215
Here Osiris is identified with Horus, and so becomes the son
of his own wife.
The Egyptian trinity has thus grown out of the triad under the
influence of the solar theology, and of the old conception of a
personality which possessed a concrete form. Once introduced
into the Osirian creed, it spread with it throughout Egypt, and
became a distinguishing feature of Egyptian theology. Along
with the doctrines of the resurrection of the body and of a
judgment to come, it passed into the schools of Alexandria, and
was there thrown into the crucible of Greek philosophy. The
Platonic doctrine of ideas was adapted to the Egyptian doctrine
of personality, and the three persons of the trinity became Unity,
Mind, and Soul—absolute thought, absolute reason, and absolute
energy.^186
But while, on the one hand, there is continuity between the
religious thought of ancient Egypt and the religious thought of
the world of to-day, there is also continuity, on the other hand,
between the religion of Egypt and that of primitive Babylonia. In
the course of these lectures I have more than once pointed to the
fact: the Pharaonic Egyptians were of Asiatic origin and they [234]
necessarily brought with them the religious ideas of their Eastern
home. As we come to know more both of early Babylonian
civilisation and of the beginnings of Egyptian history, we shall
doubtless discover that the links between them are closer than we
at present imagine, and much that is now obscure will become
clear and distinct. Meanwhile there is one link which I cannot
pass over. Astro-theology once played a considerable part in
the religion of the Egyptians. In the historical age it has lost its
importance; the stars have been identified with the official deities,
who have accordingly absorbed their individual attributes; but
echoes of the worship formerly paid to them are still heard in the
Pyramid texts. Sa%u or Orion is still remembered as a mighty
(^186) See Cudworth's translation of Iamblichus.