Note 17 — Chapter XVII
P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) Renouf translation
4817. It is most probable that the Cat became the representative of the Sun because of the homonymy between the Egyptian name mȧȧu of the animal and the attributive mau, ‘shining’ said of the Sun. But the Egyptian scribe gives a different etymological explanation. Sau said of Râ “he is maȧu of what he hath made.” may, like the Latin exemplar, be either the type or the prototype, the copy or the original. The creatures of Râ were made after his likeness. Sanskrit literature, from the Çatapatha Brahmana down to the Vishnu Purâna, is full of similar etymologies. The Egyptians from the very first delighted in this play upon words.
