value which determined it; thus we find the word "cat" or "dog"
spelled by two or three signs which give the letters, followed by a
picture of the animal itself, so that there might be no doubt as to
its meaning. This sounds quite simple, but the writing of the ancient
Egyptians had developed into a grammatical system so difficult that it
was only the discovery of the Rosetta stone, which was written in both
hieroglyph and Greek, that gave the scholars of the world their first
clue as to its meaning, and many years elapsed before the most
learned of them were finally able to determine the alphabet and
grammar of the early Egyptians.

I have said nothing about the religion of the Egyptians, because there
were so many different deities worshipped in different places and at
different periods that the subject is a very confusing one, and is
indeed the most difficult problem in Egyptology.

Rā was the great god of the Egyptians, and regarded by them as the
great Creator, is pictured as the sun, the life-giver; the other gods
and goddesses were generally embodiments of his various attributes, or
the eternal laws of nature; while some, like Osiris, were simply
deified human beings. The different seats of the dynasties also had
their various "triads," or trinities, of gods which they worshipped,
while bulls and hawks, crocodiles and cats, have each in turn been
venerated as emblems of some godlike or natural function. Thus the
"scarab," or beetle, is the emblem of eternal life, for the Egyptians
believed in a future state where the souls of men existed in a state
of happiness or woe, according as their lives had been good or evil.
But, like the hieroglyphs, this also is a study for scholars, and the
ordinary visitor is content to admire the decorative effect these
inscriptions give to walls and columns otherwise bare of ornament.