6!) 2 ECCLESIASTICAL liVSTITUTIONS. 



majesty as it wera a bull young and full of spirit ... I have caused 

 them to behold thy majesty as it were a crocodile [and similarly with 

 a lion, an eagle, and a jackal] . . . It is I who protecteth thee, oh my 

 cherished son ! Horus, valiant bull, reigning over the Thebaid.&quot; 



Here, in the first place, we are shown, as we were shown 

 by the Amos, that there takes place a transition from simile 

 to metaphor : &quot; thy majesty, as it were a bull,&quot; presently 

 becomes &quot; Horns, valiant bull.&quot; This naturally leads in sub 

 sequent times to confusion of the man with the animal, and 

 consequent worship of the animal. We may further see 

 that complimentary comparisons to other animals, similarly- 

 passing through metaphors into identifications, are likely to 

 generate belief in a deified individual who had sundry forms. 

 Another case shows us how, from what was at first eulogistic 

 naming of a local ruler, there may grow up the adoption of 

 an animal-image for a known living person. We read of &quot; the 

 Earn, who is the Lord of the city of Mendes, the Great God, 

 the Life of Ea, the Generator, the Prince of young women/ 

 We find the king speaking of himself as &quot; the image of the 

 divine Earn, the living portrait of him . . . the divine 

 efflux of the prolific Earn . . . the eldest son of the Earn.&quot; 

 And then, further, we are told that the king afterwards 

 deified the first of his consorts, and &quot; commanded that her 

 Ram-image should be placed in all temples.&quot; 



So, too, literal interpretation of metaphors leads to worship 

 of heavenly bodies. As above, the star Seschet comes to be 

 identified with an individual ; and so, continually, does the 

 Sun. Thus it is said of a king &quot; My lord the Sun, Amen- 

 hotep III, the Prince of Thebes, rewarded me. He is the 

 Sun-god himself ; &quot; and it is also said of him &quot; no king has 

 done the like, since the time of the reign of the Sun-god Ea, 

 who possessed the land.&quot; In kindred manner we are told of 

 the sarcophagus provided for another king, Amenemhat, that 

 never the like had been provided since the time of the 

 god Ea.&quot; These quotations show that this complimentary 

 metaphor was used in so positive a way as to cause accept- 



