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The truth shall set you free > Religion

OUTLINES OP THE HISTORY OF RELIGION 1877 C.Tiele

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Prometheus:

ANIMISTIC RELIGION.

renders the differences in development more remarkable,
especially when it is remembered that the nearest connec-
tions of the highly-civilised Aztecs in Mexico are the
Shoshonee and Comanches, tribes which stand “nearer
to the brutes than probably any other portion of the
human race” (Report of the Comm, of Indian Affairs, 1854,
p. 209).

The great Spirit, who is primus inter pares, is unques-
tionably of native origin.

The religion of the Natchez is raised by its organisa-
tion alone above that of their neighbours, but it is no-
thing more than an organised Animism. The absolute
sovereign was the brother of the sun and high priest,
and to all fire, even to that which served for house-
hold purposes, but especially to that which was always
kept burning in the temple, a special sanctity was at-
tached. In this case also religious progress seems to
be connected with the introduction of agriculture.

16.   The mingling of various races by migration and
conquest, the transition from the wandering life of
hunters and fishermen to the settled tasks of agriculture,
and the establishment of regular states, resulted among
the Muyscas or Chibchas (of New Granada) and the
Mayas (of Central America, particularly Yucatan), but
above all among the Peruvians and Mexicans, in a great
advance, which did not leave religion behind; an ad-
vance which cannot be ascribed, as some writers have
endeavoured to prove, to the influence of foreign colonists.
The beings whom these nations worship, are as yet
no gods in the strict sense, i.e., supernatural beings,
they are hardly more than spirits: they are, however,
the representatives of the higher powers and phenomena
AMONG THE AMERICANS.

21

of nature. Their usages, also, their cultus and their
doctrine of immortality, are, in reality, animistic. Yet
in their conception of the higher powers, and in the
relation in which they imagined themselves to stand
to them, it is impossible not to recognise the begin-
nings of a purer and more rational view. There were
even princes, both in Peru and Mexico, who ventured to
introdirce important reforms, a sign of great activity of
thought. However imperfect their success may have
been at first, they would probably have become after a
time the bases of a new order of things, if the course of
the independent development of these nations had not
been checked by the Spanish conquest. The religions of
Mexico and Peru certainly reached, if they did not pass
beyond, the extreme limits of Animism.

That the Mexican and Peruvian civilisation owed its
origin to foreign colonists, has been asserted by many
writers. The foolish suppositions that the Ten Tribes
of Israel, or Welsh princes, or Phoenician merchants,
may have wandered off to America, deserve no refuta-
tion. More likelihood attaches to the conjecture that
East Asiatics may have landed in Mexico. This was
suggested by Humboldt, Anskhten dcr Natur, i. p. 214.
From the Chinese work Ndn-ssu, i.e., “ History of the
South,” De Guignes, Paravey, and Neumann inferred that
the Chinese were acquainted with America about 458

A.D.; but this conclusion is disputed by Klaproth, Non-
velles Annales des Voyages, 1831. All the material for tho
discussion of the question is given by Ch. G. Leland,
Fusang; or, The Discovery of America ly Chinese Buddhist
Priests in the Fifth Century, London, 1875. The state-
ments about this land Fusang, however, are for tho
22

ANIMISTIC RELIGION.

most part not applicable to America, while they are
altogether appropriate to Japan. The proofs adduced
by G. d’Eichthal, Btude sur les Origines Bouddiques de
la Civilisation Amiricaine, ie partie, 1865, are also ex-
tremely feeble.

The names by which these nations designate the gods
in general, teotl among the Mexicans, guacas among the
Peruvians, signify nothing more than spirits. These feed
on human flesh, and are drunken with blood, the human
sacrifices in Mexico being counted by thousands. The
mild deity of the Toltecs, Quetzalcoatl, to whom no
human sacrifices were offered, forms an exception. Some
expressions have been supposed to indicate the beginnings
of monotheism, but they are extremely uncertain. But
it is remarkable that the sun-spirit was called simply
teotl, “the spirit” par excellence. It is also said that
all the spirits die when he appears. The splendid ad-
dresses made, according to some writers, on solemn occa-
sions by official speakers, and which teach a fairly pure
morality, inspire no great confidence, especially when
it is reflected that the Mexican hieroglyphics are of a
very indefinite kind, and give scope for arbitrary ex-
planations. Attempts at reform, however, were not
wanting. Various noble princes, the Toltecs in Mexico,
Netzalcuatl in Tezcuco, and the Incas in Peru, attempted
to set limits at all events to the grossest licentiousness,
and to human sacrifices. In 1440 A.D. the Inca Tupac
Yupanqui, at the consecration of a temple of the sun
at Cuzco, proclaimed a new deity, Illatici-Viracocha-
Pacliacamac, to whom the sun-god was subordinated, and
he founded a temple to him at Callao containing no images,
in which no human sacrifices might be offered. A similar
advance was made by Netzalcuatl, prince of Tezcuco; he
built a temple nine stories in height, which contained no
AMONG THE FINNS.

23

image and might be polluted by no blood, in honour of
the deity who, as cause of causes, was enthroned above
the nine heavens. But neither this deity, nor that of
the Inca, whose triple name is a combination of the
terms for the three vital principles thunder-cloud (i.c., the
hidden receptacle of the thunder), sea-foam (i.e., the fire
hidden in the waters), and the earth-soul, ever became
national gods, and the temple of the latter soon had its
images and horrible paintings.

17.   Over a large extent of Asia and Europe the
Aryans, and perhaps also the Semites, were preceded
by Turanian peoples, and the oldest civilisation which
we can trace was derived if not from them, at any rate
from a race very closely connected with them, of which
the Akkadians in Mesopotamia are the chief representa-
tives. Most of their religions have been supplanted by
Buddhism, Islam, or Christianity; but the remarkable
religion of the Finns, compared with that of the kindred
Siberian tribes and of the Tatars, proves how high a
development they were capable of attaining. Their
mythology and cultus were, it is true, completely under
the influence of the belief in magic, and they are thus
purely animistic. All the spirits which they worship,
even the highest, are nature-beings of more or less
might, but chiefly eminent for their magical power, and
rarely endowed with moral qualities—a sort of inde-
pendent patriarchs, differing in power, not in rank. High
above all the other spirits, however, stands Ukko (the
old man, father, grandfather, the venerable), the Creator
('luoya) and deity (gum&la) par excellence, the ancient one
in heaven, mightier than the mightiest enchanter, whose
24

ANIMISTIC RELIGION.

aid is invoked by all heroes and spirits. Only one step
remained for the Finns to take in order to rise from
pol ydsemonism to polytheism. Their epic poems, col-
lected under the name of Kalevala, the subject of which
is not a moral or national conflict, but simply the contest
of the powers of nature personified, affords proof of their
great poetic gifts.

The ethical element is almost entirely deficient. Even
in the representation of Ukko I have not succeeded in
discovering it. Evil spirits and good cry to him for
help, and he grants it, alike when the powers of darkness
are being resisted, and when the nine spirits which plague
mankind are born. He is the highest and mightiest of
the spirits, but not even the lesser are dependent on
him.

Tumdla, which signifies, according to Castr&i, “the
place of thunder/’ i.e., the sky (?), was originally, in his
opinion, the name of a distinct god of the sky. It is,
however, an appellative of the divine beings in general,
used parallel with lumja, but often employed to designate
the highest god, and subsequently applied to the god of
the Christians.

The worship of spirits (the chief of whom are called
Haltia) and the doctrine of immortality are not developed
any further among the Finns than among the Nature-
peoples.

The three great heroes of the Kalevala, "Wainamoinen,
Ilmarinen, and Lemminkainen, are certainly ancient
spirits of heaven, fire, and earth, and correspond to
Odhinn, Loki, and Hunir, the German triad of gods,
although the working out of their character and the
description of their deeds have a character entirely
their own.
( 25 )

Prometheus:


CHAPTER II.

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE

Literature.—General; J. E. R. Kauffer, Geschkhte
von Ost - Asien, 3 vols., Leipzig, 1858-60; id., Das
Chineskche Volk, Dresden, 1850. Gutzlaff, Geschkhte
des Chines. Rekhs, herausgegeben von K. F. Neumann,
Stuttgart, 1847. A number of essays by J. H. Plath,
in the Sitzungsberichte der Baierischen Akademie, of which
the following deserve to be named here: “ Chronol.
Grundlage der alten Chines. Geschichte,” 1867, ii. 1;
“ Ueber die Quellen der alten Chines. Geschichte,” 1870,
i. i ; “ China vor 4000 Jahren,” 1869, i. 2, 3, ii. 1 ;
“Ueber Schule und Unterricht bei den alten Chinesen,”
1868, ii. 1. G. Pauthier, Chine, ou Description historique,
geograpliique, et littiraire, &c.; id., Chine modeme, ou
Description, &c., Paris, 1853. In The Origin of the
Chinese, London, 1868, J. Chalmers loses himself in
very hazardous conjectures.

Religion of the Old Empire. J. H. Plath, Die Reli-
gion und der Cultus der alten Chinesen, Miinchen, 1862, in
two parts, (r) Die Religion; (2) Der Cultus. Ed. Biot,
Le Tcheou-li, ou Rites des Tcheou, 2 vols., Paris, 1851.

Confucianism. J. H. Plath, Confucius und seiner
Schuler Leben und Lehren, (i.) Histor. Einleitung, Miinchen,
1867 ; (ii.) Leben des Confucius, i., ibid., 1870; (iii.) Die
Schuler des Confucius, ibid., 1873 ; (iv.) Sdmmlliche Aus-
spruche des Confucius und seinen Schiilem, systematisch
geordnet, i., ibid., 1874. Absolutely indispensable, J.
26

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

Legge, The Chinese Classics, with a Translation, Critical
and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, and copious Indexes,
Hongkong and London, 1861, and following years; in
7 vols., of which there have appeared—vol. i., Life of
Confucius, and the first three classical books; vol. ii.,
the works of Mencius; vol. iii., i. and ii., the Shu-
king; vol. iv., i. and ii., the Shi-king, and other
poetical pieces. Vols. i. and ii. have been published
without the text in a small edition, The Life and
Teachings of Confucius, third ed., London, 1872, and
the Life and Works of Mencius, ibid., 1875. The Liin-gil
has been translated into German by W. Schott, vol i.,
Halle, 1829; vol. ii., Berlin, 1832. Pauthier, Les
Livres Sacres de VOrient, Paris, 1840, contains a trans-
lation of the Shu-king and of the classical books. Other
translations are enumerated in the Notices Bibliogra-
phiques, Pauthier, op. cit., p. xxviii, and in the history
of Kauffer named above, i. p. 83, sqq., and ii. p. 17.
As samples of the profane literature of the Confucianists
we may specify, D’Hervey de St. Denys, Lc Li-sao,
poeme du 3“' siecle avant noire ere, Paris, 1870. Stanisl.
Julien, Contes et Apologues Indiem suivis de Fables et de
Poesies Chinoises, 2 vols., Paris, i860.

Taoism. Lao tseu Tao te King, Le Litre de la Vote et de la
Vertu, trad. &c.,par Stanisl. Julien, Paris, 1842. Lad-
tse’s Tad te King, iibersetzt u. s. w. von V. VON Strauss,
Leipzig, 1870, follows Julien closely. Only an arbitrary
paraphrase will be found in Lao-tse Tao-U-king, iibers. und
erklari von E. von Planckner, Leipzig, 1870. Le Ltvre
des Recompenses et des Peines, trad, par A. ELmusat, Paris,
1816. A. Pfizmaier, Die Losung der Leichname und
Schwerler, dn Beitr. zur Kenntniss des Taoglaubens, Vienna,
1870; id., Die Taolehre von den wahren Menschen und den
Unsterblichen, ibid., 1870. W. Eotermund, Die Ethik
IN THE OLD EMPIRE.

27

Lao-tse’s mit lesonderer Bezugnahme auf der Buddhistischm
Moral, Gotha, 1874.

18.   The religion of the old Chinese Empire, as it
existed certainly from the twelfth century B.C., and pro-
bably at a much earlier period, is best described as a
purified and organised worship of spirits, with a pre-
dominant fetishist tendency, combined into a system
before it was possible for a regular mythology to de-
velop out of it. The sole objects of worship are the
spirits (shin), which are divided into heavenly, earthly, and
human, and, as a rule, are still closely connected with the
objects of nature. Heaven (Thian), who, when conceived
as a personal being, is called the supreme emperor (Shang-
ti), stands at the head, and in co-operation with the earth
has produced everything. His will is fate, and he
rewards and punishes. He is one; hut he has five
emperors beside him, and an innumerable multitude of
spirits beneath him, among which those of the sun,
moon, stars, and constellations are pre-eminent. The
spirit of the earth (lleu-thu), though not sharply per-
sonified, is for the most part conceived as of female
nature. The spirits of the mountains, streams, &c.,
belong to her realm. Besides these, the spirits are with-
out number. They are perceived, hut are neither heard
nor seen, though they reside in visible objects, and for
the most part assume the forms of animals. It may be
regarded as a great advance that there is no mention of
essentially evil spirits, that all spirits are exalted
servants of Shang-ti, and in their intercourse with men
esteem moral qualities above everything else.
28

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

The twelfth century B.C. is the era of the establish-
ment of the Tshow dynasty, whose cultus we know from
the book Tshow-li. Plath objects to the conception of
the joint working of heaven and earth as a marriage,
and describes the earth as a male feudal prince. But
the great power which they exert is called “ generation ”
(seng), and in the Yi-king they are frequently repre-
sented as husband and wife, as father and mother.
The same idea occurs also in the Shirking. See the
passages cited by Plath himself, lid. der alten Chinesen,
pp. 36-38 and 73. To treat this as a type of parental
care is inappropriate. The two original principles Yang
and Yin, which Plath regards as the fruit of later
philosophical reflection, make their appearance as early
as 1100 B.c. in the Tshow-li, op. cit., vii. 3, and ix. 10, 11;
and in the same work it is not the chief vassal of the
empire, but the principal wife of the emperor who is
named after the earth. The old and generally diffused
myth of the marriage between heaven and earth certainly
lies at the foundation of Chinese mythology also, though
the philosophers afterwards disguised it past recognition.

•   19. The doctrine of continued existence after death

I among the Chinese entirely accords with that of the

j Nature-peoples. Man has two souls, one of which

ascends after death to heaven, while the other descends

into the earth, after vain attempts have been made to

recall them both. Of the doctrine of retribution no

*

certain traces axe to be found, but we do find the idea that
it is possible by sacrificing life to save a sick person.
The souls of ancestors were worshipped with great pomp
and earnestness, and were, it was supposed, present at tbb
sacrifices.
IN THE OLD EMPIRE.

29

Though no distinct traces of the doctrine of retribu-
tion after death can be discovered among the ancient
Chinese, it must be remembered in this connection
that all the books which are the sources of our
knowledge of their religion before Kong-tse, have passed
through the hands either of himself or his followers,
and he always refused to express an opinion on souls and'
their destiny. The doctrine of retribution was held by
the sect of the Tao-sse, and reached among them a very
elaborate form, so that it maybe regarded as probable that
it was not unknown to the religion of the old empire.

20.   The Chinese are remarkable for the complete
absence of a priestly caste. Their worship, which was
regulated down to its minute details, was entirely a civil
function. It was placed under the control of one of the
six ministers who directed all the officials connected with
religion, including the musicians and dancers. To Tliian,
the spirit of heaven, only the emperor might sacrifice; to
the spirits of the earth and the fruits of the land, only
the emperor and the feudal princes; to the five house
spirits, only the high officials, and so on in strict order.
Of the sacrifices, which originally included also human
victims, that part was presented which was regarded as
the seat of the soul or of life. The greater number of the
temples were consecrated to the dead, while the emperor
himself performed his sacrifices under the open sky.
Prayer, even when addressed to Tliian, was permitted
to all, but at the court, regular officials were appointed
for the purpose. Even the magicians, soothsayers, and
spirit-charmers, though numbered among the state func-
tionaries, formed no priestly order. Great value, how-
30   RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

ever, was attached to the oracles procured by their in-
strumentality, especially to those obtained by means of
the plant Shi, and by the burning of furrows on a tortoise-
shell (pu).

The most important source of our knowledge of the
early worship of the Chinese is the book Tshow-li, written
in the twelfth century B.c. by Tshow-Jcung, brother of the
founder of the Tshow dynasty. From his family, six
centuries later, came Kong-tse.

21.   A reform of this religion was carried out in the
(sixth century b.c. by Kong-fu-tse (Master Kong, Con-
.fucius), though he himself did not wish to be regarded as
doing anything more than transmit and preserve the
doctrine of the Ancients. Born in 550 (or 5 51) B.c. in
the principality of Lu, of a distinguished family, he began
at the age of two-and-twenty years to give instruction as
a teacher or sage. Labouring sometimes as an official,
and once appointed to a high civil post, but for the most
part living without office, and often compelled by the
disturbances in his native country to go into exile, he saw
himself always surrounded by a large number of disciples,
consulted by the most eminent personages, and highly
honoured even during his life. He died in the year 478.

Kong-tse' had a high sense of his calling, and attached
great value to purity of morals, though he detested the
life of the hermit. Accused without cause of insincerity,
he hated all false show, but he was inordinately puncti-
lious about all forms, and perhaps not wholly free from
superstition. If he thus appears somewhat narrow-
minded, whoever judges him by the age in which he lived
and the nation to which he belonged, notes the powerful
CONFUCIANISM.

31

impression which he made upon friends and foes, and
observes, above all, bis intercourse with his disciples, will
recognise in him a man of rare qualities, endowed with a
noble heart and a penetrating spirit.

22.   The religious doctrine of Kong-tse is ethical natu-
ralism, founded on the state religion of the Tshow. He
engaged in supernatural questions with as much reluctance
as in practical affairs, and expressed himself very cautiously
and doubtfully on religious points. Even of heaven lief
preferred not to speak as a personal being, but he quoted its
example as the preserver of order, and he would allude to
its commands, ordinances, and purposes. But the actions
of men also help to determine their destiny. The doctrine
that good and evil are rewarded on earth by prosperity
and adversity was firmly maintained by him. To prayer
he ascribed no great value. He did not believe in direct
revelations, and be regarded forebodings and presentiments
simply as warnings. Eatber than express an opinion on
the nature of spirits and souls, be insisted that they should
be worshipped faithfully and the old usages maintained;
but he laid the greatest stress on reverence, and urged that1
the spirits should not be served in barbarous fashion, and
that, in times of scarcity, for instance, honour should not
be paid to the dead at the expense of the living.



I speak of the state-religion of the Tshow, having in
view the book named Tshow-li already quoted, which
appears to have established a new order of things, and
with the prescriptions of which Kong-tse always perfectly
accords. That this book does not reproduce the old
popular religion, and that Kong-tse only retained a portion
of the earlier doctrines of his nation, will become apparent
32

Prometheus:

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

by and by, on the consideration of Taoism. In ancient
times he was always worshipped next to Tshow, which
proves that the connection between their reforms con-
tinued to be felt.

23.   Kong-tse devoted much attention to religious
literature. He studied zealously the Yi-hing, an ob-
scure hook of magic. The Shu-king, an historical work,
was perhaps recast by himself, it is certainly written in
his spirit. The Shi-king is a collection of songs chosen
by him out of a large number, from which all mytho-
logical expressions have probably been eliminated. The
Li-hi, a ritual work, was enlarged by him. These books,
with the addition of a chronicle written entirely by him,
entitled Tshiin tsiew, and not of a religious nature, con-
stitute the five Kings, regarded by the followers of Kong-
fu-tse as the canonical hooks. In the Liin-Yu (“ Arranged
ConversationsLegge, “ Analects ”) the remarkable utter-
ances of the Master addressed to his followers were
collected by his disciples’ disciples. Others attempted
in the Ta-hio (“ the Great InstructionLegge, “ the
Great Learning ”) and the Tshung-yung (“ the Doctrine of
the Mean”) to supply a philosophical basis for his
doctrine. These works form three of the four Shu, or
classical books. The fourth, comprising the works of
the sage Meng-tse (§ 24), was added to the collection
at a much later period.

Yi-king signifies “Book of Changes.” Shu means
writings, and the Shu-king is regarded as the Book of books.
It is commonly assumed that this work was put into its
present form by Kong-tse, or at any rate modified by
him in accordance with his views, but this is questioned
MENCIUS.

33

by Legge. It is certain that it has been revised by some
one belonging to his school This is plain from a com-
parison of it with the so-called Bamboo-books found in
the grave of King Seang of Wei, who died in 295 B.C.;
these books contain a dry chronicle, with numerous
fabulous additions, giving a totally different representa-
tion of the history. The object of the Shu-king is not so
much to narrate a history, as to impart moral and poli-
tical instruction, based on historical facts. Sid are poems,
of which the Shi-Hng contains about three hundred, chosen
out of several thousand. The source of the Li-ki (“ rituum
commemoratio ”) is the Tshow-li. Tshiin-tsiew, signifying
“ Spring-Autumn,” is a chronicle of the principality
of Lu from the year 723 to 479 B.c. The Ta-hio is
ascribed to the sage Tsang-sin, or his disciples, or also,
like the Tshung-yung, to Kong-tse’s grandson Tsze-sse.

From the word Shu, “ writings,” is derived the term
Shu-kiao, the name of the doctrine or sect of Kong-tse.

24.   Immediately after Kong-tse’s death, a temple was
erected to him by the Prince of Lu, and his worship,
though not yet recognised on the part of the Govern-
ment, at first increased. Towards the commencement of
the fourth century B.C., during the serious disturbances
which led to the fall of the Tshow dynasty, new doctrines
of all kinds arose. These threatened to undermine the
authority of the Master. This tendency was resisted
with great emphasis by the learned Meng-tse (Mencius,
371-288 B.c.) In his teaching, which was principally
political and moral, or, more accurately, perhaps, anthro-
pological, the religious element retires still further into
the background than in that of Kong-tse. Less modest

and disinterested, he was more independent in character,
7   c
34

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

and a more powerful reasoner. By liis instruction and
writings he acquired great influence, triumphing over all
the opponents of Kong-tse, who was in his eyes the most
eminent of men. It is probably owing to his labours
that even the great persecution under the Ts’in dynasty
(212 B.c.), and the favour displayed by some emperors of
the Han dynasty (after 201 B.c.) towards the followers
of Lao-tse (§ 26), did not succeed in eradicating Confu-
cianism. From the year 57 of our era the worship of
Kong-tse by the side of Tshow was practised by the
emperors themselves as well as in all the schools; and
since the seventh century Kong-tse has been worshipped
alone. For the great majority of the Chinese he is the
ideal of humanity, which even the adherents of other
systems may not despise.

The persecution, begun in 212 B.C., lasted only a short
time; but it seems to have been very severe. Orders
were issued for the burning of all the canonical books
with the exception of the Yi-king, and on one occasion,
even, four hundred and sixty literati were buried alive
in pits. The persecutor was the founder of the Ts’in
dynasty himself, called Hoang-ti, like the great Emperor
so much revered by the Taoists. It was he who replaced the
feudal system by a more centralising government; he was
the first proper Emperor of China, and he was checked in
his reforms by the opposition of the Confucian sages,
who stood up for the old institutions. The occasion of
the persecution was political rather than religious,
although between these two spheres no sharp distinc-
tion can be made in China. The stern emperor, how-
ever, died within three years, and his dynasty also was
soon replaced by that of the Han. Confucianism was ex-
THE TAO-SSE.

35

posed to more danger through the many new doctrines,
alike those of the pessimist Yang-tshu, and those of Mill-
teih, the preacher of universal love, and others, which
found acceptance with many. They were obstinately
resisted by Meng-tse.

25.   The humane but prosaic Confucianism might satisfy
the majority of cultivated Chinese, but it did not meet
all wants. This not only becomes apparent at a later date
through the introduction of Buddhism, but it is also clearly
proved by the permanence of the ancient sect of the
Tao-sse, which constantly endeavoured to vie with the
ruling religion. This religious community represents
rather the spiritist side of Animism. As a religious
tendency it existed from the earliest times, and even tried
to derive its origin from the ancient Emperor Hoang-ti,
whose name is erased from the canonical books of the
Confucians. It owed its rise as an association, however,
to the necessity of offering vigorous resistance to the
teaching of Kong-tse, and to the influence of the teach-
ing of his great rival Lao-tse, whom it reveres as its
saint. It enjoyed the temporary favour of some
emperors, and it is even now very widely diffused. But
it did not succeed in gaining the ascendency in the
empire, or in making its way among the ranks of learn-
ing and distinction. The cultivated Chinese now regard
it with unmixed contempt.

Although the history of Hoang-ti, the Yellow Emperor,
is obscured by all kinds of myths, so that we might
be disposed to consider him as a mythical being,
the majority of Sinologues regard him as an historical
personage. In fact, similar myths are related of per-
36

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

sons indisputably historic, such as Lao-tse himself. The
Bamboo-books supply many details about him; in the
Shu-king his name is designedly omitted. He was
connected with Lao in the same way as Tshow with
Kong. Taoism is even called “ the doctrine ” or “ the
service of Hoang-Lao.”

/ 26. Lao-tse, bom in the principality of Thsu, 604

B.C., was highly renowned even in his lifetime as a pro-
found philosopher. Kong-tse visited him in order to
consult him as an older and celebrated sage, and esteemed
him highly, but the tendency of Lao was entirely different
from his own, leading to mystic reflection and the con-
templative life. Not much is known of his history,
but the story of his journey to India must be rejected as
unworthy of belief. He wrote the famous Tao-te-King,
which became the most sacred book of the sect, although
its adherents, at any rate at the present day, certainly do
not understand it. Tao, a term in use with Kong-tse’s
followers also, and employed by the Chinese Buddhists in
the sense of wisdom or higher enlightenment (bodhi),
possesses among the Tao-sse, who derive their name from
it, a mystic significance, and is even worshipped by them
as a divine being. Lao-tse distinguishes in his book
between the nameless, supreme Tao, which is the ultimate
source, and the Tao which -can be named, and is the mother
of everything. To this, and to the power or virtue pro-
ceeding from it (te=virtus), the highest worship, according
to him, is due, and in this does the sage find his ideal.
To withdraw entirely into himself and free himself from
the constraints of sense, in order, thus, without action or
speech, to exercise a blessed power, must be his aim.
THE TAO-SSE.

37

This is the best philosophy of life and the best policy. The
often obscure system developed in the Tao-te-King is purely
Chinese, and is incorrectly derived from the influence of
Indian philosophy, with which it agrees rather in form
than in spirit. From the Buddhist doctrine it is essentially
different. It is marked by a morbid asceticism, and takes
up an attitude of hostility towards civilisation and pro- ^
gress, but it is distinguished by a pure and sometimes
very elevated morality.

It is altogether erroneous to regard Tao, with Eemusat,
as the primeval Reason, the \6yog, and worse still to call the
Tao-sse the Chinese rationalists. This character fits them
least of all, and they do their utmost to be as unreason-
able as possible. The name would be much more appro-
priate to their opponents. The ordinary meaning of the
word is “ way,” in the literal and the metaphorical sense,
but always “ the chief way.” In the mysticism of Lao the
term is applied to the supreme cause, the way or passage
through which everything enters into life, and at the
same time to the way of the highest perfection.

27. The later writings of the Tao-sse, among which
the Book of Rewards and Punishments occupies a pro-
minent place, show that they did not maintain this
morality at the same elevation, but gradually lost them-
selves in confused mysticism and an unreasoning belief
in miracles. To gain long life and immortality by means J y/
of self-chastisement, prayer, and watching, as well as by
the use of certain charms, was their highest endeavour.

But many remains of the ancient Chinese mythology,
banished by Kong-tse, and transformed by Lao-tse into
38

RELIGION AMONG THE CHINESE.

philosophical reflections, were preserved nearly unaltered
in their dogmas.

28. The ancient Chinese religion, which, with vast
differences in character, stands at the same point of
development as the Egyptian, in some respects took a
higher flight than the latter. By Tshow and Kong-tse
it was purified from many superstitions, which in Egypt
lasted till the fall of the Empire. The feudal system, as it
prevailed in China, amid all its faults possessed one virtue,
in that it permitted a much more independent develop-
ment of personality and a freer influence on the part of
the sages, than the theocratic absolutism which in Egypt
crippled all intellectual movement.

When the feudal system in China was obliged to give
way before another form of government, the two sects
were too firmly rooted to be involved in the ruin of the
old polity, yet they proved too purely national for either
of them to become a universal religion. It was only when
Chinese civilisation made its way complete, as in Corea
and Japan, that the Chinese religion, especially the doctrine
and worship of Kong-tse, was adopted with it.
( 39 )

Prometheus:

CHAPTER in.

RELIGION AMONG THE HAMITES AND SEMITES.

Compare F. Lenormant, Les Premieres Civilisations, tom. i.,
“ Archseol. pr6historique,” Egypte; tom. ii., “ Chaldee et
Assyrie, Phenicie,” Paris, 1874. G. Rawltnson, The
Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, 3 vols.
(3d edition), London, 1873. Oppert, Memoire sur les
Rapports de VEgypte et de VAssyrie dans I’Antiquite, Paris,
1869, “ Progrfes des Etudes relatives h l’Egypte et a
rOrient.” Etudes Egypt., par E. de Roug£ ; Dechiffr. des
Ecrit. cuneif, par De Saulcy ; Etudes Semitiques, par
Munk j Langue et Lilt. Arab., par Reynaud, &c., 1867.
Transacts of the Soc. of Bill. Archeology, London, 1872, sqq.
P. Pierret, Melanges d’Archceol. Egypt, et Assyr. (in con-
tinuation of De Rouge’s Recueil de Travaux, &e., of which
one part appeared in 1870), Paris, 1872, sqq. Lepsius’
Zeitschrift (see below) also contains Assyrian studies.

I.

RELIGION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

Literature.—A. General Works.—The great collections
of plates after the monuments, inscriptions, and ancient
texts, such as those of Champollion, Rosellini, Leemans,
Lepsius, Sharpe, Dumichen, Mariette, Pleyte, are only
accessible to those who are familiar with the writing and
language of the Egyptians. An accurate general survey
of the history of the decipherment of hieroglyphics and
of Egyptian literature is given by J. P. Mahaffy, Pro-
40 RELIGION AMONG HAMITES AND SEMITES.

legomem to Ancient History, London, 1871. Compare
Chajipollion le JEUNE, Precis du Systeme hieroglyphique
des Anciens Egyptiens, 2d ed., with a vol. of plates, Paris,
1828, systematised in his Grammaire Egyptienne. Horapol-
linis Niloi Hieroglyphica, ed. C. Leemans, Amsterdam,
1835. Strongly to be recommended, H. Brugsch, Hiero-
glyph. Grammatik sum Nutzen der stvdirenden Jugend,
Leipzig, 1872. A useful Egyptian Grammar has been
published by P. le Page Renouf,'London, 1875. Un-
finished, E. de Roucfi, Chrestomathie Egyptienne, Abrege
grammatical, fasc. 1, Paris, 1867; fasc. 2, 1868. H.
Brugsch, Hieroglyph. - demotisches Worterbuch, 4 Bde.,
Leipzig, 1867-68. C. C. J. Bunsen, Aegyptens Stdle in
der JPeltgeschichte, 6 vols.: i.-iiL, Hamburg, 1844-45;
iv.-vi., Gotha, 1856-57. Of the English translation,
Egypts Place in Universal History, vols. i.-v., London,
1848-6 7, the fifth volume, translated by C. H. Cottrel, is
indispensable; it contains numerous additions by S. Birch,
among them being a Translation of the Booh of the Dead,
a Dictionary of Hieroglyphics, and a Grammar. Sir G.
Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Andent Egyptians,
1st series, 3 vols., London, 1837 (2d ed. of vol. i., 1842);
2d series, 2 vols., with one vol. of plates, London, 1841.
Valuable contributions will be found in the Revue ArcMo-
logique, and in the Zeitschrift fiir Aegypt. Sprache und Alter-
ihumskunde, edited by Lepsius and Brugsch, Leipzig,
1863, sqq. The following catalogues may be consulted
with profit: C. Leemans, Description Iiaisonnee des Monu-
mens Egyptiens du Musee d’Antiquites des Pays-basd Lade,
Leiden, 1840. E. de RoUGri, Notice des Monuments
Egyptiens du Musee du Louvre (ire 6d., 1849), 5me &L, Paris,
1869. H. Brugsch, Uebersetz. und Erhldr. Aegypt. Denh-
mdler des Mus. zu Berlin, Berlin, 1850. Th. Deveria,
Notice des Antiquites Egypt. duMusie deLyon, Lyons, 1857.
AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

4i

A.   Mariette-Bey, Notice des Principaux Monuments du
Musee d, Loulaq, Paris, 1869. Th. Dev£ria, Catal. des
Manuscr. Egypt, au Mush Egypt, du Louvre, Paris, 1874.

B.   Travels. — Champollion, Lettres Ecrites dEgypte
ct de Nubie en 1828 et 1829, Paris, 1833. Compare the
same author’s Notices Descriptives conformes aux Manuscr.
Autogr., Paris, 1844. E. Lepsius, Briefe aus Aegypten,
Berlin, 1852. AY. Centz, Briefe aus Aegypt. und Nub,,
Berlin, 1853. H. Brugsch, BeisebericMe aus Aegypten,
Leipzig, 1855. G. A. Hoskins, A JFinter in Upper and
Lower Egypt, London, 1863. J. J. Ampere, Voyage
en Egypte et Nubie, Paris, 1867. A. Mariette-Bey,
Itineraire de la Haule-Egypte, Alexandrie, 1872. H.
Brugsch, Wanderung nach den Tiirkis-Minen und der Sinai-
Ealbinsel, 2d ed., Leipzig, 1868.

G. History.—E. Lepsius, Konigsbuch, Berlin, 1858.
H. Brugsch, Histoire <T Egypte dbs les Premiers temps de
son -existence jusgu’d nos jours, ira partie (to Nectanebos),
Leipzig, 1859; 2de ed., ir° partie (to the end of the seven-
teenth dynasty), Leipzig, 1875. A complete German edi-
tion by the author has appeared, 1877. It contains some
additions and corrections, but the proper names are
given in transcription only. E. DE Eouge, Becherches
sur les Monuments qu’on pent altribuer aux six premieres
Dynasties, Paris, 1866. Lepsius, “Ueber die zwolfte Aegypt,
Konigsdynastie ” (Alcad. der JFiss., BerL, Jan. 5, 1852).
F. Chabas, Les Pasteurs en Egypte, Amsterdam, 1868.
Id., Becherches pour servir a VHistoire de la XIXe Dyn.,
Chalons et Paris, 1873. M. Budinger, Zur Aegyptische
Forschung Herodots, Vienna, 1873. S. Sharpe, History of
Egypt, 2 vols., 6th ed., London, 1876, must be used with
caution in regard to Egyptian religion. Compare M.
Duncker, Geschichte des Alterthums, voL i. F. Lenor-
mant, Manual of the Ancient History of the East, London,
42 RELIGION AMONG HAMITES AND SEMITES.

1869, vol. i. Philip Smith, The Ancient History of the
East, London, 1871, vol. i. G. Maspero, Histoire An-
cienne des Peuples de 1’Orient, 2de ed., Paris, 1876.

On Chronology.—R. Lepsius, Einleit. zur Chronol. der
Aegypt., Berlin, 1848. J. Lieblein, Aegypt. Chronol.,
Christiania, 1863. F. J. C. Mayer, Aegyptens Vorzeit und
Chronol., Bonn, 1862. J. DuMichen, Die erste sichere
Angabe iiber die Regierungszeit eines Aegypt. Konigs aus dem
alien Reich, Leipzig, 1874. Unsatisfactory, C. Piazzi
Smith, On the Antiquity of Intellect. Man, Edinburgh, 1868.

D.   Texts with translation, and translated texts.—R.
Lepsius, Das Todtenbuch der Aegypter, nach dem hierogl.
Pap. in Turin, Leipzig, 1842; translated by Birch in
Bunsen’s Egypt's Place, &c., see above; by Brugsch in
the Zeitschr. fiir Aegypt. Spraehe, 1872, sqq. (not yet
finished); and quite erroneously by G. SEYFFARTH in
Theol. Schriften der alien Aegypter, Gotha, 1855. Compare
Pleyte, Etudes Egyptologiques, Leiden, 1866, sqq. Eug.
Lefebure, Traduction comparee des Ilymnes au Soleil
compos, le xif chapitre du Rit. fun. Egypt., Paris, 1868.
Lepsius, Adteste Texte des Todtenbuchs nach SarJcofagen
des altaegypt. Reichs, Berlin, 1867. F. Chabas, Le Papy-
rus magique Harris, publ. et trad., Chalons, i860. Id.,
Melanges Egyptologiques, ie-3e serie, Chalons et Paris.
1862, sqq. Id., Le Calendrier des Jours fastes et nefastes
(Pap. SaJlier IV.), trad, compl., ibid., no date. G. Maspero,
Essai sur Vinscript, dedie. du temple d’Abydos, Paris, 1867.
Id., Hymne au Nil, publ. et trad., Paris, 1868. Records of
the Past, vols. iL and iv., containing Egyptian texts,
London, 1874-75. C. W. Goodwin, The Story of Saneha,
an Egypt. Tale, trand. from the hieratic Text, London,
1866. W. Pleyte, “ Een lofzang aan Ptali ” (Evangelie-
spiegel, and “De Veldslag van Rainses den Groote
tegen de Cheta,” Theol. Tijdschr., 1869, p. 221, sqq.
AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

43

Louis Menard, IlermJes Trismegiste, trad, compl., Paris,
1S66.

E.   Religion. — C. P. Tiele, Yergel. Geschiedenis der
Egypt, en Mesopot. Godsdd., Amsterdam, 1869-72; first
book, Egypie. Ciiampollion’S Pantheon Egyptien remains
unfinished. Plutarch, Ueber Ids und Odris, edited by G.
Parthey, Berlin. Lepsius, Ueber den ersten Aegypt.
Gotterkreis und seine geschichtlich-mythologische Entstehung,
Berlin, 1851. Id., Ueber die Goiter der vier Elemente bei
den Aegypt., Berlin, 1856. Pleyte, Lettre sur quelques
monuments relaiifs au dieu Set, Leiden, 1863. Id., Set dans
la barque du Soldi, ibid., 1865. Ed. Meyer, Set-Typhon,
cine relig.-geschichtl. Studie, Leipzig, 1875. Bkugsch, Die
Sage von der geflugelten Sonnenscheibe, Gottingen, 1870.
(Comp. E. Naville, Textes relaiifs au Mythe d’lloros dans
le temple d’Edfou, Geneva and Basle, 1870.) Sir Ch.
Nicholson, “ On the Disk-Worshippers of Memphis,” in
the Transactt. of the Roy. Soc. of Literature, 2d ser. vol. ix.
pt. ii. p. 197, sqq. M. Uhlemann, Das Todtengericht bei
den alien Aegyptern, Berlin, 1854. P. Pierret, Le Dogme
de la Resurrection chez les anciens Egyptiens, Paris, no date.
G. Parthey, Das Orakel und die Oase des Ammon, Berlin,
1862. Eug. Plew, De Sarapide, Koningsberg, 1868.
Brugsch, Die Adonisklage und das Linoslied, Berlin, 1852.
Dumichen, Ueber die Tempel und Graber im alien Aegypt.,
Strassburg, 1872. Id., Bauurkunde der Tempel-anlagen
von Dendera, Leipzig, 1865. Id., Der Aegypt. Felsentempel
von Abu-Simbel, Berlin, 1869. Brugsch, Die Aegypt.
Graberwelt, Leipzig, 1868. The treatise of 0. Beaure-
gard, Les Divinites Egyptiennes, Paris, 1866, must be
regarded as a complete failure.

F.   Egyptian Eeligion in relation to other religions.—
Fleyte, La Religion des Pre-Israelites, Recherches sur le
Dieu Seth, Utrecht, 1862. W. G. Brill, Israel en Egypie,
44

Prometheus:

RELIGION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

Utrecht, 1857. Uhlemann, Israeliten und Hyksos m
Aegypt., Leipzig, 1856. F. J. Latjth, Moses der Ebraer,
nach Aegypt. Papyrus-Urhmdm, Munich, 1868. A. Eisen-
LOHR, Der grosse Papyrus Harris, ein Zeugniss fur die
Mosaische Peligionssliflung enthallend, Leipzig, 1872. (The
results in all these treatises are still very uncertain.) G.
Ebers, Aegypten und die Bucher Mose’s, vol. i. (publica-
tion not continued), Leipzig, 1868, thoroughly scientific.
Sharpe, Egyptian Mythology and Egypt. Christianity, Lon-
don, 1863, deficient in its treatment of the ancient
Egyptian religion, yet not •without value for the rela-
tion of its later forms to Christianity. E. Roth, Die
Aegypt. und Zoroastr. Glaubenslehre als die allesten Qudlen
unserer specvlativen Idem (the first part of the Geschichte
unser. Abendl. Philosophie), Mannheim, 1862, rendered use-
less, in spite of its learning, by wrong method. It has
been imitated and outdone by J. Braun, Naturgeschichle
der Sage, Euckfiihrung aller relig. Ideen u.s.w. auf ihren
gemeinsamen Stammbaum, two vols., Munich, 1864.

29. Among the sources of our knowledge of the ancient
Egyptian religion, the first and principal place belongs to
the so - called Book of the Dead, or “ Book of the
going forth on the Day,” a collection of texts partly
ancient, and partly of later date, intended by their magic
power to secure the victory for the soul on its journey
to the abodes of eternity. To the same class belong
certain magic papyri, except that these were to serve
in the contest against evil spirits upon earth. All
these books, on which fresh light is being constantly
thrown, are inexhaustible mines for Egyptian mythology.
Further, both these and others include religious hymns of
the highest importance. The historical and literary works,
ANIMISTIC USAGES.

45

also, the numerous inscriptions on temples, tombs, and
other monuments, contain not a little hearing on re-
ligion. Though much yet remains to he investigated
and explained, all this material, when compared with the
statements of the Greeks, enables us to form a very
fair conception of the belief and the worship of the ancient
Egyptians. The history of this religion, however, can
only be sketched in its main outlines.

30- In Egypt the old elements were not replaced by
those of later growth, but always remained standing by
their side. Thus through every period of Egyptian
history we find different usages of animistic origin
retained, though perhaps with changed significance, along
with very elevated religious ideas, which are by no means
in accord with them. Among these may be ranked the
cultus of the dead, the deification of the kings, and the 1/
worship of animals, which reached the same height among
no other people. The dead were worshipped in sepul-
chral chapels and temples; the kings, even in their life-
time, were regarded as the deity upon earth; and certain
animals, among which the sacred bulls occupied the most
prominent place, originally no doubt worshipped as
fetishes, received homage as the incarnations of a higher
being. Fetishism also was the root of the custom by
which the innermost sanctuary of the temple contained
no image, but only a symbol of the chief god. That the
Egyptian religion, like the Chinese, was originally nothing
but an organised animism, is proved by the institutions of
worship. Here, too, existed no exclusive priestly caste.
Descendants sacrificed to their ancestors, the officers of
state to the special local divinities, the king to the deities
46

RELIGION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

of the whole country. Not till later did an order of
scribes and a regular priesthood arise, and even these as
a rule were not hereditary.

The worship of animals is said to have been introduced
by Kaiechos (Kakau, of the second dynasty) ; but if this
statement deserves any credit, and is not founded on his
name, which may signify “ the bulls,” it can only be re-
ferred to an official recognition of the animal-worship as
a state institution. Such usages cannot be imposed by
authority: they grow up among the people. The bull-
gods chiefly honoured were the black Apis (Hapi, to be
distinguished from the Nile-god H&pi) of Memphis, and
the white or yellow Mnevis (Mena) of Heliopolis. Of the
first, Chamus, son of Ramses II., the builder of the
Serapeum, was an ardent worshipper. Even centuries
later the people were so deeply attached to this cultus
that the gift of a new Apis by Darius Hystaspes reconciled
them for a time to the hated Persian rule.

The absence of an image in the inmost sanctuary of the
temple, sometimes regarded as an evidence of a certain
spirituality, is only a proof of the devotion of the
Egyptians to ancient customs. There were images every-
where, but in the naos only the ancient fetish, dead or
living, now perhaps, though this cannot be affirmed with
certainty, regarded as a symbol.

31.   It is altogether erroneous to regard the Egyptian
religion as the polytheistic degeneration of a prehistoric
monotheism. It was polytheistic from the beginning, but
it developed in two entirely opposite directions. On the
one hand, the world of gods, through the addition of-
the local religions and the adoption of foreign deities,
grew richer and richer. On the other hand, a gradual
TRIUMPH OF LIGHT AND LIFE.

47

and tentative approach was made to monotheism, without
attaining clear and unequivocal expression of it. The
scribes harmonised the two, by representing the plurality
of deities as the manifestations of the one uncreated hidden
god—as his members, created by himself.

32.   The Egyptian mythology reproduces in varying
forms two leading ideas. The first is the belief in
the triumph of light over darkness, and of life over
death. This is exhibited by the sun-myths. The
victory of light, conceived for the most part physi-
cally, is represented in the conflict of Ka, the god of
Heliopolis (An) and the chief god of Egypt, with
the serpent Apap. The triumph of life over death is
rather the subject of the myth of Osiris, the other chief
god of the empire, specially worshipped in Thinis-Abydos.
Osiris, slain by his brother Set—lamented by his wife and
sister Isis and Xephthys—endowed by Thut, the god of
science and literature, with the power of the word—is
avenged by his son Horos, and, while himself reigning in
the kingdom of the Dead, lives again in him on earth.
This mythic representation of the death and reawakening
of the life of nature which was observed in the succession
of day and night and of the seasons, was very early, and
more closely than the myth of Ea, brought into connec-
tion with the doctrine of the resurrection. Each man, at
his death, became identified with Osiris. As with the
body of the god, his also was mourned, embalmed, and
buried. As the soul of the god shines in Orion in the
sky, so that of the departed lives likewise among the stars.
As the shade of the one conquers in the world of the
48

RELIGION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

Dead, so that of the other sustains there a series of trials
in order at last to pass in and out freely with the god of
light, and he united with him for ever.

The belief in the victory of light and life was ex-
pressed in the very name, nuteru, “those who renew them-
selves,” which is the general designation of the gods, and
in the constantly recurring triads of father, mother, and
son. That the son is no other than the father himself
alive once more, appears from the formula, “husband
of his mother (ka mut-f),” which is applied to several
Egyptian deities.

Though certainly regarded originally as independent
gods, the other chief gods of Heliopolis must be viewed
as forms of Rt. Such were the visible Harmachis (Ed
Harmachuti, Ra-Horos on the two horizons), the hidden
Turn (A turn, the nightly sun-god), Chepra, the creator,

“ he who continually renews himself,” symbolised by a
beetle. Less closely connected with him was his ally
Shu, of whom two varying representations exist, founded
on two different meanings of his name. As the “out-
spread ” or “ out-stretching,” he is the god of the sky ; as
the “ consuming,” he is the god of the scorching heat of
the sun.

The meaning of the names of Osiris (Asar, Asm), Set
(Set or Suti), and Thut (Thuti) is uncertain. The two
first are the two hostile sun-gods, whom we find among
the Semites. The last was once a moon-god, and then
became the god of numbers, of weights and measures, and
subsequently of literature and science. Isis (As) is the
“ancient,” the “venerable,” or better, the “exalted;”
Nephthys (Nebt-ha) the “ mistress of the house,” goddess
of the underworld. Horos (Her, the “ uppermost,” “ he .
who is above ”) is the god of the sun by day, and has a
DOCTRINE OF CREATION.

49

number of forms. It would seem that it was not till the
myth of Osiris was so closely united with the belief in
the resurrection, that Anubis (Anup or Anpu), the con-
ductor of souls, was taken into it. In the oldest tombs
it is with his image that we generally meet, and not
with that of Osiris, as at a later date.

33.   The other leading idea is that of creation by
the supreme uncreated god with his assistant spirits, of
which the eight personified cosmic powers are the chief.
The work of creation is ascribed, indeed, to all the
principal deities, but especially to the gods of fire and
the element of moisture. At the head of the first
stands Ptah, the god of Memphis, who himself personi-
fies the cosmic fire, as the soul of the universe; just
as his “ great beloved ” Sechet represents its destroying
and purifying power, and Neith of Sais—often united with
him—its mysterious hidden operation, while his form Bes
with his consort Bast symbolise its beneficent warmth and
cheering glow. That Chnum the architect, god of the
waters—originally the wind which moves and fertilises
them—and consequently the soul of the universe, and
Hapi the bTile-god, should also be regarded as creative
deities, needs no further explanation.

The eight cosmic powers (Semenu or Sesenm, from
whom the city of Thut, Hermopolis, derived its Egyptian
name), always united with Thut, but nevertheless to be
distinguished from his seven assistants, constitute four
pairs: Nun and Nunt, the celestial ocean, the abyss ;
Ilch and Held, time (without end); Kek and Kekt, dark-
ness ; Nerd and Nenit, breath, spirit, or wind. These are
the four personifications of the ideas embodied in the well-
7   D
RELIGION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

So-

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