S56 



THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XV. 



right shoulder *, and the other legs and parts in 

 succession ; which, if required for the table, were 

 placed on trays, and carried to the kitchen, or if 

 intended for sacrifice, were deposited on the altar, 

 with fruit, cakes, and other offerings. 



With the Greeks, the thigh t was the part se- 

 lected as a chosen offering to the gods, which was 

 burnt on a clear fire of wood. Apollonius Rhodius 

 also states this t ; and Lucian tells us that the sa- 

 crifices depended in some degree on the quality or 

 employment of the person by whom they were pre- 

 sented ; as in the first offering made by Cain and 

 Abel. Thus, "the tiller of the land immolated an 

 ox, the shepherd a lamb, and the goatherd a goat. 

 Some were permitted to present simple cakes or 

 incense ; and a poor man made his oblations by 

 kissing his right hand." 



The joints and parts most readily distinguished in 

 the sculptures are the legs, the hind leg (fig. 1) with 



3 







c^: SD 



No. 477. Different joints placed on the altars or tlie tables. Thebes. 



its thigh§ (or upper joint (2)), the kidneys (4), 

 the ribs (5 and 8), the heart (3), and the rump (6) ; 



* Conf. Lcvit. viii.25. It i.s supposed to have been staled C<Lm~, 

 " the chosen" part. Sonutimes tlie left was the first taken off. Vide 

 Woodcut, No. 27.3. 



f Pausan. in Attic, and in Arcad. t ApoHon. Kliod. lil). i. 432. 



§ Vide Vol. II. p. 337. Woodcut, No. 27i. 



