. The Mythology of all races .. . of metal (for thecosmic signification of the obe-lisk, which was probably re-peated in the pylon, see p. 31).Behind the pylons generallyFig. 195. Front of a Temple according came a large court where the TO AN Egyptian Picture , - > ■, ^ , , j . laity might assemble and wit-ness sacrifices, next there was a dimly lighted, columned hall inwhich the priests gathered, and finally the holiest place of all,a dark chamber (the adytum), accessible to the higher priest-hood alone. Here the principal idol or the sacred animaldwelt, often housed in a chapel-like shrin
. The Mythology of all races .. . of metal (for thecosmic signification of the obe-lisk, which was probably re-peated in the pylon, see p. 31).Behind the pylons generallyFig. 195. Front of a Temple according came a large court where the TO AN Egyptian Picture , - > ■, ^ , , j . laity might assemble and wit-ness sacrifices, next there was a dimly lighted, columned hall inwhich the priests gathered, and finally the holiest place of all,a dark chamber (the adytum), accessible to the higher priest-hood alone. Here the principal idol or the sacred animaldwelt, often housed in a chapel-like shrine, or naos, which, ifpossible, was cut from a single stone. Round the adytumwere small magazines in which some of the divine outfit andceremonial utensils and books were kept. In larger templesthe number of rooms might be greater, but those which wehave just mentioned were the essential parts. Where severalgods were worshipped in one temple, each divinity might havea special adytum, so that practically several parallel shrines. ETHICS AND CULT 189 were combined, though not always under the same roof; theidols of a triad (p. 20), at least, were generally united in asingle adytum. Larger temples had kitchens for the offeringsand festal meals, laboratories for the preparation of the sacredperfumes and cakes, shops for the manufacture of the amuletswhich were sold to pilgrims, etc.; and round them were housesfor the priests and granaries for their food, so that they evenformed large sacred cities. In place of the divine statues, to whose simplicity we havealready alluded (p. 12), we sometimes find pillars with the headof the divinity, like the Greek herms,^° or with divine sceptres or columns, occasionally as tall as obe-lisks, are mentioned as objects of worship, and (Fig. 196) we findthe king bringing sacrifices to them as gods. ^^ Their moreoriginal meaning is unknown, so that we cannot say to what ex-tent they were analogous to the sacred pillars of the Semites.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmythology, bookyear19
