306 THE ANCIENT EGYrTIANS. CHAP. XV« 



as has been observed by Herodotus * ; and the mul- 

 tiplicity of names she bore may account for the 

 different capacities in which she was worshipped, 

 and remove the difficulty any change appears to 

 present in the wife and sister of Osiris. One simi- 

 larity is observable between this last and the fete 

 celebrated at Busiris — that the votaries presented 

 their offerings in the guise of mourners t ; and 

 the first-fruits had probably a direct reference 

 to Osiris t, in connection with one of those alle- 

 gories which represented him as the beneficent 

 property of the Nile. § 



I will not pretend to decide whether the festivals 

 mentioned by Greek writers in honour of Isis or 

 Osiris really appertained to them. It is highly 

 probable that the Greeks and Romans, who visited 

 Egypt, having little acquaintance with the Deities 

 of that country, ascribed to those two many of 

 the festivals which were celebrated in honour of 

 Khem and other Gods || ; and it is evident that 

 the Egyptians themselves often aided in confirming 

 strangers in the erroneous notions they entertained, 

 especially on the subject of religion. And so con- 

 firmed were the Greeks in their mistaken opinions, 

 that they would with difficulty have listened to any 

 one who informed them that Anubis had not the 

 head of a dog, and Amun that of a ram, or that the 

 cow was the emblem of AtJior rather than of Isis. 



In the absence, however, of such authority as 



* Flerodot. ii. 5!). 



f (Jonf. Dent. xxvi. 14. " I lisivc eaten tliereol'iii my nioiirniiiir." 



"^ Virlc supra, p. 294., note. 



§ Vide suprrl. Vol. I. (2(1 Serie.s) p. 329. .'J37. &c. 



jl Vulc mprd. Vol. I. (2cl Scries) p. 2G0. 290. 379. 381. Sic 



