Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/167

Memnon. 157 the finest men in the world ^^ All these indications favour the supposition^ that the Egyptians became acquainted with Memnon in the same way and through the same channel as that by which they acquired their knowledge of Ammon. The latter god came from the Ethiopian Meroe"^^ the central seat of his worship, to his still more renowned sanctuaries in Egypt arid Libya. Thebes in Upper Egypt was a co- lony of Meroe, and its Egyptian name, Amoicn-noh^ the city of Ammon, shews that the worship of that god was the basis on which the colonists founded their new state. Memnon too originally belonged to Meroe, which was deemed the place of his birth, because it was the earliest seat of his worship. In Thebes he was revered as Phamenophis, Guardian of the city of Ammon, that is, as a ministering god, one of the class which the Greeks designated by the names of Qeol Tcdpe^poi and otto^ol. So in the Egyptian mythology Thoth is the servant of Isis and Osiris, and Anubis the guardian of Osiris and the attendant of Isis. And thus, as Ammon himself migrated with his priesthood from Ethiopia to Egypt, the guardian of his sanctuary ac- companied him in his wanderings, and, when his origin was forgotten, was honoured at Thebes as a native hero. In the ancient world religion and commerce were inti- -^ III. 114. dvbpa's fxeyicTTov^ koI KaWL<TT0V9 /cat fxaKpopLMTcin-ov^. To this We may add the fact mentioned by Athenaeus (p. 566) Kadla-Tcov ck Kal ttoWoI tous KaXkioTTOv^ l^aoriXea^y oJs /^^XP^ ^^'^ ^^ 'AddvaTOL KokovfxevoL AiOtoTres, wv </)r](rt Biojv ev AWlottlkoI'^, to which Aristotle also aUudes, Pol. iv. 4. el Ka^d ij-eyedo^ CLEvcjULovTo Ttts oLpyd^ (MCTTTep ev AldLOTTLa (paori TLV69. This may be probably considered as a historical fact, and is perfectly consistent with what Diodorus says (hi. 5) about the election of the kings by the priests : ol lepeX^ eg avn-wv tous dpioTTOv^ TrpoKpivovcTLVy e/c oe twv KaTaXe^QivTOdV ov dv 6 6eo9 Acw/xa^o)!/ /ca-ra TLua o-vvi)d6Lav TrepL(fj6p6iuLevo9 Xdf^rjy tovtov to TrXrjQo'S alpelTai ^aatXea. Another Ethiopian custom reported by Diodorus (iii. 7) deserves to be mentioned here: (paa-L cruvr}d6£ elvaL Kal to GW^eXevTav eKOvcricu^s n-ov£ eTaipovs toIs ^acnkevcri, So that the honours which Memnon's companions pay to his tomb are quite in keeping with the national character. Mr Jacobs has not noticed Quintus Cur- tius IV. 8. Alexander— Memphim petit. Cupido, baud injusta quidem, ceterum in- tempestiva, incesscrat, non interiora modo Aegypti, sed etiam Aethiopiam mvisere. Memnonis Tithonique celebrata regia cognoscendae vetustatis avidum trahebat paene extra terminos solis. Demetrius ev tw ire pi tcov Ka^ AlyvirTov (ap. A then. xv. p. 680) : XeyeTaL oe -rts: /xuOos vtto t(Zv AlyuTr-rto)!/, oTt ol AiOiOTres GTeWofxevoL eh Tpolav iiro Tod Tidawod, eirel r]KOv<Tav tov Mefxvova n-ereXeuTijKeuaL, eu tovtu) tco TOTTW T0U9 (TTecjjduovs dvi^aXov eirl Ta5 duavda?* 2* ^ee Heercn Ideen ii. p. 441 >and foil.