50:iETYOF BIBLICAL ARCH-tOLOGY. [189a
la tie cider daysof ocir science 110 other valuebut x^ was
known tor the &zn ^^. Is this the value of the sign in the
narae « the Sure l^_? I know no proof of it, and
Dr. Wiedemann calls the pliceHatsrxjet. But unlesstherebe
evidencetonhcocir^git seems mostprobable that \2? is like
x_ or ^ __ Hat Xait,'theHouseof Neith,' the sacred nameof
Sais.
Thegreatgoddessis the Mistress of Heaven andthe Might)'
Motherof Ra. Sheis also the Mother of Osiris, andthe Mother
of Sebak.*
Ra, Osiris, and Sebak are names of the Sun. Xehhlikeother
goddessesis generally identifiedwiththe Sky. But this identifica
tionis not sufficiently precise. TheSungodis not the Son of the
Noondayor of the Midnight Sky. It is that part of the sky only
where he is bom that is his mother. Thegoddess who is his
mother or sister is part of the solar phenomenon; and this is
indicatedin various ways. Thegoddessis *c2>; 9 Si ' Eye of the
Sun,'or she is ^^^j^ j^jjjjjjP^^ "theOpenerof his
paths,in [or from] all her stations,"t as is said of Neith. The
£5* .=» uat, path or highway of the Sun, is clear enough: it runs
from East to West But what are the mansions of his mother,
Nit,Hathor,or by whatever nameshe may be called?
To this questionI reply in the wordsof a great andpopular
writeruponastronomy:— +
" Each starrises and sets at the samepointsof the horizon
throughoutthe entire year. The points of rising and settingof
- This filiationwas known fromthe late texts at Esneh (Champollion,Mm.,
pi. 145, quinq.4), but it has now beenfoundin the Pyramid texts: " Unas" (line
629)"takeshis place in the horizon, he rises QfllikeSebakson of Neith."
It is impossible to quote moreancientauthority. Fromwhatunknownsource
thenis the information derivedthai Sebak was originally a meredeifiedcrocodile,
and only at a late period identifiedwiththe Sun?
t j] o is here to be read = f ^-^ ahait,'station,' SeeTodt.,142,13,
14, 15.
J Arago, Astronomy,VII,3, English Translation,Vol.I, p. 164.
35°
