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FOLLOWING OSIRIS
Following Osiris
Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife
from Four Millennia

MARK SMITH

1
 3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
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© Mark Smith 2017
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First Edition published in 2017
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For Annette
 Acknowledgements

I am indebted to a number of colleagues who have contributed their expertise or helped

and advised on various matters while I was writing this book, and I am pleased to
acknowledge their assistance here. I should like to express my gratitude to the follow-
ing: Susanne Bickel, Filip Coppens, Laurent Coulon, Didier Devauchelle, Lucía Díaz-
Iglesias, Jónatan Ortiz García, Ann-Katrin Gill, Harold Hays†, Jiří Janák, Richard
Jasnow, Andrea Kucharek, Edward Love, Lorenzo Medini, Antonio Morales, Luigi
Prada, Joachim Quack, Ian Rutherford, Manon Schutz, Friederike Seyfried, Susanne
Töpfer, Zsuzsanna Végh, Mareike Wagner, and Ghislaine Widmer. Some of those
named have read drafts of individual chapters and offered valuable comments and
suggestions. Others have generously allowed me to read and cite unpublished work of
their own. A number have discussed or debated ideas presented here with me, either in
person or via email. Still others have supplied me with copies of books or articles that
I could not consult in Oxford, or drawn my attention to publications whose existence
I had overlooked. Several have performed more than one of these services.
Special thanks are due to Vincent Razanajao for allowing me to consult and cite
unpublished papers of W.E. Crum in the Griffith Institute Archives, and to Jacco
Dieleman for his permission to incorporate material here from two articles of mine
originally published in the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. I owe a particular debt
of gratitude to Manon Schutz for providing the map on p. xxix, Ann-Katrin Gill for
compiling the Bibliography and helping with the task of proof-reading, and Timothy
Beck for his valuable assistance during the copy editing process. While writing this
book I had the opportunity to present parts of some of its chapters in the form of
lectures in Basel, Heidelberg, New Haven, and Paris. I am very grateful to Susanne
Bickel, Joachim Quack, Andy Hogan, Joe Manning, and Christiane Zivie-Coche for
providing me with these forums in which to set out my ideas, and also to those who
attended the lectures for their comments and feedback. Finally, I should like to thank
Hilary O’Shea, former editor of Classics and Archaeology at Oxford University Press,
for accepting this book for publication, and her successors, Georgina Leighton and
Charlotte Loveridge, for all their help, encouragement, and patience in bringing it to
fruition.
 Summary of Contents

Abbreviations and Conventions xxv

Outline of Egyptian Chronology xxvii
Map xxix

Introduction 1
1. Prelude to Osiris I: Conceptions of the Afterlife in Prehistoric and
Predynastic Egypt 8
2. Prelude to Osiris II: Conceptions of the Afterlife in the Early Dynastic
Period and the First Half of the Old Kingdom 41
3. Unreading the Pyramid Texts. So Who is Osiris? 107
4. Democratizing the Afterlife? Aspects of the Osirian Afterlife during
the Transition from the Late Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom 166
5. Re Resting in Osiris, Osiris Resting in Re: Osiris, Sun God, and the
Deceased in the New Kingdom 271
6. New Rulers, New Beliefs? Osiris and the Dead during the Transition
from the Late Period to the Ptolemaic Period 356
7. Where is the King of the Two Lands? The End of Belief in the
Osirian Afterlife 421
8. Summary of Results: Why Osiris? 538

Bibliography 561
Index 615
 Contents

Abbreviations and Conventions xxv

Outline of Egyptian Chronology xxvii
Map xxix

Introduction 1
1. Prelude to Osiris I: Conceptions of the Afterlife in Prehistoric
and Predynastic Egypt 8
1.1. What is the earliest evidence for belief in an afterlife in ancient
Egypt? How far back can we trace conceptions of the hereafter? 9
1.1.1. Burial as evidence for belief in an afterlife? 9
1.1.2. Deposit of grave goods as evidence for belief in an afterlife? 10
1.1.3. Difficulties involved in identifying objective proof of belief in an afterlife 11
1.2. In what form did the earliest Egyptians imagine they would pass
their posthumous existence? 12
1.2.1. Wrapping and other treatments of the body: belief in
posthumous survival in corporeal form? 12
1.2.2. Belief in posthumous survival in the form of an akh? 15
1.2.3. Belief in posthumous survival in the form of a ka? 16
1.3. What needs did the earliest Egyptians envisage the dead as having
in the afterlife and how were these to be met? 17
1.3.1. Description of grave goods deposited in predynastic burials 17
1.3.2. Significance of grave goods deposited in predynastic burials for
the deceased 18
1.4. Was there a particular place or location in which predynastic
Egyptians believed they would spend the afterlife and, if so, what
was this like and how was it reached? 20
1.4.1. The west as an abode of the dead? 20
1.4.2. A watery abode of the dead? 21
1.4.3. A celestial abode of the dead reached by boat? 21
1.5. Was the next world inhabited by supernatural beings with whom
the predynastic Egyptians hoped to interact and, if so, which ones? 24
1.6. Were there any prerequisites (e.g. good conduct in this world)
for engaging in such interaction? 25
1.7. By what means, ritual or otherwise, did the early Egyptians seek
to ensure their transition from this life to the next? 25
xii Contents

1.7.1. The evidence of body position in the grave. Was the contracted or
semi-contracted position supposed to stimulate rebirth? 25
1.7.2. Wrapping in animal skins as a stimulus to rebirth? 27
1.7.3. Animal skins on poles and other figures on decorated pottery 28
1.7.4. Evidence for rituals and ritual implements? 28
1.8. To what extent did the predynastic Egyptians believe that the social
structure of this world was mirrored in the next one? 30
1.8.1. Multiple interments and group burials as indicators of the survival
of family ties in the afterlife? 30
1.8.2. Subsidiary burials as evidence for social stratification in the afterlife? 32
1.8.3. Different levels of expenditure on burial as an indicator of different
expectations for the afterlife? 33
1.9. Did predynastic Egyptians envisage any form of interaction between
the living and the dead? 34
1.9.1. Evidence for offering cults in early predynastic Egypt? 34
1.9.2. The late predynastic cemetery at Tarkhan 35
1.10. Did predynastic Egyptian ideas about the afterlife vary from one
locality to another or were they more or less the same throughout
the land? 36
1.11. Conclusions 38
2. Prelude to Osiris II: Conceptions of the Afterlife in the Early Dynastic
Period and the First Half of the Old Kingdom 41
2.1. In what form did the Egyptians of the early dynastic period and the
first half of the Old Kingdom imagine they would pass their
posthumous existence? 42
2.1.1. Wrapping and other treatments of the body: belief in posthumous
survival in corporeal form? 42
2.1.2. Posthumous survival as an akh or transfigured spirit 44
2.1.3. Posthumous survival as a ka 46
2.1.4. Belief in posthumous survival as a ba? 47
2.2. What needs did the Egyptians of the early dynastic period and the
first half of the Old Kingdom envisage the dead as having in the
afterlife and how were these to be met? 48
2.2.1. Sustenance in the afterlife and its provision 48
2.2.2. Tools, weapons, furniture, and other objects for everyday use 52
2.2.3. Statues and servant figures 53
2.3. Was there a particular place or location in which Egyptians of the
early dynastic period and the first part of the Old Kingdom believed
they would spend the afterlife and, if so, what was this like and how
was it reached? 54
 Contents xiii

2.3.1. The tomb as the house of the deceased 54

2.3.2. The west as the abode of the dead and its location 55
2.3.3. Evidence for a celestial abode of the dead? 57
2.3.3.1. Astral elements in names of royal domains 57
2.3.3.2. Stairways to the stars? 58
2.3.3.3. The airshafts in the pyramid of Khufu 61
2.3.4. Boat burials as evidence for the location and nature of the abode
of the dead? 63
2.4. Was the next world inhabited by supernatural beings with whom
the Egyptians of the early dynastic period and first half of the Old
Kingdom hoped to interact and, if so, which ones? 64
2.4.1. Sokar 64
2.4.2. Khentiamentiu 65
2.4.3. Anubis 69
2.4.4. Re 70
2.4.5. The great god 72
2.4.6. Other deities 72
2.5. Were there any prerequisites (e.g. good conduct in this world)
for engaging in interaction with deities in the afterlife? 74
2.6. By what means, ritual or otherwise, did the Egyptians of the early
dynastic period and the first part of the Old Kingdom seek to
ensure their transition from this life to the next? 75
2.6.1. The Ritual of Opening the Mouth and glorification spells 75
2.6.2. Rites on the roof of the tomb 76
2.6.3. The funeral 77
2.6.4. Architectural features of tombs as catalysts for resurrection? 78
2.6.4.1. The pyramid as primeval mound? 78
2.6.4.2. Primeval mounds in other tombs? 80
2.7. To what extent did the Egyptians of the period under survey believe
that the social structure of this world was mirrored in the next one? 82
2.7.1. Family tombs 82
2.7.2. Subsidiary burials 84
2.7.3. Planned cemeteries with royal tombs as their focal point 87
2.8. Did the Egyptians of the period under survey envisage any form
of interaction between the living and the dead? 90
2.8.1. The offering cult 90
2.8.2. Other forms of cultic interaction between the living and the dead? 91
2.8.3. The dead as benefactors or antagonists of the living 92
2.9. Did Egyptian ideas about the afterlife vary from one locality to
another during the period of our survey or were they more or less
the same throughout the land? 93
xiv Contents

2.10. Were there any differences between royal and non-royal

expectations of the afterlife during the period under survey? 94
2.10.1. Relationships with gods in the hereafter as a royal privilege? 95
2.10.2. The relative importance of royal and non-royal spheres as sources
of innovation in ideas about and preparations for the hereafter 96
2.10.3. Tomb size as an index of expectations for the afterlife? 101
2.11. Conclusions 104
3. Unreading the Pyramid Texts. So Who is Osiris? 107
3.1. Indirect evidence for Osiris prior to his earliest attestation in the
written record? 107
3.1.1. Symbols and attributes associated with Osiris in later periods 108
3.1.2. Deities and cities associated with Osiris in later periods 109
3.1.3. Architectural features 110
3.1.4. Alternative iconographies and names for Osiris? 112
3.1.5. Evidence for the early existence of Osiris from later sources? 113
3.1.6. Summary of indirect evidence for Osiris prior to his earliest
attestation in the written record 114
3.2. The earliest attestation of the name of Osiris on a royal monument 114
3.2.1. The pyramid temple of Djedkare Izezi 114
3.2.2. The pyramids of Unis and subsequent kings 115
3.2.3. The date of composition of the Pyramid Texts 115
3.3. The earliest attestation of the name of Osiris on a non-royal monument 117
3.3.1. Uncertainties in dating Old Kingdom mastabas 117
3.3.2. The evidence of the tomb of Ptahshepses at Saqqara 118
3.3.3. The evidence of the tomb of Ti at Saqqara 120
3.3.4. The tomb of Hemetre and the false door of Inti from Giza 121
3.3.5. Summary of evidence for the earliest attestation of the name of
Osiris on a non-royal monument 122
3.4. Early orthographies and the etymology of the name of Osiris 124
3.4.1. Early orthographies of the name 124
3.4.2. The etymology of the name 125
3.4.3. The determinative of the name 126
3.5. Speculation about the origins of Osiris 127
3.5.1. The rise of Osiris and the demise of solar temples 127
3.5.2. The rise of Osiris and claims to possess the status of akh 129
3.5.3. Osiris as an instrument of state control? 130
3.5.4. Summary of evidence relating to the circumstances in which
Osiris arose 133
3.6. Early evidence for the relationship between Osiris and the
deceased in the Old Kingdom: private monuments 133
 Contents xv

3.6.1. Osiris in offering formulas 133

3.6.2. The role of Osiris in relation to other deities mentioned in
offering formulas 135
3.7. Early evidence for the relationship between Osiris and the
deceased in the Old Kingdom: royal monuments 136
3.7.1. Pyramid Text spells that distinguish the deceased king and Osiris 136
3.7.2. Pyramid Text spells that identify the deceased king with Osiris 137
3.7.3. The paradox of the Pyramid Texts 138
3.7.4. Earlier attempts at resolving the paradox 140
3.8. Interpreting the Pyramid Texts as ritual utterances 141
3.8.1. Identification as a ritual technique 141
3.8.2. Ritual identification in the Pyramid Texts 144
3.8.3. Pyramid Text spells as part of a ritual continuum 145
3.8.4. Content vs. function in Pyramid Text spells 147
3.9. Paratextual evidence and the world beyond the spell 147
3.9.1. Titles and colophons of spells as paratextual indicators of their function 147
3.9.2. Paratextual evidence from other Old Kingdom sources 151
3.9.3. ‘Non-royal’ offering formulas and ‘royal’ Pyramid Texts 152
3.9.4. Resolving the paradox of the Pyramid Texts 155
3.10. The locution Wsἰr NN 155
3.10.1. Wsἰr NN as an expression of the deceased’s identity with Osiris? 156
3.10.2. Early expansion in the use of the locution Wsἰr NN 157
3.10.3. The gender of NN in the locution Wsἰr NN 158
3.10.4. Wsἰr NN as an expression of the deceased’s status as a
dependent of Osiris 159
3.11. Conclusions 161
4. Democratizing the Afterlife? Aspects of the Osirian Afterlife during
the Transition from the Late Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom 166
4.1. The origin of the concept of the democratization of the afterlife 167
4.2. The foundations of the concept of the democratization of the afterlife 170
4.2.1. Empirical evidence and the assumption that influences its interpretation 170
4.2.2. Assessing the validity of the assumption that underpins the
democratization theory 171
4.3. Pyramid Texts and related spells in private tombs of the Old Kingdom? 172
4.3.1. Spells for the afterlife from private tombs that may date to the
Old Kingdom 172
4.3.2. Texts from private tombs securely dated to the Old Kingdom that may
be spells for the afterlife 175
4.3.3. Summary of evidence for spells in private tombs of the Old Kingdom 175
4.4. Non-royal spells in royal pyramids of the Old Kingdom 176
xvi Contents

4.5. Indirect evidence for knowledge of spells from private tombs of the
Old Kingdom 177
4.5.1. Claims to be an akh and know or have access to glorification spells
in addresses to the living 177
4.5.2. Sources of glorification spells for private tomb owners 178
4.5.3. Non-royal access to spells in the Pyramid Texts corpus 180
4.5.4. How many had access to spells like those in the Pyramid Texts corpus? 183
4.6. Access vs. display 184
4.6.1. Reasons for non-display of spells for the afterlife in private tombs
of the Old Kingdom: royal diktat or autonomous choice? 185
4.6.2. Why display spells for the afterlife in tombs? Monumentalization
and its function 187
4.6.3. Access vs. display: summary 190
4.7. From the Pyramid Texts to the Coffin Texts 190
4.7.1. Religious change and political change from the end of the Old
Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom 190
4.7.2. The date of origin of the Coffin Texts and their relationship
to the Pyramid Texts 192
4.8. Osiris and the deceased in the Coffin Texts 195
4.8.1. Coffin Texts spells that distinguish the deceased and Osiris 195
4.8.2. Coffin Text spells that identify the deceased with Osiris 196
4.8.3. Spells that both distinguish the deceased from Osiris and identify
him with the god 196
4.8.4. Spells that identify the deceased with Osiris and with other
deities as well 197
4.8.5. Resolving the paradox: the technique of ritual identification in
the Coffin Texts 198
4.9. Paratextual evidence for the relationship between Osiris and the
deceased in the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom 199
4.9.1. Titles and colophons of Coffin Text spells 199
4.9.2. Private offering formulas 202
4.9.3. Addresses to the living 204
4.9.4. Cenotaph chapel stelae 205
4.9.5. Hymns to Osiris 205
4.9.6. Literary texts 206
4.9.7. Royal texts and representations relating to the afterlife 206
4.9.8. Summary of evidence 209
4.10. The locution Wsἰr (n) NN in the Coffin Texts and other First
Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom sources 210
4.10.1. The locution Wsἰr (n) NN in the Coffin Texts 210
4.10.2. The gender of NN in the locution Wsἰr (n) NN 211
 Contents xvii

4.10.3. The locution Wsἰr (n) NN in other sources of the First Intermediate
Period and Middle Kingdom 216
4.10.4. Unusual orthographies of the locution Wsἰr (n) NN in the Coffin Texts 219
4.10.4.1. Orthographies of the element Wsἰr that incorporate a t 219
4.10.4.2. The element Wsἰr with a sun disk determinative 220
4.10.4.3. Wsἰr n NN 221
4.11. Access to Coffin Text spells and their benefits in the First
Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom 222
4.11.1. Access vs. ownership 222
4.11.2. Evidence for access to spells for the afterlife among those who
were not owners of coffins inscribed with Coffin Texts 223
4.11.3. The importance of looking at all the evidence 225
4.12. Osiris and the deceased at Abydos 226
4.12.1. Osiris at Abydos in the Old Kingdom 226
4.12.2. The cult of Osiris at Abydos in the First Intermediate Period and
Middle Kingdom 229
4.12.3. Abydos as a venue for interaction between Osiris and the
deceased in this world 230
4.12.4. The mysteries of Osiris at Abydos 232
4.12.5. Was Abydos the only place where Osiris and the deceased
interacted in this world? 234
4.13. Osiris, the deceased, and the ba 235
4.13.1. Osiris and the ba of the deceased in the Old Kingdom? 236
4.13.2. Osiris and the ba of the deceased in the Coffin Texts 236
4.13.3. The rarity of allusions to the ba in texts concerned with the
Osiris mysteries 238
4.14. Osiris, the deceased, and other divinities 239
4.14.1. Sokar 239
4.14.2. Khentiamentiu 240
4.14.3. Re 245
4.14.4. Hathor 251
4.15. Becoming a follower of Osiris 255
4.15.1. Joining the following of Osiris in the Old Kingdom 255
4.15.2. Joining the following of Osiris in the First Intermediate Period
and Middle Kingdom 257
4.15.3. Justification as a prerequisite for joining the following of Osiris 258
4.15.4. The rites of mummification 262
4.16. Conclusions 264
xviii Contents

5. Re Resting in Osiris, Osiris Resting in Re: Osiris, Sun God, and the
Deceased in the New Kingdom 271
5.1. Akhenaten and the development of his religious ideas 271
5.1.1. Successive stages in the development of Akhenaten’s solar theology 271
5.1.2. The chief characteristics of Akhenaten’s solar theology 274
5.2. Conceptions of the afterlife during the Amarna Period 276
5.3. Evidence for Osiris in the Amarna Period 277
5.3.1. Was Osiris proscribed by Akhenaten? 278
5.3.2. Survey of texts mentioning Osiris which have been dated to the reign
of Akhenaten 279
5.3.3. Texts mentioning Osiris whose attribution to the reign of Akhenaten
is doubtful 281
5.3.4. Texts mentioning Osiris that are securely dated to the reign of Akhenaten 283
5.3.5. Summary of evidence 284
5.4. Akhenaten as Osiris in Theban Tomb 136? 285
5.4.1. Description of the tomb and its statuary 285
5.4.2. Interpretation of standing figures in TT 136 as representations of
Akhenaten as Osiris 286
5.4.3. Reasons for rejecting the interpretation of the standing figures in
TT 136 as representations of Akhenaten as Osiris 286
5.4.4. So-called ‘Osiride’ statues of Akhenaten and other kings 287
5.5. Other evidence for Akhenaten as Osiris? 289
5.5.1. Depictions of Osiris with the features of Akhenaten? 289
5.5.2. References to justification and a perfect mummification/burial in
stelae from Amarna 292
5.5.3. Shabtis of the Amarna Period 293
5.6. Osiris in the Amarna Period: summary and new perspectives 294
5.6.1. Rejection of view that Akhenaten assumed the functions and
characteristics of Osiris 294
5.6.2. Significance of the amount of surviving evidence for the persistence
of belief in Osiris and the Osirian afterlife in the Amarna Period 295
5.6.3. Was the distinction between this world and the next one really
abolished during the Amarna Period? 296
5.6.4. Was Akhenaten really regarded as the sole guarantor of the afterlife? 297
5.6.5. Return to TT 136 298
5.7. The nocturnal encounter of Re with Osiris in the underworld 299
5.7.1. Guides to the underworld and their date of composition 300
5.7.2. Egyptian models for conceptualizing the nocturnal encounter of
Re and Osiris in the underworld 302
5.8. Solar-Osirian unity? 306
5.8.1. The compositions in the tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI,
and Ramesses IX 306
5.8.2. Papyrus Westcar 307
 Contents xix

5.8.3. The dedicatory inscription of Ramesses II at Abydos 308

5.8.4. The Book of the Earth 311
5.8.5. The Amduat and the Book of Gates 314
5.8.6. The Book of Caverns 318
5.8.7. Coffins and illustrated papyri of the twenty-first dynasty 321
5.9. Re as ruler of the underworld 323
5.9.1. Textual evidence for Re’s pre-eminence over Osiris 323
5.9.2. The presence of a sun disk in scenes as a symbol of Re exercising
oversight in the underworld 324
5.9.3. Sun disk on the head as a sign of subordination to Re 325
5.9.4. Other visual means of expressing Re’s status as ruler of the underworld 326
5.10. The complementary relationship between Re and Osiris 327
5.10.1. Dual cultic affiliation and disjunction between text and image 327
5.10.2. Textual variation involving the names of Re and Osiris 329
5.10.3. ‘Solar’ and ‘Osirian’ spells in the Book of the Dead 330
5.11. Solar-Osirian unity? Summary of evidence 330
5.12. Other forms of association involving Re and Osiris 331
5.12.1. Osiris as the nocturnal counterpart of Re 331
5.12.2. The cultic contexts in which Osiris figures as the nocturnal
counterpart of Re 332
5.12.3. The solar-Osirian cycle 333
5.13. Syncretism between Re and Osiris? 334
5.14. The relationship between Re and Osiris and its consequences for
the deceased 337
5.15. Identification or interaction? 338
5.15.1. Was the deceased king thought to become one with Osiris in
the New Kingdom? 338
5.15.2. Was the deceased king thought to become one with Re in the
New Kingdom? 340
5.15.3. Ritually contingent identification of the deceased with Re and
Osiris in sources of the New Kingdom 341
5.15.4. Paratextual data for the relationship between the deceased and
Re and Osiris: interaction rather than identification 343
5.16. How many benefited from the relationship between Re and Osiris? 345
5.16.1. Non-royal access to the underworld guides and the concepts
that underlie them 345
5.16.2. Was the royal afterlife different to the non-royal one in the
New Kingdom? 346
5.16.3. Arguments for a single afterlife shared by both kings and
their subjects 347
5.17. Conclusions 350
xx Contents

6. New Rulers, New Beliefs? Osiris and the Dead during the Transition
from the Late Period to the Ptolemaic Period 356
6.1. The advent of the Ptolemaic Dynasty 357
6.2. Conceptions of the afterlife in Ptolemaic Egypt 358
6.3. Texts for the afterlife in Ptolemaic Egypt 360
6.4. Form and meaning in funerary art of the Ptolemaic and
Roman Periods 363
6.4.1. Naturalistic depictions of the dead as evidence of Greek influence
on Egyptian conceptions of the afterlife? 363
6.4.2. Juxtaposition of Egyptian and Graeco-Roman motifs in funerary art 366
6.4.3. Textual analogues to the juxtaposition of Egyptian and
Graeco-Roman motifs in funerary art 368
6.4.4. Archaeological evidence for Greek influence on Egyptian conceptions
of the afterlife? 370
6.4.5. Form and meaning in funerary art: summary of evidence 370
6.5. Strategies for investigating continuity and change 371
6.6. Designations of the deceased as evidence for their relationship
with Osiris in the Ptolemaic Period 372
6.6.1. The locution Wsἰr n NN and previous attempts to explain its significance 373
6.6.2. Wsἰr n NN and Wsἰr NN as indirect and direct genitival constructions
respectively, both meaning ‘Osiris of NN’ 374
6.6.3. Evidence for Wsἰr n NN and Wsἰr NN as simple variants with the same
meaning 375
6.6.4. Defining the ‘Osiris of ’ a deceased person 377
6.6.5. Why do writings of ‘Osiris of NN’ as Wsἰr n NN become more
common when they do? 378
6.6.6. ‘Osiris of NN’ in Greek? 378
6.6.7. Developments in the usage of the locution ‘Osiris of NN’ in the
Ptolemaic and Roman Periods 380
6.6.7.1. Expansion of the range of contexts in which the locution is used 380
6.6.7.2. Addition of other elements to the locution 383
6.6.8. The locution ‘Hathor of NN’ 384
6.6.8.1. The date of the earliest examples of the locution 384
6.6.8.2. The meaning of the locution 385
6.6.8.3. Representations of the ‘Hathor of ’ deceased women in
Egyptian art? 386
6.6.8.4. Other ways of affiliating women with female deities in
the afterlife? 387
6.6.8.5. The locution ‘Hathor of NN’ in combination with
‘Osiris of NN’ 388
6.6.9. Summary of evidence relating to designations of the deceased 389
 Contents xxi

6.7. The origin of Sarapis and his name 390

6.7.1. Was Sarapis an indigenous or a foreign deity? 390
6.7.2. Sarapis, Osiris-Apis, and the deceased Apis bull 392
6.7.3. Motives for Ptolemaic sponsorship of the cult of Sarapis 394
6.8. Evidence for the identification of Sarapis with Osiris-Apis 395
6.8.1. Correspondence between Greek Sarapis and Egyptian Osiris-Apis
in bilingual texts 395
6.8.2. Egyptian texts where the divine name Osiris-Apis is used to refer
to Sarapis 396
6.9. Evidence for the identification of Sarapis with Osiris in the
Ptolemaic Period 398
6.10. The identification of Sarapis with Osiris in the Roman Period:
comparative evidence 399
6.10.1. Textual evidence for the identification of Sarapis with Osiris in
the Roman Period 399
6.10.2. Images of Osiris labelled as Sarapis 400
6.10.3. Using context to determine when Sarapis is used as an alternative
name for Osiris 401
6.10.4. Significance of the Roman Period evidence for the identification
of Sarapis with Osiris 402
6.11. Sarapis/Osiris as ruler and saviour of the dead 403
6.12. Earlier Egyptian antecedents for Osiris as ruler and saviour 405
6.12.1. Conceptions of Osiris as active ruler and protector prior to
the Ptolemaic Period 405
6.12.2. Osiris as an oracular deity prior to the Ptolemaic Period 408
6.12.3. Summary of evidence 409
6.13. The impact of identification with Sarapis on Egyptian
perceptions of Osiris: further considerations 409
6.14. The limitations of royal power as an agent of religious change 411
6.14.1. What efforts did the Ptolemies make to promote the cult of
Sarapis and his identification with Osiris within Egypt? 411
6.14.2. Attempts by Ptolemaic rulers to associate themselves with Osiris
without reference to Sarapis 412
6.14.3. Contested associations with Osiris in the Ptolemaic Period 413
6.14.4. Summary of evidence relating to royal power and religious
change in Ptolemaic Egypt 414
6.15. Conclusions 414
7. Where is the King of the Two Lands? The End of Belief in the
Osirian Afterlife 421
7.1. Akhmim and its environs 423
xxii Contents

7.1.1. Local forms of traditional Egyptian religion in Akhmim and its

environs 424
7.1.2. Evidence for belief in the Osirian afterlife in the Akhmim region 426
7.1.3. The latest evidence for belief in the Osirian afterlife: mummy labels
of the second and third centuries AD 427
7.1.4. Persistence of other forms of traditional Egyptian religion at Akhmim
into the early fourth century AD 429
7.1.5. Evidence for the survival of traditional Egyptian religion in the
Akhmim region in the writings of Shenoute? 430
7.1.6. References to pagan temples in the writings of Shenoute 432
7.1.7. References to pagan worship in private homes in the writings of
Shenoute 435
7.1.8. Evidence for domestic cults elsewhere in late antique Egypt 437
7.1.9. Shenoute’s credibility as a source of evidence for domestic cults in
the Akhmim region 441
7.1.10. References to tutelary spirits in the writings of Shenoute 442
7.1.11. The private house as a temple in microcosm? 443
7.1.12. A quarrel over a piece of wood 444
7.1.13. Summary of evidence relating to Shenoute and the end of
paganism in the Akhmim region 447
7.2. Philae 447
7.2.1. The temples and sanctuaries of Philae 448
7.2.2. The cult of Osiris at Philae 449
7.2.3. Graffiti as evidence for the cult of Osiris at Philae 452
7.2.4. The last worshippers of Osiris at Philae 456
7.2.5. What sort of afterlife did the last devotees of Osiris at Philae envisage? 458
7.2.6. Later sources for the end of traditional Egyptian religion at Philae 459
7.2.6.1. The Life of Aaron 459
7.2.6.2. Procopius 460
7.2.6.3. The petition of Dioscorus of Aphrodito 462
7.2.7. Reliability of graffiti vs. later sources as evidence for the end of
traditional religion at Philae 464
7.3. Abydos 465
7.3.1. The rise of the cult of Osiris at Abydos 465
7.3.2. The mysteries of Osiris at Abydos 466
7.3.3. The burial place of Osiris at Umm el-Qaab 466
7.3.4. The cult of Osiris at Abydos during the Late Period 468
7.3.5. The cult of Osiris at Abydos in the Ptolemaic Period 468
7.3.6. The cult of Osiris at Abydos in the Roman Period 470
7.3.7. Was the burial place of Osiris moved from Umm el-Qaab to the
Osireion of Seti I? 471
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/1/2017, SPi

Contents xxiii

7.3.8. The latest evidence for belief in Osiris and the Osirian afterlife
at Abydos 473
7.3.9. Osiris supplanted by Bes and his oracle 474
7.3.10. Reminiscences of Osiris and his tomb at Abydos in texts of later
date from other parts of Egypt 475
7.3.11. Supposed evidence for the persistence of cultic activity at Umm
el-Qaab into the Christian Period 477
7.3.11.1. The falcons who chatter and watch before the head
of Osiris 477
7.3.11.2. The ‘mountain’ of Abydos and its location 480
7.3.11.3. Representations of Bes from Umm el-Qaab? 481
7.3.12. The end of traditional Egyptian religion at Abydos: evaluating
the Coptic Life of Moses 483
7.3.13. The end of traditional Egyptian religion at Abydos: written
evidence and material context 487
7.4. Thebes 488
7.4.1. Thebes as a political centre 488
7.4.2. Local forms of traditional Egyptian religion at Thebes: the east
bank of the river 491
7.4.3. Local forms of traditional Egyptian religion at Thebes: the west
bank of the river 493
7.4.4. The cult of Osiris at Thebes 494
7.4.5. Evidence for belief in the Osirian afterlife at Thebes 496
7.4.5.1. Theban cemeteries 496
7.4.5.2. Texts for the afterlife from Thebes 497
7.4.6. Changing perceptions of Osiris as reflected in Theban sources 498
7.4.6.1. Osiris as ruler and helper of those in need 498
7.4.6.2. Osiris and Amun 498
7.4.7. The latest evidence for belief in the Osirian afterlife at Thebes 502
7.4.7.1. The latest Theban texts for the afterlife 502
7.4.7.2. The Soter group 506
7.4.7.3. The Pebos group 507
7.4.7.4. Deir el-Bahri mummy masks 508
7.4.7.5. The cemetery at Medinet Habu 508
7.4.7.6. Miscellaneous shrouds and mummy masks 509
7.4.7.7. Summary of the latest evidence for belief in the Osirian
afterlife at Thebes 510
7.4.8. The latest references to Osiris in Theban temple inscriptions 511
7.4.9. Osiris in Theban magical texts 512
7.4.10. When did traditional Egyptian religion come to an end at Thebes? 518
7.4.10.1. Evidence from graffiti, ostraca, and other minor objects 518
7.4.10.2. The chapel for the Roman legion at Luxor temple 520
7.4.10.3. Ironworkers from Armant and their donkey sacrifices
at Deir el-Bahri 523
xxiv Contents

7.5. Conclusions 527

7.5.1. General observations on the case studies presented in this chapter 527
7.5.2. Evidence for the end of belief in Osiris and the Osirian afterlife from
sites not covered in the case studies 530
7.5.3. Prospects for further research 532
7.5.4. Suggestions on how to investigate the demise of an Egyptian deity 533
7.5.5. The problematic status of Coptic hagiographies as historical sources 534
7.5.6. The two models for the end of traditional Egyptian religion:
final remarks 536
8. Summary of Results: Why Osiris? 538
8.1. Results of Chapter 1 538
8.2. Results of Chapter 2 539
8.3. Results of Chapter 3 540
8.4. Results of Chapter 4 543
8.5. Results of Chapter 5 545
8.6. Results of Chapter 6 547
8.7. Results of Chapter 7 549
8.8. Recurrent themes 551
8.9. Benefits of the investigative approach adopted in this book 553
8.10. Why Osiris? 555

Bibliography 561
Index 615
 Abbreviations and Conventions

ASAE Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte (Cairo, 1900–)

BACE Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology (North Ryde, 1990–)
BASP Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists (Urbana, 1964–)
BIFAO Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (Cairo, 1901–)
BiOr Bibliotheca Orientalis (Leiden, 1943–)
BSAC Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie Copte (Cairo, 1936–)
BSEG Bulletin de la Société d’Égyptologie, Genève (Geneva, 1979–)
BSFE Bulletin de la Société Français d’Égyptologie (Paris, 1949–)
CdE Chronique d’Égypte (Brussels, 1926–)
CGC Catalogue Général des Antiquités Égyptiennes du Musée du Caire (Cairo,
1901–)
CRAIBL Comptes Rendus à l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Paris, 1857–)
CRIPEL Cahier de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille
(Lille, 1973–)
EVO Egitto e Vicino Oriente (Pisa, 1978–)
JARCE Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (Boston, 1962–)
JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (London, 1914–)
JEOL Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschaap ‘Ex Oriente Lux’
(Leiden, 1938–)
JJP Journal of Juristic Papyrology (Warsaw, 1946–)
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies (Chicago, 1942–)
JSSEA Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (Toronto, 1970–)
MDAIK Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo
(Berlin, Wiesbden, Mainz, 1930–)
O. Ostracon
OLP Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica (Leuven, 1970–)
OLZ Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (Berlin and Leipzig, 1898–)
OMRO Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseums van Oudheden te
Leiden (Leiden, 1920–)
P. Papyrus
PM B. Porter and R. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian
Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings (Oxford, 1927–)
PSBA Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology (London, 1879–1918)
RdE Revue d’Égyptologie (Cairo and Paris, 1930–)
xxvi Abbreviations and Conventions

SAK Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (Hamburg, 1974–)

Wb. A. Erman and H. Grapow (eds), Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, 7 vols
plus 5 vols of Belegstellen (Leipzig and Berlin, 1926–63)
WdO Die Welt des Orients (Göttingen, 1947–)
WZKM Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (Vienna, 1886–)
ZÄS Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde (Leipzig and Berlin,
1863–)
ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (Bonn, 1967–)
 Outline of Egyptian Chronology

The chronological outline below is based on the one in I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford
History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2003), pp. 480–9. Where dates for two or more
dynasties overlap, this is because they ruled simultaneously in different parts of the
country. From 690 BC onward, we know the precise years when the reigns of individual
kings began and ended. Prior to then, however, there is a degree of uncertainty, which
increases the further back in time one goes. In the New Kingdom and Third Inter-
mediate Period, for example, the margin of likely error is about ten years, in the Old
Kingdom more like fifty years, and for the start of the First Dynasty perhaps as much as
one hundred and fifty years. Dates for the predynastic period are even more imprecise.
Such uncertainty inevitably leads to discrepancies among various modern reconstruc-
tions of Egyptian chronology. The range of possible variation will become apparent if
one compares the dates below with those given in another study, E. Hornung,
R. Krauss, and D. Warburton, Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Leiden and Boston,
2006), pp. 492–5. The latter work provides a useful overview of the different types of
evidence on which modern chronologies of ancient Egypt are based, as well as a
discussion of the specific problems involved in establishing a reliable chronology for
each individual period of Egyptian history.

Predynastic Period c.4400–3000 BC

Badarian Period c.4400–4000
Naqada I (Amratian) Period c.4000–3500
Naqada II (Gerzean) Period c.3500–3200
Naqada III Period c.3200–3000
Early Dynastic Period c.3000–2686 BC
First Dynasty c.3000–2890
Second Dynasty 2890–2686
Old Kingdom 2686–2160 BC
Third Dynasty 2686–2613
Fourth Dynasty 2613–2494
Fifth Dynasty 2494–2345
Sixth Dynasty 2345–2181
Seventh and Eighth Dynasties 2181–2160
First Intermediate Period 2160–2055 BC
Ninth and Tenth Dynasties 2160–2025
Early Eleventh Dynasty 2125–2055
xxviii Outline of Egyptian Chronology

Middle Kingdom 2055–1650 BC

Later Eleventh Dynasty 2055–1985
Twelfth Dynasty 1985–1773
Thirteenth Dynasty 1773–after 1650
Fourteenth Dynasty 1773–1650
Second Intermediate Period 1650–1550 BC
Fifteenth Dynasty 1650–1550
Sixteenth Dynasty 1650–1580
Seventeenth Dynasty c.1580–1550
New Kingdom 1550–1069 BC
Eighteenth Dynasty 1550–1295
Nineteenth Dynasty 1295–1186
Twentieth Dynasty 1186–1069
Third Intermediate Period 1069–664 BC
Twenty-First Dynasty 1069–945
Twenty-Second Dynasty 945–715
Twenty-Third Dynasty 818–715
Twenty-Fourth Dynasty 727–715
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty 747–656
Late Period 664–332 BC
Twenty-Sixth Dynasty 664–525
Twenty-Seventh Dynasty 525–404
(also called First Persian Period)
Twenty-Eighth Dynasty 404–399
Twenty-Ninth Dynasty 399–380
Thirtieth Dynasty 380–343
Second Persian Period 343–332
Ptolemaic Period 332–30 BC
Macedonian Dynasty 332–305
Ptolemaic Dynasty 305–30
Roman Period 30 BC–AD 395
Another random document with
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 The perpetual change among Europeans in great things as well as
in small—in manners and customs, in social ideas and practices, in
dress, in laws, in ideas and forms of government—indicate the
operation of widely different influences.
 CHAPTER XXXV.
ARE ALL ORIENTALS MAD?

They hear a voice you cannot hear.

They see a hand you cannot see.—Tickell.

A friend of mine who has resided much among Orientals, and is

very familiar with their ways of thinking and acting, is in the habit of
affirming that he never had dealings with any one of them without
soon discovering in him a loose screw. Every mother’s son of them,
he thinks, is, to some degree, and in some way or other, mad. The
meaning of this I take to be that their way of looking at, and
estimating things, and feeling about them, is different from ours.
They see what we cannot, and cannot see what we can. This is, I
believe, very much a question of religion.
In the world of spirit a religion is a real, organic, living, acting
entity. It animates, it subdues, it pervades, it colours, it guides men’s
minds and hearts. They breathe it. They feed upon it. They are what
it makes them. Now our religion is characterized by liberty. It leaves
men to construct their own polities, and to devise for themselves the
laws they are to live by. It obliges them to understand that they are
the arbiters and the architects of their own fortunes. It leaves them
free, from age to age, to battle about, and to construct their own
theology, with the certainty that whether the same or different forms
are used, it will always in the end be adjusted to the ideas of the age,
and even of the individual. It appeals to men’s own ideas of God,
which vary as knowledge advances; and to the sense mankind have
of what is just, and merciful, and lovely, and of good report. It does
not define these things, for it supposes that the ideas of them are in
man. It makes the light that is within the measure of duty. One of the
general results of such a religion is, that it renders men capable, and
desirous, too, of thinking. It produces within them an habitual desire
to see things as they are, and to conform their feelings and their
conduct to realities.
The system which is most diametrically opposite to this is that
which the Oriental has adopted. He has no liberty of any kind. He
must think, and feel, and live in accordance with, and every detail of
his inner and outer life must be conformed to, what were the ideas of
the Arab barbarians of twelve centuries ago. This is the procrustean
bed on which the mind of every Oriental is laid. This, then, is what
my friend’s nineteenth-century Christianity, or, if you prefer it, his
nineteenth-century ideas and feelings, have been brought into
contact with—the ideas and feelings of Arab barbarians of twelve
centuries ago. It would be somewhat surprising if he did not perceive
something of lunacy in the minds of such people.
What struck me in the Oriental was a kind of childishness. Both
men and women appeared to be only children of a larger growth.
There was an expression of childishness in their features, and there
were very perceptible indications of a corresponding condition of
their minds. It looked like moral and intellectual arrest. The manhood
of the mind had never been called into exercise, and had, in
consequence, become aborted. They never think. Why should they?
All truth of every kind has already been fully revealed to them. To
question what they have received, or to endeavour to attain to more,
would be impious. They have hardly any occasion to act, for is it not
Allah who directly does everything as it pleases Him, on the earth
beneath, as well as in the heaven above?... There is in them a
softness of expression which could not co-exist with activity, and
firmness, and largeness of brain. Child-like, they believe anything
and everything. The more wonderful, and the more contradictory to
nature it may be, the more readily do they believe it. They have no
idea of extorting the secrets of nature. What good would it do them
to seek to know anything or everything? Allah will reveal what He
pleases, and when. Such knowledge would not promote their
happiness. Their idea of blissfulness is that of the Arab of the Desert.
Shade and rest. Plashing fountains and delightful odours. Lovely
houris. This is not the stuff that makes men.
 Nature also works against them. Much time is needed for the
acquisition and digestion of knowledge, and for the growth of the
moral and intellectual faculties to what we regard as their full stature.
The time, however, allotted to them for these sovereign purposes is
very short. Where girls are married women at eleven, what time can
there be for the mind to mature itself? Compare this with the many
years of deliberate culture amongst ourselves. What can be done by
the age of eleven? What should we be if our mental culture and
growth ended at that age? But in their case it is so with half the
community—the mothers; and so also with the other half—the
fathers, only in a somewhat less degree. Of the negroes of the
interior Sir Samuel Baker observes that the little children are quick
enough, but that mental development appears to have ceased by the
age of fourteen. I observed, and heard from several Americans that
they had observed, something of the same kind in the negro schools
of the United States. Up to an age not quite so advanced as that Sir
S. Baker speaks of, the coloured children appear to be as quick as
the children of the whites; but beyond that point they begin to fall
behind. Their apprehensiveness appears to have exhausted itself.
This must doom the black race in the United States, in their struggle
with the whites for the means of subsistence, to extinction. Just so,
too, must his prematurity always place the Oriental, in the struggle
between nations, at a disadvantage in comparison with the
European. In him Nature does not allow herself the time for doing
what ought to be done.
 CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE KORAN.

An quicquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipiatur.—Lemma.

With respect to the Koran, the Orientals are at this day in the
position into which, as respects our Holy Scriptures, an attempt was
made to bring our forefathers in the days of mediæval scholasticism.
They believe that in their sacred volume is contained all knowledge,
either explicitly or implicitly. We have long abandoned definitively this
idea. We have come to understand that the New Testament
announces itself only as a moral revelation; and of that gives only
the spirit, and not the letter; that is to say, that it does not profess to
give, and, as a matter of fact, does not contain, a definite system of
law, but the principles only which should regulate such a system. It
leaves us, therefore, to go not only for our astronomy to
astronomers, and for our geology to geologists, but also for our
municipal law to jurists and legislators, so long as what they
propound and enact is not at discord with Christian principles. The
Mahomedan, however, has not this liberty, for the Koran professes to
contain an all-embracing and sufficient code. It regulates everything.
This is very unfortunate; or, whatever it was at first, it has, in process
of time, come to be very unfortunate; for it makes the ideas—what
we must regard as the ignorance rather than the knowledge—of a
more than half-savage Arab of the seventh century the rule by which
everything in law, life, and thought is to be measured for all time.
While I was in the East I was full of commiseration for the people I
saw bound hand and foot in this way. They are handsome, clean-
limbed fellows, and quick-witted enough. There is in them the
making of great nations. Power, however, is an attribute of mind, and
mind cannot work unless it be free. While I commiserated them, I
saw no hope for them. The evil they are afflicted by appears not to
admit of a remedy; because while, for men who have advanced so
far as they have, it is intellectual suicide to be faithful to such a
religion, to be unfaithful to it has hitherto proved to be moral suicide.
Their ideas and sentiments on all the ordinary concerns and
events of life, and, in short, on all subjects, are the same in all, all
being drawn from the same source. So also are even their very
modes of expression. There is a prescribed form for everything that
occurs; of course, not drawn, in every instance, first-hand from the
Koran, but, at all events, ultimately from it, for these expressions are
what have come to be adopted by the people universally, as being
most in harmony with the spirit and ideas of the Book. The words to
be used at meetings and at partings, under all circumstances; the
words in which unbecoming acts and sentiments are to be corrected
and acknowledged; the words, in short, which are appropriate to
every occasion of life, are all prescribed, and laid up in the memory,
ready for use. God’s name is rarely omitted in these formulæ,
reference being made sometimes to one of His attributes, sometimes
to another, as the occasion may require. Sometimes a pious
sentiment is to be expressed; sometimes a pious ejaculation will be
the correct thing. But everybody knows what is to be said on every
occurrence, great or small, of life.
Learning the Koran by heart is education. It is for this that schools
are established. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are de luxe, or for
certain occupations only. History and science, of course, have no
existence to their minds.
They treat the material volume itself, which contains the sacred
words, with corresponding respect. For instance, when carrying it
they will not allow it to descend below the girdle. They will not place
it on the ground, or on a low shelf. They will not, when unclean,
touch it. They will not print it for fear of there being something
unclean in the ink, the paper, or the printer. They will not sell it to any
unbelievers, even to such partial unbelievers as Jews or Christians.
And in many other ways, indeed in every way in their power, they
endeavour to show how sacred in their eyes is the Book.
In principle and effect it makes no great difference whether the
letter of the Sacred Text be exclusively adhered to, or whether it be
supplemented by more or less of tradition, and of the interpretations
and decisions of certain learned and pious Doctors of the Law. The
latter case, as far as the view we are now taking of the action of the
system is concerned, would be equivalent only to the addition of a
few more chapters to the Sacred Text. The existing generation would
equally be barred from doing anything for itself. If the laws of Alfred,
or of Edward the Confessor, had been preserved and accepted by
ourselves as a heaven-sent code, incapable of addition or
improvement; or if the laws of either had been received, with an
enlargement of certain traditions, interpretations, and decisions—we
should, in either case, equally have lost the practice and the idea of
legislating for ourselves: that is to say, we should have lost the
invigorating and improving process of incessantly discussing,
adapting, and endeavouring to perfect our polity and our code: so
that what is now with us the self-acting and highest discipline of the
intellect, and of the moral faculty, would have been transformed into
the constant and most effectual discipline for their enfeeblement and
extinction.
 CHAPTER XXXVII.
ORIENTAL PRAYER.

Like one that stands upon a promontory,

And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,
Wishing his foot were equal to his eye.—Shakspeare.

Prayer is still in the East, just what it was of old time, a matter of
prescribed words, postures, and repetitions. This, however, is only
what it is on the outside, and it is not the outside of anything that
keeps it alive, but what is within. It is there we must look for what
gives life. We shall be misled, too, again, if in our search for life in
this practice we suppose that what prompts it in Orientals must be,
precisely, the same as what prompts it in ourselves. Our
manifestation of this instinct is somewhat different from theirs. Prayer
with them is the bringing the mind into close contact with the ideas of
infinitude—infinite power, infinite wisdom, infinite goodness. It calls
up within them, by an intense effort of the imagination, their idea of
God, just as the same kind of effort calls up within ourselves any
image we please. The image called up, whatever it may be,
produces certain corresponding sensations and emotions. But none
can produce such deep emotions as the idea of God: it moves the
whole soul. It is the ultimate concentrated essence of all thought.
The man who is brought under its influence is prostrated in
abasement, or nerved to patient endurance, or driven into wild
fanaticism. It calms and soothes. It fills with light. It puts into a
trance. Mental sensations may be pleasurable just as those of the
body, and the deeper the sensation the more intense the
satisfaction. In their simple religion these attributes of God are really,
as well as ostensibly, the nucleus, the soul, of the matter. All things
else are merely corollaries to and deductions from them—matter that
is evidently very subordinate. Theirs is a religion of one idea, the
idea of God. And the calling up within them of this idea is their
prayer.
Or we may put this in another way. We may say that prayer is with
them the conscious presentation to their minds of certain ideas, and
the prostration of their minds before them—namely, the ideas of the
different forms of moral perfectness, the idea of intellectual
perfectness or complete knowledge, and the idea, belonging to the
physical order, of perfect power. Their conception of these ideas is,
of course, not identical with ours, but such as their past history, and
the existing conditions of Eastern society, enable them to attain to.
We can separate this effort of theirs into two parts. First, there is the
creation in the mind of these ideas of the several kinds of
perfectness; and then there is the effect the holding of them in the
mind has on the mind itself. That effect is the production in
themselves of a tendency towards making these forms of moral
being, such as they have been conceived, instinctive sentiments,
and instinctive principles of action.
In this view prayer is with the Oriental, the effort by which he both
forms the conception of what is good, and actually becomes good;
both, of course, in accordance with the measure of what is possible
for him. But why, it may be asked, should he do this? All men who
have lived in organized societies have done it; though, indeed, the
character of the act has not in all been so distinctly moral as it is with
the Oriental. Still it has been a natural ladder by which individuals
and communities, and mankind generally, have mounted from lower
to higher stages of moral being. It has been the natural means by
which the moral ideas, which the working of the successive stages of
social progress suggested, have been brought into shape, purified,
disseminated, and made universal and instinctive. As respects the
community everybody understands that its peace, and order, and
even that its existence, very much depend on there being a general
unanimity in moral ideas and sentiments throughout all its classes
and members. And it has always been perceived that the most
effectual way of bringing this about is that all should have the same
object of worship—that is to say, that the prayers of all should be the
same. Formerly, when these things were more studied than they are
now, this was regarded as the one paramount way. Fellow-citizens
then were those who worshipped the same Gods in the same
temples; aliens were those who worshipped other Gods. There could
be no citizenship where there was a diversity of prayers; for that
gave rise to, and implied, a diversity of moral standards. And with
respect to the individual, the spontaneous working of what is within
has pretty generally revealed to him that this moral effect of prayer is
his highest personal concern. He regards it as the advancement of
his truest self; for, if he is not a moral being, he cannot tell in what he
differs, specifically, from the lower animals; and prayer, he knows it
is, which has been the chief means for keeping alive, and nurturing,
and bringing into form, his moral being. It gives birth, form,
permanence, and vitality to moral aspirations.
To dwell for a moment longer on the subject, looking still at the
same fact, but now from a somewhat different point of view. The
object of their prayer has been the highly compound abstraction of
all, but more especially in the moral order, that would, according to
their ideas and knowledge, contribute towards the upholding and
building up of a human society. We see indications of this elsewhere
besides among Orientals. In a democracy wisdom and counsel in the
general body of the community are necessary, and so at Athens was
worshipped the Goddess of Wisdom. The maintenance and
enlargement of Rome depended on the sword, and so the god of
Rome was the God of War. The martial spirit and martial virtues were
necessary to them. When concord became necessary, a temple was
erected to Concord. This also explains the deification of living
Egyptian Pharaohs, and of living Roman emperors. Each was in his
time the “præsens deus” of society. What was done was done by
their providence. Their will was the law of society, and its regulative
power.
Even revealed religion is not exempt from this necessity. When the
existence of the Hebrew people depended on the sword, Jehovah
was the Lord of Hosts, the God of Battles. He taught the hands to
war, and the fingers to fight. He gave them the victory over all their
enemies round about. He it was Who made them a peculiar people
—that is to say, Who brought about within them the sentiment of
national exclusiveness; and Who, in short, made them zealous of all
the good works that would maintain society under its existing
conditions and circumstances. At the Christian epoch, when the chief
hope of the world was in peace and order, He was regarded as the
institutor of civil government; and as having made all people of one
blood, so that there could be no ground for anything exclusive. As
men’s ideas changed, the substance of their prayers changed
correspondingly. To deny these facts is to deny both history, and the
plain, unmistakable announcements of the Sacred Volume. And to
reject the grand, simple, instructive explanation universal history thus
gives is to refuse to accept that view of the working of providence in
human affairs, which God submits to our consideration, just as He
does the order and the mind of the visible material world. It is, in fact,
to refuse to be taught of God.
But to return to the modern Egypto-Arabs. To us there appears to
be very little, surprisingly little, in their minds. They have but little
thought about political matters, no thoughts about history, no
thoughts about the knowledge of outward nature. Their ideas, then,
of God, which are the summary of their religion, obtain full sway over
them. Prayer is the continual exhibition of them to their minds. It stirs
and keeps alive their hearts and souls. While these ideas are acting
upon them they are conscious of an unselfish, and sublime,
exaltation of their moral, and intellectual being.
With us Prayer has somewhat of a different aspect, both as to its
immediate source, and even, apparently, in some degree, as to its
substance. It is not always primarily, or mainly, an attempt to bring
our inmost thought into contact with the pure and simple idea of God.
It almost seems as if something had occurred which had interposed
an insulating medium between our hearts and that idea, which
cannot now, as of old, directly reach our hearts, and generate within
them its own forms of moral perfectness. Much of our Prayer is
prompted by the thought of our own wants, and of our own sins; and
so has something of a personal, and of a selfish character. Still,
perhaps, this is ultimately the same thing. It may be only an indirect
way of reaching the same point. It is, evidently, a perpetual reminder
of our moral requirements, and a perpetual effort to form just and
elevated conceptions of those requirements. This mode of culture
quickens the moral sentiments, raises them to the level of their
immediate purpose, and makes them distinct, vigorous, ever-
present, and instinctive.
What has been said will explain why Orientals pray in set forms of
words. Words represent ideas; and the Prophet, or the Saint, whose
mind is in a state of extraordinary religious exaltation, and the
general thought of religious teachers and of religious people, can, of
course, better imagine the attributes of Deity, and clothe what they
imagine in more appropriate words, than ordinary people could. It is,
therefore, better to take their words than to leave the matter to the
ignorant, the unimaginative, and the dead in soul. Under their system
of unchangeable forms all become alike animated by the best ideas,
presented in the most suitable words. This will explain why they
practise repetitions. With their method it is a necessity.
Short forms, composed of as few ideas as a piece of granite is of
ingredients, and as inelastic and inexpansive, and those forms
incessantly repeated, could not affect us in the way of prayer; but
they mightily affect the Oriental. They are both the frame in which his
mind and life are set, and the spring upon which they are wound up.
In short, and in truth, these ideas are the seminal germs which
fecundate, legitimately, the moral capabilities of his nature, which, if
unquickened by their contact, either will become aborted; or, by
having been brought into contact with other illegitimate ideas, will
give birth to abnormal, and more or less pernicious developments.
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.
PILGRIMAGE.

He hath forsaken his wife and children, and betaken himself to a pilgrim’s life.—
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.

The pilgrimage to Meccah occupies a large place in the thoughts,

and is the great event in the life of every true believer; and where the
faith is so elementary, so much reduced to the very simplest
expression of belief, all are believers. The great event of the year at
Cairo, is the return of the caravan of pilgrims from Meccah. The
whole city is moved. Many go out to welcome back the happy saints.
At no other time are men, or women, so demonstrative. In these
days, no Christian people, except the lower classes in Russia, have
the ideas which produce these emotions. No others are, speaking of
the bulk of the people generally, in the pilgrim condition of mind.
There was, however, a time when, in this matter, we were all alike.
The pilgrim staff and shell were then as common, and as much
valued, in England as elsewhere.
We now ask how these ideas came to exist in men’s minds? An
equally pertinent question is how they became extinct? The answer
to either will be the answer to both. A little vivisection, which may be
practised on the mind of the modern Arab, will reveal to us the
secret. On dissecting it we find that it is in that state in which the
distinction between things moral and spiritual on the one side, and
things physical on the other, has not yet been made. These two
classes of ideas are in his mind in a state of intimate fluid
commixture. There is a vast difference here between the mind of the
Arab and that of the European, excepting of course from the latter a
large part of the Greek communion, and some small fractions of the
most behindhand of the Latin. With us these two classes of ideas
have become disentangled, and have separated themselves from
each other. Each has crystallized into its own proper form, and
retired into its own proper domain. Hence it is that the idea of the
value of pilgrimages still holds its ground amongst them, but has
disappeared from amongst us.
It belongs to precisely the same class of ideas as the belief that if
a man drinks the ink, with which a text of the Koran has been written,
dissolved in a cup of water, he will be thereby spiritually benefited;
that bodily uncleanness injuriously affects the soul; that having eaten
some particles of dust from the Prophet’s tomb makes you a better
man; or to take the process reversely, that the thoughts of an
envious or covetous man (the evil eye), will do you some bodily hurt;
or that Ghouls and Afreets—creatures of your mind—feed on dead
bodies, and throw stones at you from the house-top. When our
Christian ancestors were in the same stage of mental progress,
similar beliefs, or rather confusions of ideas, some precisely the
same, were manifested in them. A great advance has been made
when men have come to see that what defiles is not what goes in at
the mouth, but what comes from the heart. This has a wide
application; at all events men, when it is seen, go no more
pilgrimages.
I went up to Jerusalem with the ideas about pilgrimages I have just
set down stirring in my mind. My object in going was that I might be
enabled the better to understand history by making myself
acquainted with the very scenes on which it had been enacted. I
wished to become familiar with those peculiar local aspects, and
influences of nature, which had gone some way towards forming the
character of those who had made the history, and which had, indeed,
themselves had in this way much to do with the making of it. Nothing
could be further from the pilgrim condition of mind. I believe,
however, that I did not come away with my (as some would call it)
cold-blooded philosophy quite untouched. True, I turned with
repugnance from the scenes that presented themselves around the
supposed Holy Sepulchre. I felt commiseration, mingled in some sort
with respect, for the prostrations, the tears, the hysterical sobs of the
poor Greek, Armenian, and Latin pilgrims. I contemplated them for a
time, till feelings of pain preponderated, which, as I turned away,
were exchanged only for feelings of disgust as I saw the priests, and
thought of their frauds, their greed, their indifference, their dirt, and
their mutual animosities. I again had to repress the same feelings in
the Garden of Gethsemane, when I found it in possession of some
unusually begrimed monks, who had enclosed it with a wall ten feet
high, and without a single opening through which the eye could catch
a glimpse of the interior; and who only admitted you in the hope of
backsheesh. Still the pilgrim feeling grew upon me. I had crossed the
Brook Kedron to a place where there had been a garden; I had stood
in what had been the courts of the temple, and where had been the
temple itself; I had looked on the goodly stones of the substructures
of the temple, I had beheld the city from the Mount of Olives. In my
walks round the walls I had stood on the rock, somewhere at the
north-west angle, where the Light of the world had sealed His truth
with His life-blood. Imagination on the spot had recalled the
particulars of the scene. Day by day I was conscious that the pilgrim
feeling was gaining strength within me. And now that I am quietly at
home again, I can hardly persuade myself but that I am in a different
position from what I was in before: I can hardly think that I am just as
other men are—that all this is nothing. I have trodden the same
ground, I have been warmed by the same sun, and I have breathed
the same air, as He. I have looked on the same objects, and they
have impressed on my brain the same images as on His.
But we must get over these pilgrim feelings—we must not allow
ourselves to be juggled and cheated by the old confusion of things
physical with things spiritual. It is not poetry to put the chaff for the
corn. There is no talisman like truth. He is not there: nor are we the
nearer to Him for being there. He still exists for us in His words. The
thought, the spirit that is in them we can take into our hearts and
minds. This is truly to be very near to Him; this is to be one with Him.
This is a pilgrimage all can go, and which really saves.
 CHAPTER XXXIX.
ARAB SUPERSTITIONS.—THE EVIL EYE.

Many an amulet and charm

That would do neither good nor harm.—Hudibras.

The traveller in Egypt, who observes what is before him, and feels
an interest in conversing with the natives, will have many
opportunities for learning something about their superstitious or
religious ideas—for, of course, much that with them is religion with
us would be superstition—such as their belief in charms and
amulets, and in the beneficial, or remedial efficacy of utterly
irrelevant acts and prescriptions. This is a large—indeed, almost an
inexhaustible—subject, because it pervades their whole lives,
influencing almost everything they do, and every thought that passes
through their minds. Whenever an Arab wishes to attain to, or to
escape from, anything, his method of proceeding is not to use the
means—or if he does, not to be content with them—which, in the
nature of things, would lead to the desired result, but to depend
either entirely, or, at all events, as a collateral means, on something
else which can have no possible bearing on his object, but which, in
consequence of the presence in his mind of certain ideas, and the
absence of certain others, he thinks will have, or ought to have,
some impossible effects.
Among Egyptians—it is so with all Orientals, there is an universal
belief in the potency of the Evil Eye. If any one has looked upon an
object with envious and covetous feelings, evil will ensue; not,
however—and this is the heart and the peculiarity of the superstition
—to the covetous or envious man, but to the coveted or envied
object. I will attempt presently to explain this inversion of moral
ideas. A mother in easy circumstances will keep her child in shabby
clothes, and begrimed with dirt, in order that those who see it may
not think it beautiful, and so cast an envious or covetous eye upon it.
Some kenspeckle object is placed among the caparisons of a
handsome horse or camel, that the eye of the passer-by may be
attracted to it, and so withdrawn from the animal itself. The entire
dress of a Nubian young lady consists of a fringe of shredded
leather, two or three inches deep, worn round the loins. On the upper
edge of this fringe two or three bunches of small white cowrie shells
are fastened. The traveller might, at first,—and, probably, generally
does,—suppose that this is merely a piece of coquetry, inspired by
the desire to attract attention. The truth is the reverse. The white
shells against the ebon skin are, it is true, intended to attract
attention—not at all, however, in the way of coquetry, but from the
opposite wish that the eye of the passer-by may be attracted to the
shells, and thus that the wearer may herself escape the effects of the
coveting, Evil Eye.
There is the same motive in the adoption by women of gold coins
as ornaments for the head. Let the eye be attracted to that coveted
and precious object, and diverted from the face. So, also, with the
use of the veil; and so with many other preventive devices.
But as the source of the mischief is in the heart of the beholder,
prevention may go further, and may dry up, if the effort be wisely
made, the source of the evil at the fountain-head. This is to be done
by so disciplining men’s minds, as that they shall habitually refrain
from looking on anything with envious, or covetous thoughts. The
method they have adopted for effecting this desirable change in the
heart is to make it a point of religion, and of good manners, that a
man shall so word his admiration as, at the same time, to express
renunciation of any wish to possess the beautiful, or desirable object
before him that belongs to another. He must not express his
admiration of it simply. It would be reprehensible for him to say of a
beautiful child, or dress, or jewel, or garden, or anything that was
another’s, ‘How charming!—how beautiful!’ He must associate his
admiration with the idea of God, and with the acknowledgment, that
he submits to the behest of God that has given it to another. This he
does by saying, ‘God’s will be done (Mashallah),’ or by some similar
expression. If he should so far forget propriety as to express himself
otherwise, the bystanders would recall him to good manners, and a
proper sense of religion in the matter, by reproving him.
But supposing all these preventive measures of strategy, religion,
and politeness have failed, and the Evil Eye, notwithstanding, must
needs alight on some object, what is to be done then? The only
resource is in the recognized counter-agents. These are of two kinds
—those which have a prophylactic, and those which have a remedial
efficacy. To the first belong some selected texts of the Koran, or the
whole of the sacred volume, which must be enclosed in a suitable
receptacle, and hung about the neck of the person to be protected. A
little piece of alum has the same effect. Some have recourse to the
ninety-nine titles of the Deity; others prefer the titles, equal in
number, of the Prophet. These may be kept in the house, as well as
about the person. Lane has an interesting chapter on Arab
superstitions, from which we may gather that the names of the
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and of their dog, and the names of the
few paltry articles of furniture left by the Prophet, have great potency.
But supposing these, and other such prophylactics have failed, as
must sometimes happen, in averting the Evil Eye, nothing remains
then but the use of antidotes. One that commends itself to general
adoption is, to prick a piece of paper with a pin, to represent the eye
of the envious man, and then to burn it. Another that is equally
efficacious is, to burn a compound of several pinches of salt stained
with different colours, and mixed with storax, wormwood, and other
matters. But I need not pursue this part of a single subject any
farther: what has been said will be enough to show what are their
ideas as to the ways in which the Evil Eye is to be combated.
And now for the explanation I would venture to offer of what is to
us the strangest part of the matter, that such a belief as this of the
Evil Eye should have had any existence at all, because it involves
the immoral idea that all the suffering falls on the innocent victim,
and that there is no retribution for the guilty cause of the mischief.
This I am disposed to think has been brought about by the facts and
experience of life in the East. There the Evil Eye has always had a
very real, and fearful significance; and people have done very wisely
in endeavouring to guard against it. It never would have done in that
part of the world, nor would it do at this day in Cairo, or anywhere
else, even down to the most secluded village, for one to flaunt before
the world what others might covet, or envy him the possession of.
The simple plan there has ever been, that those should take who
have the power, and that those only should keep who are not known
to possess. A man who had a beautiful wife, or child, or costly jewel,
or a showy horse, or camel, or anything good, if it were observed,
and known, would at any time, in the East, have been pretty sure to
lose it, and perhaps with it his own life into the bargain. This of
course has been a master-fact in forming the manners and customs
of the people. Hence their ideas about the Evil Eye. What befel Uriah
and Naboth, has befallen many everywhere. Hence the wisdom of
keeping good things out of sight, and of diverting attention from
them. Hence the belief that the evil is for the innocent possessor,
and not for the wicked envier, or coveter. The methods adopted for
obviating its effects are, of course, merely the offspring of fear acting
on ignorance.
I need not give any further illustrations of this condition of the Arab
mind. A general statement will now be sufficient. Every evil that flesh
is heir to, every ailment, every as yet unsatisfied yearning, every
loss, every suffering, has its appropriate treatment, all being of the
same character as that which prescribes, for some moral obliquity in
A’s mind, that B should burn a piece of alum, or of storax, purchased
on a particular day. Some of these practices are laughable, some
disgusting. Some that are of the latter class recall Herodotus’s story
of the means to which King Phero, in the days of old Egypt, had
recourse for the recovery of his sight.
It is cheap to laugh at these ideas and practices, but we have
ourselves passed, in this matter, through the same stage. We had
our day of such remedies, when we attempted to cure diseases, and
to dispel evil influences with charms and amulets; and to ensure
success by having recourse to the luck that was supposed to be in
days, and things, and names, and places. The memory of all this has
not, even yet, completely vanished from amongst us. The echo of it
may still at times be heard. The history of all people shows that
these things contain the germ of the empirical art of medicine. The
first step in real progress is the abandonment of the idea that
disease is the irreversible decree of heaven, or of fate. The second
stage, that in which the Orientals now are, is the metaphysical
treatment of disease—that which assumes that each disease is to be
met by something which, from some fancied analogy, or fitness, or
antagonism, it is supposed ought to counteract it. This is futile in
itself, but not in its ulterior consequences, for it issues eventually in
the discovery of the true remedies. In time, if circumstances favour,
the subject comes to be treated scientifically. Every ailment is then
deliberately examined, with the view of discovering in what it actually
consists; and remedies are applied which, in accordance with the
known laws and properties of things, it is reasonably hoped will
check its growth or remove it.
It is curious to observe, while we are on this subject, that
homœopathy is only a reversion to old ways of thinking. Its
foundation is a metaphysical dictum that like cures like. And its
practice that these, or some other, globules will in each case
produce artificially the desired disease, is as contrary to the evidence
of the senses, and the known properties of the globules, as anything
to be found in Arab therapeutics.