as well as by an interesting seated one of faience, and a number of different conceptions of Bast, are included in the Society's figures.1 Thoth, god of learning, Khnum, Harmachis, Neit of Sais are there; one personified abstraction, Maat, goddess of righteousness, occurs in several examples (one in Fig. 5), while among the rarer pieces are Satis, goddess of the cataracts of the Nile, and Neferhotep, a form of Khons. The folk-gods Bes (Fig. 4), Thueris, Imhotep, Shu, and the Pataikoi, who according to Herodotus were children of the Memphite Ptah, all are well illustrated. The Soul of Pe is an example of a demi-god and some weird combinations of animal, bird, and human parts are of the lower orders of divinities akin to those demons and genii found in the vignettes of the funerary papyri. Where several gods are united into one, it may be that the protection of all of them was thus secured for the fortunate possessor of the composite figure. A consideration of the elements entering into the Egyptian's visualization of his gods must be deferred until another number of the QUARTERLY Bulletin. CAROLINE RANSOM WILLIAMS. 1 For two of them see op. cit. p. 47, Figs. 4-6. DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS AT A MEETING OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY HELD IN THE CHAPEL OF THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1854. |