This
tradition of human sacrifices offered at the tomb of Osiris is
confirmed by the evidence of the monuments.
In the light of the foregoing discussion the Egyptian tradition of
Busiris admits of a consistent and fairly probable explanation.
Osiris, the corn-spirit, was annually represented at harvest by a
stranger, whose red hair made him a suitable representative of the
ripe corn. This man, in his representative character, was slain on
the harvest-field, and mourned by the reapers, who prayed at the
same time that the corn-spirit might revive and return
(_m??-ne-rha,_ Maneros) with renewed vigour in the following year.
Finally, the victim, or some part of him, was burned, and the ashes
scattered by winnowing-fans over the fields to fertilise them. Here
the choice of the victim on the ground of his resemblance to the
corn which he was to represent agrees with the Mexican and African
customs already described. Similarly the woman who died in the
character of the Corn-mother at the Mexican midsummer sacrifice had
her face painted red and yellow in token of the colours of the corn,
and she wore a pasteboard mitre surmounted by waving plumes in
imitation of the tassel of the maize.
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