331 
Snakes guarded the gates of the eternal region ; and snakes 
were worshipped while living, in the temple of Khonso at 
Fig. 20. Plume of Amun-Ra, and solar disk, with four ursei. (Leyden Museum.) 
Napata, and mummied when dead in the temple of Kneph 
Fig. 21. 
Head of the ram-headed god Chnum, the spiritual generator, bearing the 
feminine urseus of Ranno. 
or Chnouphis, the spirit or soul (fig. 21) of the world. The 
Fig. 22. The symbolic winged serpent of the goddess Mersokar, or Melsokar, wearing 
the crowns of the upper and lower kingdoms. (Wilkinson.) 
guardian genii of Upper and Lower Egypt, Melsokar (fig. 22) 
and Eilethya (fig. 23),* were honoured under the guise of ursei ; 
* Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. v. plate 52. 
