f the great cosmic gods were ascribed to
him, and he appeared to man not only as the god and judge of the dead,
but also as the creator of the world and of all things in it. He who was
the son of R[=a] became the equal of his father, and he took his place
side by side with him in heaven.

We have an interesting proof of the identification of Osiris with R[=a]
in Chapter XVII. of the Book of the Dead. It will be remembered that
this Chapter consists of a series of what might almost be called
articles of faith, each of which is followed by one or more explanations
which represent one or more quite different opinions; the Chapter also
is accompanied by a series of Vignettes. In line 110 it is said, "I am
the soul which dwelleth in the two _tchafi_, [Footnote: _i.e._, the
souls of Osiris and R[=a].] What is this then? It is Osiris when he
goeth into Tattu (_i.e._, Busiris) and findeth there the soul of R[=a];
there the one god embraceth the other, and souls spring into being
within the two _tchafi_." In the Vignette which illustrates this passage
the souls of R[=a] and Osiris are seen in the forms of hawks standing on
a pylon, and facing each other in Tattu; the former has upon his head a
disk, and the latter, who is human-headed, the white crown. It is a
noticeable fact that even at his meeting with R[=a] the soul of Osiris
preserves the human face, the sign of his kinship with man.

Now Osiris became not only the equal of R[=a], but, in many respects, a
greater god than he. It is said, that from the nostrils of the head of
Osiris, which was buried at Abydos, came forth the scarabaeus [Footnote:
See von Berginaun in _Aeg Zeitschrift_, 1880, p. 88 ff.] which was at
once the emblem and type of the god Khepera, who caused all things to
come into being, and of the resurrection. In this manner Osiris became
the source and origin of gods, men, and things, and [Illustration: The
soul of R[=a] (1) meeting the soul of Osiris (2) in Tattu. The cat
(_i.e._, R[=a]) by the Persea tree (3) cutting off the head of the
serpent which typified night.] the manhood of the god was forgotten. The
next step was to ascribe to him the attributes of God, and in the
XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties he seems to have disputed the sovereignty of
the three companies of gods, that is to say of the trinity of trinities
of trinities, [Footnote: Each company of the gods contained three
trinities or triads.] with Amen-R[=a], who by this time was usually
called t