Figure 70.

An idea of the import of fig. 70, 1, seems gained when it is remembered
that in Egyptian the word house=pi, pir or per, was associated with the
title of ruler, the name Pharaoh being derived from per=aa=great house.
What is more, the word house=pir or pi, is used in astronomical texts,
like the Arabian beth, in relation to stars, it being said of a star that
"it ever comes forth from its house"=appears (Brugsch).

The permanent image of the disk and serpent, a form of the Ra sign, in the
doorway of the sculptured house, would thus convey the idea of the eternal
presence of Amen-Ra, the pole-star god. The accentuation of the cross
lines on the neck of the ara indicates, moreover, the intentional allusion
to four-fold and two-fold force, the latter being expressed by the eyes of
the serpent. The door=ptah, which is open, expresses the name Ptah=the
Opener, well known as that of the "father of the gods" and a form of
Amen-Ra.

The positions assigned to Osiris and Isis, at either side of the "hidden
god," sufficiently shows that they were intended to represent separate
incorporations of the male and female principles which were united in
Amen-Ra, the "divine Twain." The association of both deities with the
throne, the eternal seat of repose, identifies both alike with Polaris. A
monument in the Berlin Museum (no. 261) which was found in the temple of
Isis at Ben-naga, in Nubia, and was a votive offering made by the
Ethiopian king Netek-Amen and his consort Amen-Tari, contains the
following formula, translated by Lepsius, which associates Isis with
eternal enthronement. "Thou remainest, thou remainest, on thy great
throne, O Isis, queen of Au-ker, like the sun (Ra) that lives in the
horizon ... and thou lettest thy son Netek-Amen flourish on his
throne...."

The fact I am about to demonstrate, that the king and queen of Egypt were
the respective, "the living images" of Osiris and Isis, proves that, as in
ancient Peru and China, the sovereigns, who were at the same time high
priest and priestess, were considered as the sacred embodiments of the
dual principles of nature. As elsewhere also, a chain of associations
became attached to each of the dualities; but in Egypt, as may be clearly
discerned, during the lapse of centuries great transformations of thought
took place and alternately the male and female elements seem to have been
associated with the cults of heaven and earth, light and darkness, sun or