280 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



Pasht, or Bubastis, is a member of the great triad 

 of Memphis, and the usual companion of Pthah ; by 

 whom she is said, in the hieroglyphic legends, to be 

 ** beloved." Herodotus considers her the daughter 

 of Bacchus (Osiris t) and Isis. Were this true, 

 she could not hold a rank among the eight great 

 Deities, but those of the third or even fourth order; 

 and his assertion is fully disproved by the exalted 

 character she bears in the temples of Thebes. 

 This error I believe to have arisen from the sup- 

 posed identity of Horns (the son of Osiris) and 

 the Sun, or the Apollo of the Greeks, whose sister 

 Diana was reputed to be. Horus tlie elder, whom 

 they called Aroeris, was brother of Osiris, and said 

 to be the same as the Sun; whence he also was 

 considered by the Greeks to answer to Apollo. 

 But it was the younger Horus who was the son of 

 Isis and Osiris, and lie had no .sister ; nor, indeed, 

 could Bubastis have been the sister of the Egyptian 

 Aroeris. Another mistake respecting this Goddess 

 arose from the idea that Isis was the same as the 

 Moon ; and the relationship of Isis and her brother 

 Aroeris confirmed the Greeks in this erroneous 

 fancy. Isis, however, w^as distinct from the Moon ; 

 she was in no way connected with Bubastis ; and the 

 latter Goddess was not the representative of that 

 luminary. 



Ovid has reported the fabulous story of the Egyp- 

 tian Diana (if, indeed, she can be called by that 

 name) assuming the form of a cat, to avoid the 



* Herodot. ii. 156. 



