THE SACRED IBIS, 
347 
The Sacred. Ibis. 
beak, or from the contrasted colours of black and white, 
which, in the opinion of an ancient writer^ on the subject, 
made it appear as if marked with a crescent. Now the 
moon, as well as the sun, was a known object of worship 
amongst many of the heathen nations, and more especially 
the Egyptians. Thus Job alludes to it, when he says, If I 
beheld the sun when it shined , or the moon walking in 
brightness , and my heart hath been secretly enticed , or my 
mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity 
to be punished. — Job xxxi. 26, &c. The reason why the 
Egyptians more particularly venerated the moon, was, 
because they considered it, in its crescent form, as bearing 
some resemblance to the boat, or ark, in which Noah was 
preserved in the Flood, and in their language, accordingly, 
they used the same terms for the moon and the ark. 
Looking upon the Ibis, therefore, as a type or emblem 
of the moon, and again associating its appearance on the 
Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride. 
