DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4031#0034
THE LIBRARY OF THMTJIS.
21
found on the Ptolemaic tablet. I think, there-
fore, that the expression ^/yf^ ■¥* of the tablet
must be translated the living soul or the living
spirit, rather than the living ram. The coffin
is ornamented like sarcophagi for human
beings, with representations of the sky, of the
gods of the elements, of night and day, and of
the different hours, and with the name of each
of them. The words spoken to the Ba anhh
are quite similar to the formulae addressed
to men. The sacred ram is supposed to sym-
bolise the productive and generative power of
nature, and he unites in his own person four
different rams, who are sometimes represented
in an abridged form as one single body with
four heads. On the Ptolemaic tablet he is
called : the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
the living spirit of Ba, the living spirit of Shu,
the living spirit of Seb, the living spirit of Osiris,
the spirit of spirits, the lord of lords, the heir in
the city of Tonen (Mendes). In another part of
the same text it is said of him : appearing on
the horizon with four heads, illuminating heaven
and earth, coming as Nile, causing the earth to
live, and (giving) the air to mankind. From
these two texts it is clear that he is supposed
to unite in himself the four elements, light or
fire, water, earth, and air ; these are the four
heads with which he is often represented, or
the four different rams of the composite deity,
which are sometimes attributed to four different
cities of Egypt.
But whether the sacred animal of Mendes
was a ram or a he-goat, it was, at any rate,
treated as a god, and divine honours were
granted to it. The ram lived in the temple,
and had his priests and his priestesses, who
took care of him. As with the bull Apis, there
was only one sacred ram at a time, one having
certain characteristic marks in proof of his
divinity. Like Apis also, he appeared some-
where quite unexpectedly. In the Ptolemaic
tablet it is said that in a year of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, which was probably the twenty-
second, people came to say to His Majesty that
a ram had appeared in a certain locality west of
Mendes, near the pylons, and they asked that
the king himself should enthrone the god, and
establish him in the temple, the repairs of which
had just then been completed. Five experts
were called in to examine the animal from cities
where it was worshipped ; and when they had
duly inspected the young ram, and certified that
his marks were correct, according to the divine
regulations, his fourfold title was given him,
the king himself enthroned him, and caused
him to be led in procession into the temple.
A great festival took place; aud the king
availed himself of the occasion to dedicate a
statue of his deceased sister and wife Arsinoe,
which was to be placed near the sacred ram.
As I said before, the city of Thmuis super-
seded Mendes when Egypt was under Roman
rule. The name of Mendes does not occur in
the list of bishoprics, but only that of Thmuis.
0JUiOYlc^~RAKieJUiOYl are the names we find in
the Oxford list.7 The great quantity of Roman
ruins, aqueducts, remains of barracks and of
what I consider to be the palace of the governor,
which had a portico with granite columns, all
show the importance to which the city rose
under the Romans. I dug in several of the
houses without finding anything valuable. I
have elsewhere described the chambers filled
with burnt papyri, which I called the library
of Mendes, but which should more correctly
have been described as the library of Thmuis.
Whether it was a library, or merely held the
archives of the city, it certainly contained a
considerable number of documents. A few
fragments in possession of Daninos Pacha have
been read by Prof. Sayce, who found them to
be accounts. But it is probable that in a
building of such a large extent there must
have been books of another kind. They were
all written in Greek.
7 J. de Rouge, I.e., p. 156.
21
found on the Ptolemaic tablet. I think, there-
fore, that the expression ^/yf^ ■¥* of the tablet
must be translated the living soul or the living
spirit, rather than the living ram. The coffin
is ornamented like sarcophagi for human
beings, with representations of the sky, of the
gods of the elements, of night and day, and of
the different hours, and with the name of each
of them. The words spoken to the Ba anhh
are quite similar to the formulae addressed
to men. The sacred ram is supposed to sym-
bolise the productive and generative power of
nature, and he unites in his own person four
different rams, who are sometimes represented
in an abridged form as one single body with
four heads. On the Ptolemaic tablet he is
called : the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
the living spirit of Ba, the living spirit of Shu,
the living spirit of Seb, the living spirit of Osiris,
the spirit of spirits, the lord of lords, the heir in
the city of Tonen (Mendes). In another part of
the same text it is said of him : appearing on
the horizon with four heads, illuminating heaven
and earth, coming as Nile, causing the earth to
live, and (giving) the air to mankind. From
these two texts it is clear that he is supposed
to unite in himself the four elements, light or
fire, water, earth, and air ; these are the four
heads with which he is often represented, or
the four different rams of the composite deity,
which are sometimes attributed to four different
cities of Egypt.
But whether the sacred animal of Mendes
was a ram or a he-goat, it was, at any rate,
treated as a god, and divine honours were
granted to it. The ram lived in the temple,
and had his priests and his priestesses, who
took care of him. As with the bull Apis, there
was only one sacred ram at a time, one having
certain characteristic marks in proof of his
divinity. Like Apis also, he appeared some-
where quite unexpectedly. In the Ptolemaic
tablet it is said that in a year of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, which was probably the twenty-
second, people came to say to His Majesty that
a ram had appeared in a certain locality west of
Mendes, near the pylons, and they asked that
the king himself should enthrone the god, and
establish him in the temple, the repairs of which
had just then been completed. Five experts
were called in to examine the animal from cities
where it was worshipped ; and when they had
duly inspected the young ram, and certified that
his marks were correct, according to the divine
regulations, his fourfold title was given him,
the king himself enthroned him, and caused
him to be led in procession into the temple.
A great festival took place; aud the king
availed himself of the occasion to dedicate a
statue of his deceased sister and wife Arsinoe,
which was to be placed near the sacred ram.
As I said before, the city of Thmuis super-
seded Mendes when Egypt was under Roman
rule. The name of Mendes does not occur in
the list of bishoprics, but only that of Thmuis.
0JUiOYlc^~RAKieJUiOYl are the names we find in
the Oxford list.7 The great quantity of Roman
ruins, aqueducts, remains of barracks and of
what I consider to be the palace of the governor,
which had a portico with granite columns, all
show the importance to which the city rose
under the Romans. I dug in several of the
houses without finding anything valuable. I
have elsewhere described the chambers filled
with burnt papyri, which I called the library
of Mendes, but which should more correctly
have been described as the library of Thmuis.
Whether it was a library, or merely held the
archives of the city, it certainly contained a
considerable number of documents. A few
fragments in possession of Daninos Pacha have
been read by Prof. Sayce, who found them to
be accounts. But it is probable that in a
building of such a large extent there must
have been books of another kind. They were
all written in Greek.
7 J. de Rouge, I.e., p. 156.