252 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



level of a mere physical agent, as lamblicbus has 

 very properly remarked. According to Cicero, 

 there were several Deities who bore the name 

 of Vulcan, and one was reputed to be the son of 

 the Nile, from which we may infer his Egyptian 

 origin. The Greek name, according to Phurniitus, 

 is supposed to have been taken ol-ko too i^(pSaiy (sig- 

 nifying to " burn ;") and other etymologies have 

 been offered by various writers ; but the word 

 Hephaestus, and still more the derivation suggested 

 by Phurnutus, sufficiently indicate the real root of 

 the name in the Egyptian Ptiiah. 



The form of this Deity is generally a mummy, 

 not holding in his hands the flagellum and crook 

 of Osiris, but merely the emblems of life and 

 stability, with the staff of purity; which last is 

 common to all the Gods, and to many of the 

 Goddesses, of Egypt. Tlie absence of the fla- 

 gellum and crook serves to distinguish him from 

 another Deity*, Khonso, the third member of the 

 Theban triad, even when his hieroglyphical name 

 is wanting; and this last has, in addition, a disk and 

 crescent, or short horns, on his head, which are not 

 given either to Pthah or Osiris. 



The ordinary head-dress of Pthah, when in the 

 form of a mummy, is a close cap without any orna- 

 ment ; but he occasionally wears a disk with the 

 lofty ostrich feathers of Osiris, and holds in each 

 hand a staff of purity, in lieu of the emblems of sta- 

 bility and life. The sculptures of the tombs also 

 represent Pthah bearing on his head, or clad in, the 



* I have found one instance of Pthah with the flagellum and crook. 



