barter, and apparently, as at the present day, much haggling took place.

Trees, Sacred. So important a part do certain trees play in the religious cult, that some Egyptologists have accepted tree worship as a fact. We read of a very ancient sacred tree in the "great hall" at Heliopolis, on the leaves of which Thoth and Safekh write the names of the monarch to secure to him immortality: but here the tree is rather a symbol than an object of worship. The nearest approach to actual worship was under the Ptolemies, when every temple seems to have had its sacred tree. Ten kinds of trees are mentioned. (See PERSEA TREE, SYCOMORE and FLORA).

Triad. A cycle of three gods, arising from the fact of other deities being associated with the chief god of the place. It consisted frequently of the god, a goddess his wife, and their son. The most important triad was that of Thebes, which was worshipped in most of its temples. They were Amen, Mut his wife, and their son Khensu. The triad honoured at Memphis was Ptah, Sekhet, Im-hetep; that at Kom Ombo, Sebek, Hathor and Khensu.

Tuamautef, or Duamautef, one of the four funerary genii, the four children of Horus, who are so frequently represented standing upon a lotus flower. Tuamautef has the head of a jackal. They are the four cardinal points, and preside over the four Canopic jars (q.v.).

Tum. Also called Tmu, Atmu and Atum, was the chief of the gods of Annu (Heliopolis). He may be considered as an aspect of Ra, for he represents the night sun.

He is

Tum.

called "creator of men; "maker of the gods; "self-created." The ancient city of Pithom took its name from the fact of there being a temple "pa" (lit. house) of Tum there. He is represented as a man wearing the double crown of Egypt.

Uaḥ-ab-Rā.

U

Hää-ab-Ra, Dynasty XXVI., cir.

B.C. 591-572. The Apries of the Greeks, the Pharaoh Hophra of the Old Testament, who leagued unsuccessfully with Zedekiah against Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The Egyptian fleet, however, was successful against the Babylonian, and with its help Tyre held out against Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years.

Hophra built a beautiful temple at Saïs, in the Delta. His soldiers revolted against him, shut him up in his own capital, and made Аāḥmes II., a man of low origin, but who had married the daughter of Psammetichus II., his successor.

Uast.

The name for Thebes generally, and

the capital of the fourth nome of Upper Egypt. Chief deity, Amen Rā.

Ua-ua-t. A district of Ethiopia, east of Korosko.

Uazit. The tutelary goddess of the north, the Buto of the Greeks. She is represented wearing the crown of Lower Egypt; but sometimes, especially when figured with Nekhebt, the goddess of the south, she takes the form of a winged uraeus, wearing the same crown. Into her charge Horus was given while Isis, his mother, went to search for Osiris.

Uazit.

Uer-mer. Name given to the sacred bull at Heliopolis, the Greek Mnevis (q.v.).

Unȧs.

Very
Very little is known of this

last king of the Vth Dynasty. His sepulchre, called Nefer-asu, i.e., "the most beautiful place," is the smallest of the pyramids at Sakkara, and lies to the south-west of the Step Pyramid. The walls lining the sarcophagus chamber are of alabaster and covered with paintings, the colours of which are still fresh. The fragments of the king's mummy were found scattered on the floor.

"The decoration occupies only the end wall of the funeral chamber; the part against the sarcophagus was lined with alabaster, and engraved to represent a great monumental door, etc."

Un-nefer. One of the names of Osiris. As Un-nefer he is god and judge of the dead in the underworld. The name signifies "the good being."

Uraeus. The snake (a species of cobra di capello) seen always on the head-dress of the Pharaohs. It was the symbol of royalty. (See ĀRAR and UAZIT.)

Ur heka.

The instrument used in the funeral ceremonies for symbolically opening the eyes of the mummy.

User. A sceptre with greyhound (?) head found almost always in the hands of the gods. It is symbolical of power.

User-ka-f.

The first king of

Dynasty V., cir. 3721 B.C., reigned twenty-eight years.

Usertsen I., Kheper-ka-Ra. Second king of Dynasty

стр

XII., cir. 2758 B.C., reigned forty-four years, perhaps longer. Carried on building works throughout Egypt. At Begig, in the Fayûm, lies a red granite obelisk of this reign which is unique, as it differs in shape from all other obelisks as yet found.

In the tomb of Ameni at Beni Hasan, we have an admirable picture of the life of one of the great hereditary nobles of this period.

Dynasty XII., cir. 2684 B.C. A queen, Nefert, and three daughters are known.

The pyramid of Illahûn, at the entrance to the Fayûm, marks the burial place of this Pharaoh. The workmen's town lay a mile to the east; and was completely excavated by Petrie, who published plans of both streets and houses.

Usertsen III., Khā-kau-Rā, fifth king of Dy

nasty XII., cir. 2660 B.C. His queen, Henut-taui, is known from her sandstone sarcophagus in the N. pyramid at Dahshur. It was in this pyramid that de Morgan found in 1894 the beautiful jewellery of the Princess Set-Hathor, probably a sister of Usertsen III. This Pharaoh, according to a tablet at Sehêl, first cataract, ordered a channel to be made through the cataract, 34 ft. wide and 24 ft. deep, preparatory to the conquest of Nubia. At Semneh and Kummeh, about thirty miles south of the cataract, are two fortifications erected by Usertsen III., for the protection of his southern frontier against the Nubians.

Ushabtiu. The name given to figurines in the form of a mummy deposited with the dead. Their business was to act as the servants of the deceased in the underworld. The 6th chapter of the " Book of the Dead is usually inscribed on them, and runs thus :“O Ushabtiu, if the Osiris (deceased) is commanded to do any work whatsoever in the neter khert let all obstructions be cast down from before him."

Here am I, ready whensoever ye call."

"Be ye ready always to plough and sow the fields, to fill the canals with water, and to carry sand from the east to the west."

66

Again, here am I when ye call."

Uten. A measure of value, or standard of exchange, more recently translated tabnu. It consisted of a piece of copper (?) wire, weighing from 91 to 92 grammes. So uniform was its weight that it was also used in the scales as a weight. The uten was only a standard, the piece itself did not necessarily change hands in transactions. (See MONEY.)

Uzat. See EYE, THE SACRED.