PENTAUR ( Egypt ian Pen-fa-irere(t)). An Egyptian scribe, who was formerly regarded as the author of the poem celebrating the valor of Rameses II. in the battle fought against the Hittites at Kadesh on the Orontes. In this char acter he is the hero of Ebers's novel rarda. It is now known, however. that he was merely the copyist of the papyrus ( Saltier 3) in which the poem has been preserved. According to the first Saltier papyrus he was still living in the tenth year of Neneptah. Another Pentaur, who seems to have been a member of the royal family of Egypt, is mentioned in the Turin judiciary papy rus as being concerned in the conspiracy against Rameses ill. He was found guilty by the com mission appointed to try the case and was forced to kill himself. Consult Wiedemann, Gcschichte von .1l1-Acgypten (Stuttgart. 1891).
PENTECOST, 1)611'1e-1:6st (OR pen tccostc, Fr. pcatcc(..;te, from Let. proccoste. from Ok. pent.'kosfe, fift iet h, se. ilapa, era. day. from rev,- IjKovra. pc n (Von ta The Greek name of the second of the three chief festivals among the Hebrews. in the Old Testa ment commonly called the Feast of Weeks. It received the name Pentecost from the fact that its celebration was determined by an interval of seven weeks or fifty days from the Passover. (See
WEEKS, FEAST or.) From the Jewish Church it was introduced into the Christian. and with spe eial solemnity, as being the day of the descent of the holy Ghost on the Apostles, and of the first i-olemn preaching of the Christian religion (Acts ii.). From early times Pentecost has been re garded as one of the great festivals of the Chris tian year, and it was chosen as one of the times for the solemn administration of baptism. The English name of the festival, Whitsunday, is derived from the white robes in which the newly baptized were clad. It is regarded as specially sacred to the Third Person of the Trinity, to whose honor the services of the day are directly addressed. As a trace of its originally agricul tural character, the practice prevails in the East as well as in the Wert of decorating the churches with evergreens and flowers, as is done in Eng land at Christmas, and it is interesting to note also that the whole time intervening between Easter and Pentecost is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church with great solemnity. See PASS OVER.