THE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS
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there exhibited. Thus their great king and lord Osiris is represented by the hieroglyphics for an eye and a sceptre,[1] the name itself signifying "many-eyed," as we are told by some[2] who would derive it from the words os,[3] "many," and iri,[4] an "eye," which have this meaning in the Egyptian language. Similarly, because the heavens are eternal and are never consumed or wax old, they represent them by a heart with a censer placed under it. Much in the same way are those statues of the Judges at Thebes without hands, and their chief, or president, is represented with his eyes turned downwards, which signifies that justice ought not to be obtainable by bribes, nor guided by favour or affection. Of a like nature is the Beetle which we see engraven upon the seals of the soldiers, for there is no such thing as a female beetle of this species; for they are all males, and they propagate their kind by casting their seed into round balls of dirt, which afford not only a proper place wherein the young may be hatched, but also nourishment for them as soon as they are born.
- ↑ The oldest form of the name is Ȧs-ȧr, ; the first sign, , is a throne, and the second, , is an eye, but the exact meaning represented by the two signs is not known. In late times a sceptre, , took the place of the throne, but only because of its phonetic value as or us. Thus we have the forms and
- ↑ This is a mistake.
- ↑ In Egyptian, āsh, "many."
- ↑ In Egyptian, art, Coptic θιατ, "eye."
