vine queen," and
consort of the king. She is represented with the insignia of Isis, whereas
he wears the crown of Osiris, and I note that while she holds her stake in
her left, he holds his in his right hand. Deferring a discussion of the
position of Egyptian queens, I point out here that, in the interesting
description of a foundation ceremonial, preserved in an inscription
relating to the rebuilding of a temple at Abydos, about B.C. 1380, the
Sesheta, entitled the "mistress of the laying of the foundation stone,"
seems to have been the chief actor, since it is she who addresses the
king, as follows: "The hammer in my hand was of gold, as I struck the peg
with it, and thou wast with me in thy capacity of Harpedonapt [?]. Thy
hand held the spade during the fixing of its [the temple's] four corners
with accuracy by the four supports of heaven" (Lockyer, p. 175).

The "four supports of heaven" referred to here are obviously "the gods
Mestha, Hapi, Tuamautef and Qebhsennuf," who are recorded in the Book of
the Dead (chapter 17) as being "those which find themselves behind the
constellation of the Thigh in the northern heaven." In an inscription in
the kings' graves at Thebes mention is made of the "four Northern Genii
who are the four gods of 'the follower' [obviously a circumpolar
constellation]" (Lockyer, p. 147). They seem to be also identical with the
"four constellations [Akhemusek] which are found in the northern heavens,"
and the "sailors or oarsmen in the bark of Ra," mentioned in the same and
in many other inscriptions. The four "gods" are represented with human
bodies respectively surmounted by the head of a man, an ape, a jackal and
a hawk and are identical with the "genii of the dead," represented on the
canopic vases placed at the four corners of the bier. In this connection
attention is drawn to how clearly the symbolism of the mortuary customs
becomes apparent when it is realized that the mummy, the image of
Ptah-Osiris, and of the pole-star god, was laid to "eternal rest" in an
imaginary "sacred centre," obtained by naively placing the effigies of the
gods of the cardinal points, the personifications of the "four stars of
the northern heaven," at the corners of the bier. The same dominant
thought which underlies the popular use of the canopic vases clearly led
to the building of the vast pyramids which constituted the sacred "centres
of the world" par excellence, the square base typifying the four regions
an