Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity E-Book

Samuel Sharpe

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 148

Beschreibung

THE history of religious error is the history of the mind wandering in its search after Truth. We meet among the gross idolatry of one nation, as in the purer religion of another nation, the same acknowledgment that man is not his own creator, and that he is dependent for his welfare upon the will of some being or beings more powerful than himself. The cultivated man, when studying the wonders of the creation around him, traces them back through numerous secondary causes to one great First Cause, and thus arrives at the belief in One Undivided God; and feels more sure of the truth of his reasoning in proportion to the simplicity to which it leads him. On the other hand, an observing but unphilosophical man, in the childhood of the world when he had noted the various secondary causes which produce all the effects which meet his senses, would perhaps look no further; and he thus arrived at the belief in a variety of gods.

Leseprobe

Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity

Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian ChristianityThe Egyptian MythologyThe Religion Of Upper EgyptThe Religion Of Lower EgyptThe Religion Under The Persian ConquerorsThe Religion Under The PtolemiesThe Religion Under The RomansChristianity Under The Roman EmperorsChristianity Under The Byzantine EmperorsAuthor's AfterwordCopyright

Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity

Samuel Sharpe

The Egyptian Mythology

Fig. 1.--The Winged Sun of Thebes

THE history of religious error is the history of the mind wandering in its search after Truth. We meet among the gross idolatry of one nation, as in the purer religion of another nation, the same acknowledgment that man is not his own creator, and that he is dependent for his welfare upon the will of some being or beings more powerful than himself.

The cultivated man, when studying the wonders of the creation around him, traces them back through numerous secondary causes to one great First Cause, and thus arrives at the belief in One Undivided God; and feels more sure of the truth of his reasoning in proportion to the simplicity to which it leads him. On the other hand, an observing but unphilosophical man, in the childhood of the world when he had noted the various secondary causes which produce all the effects which meet his senses, would perhaps look no further; and he thus arrived at the belief in a variety of gods. But this is not always the case. Some nations seem, like the modern Turks, to have arrived at a belief in one God, as if from indolence of mind, from blind fatalism, from mere want of observation of the numerous causes which are working around them. Thus many of the Arabic races in the neighbourhood of Egypt, as well as the Israelites, traced the hand of one only God, or Great First Cause, in all they enjoyed and all they suffered. But the Egyptians, like the Greeks and Romans, seeing so many causes at work, and not perceiving that they might all be set in motion by One First Cause, thought that every blessing that they received, and every misfortune that befel them, was the work of a different god. They thus peopled the seen and the unseen world beyond with a variety of beings or powers. To these they returned thanks for the blessings that they enjoyed, or more often, as led by a melancholy and less grateful disposition, addressed entreaties that they would withhold their injuries and punishments. The sculptured monuments of the country teach us the figures and sometimes the characters of these imaginary beings, together with the cities and parts of the kingdom in which each was more particularly worshipped.

The Religion Of Upper Egypt

First among these gods of the Egyptians was Ra, the Sun, or Amun-Ra, The Great Sun, whose warmth ripened their harvests, but whose scorching rays made his power felt as much as an enemy as a friend. His sculptured figure wears a cap ornamented with two tall feathers, and sometimes with the figure of the sun (see Fig. 2). He was the King of the Gods. He was more particularly the god of Thebes.

Over the portico of the Theban temple there is usually a ball or sun, ornamented with outstretched wings, representing the all-seeing Providence thus watching over and sheltering the world. From this sun hang two sacred asps wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt (see Fig. 1).

Every Egyptian king bore the title of Zera, the Son of Ra (see Fig. 27), and many of the Theban kings took the name of Amunmai, beloved by Amun. From him the Romans borrowed a name for their god-Jupiter Ammon. This god was at times called Adon-Ra, from a word for Lord, known also in the Hebrew language.

Fig. 2.--Amun-Ra

Fig. 3--Mando

Fig. 4--Hapimou

In the western half of the Delta the Sun was worshipped as Mando-Ra. Like Amun-Ra, he wears the two tall feathers, and the Sun on his head, but he differs from him in having a hawk's face (see Fig. 3). In our woodcuts these gods each carry in their left hand a staff, with an animal's head, and in the right hand the character for life. A cow's tail, the ornament of royalty, hangs down behind from the waistband. After the fall of the kings of Thebes we find a violent attempt was made by the kings of the city of Mendes to introduce into Thebes the worship of Mando-Ra, in place of Amun-Ra.

Next was Hapimou, the Nile, whose waters were the chief source of their food, whose overflow marked the limits between the cultivated land and the desert; to him they owed nothing but grateful thanks. He is a figure of both sexes, having the beard of a man and the breasts of a child-bearing woman (see Fig. 4). He carries in his arms fruits and flowers, and sometimes waterfowls.

Another great god was their narrow valley, the country in which they lived, clearly divided from the yellow desert by the black Nile-mud, by which it was covered and made fertile, and hence called Chemi, the Black Land, or when made into a person, Chem, or Ham. He was the father of their race, called in the Bible one of the sons of Noah, and considered by themselves the god of increase, the Priapus of the Greeks. Chem has a cap with two tall feathers like that of Amun-Ra, so large that it was necessary to give him a metal support to hold it on the head. His right arm is raised and holds a whip, his left arm is hid under his dress, which is the tight garment of the Egyptian women (see Fig. 5). In consequence of the confusion arising from the Egyptian guttural, his name is in the Hieroglyphics usually spelled THM, as Champsi, the crocodile, becomes Tempsi on the eastern side of the Delta.

Kneph, the Wind, or Air, or Breath of our bodies, was supposed to be the god of Animal and Spiritual Life. He has the head and horns of a ram (see Fig. 6).

Pthah, the god of Fire, was more particularly the god of Memphis, as Amun-Ra of Thebes; and the kings in that city were said to be "Beloved by Pthah." His figure is bandaged like a mummy, and his head shaven like a priest (see Fig. 7).

Fig 5.--Chem

Fig. 6.--Kneph

Fig. 7.--Pthah

Having thus created for themselves a number of gods, their own feelings and what they saw around them would naturally lead them to create an equal number of goddesses. Of these Neith, the Heavens, was one. She is often drawn with wings stretched out as if covering the whole earth. At other times she is formed into an arch, with her feet and fingers on the ground, while her body forms the blue vault overhead, and is spangled with stars. At other times she is simply a woman, with the hieroglyphical character for her name as the ornament on the top of her head (see Fig. 8). She was particularly worshipped at Sais, and the kings of that city are styled "Beloved by Neith."

Isis, or Isitis, the Earth, or rather the corn-bearing Land, the mother of all creation, was another and perhaps the chief favourite with the nation. Her name is derived from SAT, to sow seed, like the Latin Ceres. She is known by the throne upon her head, because a throne forms the first syllable of her name (see Fig. 9). But she had so many characters that she is called by the Greeks the goddess with ten thousand names. She is sometimes Maut, the mother goddess, sometimes Hecate, the sorceress.

Other goddesses were attributes or feelings made into persons, such as Athor the goddess of Love and Beauty. She has cow's horns (see Fig. 10), and sometimes a cow's head. She also is sometimes called Maut, the mother. She belonged to Upper Egypt, and was the wife of Amun-Ra, and gave her name to the city of Aphroditopolis.

Fig. 8--Neith

Fig. 9.--Isis

Fig. 10.--Athor

Pasht, the goddess of Virtue, has a cat's head (see Fig. 11). She belonged to Lower Egypt, and gave her name to the city of Bubastis. Amunothph III., however, of Thebes, particularly styled himself "Beloved by Pasht."

Mo is sometimes the god, sometimes the goddess of Truth and justice, and is distinguished by ostrich feathers on the head.

When the land was divided into separate estates or properties, Thoth, the Pillar or Landmark at the corner of the field, became an important god; and as the owner's name was carved upon it, he was the god of letters and of all learning. He has the head of an ibis, because the ibis perches on the top of the post. He is often in the act of writing, or of counting the years on the notches at the back of a palm branch from which the leaves have been broken off (see Fig. 12). This palm branch is the hieroglyphical character for the word "year." Thoth was by the Greeks called Hermes, a name which has the same meaning, a pillar. The sacred books of the priests were all supposed to have been written by Thoth.

Fig. 11.--Pasht.

Besides these visible objects and attributes or qualities already described, there was a third class of gods, who were spoken of as if they had once been mortal and had lived upon earth. These were Osiris, the husband of Isis; and their son Horus, so named from Chori, strong; and Anubis, their second son; and Nephthys, the sister and companion of Isis; and the wicked Typhon, who put Osiris to death. Osiris, like Pthah, is bandaged as a mummy. He wears a tall mitre with a ball on the top, with or without two feathers as side pieces. He holds two sceptres, one is a whip and one is a crosier (see Fig. 13). His name is derived from OSH, a decree, and IRI, to do, and it means the judge. Horus has a hawk's head, and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, formed of a plate of gold over or around the mitre, as described in Exodus xxviii., xxix. (see Fig. 14).

Fig. 12.--Thoth

Fig. 13--Osiris

Fig. 14--Horus

Sometimes he is a crowned hawk. Anubis has the head of a dog or a jackal (see Fig. 15), or is represented as the animal a jackal. He never takes a foremost place among the gods, but usually stands as the attendant or servant of Osiris.

Nephthys is known by her name, a dish and a house, upon her head (see Fig. 16). It means Mistress of the house, or Lady. Typhon is a hippopotamus, usually walking on its hind legs, and with female breasts (see Fig. 17); sometimes with sword in his hand, to show his wicked nature. He is the chief author of evil. In Acts xxvii. 14, a tempestuous wind is called a Typhonian wind.

Fig. 15.--Anubis

Fig. 16.--Nephthys

Fig. 17.--Typhon

The above list of gods was further increased by copying the arrangements of a family. Thus Pthah, the god of fire had a son named Imothph the god of science, or medicine. Amun-Ra and his wife Athor had a son named Chonso, who is sometimes only distinguished from his father by the youthful lock of hair on the right side of his head; and sometimes he is known by his having a hawk's face, like Horus, and on his head, not the sun, but the new moon (see Fig. 18). To all these numerous gods a father was given in the person of Seb, or Sebek, the crocodile (see Fig. 19).

Fig. 18.--Chonso

Fig. 19.--Seb

Of these gods Osiris and his family alone had any biography. They once lived upon earth. His wife and sister Isis was a goddess, while Osiris himself had two natures: he was partly god and partly man. He was put to death by the wicked Typhon, the hippopotamus, and his limbs scattered to the four winds. These Isis collected and put together again, and Osiris returned to life, but not upon earth. He became judge of the dead in the infernal regions, with the title of Ro-t-Amenti, or king of hell, whence the Greeks borrowed the name of Rhadamanthus. His son Horus revenged his father's death, and is styled the Avenger of his father. Horus was the last of the gods that reigned upon earth. Hence he was styled Horus the king. His hawk's head has also the same meaning; the hawk was the bird of royalty. The death of Osiris was piously lamented by Isis and her sister Nephthys; and once a year the Egyptians joined their priests in a melancholy procession through the streets, singing a doleful ditty called the Maneros, or Song of Love, which was to console the goddess for the death of her husband. But this grief for the death of Osiris did not escape some ridicule; for Xenophanes the Ionian wittily remarked to the priests of Memphis, that if they thought Osiris a man they should not worship him, and if they thought him a god they need not talk of his death and sufferings. This story the Greeks copied, and have given us in the form of the loves and lamentations of Venus, a goddess, for Adonis, who was a mortal. The boar which killed Adonis is no other than the hippopotamus Typhon. This shows us how in poetry, as in architecture and sculpture, Greek taste was sometimes willing to make use of Egyptian invention.

Of all the gods, Osiris alone had a place of birth and a place of burial. His birthplace was mount Sinai, called by the Egyptians mount Nissa. Hence, according to Diodorus Siculus, was derived the god's Greek name Dionysus, which is the same as the Hebrew Jehovah-Nissi. This name Moses gave to the Almighty when he set up an altar to Him at the foot of the holy mountain, a spot sacred alike with Jews and Egyptians (see Exodus xvii. 15). Many cities claimed the honour of being the burial place of Osiris, and thence, perhaps, the profit arising from the offerings to his shrine. The honour, however, seems at last to have been thought to belong more particularly to the island of Philæ.

This story of a dying god shows how little the Egyptians believed him to be an eternal self-existent Being. Indeed, the belief in more than one God is almost a disbelief in any god, in the highest sense of the word; as there can only be one Being who is self-existent, all-powerful, and everywhere present. And the second belief that one out of many gods should die, is hardly more irrational than the first belief that there are many gods. In both cases the believer gives a lower meaning to the word "god" than is given to it by him who worships only one such Being. But our own better views of theology should not lead us to despise these rude beginnings, and first steps in religion, by this earliest of nations.

The belief in One God supposes that the world is being governed by Power acting upon one settled plan which is shown, by observation, to be both Wise and Good, in a degree so far beyond our understanding that we may safely think it infinite. A belief in more gods than one supposes that the world is governed by Power acting with an occasional change of plan, which if sometimes wise: and good, is by no means always so. And a belief in. the numerous gods above described, shows that the Egyptians thought too much of the trials and misfortunes, and. too little of the blessings that befall us, and fancied that the ways of Providence were so irregular, and so much less wise and good than if governed by one of themselves, that they could only be explained by supposing a crowd of unseen beings, of whom sometimes one and sometimes another took the trouble to meddle with the doings of men. Such was the unhappy theology of Egypt.

The long list of gods mentioned above was again further increased in two ways. The priests sometimes made a new god by uniting two or three or four into one, and at other times by dividing one into two or three, or more. Thus out of Horus and Ra they made Horus-Ra, called by the Greeks Aroeris. Out of Osiris and Apis the bull of Memphis, the priests of Memphis made Osiri-Apis or Serapis. He carries the two sceptres of Osiris, and has a bull's head (see Fig. 20). Out of Amun-Ra and Ehe the bull of Heliopolis, the priests of the East of the Delta made Amun-Ra-Ehe. To this again they added a fourth character, that of Chem, and made a god Amun- Ra-Ehe- Chem. Out of Kneph the Spirit, and Ra the Sun, they made Kneph-Ra. Out of Sebek and Ra, they made Sebek-Ra. In this way the Egyptians worshipped a plurality in unity.

Fig. 20.--Serapis

In the case of division they had two of the name of Anubis, one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt, and afterwards as many as six of that name. They divided Horus into three persons, upon the rule that everything perfect has three parts; and in addition to Horus the king the son of Isis, and Horus-Ra before mentioned, they made a third Horus, the Scarabeus or beetle. While making out of the god Osiris the new person Osiri-Apis or Serapis, they made a second by uniting him to Pthah in the person of Pthah-sokar-Osiris.

The gods were very much grouped in sets of three, and each city had its own trinity. In Thebes it was Amun-Ra, Athor, and Chonso, or father, mother, and son (see Fig. 21). Sometimes, however, they were arranged as father, son, and mother, placing Chonso between his two parents. In Abousimbel and Derr in Nubia, the trinity is Pthah, Amun-Ra, and Horus-Ra, and these are the three gods to whom Rameses II. is sacrificing the Philistines, in the sculptures at Beyroot. At Abousimbel the king also worships Amun-Ra, Horus-Ra, and Horus of Lower Egypt. At Wady Seboua he is seated in a group with Pthah, Kneph, and Athor. At Silsilis he worships Amun-Ra, Horus-Ra, and Hapimou, the Nile. At Philæ the trinity is Osiris, Isis, and Horus, a group, indeed, common to most parts of Egypt. Other groups were Isis, Nephthys, and Horus (see Fig. 22); or Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris; and with a national love for mysticism the priests often declared that the three in some undescribed way only made one person. The above figures, indeed, do not declare that the three gods are only one; but we have a hieroglyphical inscription in the British Museum as early as the reign of Sevechus of the eighth century before the Christian Era, showing that the doctrine of Trinity in Unity already formed part of their religion, and stating that in each of the two groups last mentioned the three gods only made one person (Egypt. Inscript. Pl. 36, 4, 5).

Fig. 21.--Amun-Ra, Maut, and Chonso

Fig. 22