36fi THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



tliis iiitiader ; who was arbitrarily made to con- 

 form to, or usurp the attributes of several other 

 respectable Divinities ; the Alexandrian Greeks 

 fancied, by giving him a comprehensive character 

 similar to that mentioned by Macrobius, that they 

 had united in him* the Essence of a whole as- 

 sembly of Gods. But Sarapis was at no time 

 Egyptian ; he was always foreign to their worship, 

 and treated as an intruder by the Egyptians ; and 

 at most he may be considered a Graeco- Egyptian 

 Deity, attached to rather than belonging to the 

 Pantheon of Egypt. 



Isis, Ceres, Proserpine, Matter, ^^x^' 



Isis, more frequently worshipped as a Deity in 

 the temples of Egypt than Osiris, except in his 

 mystical character, has, from the number of attri- 

 butes given her, been confounded with many other 

 Deities, and has obtained the title of Myrionymus, 

 or "with ten thousand names."! Plutarch sup- 

 poses her the same as Neitht, Athyr§, Proserpine ||, 

 the Moon 5F» and " the beginning," opposed to 

 Nephthys, who was *'the end." In the region of 



* The Emperor Adrian saw in him the God of the Jews and 

 Christians. 



f Pint, de Is. s. 33. Greek inscriptions in Egypt, &c. 



X Pint, de Is. s. 9. $ Plut. de Is. "s. 56. 



II Plut. de Is s. 27. 



11" Plut. de Is. s. 32. The Moon was supposed by the Greeks to have 

 a similar diversity of character ; and Lucian sjieaks of" ri]v IltXjjvijv. . . 

 TToXi'/iop^oj' Ti ^eafia, km oXXore aWoiov ri (pavrat^ofiivov, to fxiv yap 

 irpi.orov, yvvaiKtiav popfiiv tTTiCiiKi'vro, tiTu (iovs lyti'iro TrayKoXoc, nra 

 aKvXaS, Kpairero." Vide Diodor. i. 25. Diog. Laert. de Vit. Philos. in 

 Proi^m. &c. 



