fifteenth of the month, cannot be full on the thirtieth. It must be the
other Eye, the Sun. Now we know what is meant by the Full Moon, the
Plenilunium, but what is the Full Sun?
M. de Rougé, in his commentary on the 17th Chapter, gave the key to
this, by pointing out that the 30th Mechir was the last day of the sixth
month of the year; that is the 180th day after the first of Thoth, which
is supposed to coincide with the Summer Solstice. It is therefore at the
time of the _Winter_ Solstice that the Eye is said to be full. The
inaccuracy, of course, arises from the length of the Egyptian year. But
there can be no doubt that the time of the Winter Solstice is meant.
In the year 1470 B.C. the Egyptian year began on July 20, and the 30th
Mechir coincided with January 15 of the Julian calendar.
If the Eye (considered as the Sun) is said to be _full_ at the Winter
Solstice, it was most probably spoken of in the same way not only at the
Summer Solstice, but also at the two Equinoxes. And this is the most
probable reason why in the pictures representing the Four Rudders of
Heaven (North, South, East and West) an Eye ⁂ is attached to each
rudder. (See Vignettes of Chapter 148.)
The Two Eyes, considered as Sun and Moon, are attributed not only to Rā
and Osiris, but to gods identified with these. Of the two passages which
have been most frequently quoted, “Thy Right Eye is the Sun
⁂⁂⁂ and thy left is the Moon ⁂⁂,” “His Right Eye is the
Sun and his left is the Moon,” the first is addressed to Ptah (in the
Pap. Berlin, VII, l. 42), and the second, which occurs on the Neapolitan
Stele, is really addressed to Osiris as god of Suten-hunen, under the
form of the Ram-headed deity Her-śefit. Reference is made towards the
end of the inscription to the “divine Eyes which are in Suten-hunen.”
Horus according to the Pyramid Texts has two eyes, a Light one and a
Dark one. But the “Eye of Horus” is most frequently spoken of in the
singular number. It is certainly meant for the Sun, and the name of it
is given to cakes and ale, wine, corn, oil, honey, and all the good
things which come to maturity through the beneficent god: who has in
himself all the attributes of ‘Ceres and Bacchus.’
I must bring this long note to an end with one or two observations.
Many goddesses will be found bearing the title of Eye of Rā. There is
not one of these who is not identified with Isis or Nephthys, who are in
fact one, and personify the Light of the Sun.
Shu and Tefnut, who are brother and sister, play the same parts as the
two goddesses.
There is a picture, which appears in the vignette of Chapter 17 in most
of the papyri of the second and later periods, of two _male_ deities
bearing the Eyes over their heads (see Pl. XXXV). If the beards upon
their chins are not a mistake,[117] copied from one papyrus upon
another, they must represent not Isis and Nephthys but the two Rehu
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ Rā and Thoth, Sun and Moon, instead of the
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
It is important to note that if Sun and Moon are Eyes of Osiris or Rā or
Ptah, the deity is not to be confounded with them: they are but
manifestations of himself.