Lecture VI. The Gods Of Egypt. 129
figures, the Greek writer tells us, were carved by the Phœnicians
on the prows of their vessels, probably to ward off the evil
eye. They were dwarfs, like the Danga dwarf of Herkhuf or the
god Bes, with thick heads, bowed legs, long arms, and bushy
beards; and their terra-cotta figures have often been met with
in the tombs. From the name Patæki we might infer that they
had been borrowed by the Phœnicians from Egypt. But it is also
possible that both Egypt and Phœnicia derived them from the
same source. Dr. Scheil has pointed out that a similar figure
occurs on early Babylonian seal-cylinders, where its Sumerian
name is given as“the god Nugidda”or“the Dwarf,”and it is
sometimes represented as dancing before the goddess Istar.^108
Thus far, however, no text has been discovered which associates
the god Nugidda with the creator of the world.
When Memphis became the capital of Egypt and the seat
of the Pharaoh, its god also became supreme in the Egyptian
pantheon. But he was no longer Pta%the creator simply. He was
already amalgamated with Sokaris, and probably with Osiris as
well. It was not difficult to identify two mummified gods whose
domain was among the dead. With the spread of the sun-worship
of Heliopolis and the spirit of pantheistic syncretism which
accompanied it, the individuality of the old god of Memphis
became still further lost. He was merged into Tanen or Tatunen, [140]
a local god of the earth, as well as into Ra. He had already
been made into the chief of an Ennead, and now the Ennead
was resolved into a trinity. Nofer-Tum,“beautified by Tum,”
was brought from Heliopolis, and was made into a son of Pta%,
afterwards to be superseded, however, by another abstraction,
Im-hotep,“he who comes in peace.”^109 Im-hotep was reputed
the firstkher-hebor hierophant; he it was who recited and
(^108) Recueil de Travaux, xix. pp. 50, 54.
(^109) To“come in peace”is still a common expression in Egyptian Arabic, and
means“to return safely.”The name seems to be taken from the office of
Im-hotep, which was to conduct the dead safely back to a second life.