40 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
visit Egypt only once in five hundred years, in order to consume itself by 
fire, and then to arise out of its own ashes in renewed youth. The 
Sphinwes were also fabulous creatures, variously described, and divided 
into male and female sphinxes. Usually they are found with the body of 
a lion and the head of a woman, covered with the sacred cap, which was a 
head-dress with very ample folds; the body is generally seen stretched out 
like that of a lion when at rest, as in pl. 10, jig. 23. Sometimes, though 
rarely, they are found with a lion’s head upon a lion’s body (fig. 24). 
There is another copy of a sphinx (pl. 9, jig. 22) taken from an Egyptian 
coin, struck off in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, which deserves par- 
ticular notice, on account of the numerous attributes of divinity with which 
it is surrounded. The head is ornamented with the lotus; the front part of 
the body covered with a veil, which falls down over part of the limbs, and 
from the breast projects the inverted head of a crocodile; upon the back 
sits a griffin with a wheel in his claws, and beneath the feet of the sphinx 
a serpent strives to drag its body forward. The body strongly resembles 
that of a lion, with the head of a woman. Mythologians, as well as anti- 
quarians, are still divided in their opinions as to the typical meaning of these 
monsters. 
They were usually found before the entrances to the temples, as guardians 
(pl. 10, jig. 35). Some think that they were the emblems of wisdom and 
power, but others ascribe to them an astronomical signification. The 
Egyptians considered them, like all other monsters, as created by Typhon 
and Wephthys. 
Among the other symbols of Egyptian mythology we mention particu- 
larly the flower of the lotus (fig. 25), which occupied a prominent place 
among them. It was the most sacred plant of the Egyptians, and served 
as the emblem of the world as it emerged from out of the deep. Gods and 
goddesses ascended out of its cup, and from it the people drew lessons 
which taught them to hope for immortality and happiness, even amidst the 
terrors of death. Hence do we find it not only as an attribute of the gods, 
but also frequently by itself in their temples, their pictures, and elsewhere. 
The Nile, too, had its symbol, which is represented (jig. 16) in the form of 
a man with a cornucopia in his hand, out of which a child appears to 
ascend, while he seems to watch its motions. Before him stand three other 
children in a supplicating attitude, and by his side lies the mysterious 
sphinx. The Nile key, or Egyptian cable (jig. 17), which we have already 
mentioned, is a symbol concerning which not much is known, except its form. 
Some say that it was intended as an emblem of the four elements, others that 
it was a nilometer, and a few contend that it was a symbol of authority over 
the earth, or of the division of the year into four seasons. As symbols 
may also be regarded the attributes of the sun (pl. 8, jig. 1), viz. the 
serpents and the two wings, which were symbolic of eternity and motion, 
and the all-seeing eye (fig. 2), which represented omniscience. In connex- 
ion with the symbols we must also mention the sacred ship ( Jig. 3). This 
vessel was an object of general reverence and profound regard. It is some- 
times found as if resting on a pedestal, and in other places surrounded by 
260 

