CHAP. XIV. ASP. THEUMUTIIIS. 239 



any one walked in the dark at night, to warn the 

 reptile of his approach. 



This serpent was called Thermuthis*, and with 

 it the statues of Isis were crowned as with a dia- 

 dem. t " Asp-formed crowns " are frequently re- 

 presented on the heads of Goddesses and Queens, 

 in the Egyptian sculptures. The statues of the mo- 

 ther and wife of Amunoph (the vocal Memnon) in 

 the plain of Thebes have a crown of this kind; and 

 the Rosetta Stone mentions "asp-formed crowns," 

 though this last might refer to the single asp attached 

 to the front of the cap, usually worn by the king. 

 Instances sometimes occur of a fillet of asps bound 

 round the royal crown, and I have once seen the 

 same encircling the head-dress of Osiris, ^lian X 

 mentions a custom of " the Egyptian kings, to 

 wear asps of different colours in their crowns, this 

 reptile being emblematic of the invincible power 

 of royalty." Some, he adds, " are of a greenish hue, 

 but the generality black, and occasionally red." 

 I am however inclined to think that this idea arose 

 from the different colours given to the asp in the 

 paintings, rather than from any real variety in the 

 living animal. 



The asp was also the emblem of the Goddess 

 Ranno.§ It was then supposed to protect the 

 houses or the gardens of individuals, as well as the 

 infancy of a royal child, in the character of guar- 

 dian genius. Sometimes an asp was figured with 

 a human head. 



* Vide supra. Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 367, 



t iEUan, X. 31. jl ^lian, An. vi. 33. 



^ Vide supra, p. 64. ; and Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 239. 



