the divine
name, though to us it would seem the utmost degree of profanity when,
for instance, a magician declares that if his spell prove ineffective,
he "will cast fire into Mendes and burn up Osiris."

The verbal spells were always accompanied by some manual performance,
the tying of magical knots or the preparation of an amulet. In these
acts particular significance was attached to certain numbers: a
sevenfold knot, for example, was more efficacious than others. Often the
formula was written on a strip of rag or a scrap of papyrus and tied
round the neck of the person for whom it was intended. Beads and all
kinds of amulets could be infused with magical power so as to be potent
phylacteries to those who wore them.

In conclusion, it must be emphasized that in Egypt magic stands in no
contrast or opposition to religion, at least as long as it was
legitimately used. The religious rites and ceremonies are full of it.
When a pretence was made of opening, with an iron instrument, the mouth
of the divine statue, to the accompaniment of recited formulae, this can
hardly be termed anything but magic. Similarly, the potency attributed
to _ushebti_-figures and the copies of the _Book of the Dead_ deposited
in the tombs is magical in quality. What has been considered under this
heading, however, is the use that the same principles of magic were put
to by men in their own practical life and for their own advantage.

AUTHORITIES.--An excellent list of books and articles on the various
topics connected with Egyptian Religion will be found in H. O. Lange's
article on the subject in P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, _Lehrbuch
der Religionsgeschichte_ (Tubingen, 1905), vol. i. pp. 172-245. Among
general works may be especially recommended A. Erman, _Die agyptische
Religion_ (Berlin, 1905); and chapters 2 and 3 in G. Maspero,
_Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient, les origines_, vol. i.
(Paris, 1895). (A. H. G.)

D. _Egyptian Language and Writing.--Decipherment._--Although attempts
were made to read Egyptian hieroglyphs so far back as the 17th century,
no promise of success appeared until the discovery of the Rosetta stone
in 1799 by the French engineers attached to Napoleon's expedition to
Egypt. This tablet was inscribed with three versions, in hieroglyphic,
demotic and Greek, of a long decree of the Egyptian priests in honour of
Ptolemy V., Epiphanes and his wife Cleopatra. The Greek and demotic
versions