me for the latter,
het-ra, consists of het=light or fair, and ra=god, and the horse is
actually found associated with the light-gods of antiquity and with
so-called solar symbols and the swastika.

Food for reflection is afforded by the Egyptian name for mirror, which
literally signifies to see, or the seer=maa, of the face=hra, but which
furnishes, as a rebus, the word maat=law, which is usually expressed by
the feather=mat, connected with hra=_i. e._ ra=god (fig. 66, 10). The
employment of the mirror as an image of the god of law would thus
naturally have been suggested by its name. The presence of the eye=ari
(_cf._ ra) in the centre of a mirror which is being worshipped, also
suggests that in ancient Egypt the mirror was employed in the temple to
hold the reflection of Polaris=Amen-Ra, "the untiring watcher, the lord of
eternity and the maker of law" (see fig. 66, 11). It is obvious that the
habitual employment, by the astronomer priests, of a mirror so placed in
the sanctuary as to catch the reflection of the pole-star through an open
doorway, would lead to the discovery of the movements of the sun and the
positions it assumes during the year. The flashing of a beam of sunlight
once a year, at the period of the summer solstice, upon the mirror which
constantly reflected the pole-star, would naturally suggest the idea of
"the union of the day-sun with the night-sun" and seem particularly
impressive as it was at this period that the Nile began to rise. In
dealing with the religious festivals held at this period more will be said
on this subject.

The word maat=law, besides being expressed by the feather=mat, could also
have been indicated to those initiated in the mysteries of hieratic
rebus-writing, by the lion=ma hes; the antelope=ma-het, which also
contains the sacred attribute light=het, the synonym of khu, thus
expresses the idea of the "light of the law." The musical instrument named
mat may also have originally been, like the tam sceptre, a symbol of
lawful power and conveyed an allusion to meht or maht=north. To this
series the word am should be added, signifying child, tree and boat, each
of which has already been treated of in connection with pole-star
symbolism and Amen-Ra (fig. 63, 20-22).

_Duality=ka=double; and the Middle=ak._

The name for bull=ka (fig. 67, 1) incorporates, as has already been shown,
not only duality and middle, but also, through its other names, the idea
of oneness and of power.