96 THE EARLY. TEiMPLE AND PYRAMID BUILDERS. 



stated it will be easy at once to chaui;e the front oi' the inquiry and 

 proceed along tlie new line Indicated. 



I ]n_ay begin by remarking that it is fundamental for the hyiiothesis 

 that the temples of On or Heliopolis, as stated by Maspero and other 

 high authorities, existed before tbe times of Mini (Menes) and the 

 pyramid-builders, whatever may have been the date of the original 

 foundation of Thebes. 



Before ]\[ini, according to JNiaspero, "On et les villes du ISTord avaient 

 eii hi part priucipale dons le developpement de la civilisation l5gyp- 

 tienne. Les prieres et les hynines, qui formerent plus tard le noyau des 

 livres sacres, avaient ete rediges sa On." * 



The working hypothesis is as follows: 



(1) The first civilization as yet glimpsed in Egypt, represented by 

 On or Heliopolis, was a civilization with a solstitial solar worship asso- 

 ciated with the rise of the Nile. A northern star was also worshiped. 



(2) Memphis (possibly also Sais, Bubastis, Tanis, and other cities 

 with east and Avest walls) and the pyramids were built by an invading 

 race from aland where the worship was equinoctial. A star rising in 

 the east was worshiped at the equinox, 



(3) The blank in Egyptian history between the sixth and eleventh 

 dynasties was associated with conflicts between these races, which were 

 ended bj^ the victory of the representatives of the old worship of On. 

 After them pyraniid building ceased and solstitial worship was resus- 

 citated; Memphis takes second place, and Thebes, a southern On, so 

 far as solstitial solar worship is concerned, comes upon the scene as the 

 seat of the twelfth dynasty. 



(4) The subsequent historical events were largely due to conflicts 

 with intruding races. The intruders established themselves in cities 

 with east and west walls, and were on each occasion driven out by sol- 

 stitial solar worshipers, who founded dynasties (eighteenth and twenty- 

 fifth) at Thebes. 



I. — OIJ. 



I have taken another occasion of remarking how the various worships 

 at Thebes were reflected in the orientation of the temenos Avails. The 

 so-called " symnietrophobia" of the Egyptians was full of meaning, 

 Avhich in this case, at all events, is no longer hidden. If we note this 

 reflection, as we can over and over again, where both temples and walls 

 still stand, it is fair to assume that where the walls ahme remain the 

 temples which they once inclosed, long since destroyed, had the same 

 relation. These considerations, alas, have to be appealed to in the case 

 of Heliopolis, to say so far nothing of Abydos and Memphis. 



At Heliopolis the so-called "symmetrophobia," as indicated by the 

 trend of the mounds given in Lepsius's X)lan, is so strong that, in spite 

 of the fact that only one obelisk of one temple remains, it is easy to 



* " Histoire aucieune," p. 41. 



