DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11715#0122
THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS.
and the head of a crocodile and the
body of a horse ; his name, " the De
vourer of Amenti," as well as his
appearance, point him out as another
of the ministers of vengeance excutino-
the judgments of the divinity before
whom he crouches.
The sentence pronounced was full
of joy to the good, and of woe to the
wicked. They who, by the faithful
discharge of their duties as children, as
parents, as masters or servants, as
kings or subjects, had been enabled to
pass the ordeal, were admitted to the
habitations of blessedness, where they
rested from their labors. Here they
reap the corn and gather the fruits of
paradise under the eye and smile of
the lord of joy, that is, the sun, who
exhorts them thus : "Take your sick- tombs of the kings at thebes.
les, reap your grain, carry it into your
dwellings, and be glad therewith, and present it a pure offering to the god." There
also they bathe in the pure river of life that flows past their habitations. Over them is
inscribed : "They have found favor in the eyes of the great god, they inhabit the man-
sions of glory, where they enjoy the life of heaven ; the bodies which they have
abandoned shall repose in their tombs while they rejoice in the presence of the supreme
god."
The system of eschatology, thus sketched in the briefest possible outline, suggests
many questions of profound interest, to which, however, no adequate reply can at pres-
ent be given. Whence was it derived ? Is it a distorted tradition of some primeval
revelation made to man ; or is it but a part of that universal illumination of the Holy
Spirit, which "enlightening every man that cometh into the world," never leaves God
without a witness even in the heart of the heathen, "so that they are without excuse?"
It is easy for us to discover a symbolism in the forms in which these beliefs were em-
bodied. For instance, we may see in the monsters which avenged the different vices
118
and the head of a crocodile and the
body of a horse ; his name, " the De
vourer of Amenti," as well as his
appearance, point him out as another
of the ministers of vengeance excutino-
the judgments of the divinity before
whom he crouches.
The sentence pronounced was full
of joy to the good, and of woe to the
wicked. They who, by the faithful
discharge of their duties as children, as
parents, as masters or servants, as
kings or subjects, had been enabled to
pass the ordeal, were admitted to the
habitations of blessedness, where they
rested from their labors. Here they
reap the corn and gather the fruits of
paradise under the eye and smile of
the lord of joy, that is, the sun, who
exhorts them thus : "Take your sick- tombs of the kings at thebes.
les, reap your grain, carry it into your
dwellings, and be glad therewith, and present it a pure offering to the god." There
also they bathe in the pure river of life that flows past their habitations. Over them is
inscribed : "They have found favor in the eyes of the great god, they inhabit the man-
sions of glory, where they enjoy the life of heaven ; the bodies which they have
abandoned shall repose in their tombs while they rejoice in the presence of the supreme
god."
The system of eschatology, thus sketched in the briefest possible outline, suggests
many questions of profound interest, to which, however, no adequate reply can at pres-
ent be given. Whence was it derived ? Is it a distorted tradition of some primeval
revelation made to man ; or is it but a part of that universal illumination of the Holy
Spirit, which "enlightening every man that cometh into the world," never leaves God
without a witness even in the heart of the heathen, "so that they are without excuse?"
It is easy for us to discover a symbolism in the forms in which these beliefs were em-
bodied. For instance, we may see in the monsters which avenged the different vices
118