friendship and affection; and as they at all times wished to add something of their own to the institutions of other nations, in order to express the three cries, or farewells, they represented this same dog as having three different heads. To this emblem, or hieroglyphic, the Egyptians gave the appellation of oms; and the Greeks, in consequence of their mistaking it for a dog, that of Cerber, from the Egyptian Ceriber, a word that means the cry of the tomb, and from which originates the Cerberus of the Grecian mythology.

The manner in which these religious doctrines were exhibited in hieroglyphics, and how they were further distorted by the Greeks, will form the subject of our next Lecture.

LECTURE V.

Continuation of the same subject-Exhibition of the mode by which the souls of the dead entered the Amenti-Further examination of hieroglyphics-Explanation of some of the most important grammatical forms—Genders—Number—Verbs— Pronouns Mixture of hieroglyphics-Legends-Names of individuals-of the Pharaohs-Mystic titles which invariably preceded their historical name-Explanation of some most commonly used-Coincidence of the Egyptian inscriptions with the names of some of the kings mentioned in the Bible.

We concluded our last Lecture with mentioning the ceremonies practised by the Egyptians in the burial of their dead; and I deferred to this Lecture the exhibition of the hieroglyphics connected with these ceremonies. I now offer to your inspection a curious picture, [Table 5.] representing the trial and judgment which the Egyptians supposed the soul of a man to undergo, before he was allowed to enter the region of rest and happiness. It is taken from a curious MS. existing in the Vatican library, of which Angelo Mai, a Milanese, has given a description. Although I have not been able to obtain the original work, yet in German there is a translation by Louis Bachmann, in

three distinct numbers, one of which I have seen. It bears the title of " Die Agyptischen Papyrus der Vaticanischen Bibliothek,-aus dem Italiaenischen des Angelo Mai von Ludwig Baachmann." It was printed at Leipzig, in 1827.

The whole scene is represented to take place in the prætorium of the Amenti. The frieze at the top contains a continued series of different emblems, amongst which the most prominent is the Uræus, the serpent who was considered as the symbol of the goddess Smé, or Tmé, preceded or followed by the feather, which is also another ornament, or attribute, of this same goddess. For this is the place where she, as the goddess of truth, must exclusively preside. She seems herself to stand in the middle, with her arms extended, covering two hieroglyphical legends, exhibiting the symbols of the sun and of the moon, to denote the Providence that rules over the universe. To the right and left of this architrave we find the god Thoth, under the shape of a cynocephalus, or an ape he is also often called Apis, or Ap.

In the chapel we observe Osiris sitting on a throne, with all the symbols that belong to him,the whip and the sceptre, to denote his power over time; the pschent, or the royal helmet, from the front of which issues the serpent, the emblem of eternity and wisdom, and on which is engraved the symbol of Phre, to signify his prudence and his justice. Over his head we have an inscription in hieroglyphical characters, which contains his titles,

and the meaning of which seems to be, "Osiris, the beneficent god; lord of the living, the supreme god, everlasting lord; the ruler of the inferior region, King of the gods." Before him stands a basket, out of which issues a stick, or a pole, on which hangs the skin of a panther, which persuaded the Greeks to assimilate him to their Bacchus.

Before this chapel there is an altar, on which lies an offering of bread, fruit, and flowers of the lotus, and by its side stand two bunches of the same plant, not yet open. They were considered as containing the water of the Nile, without which no sacrifice or libation could be made.

On a pedestal before this altar rests a horse of the Nile, which the Egyptians called Oms, the faithful guardian of all burial places, and which the Greeks have transformed into their Cerberus. Over its head there is an inscription in hieroglyphical characters, the import of which is, "Oms, the ruler of the inferior region ;" and just above him there is a god called Sciai, and his wife Rannet, as it appears from the phonetic characters over their heads; they both were attendants on Osiris.

Further back on the sceptre of Osiris is seen a small figure in a sitting posture holding a finger on his lips, to whom the Greeks have given the appellation of Sigalion, the Harpocrates of the Romans.

In the opposite corner we have a group of three

persons. The first is the goddess Smé: she appears with all the attributes of her office and power; the long sceptre in her right hand, and the sign of divine life in her left, to signify, that through her alone a man can pass to immortality and happiness; and lastly, she has her head surrounded by a sort of diadem, surmounted by a feather, her peculiar distinction; and over it we find the legend which characterises her as "Smé, the goddess of truth, the daughter of the sun, for ever living, and benevolent, ruler of the inferior region."

On account of her double character, the Greeks have compared this goddess to Themis and Persephone, that is, Proserpine. As the goddess of justice she is Themis, as a companion of Osiris, and queen of the Amenti, she is Persephone.

Next to Smé, we find another figure in the common dress of the Egyptians, who evidently is the person of the deceased. His name is engraved over his head, and signifies "the Osirian, Nesimandu deceased, son of Nuabendi deceased;" and next to this legend there is another, which seems to be a petition which he presents to the goddess Smé, entreating the permission of being allowed to enter the place of rest and tranquillity.

The last figure I do not exactly know how to describe, for I cannot exactly make her out. She seems, however, to be an attendant of Smé, as if introducing Nesimandu to her.

The middle part of this curious monument is occupied by a large balance. In one scale there