It is well known that the cross was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as the emblem of fruitfulness. Thus the Rev. Mr. Maurice describes a statue bearing a kind, of cross in its hand as the symbol of fertility, or, in other words, of the procreative and generative powers.[24] The cross [Symbol: Tau] so common upon Egyptian monuments was known to the Buddhists and to the Lama of Thibet 700 years before Christ. The Lama takes his name from the _Lamah_, which is an object of profound veneration with his followers: "Cequi est remarquable," says M. Avril, "c'est que le grand prêtre des Tartares porte le nom de Lama, qui, en langue Tartare, désigne _la Croix_, et les Bogdoi qui conquirent la Chine en 1664, et qui sont soumis au Dulai-Lama dans les choses de la religion, ont toujours des croix sur eux, qu'ils appalent _lamas_."[25] The letter _Tau_ [Symbol: Tau], being the last one of the ancient alphabets, was made to typify, not only the end, boundary, or terminus of districts, but also the generative power of the eternal transmigratory life, and was used indiscriminately with the Phallus; it was, in fact, the Phallus.[26] Speaking of this emblem, Payne Knight observes: "One of the most remarkable of those symbols of generation is a cross in the form of the letter [Symbol: Tau], which thus served as the emblem of _creation_ and _generation_ before the church adopted it as the sign of salvation, a lucky coincidence of ideas which, without doubt, facilitated the reception of it among the faithful."[27] And again, "the male organs of generation are sometimes represented by signs of the same sort, which might properly be called symbols of symbols. One of the most remarkable of these is the Cross in the form of the letter [Symbol: Tau], which thus served as the emblem of creation and generation."[28] The famous _Crux ansata_[29] which may be seen on all the monuments of Egypt is what is alluded to by the Prophet Ezekiel,[30] and is affirmed by the learned L. A. Crozius to be nothing else than the triple Phallus mentioned by Plutarch.[31]