riod.

It is probable that the fundamental factor in the development of this
association of the cow and the Mother-Goddess was the fact of the use of
milk as food for human beings. For if the cow could assume this maternal
function she was in fact a sort of foster-mother of mankind; and in
course of time she came to be regarded as the actual mother of the human
race and to be identified with the Great Mother.

Many other considerations helped in this process of assimilation. The
use of cattle not merely as meat for the sustenance of the living but as
the usual and most characteristic life-giving food for the dead
naturally played a part in conferring divinity upon the cow, just as an
analogous relationship made incense a holy substance and was responsible
for the personification of the incense-tree as a goddess. This influence
was still further emphasized in the case of cattle because they also
supplied the blood which was used for the ritual purpose of bestowing
consciousness upon the dead, and in course of time upon the gods also,
so that they might hear and attend to the prayers of supplicants.

Other circumstances emphasize the significance attached to the cow: but
it is difficult to decide whether they contributed in any way to the
development of these beliefs or were merely some of the practices which
were the result of the divination of the cow. The custom of placing
butter in the mouths of the dead, in Egypt, Uganda, and India, the
various ritual uses of milk, the employment of a cow's hide as a
wrapping for the dead in the grave, and also in certain mysterious
ceremonies,[103] all indicate the intimate connexion between the cow and
the means of attaining a rebirth in the life to come.

I think there are definite reasons for believing that once the cow
became identified with the Mother-Goddess as the parent of mankind the
first step was taken in the development of the curious system of ideas
now known as "totemism".

This, however, is a complex problem which I cannot stay to discuss here.

When the cow became identified with the Great Mother and the moon was
regarded as the dwelling or the personification of the same goddess, the
Divine Cow by a process of confused syncretism came to be regarded as
the sky or the heavens, to which the dead were raised up on the cow's
back. When Re became the dominant deity, he was identified with the sky,
and the sun and moon were then regarded as his eyes. Thus the moon, a