Man, as far as his body was concerned, and god in virtue of his soul and its attributes, the Pharaoh, in right of this double nature, acted as a constant mediator between heaven and earth. He alone was fit to transmit the prayers of men to his fathers and his brethren the gods. Just as the head of a family was in his household the priest _par excellence_ of the gods of that family,--just as the chief of a nome was in his nome the priest _par excellence_ in regard to the gods of the nome,--so was Pharaoh the priest _par excellence_ of the gods of all Egypt, who were his special deities. He accompanied their images in solemn processions; he poured out before them the wine and mystic milk, recited the formulas in their hearing, seized the bull who was the victim with a lasso and slaughtered it according to the rite consecrated by ancient tradition. Private individuals had recourse to his intercession, when they asked some favour from on high; as, however, it was impossible for every sacrifice to pass actually through his hands, the celebrating priest proclaimed at the beginning of each ceremony that it was the king who made the offering--_Sûtni di hotpu_--he and none other, to Osiris, Phtah, and Ka-Harmakhis, so that they might grant to the faithful who implored the object of their desires, and, the declaration being accepted in lieu of the act, the king was thus regarded as really officiating on every occasion for his subjects.* *I do not agree with Prof. Ed. Meyer, or with Prof. Erman, who imagine that this was the first instance of the practice, and that it had been introduced into Nubia before its adoption on Egyptian soil. Under the Ancient Empire we meet with more than one functionary who styles himself, in some cases during his master’s lifetime, in others shortly after his death, “Prophet of Horus who lives in the palace,” or “Prophet of Kheops,” “Prophet of Sondi,” “Prophet of Kheops, of Mykerinos, of Usirkaf,” or “of other sovereigns.” He thus maintained daily intercourse with the gods, and they, on their part, did not neglect any occasion of communicating with him. They appeared to him in dreams to foretell his future, to command him to restore a monument which was threatened with ruin, to advise him to set out to war, to forbid him risking his life in the thick of the fight.* * Among other examples, the texts mention the dream in which Thûtmosis IV., while still a royal prince, received from Phrâ-Harmakhis orders to unearth the Great Sphinx, the dream in which Phtah forbids Minephtah to take part in the battle against the peoples of the sea, that by which Tonûatamon, King of Napata, is persuaded to undertake the conquest of Egypt. Herodotus had already made us familiar with the dreams of Sabaco and of the high priest Sethos.