The ancient coffin of Sebakāa at Berlin (_Aelteste Texte_, pl. 29), in
the phrase ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, recognizes Isis as one of
the Two Eyes. Down to the latest periods the Sisters were known as
⁂⁂⁂, _Eye of the Southern_ or Left _side_ (Isis), and
⁂⁂⁂, _Eye of the Northern_ or Right _side_ (Nephthys). On
countless coffins and sarcophagi these goddesses are represented on
opposite sides, in kneeling attitude, holding the ⁂ in their hands,
like the equivalent Vultures of the North and South, with their claws,
and the Uræi on their bodies.
The meaning of the sign ⁂ is well known. It is a _ring_, and is
applied to the circuit of the heavens made by the sun and other heavenly
bodies. It is also applied to the yearly recurring flow of the Nile. It
has numerically the signification of 10,000,000 or an indefinitely large
number. As attached, ⁂, to the sign of years ⁂,⁂ it means
_Eternity_.
It is therefore an appropriate emblem of Osiris, the Lord of Years,
⁂⁂⁂⁂, _annosus_, ⁂⁂⁂ the _King of Eternity_.
The sign of _Water_ ⁂, and the _Vase_ ⁂, are also emblems of
Osiris, one of whose names is _Water of Renewal_. A chapter of the
Pyramid Texts, Teta, 176, Pepi I, 518, which begins by saying that Seb
has given to the departed (identified with Osiris) the Two Eyes of _that
Great One_,[116] and has done that through Horus who recognizes his
father, proceeds after this to say: “He renews thee in thy name of
⁂⁂⁂⁂, Water of Renewal.”
I cannot say if the _Vase_ ⁂ is a mere appendage to the _Water_, but
if it is not it most probably was meant to contain the ⁂, the divine
and life-giving _Sap_ flowing from Osiris, which is mentioned in another
Pyramid Text (Pepi I, 33), also speaking of the _Water of Renewal_, as a
name of Osiris.
The goddesses Isis and Nephthys as mythological figures represent not
merely the Light at Dawn and Sunset, but the Light thrown out right and
left by the Sun in his entire course, whether in the heavens or in the
Netherworld. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “he lightens up
the earth with his two eyes,” an expression most frequent in the texts,
is not confined to special moments, though it is said of these
emphatically.
In all that has been said thus far, the Two Eyes have been considered as
acting conjointly and discharging one and the same function. When they
are distinguished one from the other as acting in different ways the
symbolism is altered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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