DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4669#0110
86 THE LAND OF THE MONUMENTS
record of the enormous gifts made by Rameses III.
to this shrine. The staff of priests at this time 'the
XXth Dynasty) amounted to 13,000, which may have
included all the' students of the university who were
sent there to be educated for the priesthood.
Another interesting fact connected with this
temple is that a tablet bearing the decree of
Ptolemy Epiphanes, 196" B.C., was originally placed
within its walls. This was accidentally dug up near
Rosetta about a century ago, and is hence known as
" the Rosetta stone." The decree was engraved in
the hieroglyphic and Demotic characters of Egypt,
and in Greek. The discovery of this stone gave
the first clue to the decipherment of the Egyp-
tian characters. The Greek was easily read, and
through it, by patient stud}-, the values of the other
scripts were ascertained, and the hitherto sealed lan-
guage of Ancient Egypt placed in the light of day.
Thus we find that Heliopolis from first to last has a
vast store of interest for us, though the magnificence
of the Temple of tin- Sun has passed away, and the
long-adored Mnevis no longer dwells within his stable
sanctuary, nor does the Phoenix or Bennu bird conn-
as was supposed once in five hundred years from the
Isle of Palms to die in the flames, and rise again to
new life from the ashes. The adoration of sacred
animals was a peculiar feature of the religion of the
Egyptians. Herodotus and Strabo were evidently
astonished to find "the ox Mnevis" regarded as a god
by the inhabitants. It is still more astonishing to us
to find that this adoration existed during the Second
Dynasty if not earlier ), and was continued to the time
of Strabo ! Mnevis bulls in succession must therefore
have been kept for a period of four thousand years,
record of the enormous gifts made by Rameses III.
to this shrine. The staff of priests at this time 'the
XXth Dynasty) amounted to 13,000, which may have
included all the' students of the university who were
sent there to be educated for the priesthood.
Another interesting fact connected with this
temple is that a tablet bearing the decree of
Ptolemy Epiphanes, 196" B.C., was originally placed
within its walls. This was accidentally dug up near
Rosetta about a century ago, and is hence known as
" the Rosetta stone." The decree was engraved in
the hieroglyphic and Demotic characters of Egypt,
and in Greek. The discovery of this stone gave
the first clue to the decipherment of the Egyp-
tian characters. The Greek was easily read, and
through it, by patient stud}-, the values of the other
scripts were ascertained, and the hitherto sealed lan-
guage of Ancient Egypt placed in the light of day.
Thus we find that Heliopolis from first to last has a
vast store of interest for us, though the magnificence
of the Temple of tin- Sun has passed away, and the
long-adored Mnevis no longer dwells within his stable
sanctuary, nor does the Phoenix or Bennu bird conn-
as was supposed once in five hundred years from the
Isle of Palms to die in the flames, and rise again to
new life from the ashes. The adoration of sacred
animals was a peculiar feature of the religion of the
Egyptians. Herodotus and Strabo were evidently
astonished to find "the ox Mnevis" regarded as a god
by the inhabitants. It is still more astonishing to us
to find that this adoration existed during the Second
Dynasty if not earlier ), and was continued to the time
of Strabo ! Mnevis bulls in succession must therefore
have been kept for a period of four thousand years,