"The ancient Egyptians had a tradition, that, at a certain period, men rebelled against the gods, and drove them out of heaven.[1] Upon this disaster taking place, the gods fled into Egypt, where they concealed themselves under the form of different animals; and this was the first reason assigned for the worship of these creatures. But there was another reason assigned for the worship of these animals, namely, the benefits which men often received from them, particularly in Egypt.
"Oxen, by their labor, helped to cultivate the ground; sheep clothed them with their wool; dogs, among many other services, prevented their houses from being robbed; the ibis, a bird somewhat resembling a stork, was of great service in destroying the winged serpents with which Egypt abounded; the crocodile, an amphibious creature, was worshipped because it prevented the wild Arabs from making incursions; the ichneumon, a little animal, was of great service to them in different ways; he watches the crocodile's absence and breaks his eggs, and when he lies down to sleep on the banks of the Nile, which he always does with his mouth open, this little creature jumps out of the mud, and leaping down his throat, forces his way down to his entrails, which he gnaws, then he pierces his belly, and thus triumphs over this most dreadful animal."—(Burder's "History of All Religion," pp. 507-8.)
8. Disparagement Between Moral Code and Egyptian Practice: "In morals, the Egyptians combined an extraordinary degree of theoretic perfection with an exceedingly lax and imperfect practice. It has been said that the forty-two laws of the Egyptian religion, contained in the 125th chapter of the 'Book of the Dead,' fall short in nothing of the teachings of Christianity, and conjectured that Moses, in compiling his code of laws, did but 'translate into Hebrew the religious precepts which he found in the sacred books' of the people among whom he had been brought up. Such expressions are no doubt exaggerated; but they convey what must be allowed to be a fact, viz., that there is a very close agreement between the moral law of the Egyptians and the precepts of the Decalogue." (Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I, p. 108).
This high praise for the moral law of the Egyptian religion is borne out by answers that the spirit of man must make before Osiris in the judgment hall, where the decisive sentence is pronounced, either admitting the candidate to happiness, or excluding him forever.
"The deceased is obliged to give proof of his knowledge; he must show that it is great enough to give him the right to be admitted to share the lot of glorified spirits Each of the forty-two judges, bearing a mystical name, questions him in turn; he is obliged to tell each one his name, and what it means. Nor is this all; he is obliged to give an account of his whole life."
"I have not blasphemed," says the deceased; "I have not stolen; I have not smitten men privily; I have not treated any person with cruelty; I have not stirred up trouble; I have not been idle; I have not been intoxicated; I have not made unjust commandments; I have shown no improper curiosity; I have not allowed my mouth to tell secrets; I have not wounded anyone; I have not let envy gnaw my heart; I have spoken evil neither of the king nor my father; I have not falsely accused anyone; I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings; I have not practiced any shameful crime; I have not calumniated a slave to his master."
"The deceased does not confine himself to [merely] denying any ill conduct; he speaks of the good he has done in his lifetime: 'I have made to the gods the offerings that were their due; I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked.' We may well, on reading these passages, be astounded at this high morality, superior to that of all other ancient people, that the Egyptians had been able to build up on such a foundation as their religion. Without doubt it was this clear insight into truth, this tenderness of conscience, which obtained for the Egyptians the reputation for wisdom, echoed even by Holy Scripture." (Dobbin's World's Worship, pp. 110, 111).
Yet notwithstanding this profound knowledge of high moral truth, "the practice of the people," remarks Rawlinson, "was rather below, than above the common level. The Egyptian women were notoriously of loose character; and, whether as we meet with them in history, or as they are depicted in Egyptian romance, appear as immodest and licentious. The men practiced impurity openly, and boasted of it in their writings; they were industrious, cheerful, nay, even gay, under hardships, and not wanting in family affection; but they were cruel, vindictive, treacherous, avaricious, prone to superstition, and profoundly servile." (Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 109).
Is not the fact of this disparagement between the moral code and Egyptian practice, explained by the Book of Abraham, in its account of the origin of the Egyptian religion?
"Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal. Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom, and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood." (Book of Abraham, Ch. i; 25-6).