It is right to point out (to those who may wonder at this Egyptian etymology) that the Latin scio ‘I know’ is etymologically akin to seco ‘cut,’ securis ‘an axe,’ and the Greek κείω, κεάζω ‘split, cleave.’
[21.] The
sem, and the
urȧ ḫerp ḥem, were priests in the service of Ptah. The latter, who held perhaps the highest sacerdotal office in Egypt, as high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is repeatedly found combining with his own special office that of the sem. The ceremony which is here referred to consisted in a grand procession round the walls of the great sanctuary of Ptah, conveying upon a sledge the bark