CHAP. Xir. THE UNITY OF THE DEITY. 179 



nor any other emblem, can be considered in any 

 way connected with the unity of the Deity. 



Even Osiris liimself cannot be looked upon as 

 the Deity in Unity; though his character of Judge 

 of the dead in the region of Amenti, and his mys- 

 terious nature as an Av^atar, give him a higher and 

 more comprehensive rank than any other God*: 

 and it is not a little remarkable that he there appears 

 as one of two members of a separate triad, though 

 he had returned, after performing his duties on 

 earth during his manifestation, to that state from 

 which he was supposed to proceed. One of the 

 most perplexing parts of the Egyptian system is 

 the varied character of the same Deity ; and the 

 many names of Osiris, as the title *' M^r'wnijmus" 

 (J^ with ten thousand names,"') given to Isis, show 

 the difficulty of ascertaining their office on different 

 occasions. 



It appears then that the Divinity himself was 

 not represented in the Egyptian sculptures, and that 

 the figures of the Gods were deified attributes in- 

 dicative of the intellect, power, goodness, might, 

 and other qualities of the eternal Being; which, in 

 some measure accords with the opinion of Damas- 

 cius, who observes, that " nearly all philosophers 

 prior to lamblichus asserted that there was one su- 

 peressential God, but that the other Deities had an 

 essential subsistence, and were deified by illumin- 

 ations from the one." Some, which belonged to the 

 Divinity himself, were considered the great Gods 

 of the Egyptian Pantheon ; the next class of Dei- 



* Vide infra. Chap. xiii. on Osiris. 

 N 2 



