196 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP, XIV. 



honoured by the Egyptians with a reverence next 

 to the Apis, whose sire some have pretended him 

 to be. He too was dedicated to Osiris, and repre- 

 sented of a black colour, like the God himself, by 

 whom his worship was instituted*; and though in- 

 ferior to Apis, the respect shown him was uni- 

 versal throughout the country.'* 



In the coronation ceremony at Thebes he ap- 

 pears to be introduced under the name of " the 

 ivliite^ bull," which is specified by the same cha- 

 racter used to denote silver t, or, as the Egyp- 

 tians called it in their monumental inscriptions, 

 " white gold.'* If this really represents the Mne- 

 vis, Plutarch and Porphyry are mistaken in stating 

 its colour to be black ; and from what the latter 

 says of the hair growing the wrong way, it seems 

 that he had in view the Basis or black bull of 

 Hermonthis. Ammianus§, Porphyry, and ^lian 

 suppose that Mnevis was sacred to the Sun, as 

 Apis to the Moon ; Macrobius states that Mnevis, 

 Apis, and Basis were all consecrated to the Sun ; 

 and Plutarch considers Mnevis to be sacred to 

 Osiris. II Strabo merely says, in the Heliopolitan 

 praefectiH'e is the city of the Sun, raised on a lofty 

 mound ^, having a temple dedicated to that Deity, 



* Diodor. i. 88. f O'of^^.OJ, or OTUjRcrj, "white." 



X The character (Ixjiioting " whilr " resembles tlie haqjoon used for 

 striking tlie hippopotaimis. 



§ Aminiatms says, " Mnevis soli sacratnr, super quo nihil dicitur 

 meiuorahile." (xxii". 14. p. :};32.) Vide srtpr(i,\o\. I. (2(1 Scries) p. 349. 



II In a papyrus mentioned by l^rofessor Reuvcns (Icttre 3. p. 50.), 

 mention is made of Osor-Apis, and Osor-Mnevis. 



t Its lofty mound, and the obelisk of Osirtasen, still mark the site 

 of Ileliopolis. 



