If red paint or the colour red brought these magical results, it was clearly justifiable to resort to its use.
All these procedures are logical. It is only the premises that were erroneous.
The persistence of such customs in Ancient Egypt makes it possible for us to obtain literary evidence to support the inferences drawn from archæological data of a more remote age. For instance, the red jasper amulet sometimes called the "girdle-tie of Isis," was supposed to represent the blood of the goddess and was applied to the mummy "to stimulate the functions of his blood";[257] or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it was intended to add to the vital substance which was so obviously lacking in the corpse.
[249] In response to the prompting of the most fundamental of all instincts, that of the preservation of life.
[250] See Alan Gardiner, Journal of Egyptian Archæology, Vol. IV, Parts II-III, April-July, 1917, p. 205. Compare also the Babylonian story of Gilgamesh.
[251] Some of these have been discussed in Chapter 1 ("Incense and Libations") and will not be further considered here.
[252] "The life which is the blood thereof" (Gen. ix. 4).
[253] See, for example, Sollas, "Ancient Hunters," 2nd Edition, 1915, pp. 326 (fig. 163), 333 (fig. 171), and 36 (fig. 189).
[254] Sollas, op. cit., pp. 347 et seq.
[255] The "redeeming blood," Φάρμακον ἀθανασίας.