called the "Negative Confession." The fundamental ideas of religion and morality which underlie this Confession are exceedingly old, and we may gather from it with tolerable clearness what the ancient Egyptian believed to constitute his duty towards God and towards his neighbour. It is impossible to explain, the fact that forty-two gods only are addressed, and equally so to say why this number was adopted. Some have believed that the forty-two gods represented each a name of Egypt, and much support is given to this view by the fact that most of the lists of names make the number to be forty-two; but then, again, the lists do not agree. The classical authors differ also, for by some of these writers the names are said to be thirty-six in number, and by others forty-six are enumerated. These differences may, however, be easily explained, for the central administration may at any time have added to or taken from the number of names for fiscal or other considerations, and we shall probably be correct in assuming that at the time the Negative Confession was drawn up in the tabular form in which we meet it in the XVIIIth dynasty the names were forty-two in number. Support is also lent to this view by the fact that the earliest form of the Confession, which forms the Introduction to Chapter CXXV., mentions less than forty sins. Incidentally we may notice that the forty-two gods are subservient to Osiris, and that they only occupy a subordinate position in the Hall of Judgment, for it is the result of the weighing of the heart of the deceased in the balance that decides his future. Before passing to the description of the Hall of Judgment where the balance is set, it is necessary to give a rendering of the Negative Confession which, presumably, the deceased recites before his heart is weighed in the balance; it is made from the Papyrus of Nu. [Footnote: British Museum, No. 10,477.] 1. "Hail Usekh-nemtet (_i.e._, Long of strides), who comest forth from Anuu (Heliopolis), I have not done iniquity. 2. "Hail Hept-seshet (_i.e._, Embraced by flame), who comest forth from Kher-[=a]ba, [Footnote: A city near Memphis.] I have not robbed with violence. 3. "Hail Fenti (_i.e._, Nose), who comest forth from Khemennu (Hermopolis), I have not done violence to any man. 4. "Hail [=A]m-khaibitu (_i.e._, Eater of shades), who comest forth from the Qereret (_i.e._, the cavern where the Nile rises), I have not committed theft. 5. "Hail Neha-bra (_i.e._, Stinking face), who comest forth from Restau, I have slain neither man nor woman. 6. "Hail Rereti (_i.e._, Double Lion-god), who comest forth from heaven, I have not made light the bushel. 7. "Hail Maata-f-em-seshet (_i.e._, Fiery eyes), who comest forth from Sekhem (Letopolis), I have not acted deceitfully. 8. "Hail Neba (_i.e._, Flame), who comest forth and retreatest, I have not purloined the things which belong unto God.