Sahuri, and Kakiu, were children born to Ra, lord of
Sakhibu, by Ruditdidit, wife of a priest attached to the
temple of that town.

If things came to the worst, a marriage with some princess would soon
legitimise, if not the usurper himself, at least his descendants, and
thus firmly re-establish the succession.

[Illustration: 021.jpg THE BIRTH OF A KING AND HIS DOUBLE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Gay et. The
king is Amenothes III., whose conception and birth are
represented in the temple of Luxor, with the same wealth of
details that we should have expected, had he been a son of
the god Amon and the goddess Mut.

The Pharaohs, therefore, are blood-relations of the Sun-god, some
through their father, others through their mother, directly begotten
by the God, and their souls as well as their bodies have a supernatural
origin; each soul being a double detached from Horus, the successor of
Osiris, and the first to reign alone over Egypt. This divine double
is infused into the royal infant at birth, in the same manner as the
ordinary double is incarnate in common mortals. It always remained
concealed, and seemed to lie dormant in those princes whom destiny did
not call upon to reign, but it awoke to full self-consciousness in those
who ascended the throne at the moment of their accession. From that time
to the hour of their death, and beyond it, all that they possessed of
ordinary humanity was completely effaced; they were from henceforth
only "the sons of Ra," the Horus, dwelling upon earth, who, during his
sojourn here below, renews the blessings of Horus, son of Isis. Their
complex nature was revealed at the outset in the form and arrangement of
their names. Among the Egyptians the choice of a name was not a matter
of indifference; not only did men and beasts, but even inanimate
objects, require one or more names, and it may be said that no person or
thing in the world could attain to complete existence until the name
had been conferred. The most ancient names were often only a short word,
which denoted some moral or physical quality, as Titi the Runner, Mini
the Lasting, Qonqeni the Crusher, Sondi the Formidable, Uznasit the
Flowery-tongued. They consisted also of short sentences, by which
the royal child confessed his faith in the power of the gods, and his
participation in the acts of the Sun's life--"Khafri," his rising is
Ra; "Men-kauhoru," the doubles o