CHAP. XV. OFFERrNCS IN SACRIFICE. 357 



and those most commonly seen on the altars are 

 the head, the hmd leg *, and the ribs. When 

 the Egyptians offered a holocaust, they com- 

 menced with a libation of wine t, a preliminary 

 ceremony common, according to Herodotus, to all 

 their sacrifices ; and after it had been poured upon 

 the altar, the victim was slain. They first re- 

 moved the head and skin (a statement, as I have 

 already shown, fully confirmed by the sculptures) ; 

 they then took out the stomach, leaving only the 

 entrails and the fat ; after which the thighs, the 

 upper part of the haunches, the shoulders, and the 

 neck, were cut off in succession. Then, filling the 

 bodyt with cakes of pure flour, honey, dried 

 raisins, figs, incense, myrrh, and other odoriferous 

 substances, they burnt it on the fire, pouring over it 

 a considerable quantity of oil. The portions which 

 were not consumed were afterwards given to the 

 votaries, who were present on the occasion, no 

 part of the offering being left ; and it was during 

 the ceremony of burning the sacrifice at the fete of 

 Isis, that they beat themselves in honour of Osiris. 

 Similar to this was the burnt offering § of the Jews ; 

 when *' the fat, and the rump, and all the fat 

 that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the 

 liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the 



* This in hieroglyphics signified " power " or " strength." 



f Herodot. ii. 39, 40. 



j This mode of filling the body with raisins and other sweet things 

 recalls a common dish of modern Egyptian, and other Eastern tables ; 

 but they fortunately omit the myrrh and incense, which, however well 

 adapted to the taste of the gods, would be by no means palatable to 

 men. 



§ Levit. viii. 25.28. 



A A 3 



