to a priest of Amon,
named Horsiesis of Thebes, of the time of Augustus, affords an extremely
interesting insight of the mysterious ceremonial which had gradually
developed. It is evident that the text, though apparently clear, must have
been intelligible to the initiated only, who alone were able to understand
the allusions to secret, sacred rites and their symbolical meaning.

"Thou raisest thyself to heaven, in the region of the city Ka ... thou
goest with the king when he goes to Thebes ... thou seest the Sktt bark on
its arrival in the city of Thebes and the two sisters united in Pi-ubkt
... thou seest the goddess Hathor who becomes the mother of her own
mother(117) on the day ... of the Tx festival ... thy name is called
amongst those of the judges on the great Hermopolis in the night of the
festival of _he who remains __ in the middle or centre of his city_ ...
thou seest the immovable ones united into a quatuor, in form like a young
bull ... thou seest their wives united together in the form of the goddess
Anthat ... thou visitest the caves of Thebes when his majesty betakes
himself to the zone of Smu.... The mistress of heaven comes to her house
... thou receivest a cloak from his hand ... the divine eye ... thou
watchest at night in the chamber of birth on the day of the [lying in]
birth of the goddess Mut....[Nut?] Thou goest in with those who go in and
comest out with those who come out like the great Horus in his temple ...
thou seest in her domain(?) mysterious actions performed by the
Pastophores. No one sees, no one hears (of them) ... thou hearest the
voice of the singer in the temple, in varied modulations ... thou
ascendest the stairway of the eternal circle of light, thou seest the
strong ram in its domain ... thou seest ... in his first form, Osiris, in
the house of purification." (Brugsch, _op. cit._ II, pp. 518 and 520).

A careful perusal of the preceding texts conveys an idea of the immense
lapse of time it must have required for the state religion of Egypt to
have developed itself and crystallized into a complicated ritual, the true
significance of which, doubtlessly, gradually receded from view. The naive
primitive symbolization of the union of heaven and earth by the actual
marriage of king and queen, followed by general marriage festivities, had
naturally created, in course of time, a distinct privileged caste rendered
"divine" by the circumstances attending their conception and birth. Once