Thomas County cat., 1889-12-12

CEREMONY OF HIS CROwNING Al PHARAOH
OF THE UPPER AND TEE LOwrR LAND AMI
OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO THE PHARAOH.
TOO~aA 4 AGAIN I woke, tc
Y A9 N 6nd myself stretched
Il z0E a. at length upon the
liz II ~ stone flooring Of the
II EEEAI@ holy Place of Isis
EAHNE&Y that is at Abouthis. By
H5NGHA me stood the old Priest OF
E&G Y the Mysteries, and in his
8 hand was lamp. He bent
k@9vS over me and gazed earnestly
IARGR upon my face.
1T is day-the day of thy
AAAs new birth-and thou hast lived
slHHtH to see it, o Harmachls ~ ne
f"0uN said at length. Il give thanks.
ES Arise. Royal Harmachis - nay.
tell me naught of that which has fall.
en- thee. Arise, beloved Of the Holy
Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed
the fire and learned what lies behind the
darkness. Come forth. o newly bornr'
rose, and walking family, went with
him, and passing out Of the darkness Of th 3
Shrines, came once more into the pure light
Of the morning, filled with thought and
wonder. And then I went to my own
chamber aud slept; nor did any dreams
come to trouble me. But no man, not even
my fai her, asked me aughr of what saw
upon that dread night, or after what fashion
l hadc mmuned with the Goddess.
After all these things which nave been
written. for space applied myself to the
worship Of the Mother Isis, and 10 the fur
ther study of The outward foruis of the nys-
teries whereto now hold the KEY. More
over. / was instructed in matters polite,
for many great men of our following came
secretly to see me from all quarters OF
Egypt, and told me much of the hat red Of
the people toward Cleopatra, the Queen, ami
Of other things. At last the hour drew
nigh; it was three months and ten days
from the night when, for awhile, left the
flesh, and yet, living with our life, was
gathered to the breast of Isis, on which il
was agreed that with due aud customary
Formally, although in utter secrecy, I
should be called to the throne Of the Upper
and Lower Land. So it came to pass that,
as the solemn time drew nigh, great men Of
the party of Egypt gathered to the number
Of thirty-seven from every nome, and each
great city Of their nome, coming together at
Abouthis. In every guise they came some
as priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine,
and some as teggars. Among them was
my uncle, Scpa, who, though he clad him
self as travelling doctor, had much ado to
keep his loud voice from betrayiug ham,
Indeed, / myself knew him tuereby, meet
ing him as walked in thought upon the
banks Of the canal, Notwithstanding that il
was dusk and that the great cape, which,
after the fashion of such doctors, he had
thrown about his head, half hid his face
"a pest on thee ~ he cried, when greeted
him by his name. "Can not man cease to
be himself even for an hour. Didst thou
but know the pains that it has cost me to
learn to play this part-and now thou read
est who am even in the dark!'
And then, still talking in his loud voice.
he told me how he hid Travelled hither on
foot, the better to escape the sp es who ply
to and fro upon the river. But he said he
should return by the water, or take an
other guise; for since he had come as Q
doctor he had been forced to play doctors
par, knowing bui little of tue arts Of med
icine; and, as he greatly feared many
there were between On and Abou,his who
had suffered ther from. In Ancient Egyp,
an unsk1iiful or negligent ply s:cian was liza
BILE 10 very heavy penalties : Ed. And he
laughed loudly and embraced me. forget
ting his part. For he was too whole u!
heart to lie an actor and other than him
self, and would have entered Aboutlis with
me holding my hand, had not cLid him for
his folly.
At length all were gathered.
1t was night when the gates Of the Tenn
pie were shut. None were left within them,
save only the thirty y-seven, my faith T, the
High Priest Amenemhat; that aged Priest
who had led me TO the Shrine of Isis; the
old wife, Atoua, who. according to ancient
Gus. ON, was to prepare me for the anoint
ing: and some five other priests, sworn t6
secrecy by that oath which none may break.
They gathered in the second hall Of the
great Temple, but remained alone. clad in
my white robe, in the passage where are
the names csofsix-and-seventy Of ancient Kings.
who were before the day Of the divine Scihi
There rested in darkness, till At length
my father, Amenemhat, came, bearing
lamp. and. bowing low before me, led meby
the hand forth into the great ball Here
and there between its mighty pillars lights
were set that dimly showed tho sculptured
images upon the walls. and dimly fell upor
tho long line Of the seven-and-thirty L0rda
Priests and Princes, who, seated upon carv
en- chaars, awaited my coming In silence
Before them, facing sway from the sever
8nnC4uneie1. wna net throne. around 6hich