CHAP. XIII. 



THE WEST ?. 



49 



The West ?, or the Western Bank of the 

 Nile?. (PI. 53. part 2.) 



This Goddess may either be the West bank of 

 the river, or the West generally, opposed to tlie 

 Goddess who represents the East, whose name is 



preceded by the same signs, 



and generally 



followed by the hieroglyphic signifying *' moun- 

 tain" This was evidently borrowed from the cir- 

 cumstance of the valley of the Nile being bordered 

 on one side by the Libyan, on the other by the 

 Arabian hills ; as the mode of representing a ''fo- 

 reign land," by a mountain, originated in the dis- 

 tinction of the level plain of the Egyptian valley, 

 and the hilly country of Syria or other foreign 

 lands. 



I have also met with the Goddesses of the 

 East and West, each bear- 

 ing on her head her pecu- 

 liar emblem raised upon a 

 perch. In these the table of 

 offerings denotes the for- 

 mer ; and the hawk on a 

 perch, with the ostrich fea- 

 ther before it, is indicative 

 of the West. 

 The Goddess before us is styled " the AVest, 

 Queen of Heaven, Directress of the Gods ; " and she 



VOL. IL — Second Series. E 



1 2 



No. 461. Fig. 1. The West. 

 2. The East. 



