Dec. 1861.] 



The Origin of Biahmanism. 



279 



strongly incline to think him right, and believe that Egyptian 

 priests have actually come from the Nile to the Ganga and 

 Yamuna, which the Brahmins most assuredly would never have 

 left." 



Facts contributing to prove that Misraim ivas deified in Egypt as 

 Osiris, and in India as Bramah. 



1. On the authority of Herodotus we find that Osiris wrote the 

 following inscription ; " Saturn the youngest of all the Gods, was 

 my father (or ancestor) I am Osiris who conducted a large and 

 numerous army as far as the deserts of India." Saturn of the 

 ancients is always considered to mean Noah, who was the grand- 

 father of Misraim. 



2. Osiris is said to have left his country under the care of his 

 wife., and of Hermes. This Hermes by all historians is allowed to 

 be the same as Toth-Athothes. Toth succeeded Menes, the Egyp- 

 tian name for Misraim according to Bunsen, and was called Heri- 

 nogenes. Manetho says that the same Athothes was a physician 

 and left the anatomical books. Sanchoniatho says, " Toth was a 

 relation of Misr (Misraim) he invented the writing of the first 

 letters, him the Egyptians call Thoor, the Alexandrians Thoyth, 

 and the Greeks Hermes." Lempriere states, he lived in the age 

 of Osiris and wrote books on Medicine, Theology, &c. Toth or 

 Thut is in reality Phut the brother of Misraim ; Phut accompanied 

 Misraim to Egypt, and according to ancient writers afterwards set- 

 tled in and ruled over Libya. Menes (Misraim) according to He- 

 rodotus was the first king of Egypt. 



3. Bacchus or Ba-cush means literally the brother of Cush, 

 Bacchus is Osiris,* Misraim is the brother of Cush, therefore Mis- 



* Diodorus states that the Egyptians insisted their God Osiris was 

 the Dionysus or Bacchus of Greece. According to Arrian, the Indians 

 gave the same account of Dionysus as the Egyptians did of Osiris. 

 Strabo writes, that the people upon the Indus maintained that Dionysus 

 was a native of their country, and the city Nusa near Mount Meru was 

 the place of his birth. There were, however, some among them who 

 allowed that-he came into their parts from the West. He taught them 

 to make wine. His Indian expedition lasted three years. He had 

 among many attendants the Satyrs. Dionysus, according to Pausanias, 

 was exposed in an ark like Osiris. 



