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As for the cow, the greater portion of it is hidden by a scarlet
coverture; the head and neck, however, which are visible, are coated
very thickly with gold, and between the horns there is a representation
in gold of the orb of the sun. The figure is not erect, but lying
down, with the limbs under the body; the dimensions being fully those
of a large animal of the kind. Every year it is taken from the
apartment where it is kept, and exposed to the light of day - this is
done at the season when the Egyptians beat themselves in honour of one
of their gods, whose name I am unwilling to mention in connection with
such a matter. They say that the daughter of Mycerinus requested her
father in her dying moments to allow her once a year to see the sun.
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