838 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



that principle by means of which all things 

 capable of being were produced." 

 The victory of Horus, the power possessed by the 

 clouds in causing the successive inundations 

 of tlie Nile. 

 Harpocrates, whom Isis brought forth about the 

 winter solstice, those weak shootings of the 

 corn produced after the inundation had sub- 

 sided. * 

 According to another interpretation t, *' by Ty- 

 pho is meant the orb of the Sun, and by Osiris that 

 of the Moon ; the former being of a scorching, the 

 latter of a moistening and prolific, nature. When, 

 therefore, they say that Osiris's death happened on 

 the 17th day of the month, it means that the moon is 

 then at its full, and from that time is continually on 

 the wane. In like manner, Osiris is said to have lived 

 or reigned 28 years, alluding to the number of days 

 in which she performs her course round the eartli. 

 As to his being torn into fourteen pieces, this is sup- 

 posed to mark out the number of days in which the 

 Moon is continually decreasing from the full to its 

 change ; and by the war between Typho and Horus 

 is meant, that in this terrestrial system, sometimes 

 the principle of corruption prevails, and sometimes 

 that of generation, though neither of them is ever 

 able entirely to conquer or destroy the other." 



For other explanations of this history, I refer 

 the reader to Plutarch's treatise of Isis and Osiris ; 

 who very properly observes, that we are not to 

 suppose the adventures there related to be " really 



* Plut. de Is. s. 65. . f Plut. de Is. s. 41. 



