48 The House of Osiris. [Ch.

even a traditional likeness. But the features
of Pharaoh may be as familiar to us as they
were to his adoring subjects. A triple en-
closure formed by massive columns, of infinite
pathos in their lonely grandeur, is all that is
left to tell us how the earth-shaking Poseidon
was worshipped in his home at Psestum. But
every feature of the procession which trod the
long aisles of Karnak, the vessel of purification,
the wings on the sacred scribe, the company
of the singers, the quadruple ranks of priests,
the sacred ark borne upon their shoulders,
the cherubim with outstretched winars shadow-
ing the Deity enthroned between, have all
been preserved for our inspection, no less
than the words of the solemn litany which
the worshippers addressed to Ea, the unseen
Light.

Two marked peculiarities characterize the
records of the earliest times. Nothing is more
striking than the knowledge of science which
the priests of Egypt are more and more