And with that cry, the prestige of Heqt and Khnum was gone forever, drowned out in the tidal wave of disgust that rolled up in protest at too much of her theophany!
It is a bit difficult to imagine that generation of Egyptians ever worshipping the Frog again.
Plagues Three and Four are a bit more difficult to deal with at the present writing, because of the personal ignorance of the writer. By that he means to say that more light is required here as he does not know definitely the exact god that was meant to suffer in the estimation of the people, with the plague of lice. There can be no question, however, that the people themselves were hard hit, as any veteran of the A. E. F. will be only too glad to testify! This unclean parasite must have been a source of misery that was well-nigh insuperable, when it became as numerous as the very dust of the ground! It must have made the Egyptians somewhat envious to see the Israelites basking in peace and bodily comfort, while they, the lords of the land, itched and scratched and suffered the misery of this vicious pest! How much better to trust the God Jehovah who demonstrated His ability to keep His followers free from even such a plague as this.
As for the flies, there is this suggestion, at least: one of them was sacred to the name of Uatchit. What variety of fly is intended in the text we cannot definitely say, as there are numerous species of flies. But the ichneumon fly is a symbol of this god, and their figures in tiny statues and on papyri are well known to the modern archeologist. They are a brilliant and beautiful insect, somewhat prized by the entomologists of our day as specimens, but they can be a pest when they come in too numerous companies!
Some years ago we were encamped in Mexico, with a company who were digging for archeological treasure. The site was pleasant, the camp was near a clear, meandering stream, and the shade trees were enjoyable. There was just “one fly in the ointment” and that fly was the ichneumon. Every time food was placed upon the camp table, this gorgeous insect responded with enthusiasm and delight. They came in regiments and companies, bringing all their relatives and friends with them! So we could say from experience, that anyone who had to fight with a swarm of ichneumon flies for his own share of the lunch, would soon come to revile the god to whom this symbol was sacred! Not only Jehovah, but any god would seem preferable to Uatchit after an invasion of his particular pets. Or should we turn this last word around and make it pest, instead?
Hathor
When we come to the Fifth Plague, we are again on solid and assured territory. Once more firm archeological ground supports the theme of this chapter. When God smote the cattle of Egypt, He dealt most definitely and drastically with Egyptian polytheism. There were many of the supreme objects of Egyptian worship that met their Waterloo in the murrain on the cattle.
Chief of these is the mighty and venerated Hathor. She was the “cow-goddess” that was universally worshipped in all the land, and was to the human race of that day the “mother” principle of deity. Her most common name in the Egyptian language is Het-Hert, which literally means “the House of Horus.” The House of Horus is that portion of the sky where Horus lives and is daily born, namely, the east. Hathor is depicted in antiquity in many forms. Always she appears with a human body, and may sometimes have a human head as well. But more often she has a cow’s head on a human body, as the cow was her symbol. She often walked the land in the theophany of a cow, and one could tell when a calf was born, whether Hathor had come to earth, or not.
When this great goddess is pictured with a human head, she wears an impressive headdress. This is composed of the spreading horns of a cow, between which are seen the bonnet of Mut, the divine wife of Amon-Ra, the king of the gods. Above this is seen the solar disk, as Hathor was of “The Great Company” and was associated with all the beneficence of the glorious and life-giving sun. The Book of the Dead teaches that Hathor provides nourishment for the soul in the other-world, and as such a provider she excels all the minor gods. So in all the forms in which she is carved or drawn, she wears the sacred uraeus, to show her exalted power.