CHAP. XIV. 



SACRED EMBLEMS. 



267 



make their mdhgifi of this form, for the purpose of 

 recovermg the falUng bridle of their dromedaries.* 

 It is even represented in the hands of labourers 

 engaged in the corn fields ; an instance of which 

 occurs in one of the ancient paintings from Thebes 

 preserved in the British Museum, t This, with 

 the tau, are the principal gifts of the Gods to man, 

 in the hieroglyphic legends; where the Deity 

 thus addresses the kings, " We give you life and 

 purity," or " a pure life," with " stability," 

 " power," " victory," " majesty," *' dominion," 

 " and other good things," similar to which are the 

 favours said to be bestowed by the Deity on King 

 Remeses, in the inscription of the obelisk trans- 

 lated by Hermapion. 



^^-J 



n 



\n\ 



-7- 



No. 467. The gifts of, 1. life and purity : 2. with stability ; 3. power ; 4. victory ; and 

 5. royal majesty, or the dominion of the world. 



The flagellum and crook of Osiris, the emblems 

 of majesty and dominion, were presented by the 

 Gods to the king, sometimes with the falchion of 

 victory or vengeance, when he was about to un- 

 dertake an expedition against the enemies of his 

 country ; and in some instances the monarch is 

 represented holding the phoenix in his hand, em- 

 blematic of his long absence from Egypt in a fo- 

 reign land. In this picture t we observe a singular 

 proof of the flagellum of Osiris being really a 



* It is so called from hcgin, the name of a dromedary. 

 \ In the Egyptian Room ; marked No. 176. 

 t Vide Woodcut, No. 468. 



