418 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



reason to believe Typho to be a female Deity, ap- 

 parently distinct from the Evil Being who was the 

 persecutor of Osiris ; and we are unable to trace in 

 the name of Ombte, or Abtaut, any of the titles, 

 Seth, Bebo, Babys*, or Smyt, given by Plutarch 

 to Typho. On this last point, however, I shall 

 not insist, since the force of the hieroglyphics t 

 composing it is not positively ascertained ; but we 

 may be certain that the name Typho was not ap- 

 plied to this Deity, though he fulfilled the office 

 of the Evil Being opposed to the good Osiris, his 

 brother, and answered in every respect to the cha- 

 racter of the third son of Netpe. 



It appears that the Egyptian Mythology ac- 

 knowledged two Deities, who answered to the de- 

 scription given by the Greeks of Typho ; — one, 

 who was the son of Netpe, and was opposed to his 

 brother Osiris, as the bad to the good principle ; 

 the other bearing the name of Typho, and, an- 

 swering to that part of his character which repre- 

 sents him as the opponent of Horus. 



From the constant and almost universal era- 

 sure of his figure, the Egyptians seem to have 

 looked upon this Deity as a hateful being, the 

 enemy of mankind. But the offices he sometimes 

 bore, the presentation of prayers and offerings, and 

 the respect frequently paid to him in temples of 

 the oldest periods, where he occurs as one of the 

 contemplar Gods, show that his character was not 



* Jlde Athen. Deipn. lib. xv. p. G80. 



t Plut.de Is. S.62. 49. 



j He sometimes seems to have a title similar to Seth. 



