en preserved to the present time. The
bull, Apis, not only was a sacred creature, but was held to be a real
god. It was thought that the soul of Osiris pervaded the spirit of the
bull, and at the bull's death it passed on into that of his successor.
The worship of the lower forms of life led to a coarseness in religious
{174} belief and practice. How it came about is difficult to
ascertain. It is supposed by some scholars that the animal worship had
its origin in the low form of worship belonging to the indigenous
tribes of Egypt, and that the higher order was introduced by the
Hamites, or perhaps by the Semites who mingled with and overcame the
original inhabitants of the Nile valley. In all probability, the
advanced ideas of religious belief and thought were the essential
outcome of the learning and speculative philosophy of the Egyptians,
while the old animal worship became the most convenient for the great
masses of low and degraded beings who spent their lives in building
tombs for the great.

The religious life of the Egyptians was protected and guarded by an
elaborate priesthood. It formed a perfect hierarchy of priest, high
priest, scribes, keepers of the sacred robes and animals, sculptors,
embalmers, besides all the attendants upon the services of worship and
religion. Not only was this class privileged among all the castes of
Egypt as representing the highest class of individuals, but it enjoyed
immunity from taxation and had the privilege of administering the
products of one-third of the land to carry on the expenses of the
temple and religious worship. The ceremonial life of the priests was
almost perfect. Scrupulous in the care of their person, they bathed
twice each day and frequently at night, and every third day shaved the
entire body. Their linen was painfully neat, and they lived on plain,
simple food, as conducive to the service of religion. They exerted a
great power not only over the religious life of the Egyptians but, on
account of the peculiar relation of religion to government, over the
entire development of Egypt.

The religion of Oriental nations was non-progressive in its nature. It
had a tendency to repress freedom of thought and freedom of action.
Connected as it was with the binding influence of caste, man could not
free himself from the dictates of religion. The awful sublimity of
nature found its counterpart in the terrors of religion; and that
religion attempted to {175}