The New York herald., 1878-03-05
Ascending the River to the First Cataract
ssff fr
and the Nubian Frontier.
THE VISIT TO MEMPHIS.
Mausoleums Of the
Sacred Bulls.
RETURN TO CAIRO.
Scenes and Incidents Of the
Homeward Journey.

On THE NILE, JAM 81 1S78
4 was anxious to tell you in my last letter something
about the religions, the manners, the customs OF the
Egyptians to give you some useful information, that
NJ the same time will have the quality and value OF
news Bur has II not all been written by u hundred
historians from Herodotus to Mariete Beyg There Is
nothing here but the dead world-,he world which
knows change In Pompeli II was easy enough to
Iummon up the very form ana image OF tho worla
which vesuvius swamped With ashes and nre. There
was Tho town before US, almost as 1t when Pny
raw tho awful token Of It's fate-the ruts tho
street, the bread the oven the priest a the altar the
mother with her child. But l sec In Egypt
aothing but tombs temples and the shining sand.
You see these temples IN oil their glory you marvel
nt their glory, you think that the who did these
things must have been giants in their day, you can
not understand what mechanical force known to the
Egyptians could have transported the Memnon .colos
from its granite bed at Assonan. But this is ALL
Every other form OF ancient life has vanished. There
II only suit OF chambers at Luxor whore 1t Is be-
iieved the King (Rameses) lived and oven that is o
speculation. Aside from that the antiquarians have
not found palace a home. What We know OF the
Egyptians we know from the inscriptions the
monuments. We know that they must have
been brave. domestic, patriotic people,
with religion aud symbols OF religion
srikinely like Islam and Christianty-enoughl like Il
ut least to furnish Mr. Darwin with new chapter In
hts theories OF evolution. 1t was n religion based
upon ono God, god who was an idos, or sentiment
and who worshippod In silence; such god as
comm mentators might find implied what Plato
teaches and IN ST. Johns Gospel when he says:
sin the beginning was the word, and tho word was
with God, and :he word was Cod" This god was wor-
attributes became forms and the worship OF these
forms became idolatry-that idoiatry which the
mandmenIs especially condemned You will remem.
bcr that those commandments begin with the
declaration: :-"I the Lord, thy God, which
brought thee out Of the land Of Egypt,
from the house OF bondage" You will remember
that the commandments open with a denunciation of
idoatry-a denunciatton far moro severe than that
visited upon the sins OF murder, theft and perjury
''Thou shalt have none other gods before Thou
shalt not mako thee any craven image. or any like
ness OF that is In heaven abovo that
the earth beneath. or that In the under the
earth. Thou shalt not bow down thysef to shem nor
serve them"
80 IT IS WRITTEN
This is the commandment, but the tear Of the cx.
ample OF the idol worship OF the Egyptians was
evidently SO strong that It 10 coupled with a special
and terrible penalty, ono Of tho most severe In the
Biblo. ''For l, the Lord thy God, jealous
God visit ng the inquitics Of the fathers upon the
chdren, unto the third and fourth generation Of them
that hate me-" The Egyptians began their faith with
the recognition OF one God He created the earth. He
was the embodiment OF goodness, mercy, power and
wisdom-hc was almighty aud everlasting like our
own Jehovah Each OF these attributes became q
separate beng, and in time, distinct god, until tho
mythology OF the Egyptians haa almost varee atcd
gods was called Amun, who represented tho divine
attribute OF reason. Another god Mum, whose
attribute is tho that ascrbed to tho Spirit Of
God, which moved upon the face OF the waters.
Another god was Pthak, or the creatsr,
who, among other things, especially created
truth. Another god was called Khem, or the
creator Of man. His companion god was
Maui, the mother and each OF these gods proceeded
from themselves something like Adam and Eve
These attributes of divinity all in time became tan
gibe gods. and each had their share of worships
They became gods of the first. and third de-
grees something like our archangels, angels and
saints In the beginning we'll SEQ how this
Egyptian worship was tho worship OF one God and
&. that tho development Of the idoatry system camo
from carelessness the part OF priests, evil teaching
ignorance or perhaps IRON the innate tendency of our
human nature to clasp and cherish some one object
Bres
TIE PRINCIPLE OF THE ANCIENT FAITH.
A soldier everish for victory, husbanaman mourn
Ing over hts barren fields, mother despairing over
her first born, wife ycarnng for children, WILL II
piousy inclined turn to the AlmiRh aud the Al-See-
ing for help They will each seek out that SPECIAL atr
butte In Divinity most suited to their wants invoke
iG You have form OF this in modern Christianity
in patron saints II the Egyptians had recogn tn
tinciion which Christians recognize between Peter
and Paul and our Saviour I can understand how 1t
might have become iaith lasting as
That which from tho burning noun
tain. Its principle was a panthcism, not a
poythoisn- But In timo the idoatrous prin.
ripIe prevailed until 1t corrupted and destroyed
the ancient faith They came to worship the sun and
and 10 have special recording angel deity, the
lbis-headed Thoh, who recorded the actions of every
against the last day. These gods also assumed a
variety OF namcs-lke what we see now when wo
read about Our Lady OF Lourdes and Our Lady OF
Maria ZelI. Isis became the goddess OF thousand
names, although each namo meant more than the
Greeks meant wnen tnoy gave geographical attributes
10 Minerva or venus-nor what the Catholics moan
when they discover shrnes OF the Virgin In various
parts OF Christendom anu give each shrine a name.
rho god Osiris, whose form we SEQ SO frequently on
these temple walls, was the principle oil good tho god
Typho the principle Of evil These gods brothers,
one numbering tue other, as Cain murdered Abel
THE CAREER OSIRIS.
There was another named Apophis, who was tho
same as our own Apollyon. great serpent also,
enemy of gods and men, and IN the Egyptian mythol
oey pierced by the spear OF the good god Horus;
oven, as In our own we Lavo tho great dragon, the
common enemy Of mankind. pierced BY the spear OF
enterpris,ng and valiant arohangels This resom-
blancs between Apophis and ApoIlyon Is not more
MARKED than certain traits In the charaetor OF The rod