It appears, however, that the name Maneros
is due to a misunderstanding of the formula _maa-ne-hra,_ "Come to
the house," which has been discovered in various Egyptian writings,
for example in the dirge of Isis in the Book of the Dead. Hence we
may suppose that the cry _maa-ne-hra_ was chanted by the reapers
over the cut corn as a dirge for the death of the corn-spirit (Isis
or Osiris) and a prayer for its return. As the cry was raised over
the first ears reaped, it would seem that the corn-spirit was
believed by the Egyptians to be present in the first corn cut and to
die under the sickle. We have seen that in the Malay Peninsula and
Java the first ears of rice are taken to represent either the Soul
of the Rice or the Rice-bride and the Rice-bridegroom. In parts of
Russia the first sheaf is treated much in the same way that the last
sheaf is treated elsewhere. It is reaped by the mistress herself,
taken home and set in the place of honour near the holy pictures;
afterwards it is threshed separately, and some of its grain is mixed
with the next year's seed-corn.
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