N S O F T H E S E V E N
-
V OW E L S .

” 1
and all Lights and a ll P owers The seven vowels
,
.

“ 2 ”
have o f course reference t o the three vowels I a o
, , ,

which were intended t o represent one o f the Hebrew

”
names fo r Almi ghty G o d Jah The names A donai , .
,

”
E l ea i are a lso derived thr o ugh the Hebrew from the
,

Bi ble and Sabaoth is an o ther well known Hebrew

,
-

”
word meaning h o sts ; some o f the remaining names
“

c o uld be expla ined if space permitted by Hebrew and , ,

Syriac w o rds On papyri and amulets the vowels are

.

written in magical c o mbinations in such a man ner as

t o fo r m triangles and other S hapes with them are

o ften found the names of the se ven archangels of God ;

fo ll o wing are examples

NO . No .

In c o mbinatio n with a number o f S igns which owe

their o rigin t o the Gnostics the seven v o we l s were
1
S ee K e n y on , G r eek P a p y r i i n th e B r i ti s h M u s e u m , L o ndo n, 1 893,
p 63
. .

2
F o r I a o o u é i we s h o u l d p r o b a b l y r e a d I a o o u é i .

3
Br iti s h M u s eu m , G no s ti c g e m , No G 3 3 . . .

K p yr i , p 1 23
1
e n y o n , G re ek P a . .

M i d , p 1 23
5
T h e s e na m e s r e a d M i ch a e l , R a h a e l ,“ G a b r i el ,
p
. .

S ou r i e l Z a z i e l , B a da k i e l , a nd S u l i c l
. .
1 80 K H N OU M I S A N D ABR ASA X .

refer to the seven heavens ; and on t h e back o f the

amulet on which the fi gure of Kh nou m i s occurs is
, ,

usually fo und the S ign 8 8 5 or the triple S and bar , .

Kh nou m i s is Of course a form of the an 0 1 ent Egyptian

, ,

”
god Kh n em u or Fashi o ner o f man and beast the
,
“
,

god to wh o m many of the attributes of the Creator

o f the uni verse were ascribed Kh n e m u is ho w ever .
, ,

o ften depicted with the head Of a ram and in the later ,

”
times as the beautiful ram of Ra he has four heads ;
, ,

in the Egyptian monuments he has at times the head

Of a hawk but never that Of a li o n
,
The god Abrasax .

is represented in a fo r m which has a human body the ,

h ead of a hawk or cock and legs terminating in ,

serpents ; in o ne hand h e holds a knife or dag g er and ,

in the other a shield up o n which is inscribed the great

name I A w or JAH Considerable di fference of Opinion
,
.

exists as to the meaning and derivation of the name

A brasax but there is no d o ubt that the god who h e re
,

it was a form o f the Sun g o d and that he was intended -

to represent some aspect of the Creat o r of the world .

The name was believed to possess magical powers of

1
the highest class and B a s i l ei de s who gave it cu rrency
, ,

in the sec o nd century seems to have regarded it as ,

an invincible name It is probable however that its

.
, ,

exact meaning was lost at an early date an d that it ,

1
He ofA l x a nd ri wh o li ve d b ou t A D 1 20 H e wa s a d i s c i p l e
e a, a . . .

o f M e nande r a nd de cl a r e d t h a t h e h a d r e ce i ve d t h e eso t e r i c do c tri ne

,

o f S a i nt P e te r f ro m G la u ci a s a d i s i p le o f th e A p o s tl e
, c .
 AB R A S A X ON G N O S TI C G EM S . 1 8 1

see n degenerated into a mere magical symbol for it is ,

often found inscribed on amulets side by S ide with

sce nes and fi gures with which seemingly it cannot , ,

h ave any connexion whatever Judging from certain .

Gnostic gems in the British Museum A brasax is to be ,

identi fi ed with the pol y theistic fi gure that stands in

the upper part o f the Metternich stele depicted on
p 1 5 3 This fi gure has two bodies o ne being that o f
. .
,

a man an d the other that of a bird ; from these extend

,

fo ur wings and fro m e a ch of his kn ees proj ects a

,

serpent He has two pairs o f han ds and arms ; one

.

pair is extended along the wi ngs each han d h o lding ,

” ” ”
the symbols Of life “
stability and p o wer an d
,
“
,
“
,

two knives and two serpents the other pai r is pend ent ,

the ri ght hand grasping the sign of life and the other ,

a s ceptre His face is grotesque and pro bably rep re

.
,

sen ts that of Bes o r the sun as an old man ; o n his

,

head is a pyl o n shap ed object with fi gures o f variou s

-

animals and above it a pair of ho rns which support

,

eight knives and the fi gure of a god with raised h a nd s

”
and arms which typi fi es millions of years
, The “
.

god stands u pon an oval wherein are depicted figure s

”
o f vari o us typhonic animals and fro m each side ,

of his cro wn proceed several symb ols o f fi re W hethe r .

in the Gnostic system A braxas absorbed all the name s

and attributes of this go d of many fo rms can not be s ai d
with certainty .
 CH AP TE R V I .

M A G I CA L I
CERE M ON ES .

IN the precedi ng pages we have seen how the Egyptian s

empl o yed m a gical stone s or amulets and magical words
, ,

and magical pictures and magical names in the per

, ,

form a n ce of deeds b o th g o od and evil ; it remains t o

con sider these magical cerem o nies i n which the skill
Of the magician priest wa s exerted t o its fullest extent
-

and with the highest Objects that is t o say to preserve

, ,

the human body in a mummi fi ed c o n ditio n and to ,

perfo rm th e symbolic acts which would rest o re its

n atural functions . W hen we think o f the sublime
‘

character o f the life which the souls of the blessed

dead were believed t o lead in heaven with the go ds ,

it is hard t o understand why the Egyptian s to o k such

p ains t o preserve the physical b o dy from decay N o .

Egyptian who believed his Scriptures ever expected

that his c o rruptible b o dy w o uld ascend into heaven
a n d live with the gods fo r they declare in no uncertain
,

m anner that it remains upon the earth whilst the soul

dwells in heaven But that the preservation o f the
.
1 84 M AG I C I N M U M M I F I C A TI O N .

perfo rman ce of some ceremony decay and perish The , .

Egyptian declared that he was immortal a ri d believed ,

that he w o uld enj o y eternal life i n a S piritual body ;

yet he attempted by the per fo rmance of magical cere
monies and the recital o f w o rds of power to m a k e h i s
corruptible body to endure for ever He believed that .

he would feed up o n the celestial and imperishable food

whereon t h e gods lived but at the same time he
,

spared n o e ffort or expense to pro vide for his tomb

being supplied at stated intervals throughout the year
with perishable fo o d in the shape of offerings of oxen ,

feathered fo wl cakes bread and the like He m u m m i

, , , .

fi e d his dead and swathed them in linen bandages and ,

then by the perfo rmance of magical ceremonies and by

the recital of words of power s o ught to give back t o
their members the strength to eat and drink and talk , , ,

and think and move at will Indeed all the evidence

,
.
,

now fo rthcoming seems t o prove that he never suc

c ee de d in bringing himself to think that the g o ds

could do without his help or that the pictures or ,

representations of the scenes which to o k place in the

life and death and burial and resurrecti o n of Osi ri s
, , , ,

u pon which he relied s o implic i tly could possibly fail ,

to be as e ffi cacious as the actual power Of the god

himself .

The exam i nation o f mummies has S hown us with

tolerable clearness what meth o ds were adopted in pre
paring bodies for bandaging and fi nal ornamentati o n ,
 T H E R ITU AL OF E M B AL M M E N T . 1 85

and the means ad o pted fo r disposi ng of the more

corru ptible porti o ns Of the body are well kn o wn from
cl as sical and other writers But for an account of the .

man ner in which the body was bandaged an d a list o f ,

the un guents and other materials empl o yed in the pro

c ess an d the words Of power which were sp o ken as
‘

each bandage was l a id in its place we must have ,

rec o urse to a very interesting papyrus which has been

edited and translated by M Maspero under the title of .

1
b
’
Le R i tu el de l E m a u m em ent The fi rst part o f the .

papyrus which probably gave instructions fo r the

,

e vi sc e rati o n o f the body is wanting and only the

'

, ,

secti o n which refers to the bandaging is at all perfect .

The text Opens with an address t o the deceased in

which i t is said The perfume o f A rabia hath been
,

“
br o ugh t t o thee t o make perfect thy smell through
the scent of the g o d Here are bro ught to thee
'

liquids which have c o me fo rth fr om Ra to make

“
perfect th y smell in the Hall [o f
O sweet smelling soul o f the great god th o u d o st
-

contain such a sweet od o ur that thy face S hall neither

change n o r perish Thy members shall bec o me
.

y oung in A rabia and thy soul

, s h a l l appear o ver thy
bo dy in Ta neter -
the divine land A fter this
th e priest or m u m m i fi er was to take a vase Of liquid
" '

which contained ten perfumes, and to smear therewith

the b o dy fro m head to foot twice taking es pecial care ,

1
I n Memoi re
’

sur q u elq u es P a p yr u s da L o u vre, P a ri s , 1 8 7 5 .

1 86 T H E U SE O F O IL I N M U M M I F I C A TI O N .

to an o int the head th o roughly He was then to say .

,

Osiris the deceased) thou hast received the per

,

fume which shall make thy members perfect Tho u .

r ecei v es t the source

[o f life
] and thou takest the form
of the gr e at Disk A ten) which u ni te th itself un to
,

“
thee to give enduring fo rm to thy members th o u
shalt u nite with Osiris in the great Hall The .

unguent c o meth unto thee t o fashion thy members

and t o gladden thy heart and thou shalt appear in the
,

fo rm of B e ; it shall make thee t o be sound when thou

settest in the Sk y at eventide and it S hall spread ,

abroad the smell of thee in the nomes of A q ert .

Tho u re cei ve s t the oil o f the cedar in A m e nt e t and ,

the cedar which came forth from Osiris cometh unt o

thee ; it delivereth thee from thy enemies and it p ro ,

t ect e t h thee in the n o mes Thy soul a l i gh t e th up o n

.

the venerable sycamores Thou criest t o Isis and .

,

Osiris heareth thy voice and A nubis cometh unt o ,

thee to inv oke thee Thou r ece i ves t the Oi l of the

.

country of Manu which hath c o me from the East and ,

R a riseth upon thee at the gates o f the h o rizon at the ,

holy doors Of N s ith Thou goest therein thy soul is

.
,

in the upper heaven and thy body is in the lower

,

heaven O Osiris may the Eye o f H o rus cause

, ,

that which flo we th fo rth fro m it to co m e t o thee and ,

”
t o thy heart fo r ever ! These words having been
“

said the whole ceremo ny was repeated and then the

, ,

internal organs w hich had been removed fro m the body

I 88 M A G I CA L BA N D A G E S .

“
as i ntothe divine members of Osi ri s and thou ,

jou rney es t on thy legs to the immo rtal ab o de Thou .

hast carried thy hands to t he house of e te rni ty fth o u

art made perfect in gold thou dost shine brightly in
,

s m u metal and thy fi ngers shine in the dwelling of

,

Osiris in the sanctuary of H o rus himself 0 Osiris

, .
,

the g o ld o f the mountains cometh to thee ; it is a holy

talisman o f the g o ds in their abodes and it ligh teneth ,

thy face in the lower heaven Thou b re a th es t in .

gol d thou a p p ea r es t in sma metal and the dwellers

, ,

in B e stau receive thee th o se wh o are in the funeral

-

chest rejoice because thou hast transfo rmed thyself

int o a hawk of gold by means o f thy amulets (or
talismans ) of the City of Gold etc W hen these ,
”
.

words have been said a priest who is made to personi fy

,

A nubis Co mes to the deceased and performs certain

s ymbolical ce re m o ni e s b y his head and lays certain ,

bandages upon it W hen the head and m o uth and face

.

have been well o i led the bandage o f Nek h e b is laid on

the fo rehead the bandage of Hath o r o n the face the
, ,

band a ge of Thoth upon the two ears and the bandage ,

of Ne b t h e te p on the nape of the neck O ver the head

-
.

was laid the bandage o f Sekhet in t wo pieces and over

, ,

each ear and each nostril and each cheek was fastened
, ,

a bandage or strip of linen ; over the fo rehead went

fo ur pieces of linen on the top Of the head t wo outside
, ,

the mouth two and inside two over the chi n t wo and
, , ,

over the nape of the neck four large pieces there were
RE S U L T OF M A G I C AL CE R E M O N I E S O N T H E DE AD . 1 89

to be twenty two pieces to the right and to the left o f

-

the face passing over the two ea rs The L ady of the .

W est is then addressed in these words Grant thou

“
that breathi ng may take place in the head Of the
deceased in the underworld and that he may see with
,

his eyes and that he may hear with his two ca rs ;

,

a nd that he may breathe through his nose ; and that

he may be able to utter sounds with his m o uth ; and

that he may be able to speak with h i s tongue in the
under wo rld Receive thou hi s voice in the Hall o f
.

Ma ati and his speech in the Hall of S eb in the

”
presence of the Great God the lord of A m e n tet
, .

The addresses which follow these words have refer e nce

to th e delights an d pleasures of the future life which
shall be secured fo r him thro u gh the oil and ung uents ,

which are duly specifi ed and d e scribed and through the ,

m ag ical fi gures which are drawn upon the bandages .

T he protecting properties of the turqu o ise and o ther

precious stones are alluded to and after a further ,

a n o inting with oil and the placing o f grains of myrrh

“
a n d resin ,the deceased is declared to have recei ved
“
his head a nd he is promised that it shall nevermore
,

depart fro m him On the c o nclusi o n of the ceremonies

.

which c o ncern the head the deceased has the p o w er to

go in am o ng the holy and perfect spirits his name is ,

exalted am ong men the deni z ens of heaven receive his

,

soul the beings o f t h e underworld bow down befo re his

,

body the dwellers upon earth adore him and the

, ,
1 90 T HE T H I RTY -
SI X M A G I C AL S U B ST AN C E S .

inhabitants o f the funeral mountain ren ew for him his

youth Besides these things A nubis and H o rus make
.
,

perfect his bandages and th e g o d Th o th pr o tects his

,

members by his w o rds o f magical p o wer ; and he

himself has learned the mag ical fo rmulae w h ich are
necessary t o m a ke his path straight in the under wo rld ,

and also the proper way in which t o utter them All .

these bene fi ts were secured fo r h i m by the use of

bandages and unguents w hich p o ssess b o th m agical
names and pr o perties and by the w o rds o f p o wer
,

uttered by the priests w h o recited the Ritual o f

E m bal m ment and by the cerem o nies which the priest
,

who pers o nated A nubis perfo rmed beside the b o dy of

the deceased in imitati o n of those which the god
A nubis performed for the dead god O siris in remote
days .

N ext the left hand o f the deceased was mu m mi fi ed

an d bandaged acc o rding to the instructi o ns given in
the Ritual o f E m balmment The han d was s t retched.

o u t o n a piece o f linen and a ri n g was passed o ver the

,

fi ngers ; it was then fi lled with thirty six of the sub -

stances which were used i n embalming acc o r ding to ,

the number o f the fo rms o f the god Osiris This do n e .

,

the hand was bandaged w i th a strip o f linen in S i x

fo lds upon wh ich were drawn fi gures o f Isis and H api
, .

The right hand was treated in a similar way o nly the ,

fi gures drawn upon the ban dages were those of B a an d

A m s u ; and wh en the appr o priate words had been
1 9 2 OP E N I N G TII E M O UT H A ND E YE S .

recited during the perfo rmance of a complex seri es of

cerem o nies s o me of which are still not completely
,

understood It seems as if the perfo rmance o f all the

.

ceremonies would requi re several days and it is clea r ,

that o nly the wealthy c o uld a ffo rd the expense which

must have attended such elab o rate Obsequies ; fo r the
p o o rer classes Of men the vari o us cerem o nies must have
been greatly curtailed and at a very early peri o d we
,

fi n d that a shortened fo rm o f ritual had taken their

place Of all the cerem o nies the most important was
. ,

”
that of the Opening of the Mouth and Eyes which
“
,

was performed either on the mummy itself or up o n a

statue which represented it It has already been stated
.

that the Egypti a ns beh a ved that they coul d transmit

to a statue th e attributes Of the person i n whose image
it was made and S imilarly that that which was d o ne to
,

the statue of the mummifi ed person was also done to it .

The u se of a statue instead o f the actual m ummy has

Obvi o us advantages fo r the ceremony could be per
,

fo rmed a t any time and in any place and the presence ,

o f t h e mummy was unnecessary A s a matter of fact

.

the ceremony was performed in a chamber at the

entra nce t o the tomb or outside the tomb at a place
,

which had been made ceremonially pure or consecrated ,

and tho se who took part i n it were The Kh er h eb -

or chief Offi ciating priest wh o held a roll o f papyrus

,

in his hand (2) The S em priest (3 ) The S m er wh o

. .
,

was perhaps some intimate friend of the dec eased

, , .
 T H E CE R E M O NY OF P U R IF IC A TI O N . 1 93

(
1
4 f
’
) T he S a m er or man who was either
-
the son -
o f
e ,

th e deceased or hi s representative ( )
5 The T ch er a u u r .
-

or woman w h o represented Isis (6) The Tch er a u .

s h er a u t or woman who represented N ep h t h y s

, ( 7 ) T h e .

M enh u o r slaughterer (8 ) The A m a s i priest (9 ) The

,
.
-

A m k h eu t priest
-

(1 0) A number of pe o ple w h o r e re
p.

sented the armed guard Of H o rus All these becam e .

actors i nscenes w hich were intended to represe nt the

events which to o k place in c o nnexi o n with the bur ial
of O siris with whom the deceased is now identi fi ed ;
,

the two women took the parts o f the goddesses Isis and
N ephthys and the men th o se Of the gods who hel ped
,

them in the performance Of their pi o us duties Fro m .

2 8
the scenes which acco mpany the texts relating to
the ceremony o f Ope ning the m o uth and eyes we see
that it began with the sprinkl ing Of water round about
the statue o r mummy fro m fo ur vessels o ne fo r each ,

quarter o f the earth and with the recital of addresses ,

to the gods Horus Set Thoth and Sept ; th is act , , ,

rest o red to the deceased the use o f his head The .

sprinkling of water was followed by a puri fi cati o n by

means Of incense als o contained in four vases one for , ,

each Of the fo ur quarters o f the earth The burning .

1
I e .
,
“
th e sp n wh o l oveth hi m .

1
S e e D ii m i eh e n , D er G r a bp a l a s t des P a tu a mena p , ei p z i g , vo l 1 L .

1 8 84 ; vo l i i , 1 8 8 5 ; vo l i ii , 1 8 9 4 ; a nd C h a m p o ll i o n, M o nu m e nts ,
. . . .

P a r i s , 1 8 4 5 , to m i ii p l a t e s 2 4 3 24 8
. . ,
-
.

3
S ee S ch i a p a r e ll i , l l L i br o d ei F u ne r a li deg l i a nti ch i n z i a n i ,
T u r i n, 1 8 8 2 ; s e e a l so M a s pe ro , L e R i tu el d u s a cr ifice f u nera i re ( R evu e ‘

de l H i sto i r e des R eli g i o ns , t o m xv , p 1 59 ff )

’
. . . .

EGP . M AG I C .
1 94 T H E SH A D OW R E S T OR E D T O T H E B OD Y .

of this sweet smelling substance assisted in opening -

the m outh of the deceased and i n strengthening his

heart A t this stage th e S em priest dressed himself i n
.

the skin Of a co w and lying do wn upon a kind of c o uch ,

pretended t o be asleep ; but he was r o used up by the

A m a s i priest i n the presence of the K h er h eb and the
- -

A m k h eu t priest and when the S ent priest had seated

-

himsel f up o n a s eat the fo ur men t o gether represented ,

1
the four chil dren of H o rus or the gods with the he ads ,

o f a hawk an ape a jackal and a man respectively

, , , .

The Sem priest then said I have seen m y father in ,

“

”
all his forms which the other men in turn repeat , .

The meaning of this portio n of th e ceremony is hard

2
to explain but M Masper o thinks that it was intended
, .

to bring back to the body o f the deceased its S hado w

a i bi t)
(k h which had
, departed from it when it died .

The preliminary p u ri fica ti o ns being ended and the ,

S had o w having been joined to the b o dy once more the ,

statue o r mummy is appro ached by the men who

represent the armed guard Of Horus ; and on e o f their
n umber havin g taken up o n himsel f the character Of
,

Horus the son o f Osiris and Isis t o uches its mouth

, ,

with his fi nger The K h er h eb next made ready t o .

-

p erfo rm the sacri fi ce which was intended to com

m emorate the slaughter at so me very early period o f , ,

the fi ends wh o were the friends of Set It seems that .

,

1
I . s .
,
M e s th a , H ap i , T u a mu te f a nd e h s e nnu f .

1
0p . ci t , .
p 1 68
. .
1 96 TH E U R R E KA U I N STR U M E N T .

gods were Opened Horus Open the mouth ! Horus

.
, ,

o pen the mouth ! H o rus h ath Opened the mouth

Of the dead as he in time s of Ol d o pened t h e mouth of

O siris with the iron which came forth from Set with
, ,

the iron instrument with which he o pened the m ouths

o f the gods He hath o pened thy mou t h with it T he
. .

deceased shall walk and shall speak and his body ,

shall be with the great company of the gods in the

Great H o use Of the A ged One in A nnu and he S h al l ,

“
receive there the u rer et crown from Horus the lord ,

”
of mankind Thus the mouth and the eyes Of the
.

deceased are o pened T he S em priest then to ok in

.

his hand the instrument called a r k ek a u i e the ,

. .
,

mighty o ne of enchantments a curious sinuous , ,

piece o f wood one end o f which is in the form of a

,

’
ram s head surmounted by a uraeus and touched the ,

mouth an d the eyes o f the statue or mummy fo ur

times whilst the K h er h eb recited a long address in
,
-

which he declared that this por tion o f the cerem o ny

h a d secured fo r the deceased all th e bene fi ts which
accrued to the god Osiris from the actions of N ut ,

Horus and Set when he was in a similar state It

, , .

has been said above that every dead m a n h o ped to

a

be provided with the k ek a u o r words o f power which , ,

were n ecessary for him in the next w o rld but with ou t ,

a m o uth it was impossible for h i m to utter the m .

N ow that the mouth or rather the use of it wa s

, ,

restored t o the deceased it was all important to give,

 TH E JA W -
BON E S ARE E S T A BLI S H E D . 1 97

him not onl y the words o f power but also the ability ,

to utter them correctly and in such wise that the i

gods and o ther beings would hearken to them and

obey them ; four touches of the u r h ek a u instrument
on the lip s endowed the deceased with the faculty
of utteri ng the proper words in the proper manner in
each of the four quarters of the w o rld When this .

had been d o ne several other c eremonies were per

,

fo rmed with the o bj ect of allowing the son who “

l o veth him or his representative to take part in the

opening of the mouth of his father In order to do .

this he took in his hand a metal chisel and touched

the Openings of the m o uth and o f the eyes and then ,

the S em priest t o uched them fi rst with his little fi nger ,

and afterwards with a little bag fi lled with pieces

of red stone or carnelian with the idea M Maspero, ,
.

thinks of restoring to the lips and eyelids the colour

,

which they had lost during the process of m u m m i

”
fi ca t i o n
. The son wh o l o ves him then t o ok four
“

“
Objects called iron of the South and iron Of the ,

”
“
N orth ,
and laid each Of them four times upon
the mouth and the eyes while the K h er h eb recited -

the pr o per address in which the mummy o r statue

is said t o have had his mouth and lips established
fi rmly. This d o ne the S em priest brings an instrument
,

called the Pesh e n kef v and t o uches the mouth

“ - -

,
”
,

of the mummy or statue therewith and says O , ,

“
Osiris I have stablished fo r thee the t wo jaw bo nes
,
-
1 98 TH E D UP L I CA TE C E R E M O NY .

in thy face a nd they are now separated

, that is
to say the bandages with which they have been tied
,

up can no l o nger preve n t their movement when the

deceased wishes to eat A fter the Pesh e n kef had
.
- -

been used the S ent priest brought fo rward a basket

o r vessel o f s o me kin d of fo o d in the S hape o f b alls ,

and by the order of the K h er h eb o ffered them to the -

mouth of the mummy and when this portion of the

,

ceremony was ended the S em priest took an ostrich

,

feather and waved it before its face fo ur times but

, ,

with what Obj ect is not clear Such are the ceremonies
.

which it was th o ught necessary t o perfo rm in order to

restore to the deceased the functi on s which his body
possessed upon earth But it must be remembered
.

“ ”
that hitherto only the bull o f the south has b een
sacri fi ced and that the h u ll o f the n o rth has yet
,
“

t o be offered up ; and all the cerem o nies which have

been already perfo rmed must be repeated if the

deceased w o uld have the p o wer t o go forth at will
over the wh o le earth Fro m the earl iest times the
.

S outh and the N orth were the two great sectio ns int o
which the w o rld was divided and each section pos ,

sessed its own special gods all o f wh o m had to be ,

propitiated by the deceased ; hence m o st religio us

cerem o nies were o rdered to be perfo rmed in duplicate .

In later days each section was divided into t wo parts ,

and the four divisions thus made were app o rti o ned t o
the fo ur children o f H o rus ; hence prayers and formul ae
 TH E C E RE M O NY O F OP E N I NG T H E M O UT H . 20 1

were usually said four times once in honour Of each

,

g o d and the rubrical directions on this point are

,

de fi nite .

In the limited S pace of this book it is not p o ssible

to repro duce all the scenes of the ceremony of opening
the mouth and the eyes which are depicted in the
tombs and elsewhere but on page 1 9 9 is a general
,

view of the ceremony as it is Often given in the

papyri of the XV I II th and X I Xth dynasties On the .

right we see the pyramidal tomb in the Theban hill

wi th i ts o pen d o or and by the side o f it is the funeral
‘

stele with a rounded top inscribed with a fi gure o f the

deceased standin g in adoration befo re Osiris an d with ,

a prayer to the god for sepulchral Offerings A nubis .

,

the go d Of the dead embraces the mummy thus

, ,

indicating his readiness t o take the deceased under

his pr o tecti o n N asha the wife of the deceased stands
.
, ,

weeping befo re the mummy and at his feet kne els,

an o ther weeping woman pr o bably his daughter A nubis

, .

and the mummy stand up o n a layer of sand which has

been placed there with the Object o f sanctifying the
ground A priest clad in a panther s S kin holds a
.
’

censer containing burning incense in o ne hand an d ,

a v a se fro m which he sprinkles water in the o ther

, , .

One ministrant holds the two instruments Tun tet “

-

”
and Seb u r in the right hand and the U r b ekau
-

instr u ment in the left ; and an o ther o ffers fo ur vases

of unguent In th e lower register are a cow and her
.
202 CE R E M O NY O F O PE N I NG T H E M OU T H

calf a nd two men are carrying along to the mummy

,

the haunch which we must assume t o have been

recently cut from the slaughtered bull and the heart ,

which h as just been taken out of him On a table .

we see lying a number o f obj ects the Meskhet and ,

“
,

”
Pesh en kef and other instruments two sets of four
- -

, ,

vases fo r holdi ng u nguents and Oi l the bags o f col o ur , ,

the iro n of the s o uth and north etc T he text which , .

runs in short vertical l ines ab o ve the scene reads

“
The Chapter of the opening of the mouth of the
statue of Osiris the royal scribe H u nefer whi t h is
, , ,

to be performed [when] its face [looketh ] t o wards the

south [and when it is set] u pon the sand behind
,

him A nd the K her heb shall say four times unto

.
-

the S em priest as he go eth ro und about him bearing

"
four vases of water : Thou art pure with the p u r ifi
cation o f Horus and H o rus is pure with thy pu rifi ca
,

tio n Thou art pure with the purifi cati o n of Thoth

.
,

“
and Thoth is pure with thy puri fi cati o n Thou art .

pure with the puri fi cati o n o f Sep and Sep is pure ,

“
with thy puri fi cation Th o u art pure with the puri
.

fi c a ti o n of Seb and Seb is pure with thy purifi cati o n

, .

[ ]
’
Pure Pure . Say f o ur times
. Incense hath bee n .
‘

Offered unt o thee o f the incense of H o rus and incen se ,

hath been o ffered unt o H o rus Of thy incense Incen se .

hath been o ffered unto thee of the incense o f Thoth ,

and incense hath been o ff ered unto Th o th o f t h y

“
incens e Incense h a th been o ffered unto thee o f
.
2 04 T H E E FF I C ACY OF E N C H AN T E D OIL .

magical words which were pronounced whilst it was

being rubbed on them remain soft for a ll time and , ,

so that the curative pro p erties of the oil might heal

the wounds which the m u mm i fi ers had made A .

glance at the medical papyri of Egypt will she w that

Oil appears in scores of prescriptions and it was no ,

1
less useful to the magician than to the physician in
producing good or evil results I t seems to have been .

used with the idea of effecting transformations by the

fo rmer just as it was employed by the priest in the
,

perform ance Of certain imp o rtant religi o us ceremonies ,

and a curious s urvival o f this use is menti o ned by

2
Lucian who relates that a woman tran sfo rmed her
,

self into a night raven by its means The w o man fi rst

-
.

undressed herself and going t o a lamp threw t wo grains

,

o f incense into the flame and recited certain words

she then went to a large chest containing several

bottles and taking o u t one which the writer thinks
, , ,

c o ntained oil rubbed all her body with the liquid from
, ,

head t o fo ot beginning with the ends o f the n ails and

, ,

suddenly feathers and wings began to grow upon her ,

and a hooked horny beak t oo k the place o f her n o se

, .

In a very short time she resembled a bird in every

respect and when Sh e saw that she was well feathered
, ,

she fle w upwards and uttering the cry o f a night , .

1
S e e th e d es cr i p ti o n o f th e c e r e m o ny o f th e b e e t l e , p 4 2. .

2
L u ci u s s i ve Asi nu s, xl i i , 1 2 ( e d D i do t, p
. . . Co m p a r e l
a so

54 (p .
 TH E T R AN SFO R M E D W O M AN . 20 5

1
raven d i sap peared thro ugh the window
,
I n connexion .

with the recital Of certain Chapters of the Book of the

Dead a number of interesting cerem o nies were per
formed but as they only illustrate the beliefs described
,

above they need not be mentioned here .

F r o m t h e wo rds , xpro u a fl neu a ye vu e wp e u a Ae N

' ’
/ a o a bvo v u o z ria e t e
1 ’ ‘ '
’

( s e e L u ci u s s i ve A s i nu s, xl i i , 54 , e d D idot , p
-
. . . i t i s cl ea r th a t th e
p ers on wh o i s s p ea k i ng b e l i e ve d th a t h e h a d b ee n t ra ns fo rm e d i nto
a n a s s b y m ea ns o f t h e u se o f b ewi tch e d o i l
.
”
 ( 2 06 )

CH APTER V II .

I
D E M ON A CA L P OS S E S S I ON D RE AM S G H OS TS LU CKY A ND
, , ,

U NLU CKY D AY S H OROS COPE S PR OG NOS TI OATIONS

, , ,

TRA NS FORM ATI ONS A ND TH E W OR S H I P OF AN I MALS

,
.

TH E Egyptians in comm o n with many other Eastern

,

nati o ns believed that certain S icknesses and diseases

,

might be cured by certain medicaments pure an d

S imple but that others needed not only drugs but the
,

recital of words of p o wer to e ff ect their cure There .

is good reason for thinking that some diseases were

attributed to the actio n of evil sp i rits or demons which ,

had the power of entering int o human b o dies and Of

vexing them in pro portion t o their malignant nature
1
and i nflu en ce but the texts do not afford much i n fo r
,

mation on the matter Incidentally however we have

.
, ,

one interesting proof that foreign pe o ples believed that

the Egyptians were able t o cure the diseases caused by
demoniacal possessi o n and the exercise of their power
,

1
As recently a s 1 8 9 5 th i s b el i e f e xi s te d i n Ir el a nd fo r a ccor di ng ,

t o t h e Ti m e s o f A p ri l 2 3 6 a nd 8 M i c h e l C l e a r y wa s ch a rg e d o n
, , , , a

A p ri l 1 a t Clonm e l wi th h a vi ng o n M a rch 1 4 b u rnt h i s wi fe B ri dg e t

, , ,

a g e d 27 fo r b e i ng a wi tc h t h u s e a u s i ng h e r d e a th a t B a l ty va dh e n
, , , ,
208 M A R R IA G E O F T H E BE KH TE N PRI N CE S S .

and every man sought to outdo his neighbour by

the lavishness of his gifts A m o ng others there came .

the Prince of Bekhten and at the head of all the ,

o fferings which he presented to His Majesty he placed

his eldest daughter w h o was very beautiful W hen

,
.

the king saw her he th o ught her the m o st beautiful

girl he had ever seen and he bestowed up o n her the
,

title of Royal sp ouse chief lady Ra ne feru, the ,

-

beauties of Ra the S u n go d) and took her to Egypt ;

,
-

and when they arrived in that c o untry the king married

’
her One day du ring the fi fteenth year o f the king s
.

reign when His Maj esty was in Thebes celebrating

,

the festival o f A men R a a messenger came t o the king

-

and reported the arrival o f an ambassad o r fro m the

Prince o f Bekhten who had brought rich gifts for the
ro yal lady Ra n eferu W hen he had been led int o
-
.

the king s presence he did homage b efore him saying

’

, , ,

“
Gl o ry and praise be unto thee 0 th e n Sun of the ,

”
natio ns ; grant that we may live befo re thee !
Having said these w o rds he bowed down an d touched
the gr o und with his head three times and said I , ,

“
have c o me unto thee O my s o verei gn L o rd o n beh alf
, ,

o f the lady Bent ent resht the younger sister of the

- -

r oyal sp o use Ra n efe ru for beh o ld an e vil disease

-

, , ,

“
hath laid h o ld upon her b o dy I beseech thy Majesty
1 ”
t o send a physician t o see her Then the king .

straightway ordered the b o oks of the d o uble hous e “

R k h kh t
e k no we r of th i ng
e , s .
S te l e r rd i g th
e co n e ca s t i n g ou t o f the d e v il f om
r t h e P ri nces s o f B e kh te n On t h e
ri gh t k g ff ri g h f
.

t h e i n i s o e n i nce ns e t o K h o ns u Ne fe r at e p , a nd o n t h e l e t a p ri es t
-

h
i s o lf er i n g i nce ns e to K o u e n, th e gr r h
ea t go d wh o d i vet a wa y evi lsd .
”
Fr
( om
Pri s sc, M on u men ts . p la t e

E GP . M AG IC .
ZIZ V I C T OR Y OF K H O N SU O VE R TH E SP IR I T .

boats with fi gures of g o ds l n them acc o mpanied by ,

chari o ts and horses o n the ri ght hand and on the left ,

set ou t fr o m Egypt and after travelling for seventeen

,

m o nths arrived in Bekhten where they were received

,

W ith great h o nour The g o d Kh o ns u went to the

.

place where Bent ent resht was and having performed

- -

, ,

a magical ceremony over her the demon departed from

,

her and she was cured straightway Then the dem o n .

addressed the Egyptian god saying Grateful and

, ,
“

“
welcome is thy com ing unt o us 0 great god thou , ,

vanquisher of the hosts of darkness ! Bekhten is

thy city the inhabitants thereof are thy slaves an d
, ,

I am thy servant ; and I will depart u nto the place

whence I came that I may gratify thee for unto this ,

end hast th o u c o me thither A nd I beseech thy .

M aj esty to command that the Prince o f Bekhten and

”
I may h old a festival t o gether To the d em o n s .
’

request K h o ns u agreed and he commanded his priest

,

to tell the Prince of Bekhten to make a great festival

in h o n o ur o f the demon ; this having been do ne by the
command of Kh ons u the dem o n departed to his own
place .

When the Prince of Bekhten saw that Kh o ns u was

thus p o werful he and all his pe o ple rej o iced exceed
,

i ngl y a n d he determined that the god sh o uld not be

,

all o wed t o return t o Egypt and as a result K h o ns u

,

remained in Bekhten fo r three years fo ur m o nths and , ,

fi ve days . On a certain day however the Prince was

, ,
 T H E G OD K H ON S U RE T U R N S T O E G Y P T . 2 1 3

sleeping and he dreamed a dream in which he saw the

,

god Kh o n s u come forth from his shrine in the fo rm of

a hawk of go ld and h a vm g mounted into the air he
,

flew away t o Egypt The Prince woke up in a sta te o f

.

great perturbation and having inquired o f the Egyptian

,

priest was t o ld by him that the god had departed to

Egypt and that his chariot must now be sent back
, .

Then the Prince gave to Kh ons u great gifts and they ,

were taken to Egypt and laid before the god Kh o ns u

N e fe r h e tep in his temple at Thebes
-
In early
.

Christian literatures we fi nd a number of examples of

demoniacal possession in which the demon who h a s
entered the body yields it up b efore a dem o n of greater
power than hi mself but the demon who is expelled is
,

invariably h o stile t o h i m that expels him and he ,

departs fro m before hi m with every sign of wrath and

shame The fact that it was believed possible for the
.

demon of Bekhten and the god Kh o ns u to fra t ernize ,

and to be present t o gether a t a festival made by the

Prince of the country shews that the people of Bekhten
,

ascribed the same attributes t o spirits or demons as

they did t o men The demon wh o possessed the
.

princess rec o gnized in Kh o ns u a being wh o was

mightier than himself and like a vanquished king he
, , ,

wished to make the best terms he c o uld with his

conqueror and to be on good terms with him
, .

The Egyptians beli eved that the divine p owers

frequently made kn o wn their will to them by means o f
2 1 4 TH E D RE AM O F T H OT H M E S IV .

dreams , and they attached c o n siderable i mp o rtance t o

them the fi gures o f the go ds and the scenes which they
saw wh e n dr eam ing seemed to them to pr o ve the exi st
ence of an o ther w o rld which was n o t greatly unlike that
already kn o wn t o them The kn o wledge o f the art o f
.

pr o cu ri ng dream s and the skill to interpret them were

greatly prized in Egypt as elsewhere in the East and ,

the priest or o ffi cial wh o p o ssessed such gifts s o metimes

rose te places of high hon o ur in the state as w e may ,

1
see fr o m the example o f J o s ep h fo r it was universally ,

believed that glimpses o f the future were revealed to

man in dreams A s i nstances o f dreams rec o rded in the
.

Egyptian texts may be quoted th o se of Th o th m e s I V .

,

king of Egypt about B C 1 4 5 0 and Nut A men . .

,
-

king o f the Eastern Sfi dan and Egypt ab o ut R C 6 7 0 , . .

A prince acc o rding to the stele which he set up befo re

,

the breast o f the Sphinx at Gizeh was o ne day hunting ,

near thi s emblem o f R a Harmachis and he sat d o wn t o

-

rest under its shad o w and fell asleep and dreamed a

dream In it the g o d appeared t o him and having
.
, ,

declared that he was the g o d Harmachis K hepera Ré - -

Temu pr o mised him that if he w o uld clear away fro m

,

the Sphinx his o wn image the drift sand in which it

, ,

was bec o ming buried he w o uld give t o him the s ove

,

r e i g n t y o f the lands o f the S o uth and o f the N o rth i e ,

. .
,

o f all Egypt . In due c o urse the prince became king

of E gy p t under the title of Th o th m e s I V and the stele .
,

1
S e e G e ne s i s , Ch a p te rs x1 xl i .
2 1 6 H OW T O O BT A I N A V I S I O N .

are examples of spells fo r procuring a vision and dreams ,

taken from British Museum Papyr us No 1 2 2 lines , .

,

l
6 4 ff and 3 5 9 fil
.

To o btain a visio n from [the g o d] Bes

“
Make a .

drawing of Besa as shewn bel o w on your left han d

, , ,

and env el o pe your hand in a strip of black cl o th that

has been consecrated to Isis and lie d o wn t o sleep
without speaking a word even in answer to a question , .

W ind the remainder of the cloth ro und your neck .

The ink with which y o u write must be c o mp o sed of

the blood o f a cow the blood o f a w h i te do ve fresh
,
’
,

frankincense myrrh black writing ink Cinnabar

, ,
-

, ,

mulberry juice rain water and the j uice of worm

,
-

wood and vetch W ith this write y o ur petition befo re

.

the setting sun [saying] Send the truthful seer o u t

, ,

of the holy shrine I beseech thee L a m p s u er S u m a rta

, , , ,

B ar i b a s D a rda l a m I o rl ex : O L o rd send the sacred

, ,

deity A nu th A n u th Salhan e Oh a m b ré Brei th n o w

’

, , , , , ,

2 ’
now quickly quickly Come in this very night
, ,
. .

To procure dreams : Take a clean linen bag an d

“

write upon it the names g i ven belo w Fold it up and .

m ake it into a lamp wick and set it alight pouring -

, ,

pure oi l o ver it The word to be written is this

.

A r m i u th , La il a m ch o ii ch , A rs en o p h re p h re n , P h th a ,
A r ch e nt ech t h a .
’
Then in the evening when , y ou are
G r eek P a p yr z , vo l i p 1 1 8
‘

S e e Ca ta lo gue f
o . . . .

2
A s k e tc h o f th e g o d B es a i s g i ve n a t th e e nd o f th e p a py r u s .

S ee t h e de s c ri p ti on o f th e M e tte rni ch s t e l e a b o ve , p 1 4 7 ff . .
 TH E PH YS C I AL AND S P I R IT U AL B O D I E S . 2 1 7

g o ing t o bed which yo u must do with o ut t o uching fo o d

,

[0 7 pure fr o m all de fil e m en t
3 ] do thus A pproach ,
the .

lamp and repeat sev en times the fo rmula given belo w

then extinguish it and lie d o wn t o sl eep The .

fo rmula is this : S a ch m u e p a e m a Li o t e re e nch

g
°

the A e o n the Thunderer Thou that hast s wallo wed

, ,

the snake and dost exhaust the m o o n and d o st raise ,

up the o rb of the sun in his seas o n Ch th eth o i s thy ,

n ame ; I require 0 l o rds of the g o ds Seth Oh rep s

, , , ,

give me the info rmati o n th at I desire .

’

"

The pec u liar ideas which the Egyptians held ab o ut

the comp o siti o n of man greatly fav o ured the belief in
appariti o ns and ghosts A ccording t o them a man .

c o nsisted of a physical b o dy a shadow a d o uble a s o ul , , , ,

a heart a spirit called the h i m a p o wer a name and

, , , ,

a spiritual b o dy When the b o dy died the shad o w

.

departed fro m it and c o uld o nly be bro ught back t o it

,

by the perfo rmance o f a mystical cerem o ny ; the d o uble

lived in the t o mb with the b o dy and was there V 1 s 1 te d ,

by the s oul wh o se habitati o n was in heaven The s o ul .

was fro m one aspect a material thing and like the lea
, , , ,

o r d o uble was believed t o partake o f the funeral o ffer

,

ings which were bro ught t o the t o mb o n e of the chief

o bjects o f sepulchral o fferings o f meat and drink was

t o keep the d o uble in the t o mb and t o do away with

the necessity o f its wandering ab o ut o utside th e to mb

in search o f fo od It is clear fr o m many texts that
.
,

unless the d o uble was supplied with suffi cien t fo o d ,

 ”
D O U B LE S P I R IT
“
2 1 8 TH E A ND .

it w o uld wander fo rth fro m the t o m b and eat any kind

o f o ffal and drink any kin d o f dirty water which it

might fi n d in its path But besides the shad o w and

.
,

the d o uble and the s o ul the spirit o f the deceased

, , ,

which usually had its ab o de in heaven was s o metimes ,

t o be fo und in the t o mb There is h o wever go o d .

, ,

reason fo r stating that the imm o rtal part o f man w h ich

lived in the t o mb and had its special ab o de in the
”
statue o f the deceased was the d o uble This is .

pro ved by the fact that a speci a l part o f the t o mb was

reserved fo r the Zea o r d o uble which was called the h o use
, ,
“

of the k a and that a priest called the priest o f the

, ,

lea was S pecially app o inted t o minister therein

,
The .

d o uble enj o yed the smell o f the incense which was

o ffered at certain times each year in the t o mb as well ,

as the fl o wers and herbs and meat and drink ; and the
, , ,

statue of the deceased in which the d o uble dwelt t o o k

pleasure in all the vari o us sce n es which were painted
o r sculpture d on the walls o f the vari o us chambers o f

the t o m b and enj o yed again all the delights which

,

his b o dy had enj o yed up o n earth The Zea o r d o u ble .

, ,

then in very early times was t o all intents and purp o ses
, , ,

the gh o st of the Egyptians In later times the k h u o r .

,

”
spirit seems to have been identi fi ed with it and there
, ,

are frequent allus i o ns in the texts t o the sanctity o f the

o fferings made t o the M a and to their territ o ries t e
, ,
. .
,

the districts in which the ir mummi fi ed b o dies lie .

W hether there was any general belief that the ka

 S I D N E v s G H O ST
’
220 M AJO R .

wh o d welt in them and even the A rabic speaking ,

-

pe o ples of Egypt and the S ud an if we excl u de the ,

”
antiqu ity grubber have the m i n great respect fo r
1
the same reas on The m o dern pe o ples of the S udan
.

fi rmly believe that the spirits of th o se slain in battl e

dwell o n the fi eld where they fell or where their b o dies ,

are buried and the s o ldiers in the tenth battalio n of

,

Lo rd K itchener s army declare that the grave of the’

gallant M aj o r Sidney who was shot while charging ,

at the head of his regi m ent in the battle o f A b u ,

Hamed August 7 th 1 8 9 7
,
is watched regularly , ,
“

“
every night by the gh o sts o f the n ative s o ldiers wh o
were killed at A b fi Hamed and wh o m o unt guard ,

over their dead c o mmander s tomb , ch alle nging with ’

every military detail a ll passers b y S o implicitly ,

-

“
is this legend credited by the blacks that n o ne o f
1
Whe n I vi s i t e d r
t h e P y a m i ds o f M e r o é i n 1 8 9 8 to ok wi t m e t h e I h
l o ca l s h ek h , a n d a l
m a n a n d a b o y t o o o k a ft e t h e d o nk e y s H a vi ng r .

co me t o wi t i n h ha lf ra mi le hre e s to pp e d a nd
of t h e p y a m i ds th e t
wi s h e d m e t o r i de o n b y m y s e l h I h e m wh y t h ey d id
f, a n d w e n a sk e d t

no t w a nt to c o m e u p t h e h i ll t o t h e p y r a m i ds wi th m e t h e s h ekh
r e p l i e d t h a t th e y h a d b e e n b u il t b y k ing s wh o s e s p i r it s s ti ll d we l t
t h e r e a n d t h t i t wo l d n o t b e s e e m l y fo r h i m n d h i s c o m p a ni o ns t o
,
a u a

t ro u b l e t h em I p r e s e d h im t o co m e b u t h e a ns we re d I t i s no t
” “
. s , ,

t h e c s t o m o f o u r c o u nt r y t o g t h e r e s o I wa l k e d o n b y m y s e l f
”
u o , .

W h e n I h a d b e e n i n th e p y r a m i d fi e l d fo r a b o u t t wo h o u rs t a k i ng
p h t g r a p h s a nd m e a su r e m e n t th e s h ek h a r ri ve d wi t h th e b o y b u t
o o s, ,

n t h i n g wo u l d p e rs u a de h i m t o wa l k
o b o u t t h e re a nd h a vi ng s e a te d a
,

h i m s el f h e r e c it ed p r a y e r s fro m t h e K o r n i n a n u nde r tone a nd a t a ,

i nte r va l s u r g e d m e t o r e t u r n t o h i s s tr a w h o u s e on t h e r i ve r b a nk a s
so o n a s p o s s i b l e H e w s fi rm l y co nvi nc e d th t t h e p r i s m a t i c co m p a s s
. a a

wh i h I u s e d wa s a t a l i s m a n a nd wh e n h e r e a ch e d h o m e b e th a nk e d
c ,

G o d fe r ve nt ly th a t h e h a d no t b e e n m o l e s te d b y th e s p i r i ts o f t h e de a d .
 F ATE A ND D ES TI NY . 22 1

them will after dusk appro ach the grave A ny one

, , .

doing s o is believed to be p ro mptly halted by a phan

t o m sentry and even the words (in A rabic)
,
Guard , ,

t urn out ! are often (so the st o ry goes ) plainly heard

1 ”
“
repeated at s o me distance off across the desert .

S e e th e i ll u s t r a t ed p a p e r Th e S k e tch , N o 3 3 2, J u ne 7 1 8 9 9 ,
1
.
,

p 27 7
. T h e fo ll o wi ng f ro m t h e Ti mes o f Ju l y 7 , 1 8 9 9 , i s wo r t h
.

q u o ti ng
T H E G RAV E or A BRI T I SH N AV AL OFF IC E R I N JA P A N — R e ce ntl y . a

r e po rt ca m e to t h e e a r s o f th e B r i ti sh Cons u l a t H io ge th a t th e g ra ve
o f a B r i ti s h n a va l o ffi ce r e x i s te d n a r a vi ll a g e o n t h e i s l a nd o f e

H i r os h i m a i n t h e I nl a n d S e a o f J a p a n— a p l a ce r a r e l y vi s i te d b y
,

a ny fo r e i g n e r a n d t h a t fo r s o m e r e a s o n i t wa s ca re f u ll
y k ept i n
—
, ,

o r de r b y t h e p e a s a n ts i n t h e n e i g h b o rh oo d Th e Co ns u l a c c rd
“
u . o

i n g l y c o m mu ni ca t e d wi t h t h e G o ve r no r o f th e p r e fe c t u re i n wh i c h
t h e i s l a nd i s s i tu a te d ; i n q u i ri e s we r e m a de a nd th e G ove r no r w a s ,

a b l e t o s e nd to th e Co ns u l a h i s t o ry o f th e l o ne l y g ra ve T h e s to r y .

wa s a pp en de d b y t h e G o ve r no r t o a fo r m a l de s p a t ch o f h i s o wn a n d ,
“
wa s o b vi o u s l y d r a wn u p b y t h e vi ll g e h e a dm a n o r s m e e q u a ll a o
y
hu mb l e o ffi ci a l a nd i t i s wo r th g i vi ng i n fu ll T h e S yl vi a th e
, .
,

ve s s e l m e n ti o ne d wa s fo r m a ny y e a r s e ng a g e d i n s u r ve yi n g o ff th e
,

“
c o a s ts o f J a p n I n th e fi r t y e a r o f M e ij i co rre sp o n di n g t o
a -
‘
s
,

A D 1 8 68
.
, S yl vi a wa s p ro ce ed i ng o n a vo ya g e t hr o u g h t h e
I nl nd S e a wh e n a n o ffi ce r o n b o a r d na m e d L a k e fell i ll H e wa s
a , , .

“
l a nde d o n t h e i s l a nd o f H i r o s h i m a a t th e vi lla g e o f H i ro s h i m a i n
,
,

th e di s tri c t o f N a k a p r o vi nc e o f S a n u k i a nd p r e fe c tu r e o f K a g a wa
, , .

T h e S yl vi a p r o ce e de d a l o ng th e co s t o f H i r o s h i m a a nd ca s t a nch o r
a

a t E no u r a B a y t o a wa i t t h e o ffi ce r s r e cove r y
’
, I n a fe w d a y s h o w .
,

e ve r h e di e d a nd C a p t i n S t J o h n b u r i e d h i s r em a i ns i n
g r o u nd
“
, , a .

b e l o ng i n g t o th e t e m p l e o f I k woj i a b ove E nou r a s hr i ne a nd h a vi ng , ,

s e t u p a wo o de n c ros s t o m a rk th e g r a ve d e p a r te d S e ve a l y e a r s
“
, . r

a fte r wa rd s wh e n t h i s m o nu m e n t h a d a l m os t d e c y e d fr o m t h e e ff e ct s
, a

o f wi nd a nd r a i n fr o s t a n d s no w A wa h u r i T k wa n S u e r i o r o f o
, ,p ,

Ik woj i T e mp l e a nd o t h e r s s a id
, Tr l y i t wo u l d b e t o o s a d i f u

th e g r a ve o f o u r s o l i t a r y g u e s t f ro m a fa r wh o h a s b e c o m e a s p i r i t ,

“
i n a s tra ng e l a nd we r e s u ffe re d t p a s s o u t o f a l l k n o wl e d g e
,
o .
”

Th e r eu p o n T era wa k i Ka e m o n h e a d o f a vi lla g e g u i ld a nd o the r

, ,

s y m p a th i s e rs s u c h a s Ok a R y o h a k u s e t o n foo t a s ch e m e fo r t h e
“
, ,

e r e c ti o n o f a s to ne mo nu me nt a nd th e s ho re fo lk a l l wi th o ne a cc o rd
“
, ,
2 22 F A TE A ND D E S TI NY .

’
The Egyptians believed that a man s fate or destiny
was decided befo re he was b o rn and that he had n o ,

p o wer whatever to alter it Their sages however p r o .

, ,

fessed to be able t o declare what the fate might be ,

provided that they were given certain data that is t o ,

s ay if they were t o ld the date of his birth an d i f

, ,

they were abl e to ascertain the position of the planets .

and stars at that time The g o ddess o f fate o r destiny.

”
was called Shai and she is usually accompanied by
,

”
an o ther goddess called R enene t wh o is comm o nly ,

regarded as the lady o f fo rtune ; they both appear in

the Judgment Scene where they seem to watch the ,

weighing o f the heart o n behalf of the deceased But .

an o ther g o ddess M es k h e ne t is s o metimes present and

, , ,

’
she also seems t o have had influence o ver a man s
future ; in any case she was able t o predict what that
future was t o be Thus we read that she a nd Isis
.
,

and N ephthys an d H e q et disguised as women went

, , ,

t o the house o f R a user wh o se wife Rut Te tte t was

-

,
-

in travai l ; when they had been taken int o her ro o m

they assisted her in giving birth t o triplets and as ,

each child was b o rn M e s k h ene t declared He shall be ,

a king who shall have d o minion over the wh o le land .

“ l endi ng th ei r h el p th e wo rk wa s fi na ll y b r o u g h t to c o mp l e tion
, .

Thi s wa s o n th e 7 th d a y o f th e e l event h m o nth o f th e fo u r th y ea r

o f M e ij i
— th a t i s 1 8 7 1 S i nce t h e n n e a rl y 3 0 wi nte r s h a ve p a s s e d
.
, ,

“
d u ri ng wh i ch t i m e t h e i s l a n de r s h a ve no t ne g l e ct e d to t a k e g o o d
c a r e o f t h e to mb I n p a r ti u l a r fr o m t h e l 0th to t h e l 6 th d a y o f
“
. c ,

th e s e ve nt h m o nth o ld s t yl e th e r e a re S t ll p e rs ons fou nd wh o e ve ry

, ,
i

y e a r c l ea n a nd s we e p th e g r a ve a nd o ffe r i ng U p flo we rs a nd i nce ns e
, , ,

mo u r n fo r a nd co ns o l e t h e s p i ri t o f th e d e a d
’
.
 ’
224 AL E XAN D E R S G RE AT N E SS F OR E T O LD .

is that there is n o possibility o f avoiding fate an d it ,

.

is most probable that the m o dern Egyptian has only

’
i nherited h i s ancestors views as to its immutability 1 .

’
A man s life might h o wever be happy o r unhappy , ,

according as the hour o f the day or the day itself was

lucky o r unlucky and every day of the Egyptian ye a r,

was divided int o three parts each of which was lucky ,

o r unlucky When Olympias was about to give birth

.

to Alexander the Great Nect a ne b u s stood by her ,

making o bservati o ns of the heavenly b o dies and from ,

time to time he besought her t o restrain herself until

the auspicio us h o ur had arrived ; a n d it was no t until
he saw a certain splendo ur in the sky an d knew that
all the heavenly bodies were in a favo urable p o sition
that he permitted her t o bring forth her child A n d .

“
w hen he had said 0 queen n o w th e n wilt give birth
, ,

”
“
to a governor o f the w o rld the child fell up o n the ,

gro und while the earth quaked an d the lightnings ,

2
flashed and the thunder r o ared
,
Thus it is quite .

evident that the future o f a child depended even upon

the hour in which he was b o rn .

In magical papyri we are often t o ld not to perfo rm

certain magical ceremonies on such and such days the ,

idea being that o n these days h o stile p o wers will make

them t o be p o werless and that gods m i ghtier than ,

T h e u ne du c t e d M u h mm d n b l i ves t h t m n s fa t wr i tten
’
1 a a a a e e a a e is

on h i s s k ll nd t h t th
u at r s th e w r i ti n g
a N o m n h w
e su u e a re a o
u p , .
,
"
e ve r ,
n r
ca d th mea S e e t h e w rde f Z a yn a l M wa s i f i n B r ton s
. o s o a u

A lf L a yla h wa L a yl a h , vo l vi i i , p 2 3 7 . . .

2
S e e P s eu do Ca l l i s th e ne s ,
-
12 I . .
 L U C KY A ND U N L U C KY D AY S . 22 5

those to which the petitio ner would appeal will be in

the ascen dant T here have come do wn to us for
.
,

t u na t el y papyri containing copies o f the Egyptian

,

calendar in which each third of every day for three

,

hundred and sixty days o f the year is marked lucky

or unlucky and we kn o w fro m other papyri wh y
,

certain days were lucky or unlucky and why others ,

were o nly par tly so Taking the month Th o th which

.
,

was the fi rst month of the Egyptian year and began , ,

acco rding t o the Grego rian Calendar on August 2 9 th , ,

we fi nd that the days are marked as follo ws

D ay 1 Day 2 1

S ee B r i t M u s P a p y r u s , N0
. . .

EG P M A G I C
. .
226 T H E EG Y P TI AN C AL E N D A R .

No w
I
“
the sign means lucky ,
and me ans
unlucky thus at a glance
it c o uld be Seen which
third o f the day i s lucky o r unlucky a n d the man ,

wh o c o nsulted the calendar w o uld o f c o urse act , ,

accordingly It must be n o ted that the priests o r

.

magicians who drew up the calendar had go o d reasons

fo r their cl assi fi cation o f the days as we may see from ,

the fo llowing exam ple The 1 9 th day o f Th o th is in

.
,

the above list marked wholly lucky i a each third o f

, ,
. .
,

1
it is lu cky and the papyrus Sallier I V als o marks it
,

wholly lucky and adds the reason

,
It is a day of
“
festival in heaven and up o n earth in the presence
of R a It is the day when flame was hurled upon
.

those who followed the boat containing the shrine

o f the gods ; and o n this day the gods gave praises
”
being c o ntent etc But in both lists the 26 th day
, .

is marked Wholly unlucky the reas o n being This was

, .
,

“
the day o f th e fi ght between Horus and Set They .

fi rst fo ught in t h e fo rm of men then they to o k the ,

fo rm of bears and in this state di d battle with each

,

o ther fo r three days and three nights Isis ai ded Set .

when he was getti ng the w o rst in the fi ght and ,

’
H o rus thereup o n cut o ff his mother s head which ,

Thoth transfo rmed by his words o f po wer into that

o f a co w and put on her b o dy On this day o fferings.

are t o be made to Osiris and Tho th but work o f any ,

k ind is abso l utel y forbidden The calendars of lucky

.

Se e Ch a b a s , Le Ca lenrl r i er, p 2 1 . .
22 8 C A S TI N G NA TI V ITI E S .

a man b o rn on the twenty third day w o uld die by -

dro wn ing ; and so on But to the three hundred and

.

sixty days given in the calendars of lucky and unlucky

days must be added the fi ve epagomenal days which
were con sidered to be o f great importance and had
each its peculiar name On the fi rst Osiris was born
.
,

o n the second Heru u r ( A r o u e r i s ) on the third Set on

-

, ,

the fo urth Isis and on the fi fth N ephthys ; the fi rst

, ,

third and fi fth of these days were unlucky and no

, ,

work of any kind was t o be undertaken on them The .

1
rubric which refers to these days states that whosoever
knoweth their names shall never su ffer from thirst that ,

he shal l never be smitte n down by disease and that the ,

2
goddess S ekhet shall n ever take possession of him ;
it also directs that fi gures of the fi ve gods mentioned
ab o ve shall be drawn with unguent and a n ti scent
u p o n a piece of fi ne linen evidently to serve as an ,

amulet .

Fro m the life of A lexander the Great by Pseud o

3
Ca l li s th e n es we learn that the Egyptians were skilled
in the art o f casting nativities a nd that knowing the ,

exact m oment of the birth o f a man they proceeded to ;

construct his h o rosc o pe N ectanebu s employed for t h e

.

purpose a tablet made o f g old and silver and acaci a

w o o d t o which were fi tted three belts U pon th e
, .

S e e C h a b a s , op c i t , p 1 04
1
. . . .

2
T h e E y e o f S e k h e t s e e m s to h a ve t a k e n t h e fo r m of no x iou s
va p ou r s i n t h e fi e l ds a t s u nr i s e ; s e e Ch a b a s , o
p cit , p 78
. . . .

3
I 4. .
 T H E H O R O S C O PE . 2 29

outer belt was Zeus with the thirty six deca ni sur -

rounding him ; u pon the sec o nd the twelve signs o f

the Zodiac were represented ; and upon the third the
1
sun and moon He set the tablet upon a tripod and
.
,

then emptied out of a small b o x upon it models o f

2
the seven stars that were in the belts an d put into ,

the middle belt eight precio us st o nes ; these he arr anged

in the places wherein he supp o sed the planets which
they represented would be at the time o f the birth
o f O lympias an d then told her fortune fro m them
, .

But the use of the horoscope is much older than the

time of Alexander the Great fo r to a Greek horosc o pe 3
,

“
in the British Museum is attached an introduct o ry
“
letter fro m s o me master of the art of astrol o gy t o
his pupil named Hermo n urg i ng him to b e very
, ,

exact and carefu l in his application o f the laws which

the ancient Egyptians with their lab o rious devotion ,

t o the art h a d disc o vered and handed d o wn t o

,

n
p o sterity Thus we have go o d reas o n for assigning
.

the birth place o f the horo sc o pe to Egypt In co n .

n e xi o n with the h o roscope must be ment ioned the

” ”
“
sphere o r table o f De m o critus as a mean s of “

making predictio ns as to life and death In a magical .

I q u o t e fr o m . m y H i s to r y of A le xa nd e r r
th e G rea t, C a m b id g e ,
1 889 , p 5 . .

2
I e , S u n , M oon , Ze u s ,
. . K rono s A p h ro di t a nd H e rme s ; we m s t
, e, u

a dd M rs c o r di ng to M eu se l s G re e k t e x t
’
a a c .

3
P u b l i s h ed for th e fi r s t tim e b y Ke nyon Ca ta log u e of G r eek P a p y r i
,

vo l . i p 1 3 2 if
. . .
2 30 TH E S P H E R E O F D E M O C R IT US
‘

1
papyrus we are told t o ascertain in what m o nth the
sick man t o ok t o his bed and the name he received ,

at his birth Calculate the [cours e o f] t h e m o o n

.
,

and see how many periods o f thirty days have

elapsed ; then n o te in the table the number of day s
left o ver and if th e number comes in the upper
,

part o f the table he will l ive but if in the l o wer

, ,

”
part he w ill die
,
.

B o t h fr o m the religious a nd pr o fane literature o f

Egypt we learn that the gods and man I n the future
life were able at will to assume the fo rm of any animal ,

o r bir d or plant
,
or livi n g thing which they pleased
, , ,

and o ne o f the greatest del ights to which a m a n lo oked

forward was the poss ession o f that p o wer This is .

2
pro ved by the fact that n o less than twelve o f the
chapters o f the B o o k o f the Dead are devoted to
L eyde n P ap V ( e d L e e m a n s ) ,
. . . co l . xi , 1 1 if .

I s , Ch a p t e r s
. . II to LXXV . LXXXV III .
2 3 2 WOR SH IP OF AN I M AL S .

N ow the Egy ptians believed that as the s o uls O f the

departed could assume the form o f any living thi n g or
”
p l ant s o the
,
gods who in many respects cl o sely
,

resembled them could and did take up o n themselves

,

the fo rms of birds and beasts ; th is w a s th e fundamental

”
idea o f the s o cal led -
Egyptian animal w o rship
“
,

which provo ked the merriment o f the cultured G reek ,

and dre w d o w n u p o n the Egyptians the ridicule and

abuse o f the e a rl y Christian writers But if the matter.

be examined cl o sely its apparent stupidity disappears .

The Egyptians paid hon o ur t o cert a in birds and ,

animals and reptiles because they c o nsidered that

, ,

they p o ssessed certain of the characteristics o f the g o ds

to whom they made them sacred The bull was a .

type of the stre ngth and pro creative p o wer of the god
of repro duction in nature and the co w was the type
,

of his female counterpart ; every sacred animal and

living thing possessed some quality o r attribute which
was ascribed to some god an d as each g o d was o nly
,

a fo rm of R a the quality or attribute ascribed t o him

,

was that o f the Sun g o d himself -

The educated .

Egy ptian never w o rshipped an animal a s an animal ,

but o nly as an i ncarnati o n o f a g o d and the reverence ,

.

paid t o animals in Egypt w a s in no way di fferent fro m

”
that paid to the kin g who was regarded as di vine “

and as an incarnation o f R a the Sun g o d w h o was; -

the visible sy mbol of the Creator The relation of th e

.

king t o R s wa s identical wi th that o f Ra to G od The

. .
 T R AN S F O R M A TI O N S . 2 33

Hebre ws Greeks and Ro m ans never understo o d the

, ,

l o gical conceptio n which underlay the reverence with

which the Egy ptians regarde d certai n animals and
as a resul t they gro ssly misrepresented their rel i gi o n .

The ignorant pe o ple no d o ubt o ften misto ok the symbol

, ,

fo r what it sy m boliz ed but it is wrong t o say that the

,

Egyptians w o rshipped ani m als in the o rdinary sense

o f the w o rd and this fact cann o t be t o o str o ngly insisted
,

on. Holding the vie ws he did about transformations

there was nothing absurd in the reverence which the
Egyptian paid to animals W hen a sacred ani m al died
.

the god whom it represented sought out another an i mal

‘
o f the sa m e species in wh i ch t o rene w his incarnation ,

and the dead b o dy o f the ani m al inasmuch as it had ,

once been the d well ing place o f a god was mummi fied
-

and treated in much the same way as a human bo dy

after death in order that it might enj oy imm o rtality
, .

These views see m strange no d o ubt to us when j u dged

, ,

by modern ideas but they formed an integral part o f

,

the religio us beliefs of the Egyptians from the earliest ,

to the latest times W hat is remarkable h o wever is

.
, ,

the fact that in spite of invasi o ns and foreig n wars

, , ,

and internal dissensions and external influences o f all

,

kinds the Egyptians clung to their gods and the s o me

,

times childish and ill o g i c a l methods which they ad o pted

in serving them with a c o nservatism and z eal which
have earned fo r them the repu tatio n o f being at o n ce
the m o st religious and most supersti tious na tion o f
2 34 RE L I G I O U S N AT UR E O F T H E E G Y P TI AN .

antiquity Whatever literary treasures m ay be bro ught

. .

t o light in the future as the result of excavations in

Egy pt it is most improbable that we shall ever receive

,

fro m that country any ancient Egyptian w o rk which

can pr o perl y be classed am o ng the literature o f atheism
or fre e th o u g h t ; the Egyptian might be m o re or less
reli gious acc o rding t o his nature and temperame nt but , ,

judging fro m the writings of his priests and teachers

which are no w in our hands the man wh o was with o ut ,

religio n and G o d in s o me or o ther was m o st

rare if no t unknown
, .

TH E E ND .

PRI N TE D BY W I LLI AM C LOWE S A ND SON S LI

,
M I T E D L O N D ON
, A ND L
B E CC E S,