'238 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIV. 



royalty, on which account it received the name of 

 basihsk.* 



Diodorus says the priests of Ethiopia, and Egypt, 

 had the asp coiled up in the caps they wore on re- 

 ligious ceremonies ; but this should rather have 

 been applied to the kings, being a royal emblem, 

 given only to the sovereign or to the Gods. 



Plutarch t states that "the asp is worshipped, 

 on account of a certain resemblance between it 

 and the operations of the Divine power : and being 

 in no fear of old age, and moving with great faci- 

 lity, though it does not seem to enjoy the proper 

 organs for motion, it is looked upon as a proper 

 symbol of the stars." It was one of those creatures 

 which were sacred throughout the country; though 

 it enjoyed greater honours in places where the 

 Deities, of whom it was the type, presided, and, if 

 we may believe Pausanias, particularly " at Om- 

 phist in Egypt." Phylarchus§ relates that great 

 honours were paid to the asp by the Egyptians ; 

 and, from the care they took of it, that it was ren- 

 dered so tame as to live with their children without 

 doing them any harm. It came from its place of 

 retreat, when called by the snapping of the fingers ; 

 and after dinner some paste mixed with honey and 

 wine being ])laced upon the table, it was called to 

 take its repast. The same signal was used, when 



* TElian considers it different from the ;isp ; and thinks it so deadly 

 that if it l)it ii stick, it would cause tlie death of him who held it. Nat. 

 An. ii. .5. 



t Pint, de Is. S.74. 



I Pausanias (Boeot. c. 21.) says, "The asps of Ethiopia are black, 

 like the peo[)le." 



§ -/Elian, Nat. An. xvii. 5. 



