CHAP. XV. THE GODS BLESSED THE KING. 



283 



him by the hand, led him into the presence of the 

 great Triad, or of the presiding Divinity, of the tem- 

 ple. He was welcomed with suitable expressions 

 of approbation ; and on this, as on other occasions, 

 the sacred tau, or sign of IJfe, was presented to 

 him, — a symbol which, with the 

 sceptre of Purity, was usually 

 ])laced in the hands of the Gods. 

 These two were deemed the 

 greatest gifts bestowed by the 

 Deity on man. 



The origin of the tau I can- 

 not precisely determine ; nor is 

 Tau, or sign of Life. it more intelligible when given 

 in the sculptures on a large scale. Though there is 

 no evidence of its being of a phallic character, we 

 cannot fail to be struck by the remarkable resem- 

 blance of the Egyptian word signifying " life " 

 (onh), which this implies, to the yolini lingam of 

 the Hindoos. It is true that the yohni of the 

 latter is not the male, but a female emblem ; yet 

 the tau of Egypt may combine the two *, and be 

 equally well chosen to denote life. 



A still more curious fact may be mentioned 

 respecting this hieroglyphic character — that the 

 early Christians of Egypt adopted it in lieu of 

 the cross, which was afterwards substituted for it, 

 prefixing it to inscriptions in the same manner as 

 the cross in later times. For though Dr. Young 

 had some scruples in believing the, statement of 

 Sir A.Edmonstone, that it holds this position in the 



* Was the seal of the frog one of them ? Vide supra, p. 269. 



