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At Heliopolis and Buto the assemblies are merely for the purpose of
sacrifice; but at Papremis, besides the sacrifices and other rites
which are performed there as elsewhere, the following custom is
observed: When the sun is getting low, a few only of the priests
continue occupied about the image of the god, while the greater
number, armed with wooden clubs, take their station at the portal of
the temple. Opposite to them is drawn up a body of men, in number
above a thousand, armed, like the others, with clubs, consisting of
persons engaged in the performance of their vows. The image of the
god, which is kept in a small wooden shrine covered with plates of
gold, is conveyed from the temple into a second sacred building the day
before the festival begins. The few priests still in attendance upon
the image place it, together with the shrine containing it, on a
four-wheeled car, and begin to drag it along; the others stationed at
the gateway of the temple, oppose its admission. Then the votaries
come forward to espouse the quarrel of the god, and set upon the
opponents, who are sure to offer resistance. A sharp fight with clubs
ensues, in which heads are commonly broken on both sides. Many, I
am convinced, die of the wounds that they receive, though the
Egyptians insist that no one is ever killed.
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