XXXIII. 1. But the more wise of the priests call not

only the Nile Osiris, and the sea Typhon ; bat [they
' Lit, '^pilota" ; bat presumably here used in a mora geneial
THE BCY8TERIES OF ISIS AND OSIRIS 309
call] without exception every source and power that moistens, Osiris — considering [him] cause of generation and essence of seed, and Typhon everything dry and fiery, and of a drying nature generally and one hostile to moisture.
2. And for this cause also, as they think he [Typhon] was bom with a reddish-yellow body, somewhat pale, they do not by any means readily meet or willingly associate with men that look like this.
3. On the other hand, again, they say in the language of myth that Osiris was bom black, because all [Nile] water blackens both earth and garments and clouds when mixed [with them], and [because] moisture in the young makes their hair black, whereas greyness comes on those past their prime, as though it were a turning pale owing to its drying up.
4. The spring, too, is blooming and productive and balmy; but autumn, through lack of moisture, is inimical to plants and baneful to animals.
5. And the ox that is kept at Sun-city which they call Mnevis— sacred to Osiris, while some also consider it sire of Apis — is black [also] and has second honours after Apia
6. Moreover, they call Egypt, since it is especially black-soiled, just like the black of the eye, Chgmia, and liken it to a heart; for it is warm and moist, and is mostly confined in, and adjacent to, the southern part of the civilised world, just like the heart [is] in man's left-hand side.