CHAP. XIII. THE GODDESS ITE, THE HEAVEN. 55 



According to Macrobius *, he was ** the bene- 

 ficent influence of the sun, whicli was thought to 

 pervade the souls of men ; *' but as this accords not 

 with his appellation " son of Pthah," I am rather 

 inclined to consider him that healing and preserving 

 power of the Creator (Pthah) which averted cala- 

 mities and illness from mankind. 



There is no appearance of the serpent having 

 been sacred to him, as to the Greek God of medi- 

 cine ; nor are the cock, the raven, or the dog, 

 found among his emblems on the monuments of 

 Egypt. It is, however, probable that the serpent, 

 in after times, was admitted as the symbol of the 

 Egyptian as well as the Greek ^sculapius ; the 

 record of which appears to show itself in the snake 

 of Shekh Hereedee, a Moslem saint of Upper 

 Egypt, who is still thought to appear under that 

 form, and to cure the diseases of his votaries. 



Tpe, Pe, THE Heaven. 



This Deity has sometimes been confounded with 

 Netpe, the mother of Osiris, from her having the 

 firmament as her emblem. She was a deification 

 of heaven itself, or that part of the firmament in 

 which the stars were placed. She is sometimes 

 represented under the form of the hieroglyphic 

 character signifying " the heavens" studded with 

 stars ; and sometimes as a human figure, whose 

 body, as it bends forwards with outspread arms, ap- 



* Macrob. Saturn, i. 23. 



E 4 



