In the sacred hymns of Osiris they call upon
him who is hidden in the arms of the Sun ; and on
the thirtieth of the month Epiphi they celebrate the
birthday of the Eyes of Horus, at the time when the
Moon and the Sun are in a perfectly straight line,
since they regard not only the Moon but also the Sun
as the eye and light of Horus.
On the 8th of the waning of the month Phaophi
they conduct the birthday of the Staff of the Sun
following upon the autumnal equinox, and by this
they declare, as it were, that he is in need of support
and strength, since he becomes lacking in warmth and
light, and undergoes decline, and is carried away from
us to one side.
Moreover, at the time of the winter solstice they
lead the cow seven times around the temple of the
Sun and this circumambulation is called the Seeking
for Osiris, since the Goddess in the winter-time yearns
for water ; so many times do they go around, because
in the seventh month the Sun completes the transition
from the winter solstice to the summer solstice. It is
said also that Horus, the son of Isis, offered sacrifice to
the Sun first of all on the fourth day of the month, as
is written in the records entitled the Birthdays of
Horus.
Every day they make a triple offering of incense to
the Sun, an offering of resin at sunrise, of myrrh at
midday, and of the so-called cyphi at sunset; the
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reason which underlies each one of these offerings I
will describe later.1 They think that by means of all
these they supplicate and serve the Sun. Yet, what
need is there to collect many such things ? There are
some who without reservation assert that Osiris is the
Sun and is called the Dog-star (Sirius) by the Greeks2
even if among the Egyptians the addition of the
article has created some ambiguity in regard to the
name ; and there are those who declare that Isis is
none other than the Μοοη ; for this reason it is said
that the statues of Isis that bear horns are imitations
of the crescent moon, and in her dark garments are
shown the concealments and the obscurations in which
she in her yearning pursues the Sun. For this reason
also they call upon the Moon in love affairs, and
Eudoxus asserts that Isis is a deity who presides over
love affairs. These people may lay claim to a certain
plausibility, but no one should listen for a moment to
those who make Typhon to be the Sun.
But let us now take up again the proper subject
of our discussion.