The proper moon-god Aah gradually passed into the god Thoth, and, even when he is not exactly amalgamated with the latter, he is depicted simi- larly to him. In later times he is further attached also to Osiris. In the case of Thoth it is probable that, at least in some localities, we have in him an actual moon-god whose personality originally ran parallel with that of Aah, and to whom the eyno- cephalus was sacred ; whereas the later more im- portant Ibis- Thoth, associated with writing and the healing art, is, to all appearance, of a different
RELIGION OF EGYPT
origin. Egyptology has not as yet succeeded in separating the various Divine primary elements combined in the same god, although the task is one that in the Nile valley is at once suggested and facilitated by the presence of the various sacred animals.
(6) Stone worship prevailed especially in Heli- opolis, where the sun-god embodied himself, amongst other forms, ina stone. It is hard to say whether we should detect here the influence of the Semites, in whose native land Divine stones played a great
art, or whether we have to do with genuine
gyptian notions. In any case, this species of worship exhibits itself as Nee established. The form of the deity appears to have varied ; the texts speak now of a pyramid, now of an obelisk (whence the obelisks in the classical period of Egyptian history are always dedicated to Ra or to some deity amalgamated with him), and again of a kind of pillar ; but the essential form is always that of a cone, the shape common to the Semites. It was probably owing simply to the influence of Heli- opolis that the belief in this embodiment of Ra found entrance into other temples. The god Set, the opponent of Osiris, was occasionally thought of as embodied in a stone, as is shown by the determinative of his name, which is a stone in the shape of a brick-mould. Late texts mention also worship paid to the metals and to half-precious stones, but such notices are rare.
(c) The worship of high places could naturally attain to no great proportions in the Nile valley, as characteristic elevations are in general wanting in the flat plateaus that stretch along both banks of the river; but instances of it do occur. The cir- cumstance that the temple of the Hathor of the copper mines of the Sinaitic peninsula was situated upon a mountain height, may, it is true, have been due to Semitic influence. But we find a similar state of things in other places as well. At Heli- opolis there was a sandhill, on which sacrifices were offered to the sun-god at his rising (Pianchi stele, 1. 102). At Gebel Barkal the mountain on which the temples were situated was called the holy mountain, probably because it was itself regarded as holy, and not merely because of the sanctuaries to which it afforded shelter. From the end of the second millennium B.C. come some notices pointing to the paying of Divine honours to the mountain peak over Sheh Abd el-Gurnah at Thebes. ‘This peak has prayers addressed to it; a ka, a Divine
ersonality, is attributed to it ; transgressions may ie committed against it, which it punishes severely, or forgives if entreaty to that effect is addressed to it. In other texts itis brought into connexion or even identified with the serpent Mer-seker (‘she who loves silence’), one of the most popular deities of the Theban necropolis. But originally the mountain was an independent Divine form (cf. the texts in Maspero, Lt. de myth. ii. 402 f.; Capart, Revue del Université de Brucelles, vi. [April 1901)), which, amongst other functions, was supposed to discharge those of a healing deity. A more exact study of the rock-inscriptions of Egypt may be expected to bring to light more of these high- place deities ; in temple-inscriptions, on the con- trary, they appear to be practically wanting, showing that here they were not regarded as_of sufficiently high rank to find mention by the side of the great gods. z
(d) The cult of springs and streams was In the Nile valley naturally confined to a few instances, there being so slender a supply of independent watercourses. Of springs, the only one, properly speaking, that comes into consideration, is at Heliopolis. 1n it, according to a stele of the 8th cent. B.C. (Pianchi stele, 1. 102), the sun-god Ra
washed his face, and his example was followed by
RELIGION OF EGYPT 189 kings when they visited the sanctuary. It is not
said whether the spring actually received Divine honours, but it certainly possessed a certain sacred- ness, which it retained even after the fall of the Egyptian State. The Arabs regarded it as the fountain of the sun; and, according to the Chris- tian legend, the Virgin Mary, when fleeing from Herod, washed the swaddling-bands of the infant Jesus in it (Hvang. Inf. Arab. c. 24; Abd Allatif, Rel. de V Egypte [¥rench tr. by de Sacy], p. 88 ff.).
Far more important was the place held by the Nile (Hapi), on whose flow and inundation the prosperity and even the existence of Egypt de- pended, and which was conceived of as a fat man with nipple-formed breasts, flowers upon his head, and wearing a loin-cloth composed of sedge. He had temples in a number of places (Nilopolis near Memphis, Heliopolis, ete.) ; in other instances he was received into the important temples in com- pany with other deities. The greatest of the popular festivals were held in his honour and to mark the phases of his increase ; numerous hymns celebrating his beneficence have come down to us, being found even engraved upon rock-walls along with lists of offerings to be presented to him (cf. e.g. Stern, Aegyp. Ztschr. 1873, p. 129 ff.; Maspero, Hymne au Nil, Paris, 1868). In these texts he is hailed as giver of life to all men, bringer of joy, creator, nourisher of the whole land. In all this we have no myth in the proper sense of the term, and the Nile comes into no further relations with the great deities of the temples. Occasionally the Nile is not viewed as one divinity, but is divided into the Nile of Upper and of Lower Egypt. When these two bind together for Pharaoh the plants that characterize them, he is thereby constituted lord of the whole land. There are other instances where the process of partition is carried still further, and each nome has its own Nile.