haustive division, but simply one which may be adopted to facilitate subsequent descriptions.

I. DIVINITIES AND ROYAL PERSONAGES AND SACRED ANIMALS.

It appears to be generally held that the Egyptian system of Mythology recognized three orders of Deities: of which, eight were those who were called the Greater Gods, twelve those who were considered as Lesser Gods, and the remainder in great measure derivations from the former. Herodotus was informed that they were divided into three distinct orders, and the monuments, if correctly interpreted, give us the genealogy of the greater part of them; while on the interpretations which have been offered by such scholars as the Chevalier Bunsen and Mr. Birch, we think that all present investigators may be content to rely with much satisfaction. According to them the First order appears to have been composed of the Gods of different provinces: thus, Amen and Cnubis belong to the Thebaid; Phtah to Memphis; Neith to Sais in the Delta; and then comes the God of the Theban Panopolis. The eight Gods of the first order may probably be arranged as follows:

1. Amen, "the concealed God," the God of Thebes. 2. Khem, Chems in the Thebaid, the husband of his mother, the generative god of nature, the god of Panopolis. 3. Mut, the mother (Brito) Leto (Latona) goddess of Brito in the Delta, the templeconsort of Khem and Amen. 4. Num, Nu, Kneph, Cnubis, the ram-headed God of the Thebaid. 5. Seti, in Coptic Sate, " ray, arrow," the consort of Kneph. 6. Phtah, the Creator of the World, sprung from the mouth of Kneph, through the Mundane egg, the God of Memphis. 7. Net, Neith, the Goddess of Sais in the Delta. 8. Ra, Helios, the God of Heliopolis (On) in the Delta.

Besides these greater Gods were twelve Deities of the second order and seven of the third, who were held to be more or less derived from the first eight. These were :-of the second order,

1. The child of Amen, Khonso (Khons) Heracles.

2. The child of Kneph, Tet (Thoth) Hermes.

3, 4. The children of Phtah, Atumu, Atum, Atmu Pasht, the cat-headed goddess Bubastes (Artemis).

5-12. The children of Helios (Athor) Aphrodite—Maut— Ma-Tefnu (the lion-headed goddess)-Muntu, Munt-Sabak

Sevek, the crocodile-headed god-Seb (Chronos) and Nutpe
Netpe (Rhea).

and of the third order,

1. Set, Nubi, Typhon. 2. Hesiri, Osiris. 3. Hes, Isis. 4. Nebt-hi-Nephthys, the sister of Isis. 5. Her-hu-Aroëris-Hor the elder, the god of Apollinopolis. 6. Her Horus, the child of Isis, and Osiris (Harpocrates). 7. Anupu, Anubis.

All the Gods are distinguished and characterized by the beard hanging down the chin, and they generally hold a sceptre surmounted by the Kukufa (hoopoo) head, which is probably used as the symbol of power. The Goddesses carry a sceptre surmounted by the lotus flower, and in pictures are always clothed and frequently have wings. Their common Hieroglyphic sign is an egg or a snake. Both Gods and Goddesses generally carry the whip and crown of the Pharaohs. The latter is called Chen; and in later times appears to have been pronounced as Pschent, and to have been so written by the Greeks. This symbol consisted of two parts: according to the pictures, the lower one is red and is termed Tescher; the upper, white with the name of Chet. The Gods and Goddesses have moreover the Royal Snake (uræus) worn, as in the case of the Pharaohs, as a frontlet.

The representations of Deities in the Egyptian Room will be found in Cases 1-5, and a few in 7. The wooden figures in Cases 1-4 are generally found in tombs; the bronze are offerings or objects of private worship; the porcelain and small figures of stone are all perforated so as to attach to the network or the necklaces of mummies. We propose to give a brief description of the more remarkable Deities.

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We will begin with AMEN RA, the Egyptian Zeus. His name has been written with great diversities of spelling, such as Amen, Ammon, Amun, &c. In the Hieroglyphics it appears to be Amn. Considerable ambiguity existed in ancient times as to the real meaning of his name, which was supposed, however, to mean concealed." It is more probable that it is derived from the Coptic word Amoun, "glory," which judgment is confirmed by an inscription stating "the disk of the sun to be in Thebes Amoun," Under his derived form, Harsaphes, he probably represents the concealed splendour of the sun, and the active influence of nature in the lower hemisphere. He was considered by the Greeks to be the chief of the Gods, the spirit penetrating all things, and the creator. Ra or Phre expresses the solar agency. Along with Maut, the Egyptian Juno,

and Chons, the Hercules Lunus, he forms the Celestial or Theban Triad, who are the chief protectors of the inferior deities worshipped in the different nomes. The name of Amen may be traced up to the Sixteenth Dynasty, B.C. 2000, and probably rather earlier; but since his great temple and worship were at Thebes, and the principal monuments with which he is connected are of the period of the Eighteenth Dynasty, his extended worship as the Universal God cannot be much previous. His chief titles are Lord of the Heaven, Lord of the thrones of the World, resident at Thebes, living in truth, &c. He confers various benefits and rewards on his followers and adorers; but as in the case of the Greek Zeus, victory and conquest were the chief blessings he offered. There are several excellent representations of this God in the Egyptian Room. One of the most remarkable is in Case 1, div. 2. It is a very beautiful and unique statue of Amen in silver, the plumes, collar, and garment being plated in gold. It is said to have been found in his temple at Karnak, and was purchased at Mr. Salt's sale in 1835. The features of this small statue, which is highly finished, so strongly resemble Rameses the Great, or Sesostris, that there can be little doubt in assigning its execution to about B.C. 1570, the more so, as it was a custom among the Egyptians, by a species of flattery, to make the features of the Gods resemble those of the Monarch under whose reign they were executed. He wears on his head the teschr surmounted by the disk and plumes, and in his left hand he holds the sceptre. Another representation of Amen Ra is also in Case 2, div. 3. It exhibits the God seated, and is of beautiful workmanship, but much later date, probably that of the Psammetici, B.C. 600. It is of a pale green colour, and the plumes, which were of bronze, have been corroded in the soil wherein it has been lying. The God wears a feathered garment round his body, and is seated on a throne upon pendent flowers of the lotus. The sides of the throne are feathered, and bear a kind of anaglyph. At the plinth, behind, which resembles an obelisk, is a line of Hieroglyphics containing the Divine name. Besides these, there are several other figures of Amen in brown stone and porcelain.

No. 26 is a very curious object, representing a small naos or shrine, in the interior of which is a seated figure of AMEN RA. Several Deities appear in this shrine, but Phtah (Hephæstus) more than any other; and we know from the Rosetta Stone that it was customary to carry such shrines in procession. This object has a ring at the top for suspension. The upper part of the cornice represents a row of uræi having on their heads solar disks. The lower part of the architrave has two winged globes, and at the sides of the lintel

are two disked snakes coiling. In the interior is the Deity seated upon a throne, with the symbol of life in his right and the sceptre in his left hand. This little figure withdraws by a groove at the base. Each side of the naos has the same scene, and is divided into two compartments. In the upper one is Cnuph, ram-headed, seated between two females; in the lower, the hawk-headed type of Chons or Heracles, similarly placed. At the back of the naos in the upper division is the form of Chons, the son of Amen and Heracles of the Theban Triad, seated between two winged and disked uræi representing solar female deities; and in the lower, what is apparently intended for Meui. On the base, in deeply cut Hieroglyphics, is "the abode of Amen." At the lintels are two vertical lines of Hieroglyphics, comprising the name of Sephthah, the husband of Taosra, a King of the Eighteenth Dynasty, B.C. 1610.

No. 42 represents AMEN RA (HARSAPHES) or KHEм, called by the Greeks the Pan of Thebes. The benefits he is said to confer are the same as those of Amen, and he appears to be represented as the god of victory and reproduction. He is the final avatar or manifestation of Amen. In this statue he is represented with his body enveloped in bandages, in his right hand a whip, and trampling under foot nine bows, the emblems of the Libyans and Ethiopians. Before his feet are the name and titles of the Queen of Amasis, a Monarch of the Twenty-sixth or Saite Dynasty. On the front of the pedestal is his name Amen Ra, placed in a cartouch like those of the Kings, to indicate his mythic reign. At the sides and behind the pedestal are numerous other representations of deities. The minute details of this bronze, which is executed with considerable merit, are inlaid with gold or electrum; and there can be little doubt that it is a copy of some celebrated statue of the God upon a large scale. It was purchased at Mr. Salt's sale, in 1835.

No. 58 is a seated statuette of MAUT, who, we have stated, was one of the Theban Triad. In general terms she may be considered as the Juno of the Pantheon, the mistress of heaven; the daughter of the sun, and the regent of the world. She appears to have held the same position in the Theban which Sate did in the Elephantine Triad, and Pasht in the Memphite; while Isis, as the great mother, represents her at Abydos. In this subject she appears to have held in her lap a small figure of her son Chons, which she has been suckling, and her left hand, which has held him, is unsupported by any sceptre. The eyes of this bronze have been inlaid and the whole has been covered with stucco and then gilded, the Egyptians not knowing or using direct gilding upon metals. There is another figure of the same Goddess in green porcelain, which has probably

formed part of the network of a mummy or a necklace: she is standing, and wears a klaft of pendent uræi, and there is a line of hieroglyphics at the back containing her name. She generally accompanies her husband Amen, and her worship is probably contemporaneous with his.

No. 86, KHONS-IOH, or KHONS, the third and last personage in the Theban Triad, is a small seated hawk-headed deity, crowned by a lunar disk, and made of gold plate beaten up: it has probably been attached to a necklace. This Deity is represented in two ways; either as a swathed youth, with a lock of hair like Horus, holding the emblems of life, stability, and power, with the crook, whip, and lunar disk; or else he appears as above, as a hawk-headed deity wearing the lunar disk. His exact name is not determinable, as no similar group occurs in the hieroglyphics. He is the completion of the power of the deity: Amen representing the ultimate principle; Maut, the son; and Chons, the power or action. There are other representations of him in grey porcelain.

There is also a representation, in blue porcelain, of the three Deities of the Theban Triad united, surmounted by the head of an

uncertain Deity. Khons

appears in this case hawkheaded. The hieroglyphic inscription behind contains the name of Amen Ra.

Over Case 1 is a bronze figure of Num-Ra, of which the annexed is a representation.

NOUF, NUM, or CNOUPHIS is a name given to a ram-headed Divinity who appears to have been the national God of Ethiopia and the Upper Country. Various ram-headed Deities, some having other names, appear in different temples, but they are probably all modifications of the same great God. The powers attributed to this Deity have a very wide range; he appears to represent water, the moving