DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0095
branches, which inclose the island of Monsourieh, and has be-
sides in both its beds a number of low islands, some of which are
cultivated, others are left a barren sand. This is exactly the
situation that these animals would prefer: they do not like to
remain long in the water: they love to bask in the sun on the
sand beach, and they arc of a very timid nature:—and the rocks
of Had jar Silcily below, and the cataracts above, would be further
inducements for their haunting these shores. The Oinbites then,
seeing their rapid increase, and at the same time the impossibility
of totally destroying them, might naturally determine to cultivate
them by kind treatment, and deter them from human prey, by
keeping them constantly supplied with food on the desert islands,
and in the marshes. It is also said that they are not naturally de-
structive, but when driven to mischief by hunger or provocation.
As an additional motive therefore for preserving them from the
persecution of the common people, the priests might inculcate
the propriety of worshipping them as superior beings, or of thus
testifying their gratitude for the harmless conduct of an animal
whom Nature had gifted with such powerful means of annoyance.
It is possible, on the other hand, that the crocodile may have
been consecrated by the Egyptians, as emblematic of the evil
power. As they cultivated and worshipped them when alive, so
did they, when dead, bestow upon them the last friendly otiiee,
that of embalming them ; and they deposited their mummies in
catacombs excavated for the purpose. One of these catacombs
is to be seen about a mile from Ombos ; the entrance is very low,
and in the side of a high sandy bank. The natives who showed
it us, said it went to a great distance under ground, and they
brought out to us many skulls, jaw-bones, spines, tails, &c., of
these animals, on which were still to be seen the bitumen which
preserved them, and the cotton cloth in which tiny were wrap-
3 peel.
sides in both its beds a number of low islands, some of which are
cultivated, others are left a barren sand. This is exactly the
situation that these animals would prefer: they do not like to
remain long in the water: they love to bask in the sun on the
sand beach, and they arc of a very timid nature:—and the rocks
of Had jar Silcily below, and the cataracts above, would be further
inducements for their haunting these shores. The Oinbites then,
seeing their rapid increase, and at the same time the impossibility
of totally destroying them, might naturally determine to cultivate
them by kind treatment, and deter them from human prey, by
keeping them constantly supplied with food on the desert islands,
and in the marshes. It is also said that they are not naturally de-
structive, but when driven to mischief by hunger or provocation.
As an additional motive therefore for preserving them from the
persecution of the common people, the priests might inculcate
the propriety of worshipping them as superior beings, or of thus
testifying their gratitude for the harmless conduct of an animal
whom Nature had gifted with such powerful means of annoyance.
It is possible, on the other hand, that the crocodile may have
been consecrated by the Egyptians, as emblematic of the evil
power. As they cultivated and worshipped them when alive, so
did they, when dead, bestow upon them the last friendly otiiee,
that of embalming them ; and they deposited their mummies in
catacombs excavated for the purpose. One of these catacombs
is to be seen about a mile from Ombos ; the entrance is very low,
and in the side of a high sandy bank. The natives who showed
it us, said it went to a great distance under ground, and they
brought out to us many skulls, jaw-bones, spines, tails, &c., of
these animals, on which were still to be seen the bitumen which
preserved them, and the cotton cloth in which tiny were wrap-
3 peel.