244 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



have elsewhere observed *, has been remarked by 

 me on many of the oldest monuments of Egypt, 

 where *' the hieroglyphics or phonetic name of 

 Amun-re have been continually substituted for 

 others, the combinations of which I could never 

 discover, being most carefully erased, and the name 

 of Amun, or Amun-re, placed in their stead. The 

 figure of the God remains unaltered, as is also the 

 case with that of Khem, when in the character of 

 Amunre-Generator, whose phonetic hieroglyphics, 

 and not figure, have been changed. To make this 

 last observation more intelligible, I must acquaint 

 the reader with a fact not yet mentioned, — that 

 Amun-re, like most of the Gods, frequently took 

 the character of other Deities ; as of Khem, Re, 

 and Neph t ; and even the attributes of Osiris ; 

 but he is then known by tlie hieroglyphics accom- 

 panying his figure, which always read Amunre, and 

 therefore differ from those given the Deities in 

 their own character." 



In examining the sculptures of an early period t, 

 I have found that, wherever the name of Amun 

 occurs, the substitution has been so systematically 

 made, that nothing short of a general order to that 

 effect sent to every part of Egypt, and executed 

 with the most scrupulous care, can account for it ; 

 and from this alteration § being confined to monu- 



* Materia Hierog. Pantheon, p. 4-. J'ide also i?ifrd, p. 263. 



■f But still as a member of the triad of which Amun was the chief. 

 I have even found him with a hawk's head, styled " Amunre Re Atmoo, 

 Lord of Thebes." 



% It may be seen on the Obelisk of S. Giovanni Laterano, at Rome. 



^ The 7iame Amun existed long before. Witness the Kings of the 

 17th Dvnastv. 



