its aspect as a
giver of life. But it is possible also that its other significance as an
"opener of the ways" may have helped in the confusion of the
hieroglyphic uterus-symbol with the key-symbol, and possibly also with
double-axe symbol which the vaguely defined early Cretan Mother-Goddess
wielded. For, as we have already seen (_supra_, p. 122), the axe also
was a life-giving divinity and a magic wand (Fig. 8).

[Illustration: Fig. 8.

(a) "Ceremonial forked object," or "magic wand," used in the ceremony of
"opening the mouth," possibly connected with (b) (a bicornuate uterus),
according to Griffith ("Hieroglyphics," p. 60).

(c) The Egyptian sign for a key.

(d) The double axe of Crete and Egypt.]

In his chapter on "the Origin of the Cult of Artemis," Dr. Rendel Harris
refers to the reputation of Artemis as the patron of travellers, and to
Parkinson's statement: "It is said of Pliny that if a traveller binde
some of the hearbe [Artemisia] with him, he shall feele no weariness at
all in his journey" (p. 72). Hence the high Dutch name _Beifuss_ is
applied to it.

The left foot of the dead was called "the staff of Hathor" by the
Egyptians; and the goddess was said "to make the deceased's legs to
walk".[363]

It was a common practice to tie flowers to a mummy's feet, as I
discovered in unwrapping the royal mummies. According to Moret (_op.
cit._) the flowers of Upper and Lower Egypt were tied under the king's
feet at the celebration of the Sed festival.

Mr. Battiscombe Gunn (quoted by Dr. Alan Gardiner) states that the
familiar symbol of life known as the _ankh_ represents the string of a
sandal.[364]

It seems to be worth considering whether the symbolism of the
sandal-string may not have been derived from the life-girdle, which in
ancient Indian medical treatises was linked in name with the female
organs of reproduction and the pubic bones. According to Moret (_op.
cit._, p. 91) a girdle furnished with a tail was used as a sign of
consecration or attainment of the divine life after death. Jung (_op.
cit._, p. 270), who, however, tries to find a phallic meaning in all
symbolism, claims that reference to the foot has such a significance.

[339: Evans, _op. cit._, p. 50.]

[340: Her Latin representative, Diana, had a male counterpart and
conjugate, Dianus, _i.e._ Janus, of whom it was said: "Ipse primum Janus
cum puerperium concipitur ... aditum aperit recipiendo semini". For
other quotations see Rend