Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/278

 of the west. His glory was sought for in all places of Pi-tomih (Lower Egypt). He was found after some months in the city of Ha-*shed-abtu, after they had searched through all the lakes and islands. He was solemnly introduced into the temple of Ptah, beside his father Ptah.' The date is carefully given, and the full lifetime of the 'god.' The burial of the Apis was on a scale of regal magnificence, and a national mourning of seventy days was observed. The finding of a successor and his installation was celebrated with the wildest exultation, and with national rejoicing. Little room is left for the idea of symbol or sign; the sacred creature is an emanation of the Divine, is a 'god,' and as such the object of the grossest and most grotesque idolatry. An indescribable national enthusiasm gathered around the Apis—he was lodged with sumptuous magnificence, the centre of a crowd of devotees and of those who came to learn the secrets of the future.