An extremely suggestive astronomical picture (pl. v, 13) contains [pg 403] the combination of Horus, the An, in the form of the human-headed hawk, with a serpent Na, the boat (uaa, am or makhen) and the circle enclosing a single star, duat (cf. ua=one). The complete group thus conveys a wealth of hidden meaning which is perfectly intelligible when interpreted as pole-star symbolism.
The reader is now invited to take a preliminary look at the columns of signs included in figs. 66, 67, 68, some of which will be recognized as primitive pole-star symbols already discussed, and which will respectively be found to contain homonyms of ua=One and uahi=permanent; ak and kabal=centre, ka=double, an=he who turns and ankh=life, etc. Special attention is also drawn to the modes of expressing the syllable am by the homonyms boy or child, boat and tree (fig. 63, 20-22).
Different combinations of identical phonetic elements are found in the following groups which prove to be but different ingenious figures expressing the same sounds, with more or less the same meanings: pl. v, 15, represents the boat, whose phonetic values are given above, with a flower=ankh, the homonym of life, containing the names an and na, from which the uræus=ara, is rising. Later on the deeper symbolism of this and fig. 12, pl. v, will be further discussed. In the latter, instead of the flower the boat contains the ara and a boy=ah or aah, whose name is the homonym for great, mighty, powerful, etc. Assuming that the boat expressed its particular name uaa=ua=one, we thus have a rendering of the appellation so constantly given to Amen-Ra in the hymns and invocations: “One, great, powerful, mighty god,” accompanied by a whole series of secondary meaning and symbolism. In pl. v, 9, the boat containing the bull or cow, is accompanied by stars which reproduce Ursa Major exactly, minus one star, the head of the animal occupying the centre of the four stars forming the inverted square of “the dipper.” In this case the boat seems to express its name makhen, incorporating ak, the name for the sacred centre of the sky, which is repeated in the name ka=bull, whose image, like that of the boat, conveys the allusion to ua=one, by their respective double names, aua and uaa.
What appears to me to contain the most convincing proof of the identity of Amen-Ra with Polaris is 11, pl. v, which shows us a boat in which lies a mummy, above which is a row of seven stars under an oval, containing two eyes. The oval ring is evidently the image of Amen-Ra, who united in his person the dual principles [pg 404] of nature symbolized by sun and moon=his “two eyes.” The symbolism of the boat and mummy has already been sufficiently discussed to enable the reader to discern its association with the idea of oneness, of stability and centrality. Further light is thrown upon the connection of the two eyes with the sacred centre by pl. v, 14, from the Book of the Dead, where the chosen place of sepulchre for the dead person, mentioned in the text, is the temple pyramid, the apex of which is rendered prominent by being painted black and suggestively occupies a central position between two eyes. After the periods of Greek rule in Egypt, the point of the pyramid must have been associated with the Greek words, akra=hill-top and aku=point, which recurs in the Latin name acacia, by which the thorny tree, originally found in Egypt, is still known. It can readily be seen how this tree would have been chosen as a symbol of the ak=middle and it is possible that its name may originally have been that also given to the olive tree=bak. The inscription on the famous obelisks erected by queen Hat-shepsut contains a special mention of the point of the obelisk, as being made of precious material: “two great obelisks of hard granite of the south, the point of each is of electrum, the tribute of the best quality of all countries” (Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, Vol. ii, p. 86).
The many variants of the constellation or star termed “the divine triangle” or “the triangle of the god” next claim attention. An extremely interesting variant of this constellation represents a hawk-headed sphinx, next to the triangle (pl. vi, 1); 2-4 represent the common form expressing the name Sopedet. As Brugsch informs us, the above name was changed at a more recent period into Satit (6-8), which he translates as “she who shoots, the archeress” or “she who causes the Nile to rise.” In these cases the written name either contains an arrow (6), the pyramid symbol for earth (7), or a seated figure above whose head is a single star (8). A rarer form of representing the same constellation is 9 and 10, the group being transcribed by “Satit Hont Khabsu” which Brugsch translates as “Sothis, the Queen of the ... stars.” From the feminine terminations employed in the text it is clear that it is a cow which figures here in the boat, with a single star between its horns and it appears to me to be obvious that we have to deal here with the feminine form of Polaris, with Auset=Isis, closely related to the Assyrian “goddess of battle,” Ishtar, the [pg 406] female counterpart of Ausar=Osiris, the Assyrian Anshar, or Ashur, the “god of battle.”
This view is confirmed by further astronomical pictures published by Brugsch, which appear to me not merely to signify the constellations Orion and Sirius as Brugsch infers, but to be hieroglyphs intended to be understood by the initiated only, representing two or more of the forms under which Amen-Ra was figured. At Edfu (pl. vi, 11) the boat=au, uaa, and the mummy=sah form a fair rebus for Ausar=Osiris, while the boat alongside of it contains the cow, a form under which Isis=Hathor was worshipped in Egypt during centuries. At Denderah (12) there is a cow in one boat=Isis; and a man in another who holds the sceptre tam, emblematic of power, and turns his head around, an evident allusion to the action an=he who turns himself around, or to sah=one who turns away. Between both is the hawk=bak or Hur-chuti=Horus, standing on the sceptre named aut, composed of the lotus flower=ankh. A variant of the same group (13) also symbolizing the “Above, Below and Middle,” and from Denderah, represents Isis only in the celestial boat and Osiris standing (on earth) holding, beside the tam, the whip=nekhe khu, emblematic of rule. In 14, a female figure stands in the boat under the written name Auset=Isis and bears in her hand the ankh sign and the lotus flower=ankh sceptre. In the second boat the figure of a boy (ahi) turning (an or sah) his head, holds up the ankh. In 15, we seem to have an evidence of the ascendancy of Isis worship, for the boat contains not only the cow, under the name satit=she who shoots, or the archeress, but also the standing figure of the goddess, crowned by the disk or circle between two horns.
A striking proof that the knowledge of the true, hidden meaning of the signs just discussed was regarded by those who possessed it as an evidence of an advanced stage of initiation in the mysteries of the priesthood, is furnished by the following text, which accompanies pl. vi, 16:
In the Book of the Dead (Leyden, Papyrus, p. 16), in a chapter entitled: “Chapter of the knowledge of the eastern spirits, ro en rex biu abti,” the dead person utters the following words: “I know that eastern mountainous region of the heaven whose south is at the sea Kharo and the north at the river of Ro, at the place where the day-god Ra drives around amidst storm-winds. I am a welcome comrade in the boat and I row without tiring in the bark [pg 407] of Ra. I know that tree of emerald green brandies amongst which Ra shows himself when he goes over the layer of clouds of the god Su. I know that gate out of which Ra issues. I know the meadow of alo, whose wall is of iron.... I know the eastern spirits, namely the god Hur-Chuti, the calf next to this god and the god of the morning,” the original text of the latter sentence being: “au-a-rekh-ku-a biu abti Hur-chuti pu behsu kher nutar pen nutar duaut pu” (Brugsch, op. cit., i, p. 72).
The evasion and caution with which the speaker alludes to his knowledge of the meaning of the signs, without betraying the latter, sufficiently indicate the obligation of absolute secrecy which bound him, and it may be inferred that several of the words he employed were intended to be misleading to an outsider just as the astronomical pictures, exposed to public view, were purposely made to seem to relate to the more familiar sun, moon and constellations, the mind being thus led away from the hidden but true star-god=Polaris. The circumstance that, on the body of the young bull in the boat, there are seven dots and above it a single star and that the hawk-headed seated deity behind it is crowned by the serpent circle or disk of Amen-Ra, sufficiently enlightens us as to the true, veiled significance which represents different forms of the “hidden god,” of the group. A careful analysis of this and of the astronomical images suffices, however, to disclose the limited scope of the meaning of such groups, each one being but a different rebus containing the same phonetic elements. Let us now briefly indicate what appear to have been the essential components which all images contain and a few of the myriad of ways by which they were expressed.
Uahi=permanent, and Ua=One. Represented by
Fig. 66. 1. An arrow=au (cf. abau=to fight), an arm=a, and the numerical one=ua.
2. The cow=ah, aua, the latter name incorporating the adjective a=mighty, powerful, etc.
3. The thigh=uart.
4. The boat=uaa.
5. The numeral five=tuau.
6. The throne, seat or place=auset, which constitutes the name Auset=Isis, the consort of Ausar=Osiris.
[pg 408]7. The bowl=au.
8 and 9. Two forms of sceptre or bent staff=au, uat, also aam.
Besides these signs, well known as sacred symbols, we find that the following names also contain the sacred title Ua: uatet=greenstone, emerald, aut=quadrupeds, au=heir, also dog, maau=rays of light, mau=lion, also cat. The reason why certain quadrupeds, and particularly the cow, lion, and the cat, should have become sacred animals in Egypt, seems to be satisfactorily explained by the fact that each constituted a rebus and could therefore be employed as an “image” of the One god. It is obvious that locality would necessarily influence the choice of the [pg 409] sacred animal and that while one city might adopt the cow, another would be obliged to adopt the cat, etc, as the living rebus. The adoption of “the heir,” or first-born of the sacramental union of king and queen, as the living image of the deity, throws an unexpected light on the reason why members of the royal line were treated with divine honors. While persons, animals and objects whose names contained the divine Ua=one, would thus be chosen, others containing the word Ra=god, would also be adopted.
Ra=god.
Of these I have already pointed out the uræus=ara, the eye=ari, face=hra and egg=ar, also se or sa and suht. To these may also be added the date palm or dates=ben-ra; grain=nepra; the vine=aarer and grapes=aarer, each of which is to be found associated with sacred symbolism.
The veneration accorded in different localities to the pig=re-ra and the horse, may thus be accounted for, especially as the name for the latter, het-ra, consists of het=light or fair, and ra=god, and the horse is actually found associated with the light-gods of antiquity and with so-called solar symbols and the swastika.
Food for reflection is afforded by the Egyptian name for mirror, which literally signifies to see, or the seer=maa, of the face=hra, but which furnishes, as a rebus, the word maat=law, which is usually expressed by the feather=mat, connected with hra=i. e. ra=god (fig. 66, 10). The employment of the mirror as an image of the god of law would thus naturally have been suggested by its name. The presence of the eye=ari (cf. ra) in the centre of a mirror which is being worshipped, also suggests that in ancient Egypt the mirror was employed in the temple to hold the reflection of Polaris=Amen-Ra, “the untiring watcher, the lord of eternity and the maker of law” (see fig. 66, 11). It is obvious that the habitual employment, by the astronomer priests, of a mirror so placed in the sanctuary as to catch the reflection of the pole-star through an open doorway, would lead to the discovery of the movements of the sun and the positions it assumes during the year. The flashing of a beam of sunlight once a year, at the period of the summer solstice, upon the mirror which constantly reflected the pole-star, would naturally suggest the idea of “the union of the day-sun with the night-sun” and seem particularly impressive as it was at this period that the Nile began to rise. In dealing [pg 410] with the religious festivals held at this period more will be said on this subject.
The word maat=law, besides being expressed by the feather=mat, could also have been indicated to those initiated in the mysteries of hieratic rebus-writing, by the lion=ma hes; the antelope=ma-het, which also contains the sacred attribute light=het, the synonym of khu, thus expresses the idea of the “light of the law.” The musical instrument named mat may also have originally been, like the tam sceptre, a symbol of lawful power and conveyed an allusion to meht or maht=north. To this series the word am should be added, signifying child, tree and boat, each of which has already been treated of in connection with pole-star symbolism and Amen-Ra (fig. 63, 20-22).
Duality=ka=double; and the Middle=ak.
The name for bull=ka (fig. 67, 1) incorporates, as has already been shown, not only duality and middle, but also, through its other names, the idea of oneness and of power. This appears to explain clearly why the bull was chosen as the image or rebus of Polaris and Ursa Major, which appear to have been regarded as a single combination of stars. The fact that in the hymns Amen-Ra is addressed as “the bull,” constitutes a convincing corroboration of the identification of the “hidden god” with Polaris. A line of connection seems, moreover, to exist between the Egyptian kabal sami=the middle of heaven, the image of a bull in the centre of the zodiacs, and the bull of Assyria, under which image Baal was worshipped.
Hieratic signs, expressing the word for middle and double appear to have been: the mummy which, although named sah or tut, also signified khat=corpse (2) and conveyed an allusion to mit=death, the homonym of met=north.
A certain form of fish expressed the syllable kha (3). A cone-shaped object named khaker appears to have served as a rebus for the middle and double as well as night=ker and time=rek (4). In pl. vii, 12, the khaker figures behind the seated image of a deity with the head of a ram=ser or sar, holding the ankh in his hand, the whole forming a rebus for Ansar, and containing much meaning besides.
Kha-ut (fig. 67, 5) is the name for the sacrificial offering laid on [pg 411] the utu=altar, which is shaped like the tau and symbolizes the above and below by its perpendicular and horizontal lines. In the centre of this is the bread=ta (the homonym of ta=earth, cf. neb-at=fire), which is remarkable on account of its division into four parts analogous to that of nut=city, a feature which justifies the inference that the word for cake=sen-nu made with honey=bat or net, is intended to be expressed here. A jar stands at each side of the cake, which is placed on edge so as to exhibit the sacred design upon it. It is significant that, if the jars contained wine=arp, milk=art, the name of the liquid constituted an anagram of ra, if perfume=anta was present, this furnished the syllables an and ta=earth. It is, of course, impossible to surmise how far such resemblances of sounds influenced the choice of sacred offerings.
The kha (fig. 67, 6)=crown is particularly interesting as Amen-Ra is addressed as “crowned form,” the lord of the ureret crown, ... beautiful of tiara, exalted of the white crown ... on whose brow the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt is established. It appears, therefore, evident that the crown=kha was but another mode of expressing ka=double. At the same time it likewise conveyed the idea of ak=the centre and the act of crowning a sovereign appears as vested with deep symbolical meaning when it is realized that, according to the primitive modes of thought I have been tracing, by enclosing the head of the king in a circlet he was constituted the hak, regent or central chief, the living image of Ra, whose sign was the star or dot in the circle or ring.
Ka (duality) is commonly expressed by an uplifted pair of arms; a variant being the whole figure of a man with raised arms (7 and 8). The fact that the name for phallus was also ka, explains its employment as a sacred symbol, recorded by Herodotus, which proves to what extremes the ancient rebus-writers went in their naïve invention and multiplication of secret signs and modes of expressing the names and attributes of their “hidden god.” The hatred and disgust conceived by the great reformer Amenophis IV, against all that pertained to the cult of Amen-Ra, his destruction of all images devised by the priesthood and adoption of a pure image of the supreme divinity of a plain disk or circle, with rays terminating in hands, are readily understood in connection with the above.
Returning to our list of akh words: the akh or centre is figured by a man between two signs for heaven=pet, supporting the upper heaven with both hands; the idea ka=double or dual, being simultaneously expressed (9).
The hawk=bak (10) constitutes so perfect a rebus or anagram of middle=ak and kabal, as well as for khab=star, that the reason why the hawk was chosen as an image or form of Amen-Ra is as reasonably accounted for as the choice of the bull. Before supporting this assertion by a series of convincing proofs, the following list must be studied:
An=he who turns himself around (i. e. who performs a circuit=the circuiteer) and ankh=life.
In the “First steps in Egyptian” I find the word “an” expressed by (fig. 68, 1) a man in the act of turning around, resembling the position [pg 413] of the male deity in the boat, already discussed and represented in the astronomical texts (fig. 68, 2) by an eye, the form of which differs from that of the eye=ari; (3) by a fish, also different in form from the fish=kha, and particularly interesting if compared to the fish khepanen, figured in the kheper series, which constitutes a rebus combining the titles khepera=creator and an=the circuiteer; (4) by a stone=aner, also by hair=anem; (5) by two arms spread outwards, recalling the position of the front legs of quadrupeds; (6) by a spear whose shaft is inserted in a double stand; which sign recurs in the name of the city Annu, expressed by the an=spear, the vase=nu and the nut determinative for city or capital (7). It is extremely interesting to compare, at this point, the Greek polus=a pole or axis, and polis=city or capital, and to realize that, in Egypt and Greece alike, the names for capital are associated with the idea of centrifugal power and rule.
The signification of all the above “an” signs becomes intensified when it is realized that they conveyed also the first two letters of the word ankh=life, which was usually expressed by the familiar symbol expressing the union of the dualities of nature (8).
Amongst the many surprises received during the course of this investigation, few have given me as much satisfaction and light, as the observation of the fact that the Egyptian name for flower, ankh (9), was the same as that for “life.” The full significance of the lotus blossom as a symbol became clear to me, and my attention having been called by a friend to Mr. William H. Goodyear's admirable work “The Grammar of the Lotus,” London, 1891, I was able to obtain from it the series of Egyptian symbols which I now present and shall proceed to interpret according to the method set forth in the preceding pages. The interesting observation was by Mr. Goodyear that “the ankh was the exact counterpart [pg 414] of the lotus as regards solar association” and in his work, on pl. lxv and elsewhere, this close observer publishes several instances illustrating this view. Of these I reproduce but two, which suffice, feeling convinced that Mr. Goodyear will be as interested as I was to hear that the ankh and lotus were homonyms of ankh=life. This fact of itself fully explains why the lotus flower was employed by the ancient Egyptians, as Mr. Goodyear states, as the “symbol of life, immortality and of renaissance and resurrection and of fecundity.”
In fig. 69, 1, two (ka) fishes (khepanen or an) hold the lotus, ankh, and thus constitute a sacred rebus, the profound meaning of which can be surmised by studying the preceding pages. In 2, one (ua) fish holds the ankh instead of the lotus. Both signs obviously express precisely the same meaning with the difference that, in one case duality is expressed by two fishes, and in the other by the ankh symbol which emblematizes the union of nature's dualities.
Fig. 69, 3, shows the bull, carrying the circle of Ra between its [pg 415] horns and wearing the ankh symbol hanging from its neck. The lotus replaces this in 4, where the circle is missing and one bull (ua en ka) expresses the mystic sacred words ua=One and ka=double or “the divine Twain.” It is evident that it is only when it is assumed that pole-star worship constituted the basis of the natural religion of the ancient Egyptians that their sacred symbols become intelligible.
Though a novice in Egyptology and with extremely limited works of reference at hand, which facts will, I trust, excuse faults and omissions, I perceive so much that is clear and simple in the following series of Egyptian sacred symbols, culled from Mr. Goodyear's work, that I am tempted to submit my interpretation of their meaning, thereby putting my view and method to a crucial test.
In pl. vii, 2, we have an interesting group uniting the boat, the meaning of which has been discussed, a seated figure on a square pedestal, a column, the upper portion of which is separate and simulates the bowl or cup=au, the dot and circle, the sign of Amen-Ra, and a single flower. As a rebus, some of the words expressed are am, uaa or makhen=boat, tet=column, Ra=dot and circle, also seated figure, determinative of god=Ra, and ua en ankh=one flower. While the rebus supplies the words ua=one, uahi=permanent, ra=god, an=the circuiteer, ankh=life, tet=eternal, it is only when identified as pole-star symbolism that the group becomes comprehensible.
Pointing out that, in the above, we have a clear case of the flower in association with the Ra sign and other symbols which have been discussed as pole-star signs, let us next examine 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8, in each of which one blossom=ua en ankh, constitutes the emblem for the sacred Middle, and openly conveys the idea of the verb an, to perform a circuit and ankh=life.
The fact that, in 6, the flower consists of five petals, on four of which the genii of the four quarters stand, sufficiently proves that the flower, like the five-dot group, constituted a symbol of the four quarters and centre, the latter being figured as a pyramid-shaped petal. Interesting variants of this group are 5, with the four genii standing on seven of the nine petals of the flower, which is placed between two buds, the idea of centrality being thus conveyed; and 7 where an inverted triangle replaces the flower and reveals some of the deeper meaning attached to this symbol. In 1 and 3 the flower is surmounted by the hawk crowned with [pg 417] the Ra sign which, as has already been stated, symbolizes circuition around a central point of fixity. The names for hawk=hak (cf. ak and cabal=middle, also hak=king) and her or hur (cf. hru=upper, the above, and ur=four=Horus) reveal its appropriate use as rebus and symbol of the central “sun” god. In 8, instead of the Ra sign, the hawk wears the peculiar double diadem with a circle at its base, which is the particular attribute of the images of the ram-headed god Amon who is represented in no. 12, holding the ankh sign and accompanied by the kheper sign, composed of a circle, surmounted by a cone and supported by a pedestal. It is well known that the ram=ser, sart or sar, was the form under which the supreme divinity was worshipped at Thebes, the real metropolis of the whole land of Egypt, during many centuries.113 The name Amon, also given as Ammon, Amoun, Hammon, resembles Amen closely enough to justify the identification of Amon as a form of Amen-Ra, the concealed god.
In this connection it is noteworthy that the ram=sar or sart conveys the same sound as the goose=sar or sa, the employment of which, as a pole-star symbol, will be discussed further on, and that the king of Egypt was termed “the living ram (of Amon) on earth” and “the engendering ram.” From Mr. J. P. Mahaffy we learn that, under the Ptolemaic rule, “it seems likely that among the strict prescriptions for all the solemn acts of the king, it was directed that he should assume the insignia of the god Amon, his ram's horns, fleece, etc, when visiting the queen” (History of Egypt, London, 1899).
Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the identification of Amon with Amen-Ra receives support from the magnificent monumental votive ram, preserved at the Berlin Museum, which was dedicated by king Amenophis III, which bears on his head, the disk with the uræus serpent, the familiar sign of the “hidden god.”114
[pg 418]While the diadem of Amen-Ra sufficiently identifies the hawk on the lotus as a form of the “hidden god,” the following extracts from Mr. Goodyear's work will be found to confirm this and throw further light on the subject. “The hawk represented Ra, Horus and all solar gods....” A text at Denderah says: “The sun which was from the beginning rises (i. e. comes forth, appears, see Brugsch for meaning of Egyptian equivalent) like a hawk from the midst of its lotus bud....” At Denderah the king makes offering of the lotus to the sun-god Horus with the words: “I offer thee the flower which was in the beginning the glorious lily of the great water....” In the boat of the dead the soul says, “I am a pure lotus (i. e. life) issue of the field of the sun.”
The circumstance that, in 4, the flower is surmounted by a goose, one name for which being aq=ak, shows that, like the hawk, bak, it may well have served as a rebus for ak=the middle. An instance of the direct association of the sacred goose with the four quarters is given in the bas-relief at Medinet-Abu, described by Brugsch (op. cit. ii, p. 297). This represents “Ramses III ... offering sacrifice to the god ‘Khimti,’ i. e. Pan of Panopolis, the Theban form of which was Amon Generator.... A white bull (the symbol of Pan) and four geese, which are represented as flying towards the cardinal points, constitute the sacrifice.”
The striking association of the goose with the bull=Apis, the astronomical symbolism of which has been shown, gains in significance when it is realized that another name for goose is apt and that this also constitutes an anagram of pta=ptah, one form of Amen-Ra. It is a curious fact that the third name for goose, se or sa, combined with ankh=flower, as in pl. vii, 4, furnishes the word ankh-sa, which recalls the word An-sah obtained by the mummy and serpent rebus and the name of the god of Assyria, Anshar.
In connection with the above Egyptian rebus, expressing the syllables ankh and sa, it surprised me, to find that the Sanscrit name for goose is hangsa, while in ancient Hindu it is hamsa and in modern Hindu hanassa. It is well known that in Hindu mythology the goose was “the bird of Brahma,” the “supreme one who alone exists really and absolutely,” that the birth of Brahma from the lotus is frequently represented in Hindu religious art, and that the lotus is the attribute of the “sun-god” Surya, termed the “lord of the lotus, father, friend and king.” What is more, the goose, [pg 419] associated with “solar” symbolism, i. e. with the circle and central dot, with the swastika, four-petalled flower and the wheel, occurs on the oldest monuments of Greek art; on the prehistoric bronzes and pottery of Italy (where the sacred geese were kept on the Capitoline at Rome); on the bronzes of Hallstatt, of ancient Gaul and of prehistoric Sweden. Pointing out that we thus obtain a whole chain of associations which link the syllables am and an to deities and pole-star symbolism, I next present, for reference, the names for the bird given in Webster's dictionary.
Sanscrit, hangsa; Latin, anser, for hanser; German, gans (in Germany, according to Pliny, the small, white geese were called ganzoe al. gantoe lib. x, 22); Greek, khen; Danish, gaas; Swedish, gos; Welsh, gwydd; Anglo-Saxon, gos; Irish, geadh; Icelandic, gas; Slavonic, gusj and gonsj. Noting that in the Sanscrit, Latin, Greek and German alike, the syllable an or en is present in the name for goose, I return to the Egyptian symbols which express the words an and ankh, and, bearing the “birth of Brahma from a lotus” in mind, refer again to the Egyptian title Neb-ankh, “lord of life,” which, as I point out, also signified “the lord of the lotus flower.” Let us now briefly examine some Egyptian texts relating to pl. v, 12 and 15, which represent the boat (am and its synonyms) and the flower=ankh, associated with the boy and the serpent.
In an astronomical text from Edfu, published by Brugsch, New Year's day is mentioned in connection with the “coming forth of the great lotus blossom in the form of a bud in its symbolical interpretation as the god ahi (literally, boy).... The count of his rulership begins from the first day of his rising or birth....” In another text it is said: “New Year's day, the sun (Ra) comes forth from a lotus flower in the great sea,” and there are numerous allusions in other inscriptions to “the lotus blossom in the great waters, from which the sun-child arises in radiance towards heaven.” The text accompanying (pl. v, 15), where a serpent rises from the lotus in the boat, states “the sun, uniter of the world, in Tentyra”=the New Year.
In another inscription it is said: “thou risest like the sacred serpent, as a living spirit, in thy glorious form in the bark of the sunrise;” and this passage forms an interesting parallel to that already cited where the sun is said to rise “like a hawk from the midst of its lotus bud.” Pl. vii, 14, exhibits a nine-petalled lotus [pg 420] growing from a pedestal and a head issuing from it. As the name for head tep (also tap or tpa, and apt cf. pta), signifies chief, or beginning, we must accept this as another variant of the previous signs.
Deferring the discussion of the so-called “birth” and cult of the diurnal sun, as one form of Amen-Ra, let us now rapidly survey the following figures copied from Mr. Goodyear's work.
Pl. vii, 9. A circle encloses a group consisting of the five-petalled lotus between two buds and the hawk-headed sphinx, which has already been met with in the astronomical texts and, according to Egyptologists, represents Horus, the sun, “who lights the world with two eyes” and is addressed as “a powerful lion,” “the master of double force.”115 I need scarcely recall here that the combination of a bird and quadruped would naturally symbolize air and earth, the Above and Below and that the hawk-headed sphinx, seated on four petals, clearly expresses the idea of the “lord of Heaven and Earth, the father and mother of all, the ruler of the Four Quarters and lord of the circle.”
Pl. vii, 10. The plain circle or disk, supported by two uplifted arms=ka, arising from (akh) the ankh sign, is another ingenious mode of expressing the idea of the Middle, the circle, duality and life.
No. 13 constitutes as charming and ingenious a play upon the word ankh=life as can be imagined, and a close examination reveals its subtle, hidden and deep significance. It exhibits, in the first case, the ankh sign combined with the flower=ankh, which might, at a first glance, be taken as an example of purely decorative art. But the ever-present thought of the duality of nature manifests itself in the arrangement of the two flowers towards each other and enclosed in the open ring of the ankh sign, and it is evident that the artist took pains to draw the central petal of the lower blossom in the form of a triangle, below which an oblong square and a square may be distinguished.
After the foregoing attempt to show how, even with my rudimentary and limited knowledge of their language, the sacred symbols of the Egyptians become intelligible and full of significance [pg 421] when studied as examples of pole-star symbolism and primitive rebus writing, I draw attention to the limited number of syllables employed in the astronomical texts; to the ingenuity displayed in expressing the same sound over and over again by means of different words possessing the same sound and to the fact I shall hereafter set forth, that the syllables and rebus-figures employed are found indissolubly linked to pole-star and sacred symbolism. Referring a demonstration of these conclusions to the end of the present investigation, I shall next discuss the forms which the cult of the dualities of nature seemingly assumed in ancient Egypt.
As an introduction I present in fig. 70, the copy of the upper portion of a funeral stela preserved at Bûlâk and published by Perrot and Chipiez (Ægypten, Leipzig, 1884). It exhibits the head or face of Hathor surmounting the tet column and supporting, in turn, the image of a small house or temple, at each side of which is a peculiar projection recalling the circinate line issuing from the red crown of lower Egypt (see fig. 70, 9, 10). In another Hathor stela, figured in the same work (pp. 510 and 780), the same characteristic circinate projections recur. The image of the house, always represented with a single doorway, is obviously a rebus of the name Hathor, explained by Egyptologists as Het-heru, literally “the house of Horus.” “Athor or Hathor of Thebes, identified with Nut, the sky ... was the female power of nature and is often represented under the form of a cow, ... as a woman with a cow's head, with horns and the disk, or wearing a head-dress in the shape of a vulture and above it the disk and horns.” In the familiar representation of the mask of Hathor on columns, the association with the cow is conveyed by large cow's ears=setem, projecting at each side of the face=hra.
A feature generally present in the miniature doorway of the house, is a single erect head of a uræus, bearing the disk or circle on its head and usually exhibiting a distinctly cross-shaped mark on its neck. The latter peculiarity is clearly shown in fig. 70, 1, which exhibits moreover a seated divinity at each side of the doorway, each bearing the throne or seat (auset) on its head, and the ankh sign on its knee. Close examination reveals that one of these deities is Ausar=Osiris, whose name is generally written by means of the throne=auset, and the eye=ari, with or without the determinative for god, i. e., the seated figure (fig. 70, 1 a and 1 b). Opposite to Osiris is Auset=Isis, whose name is usually written as in [pg 422] fig. 70, 1 c, where the auset, the egg=se, and the seated image of a goddess bearing a bowl=neb, on her head, may be distinguished.