CHAP. XVI. ERRORS RESPECTING THE EGYPTIANS. 465 



the Nile, the care they took to remove all im- 

 purities which might aftect their health, and the 

 superstitious prejudice they felt towards every 

 thing appertaining to the human body, could for 

 an instant suppose that they would on any con- 

 sideration be induced to pollute the stream, or 

 insult the dead by a similar custom. 



I have frequently had occasion to remark how 

 erroneous were the opinions of the Greeks respect- 

 ing Egypt and tiie Egyptians ; and not only have 

 we to censure them for failing to give much in- 

 teresting information, which they might have ac- 

 quired after their intercourse with the country 

 became unrestrained, but to regret that the greater 

 part of what they have given us is deficient and in- 

 accurate. To such an extent is this inaccuracy 

 carried, that little they tell us can be received with 

 confidence, unless in some way confirmed by the 

 monuments or other plausible evidence ; and many 

 of those things which for a time were considered 

 unquestionably true have proved incorrect, — as 

 the description of Anubis with a dog's head, 

 Amun with that of a ram, and many observations 

 relating to the customs of the Egyptians. 



Hence we often find ourselves obHged to undo 

 what has been already done, which is a far more 

 difficult task than merely to ascertain what has 

 hitherto been untouched, and undisguised by the 

 intervention of a coloured medium. 



It might appear incredible that errors could 

 have been made on the most common subjects, on 

 things relating to positive customs which daily 



OL. II. — Second Series. H H 



