Egyptian belief and modern thought / by James Bonwick.

  • James Bonwick
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Egyptian belief and modern thought / by James Bonwick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    27/474 (page 13)
    Brugsch states that in the “divine office which is celebrated in honour and in memory of the deceased, are comprised the offerings which are offered to them.” We are left in no doubt about the gods. There are prayers to Osiris, to Thoth, to Anubis, etc. But there are no images of the gods, no pictures of them. At that early epoch, Egypt had not begun that monstrous superstition, that outward gross and degrading idolatry, which subsequently distin- guished her among nations. The Steles or tablets are not uniform in character. Pri- mitively, they contain many more particulars of the family, are more truly domestic, and have but few religious refer- ences. Later on in history, the individual sank, but the gods were exalted. One ceases then to hear anything about the mother, wife or children of the deceased, but learns much concerning the sovereign of the day, and of the various and ever increasing roll of divinities. The earlier dweller in the Nile valley had not so cumbrous a creed, was less frightened of the celestials, enjoyed a simpler and a more steadfast faith in the hereafter, and was profoundly given to the indulgence of home virtues. Usually, the stele was divided into two, three or four registers, under one another. At the Saqqarah Necropolis four are seen. The first is a short notice of the god Osiris. Then follow the names of the deceased, his occupation and history. The priest is often seen presenting incense, wine and other offerings, the friends standing near. The third register details the offerings. The fourth has usually an invocation to Anubis, the god of the dead. Some of the sepulchral steles are several feet in length; others are but of as many inches. Those of the eleventh dynasty arc much ruder than of the fourth. They are wanting in the peculiar groove ornament, but are still quadrangular. Under the next dynasty, a rounded form of tablet is noticed. The