416 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



of Netpe, in which he occurs with Osiris, Aroeris*, 

 Isis, and Nephthys, as the third son of that Goddess. 

 This agrees with the statement of Plutarch t, that 

 Osiris was born on the first, Aroeris on the second, 

 Typho on the third, Isis on the fourth, and Neph- 

 thys on tlie fifth day. 



Hence it is evident that the Deity before us 

 was one of the characters of Typho, and the reason 

 of his figure being erased on ahnost all the monu- 

 ments where it occurs, was owing to the hatred 

 with which they viewed the Evil Being he repre- 

 sented ; though, as I shall have occasion to show, 

 the good and bad principles were viewed with a 

 different feeling by the philosophers of early times. 

 He is figured under a human form, having the 

 head of a quadruped with square topped ears, 

 which some might have supposed to represent an 

 Ass with clipped ears, if the entire animal did not 

 too frequently occur to prevent this erroneous 

 conclusion. That it was an imaginary creature is 

 evident, from its form, and from being placed at 

 Beni Hassan with Sphinxes t and other fanciful 

 animals ; all conjecture is therefore useless, both 

 regarding its name and the reason for which it was 

 selected. 



* This Deitv wears the Pshent like Horus. 



t Plut. de is. s. 12. 



j The Sphinx was chosen as an emblem of the Kine, and was in- 

 tended to imply the union of physical and intellectual force, by its 

 body of a lion, and its human head ; or, as Clement of Alexindria says, 

 the " union of force, with prudence or wisdom." oXkijc rt av fitra irvnatojg 

 t) ffcf'iyw, Strom. 5. He runs into the usual error of considering the 

 Sphinx female; the Egyptians making it invariably male, which is con- 

 sistent with its being a representative of the King. 



