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Show 402 THE MONOCENIS'l'S AND it be ac orclccl to me some day to render n detailed ~tccount of t11e operations of wl1ich the Scrapcum was tho theatre, I will CJl(] :wor to show ancl to define the Scrapis whom tho classifying and int rpr<'tation of the texts found in the temple of this god have revealed to us. It will then be seen what Serapis really was. It will be scc11 how Sorapis was a god of Egn tian origin, as ancient as Apis, so illg· tbat after all he is but Apis dead. It will be seen how the Scrapis of tho Grcckl:l is only another amalgamated Orroco-Egyptian god; and how these two divinities have lived at Mcmpl1is in two distinct Scrapcums, in each other's presence, without ever being confouncl d." "It is known that tho Scrap urn is situate, not at Memphis, but in tho bnrial-gl'ouncl of Memphis; and that this tcmr lc was entirely built for the tomb of Apia. Tho Scrapcum is merely, therefore, according to the definition of Plutarch and of Saint Clem ns-Alcxanclrinus, the sepulchral mon umcnt of A pis; or rather the Sorapcum is tho temple of Apis dead, who, in consequence, must be distinguished from tho temple of A pis living, that llcl'Odotus has described, aud which Psametichus embellished with tho colossi of Osiris. Apis had, then, properly speaking, two temples; one which he inhabitc(l under the name of Apis during his lifetime, tho other wherein he reposed after his death under the name of Osorapis "-corrupted by Greeks and Romans into Serapis. "By way of n§sume, tho xplanations which I have just given have already had for result to show us:- lst.-That the Sorapoum is but the mausoleum of Apis; and thus that tho principal god of tho Serapcum, that is to say, Scrar is, is but Apis dead; 2d.-'rhat thoro bad been at Memphis two Scrapoums; one founded by Amcnophis III. [Memnon-XVITth dynasty, 15th century B. c.], in which tho worship of tho god of tho ancient Pharaohs prcsct·vod itself intact down to the Roman emperors [3d ccntur·y after C.]: tho other, inaugurated a short time after the advent oftho Gl'cok dynasty at Memphis, and in which tho Alexandrian Scrapi ·, result of a bifurcation [i. o. a separation of religious doctrine] operated under Soter I. [about B. o. 310], was more especially adored; 3d.-That tho clearing out of tbe only one of these temples that has been explored, has produced 7000 monuments; among which the monography of Sorapis can merely claim the 3000 objects that, by their origin, arc relative to this god; 4tb.-That these 3000 objects come almost all from the tomb of Apis properly so.oallcd; and hence that the collection of the Louvre possesses a funereal and Egyptian character, quite different from that 'rliE POLYCENISTS. 493 whi h it would seem a collection, drawn entirely out of the temple oC crapis, ougl1t to assume; 5th.-Finally, that this tomb had been violated and sacked; but that, notwithstanding, tho principal divisions of tho monument and tho nature of tho objects gathered from it have permitted the proximate re-construction of tho ai1ciellt state of tho localities, and to establish, in a m~tnnor more or less certain, the existence of a minimum of 64 Apisos"-that is, of tho hieroglyphic records, and som romai ns, of at least 64 embalmed bulls dedicated -&o, and once buried in. this sanctuary of, tho god Apis. Mariette then proceeds to catalogue, by epoch and circumstances, the succession of these divine animals, in tho most detailed a.nd interesting manner; for which I must refer to tho luminous papers themselves. Space confmes my remarks to but one point bearing on c lwonology. Ancient writers cited by him 276-all, however, disciples of tho later Alexandria-schools-affirm that the lifetime of tho sacred bull Apis was restricted to 25 years; at tho expiration of which the quadruped deity was put to death by theocratic law, and a canonical successor sought for and installed. This custom becoming assimilated to the periodical conjunction, every 25 years, of the solar and lunar motions, on the same day and at the same celestial points, had led to modern astronomical suggestion of a famous cycle, called "the pe~·iod of A pis." N cvcrthcless, the two ideas arc proved by Mariette to be wholly distinct; the luni-solar cycle of 25 years b ing used as far back al3 Claudius Ptolemy (about .a. D. 150) in his tables; and the supposed application of this cycle to A.pis being derived from an incidental and misappr hcndcd remark of Plutarch, that-" multiplied l>y itself, tho number 5 produces a square equal to the number of the Egyptian letters and to that of tho years lived by A pis." 276 Did the I haraonic Egyptians, in limiting, acoordiug to later Grecian accounts, tho lifo of A.pis to 25 years, recognize therein the lunisolar cycle in vogue among astronomers of the Alexandria-school ? 1f they did, a most useful implement is at once found by which to fix an infinitude of points in Egyptian clt1·onology. Alas! Tho funcln ·al tablets demonstrate that some Apises died a natural death before the 25 yean; were completed, and that others lived "26 years," and " 26 years and 28 days," or " 25 years and 17 days.". "llonco the argument is positive. Our Apiscs die at all ages; and 216 PLINY, viii. 46 :-SOJ.tNus, c. 32 :-.AMmANUS MAROEL., xxii. 14, 7 :-PLu'rAnou, De bidt, c. 6G; &c., &c. 2'16 Sec nlso tho o.nthoritios in J,l;rsws, Uber den Apiskreis, Leipzig, 181)3 :-nnd Oltrof!olo, fJic drn· ./l!}gypler, i. pp. Hi0- 1. |
