The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism [1911] - Get a Free Blog

EGYPT. 95
dotal body always remained Egyptian in character, if
not in nationality, because the liturgy it had to perform
remained so. In a similar manner the priests of the
Baals were Syrians, 60 because they were the only ones
that knew how to honor the gods of Syria.
In the first place a daily service had to be held just
as in the Nile valley. The Egyptian gods enjoyed a
precarious immortality, for they were liable to destruc
tion and dependent on necessities. According to a very
primitive conception that always remained alive, they
had to be fed, clothed and refreshed every day or else
perish. From this fact arose the necessity of a liturgy
that was practically the same in every district. It was
practised for thousands of years and opposed
its un-
altering form to the multiplicity of legends and local
beliefs. 61
This daily liturgy was translated into Greek, per
haps later into Latin also ; it was adapted to the new
requirements by the founders of the Serapeum, and
faithfully observed in the Roman temples of the Alex
andrian gods. The essential ceremony always was the
opening (apertio) 62 of the sanctuary. At dawn the
statue of the divinity was uncovered and shown to
the community in the naos, that had been closed and
sealed during the night. 6^ Then, again as in Egypt,
the priest lit the sacred fire and offered libations of
water supposed to be from the deified Nile, 64 while
he chanted the usual hymns
Finally, "erect upon
to the sound of flutes.
the threshold" I translate liter
ally from Porphyry "he awakens the god by calling
to him in the Egyptian language." 6 ^ As we see, the
god was revived by the sacrifice and, as under the
Pharaohs, awoke from his slumber at the calling of