BEETLE (=khep=) _Kheper_. The scarabeus or sacred beetle, dedicated to Ra and Ptah. The remaining hieroglyphs of this column have already been explained (_see_ p. 80), except the two small hieroglyphs beside the nomen Thothmes, and the termination of the column. [Illustration] MUSICAL INSTRUMENT (=nefer=) _holy_. This instrument resembles a heart surmounted by a cross. Some think it represents a guitar, and from the purifying effects of music, became the symbol for goodness or holiness. OSTRICH FEATHER (=shu=) _true_. The usual symbol of truth. The nomen therefore in this case may be rendered, "Thothmes, the holy, the true." [Illustration] BENNU (=bennu=) sacred bird of An. This _bennu_ is usually depicted with two long feathers on the back of the head. [Illustration: "An or Heliopolis."] PYLON or gateway, is a hieroglyph that stands for _An_ or _On_, the Greek Heliopolis. Its great antiquity is shown from the fact that the city is referred to in the Book of Genesis under the name of _On_, translated Ων in the Septuagint: "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On.... And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him." Heliopolis was by the ancient Egyptians named Benbena, "the house of pyramidia;" but as no pyramids proper ever existed at On, the monuments alluded to are either pylons, that is, gateways of temples, or obelisks. [Illustration] CHAPTER XI. THE HIEROGLYPHICS OF THOTHMES III. _Translation of the Fourth Side._ "Horus, beloved of Osiris, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper, making offerings, beloved of the gods, supplying the altar of the three Spirits of Heliopolis, with a sound life hundreds of thousands of festivals of thirty years, very many; Son of the Sun, Thothmes, divine Ruler, beloved of Haremakhu, ever-living." The first part of the inscription, "Horus, beloved of Osiris, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper," is similar to the other faces, except that the figure of Osiris, the benignant declining sun, occurs. [Illustration: "Making offerings, beloved of the gods, supplying the altar of the three Spirits of Heliopolis."] CHESSBOARD (=men=) _making_. THREE VASES (=menu=) _offerings_. Plurality is indicated by the vase being repeated thrice. HAND PLOUGH (=mer=) _beloved_. HATCHET (=neter=) _god_. The three vertical lines before the hatchet indicate plurality. LONG SERPENT (=g=) phonetic } } The two form _gef_, _supplying_. HORNED SNAKE (=ef=) phonetic} ALTAR, _altar_. ZIGZAG (=nu=) _of_.