had no other profession. This
{95} sacerdotal body always remained Egyptian in character, if not in
nationality, because the liturgy it had to perform remained so. In a
similar manner the priests of the Baals were Syrians,[60] because they were
the only ones that knew how to honor the gods of Syria.

In the first place a daily service had to be held just as in the Nile
valley. The Egyptian gods enjoyed a precarious immortality, for they were
liable to destruction and dependent on necessities. According to a very
primitive conception that always remained alive, they had to be fed,
clothed and refreshed every day or else perish. From this fact arose the
necessity of a liturgy that was practically the same in every district. It
was practised for thousands of years and opposed its unaltering form to the
multiplicity of legends and local beliefs.[61]

This daily liturgy was translated into Greek, perhaps later into Latin
also; it was adapted to the new requirements by the founders of the
Serapeum, and faithfully observed in the Roman temples of the Alexandrian
gods. The essential ceremony always was the opening (_apertio_)[62] of the
sanctuary. At dawn the statue of the divinity was uncovered and shown to
the community in the _naos_, that had been closed and sealed during the
night.[63] Then, again as in Egypt, the priest lit the sacred fire and
offered libations of water supposed to be from the deified Nile,[64] while
he chanted the usual hymns to the sound of flutes. Finally, "erect upon the
threshold"--I translate literally from Porphyry--"he awakens the god by
calling to him in the Egyptian language."[65] As we see, the god was
revived by the sacrifice and, as under the Pharaohs, awoke from his slumber
at the calling of {96} his name. As a matter of fact the name was
indissolubly connected with the personality; he who could pronounce the
exact name of an individual or of a divinity was obeyed as a master by his
slave.[66] This fact made it necessary to maintain the original form of
that mysterious word. There was no other motive for the introduction of a
number of barbarian appellatives into the magical incantations.

It is also probable that the toilet of the statue was made every day, that
its body and head were dressed,[67] as in the Egyptian ritual. We have seen
that the _ornatrices_ or _stolistes_ were especially entrusted with these
duties. The idol was covered with sumptuous raiment and ornamented with
jewels an