ABSTRACT
AccoRDING to a magical papyrus in the British Museum (No. 10051, Salt 825), the connection between the gods and certain vegetable substances was very close. The tears that fall from the eyes of HoRus turn into the gum anti, i.e. myrrh. The blood that falls from the nose of GEBBAN turns into cedar trees, the sap of which is the oil " Sefi." On certain occasions SHu and TEFNUT weep, and when their tears reach the ground they sink into the earth and transform themselves into the plants from which incense is made. When RA. weeps copiously the water on falling on the ground becomes " the flies that build," i.e. bees, and these, working in the flowers in every garden, produce honey and wax. The Water Flood (i.e. the annual Inundation of the Nile) on earth is composed of the sweat which falls from RX when he is weary, and the other exudations from him turn into papyrus plants. The sweat of the goddesses Isis and NEPHTHYS turns into plants. R.A in the house of the Sun-stone sweats, PTAH in Tanen sweats, KHNEMU in the Qerti of Elephantine sweats, OsiRIS in Tetu sweats, and SHu and TEFNUT collect these sweats and fashion them into plants that are the members of the god. The blood of OsiRIS became the Nart tree of Amentt, and the blood of SET became the Nart tree of Abydos. All the plants and the
oilsofthetreesmentionedabovewerebelievedtobe powerfulmedicines,andplayedveryimportantparts inalltheritesandceremoniesconnectedwiththe resurrectionofthedead.IntheGrreco-Romanperiod childrenandotherswereburiedinpotsfilledwith honey,andthebodyofAlexandertheGreatissaid tohavebeenpreservedin"whitehoneywhichhad notbeenmelted."
