6 



THE IVY. 



spicuous and necessary part, were those which accompanied the worship of Bacchus. 

 But therein we behold the degradation of a nobler idea, for Bacchus claimed the 

 ivy only as the base transmutation of Osiris, the wonderful traveller and conqueror, 

 the builder of cities, the instructor of mankind in husbandry and agriculture. The 

 Egyptian lawgiver first adopted the ivy, or first had the ivy assigned to him, as a 

 symbol suggestive of his benefactions to mankind, and a reminder of the reverence 

 due to his name and authority. Hence the ivy was called in the Egyptian language 

 chen-osiris, "the plant of Osiris"; and the ivy-wreathed thyrsus, which in after 

 days became the sign of licentious orgies, was originally the emblem of virtue, 

 prosperity, and beneficence. 1 The consecration of the ivy to Osiris is amply 

 illustrated in Egyptian sculptures and hieroglyphics. It appears that three plants 

 at least, in addition to the vine, were associated with observances commemorative 

 of the great hero of the Egyptian mythology. The ivy, however, was the plant 

 required, and these others were employed as substitutes at times or in places when 

 the proper emblem could not be obtained. Pliny records that Solanum dul- 

 camara* the common bitter sweet, was used in Egypt for chaplets in place of 



ivy, and the sculptures indicate that Periploca secamone was employed in the same 

 manner. 3 



11 At Medeenet Haboo is a remarkable instance of the ceremony of carrying the 

 sacred boat of Pthah-Sokari-Osiris, which may represent the funeral of Osiris. It 

 is frequently introduced in the sculptures ; and in one of the tombs of Thebes this 

 solemnity occurs, which, though on a smaller scale than on the walls of Medeenet 

 Haboo, offers some interesting peculiarities. First comes the boat, carried, as 

 usual, by several priests, superintended by the pontiff, clad in a leopard-skin ; after 

 which two hieraphori, each bearing a long staff, surmounted by a hawk ; then a 

 man beating the tambourine, behind whom is a flower with the stalk bound round 

 with ivy (or the periploca, which so much resembles it). These are followed by 

 two hieraphori (or bearers of holy emblems), carrying each a staff with a jackal on 

 the top, and another carrying a flower ; behind whom is a priest turning round to 

 offer incense to the emblem of Nofre-Atmoo. The latter is placed horizontally 

 upon six columns, between each of which stands a human figure, with uplifted arms, 

 either in the act of adoration or aiding to support the sacred emblem, and behind 

 it is an image of the king kneeling ; the whole borne on the usual staves by several 



k 



1 Plutarch, in " Isis and Osiris," establishes the identity of Osiris and Bacchus. 



2 Pliny calls it Strychnum ortrychos. 



3 So also Diodorus, I. 17. 





