Ancient Ecjyptian Relioion. 5 



form as Ka, the sun-g-od, and furnished him witli material for the 

 further creation of the earth and its contents. When Ka couimenced 

 to create, he did not do so by tlie ordinary way of g-eneration, but 

 by speaking- and using distinct forraulaj. And according to M. 

 iSaville, this is one of the most important points of resemblance 

 between the Egyptian and Hebrew Cosmogonies. The creation 

 of man now took place, and was pictured by Khnum, the spirit of 

 Ka, sitting at a potter's wheel and moulding a lump of clay into 

 the form of a human body, which he afterwards animated by 

 breathing into it the breath of life. Ka himself at this period was 

 represented as enthroned on the Lotus fiower, dwelling on the 

 earth, and ruling over man. Ka, therefore, was regarded as the 

 most ancient king of Egypt in the mythical period of Egypt's his- 

 tory. He had his seat of power at Heliopolis, where he built a 

 palace, called Nat-Sar, or house of the great one. Ka reigned 

 many years over obedient, peaceful, and happy subjects, but a time 

 arrived when they became headstrong and unruly, and ultimately 

 they rebelled. So Ka called a council, who advised him to punish 

 them. The task was committed to Sekhet (a personification of 

 the red chemical rays of the sun), who proceeded to smite man- 

 kind, first with a destructive drought and then with a deluge, 

 from which only a few people were saved through the interven- 

 tion of Ka, who had been appeased with a sacrifice. Here, 

 apparently, we have the primitive tradition of the flood. Ka is 

 then represented as having withdrawn, displeased, from the earth 

 to circle round in the heavens, at an unapproachable distance from 

 man, leaving him in a hopeless and helpless condition. But at 

 length the gods had pity on him, and as he could no more raise 

 himself to the level of the gods, the gods lowered themselves by par- 

 taking of his nature,and thus they came again to the earth, to rule over 

 and have friendly intercourse with man. The priests taught that 

 Seb, the earth, and Nut, the sky, had a family of sons and daugh- 

 ters, who were partly celestial and partly terrestrial demi-gods. 

 The most prominent among these were Osiris, Isis, and Set. Osiris 

 was the personification of all that was good, and Set, influenced 

 by undue ambition, having conspired against Osiris and killed 

 him, he (Set) became the personification of all that was evil. 

 Isis, who i? represented as having been the wife as well as the 

 sister of Osiris, wept in great distress over the dead body of her 

 husband, and while thus engaged she miraculously became preo-- 



