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To Bacchus, on the eve of his feast, every Egyptian sacrifices a
hog before the door of his house, which is then given back to the
swineherd by whom it was furnished, and by him carried away. In other
respects the festival is celebrated almost exactly as Bacchic festivals
are in Greece, excepting that the Egyptians have no choral dances.
They also use instead of phalli another invention, consisting of
images a cubit high, pulled by strings, which the women carry round to
the villages. A piper goes in front, and the women follow, singing
hymns in honour of Bacchus. They give a religious reason for the
peculiarities of the image.
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