Amongst the means resorted to by the conspirators magic and sorcery played a conspicuous part. One Penhi, superintendent of the herds, is reported to have said:—‘If only I possessed a writing that would give me power and strength!’ Having succeeded in procuring such a writing, an ‘enchantment fell upon him so that he gained admittance to the women’s house and to the deep and secret place. He made human figures in wax for the purpose of alienating the mind of one of the maidens and of bewitching another, inciting them to all kinds of wickedness and villainy by his writings.’ There is good evidence that the practice of sorcery and magical arts of all sorts was greatly on the increase. The very tales that have been preserved belonging to this period are of wonder and enchantment; superstition was rife on all hands. The god especially honoured under the twentieth dynasty was the oracle-giving Khons;[75] the chapters of the ritual assigned to this date are full of elaborate ceremonial, and the use of certain portions as a spell or talisman is more and more insisted on. Great virtue was also assigned to the mere repetition of long and apparently meaningless names. Omens of all kinds were much regarded, and so were lucky and unlucky days in the calendar.[76] Nevertheless, alongside of these superstitious notions and practices there existed a higher and a nobler life; no hymns preserved to us are more lofty and beautiful in tone than some that are assigned to this period. In one addressed to Amen-Ra, we read:— ‘O Ra, adored in Thebes! Thy love pervades the earth. Thou makest grass for the cattle and fruit-bearing trees for men. He causeth fish to live in the river, and giveth food to the birds upon the wing, food to the mice in their holes, and to the flying creatures on the trees. ‘Hail to thee! say all creatures, from the height of heaven to the breadth of the earth, and to the deep places of the sea—Adoration unto thee who hast created us! ‘The spirits thou hast made bow down before thee; the gods adore thy majesty. We, the creatures of thy hand, praise thee for our being, we give thanks to thee for thy mercy towards us,—whose name is hidden from his creatures—in his Name which is AMEN.’[77] The hymn to the Nile, which is ascribed to the preceding dynasty, is very remarkable from the twofold aspect it presents us. At first we seem to behold only the river or some local deity impersonated in the river:— ‘Hail to thee, O Nile! Coming in peace, giving life to Khemi, Watering the land unceasingly, He maketh the fields ready for the plough; Every creature receiveth food.’ After the song has proceeded for some time in this strain, all on a sudden the Nile disappears from view, and the worshipper is in the presence of the divine and unutterable, though with no apparent change of person:—