ther of all men; but
the effective suzerainty of god or prince really ended where that of his
peers ruling over the adjacent nomes began.

[Illustration: 136.jpg THE HOEUS OF HIBONU, ON THE BACK OF THE GAZELLE.]

The goddesses shared in the exercise of supreme power, and had the same
right of inheritance and possession as regards sovereignty that women
had in human law.[*] Isis was entitled lady and mistress at Buto, as
Hathor was at Denderah, and as Nit at Sais, "the firstborn, when as yet
there had been no birth." They enjoyed in their cities the same honours
as the male gods in theirs; as the latter were kings, so were they
queens, and all bowed down before them. The animal gods, whether
entirely in the form of beasts, or having human bodies attached to
animal heads, shared omnipotence with those in human form. Horus of
Hibonu swooped down upon the back of a gazelle like a hunting hawk,
Hathor of Denderah was a cow, Bastit of Bubastis was a cat or a tigress,
while Nekhabit of El Kab was a great bald-headed vulture.[**] Hermopolis
worshipped the ibis and cynocephalus of Thot; Oxyrrhynchus the
_mor-myrus_ fish;[***] and Ombos and the Fayum a crocodile, under the
name of Sobku,[****] sometimes with the epithet of Azai, the brigand.[v]

* In attempts at reconstituting Egyptian religions, no
adequate weight has hitherto been given to the equality of
gods and goddesses, a fact to which attention was first
called by Maspeeo (_Etudes de Mythologie et d'Archeologie
Egyptiennes_, vol. ii. p. 253, et seq.).

** Nekhabit, the goddess of the south, is the vulture, so
often represented in scenes of war or sacrifice, who hovers
over the head of the Pharaohs. She is also shown as a
vulture-headed woman.

*** We have this on the testimony of classic writers,
Steabo, book xvii. p. 812, _De Iside et Csiride_, Sec. vii.,
1872, Paethey's edition, pp. 9, 30, 128. ^Elianus, Hist,
anim., book x. Sec. 46.

**** Sobhu, Sovku is the animal's name, and the exact
translation of Sovu would be crocodile-god. Its Greek
transcription is [ ]. On account of the assonance of the
names he was sometimes confounded with _Sivu, Sibu_ by the
Egyptians themselves, and thus obtained the titles of that
god. This was especially the case at the time when Sit
having been proscribed, Sovku the crocodile, who was
connected with Sit, shared his evil r