ey of the
Nile, he appears to have been highly civilized and to have had an
elevated form of religious belief.

The oldest stelae known, one of which is now in the Ashmolean Museum at
Oxford, England, and the other in the Museum at Gizeh, Egypt; were
made for the tomb of Shera, who is called on them, "a prophet" and "a
royal relative." He was a priest of the period of Sent, the fifth king
of the IInd Dynasty, who was living about 4000 B.C. The stele is shown
by Lepsius in his _Auswahl_, Plate 9, and is the earliest example of a
hieroglyphic inscription known. These stelae are in the form of a false
door.

Upon these stelae of Shera, is inscribed the Egyptian prayer for the
soul of the dead called, the _Suten-hotep-ta_, from its first words.
The _Suten-hotep-ta_ was supposed to have been delivered by divine
revelation. An old text speaks of, a "_Suten-hotep-ta_ exactly
corresponding to the texts of sacrificial offerings, handed down by
the ancients as proceeding from the mouth of God."[1] This prayer
inscribed on the steles mentioned, asks that there may be granted the
deceased in the other world, funeral oblations, "thousands of oxen,
linen bandages, cakes, vessels of wine, incense, etc." This shows that
at this very early period there was a belief in Egypt of the future
life of the _Ba_, the responsible soul, and of the _Ka_, the vital
soul, of the deceased. The word _Ka_ enters into the names of kings
Ka-kau, Nefer-ka-Ra, and Nefer-ka-seker of the IInd Dynasty (4133-3966
B.C.) In the same Dynasty the word _Ba_, the name of the responsible
soul, and _Baiu_ its plural, enter into the names Neter-Baiu and
Ba-en-neter. _Ab_, i.e., the heart, also enters into the name of
Per-ab-sen of this Dynasty. We also have _Ba_ in the name of
Mer-ba-pen, sixth king of the Ist Dynasty.

It was during the reign of king Sent, that a medical papyrus was
edited which shows it was the result of years of experience. From
what we have just said it is extremely likely, that the body was
mummified in Egypt from the earliest period of which we have
knowledge.

Manetho says that Teta, the second king of the 1st Dynasty, _circa_
4366 B.C., wrote a book on anatomy, and experimented with drugs or
chemicals. Shesh, the mother of this king, invented a hair wash.[2]

We can from the foregoing assume with some certainty, that before the
historical period in Ancient Egypt, a religious belief existed,
funeral ceremonies, and an expectation of an et