120 ELLIOT SMITH, Distribution of Mummification. 



Wake (103, p. 383), describing the geographical distribu- 

 tion of serpent-worship (the intimate bond of which with 

 sun-worship and in fact the whole " heliolithic " cult was 

 forged in Egypt, as I have already explained), writes : — 

 " Quetzalcoatl, the divine benefactor of the Mexicans, 

 was an incarnation of the serpent-sun Tonacatlcoatl, who 

 thus became the great father, as the female serpent Cihua- 

 coatl was the great mother, of the human race." "The 

 solar character of the serpent-god appears to be placed 

 beyond all doubt . . . The kings and priests of ancient 

 peoples claimed this divine origin, and ' children of the 

 sun * was the title of the members of the sacred caste. 

 When the actual ancestral character of the deity is hidden 

 he is regarded as 'the father of his people' and their 

 divine benefactor. He is the introducer of agriculture, 

 the inventor of arts and sciences, and the civilizer of 

 mankind." 



Writing of the Maya empire, Bancroft (3, Vol. V., 

 p. 233) says : — "The Plumed Serpent, known in different 

 tongues as Quelzalcoatl, Gucumatz, and Cukulcan, was 

 the being who traditionally founded the new order of 

 things." 



Even the most trivial features of the " heliolithic " 

 culture-complex make their appearance in America. 

 Thus, for example, Harrison tells us that : — 



"The artificial enlargement of the lobe [of the ear] 

 appears originally to have been adopted in India for the 

 purpose of receiving a solar disc" (29, p. 193). 



"The early Spanish historian mentioned that an 

 elaborate religious ceremony took place in the temple of 

 the Sun at Cuzco, on the occasion of boring the ears of 

 the young Peruvian nobles " (p. 196). 



" The practice of enlarging the ear lobes was con- 

 nected with Sun-worship" (p. 198). 



