Aphil] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.NEITH OF SAIS.
Nominanumina.
By P. Le Page Renouf.In the preface to his interesting Dissertationon the Worship
of Neith at Sais, M. D. Mallet is inclined to apologize for having
attachedtoo much importanceto the name of the goddess.
" La theorie, si brilliamment soutenuepar M. Max Miiller,sur
le role preponderant des mots dans la creation des personnages
mythologiques,parait aujourd'hui fortement ebranlde. Le fameux
Nomina numina, qui passaitjadis pour une sorte d'axiome, est
abandon^maintenantet singulierement demode". Nousle savons
et ne pretendons point remonter le courant ni braver l'opinion
nouvelle."
M. Mallet continues: " En Egypte cependant,les noms divins,
qui tons sontsignificalifs,demandenta etre examinesde tres pres."
Thisat least is most true. In Egyptian, as in all other languages,
the divine names, like all names properas well as common, are
appellatives. Horus,for instance, Heru in Egyptian, is exactly
equivalent to the Greek 'Yirtpiwv. It is immediately derivedfrom
the preposition her, 'above,' 'over.' It may often be difficult or
evenimpossibleto discover the etymological meaningof a word, but
that the word had sucha meaning is absolutely certain,andit is no
argument againsta philosophical truth, whichHobbesadmittedas
readily as Leibniz, that people differ about etymologies. True
scholarsare the only safe judges as to how far scepticism is allowable
in this or that individualcase.
It is only amongpersonsthoroughlyincompetentto form a judg
mentthatthe doctrine of " Nomina numina" has fallen intodis
repute. I am not however goingto argue upon it now, but only
wish to show that the doctrine is one of the highest antiquity,
evenin Egypt.
In the 17th chapter of the Book of the Dead the Sun-god
says :—
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