of the property. Upon the death of a dog, every member of the family
shaved his head. The scarabaeus, or beetle, was especially sacred, being
considered an emblem of the sun, or of life.

Not only were various animals held sacred, as being the emblems of certain
deities, but some were thought to be real gods. Thus the soul of Osiris,
it was imagined, animated the body of some bull, which might be known from
certain spots and markings.

Upon the death of the sacred bull, or Apis, as he was called, a great
search, accompanied with loud lamentation, was made throughout the land
for his successor: for, the moment the soul of Osiris departed from the
dying bull, it entered a calf that moment born. The calf was always found
with the proper markings; but, as Wilkinson says, the young animal had
probably been put to "much inconvenience and pain to make the marks and
hair conform to his description."

The body of the deceased Apis was carefully embalmed, and, amid funeral
ceremonies of great expense and magnificence, deposited in the tomb of his
predecessors. In 1851, Mariette discovered this sepulchral chamber of the
sacred bulls. It is a narrow gallery, two thousand feet in length, cut in
the limestone cliffs just opposite the site of ancient Memphis. A large
number of the immense granite coffins, fifteen feet long and eight wide
and high, have been brought to light.

Many explanations have been given to account for the existence of such a
debased form of worship among so cultured a people as were the ancient
Egyptians. Probably the sacred animals in the later worship represent an
earlier stage of the Egyptian religion, just as many superstitious beliefs
and observances among ourselves are simply survivals from earlier and