DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4993#0025
4
egyptian pantheon.
silver, and bronze. Some of the gold made of beaten plates, with rings attached
for the purpose, and certain small figures in solid gold or silver, also with rings,
appear to have formed parts of necklaces attached to the necks of mummies.
The larger bronze figures consist of two classes, those apparently used for the
cultus, as representing the figures of the deities or sacred animals, and those
employed for worship, and others used as votive offerings. These have rings
on the back, as if intended for suspension, and have been found deposited in
niches or under the pavement-floors of the temples, and do not come from the
tombs. They have the legs detached, stand upon square pedestals, and the
ring at the back appears to show that they were attached to some object. On
the pedestals of some are engraved in outline the name of the deity and of the
dedicator, and some of the richest of these objects have their inscriptions and
other portions inlaid in gold or silver. The wooden figures appear to be
found in tombs where they have been deposited, and some were used as cases to
hold papyri or other objects. Some of the wooden specimens are portions of
objects, such as standards, handles, and other utensils or tools which illustrate
the Pantheon. There is a great difference in the relative number of the different
objects found, some deities, such as Amen-Ra, Osiris, Isis, and Horus, being rarely
discovered in porcelain, but often of bronze; while other types, such as Ptah-
Socharis-Osiris, Shu or Sos, elevating the solar disk, occur in porcelain only.
On the whole, the greatest variety of types is of this metal, many singular
and unique types being found in it. On the other hand, the various collections
never contain a complete Pantheon, as the subordinate types and manifestations
are never discovered in the objects of which it is composed. The sacred animals
are found in all materials, but on the whole are much rarer than the types
of deities, and were employed for the same purposes.
1. Ptah, the Egyptian Hephaistos, or Vulcan, first of the gods of the first
order or circle at Memphis, of which he was the eponymous or presiding local
deity, and in his celestial character the cosmic demiurgos or creator, wearing a
skull-cap, namms, standing on a pedestal, his hands emerging from the gar-
ments holding a sceptre, uas, or uasem, in front. 4fin. high; 2| in. pedestal;
l|-in. wide. Bronze.
2. Ptah, the Egyptian Hephaistos, or Vulcan, eponymous god of Memphis,
lord of the cubit or of truth, maker of the son and moon or kosmos, according to
egyptian pantheon.
silver, and bronze. Some of the gold made of beaten plates, with rings attached
for the purpose, and certain small figures in solid gold or silver, also with rings,
appear to have formed parts of necklaces attached to the necks of mummies.
The larger bronze figures consist of two classes, those apparently used for the
cultus, as representing the figures of the deities or sacred animals, and those
employed for worship, and others used as votive offerings. These have rings
on the back, as if intended for suspension, and have been found deposited in
niches or under the pavement-floors of the temples, and do not come from the
tombs. They have the legs detached, stand upon square pedestals, and the
ring at the back appears to show that they were attached to some object. On
the pedestals of some are engraved in outline the name of the deity and of the
dedicator, and some of the richest of these objects have their inscriptions and
other portions inlaid in gold or silver. The wooden figures appear to be
found in tombs where they have been deposited, and some were used as cases to
hold papyri or other objects. Some of the wooden specimens are portions of
objects, such as standards, handles, and other utensils or tools which illustrate
the Pantheon. There is a great difference in the relative number of the different
objects found, some deities, such as Amen-Ra, Osiris, Isis, and Horus, being rarely
discovered in porcelain, but often of bronze; while other types, such as Ptah-
Socharis-Osiris, Shu or Sos, elevating the solar disk, occur in porcelain only.
On the whole, the greatest variety of types is of this metal, many singular
and unique types being found in it. On the other hand, the various collections
never contain a complete Pantheon, as the subordinate types and manifestations
are never discovered in the objects of which it is composed. The sacred animals
are found in all materials, but on the whole are much rarer than the types
of deities, and were employed for the same purposes.
1. Ptah, the Egyptian Hephaistos, or Vulcan, first of the gods of the first
order or circle at Memphis, of which he was the eponymous or presiding local
deity, and in his celestial character the cosmic demiurgos or creator, wearing a
skull-cap, namms, standing on a pedestal, his hands emerging from the gar-
ments holding a sceptre, uas, or uasem, in front. 4fin. high; 2| in. pedestal;
l|-in. wide. Bronze.
2. Ptah, the Egyptian Hephaistos, or Vulcan, eponymous god of Memphis,
lord of the cubit or of truth, maker of the son and moon or kosmos, according to