supreme happiness, and also inform him concerning the hidden mysteries of that obscure half of the world in which the sun dwelt between daylight and daylight, teaching him also how to make friends and supporters of the benevolent genii, and how to avoid or defeat the monsters whom he would encounter.  The best known of the books relating to these mysteries contained a geographical description of the future world as it was described by the Theban priests towards the end of the Ramesside period; it was, in fact, an itinerary in which was depicted each separate region of the underworld, with its gates, buildings, and inhabitants.*

* The monumental text of this book is found sculptured on a certain number of the tombs of the Theban kings.  It was first translated into English by Birch, then into French by Deveria, and by Maspero.

The account of it given by the Egyptian theologians did not exhibit much inventive genius.  They had started with the theory that the sun, after setting exactly west of Thebes, rose again due east of the city, and they therefore placed in the dark hemisphere all the regions of the universe which lay to the north of those two points of the compass.  The first stage of the sun’s journey, after disappearing below the horizon, coincided with the period of twilight; the orb travelled along the open sky, diminishing the brightness of his fires as he climbed northward, and did not actually enter the underworld till he reached Abydos, close to the spot where, at the “Mouth of the Cleft,” the souls of the faithful awaited him.  As soon as he had received them into his boat, he plunged into the tunnel which there pierces the mountains, and the cities through which he first passed between Abydos and the Fayum were known as the Osirian fiefs.  He continued his journey through them for the space of two hours, receiving the homage of the inhabitants, and putting such of the shades on shore as were predestined by their special devotion for the Osiris of Abydos and his associates, Horus and Anubis, to establish themselves in this territory.  Beyond Heracleopolis, he entered the domains of the Memphite gods, the “land of Sokaris,” and this probably was the most perilous moment of his journey.

[Illustration:  062.jpg ONE OF THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKS OF AMON]

The feudatories of Phtah were gathered together in grottoes, connected by a labyrinth of narrow passages through which even the most fully initiated were scarcely able to find their way; the luminous boat, instead of venturing within these catacombs, passed above them by mysterious tracks.  The crew were unable to catch a glimpse of the sovereign through whose realm they journeyed, and they in like manner were invisible to him; he could only hear the voices of the divine sailors, and he answered them from the depth of the darkness.  Two hours were spent in this obscure passage, after which navigation became easier as the vessel entered the nomes subject to the Osirises of