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At Sais, when the assembly takes place for the sacrifices, there is
one night on which the inhabitants all burn a multitude of lights in the
open air round their houses. They use lamps in the shape of flat
saucers filled with a mixture of oil and salt, on the top of which the
wick floats. These burn the whole night, and give to the festival the
name of the Feast of Lamps. The Egyptians who are absent from the
festival observe the night of the sacrifice, no less than the rest, by
a general lighting of lamps; so that the illumination is not confined
to the city of Sais, but extends over the whole of Egypt. And there
is a religious reason assigned for the special honour paid to this
night, as well as for the illumination which accompanies it.
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