hat where the art of embalming was carried
on, people believed in the future life of the soul. The religious
system of the Egyptians was, indeed, of very remarkable character. The
central idea in their doctrine was the unity of God, whom they
recognized as the one Supreme Being, who was given the name of Creator,
Eternal Father, to indicate the various characters in which he
appeared. This pure monotheism was seldom grasped by the great masses
of the people; indeed, it is to be supposed that many of the priestly
order scarcely rose to its pure conceptions. But there {173} were
other groups or dynasties of gods which were worshipped throughout
Egypt. These were mostly mythical beings, who were supposed to perform
especial functions in the creation and control of the universe. Among
these Osiris and Isis, his wife and sister, were important, and their
worship common throughout all Egypt. Osiris came upon the earth in the
interests of mankind, to manifest the true and the good in life. He
was put to death by the machinations of the evil spirit, was buried and
rose, and became afterward the judge of the dead. In this we find the
greatest mystery in the Egyptian religion. Typhon was the god of the
evil spirits, a wicked, rebellious devil, who held in his grasp all the
terrors of disease and of the desert. Sometimes he was in the form of
a frightful serpent, again in the form of a crocodile or hippopotamus.

Seeking through the light of religious mystery to explain all the
natural phenomena observed in physical nature, the Egyptians fell into
the habit of coarse animal worship. The cat, the snake, the crocodile,
and the bull became sacred animals, to kill which was the vilest
sacrilege. Even if one was so unfortunate as to kill one of these
sacred animals by accident, he was in danger of his life at the hands
of the infuriated mob. It is related that a Roman soldier, having
killed a sacred cat, was saved from destruction by the multitude only
by the intercession of the great ruler Ptolemy. The taking of the life
of one of these sacred creatures caused the deepest mourning, and
frequently the wildest terror, while every member of the family shaved
his head at the death of a dog.

There was symbolism, too, in all this worship. Thus the scarabeus, or
beetle, which was held to be especially sacred, was considered as the
emblem of the sun. Thousands of these relics may be found in the
different museums, having be