340 
« In the vicinity of Thebes there are also sacred serpents not at all trouble- 
some to men ; they are very small, but have two horns on the top of the 
head. When they die, they are buried in the temple of Jupiter, to w om 
they are said to belong.” * * * § 
This corresponds in some degree to a statement by the 
famous Principal of the Medical College at Cairo, M. Clot Bey, 
who asserts f that the urseus, or cohra, is not P 01 \ 0 f. 0U !; Q . U 
fortunately -the passage from Herodotus implies noUhe N^a or 
Nasha, but the Cerastes, or two-horned viper. The temple ot 
limiter is of course that of the god Chefer-Ra, who held a 
position in some respects analogous to that of Jupiter with the 
Homans or Zeus among the Greeks. 
Cite we vet a further passage, and this time it shall be o e 
from the Great Ritual of the Dead itself. It is > the ^apo- 
strophe to the serpent Bata in “ Heaven, where the sun is. 
(Fig. 39.) 
Fig. 39. The serpent Sati, or Bata, on the High Hill of Heaven. (Ritual, cap. cxlix.) 
“ Say, thou who hast gone, 0 serpent o£ Bullions of years , ^hons of 
Years in length, in the quarter of the region of the great winds, the pool 
millions of years ; all the other gods return to all places, ^etctog ‘ { 
where is the road belonging to him ? (t. e. who can measure g 
his infinity of years). Millions of years are following to him. Tne ^ oad 
of &e,S whirl in fire behind him.” (Celestial, not infernal, fire is here to 
be understood.) J 
This symbolic creature maybe the serpent alluded to by 
Job when, in special reference to the works of God m the 
heavens, he declares. By his spirit he garnished thehowent 
His head wounded the crooked (cowardly§) serpent. Job 
xxvi. 13. (Figs. 40, 41.) 
* Herodotus, Euterpe, 74. _ 
t Bonomi, Catalogue of Antiquites, 
+ Chap, cxxxi. 
§ Sharpe’s translation, m3 ttKlJ 
S. Drach. 
Hartwell House, p. 22, No. 171. 
Query, “ gliding or barred serpent.”— 
