The ancient Egyptians were zealous students of medicine; yet, as Dr. Ebers tells us, they also thought that the efficacy of the treatment was enhanced by magic formulæ. The prescriptions in the famous Ebers Papyrus are accompanied by forms of exorcism to be used at the same time; “and yet many portions of this work,” says Ebers, “give evidence of the advanced knowledge of its authors.”[141] Origen says[142] that the Egyptians believed there were thirty-six demons, or thirty-six gods of the air, who shared amongst them the body of man, which is divided into as many parts. He adds that the Egyptians knew the names of those demons, and believed that if they invoked the proper demon of the affected part they would be cured. Magic and sorcery were arts which were forbidden to the laity. Many magical rites and animistic customs connected with the Egyptian religion closely resemble those which prevail over the whole continent of Africa. The basis of the Egyptian religion is supposed by some authorities to be of a purely Nigritian character; on which has been superimposed certain elevated characteristics due to Asiatic settlers and conquerors. The worship of the negroes proper is simply fetishism combined with tree and animal worship and a strong belief in sorcery. The great and peculiar feature of Egyptian magic lay in the fact that its formulæ were intended to assimilate to the gods those who sought protection from the evils of life. The incantation was not in the nature of a prayer. As M. Lenormant says:[143] “The virtue of the formulæ lay not in an invocation of the divine power, but in the fact of a man’s proclaiming himself such or such a god; and when he, in pronouncing the incantation, called to his aid any one of the various members of the Egyptian Pantheon, it was as one of themselves that he had a right to the assistance of his companions.” In the Harris Papyrus is a fragment of one of the magical tracts of the medicine-god Thoth, in which is an incantation for protection against crocodiles:— “Do not be against me! I am Amen. I am Anhur, the good guardian; I am the great master of the sword. Do not erect thyself! I am Month. Do not try to surprise me! I am Set. Do not raise thy two arms against me! I am Sothis. Do not seize me! I am Sethu.”[144] Disease-demons recognised the power of the gods, and obeyed their commands. An inscription on a monument of the time of Ramses XII. tells how the Princess Bint-resh, sister of Queen Noferu-ra, was cured in a serious illness by the image of the god Khonsu being sent to her after the “learned expert” Thut-emhib had failed to do her any good. When the god appeared at her bedside, she was cured on the spot; the evil spirit of the disease acknowledged the superior power of Khonsu, and came out of her after making an appropriate speech.[145]