The Ancient Egyptians made many more statements which undoubtedly referred to an unknown, all-powerful, ideal deity of the highest order, I have a great number of such, but will not bring them forward in this writing; I refer the reader for some quotations on this subject, to the valuable writings of Mr. P. Le Page Renouf, especially to his; Religion of Ancient Egypt (Hibbert Lectures for 1879), which I have already cited in several places.
It will be seen from these quotations, that Khepra, the scarabæus deity, especially as Tum-Khepra; occupied a most elevated position, I might say the most elevated, of all the religious conceptions of the Ancient Egyptians, for beyond it, was the unknown ideal deity whom none could form a conception of. Khepra was asserted to have generated and caused to come into existence, itself through itself, it united in itself, the male and female principles of life. It was androgenic. The scarabæus was the hieroglyph of the creator, the to be, to become, to exist, the eternal, the coming into being from chaotic non-being, also the itself transforming or becoming, the emanating or creating power, also, the universe. Khepra was "Father of the gods," connected with the idea of the rising of the sun from the darkness of night, Khepra was used to typify the resurrection from the dead of the spirits of men. It represented the active and positive in antithesis to Atmu, or Tum. With Atmu as Atmu (or, Tum)-Khepra, it represented the positive and negative united, spirit and matter.
Atmu, Tum or Tmu, was the symbol of the eternal night or darkness of Chaos, which preceded the emanation of light, it was the type of senility and absolute death, the negative and end. It was the nocturnal or hidden sun, as Horus was the rising sun, and Ra the risen sun, proceeding in its course each day through the firmament. Tum was not however considered as absolutely inert, it was the precursor of the rising sun, and the point of departure of the setting sun, and was the nocturnal sun, and was also a point of departure into existence, of all the created and emanated in the universe. It, as well as Khepra, in some of the texts is called "Father of the gods."[104]
This deity was the unknown and inaccessible, primordial deity of chaos, "existing alone in the abyss," before the appearance of Light. One of the texts reads:
"Homage to thee, sun at its setting, Tum-Harmakhis, god renewing and forming itself in itself, double essence. * * Hail to thee author of the gods, who hast suspended heaven for the circulation of thy two eyes, author of the earth in its extent, and from whom the light is, so as to give to all men the sensation of the sight of his fellow creature."[105]
It is of the greatest importance to an understanding of the Egyptian religion and philosophy, and especially of the Per-em-hru, the so-called, Book of the Dead; that the Egyptian psychology be comprehended; in order to enable the reader to do this, I have prepared the following condensed statement of the same.
I. The Body was called Khat. This was embalmed and then placed in the tomb.
II. The Soul was called, Ba or Bai, plur. Baiu. This was the part of the spiritual which was thought to contain the elements necessary for the world-life of a man, such as judgment, conscience, etc. It seems to be the same termed psuke or psyche by the Greeks. This Ba performed the pilgrimage in the underworld, and was judged for the conduct of the man it inhabited in this world, by Osiris and the Forty-two judges. It was usually represented as a bird, especially as a human-headed sparrow-hawk. It fluttered to and fro between this world and the next, sometimes visiting the mummy in its tomb. It was sometimes represented as a crane, at others as a lapwing. It is paralleled by the Rua'h of the Hebrew Qabbalah.
III. The Intellectual part of man's spirit was called, Xu or Khu. It was considered as part of the flame detached from the upper divine fire. Freed from mortality it wandered through space and had the power of keeping company with or haunting humanity, and even of entering into and taking possession of the body of a living man. The Egyptians spoke of being possessed with a khu as we would say of a being possessed by a spirit.[106] It was considered as a luminous spirit. It was the Intelligence and answers to the Nous of the Greeks and the Neshamah of the Hebrew Qabbalah.
IV. The Shadow or Shade was called, Khaibit. This created the Individuality, and was an important part of the personality. There was a valley in which the Shades were, in the Underworld. It was restored to the soul in the second life. They are frequently mentioned in the Per-em-hru. His shadow, would early attract the attention of the primitive man.