178 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XII. 



According to them, the Earth, Tartarus, and Love 

 preceded Coelus, since we find m Hesiod that this 

 last was son of the Eartli * : and some considered Ac- 

 mon to be the father of Coelus, and the son of Manes. 

 Coelus also was the parent of Saturn, who was 

 himself the father of the other Gods. The giants, 

 sons of the Earth, came afterwards, andTyphon was 

 the last of them ; after whom were the Demigods, 

 engendered by an intercourse between the Gods 

 and the inhabitants of the earth.*' 



It is still doubtful if the Egyptians really repre- 

 sented, under any form, their idea of the unity of 

 the Deity ; it is not improbable that his name, as 

 with the Jews, was regarded with sucli profound 

 respect as never to be uttered ; and the Being of 

 Beings, *' who is, and was, and will be," was perhaps 

 not even referred to in the sculptures, nor supposed 

 to be approachable, unless under the name and 

 form of some deified attribute, indicative of his 

 power, and connection with mankind. 



Many allegorical figures are supposed to have 

 been adopted for this purpose ; and Greek writers 

 have imagined that tlie snake curled into the form 

 of a circle, with its tail in its mouth, and other si- 

 milar emblems, were used by the Egyptians to in- 

 dicate the unutterable name of the eternal Ruler 

 of the universe : but these are merely symbols of 

 his deified attributes, (if, indeed, the snake in that 

 form can be admitted among the number t ;) and 

 neither the snake, the emblem of Neph, the hawk, 



* Though Saturn was said to be son of CceIus and Terra, 

 ■j- It does not appear to be met with singly in the ancient temples 

 as the representative of any Egyptian Deity. 



