{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64849/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64849","id":"gutenberg_64849","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64849","summary":null,"tags":["Astronomy, Egyptian","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Environmental Issues","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sun -- Mythology","Sun worship","Temples -- Egypt"],"text":"Transcriber's Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other\nspelling and punctuation remains unchanged.\n\nSeveral tables have been rearranged to improve clarity and constrain\nwidth. In particular the table of star signs on p 401 was printed\nhorizontally with vertical names and has been rotated. The reference to\n'the upper list' has been changed to 'the left hand list'.\n\nThe names Shesu-Hor and Hor-shesu are used, apparently, interchangeably\nand have not been rationalised.\n\nThe first two errata have been implemented, the third is erroneous.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and\nsuperscripts thus y^{en}.\n\n\n\n\n                         THE DAWN OF ASTRONOMY\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100, LOOKING FROM THE SANCTUARY\nTOWARDS THE PLACE OF SUNSET AT THE SUMMER SOLSTICE.\n(_From a Photograph by the Author._)]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n                           DAWN OF ASTRONOMY\n\n                              A STUDY OF\n                   THE TEMPLE-WORSHIP AND MYTHOLOGY\n                                OF THE\n                          ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.\n\n                                  BY\n                           J. NORMAN LOCKYER\n\n _Fellow of the Royal Society; Correspondent of the Institute of\n France, the Society for the Promotion of National Industry of\n France, the Royal Academy of Science, G\u00f6ttingen, La Societ\u00e0 degli\n Spettroscopisti Italiani, the Royal Academy of Palermo, Natural\n History Society of Genera, the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, and\n the Royal Medical Society of Brussels; Member of the Royal Academy of\n Lincei, Rome, and the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia;\n Honorary Member of the Academy of Natural Science of Catania, Literary\n and Philosophical Society of Manchester, Philosophical Society of\n York, and Lehigh University; Member of the Committee on Solar Physics,\n and Professor of Astronomical Physics in the Royal College of Science_\n\n                      CASSELL AND COMPANY LIMITED\n                      _LONDON PARIS & MELBOURNE_\n                                 1894\n                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Decorative figure, La belle sauvage]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe enormous advance which has been recently made in our astronomical\nknowledge, and in our power of investigating the various bodies which\npeople space, is to a very great extent due to the introduction of\nmethods of work and ideas from other branches of science.\n\nMuch of the recent progress has been, we may indeed say, entirely\ndependent upon the introduction of the methods of inquiry to which\nI refer. While this is generally recognised, it is often forgotten\nthat a knowledge of even elementary astronomy may be of very great\nassistance to students of other branches of science; in other words,\nthat astronomy is well able to pay her debt. Amongst those branches\nis obviously that which deals with man's first attempts to grasp the\nmeaning and phenomena of the universe in which he found himself before\nany scientific methods were available to him; before he had any idea of\nthe origins or the conditionings of the things around him.\n\nIn the present volume I propose to give an account of some attempts I\nhave been making in my leisure moments during the past three years to\nsee whether any ideas could be obtained as to the early astronomical\nviews of the Egyptians, from a study of their temples and the mythology\nconnected with the various cults.\n\nHow I came to take up this inquiry may be gathered from the following\nstatement:--\n\nIt chanced that in March, 1890, during a brief holiday, I went to the\nLevant. I went with a good friend, who, one day when we were visiting\nthe ruins of the Parthenon, and again when we found ourselves at the\ntemple at Eleusis, lent me his pocket-compass. The curious direction\nin which the Parthenon was built, and the many changes of direction in\nthe foundations at Eleusis revealed by the French excavations, were\nso very striking and suggestive that I thought it worth while to note\nthe bearings so as to see whether there was any possible astronomical\norigin for the direction of the temple and the various changes in\ndirection to which I have referred. What I had in my mind was the\nfamiliar statement that in England the eastern windows of churches face\ngenerally--if they are properly constructed--to the place of sun-rising\non the festival of the patron saint; this is why, for instance, the\nchurches of St. John the Baptist face very nearly north-east. This\ndirection towards the sun-rising is the origin of the general use of\nthe term _orientation_, which is applied just as frequently to other\nbuildings the direction of which is towards the west or north or south.\nNow, if this should chance to be merely a survival from ancient times,\nit became of importance to find out the celestial bodies to which the\nancient temples were directed.\n\nWhen I came home I endeavoured to ascertain whether this subject\nhad been worked out: I am afraid I was a nuisance to many of my\narch\u00e6ological friends, and I made as much inquiry as I could by looking\ninto books. I found, both from my friends and from the books, that\nthis question had not been discussed in relation to ancient temples,\nscarcely even with regard to churches outside England or Germany.\n\nIt struck me that, since nothing was known, an inquiry into the\nsubject--provided an inquiry was possible for a stay-at-home--might\nhelp the matter forward to a certain extent. So, as it was well known\nthat the temples in Egypt had been most carefully examined and\noriented both by the French in 1798 and by the Prussians in 1844,\nI determined to see whether it was possible to get any information\non the general question from them, as it was extremely likely that\nsuch temples as that at Eleusis were more or less connected with\nEgyptian ideas. I soon found that, although neither the French nor\nthe Germans apparently paid any heed to the possible astronomical\nideas of the temple-builders, there was little doubt that astronomical\nconsiderations had a great deal to do with the direction towards which\nthese temples faced. In a series of lectures given at the School of\nMines in November, 1890, I took the opportunity of pointing out that\nin this way arch\u00e6ologists and others might ultimately be enabled to\narrive at dates in regard to the foundation of temples, and possibly to\nadvance knowledge in several other directions.\n\nAfter my lectures were over, I received a very kind letter from one\nof my audience, pointing out to me that a friend had informed him\nthat Professor Nissen, in Germany, had published some papers on the\norientation of ancient temples. I at once ordered them. Before I\nreceived them I went to Egypt to make some inquiries on the spot with\nreference to certain points which it was necessary to investigate,\nfor the reason that when the orientations were observed and recorded,\nit was not known what use would be made of them, and certain data\nrequired for my special inquiry were wanting. In Cairo also I worried\nmy arch\u00e6ological friends. I was told that the question had not been\ndiscussed; that, so far as they knew, the idea was new; and I also\ngathered a suspicion that they did not think much of it. However, one\nof them, Brugsch Bey, took much interest in the matter, and was good\nenough to look up some of the old inscriptions, and one day he told me\nhe had found a very interesting one concerning the foundation of the\ntemple at Edf\u00fb. From this inscription it was clear that the idea was\nnot new; it was possibly six thousand years old. Afterwards I went up\nthe river, and made some observations which carried conviction with\nthem and strengthened the idea in my mind that for the orientation not\nonly of Edf\u00fb, but of all the larger temples which I examined, there was\nan astronomical basis. I returned to England at the beginning of March,\n1891, and within a few days of landing received Professor Nissen's\npapers.\n\nI have thought it right to give this personal narrative, because, while\nit indicates the relation of my work to Professor Nissen's, it enables\nme to make the acknowledgment that the credit of having first made the\nsuggestion belongs, so far as I know, solely to him.[1]\n\nThe determination of the stars to which some of the Egyptian temples,\nsacred to a known divinity, were directed, opened a way, as I\nanticipated, to a study of the astronomical basis of parts of the\nmythology. This inquiry I have carried on to a certain extent, but it\nrequires an Egyptologist to face it, and this I have no pretensions\nto be. It soon became obvious, even to an outsider like myself, that\nthe mythology was intensely astronomical, and crystallised early ideas\nsuggested by actual observations of the sun, moon, and stars. Next,\nthere were apparently two mythologies, representing two schools of\nastronomical thought.\n\nFinally, to endeavour to obtain a complete picture, it became necessary\nto bring together the information to be obtained from all these and\nother sources, including the old Egyptian calendars, and to compare the\nearly Babylonian results with those which are to be gathered from the\nEgyptian myths and temple-orientations.\n\nIt will, I think, be clear to anyone who reads this volume that its\nlimits and the present state of our knowledge have only allowed me\nreally to make a few suggestions. I have not even attempted to exhaust\nany one of the small number of subjects which I have brought forward;\nbut if I have succeeded so far as I have gone, it will be abundantly\nevident that, if these inquiries are worth continuing, a very\nconsiderable amount of work has to be done.\n\nOf this future work, the most important, undoubtedly, is a re-survey\nof the temple sites, with modern instruments and methods. Next,\nastronomers must produce tables of the rising and setting conditions\nof the stars for periods far beyond those which have already been\nconsidered. The German Astronomical Society has published a table of\nthe places of a great many stars up to 2000 B.C., but to carry on this\ninvestigation we must certainly go back to 7000 B.C., and include\nsouthern stars. While the astronomer is doing this, the Egyptologist,\non his part, must look through the inscriptions with reference to the\nsuggestions which lie on the surface of the inquiry. The astronomical\nand associated mythological data want bringing together. One part of\nthat work will consist in arranging tables of synonyms like those to\nwhich I presently refer in the case of the goddesses. My own impression\nis that this work will not really be so laborious as the statement of\nit might seem to imply. I have attempted to go over the ground during\nthe last two years as well as my ignorance would allow me, and I have\narrived at the impression that the number both of gods and goddesses\nwill be found to be extremely small; that the apparent wealth of the\nmythology depends upon the totemism of the inhabitants in the Nile\nvalley--by which I mean that each district had its own special animal\nas the emblem of the tribe dwelling in it, and that every mythological\npersonage had to be connected in some way with these local cults. After\nthis work is done, it will be possible to begin to answer some of the\nquestions which I have only ventured to raise.\n\nI am glad to take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to the\nauthorities in Egypt for the very great help they gave towards the\nfurthering of the inquiries which were set on foot there. Many of my\nown local observations would, in all probability, never have been made\nif my friend Major A. Davis, of Syracuse (New York) had not invited\nme to join him in a cruise up the river in the s.s. _Mohamet Aly_ and\npractically given me full command of her movements. My best thanks are\ndue to him not only for his hospitality, but for sympathetic aid in my\ninquiries.\n\nDr. Wallis Budge and Captain Lyons, R.E., have rendered continual help\nwhile this book has been in progress, and I cannot sufficiently thank\nthem; to the first-named I am especially indebted for looking over the\nproof sheets. I am also under obligations to Professors Maspero, Krall,\nand Max M\u00fcller for information on certain points, and to Professors\nSayce and Jensen for many valuable suggestions in the chapters dealing\nwith Babylonian astronomy.\n\n  J. NORMAN LOCKYER.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE\n\n           PREFACE                                                   vii\n\n        I. THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND THE DAWN                         1\n\n       II. THE FIRST GLIMPSES OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY                    9\n\n      III. THE ASTRONOMICAL BASIS OF THE EGYPTIAN PANTHEON            20\n\n       IV. THE TWO HORIZONS                                           40\n\n        V. THE YEARLY PATH OF THE SUN-GOD                             51\n\n       VI. THE PROBABLE HOR-SHESU WORSHIP                             58\n\n      VII. METHODS OF DETERMINING THE ORIENTATION OF TEMPLES          67\n\n     VIII. THE EARLIEST SOLAR SHRINES IN EGYPT                        73\n\n       IX. OTHER SIMILAR SHRINES ELSEWHERE                            86\n\n        X. THE SOLAR TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 AT KARNAK                      99\n\n       XI. THE AGE OF THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 AT KARNAK                113\n\n      XII. THE STARS--THEIR RISINGS AND SETTINGS                     120\n\n     XIII. THE EGYPTIAN HEAVENS.--THE ZODIACS OF DENDERAH            132\n\n      XIV. THE CIRCUMPOLAR CONSTELLATIONS: THE MYTH OF HORUS         144\n\n       XV. TEMPLES DIRECTED TO THE STARS                             155\n\n      XVI. FURTHER INQUIRIES WITH REGARD TO THE STELLAR TEMPLES      167\n\n     XVII. THE BUILDING INSCRIPTIONS                                 173\n\n    XVIII. THE STAR TEMPLES AT KARNAK                                182\n\n      XIX. THE PERSONIFICATION OF STARS--THE TEMPLE OF ISIS AT\n               DENDERAH                                              192\n\n\n       XX. THE PERSONIFICATION OF STARS (_Continued_)--THE TEMPLE\n                   OF HATHOR AT DENDERAH                             201\n\n      XXI. STAR-CULTS                                                210\n\n     XXII. STAR-CULTS (_Continued_)--AMEN-T AND KHONS                220\n\n    XXIII. THE EGYPTIAN YEAR AND THE NILE                            226\n\n     XXIV. THE YEARS OF 360 AND 365 DAYS                             243\n\n      XXV. THE VAGUE AND THE SIRIAN YEARS                            249\n\n     XXVI. THE SOTHIC CYCLE AND THE USE MADE OF IT                   257\n\n    XXVII. THE CALENDAR AND ITS REVISION                             266\n\n   XXVIII. THE FIXED YEAR AND FESTIVAL CALENDARS                     274\n\n     XXIX. THE MYTHOLOGY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS                          287\n\n      XXX. THE TEMPLE-STARS                                          304\n\n     XXXI. THE HISTORY OF SUN-WORSHIP AT ANNU AND THEBES             315\n\n    XXXII. THE EARLY TEMPLE AND GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS               325\n\n   XXXIII. THE CULT OF NORTHERN AS OPPOSED TO SOUTHERN STARS         341\n\n    XXXIV. THE ORIGIN OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY--THE NORTHERN\n                  SCHOOLS                                            359\n\n     XXXV. THE ORIGIN OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY (_Continued_)--THE\n                  THEBES SCHOOL                                      371\n\n    XXXVI. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH RACES       387\n\n   XXXVII. THE EGYPTIAN AND BABYLONIAN ECLIPTIC CONSTELLATIONS       396\n\n  XXXVIII. THE INFLUENCE OF EGYPT UPON TEMPLE-ORIENTATION IN\n                  GREECE                                             412\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  The Temple of Amen-R\u0101 looking from\n  the Sanctuary towards the Place of\n  Sunset at the Summer Solstice                          _Frontispiece_\n\n  The Rosetta Stone                                                    9\n\n  Temple of Edf\u00fb, looking East; showing\n  Pylon and Outer Court                                               13\n\n  Great Court of Heaven, at the Entrance\n  to the Hathor Temple at Denderah                                    15\n\n  Temple Gate with Propylon and Obelisks                              16\n\n  Hathor Temple of D\u00ear el-Bahari                                      17\n\n  The Central Portion of the Circular\n  Zodiac of Denderah                                                  18\n\n  Tablet of Kings at Abydos                                           21\n\n  Harpocrates                                                         23\n\n  R\u0101, Min-R\u0101; Amen-R\u0101                                                 24\n\n  Sebak-R\u0101, Chnemu-R\u0101                                                 25\n\n  Anubis, or Set, Anubis-Osiris, Osiris\n  (as a Mummy)                                                        26\n\n  Osiris seated                                                       27\n\n  Various Forms of Bes--as Warrior,\n  Musician, and Buffoon                                               28\n\n  Khons-Lunus, Thoth-Lunus, the Goddess\n  Sesheta                                                             29\n\n  The Weighing of the Soul by Horus\n  and Anubis, in Presence of Osiris                                   30\n\n  Thoth and Sesheta Writing the Name\n  of Rameses II. on the Fruit of the\n  Persea                                                              31\n\n  Cleopatra as the Goddess Isis                                       32\n\n  Isis (seated)                                                       33\n\n  The Rising Sun Horus between Isis and\n  Nephthys                                                            34\n\n  The Goddess Nu-t                                                    35\n\n  The Goddess Nu-t represented Double                                 36\n\n  Various Forms of Shu                                                37\n\n  Forms of Ptah, the God of Memphis                                   38\n\n  Apparent Movement of the Stars to an\n  Observer at the North Pole                                          40\n\n  Apparent Movement of the Stars to an\n  Observer at the Equator                                             41\n\n  The Celestial Sphere Viewed from a\n  Middle Latitude                                                     42\n\n  A Terrestrial Globe with Wafer attached\n  to Show the Varying Conditions of\n  Observation in a Middle Latitude                                    43\n\n  Showing Amplitudes reckoned from the\n  East or West Points to N.P., North\n  Point of Horizon, and S.P., South\n  Point of Horizon                                                    46\n\n\n  Diagram Showing the Various Amplitudes\n  at which Stars of Different\n  Declinations Rise and Set in Different\n  Latitudes                                                           49\n\n  Earth and Sun at the Equinoxes                                      54\n\n  Earth and Sun at the Solstices                                      55\n\n  Diagrams Showing Position of the Sun\n  in Relation to the Zenith of London\n  at the Northern Winter Solstice and\n  at the Northern Summer Solstice                                     56\n\n  Azimuth Compass                                                     67\n\n  Theodolite for Determining Azimuth\n  and Altitudes                                                       68\n\n  Magnetic Map of the British Isles,\n  Showing the Variation at Different\n  Points                                                              71\n\n  Plan of the Mounds at Abydos. From\n  Mariette                                                            74\n\n  The Mounds and Obelisk at Annu                                      76\n\n  The Colossi of the Plain at Thebes at\n  High Nile, Oriented to the Sunrise\n  at the Winter Solstice                                              79\n\n  Plan of Memphis                                                     80\n\n  East and West Pyramids and Temples\n  at G\u00eezeh                                                            81\n\n  Temple and Temenos Walls of Tanis                                   82\n\n  Temple and Temenos Walls of Sa\u00efs\n  (Sa-el-Hagar)                                                       83\n\n  The Temple near the Sphinx, looking\n  West (True), Showing its relation\n  to the South Face of the Second\n  Pyramid                                                             84\n\n  Stonehenge, from the North                                          90\n\n  Stonehenge Restored                                                 91\n\n  Plan of St. Peter's at Rome, Showing\n  the Door Facing the Sunrise                                         96\n\n  St. Peter's at Rome; Fa\u00e7ade Facing the\n  East (true)                                                         97\n\n  Axis of the Temple of Amen-R\u0101 from\n  the Western Pylon, Looking South-East                              100\n\n  Plan of the Temple of Amen-R\u0101 and\n  some of its Surroundings, Including\n  the Sacred Lake                                                    101\n\n  View to the South-West from the Sacred\n  Lake of Amen-R\u0101                                                    103\n\n  Ruins of Door at Entrance of the Sanctuary                         104\n\n  The Obelisks near the Oldest Part of\n  the Temple of Amen-R\u0101                                              105\n\n  Inner Court and Sanctuary at Edf\u00fb                                  106\n\n  Plan of the Temple of Amen-R\u0101                                      118\n\n  Model Illustrating the Precession of\n  the Equinoxes                                                      125\n\n  Star-map Representing the Precessional\n  Movement of the Celestial Pole\n  from the Year 4000 B.C. to the year\n  2000 A.D.                                                          127\n\n  Northern Half of the So-called Square\n  Zodiac of Denderah                                                 136\n\n  Sirius and Orion (18th Dynasty)                                    139\n\n  Astronomical Drawing's from Bib\u00e2n el-Mul\u00fbk\n  (18th Dynasty)                                                     140\n\n  Ruins of the Ramesseum, where the\n  Month-Tables were found                                            142\n\n  The God of Darkness--Set                                           144\n\n  Various Forms of Anubis                                            145\n\n  Forms of Typhon                                                    146\n\n  Mestha. H\u0101pi, Tuam\u0101utef, Qebhsennuf                                147\n\n  Set-Horus                                                          149\n\n  Illustration from a Theban Tomb                                    151\n\n  Horus and Crocodiles                                               152\n\n  Horus and Crocodiles, Ptah and Crocodiles                          153\n\n  Ground Plan of Edf\u00fb                                                157\n\n  Ground Plan of the Temple of Hathor\n  at Denderah; Plan of the Temple of\n  Seti at Abydos                                                     158\n\n  Plan of the Temple of Rameses II. in\n  the Memnonia at Thebes                                             159\n\n  Plan of Temples at Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb                                    164\n\n  The Bent Axis of the Temple of Luxor                               165\n\n  The Laying of the Foundation Stone\n  Ceremonial                                                         174\n\n  Plan of the Temples at Karnak Showing\n  their Orientations                                    _To face p._ 183\n\n  Plan of Denderah                                                   192\n\n  Ruins of the Mamisi (Place of Birth) or\n  Temple of Isis at Denderah                                         195\n\n  Ceremonial Procession in an Egyptian\n  Temple                                                             199\n\n  Orientation of the Temple of Hathor at\n  Denderah                                                           202\n\n  Capital, with Masks of Hathor with\n  Cow's Ears                                                         216\n\n  The Cow of Isis                                                    217\n\n  Hathor as a Cow                                                    218\n\n  Hathor, \"The Cow of the Western Hills\"                             219\n\n  The Annual Rise and Fall of the Nile                               228\n\n  H\u0101pi, the God of the Nile                                          229\n\n  Different Forms of Thoth                                           232\n\n  Scale of the Nilometer at R\u00f4da                                     235\n\n  The Island of R\u00f4da                                                 236\n\n  Conditions of the Heliacal Rising of\n  Sirius from 4000 B.C. to 600 A.D.                                  255\n\n  The Distribution of the 1st of Thoth\n  (representing the Rise of Sirius)\n  among the Egyptian Months in the\n  1460-year Sothic Cycle                                             258\n\n  Julian Dates of the 1st of Thoth\n  (Vague) from 23 A.D. and 240 A.D.                                  267\n\n  The Month-Table at the Ramesseum                                   276\n\n  Black Granite Statue of Sekhet from\n  the Temple of Mut at Thebes                                        288\n\n  The Goddess Taurt; the Goddess Serk-t\n  or Selk-t (both with Horns and Disk)                               289\n\n  Nit (two forms of); Bast                                           290\n\n  Anuqa; Sati                                                        291\n\n  Isis Nursing Horus                                                 292\n\n  Isis, Osiris and Horus                                             297\n\n  A \"Change of Cult\" at Luxor                                        298\n\n  Curves showing the Declinations of\n  Some of the Stars used by the\n  Egyptian Astronomers at Different\n  Epochs                                                             307\n\n  The Temples at Tell el-Amarna                                      322\n\n  Apis (two forms of)                                                330\n\n  Mnevis                                                             331\n\n  The Two Great Pyramids at the Time\n  of the Inundation                                                  332\n\n  The Step-Pyramid of Sakkarah                                       334\n\n  The Pyramid of M\u00ead\u00fbm                                               335\n\n  The \"Blunted Pyramid\" of Dash\u00fbr                                    336\n\n  Ship of H\u0101t-Shepset Laden with Produce\n  from Pun-t                                                         346\n\n  Huts Built on Piles in Pun-t                                       347\n\n  Cynocephalus Ape with Moon Emblem                                  349\n\n  Plan of the Pyramids at Nuri                                       355\n\n  Plan of the Temples and Pyramids at\n  Gebel Barkal                                                       358\n\n  Statue of Chephren, Found in Temple\n  near the Sphinx                                                    368\n\n  The Temples at Phil\u00e6                                               382\n\n  The Temple at Amada                                                383\n\n  Chnemu                                                             385\n\n  The Winged Solar Disk                                              391\n\n  A Greek Temple Restored--the Temple\n  of Poseidon at P\u00e6stum                                              413\n\n  The Temple of Theseus at Athens: the\n  Acropolis, with the Parthenon, in the\n  Background                                                         414\n\n  The East Front of the Parthenon, Facing\n  the Rising of the Pleiades                                         415\n\n  The Temple of Jupiter Olympius Below\n  the Acropolis at Athens. Oriented to\n  \u03b1 Arietis                                                          420\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\nPage 34, inscription to illustration: for _Iris_ read _Isis_.\n\nPage 83, inscription to illustration: for _S\u0101-el-lager_ read\n_Sa-el-Hagar_.\n\nPage 327, line 8 from top: for _Dies_ read _This_.\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n                          DAWN OF ASTRONOMY.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n                 THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND THE DAWN.\n\n\nWhen we inquire among which early peoples we are likely to find the\nfirst cultivation of astronomy, whatever the form it may have taken,\nwe learn that it is generally agreed by arch\u00e6ologists that the first\ncivilisations which have so far been traced were those in the Nile\nValley and in the adjacent countries in Western Asia.\n\nThe information which we possess concerning these countries has been\nobtained from the remains of their cities, of their temples--even, in\nthe case of Babylonia, of their observatories and of the records of\ntheir observations. Of history on papyrus we have relatively little.\n\nNot so early as these, but of an antiquity which is still undefined,\nare two other civilisations with which we became familiar before the\ntreasure-houses of Egypt and Babylonia were open to our inquiries.\nThese civilisations occupied the regions now called India and China.\n\nThe circumstances of these two groups are vastly dissimilar so far\nas the actual sources of information are concerned; for in relation\nto China and India we have paper records, but, alas! no monuments of\nundoubtedly high antiquity. It is true that there are many temples in\nIndia in the present day, but, on the authority of Prof. Max M\u00fcller,\nthey are relatively modern.\n\nThe contrary happens in Egypt, for there monuments exist more ancient\nthan any of the inscribed records; monuments indicating a more or less\nsettled civilisation; a knowledge of astronomy, and temples erected on\nastronomical principles for the purposes of worship, the astronomers\nbeing called \"the mystery teachers of Heaven.\"\n\nWe go back in Egypt for a period, as estimated by various authors, of\nsomething like 6,000 or 7,000 years. In Babylonia inscribed tablets\ncarry us into the dim past for a period of certainly 5,000 years; but\nthe so-called \"omen\" tablets indicate that observations of eclipses and\nother astronomical phenomena had been made for some thousands of years\nbefore this period. In China and in India we go back as certainly to\nmore than 4,000 years ago.\n\nWhen one comes to examine the texts, whether written on paper or\npapyrus, burnt in brick, or cut on stone, which arch\u00e6ologists have\nobtained from all these sources, we at once realise that man's earliest\nobservations of the heavenly bodies in all the regions we have named\nmay very fairly be divided into three perfectly distinct stages. I do\nnot mean to say that these stages follow each other exactly, but that\nat one period one stage was more developed than another, and so on.\n\nFor instance, in the first stage, wonder and worship were the prevalent\nfeatures; in the second, there was the need of applying the observation\nof celestial phenomena in two directions, one the direction of\nutility--such as the formation of a calendar and the foundation of\nyears and months; and the other the astrological direction.\n\nSupplied as we moderns are with the results of astronomical observation\nin the shape of almanacs, pocket-books, and the like, it is always\ndifficult, and for most people quite impossible, to put ourselves\nin the place and realise the conditions of a race emerging into\ncivilisation, and having to face the needs of the struggle for\nexistence in a community which, in the nature of the case, must have\nbeen agricultural. Those would best succeed who best knew when \"to plow\nand sow, and reap and mow;\" and the only means of knowledge was at\nfirst the observation of the heavenly bodies. It was this, and not the\naccident of the possession of an extended plain, which drove early man\nto be astronomically minded.\n\nThe worship stage would, of course, continue, and the priests would\nsee to its being properly developed; and the astrological direction\nof thought, to which I have referred, would gradually be connected\nwith it, probably in the interest of a class neither priestly nor\nagricultural.\n\nOnly more recently--not at all, apparently, in the early stage--were\nany observations made of any celestial object for the mere purpose of\ngetting knowledge. We know from the recent discoveries of Strassmaier\nand Epping that this stage was reached at Babylon at least 300 years\nB.C., at which time regular calculations were made of the future\npositions of moon and planets, and of such extreme accuracy that they\ncould have been at once utilised for practical purposes. It looks as if\nrough determinations of star places were made at about the same time in\nEgypt and Babylonia.\n\nThis abstract inquiry is now practically the only source of interest in\nastronomy to us; we no longer worship the sun; we no longer believe in\nastrology; we have our calendar; but we must have a Nautical Almanac\ncalculated years beforehand, and some of us like to know a little about\nthe universe which surrounds us.\n\nIt is very curious and interesting to know that the first stage, the\nstage of worship, is practically missing in the Chinese annals; the\nvery earliest Chinese observations show us the Chinese, a thoroughly\npractical people, trying to get as much out of the stars as they could\nfor their terrestrial purposes.\n\nIn Babylonia it is a very remarkable thing that from the beginning of\nthings--so far as we can judge from the records--the sign for God was a\nstar.\n\nWe find the same idea in Egypt: in some of the hieroglyphic texts three\nstars represented the plural \"gods.\"\n\nI have already remarked that the ideas of the early Indian\ncivilisation, crystallised in their sacred books called Vedas, were\nknown to us long before either the Egyptian or the Babylonian and\nAssyrian records had been deciphered.\n\nEnough, however, is now known to show that we may take the Vedas to\nbring before us the remnants of the first ideas which dawned upon\nthe minds of the earliest dwellers in Western Asia--that is, the\nterritory comprised between the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the\nCaucasus, the Caspian Sea, the Indus, and the waters which bound the\nsouthern coasts--say, as far as Cape Comorin. Of these populations,\nthe Egyptians and Babylonians may be reckoned as the first. According\nto Lenormant--and he is followed by all the best scholars--this region\nwas invaded in the earliest times by peoples coming from the steppes of\nNorthern Asia. Bit by bit they spread to the west and east. There are\nstrange variants in the ideas of the Chald\u00e6ans already recovered from\nthe inscriptions and those preserved in the Vedas. Nevertheless, we\nfind a sun-god[2] and the following hymn:--\n\n \"Oh Sun, in the most profound heaven thou shinest. Thou openest the\n locks which close the high heavens. Thou openest the door of heaven.\n Oh Sun, towards the surface of the earth thou turnest thy face. Oh\n Sun, thou spreadest above the surface, like a mantle, the splendour of\n heaven.\"\n\nLet us consider for a moment what were the first conditions under which\nthe stars and the sun would be observed. There was no knowledge, but we\ncan very well understand that there was much awe, and fear, and wonder.\nMan then possessed no instruments, and the eyes and the minds of the\nearly observers were absolutely untrained. Further, night to them\nseemed almost death--no man could work; for them there was no electric\nlight, to say nothing of candles; so that in the absence of the moon\nthe night reigned like death over every land. There is no necessity\nfor us to go far into this matter by trying to put ourselves into the\nplaces of these early peoples; we have only to look at the records:\nthey speak very clearly for themselves.\n\nBut the Vedas speak fully, while as yet information on this special\npoint is relatively sparse from the other regions. It is wise,\ntherefore, to begin with India, whence the first complete revelations\nof this kind came. Max M\u00fcller and others during recent years have\nbrought before us an immense amount of most interesting information, of\nthe highest importance for our present subject.\n\nThey tell us that 1,500 years B.C. there was a ritual, a set of hymns\ncalled the Veda (_Veda_ meaning \"knowledge\"). These hymns were\nwritten in Sanskrit, which a few years ago was almost an unknown\nlanguage: we know now that it turns out to be the nearest relation\nto our English tongue. The thoughts and feelings expressed in these\nearly hymns contain the first roots and germs of that intellectual\ngrowth which connects our own generation with the ancestors of the\nAryan races--\"those very people who, as we now learn from the Vedas,\nat the rising and the setting of the sun, listened with trembling\nhearts to the sacred songs chanted by their priests. The Veda, in\nfact, is the oldest book in which we can study the first beginnings\nof our language and of everything which is embodied in all the\nlanguages under the sun.\" The oldest, most primitive, most simple form\nof Aryan Nature-worship finds expression in this wonderful hymnal,\nwhich doubtless brings before us the rituals of the ancient Aryan\npopulations, represented also by the Medes and Persians.\n\nThere was, however, another branch, represented by the Zend-Avesta, as\nopposed to the Vedas, among which there was a more or less conscious\nopposition to the gods of Nature, to which we are about to refer, and\na striving after a more spiritual deity, proclaimed by Zoroaster under\nthe name of Ahura-Mazda, or Ormuzd. The existence of these rituals side\nby side in time tends to throw back the origin of the Nature-worship\nof both. Now, what do we find? In the Veda the gods are called Devas,\na word which means \"bright\"; brightness or light being one of the most\ngeneral attributes shared by the various manifestations of the deity.\nWhat were the deities? The sun, the sky, the dawn, fire, and storm.\nIt is clear, in fact, from the Vedas that sunrise was, to those from\nwhom the ritual had been derived, the great revelation of Nature, and\nin time, in the minds of the poets of the Veda, _deva_, from meaning\n\"bright,\" gradually came to mean \"divine.\" Sunrise it was that inspired\nthe first prayers of our race, and called forth the first sacrificial\nflames. Here, for instance, is an extract from one of the Vedas. \"Will\nthe sun rise again? Will our old friend the Dawn come back again? Will\nthe power of Darkness be conquered by the God of Light?\"\n\nThese three questions in one hymn will show what a questionable stage\nin man's history is thus brought before us, and how the antithesis\nbetween night and day was one of the first things to strike mankind.\nWe find very many names for Sun-gods--\n\n  Mitra, Indra (the day brought by the sun),\n  S\u00fbrya, Vasishtha, Arusha (bright or red);\n\nand for the Dawn-gods--\n\n  Ushas, Dyaus, Dyotan\u00e2,\n  Ahan\u00e2, Urvas\u012b\u012b.\n\nWe have only to consider how tremendously important must have been the\ncoming of the sun in the morning, bringing everything with it; and the\ndying away of the sun in the evening, followed at once by semi-tropical\nquick darkness, to cease to wonder at such worship as this. Here is an\nextract from one hymn to the Dawn (Ushas):--\n\n \"(1) She shines upon us like a young wife, rousing every living being\n to go to his work; when the fire had to be kindled by men she made the\n light by striking down darkness.\n\n \"(2) She rose up spreading far and wide, and moving everywhere, she\n grew in brightness, wearing her brilliant garment [the mother of the\n cows (the mornings)], the leader of the days, she shone gold-coloured,\n lovely to behold.\n\n \"(3) She, the fortunate, who brings the eye of the gods, who leads the\n white and lovely steed (of the sun), the _Dawn_, was seen revealed by\n her rays, with brilliant treasures, following everyone.\n\n \"(4) Thou art a blessing when thou art near.... Raise up wealth to the\n worshipper, thou mighty _Dawn_.\n\n \"(5) Shine for us with thy best rays, thou bright Dawn....\n\n \"(6) Thou daughter of the sky, thou high-born Dawn....\"\n\nIn addition to the Sun and the Dawn, which turn out to be the two great\ndeities in the early Indian Pantheon, other gods are to be met with,\nsuch as Prithiv\u012b, the Earth on which we dwell; Varuna, the Sky; Ap, the\nWaters; Agni, the Fire; and Maruts, the Storm-gods. Of these, Varuna is\nespecially interesting to us. We read:--\n\n \"Varuna stemmed asunder the wide firmament; he lifted up on high the\n bright and glorious heaven; he stretched apart the starry sky and the\n earth.\"\n\nAgain--\n\n \"This earth, too, belongs to Varuna, the king, and this wide sky with\n its ends far apart. The two seas (the sky and the ocean) are Varuna's\n loins.\"\n\nFinally, the result of all this astral worship was to give an idea of\nthe connection between the earth and the sun and the heavens, which are\nillustrated in later Indian pictures, bringing before us modernised and\nmuch more concrete views of these early notions, ultimately transformed\ninto this piece of poetic thought, that the earth was a shell supported\nby elephants (which represent strength), the elephants being supported\non a tortoise (which represents infinite slowness).\n\nThis poetical view subsequently gave way to one less poetical--namely,\nthat the earth was supported by pillars; on what the pillars rested\nis not stated, and it does not matter. We must not consider this as\nridiculous, and pardonable merely because it is so early in point of\ntime; because, coming to the time of Greek civilisation, Anaximander\ntold us that the earth was cylindrical in shape, and every place that\nwas then known was situated on the flat end of the cylinder; and Plato,\non the ground that the cube was the most perfect geometrical figure,\nimagined the earth to be a cube, the part of the earth known to the\nGreeks being on the upper surface. In these matters, indeed, the\nvaunted Greek mind was little in advance of the predecessors of the\nVedic priests.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n               THE FIRST GLIMPSES OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE ROSETTA STONE. (_In the British Museum._)]\n\nIn the general survey, which occupied the preceding chapter, of the\nrecords left by the most ancient peoples, it was shown that Egypt, if\nwe consider her monuments, came first in the order of time. I have\nnext to show that in the earliest monuments we have evidences of the\nexistence and utilisation of astronomical knowledge.\n\nIt is impossible to approach such a subject as the astronomy of the\nancient Egyptians without being struck with surprise that any knowledge\nis available to help us in our inquiries. A century ago, the man to\nwhom we owe more than to all others in this matter; the man who read\nthe riddle of those strange hieroglyphs, which, after having been\nburied in oblivion for nearly two thousand years, were then again\noccupying the learned, was not yet born. I refer to Champollion, who\nwas born in 1790 and died in the prime of his manhood and in the midst\nof his work, in 1832.\n\nAgain, a century ago the French scientific expedition, planned by the\ngreat Napoleon, which collected for the use of all the world facts of\nimportance connected with the sites, the buildings, the inscriptions,\nand everything which could be got at relating to the life and language\nof the ancient Egyptians, had not even been thought of; indeed, it only\ncommenced its labours in 1798, and the intellectual world will for ever\nbe a debtor to the man who planned it.\n\nI know of no more striking proof of the wit of man than the gradual\nunravelling of the strange hieroglyphic signs in which the learning\nof the ancient Egyptians was enshrined; and there are few things more\nremarkable in the history of scientific investigation than the way in\nwhich a literature has been already brought together which is appalling\nin its extent; and yet it may well be that, vast as this literature\nis at present, it is but the vanguard of a much more stupendous one\nto follow; for we are dealing with a nation which we now know existed\ncompletely equipped in many ways at least seven thousand five hundred\nyears ago.\n\nIt forms no part of the present work to give an account of the\nunravelling to which I have referred, one which finds a counterpart in\nthe results achieved by the spectroscope in another scientific field.\n\nBut a brief reference to one of the most brilliant achievements\nof the century may be permitted, and the more as it will indicate\nthe importance of one of the most valued treasures in our national\ncollections. I refer to the Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian Gallery\nof the British Museum. It was the finding of this stone in 1799 by\nBoussard, a captain of French artillery at Rosetta, which not only\nshowed the baselessness of the systems of suggested interpretations\nof the hieroglyphics which had been in vogue from the time of Kircher\ndownwards, but by its bilingual record in hieroglyphic, demotic and\nGreek characters, paved the way for men of genius like Thomas Young\n(1814) and Champollion (1822). The latter must be acknowledged as\nthe real founder of the system of interpretation which has held its\nown against all opposition, and has opened the way to inquiries into\nthe history of the past undreamt of when the century was young.\nChateaubriand nobly said of him, \"Ses admirables travaux auront la\ndur\u00e9e des monuments qu'il nous a fait conna\u00eetre.\"\n\nThe germ of Champollion's discovery consisted in the bringing together\nof two sets of characters enclosed in cartouches. One of them is in\nthe Rosetta inscription itself; the other, on the plinth of an obelisk\nin the island of Phil\u00e6. The name of Cleopatra was associated with the\none inscription, and that of Ptolemy with the other. It was clear that\nif the two names, written [Hieroglyphs] and [Hieroglyphs], were really\nPtolemaios and Cleopatra, they must include several identical signs or\nletters; in Ptolemaios the quadrangular figure [Hieroglyphs], being the\nfirst, must stand for _P_, and this in Cleopatra was found to occur in\nthe right place, standing fifth in order. The third sign [Hieroglyphs]\nin Ptolemaios must be an _o_, and the fourth [Hieroglyphs] an _l_. Now\nthe lion for _l_ occurs second in Cleopatra, and the knotted cord for\n_o_ fourth. In this way, proceeding by comparison with other names,\nthat of Alexander, or Alksantrs, was next discovered, [Hieroglyphs] and\nby degrees the whole Egyptian alphabet was recovered.\n\nWhat had come down the stream of ages and were universally recognised\nas unsurpassed memorials of a mysterious past were the famous pyramids,\nsuccessively described by Herodotus, Diodorus and Pliny among\nclassical, and Abd el-Lat\u00eef among Arabian, chroniclers.\n\nAlthough the rifling of the most important of these structures for the\npurpose of finding treasure dates at least as far back as 820 A.D., the\nKhal\u00eef El-Mamun being the destroyer, the scientific study of their mode\nand objects of construction is a work of quite modern times, and may be\nsaid to have been inaugurated by Colonel Howard Vyse in 1839.\n\nMuch that has been written has been wild and nonsensical, but from the\nexact descriptions and measures now available, it is impossible to\ndoubt that these structures _were erected by a people possessing much\nastronomical knowledge_. The exact orientation of the larger pyramids\nin the pyramid-field of G\u00eezeh has been completely established, and it\nis not impossible that some of the mysterious passages to be found in\nthe pyramid of Cheops may have had an astronomical use.\n\nLet us, to continue the subject-matter of the present chapter, come\nto the year 1820. It was about then that were gathered some of the\nfirst-fruits of the investigations carried on by the Commission to\nwhich I have referred; that some translations of the inscriptions had\nbeen attempted, and that, some of the new results were discussed by the\nmembers of the French Academy, while at the same time they astounded\nand delighted the outside world.\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLE OF EDF\u00db, LOOKING EAST: SHOWING PYLON AND OUTER\nCOURT.]\n\nFrom the point of view which now concerns us, it may be said that the\nnew discoveries might be arranged into three different groups. First of\nall, the land had been found full of temples, vast and majestic beyond\nimagination; among these the temples at Karnak were supreme, but there\nwere others on a par with them in points of architectural detail. But\nbesides these, then as now, above ground and inviting inspection, there\nwere many others which were then--as undoubtedly many are still--more\nor less buried in the sand; some of these have since been unearthed to\nreveal the striking features of their structure.\n\nI shall show subsequently that, on the evidence of the ancient\nEgyptians themselves, these temples were constructed in strict relation\nto stars; they, then, like the pyramids, must be taken as indicating\nastronomical knowledge.\n\nIf we deal with the general external appearance of the temples, they\nmay be arranged architecturally into two main groups. Edf\u00fb is the most\nperfect example of the first group, characterised by having a pylon\nconsisting of two massive structures right and left of the entrance,\nwhich are somewhat like the two towers that one sometimes sees on the\nwest front of our English cathedrals.\n\nIn Denderah we have an example of the second group, in which the\nmassive pylon is omitted. In these the front is entirely changed;\ninstead of the pylon we have now an open front to the temple with\ncolumns--the Greek form of temple is approached.\n\n[Illustration: GREAT COURT OF HEAVEN, AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE HATHOR\nTEMPLE AT DENDERAH.]\n\nAssociated with many of the temples, frequently but not universally\nin close proximity to the propylon, were obelisks, often of gigantic\nproportions, exceeding one hundred feet in height and many hundreds of\ntons in weight, which it has since been discovered were hewn out of\nthe syenite quarry at Asw\u00e2n, and floated down the river to the various\nplaces where they were to be erected.\n\nIt is not necessary to go to Egypt to see these wonderful monoliths,\nfor they have been carried away from their original temple sites at\nThebes and Heliopolis to adorn more modern cities in the Western world.\nLondon, Paris, Rome, and Constantinople are thus embellished. It is\nobvious to anyone acquainted with astronomical history and methods,\nthat some of these structures, at all events, may have served as\ngnomons.\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLE GATE WITH PROPYLON AND OBELISKS.]\n\nSometimes these temples, instead of being entirely constructed of stone\non a level surface, were either entirely or partly rock-hewn. Of the\nformer class, the temple of Abu Simbel is the most striking example; of\nthe latter, the temple of D\u00ear el-Bahari at Thebes.\n\n[Illustration: HATHOR TEMPLE OF D\u00caR EL-BAHARI. (_As restored by M.\nBrune._)]\n\nThe second revelation was that the walls of these temples, and of many\nfunereal buildings, were, for the most part, covered with inscriptions\nin the language which was then but gradually emerging from the unknown,\nits very alphabet and syllabary being still incomplete. Hence there was\nnot only a great wealth of temple buildings, but a still more wonderful\nwealth of temple inscriptions.\n\n[Illustration: THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE CIRCULAR ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.]\n\nThere was even more than this, and something more germane to\nour present purpose. In several temples which were examined,\nzodiacs--undoubted zodiacs, representing a third group of finds--were\ndiscovered; these, also, were accompanied by inscriptions of an\nobviously astronomical nature.\n\nAt the first blush, then, it seemed to be perfectly certain that we had\nto deal with a people of an astronomical turn of mind; and here was the\nopportunity for the astronomer, which indeed the French astronomers did\nnot fail to make use of. Where the philologist was for the moment dumb,\nit seemed as if the astronomer could be of use, giving explanations,\nfixing probable dates on the one hand; while, on the other, he would\ncertainly be gaining a fresh insight into, and possibly filling a\ntremendous gap in, the history of his science.\n\nThe figure on the preceding page gives an idea of the method of\npresentation generally employed in these zodiacs.\n\nI shall show in the sequel--for I shall have to deal with this part\nof my subject at full length in a subsequent chapter--that many of\nthe animal forms represent at once mythological personages and actual\nconstellations.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n           THE ASTRONOMICAL BASIS OF THE EGYPTIAN PANTHEON.\n\n\nIt will be abundantly clear from the statements made in the foregoing\nchapter that, as I have said, the main source of information touching\nthings Egyptian consists no longer in writings like the Vedas, but in\nthe inscriptions on the monuments, and the monuments themselves. It\nis true that, in addition to the monuments, we have the Book of the\nDead, and certain records found in tombs; but, in the main, the source\nof information which has been most largely drawn upon consists in the\nmonuments themselves--the zodiacs being included in that term.\n\nIt has been impossible, up to the present time, to fix with great\naccuracy the exact date of the earliest monuments. This should not\nsurprise us. We must all feel that it is not a question of knowing so\nlittle--it is a question of knowing anything at all. When one considers\nthat at the beginning of this century not a sign on any of these\nmonuments was understood, and that now the wonderful genius of a small\nnumber of students has enabled Egyptologists to read the inscriptions\nwith almost as much ease and certainty as we read our morning papers:\n_this_ is what is surprising, and not the fact that we as yet know so\nlittle, and in many cases lack certainty.\n\nBut we already know that probably some of these monuments are nearly\n6,000 years old. This has been determined by the convergence of many\nlines of evidence.\n\n[Illustration: TABLET OF KINGS AT ABYDOS.]\n\nOne of the many points already profoundly investigated by Egyptologists\nhas been the chronology of the kings of Egypt from their first monarch,\nwhom all students recognise as Mena or Menes. All these inquirers\nhave come to the definite conclusion that there was a King Mena, and\nthat he reigned a long time ago; but with all their skill the final\nresult is that they cannot agree to the date of this king within a\nthousand years; one reason among many others being that in these early\ndays astronomy was a science still to be cultivated, and therefore\nthe early Egyptians had not a perfect mode of recording; perhaps even\nthey had no idea of a hundred years as we have. We are told that all\ntheir reckonings were the reckonings of the reigns of kings. This\nis difficult to believe, and the statement may be a measure of our\nignorance of their method of record. We now, fortunately for us, have\na calendar which enables us to deal with large intervals of time, but\nstill we sometimes reckon, in Egyptian fashion, by the reigns of kings\nin our Acts of Parliament. Furthermore, Egypt being then a country\nliable to devastating wars, and to the temporary supremacy of different\nkingly tribes, it has been very difficult to disentangle the various\nlists of kings so as to obtain one chronological line, for the reasons\nthat sometimes there were different kings reigning at the same time\nin different regions. The latest date for King Mena is, according to\nBunsen, 3600 years B.C.; the earliest date, assigned by Boeckh, 5702\nyears B.C.; Unger, Brugsch, and Lepsius give, respectively, 5613, 4455,\n3892. For our purpose we will call the date 4000 B.C.--that is 6,000\nyears ago--and for the present consider this as the start-point for the\nlong series of remains of various orders to which reference has been\nmade, and from which alone information can be obtained.\n\nWe come now to deal with the ideas of the early inhabitants of the Nile\nvalley. We find that in Egypt we are in presence absolutely of the\nworship of the Sun and of the accompanying Dawn. Whatever be the date\nof the Indian ideas to which we have referred, we find them in Egypt in\nthe earliest times. The ancient Egyptians, whether they were separate\nfrom, or more or less allied in their origin to, the early inhabitants\nof India, had exactly the same view of Nature-worship, and we find in\ntheir hymns and the lists of their gods that the Dawn and the Sunrise\nwere the great revelations of Nature, and the things which were most\nimportant to man; _and therefore everything connected with the Sunrise\nand the Dawn was worshipped_.\n\n[Illustration: HARPOCRATES.]\n\nRenouf, one of the latest writers on these subjects, says:[3] \"I fear\nEgyptologists will soon be accused, like other persons, of seeing the\ndawn everywhere,\" and he quotes with approbation this passage from Max\nM\u00fcller relating to the Veda:--\n\n \"I look upon the sunrise and sunset, on the daily return of day and\n night, on the battle between light and darkness, on the whole solar\n drama in all its details, that is acted every day, every month, every\n year, in heaven and in earth, as the principal subject.\"\n\nBut we must now go somewhat further into detail. The various apparent\nmovements of the heavenly bodies which are produced by the rotation\nand the revolution of the earth, and the effects of precession, were\nfamiliar to the Egyptians, however ignorant they may have been of their\ncauses; they carefully studied what they saw, and attempted to put\ntheir knowledge together in the most convenient fashion, associating it\nwith their strange imaginings and their system of worship.\n\nDealing with the earth's rotation, how did the Egyptians picture\nit? How was this interaction, so to speak, between the earth and the\nsky mythologically represented? They naturally would be familiar\nwith the phenomena of dawn and sunset, more familiar certainly with\nthe phenomenon of dawn than we are, because they had a climate much\nbetter suited for its study than ours. There can be no doubt that the\nwonderful scenes which they saw every morning and evening were the\nfirst things which impressed them, and they came to consider the earth\nas a god, surrounded by the sky--another god.\n\n[Illustration: RA. MIN-R\u0100. AMEN-R\u0100.]\n\nI have next to point out that, the sun being very generally worshipped\nin Egypt, there were various forms of the sun-god, depending upon the\npositions occupied in its daily course. We have the form of Harpocrates\nat its rising, the child sun-god being generally represented by the\nfigure of a hawk. When in human form, we notice the presence of a\nside lock of hair. The god R\u0101 symbolises, it is said, the sun in his\nnoontide strength; while for the time of sunset we have various names,\nchiefly Osiris, Tum, or Atmu, the dying sun represented by a mummy and\ntypifying old age. The hours of the day were also personified, the\ntwelve changes during the twelve hours being mythically connected with\nthe sun's daily movement across the sky.\n\n[Illustration: SEBAK-R\u0100. CHNEMU-R\u0100.]\n\nWe often find R\u0101 compounded with other names, and in these forms of the\ngod we possibly get references to the sun at different times of the\nyear. Amen-R\u0101, Sebak-R\u0101, and Chnemu-R\u0101 are cases in point. The former\nundoubtedly refers to the sun at the summer solstice. Min-R\u0101 is an\nithyphallic form.\n\nThe names given by the Egyptians to the sun then may be summarised as\nfollows:--\n\n Hor, or Horus, or Harpocrates, and Chepera (morning sun).\n R\u0101 (noon).\n Tum or Atmu (evening sun).\n Osiris (sun when set).\n\n[Illustration: ANUBIS, OR SET.]\n\n[Illustration: ANUBIS-OSIRIS.]\n\nI have not space to quote the many hymns to the Sun-gods which have\nbeen recovered from the inscriptions, but the following extracts will\nshow that the worship was in the main at sunrise or sunset--in other\nwords, that the _horizon_ was in question:--\n\n \"Thou disk of the Sun, thou living God! There is none other beside\n thee. Thou givest health to the eyes through thy beams, Creator of\n all beings. _Thou goest up on the eastern horizon of the heaven_ to\n dispense life to all which thou hast created--to man, four-footed\n beasts, birds, and all manner of creeping things on the earth where\n they live. Thus they behold thee, and they go to sleep when thou\n settest.\"\n\nHymn to Tmu--\n\n    \"Come to me, O thou Sun,\n    Horus of the horizon, give me help.\"\n\nHymn to Horus--\n\n    \"O Horus of the horizon, there is none other beside thee,\n    Protector of millions, deliverer of tens of thousands.\"\n\nHymn to R\u0101-Tmu-Horus--\n\n \"Hail to thee of the double horizon, the one god living by Ma\u0101t.... I\n am the maker of heaven and of the mysteries of the twofold horizon.\"\n\n[Illustration: OSIRIS (AS A MUMMY).]\n\nHymn to Osiris--\n\n \"O Osiris! Thou art the youth _at the horizon_ of heaven daily, and\n thine old age at the beginning of all seasons....\n\n \"The _ever-moving_ stars are under obedience to him, and so are _the\n stars which set_.\"\n\n[Illustration: OSIRIS SEATED.]\n\nHymn to R\u0101--\n\n \"O R\u0101! in thine egg, radiant in thy disk, shining forth from the\n horizon, swimming over the steel (?) firmament.\n\n \"Tmu and Horus of the horizon pay homage to thee (Amen-R\u0101) in all\n their words.\"\n\nSo far we have dealt with the powers of sunlight; but the ancient\nEgyptians, like ourselves, were familiar with the powers of darkness or\nof the underworld. The chief god antithetical to the sun was variously\nnamed--Sit, Set, Sut, Anubis, Typhon, Bes; and a host of other names\nwas given to him. As I shall show, the idea of darkness was associated\nwith the existence of those stars which never set, so that even here\nthe symbolism was astronomical.\n\n[Illustration: VARIOUS FORMS OF BES--AS WARRIOR, MUSICIAN, AND BUFFOON.]\n\nThe contrast between the representations of Bes and of the other forms\nsuggests that the former was imported. In the form of Typhon the\ngoddess Taurt is represented as a hippopotamus, while for Anubis the\nemblem is a jackal.\n\nIn all illustrations of funeral ceremonies the above-mentioned figure\nlargely. In the Book of the Dead we find that in the representations\nof the judgment of the dead, besides Osiris we have Anubis, both\nresponsible for the weighing of the soul.\n\nWith the moon we find two gods connected--Thothlunus and\nKhons-lunus--though the connection is not a very obvious one.\n\nThoth is also associated with the Egyptian year, and is variously\nrepresented; all forms, however, are based upon the ibis.\n\nFor the stars generally we find a special goddess, Sesheta.\n\n[Illustration: KHONS-LUNUS. THOTH-LUNUS. THE GODDESS SESHETA.]\n\nThoth as the sacred scribe and Sesheta as the star-goddess are often\nrepresented together engaged in writing.\n\nAssociated with the phenomena of morning and evening we find the\nfollowing divinities. The attributes stated are those now generally\naccepted. This is a subject which will occupy us in the sequel.\n\n _Isis_ represents the Dawn and the Twilight; she prepares the way for\n the Sun-god. The rising sun between Isis and Nephthys = morning.\n\n[Illustration: THE WEIGHING OF THE SOUL BY HORUS AND ANUBIS IN PRESENCE\nOF OSIRIS.]\n\n _Nephthys_ is the Dawn and the Twilight, sometimes Sunset.\n\n _Shu_ is also the Dawn, or sunlight, Tefnut represents the coloured\n rays at dawn. Shu and Tefnut are the eyes of Horus. Shu was also\n called \"Neshem,\" which means green felspar, in consequence of the\n green colour observed at dawn. The green tint at dawn and sunset are\n represented further by the \"sycamore of emerald.\" Sechet is another\n goddess of the Dawn, the fiery Dawn.\n\n[Illustration: THOTH AND SESHETA WRITING THE NAME OF RAMESES II. ON THE\nFRUIT OF THE PERSEA.\n(_Relief from the Ramesseum at Thebes._)]\n\n The _red_ colours at sunset were said to be caused by the blood\n flowing from the Sun-god when he hastens to his suicide. A legend\n describes Isis as stanching the blood flowing from the wound inflicted\n on Horus by Set.\n\n[Illustration: CLEOPATRA AS THE GODDESS ISIS.]\n\n _Hathor_ is, according to Budge, identified with Nu or Nu-t, the sky,\n or place in which she brought forth and suckled Horus. She is the\n female power of Nature, and has some of the attributes of Isis, Nu-t,\n and Ma\u0101t.\n\n[Illustration: ISIS (SEATED).]\n\nWe next have to gain some general idea of the Egyptian cosmogony--the\nrelation of the sun and dawn to the sky; this is very different from\nthe Indian view. The Sky is Nu or Nu-t, represented as a female figure\nbending over Seb, the Earth, with her feet on one horizon and her\nfinger-tips on the other. Seb is represented by a recumbent figure,\nwhile the sky, represented by the goddess Nu-t, is separated from the\nearth by Shu, the god of air or sunlight. The daily journey of the\nsun is represented by a god in a boat traversing the sky from east to\nwest. The goddess Nu-t is variously symbolised. Sometimes there is a\nline of stars along her back, which clearly defines her nature, but\nsometimes she is represented by a figure in which the band of stars is\naccompanied by a band of water. This suggests the Jewish idea of the\nfirmament. We read of the firmament in the midst of the waters, which\ndivided the waters from the waters, the waters above being separated\nfrom the waters below the firmament.\n\n[Illustration: THE RISING SUN HORUS BETWEEN ISIS AND NEPHTHYS.]\n\nIt would seem that it was not very long before the Egyptians saw\nthat the paths of the sun and stars above the horizon were extremely\nunequal: in the case of the sun, at different times of the year; in the\ncase of the stars, depending upon their position near the equator or\neither pole. In this way, perhaps, we may explain a curious variant of\nthe drawing of the goddess Nu-t, in which she is represented double, a\nlarger one stretching over a smaller one.\n\nNot only the Sun-gods, but the stars, were supposed to travel in boats\nacross the firmament from one horizon to the other. The underworld was\nthe abode of the dead; and daily the sun, and the stars which set, died\non passing to the regions of the west, or Amenti, below the western\nhorizon, to be born again on the eastern horizon on the morrow. In this\nwe have the germ of the Egyptian idea of immortality.\n\n[Illustration: THE GODDESS NU-T.]\n\nAmong other gods which may be mentioned are Chnemu, the \"Moulder,\" who\nwas thought to possess some of the attributes of R\u0101; and Ptah, the\n\"Opener,\" who is at times represented with Isis and Nephthys, and then\nappears as a form of Osiris.\n\nWe can now begin to glimpse the Egyptian mythology.\n\nSeb, the Earth, was the husband of Nu-t, the Sky; and the Sun-and\nDawn-gods and-goddesses were their children, as also were Shu\nrepresenting sunlight, and Tefnut representing the flames of dawn.\n\nMa\u0101t, the goddess of law, was the daughter of R\u0101.\n\n[Illustration: THE GODDESS NU-T REPRESENTED DOUBLE.]\n\n[Illustration: VARIOUS FORMS OF SHU.]\n\nWe know several points regarding Egyptian customs independently of the\nastronomical inscriptions, properly so-called, to which I have called\nattention. We know that there were sacrifices at daybreak; we know that\nstars were watched before sunrise, and heralded the dawn; we know that\nthese observations were among the chief duties of the sacrificial\npriests, and it is obvious that a knowledge of star-places, as well as\nstar-names, must have been imperative to these morning watchers, who\neventually compiled lists of decans--that is, lists of belts of stars\nextending round the heavens, the risings of which followed each other\nby ten days or so. These are the exact equivalents of the moon-stations\nwhich the Indians, Arabians, and other peoples invented for the same\npurpose. We also find, more or less indeterminately from inscriptions\nin some graves at Thebes, that the daily risings of the chief stars\nwere observed very carefully throughout the year. Unfortunately the\ninscriptions in question are very difficult indeed to co-ordinate.\nThere have been various efforts made to connect them with certain\nstars, but, so far, I am afraid they have resisted all efforts to get a\ncomplete story out of them, though certain very important points have\nbeen made out. These points I shall consider later.\n\n[Illustration: FORMS OF PTAH, THE GOD OF MEMPHIS.]\n\nIt is not too early to point out here that there is evidence that the\nEgyptian pantheon, as I have stated it, had not a simple origin. There\nare traditions that many of the gods came from a region indeterminately\ndescribed as the land of Pun-t. Among these gods are Chnemu, Amen-R\u0101,\nHathor, and Bes. On page 28 I have associated Bes with Typhon,\nfollowing several authorities, but if they are right it is very\ndifficult to understand his _r\u00f4le_. It may also be added that the\ntemple-evidence supports the view of his foreign origin.[4]\n\nWhen one comes to consider the Rig-Veda and the Egyptian monuments\nfrom an astronomical point of view, one is struck by the fact that, in\nboth, the early worship and all the early observations related to the\nhorizon. This was true not only of the sun, with which so far we have\nexclusively dealt, but it was equally true of the stars which studded\nthe general expanse of sky.\n\nIn Egypt, then, as in India, the pantheon was astronomical and, to\na very large extent, solar in origin. I shall have to show that the\nremainder--nearly the whole of it--had its origin in stellar relations.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n                           THE TWO HORIZONS.\n\n\nIt is not only of the first importance for our subject, but of great\ninterest in itself, to study some of the astronomical problems\nconnected with this horizon worship, which in the previous chapter we\nhave found to be common to the early peoples of India and Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: APPARENT MOVEMENT OF THE STARS TO AN OBSERVER AT THE\nNORTH POLE.]\n\nWe must be perfectly clear before we go further what this horizon\nreally is, and for this some diagrams are necessary.\n\nThe horizon of any place is the circle which bounds our view of the\nearth's surface, along which the land (or sea) and sky appear to meet.\nWe have to consider the relation of the horizon of any place to the\napparent movements of celestial bodies at that place.\n\nWe know, by means of the demonstration afforded by Foucault's pendulum,\nthat the earth rotates on its axis, but this idea was, of course,\nquite foreign to these early peoples. Since the earth rotates with\nstars, infinitely removed, surrounding it on all sides, the apparent\nmovements of the stars will depend very much upon the position we\nhappen to occupy on the earth: this can be made quite clear by a few\ndiagrams.\n\n[Illustration: APPARENT MOVEMENT OF THE STARS TO AN OBSERVER AT THE\nEQUATOR.]\n\nAn observer at the North Pole of the earth, for instance, would see\nthe stars moving round in circles parallel to the horizon. No star\nwould either rise or set--one half of the heavens would be always\nvisible above his horizon, and the other half invisible; whereas an\nobserver at the South Pole would see that half of the stars invisible\nto the observer at the northern one, because it was the half below the\nN. horizon. If the observer be on the equator, the movements of the\nstars all appear as indicated in the above diagram--that is, all the\nstars will rise and set, and each star in turn will be half its time\nabove the horizon, and half its time below it. But if we consider the\nposition of an observer in middle latitude, say in London, we find that\nsome stars will always be above the horizon, some always below--that\nis, they will neither rise nor set. All other stars will both rise and\nset, but some of them will be above the horizon for a long time and\nbelow for a short time, whereas others will be a very short time above\nthe horizon and a long time below it.\n\n[Illustration: THE CELESTIAL SPHERE VIEWED FROM A MIDDLE LATITUDE.\nAN OBLIQUE SPHERE.]\n\nAt _O_ we imagine an observer to be in latitude 45\u00b0 (that is, half-way\nbetween the equator in latitude 0\u00b0, and the North Pole in latitude\n90\u00b0), hence the North Celestial Pole will be half-way between the\nzenith and the horizon; and close to the pole he will see the stars\ndescribing circles, inclined, however, and not retaining the same\ndistance from the horizon. As the eye leaves the pole, the stars rise\nand set obliquely, describe larger circles, gradually dipping more and\nmore under the horizon, until, when the celestial equator is reached,\nhalf their journey is performed below it. Still going south, we find\nthe stars rising less and less above the horizon, until, as there were\nnorthern stars that never dip below the horizon, so there are southern\nstars which never appear above it. _D D'_ shows the apparent path of\na circumpolar star; _B B\u2032 B\u2033_ the path and rising and setting points\nof an equatorial star; _C C\u2032C\u2033_ and _A A\u2032 A\u2033_ those of stars of\nmid-declination, one north and the other south.\n\n[Illustration: A TERRESTRIAL GLOBE WITH WAFER ATTACHED TO SHOW THE\nVARYING CONDITIONS OF OBSERVATION IN A MIDDLE LATITUDE.]\n\nWherever we are upon the earth we always imagine that we are on the\ntop of it. The idea held by all the early peoples was that the earth\nwas an extended plain: they imagined that the land that they knew and\njust the surrounding lands were really in the centre of the extended\nplain. Plato, for instance, as we have seen, was content to put the\nMediterranean and Greece upon the top of his cube, and Anaximander\nplaced the same region at the top of his cylinder.\n\nWe can very conveniently study the conditions of observation at the\npoles of the earth, the equator, and some place in middle latitude, by\nusing an ordinary terrestrial globe. The wooden horizon of the globe\nis parallel to the horizon of a place at the top of the globe, which\nhorizon we can represent by a wafer. In this way we can get a very\nconcrete idea of the different relations of the observer's horizon in\ndifferent latitudes to the apparent paths of the stars.\n\nWe have next to deal with the astronomical relations of the horizon\nof any place in connection with the worship of the sun and stars at\nthe times of rising or setting, when, of course, they are on or near\nthe horizon; and in order to bring this matter nearer to the ancient\nmonuments, it will be convenient to study this question for Thebes,\nwhere they exist in greatest number and have been most accurately\ndescribed.\n\nTo adjust things properly we must rectify the globe to the latitude of\n25\u00b0 40\u2032 N., or, in other words, incline the axis of the globe at that\nangle to the wooden horizon.\n\nIt will be at once seen that the inclination of the axis to the horizon\nis very much less than in the case of London. Since all the stars\nwhich pass between the North Pole and the horizon cannot set, all\ntheir apparent movement will take place above the horizon. All the\nstars between the horizon and the South Pole will never rise. Hence,\nstars within the distance of 25\u00b0 from the North Pole will never set\nat Thebes, and those stars within 25\u00b0 of the South Pole will never\nbe visible there. At any place the latitude and the elevation of the\npole are the same. It so happens that all these places with which\narch\u00e6ologists have to do in studying the history of early peoples,\nEgypt, Babylonia, Assyria, China, Greece, &c., are in middle latitudes,\ntherefore we have to deal with bodies in the skies, which do set, and\nbodies which do not; and the elevation of the pole is neither very\ngreat nor very small. In each different latitude the inclination of the\nequator to the horizon, as well as the elevation of the pole, will\nvary, but there will be a strict relationship between the inclination\nof the equator at each place and the elevation of the pole. Except at\nthe poles themselves the equator will cut the horizon due east and due\nwest. Therefore every celestial body which rises or sets to the north\nof the equator will cut the horizon between the east or west point and\nthe north point; those bodies which do not set will, of course, not cut\nthe horizon at all.\n\nThe sun, and stars near the equator, in such a latitude as that of\nThebes, will appear to rise or set at no very considerable angle to the\nvertical; but when we deal with stars rising or setting near to the\nnorth or south points of the horizon they will seem to skim along the\nhorizon instead of rising or setting vertically.\n\nNow it will at once be obvious that there must be a strict law\nconnecting the position of the sun (or a star) with its place of rising\nor setting. Stars at the same distance from either of the celestial\npoles will rise or set at the same point of the horizon, and if a star\ndoes not change its place in the heavens it will always rise or set in\nthe same place.\n\nHere it will be convenient to introduce one or two technical terms.\nEvery celestial body, whether we deal with the sun, moon, planet,\nor star, occupies at any moment a certain place in the sky, partly,\nthough not wholly, defined by what we term its declination, _i.e._,\nits distance from the celestial equator. This declination is one of\nthe two co-ordinates which are essential for enabling us to state\naccurately the position of any body on the celestial vault; and we must\nquite understand that if all these bodies rise and set, and rise and\nset visibly, the place of their rising or setting must be very closely\nconnected with their declination. Bodies with the same declination will\nrise at the same points of the horizon. When the declination changes,\nof course the body will rise and set in different points of the horizon.\n\nNext we define points on the horizon by dividing the whole\ncircumference into four quadrants of 90\u00b0 each = 360\u00b0, so that we can\nhave _azimuths_ of 90\u00b0 from the north or south points to the east and\nwest points.\n\nAzimuths are not always reckoned in this way, navigators preferring\none method, while astronomers prefer another. Thus azimuth may also\nbe taken as the distance measured in degrees from the south point in\na direction passing through the west, north, and east points. On this\nsystem, a point can have an azimuth varying from 0\u00b0 to 360\u00b0.\n\n[Illustration: SHOWING AMPLITUDES RECKONED FROM THE EAST OR WEST POINTS\nTO N.P., NORTH POINT OF HORIZON, AND S.P., SOUTH POINT OF HORIZON.]\n\nIt is next important to define the term _amplitude_. The amplitude of\na body on the horizon is its distance north and south of the east and\nwest points; it is always measured to the nearest of these two latter\npoints, so that its greatest value can never exceed 90\u00b0. For instance,\nthe south point itself would have an amplitude of 90\u00b0 south of west\n(generally written W. 90\u00b0 S.), or 90\u00b0 south of east (E. 90\u00b0 S.), while\na point 2\u00b0 to the westward of south would have an amplitude of W. 88\u00b0\nS., and not E. 92\u00b0 S.\n\nWe can say then that a star of a certain declination will rise or set\nat such an _azimuth_, if we reckon from the N. point of the horizon, or\nat such an amplitude if we reckon from the _equator_. This will apply\nto both north and south declinations.\n\nThe following table gives for Thebes the amplitudes of rising or\nsetting (north or south) of celestial bodies having declinations from\n0\u00b0 to 64\u00b0; bodies with higher declinations than 64\u00b0 never set at Thebes\nif they are north, or never rise if they are south, as the latitude\n(and therefore the elevation of the pole) there is nearly 26\u00b0.\n\n\n                         AMPLITUDES AT THEBES.\n\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Declin  \u2502   Ampli  \u2502 Declin \u2502  Ampli  \u2502 Declin \u2502  Ampli\n  -ation. \u2502   -tude. \u2502 -ation.\u2502  -tude. \u2502 -ation.\u2502  -tude.\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     \u00b0    \u2502   \u00b0   \u2032  \u2502    \u00b0   \u2502   \u00b0   \u2032 \u2502    \u00b0   \u2502   \u00b0   \u2032\n     0    \u2502   0   0  \u2502   22   \u2502  24  33 \u2502   44   \u2502   50  25\n     1    \u2502   1   7  \u2502   23   \u2502  25  41 \u2502   45   \u2502   51  41\n     2    \u2502   2  13  \u2502   24   \u2502  26  49 \u2502   46   \u2502   52  57\n     3    \u2502   3  20  \u2502   25   \u2502  27  58 \u2502   47   \u2502   54  14\n     4    \u2502   4  26  \u2502   26   \u2502  29   6 \u2502   48   \u2502   55  32\n     5    \u2502   5  33  \u2502   27   \u2502  30  15 \u2502   49   \u2502   56  51\n     6    \u2502   6  40  \u2502   28   \u2502  31  23 \u2502   50   \u2502   58  12\n     7    \u2502   7  47  \u2502   29   \u2502  32  32 \u2502   51   \u2502   59  34\n     8    \u2502   8  53  \u2502   30   \u2502  33  41 \u2502   52   \u2502   60  58\n     9    \u2502   9  59  \u2502   31   \u2502  34  51 \u2502   53   \u2502   62  23\n    10    \u2502  11   6  \u2502   32   \u2502  36   1 \u2502   54   \u2502   63  51\n    11    \u2502  12  13  \u2502   33   \u2502  37  11 \u2502   55   \u2502   65  21\n    12    \u2502  13  20  \u2502   34   \u2502  38  21 \u2502   56   \u2502   66  54\n    13    \u2502  14  27  \u2502   35   \u2502  39  31 \u2502   57   \u2502   68  31\n    14    \u2502  15  34  \u2502   36   \u2502  40  42 \u2502   58   \u2502   70  12\n    15    \u2502  16  41  \u2502   37   \u2502  41  53 \u2502   59   \u2502   71  59\n    16    \u2502  17  49  \u2502   38   \u2502  43   5 \u2502   60   \u2502   73  55\n    17    \u2502  18  56  \u2502   39   \u2502  44  17 \u2502   61   \u2502   76   1\n    18    \u2502  20   3  \u2502   40   \u2502  45  30 \u2502   62   \u2502   78  25\n    19    \u2502  21  10  \u2502   41   \u2502  46  43 \u2502   63   \u2502   81  19\n    20    \u2502  22  17  \u2502   42   \u2502  47  56 \u2502   64   \u2502   85  42\n    21    \u2502  23  25  \u2502   43   \u2502  49  10 \u2502        \u2502\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n\nThe absolute connection, then, between the declination of a heavenly\nbody and the amplitude at which it rises and sets is obvious from the\nabove table: given the declination we know the amplitude; given the\namplitude we know the declination.\n\nSuppose we were dealing with a sea horizon: all the bodies rising or\nsetting at the same instant of time would be in a great circle round\nthe heavens, for the plane of the sensible horizon is parallel to the\ngeocentric one.\n\nBut there are some additional points to be borne in mind. Ordinarily we\nshould determine that the amplitude being so and so, the declination\nof the body which rose or set with that amplitude would be so and so,\ntaking the horizon to be an all-round horizon like a sea one. But that\nwould not be quite true, because we generally see the sun, to take an\ninstance, some little time before it really rises and after it has set,\nowing to refraction. So that if we see the sun setting, say, north of\nwest, we know that when we see it setting it appears really a little\nfurther to the north than it actually was at the moment of true sunset,\nbecause refraction gives us the position of the sun just below the\ntrue horizon. That is one point that we have to consider. Another is\nthat, of course, we as a rule do not deal with sea horizons. Here we\nfind a hill, there some other obstacle; so that it is necessary to make\na correction depending on the height of the hill or other obstacle\nabove the sea-or true-horizon at the place. Only when we take these\nthings completely into consideration, can we determine absolutely the\ndeclination, or distance from the celestial equator, of the body at the\nmoment of rising or setting. Still, it is worth while noting that when\nonly approximations are required, the refraction-and hill-corrections\nhave a tendency to neutralise each other in the northern hemisphere.\nRefraction will tend to carry the sunrise or sunset place more to the\nnorth, hills will cause the body to appear to rise or set more to the\nsouth.\n\n[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING THE VARIOUS AMPLITUDES AT WHICH STARS OF\nDIFFERENT DECLINATIONS RISE AND SET IN DIFFERENT LATITUDES.]\n\nIt is important to point out that these corrections vary very\nconsiderably in importance according to the declination of the star\nwith which we have to deal. With a high north or south declination the\namplitude increases very rapidly, and the more it increases the more\nthe corrections for refraction and elevation above the true horizon to\nwhich I have referred become of importance. In all cases the correction\nhas to be made so that the amplitude will be increased or decreased\nfrom the true amplitude by this effect of refraction, according as the\nbody--whether sun or star--is seen to the north or south of the equator.\n\nIn the diagram given on page 49, the various amplitudes are shown at\nwhich bodies of different declinations appear to rise and set in places\nwith latitudes ranging from 19\u00b0 to 51\u00b0 N. It is a diagram to which\nfrequent reference will be made in the sequel.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n                    THE YEARLY PATH OF THE SUN-GOD.\n\n\nLet us, then, imagine the ancient Egyptians, furnished with the natural\nastronomical circle which is provided whenever there is an extended\nplain, engaged in their worship at sunrise, praying to the \"Lord of\nthe two Horizons.\" The rising (and setting) of stars we will consider\nlater; it is best to begin with those observations about which there is\nthe least question.\n\nIn the very early observations that were made in Egypt and Babylonia,\nwhen the sun was considered to be a god who every morning got into\nhis boat and floated across space, there was no particular reason for\nconsidering the amplitude at which the supposed boat left or approached\nthe horizon. But a few centuries showed that this rising or setting of\nthe sun in widely varying amplitudes at different parts of the year\ndepended upon a very definite law. We now, more fortunate than the\nearly Egyptians, of course know exactly what this law is, and with a\nview of following their early attempts to grapple with the difficulties\npresented to them we must pass to the yearly path of the sun, in order\nto study the relation of the various points of the horizon occupied by\nthe sun at different times in the year.\n\nNot many years ago Foucault gave us a means of demonstrating the fact\nthat the earth rotates on its axis. We have also a perfect method\nof demonstrating that the earth not only rotates on its axis once a\nday, but that it moves round the sun once a year, an idea which was\nundreamt of by the ancients. As a pendulum shows us the rotation, so\nthe determination of the aberration of light demonstrates for us the\nrevolution of the earth round the sun.\n\nWe have, then, the earth endowed with these two movements--a rotation\non its axis in a day, and a revolution round the sun in a year. To see\nthe full bearing of this on our present inquiry, we must for a time\nreturn to the globe or model of the earth.\n\nTo determine the position of any place on the earth's surface we say\nthat it is so many degrees distant from the equator, and also so\nmany degrees distant from the longitude of Greenwich: we have two\nrectangular co-ordinates, latitude and longitude. When we conceive the\nearth's equator extended to the heavens, we have a means of determining\nthe positions of stars in the heavens exactly similar to the means we\nhave of determining the position of any place on the earth. We have\nalready defined distance from the equator as north or south declination\nin the case of a star, as we have north latitude or south latitude in\ncase of a place on the earth. With regard to the other co-ordinate,\nwe can also say that the heavenly body whose place we are anxious to\ndetermine is at a certain distance from our first point of measurement,\nwhatever that may be, along the celestial equator. Speaking of heavenly\nbodies, we call this distance right ascension; dealing with matters\nearthy, we measure from the meridian of Greenwich and call the distance\nlongitude.\n\nThe movement of the earth round the sun is in a plane which is called\nthe plane of the ecliptic, and the axis of rotation of the earth is\ninclined to that plane at an angle of something like 23\u00bd\u00b0. We can\nif we choose use the plane of the ecliptic to define the positions of\nthe stars as we use the plane of the earth's equator. In that case we\ntalk of distance from the ecliptic as celestial latitude, and along the\necliptic from one of the points where it cuts the celestial equator\nas celestial longitude. The equator, then, cuts the ecliptic at two\npoints: one of these is chosen for the start-point of measurement along\nboth the equator and the ecliptic, and is called the first point of\nAries.\n\nWe have, then, two systems of co-ordinates, by each of which we can\ndefine the position of the sun or a star in the heavens: equatorial\nco-ordinates dealing with the earth's equator, ecliptic co-ordinates\ndealing with the earth's orbit. Knowing that the earth moves round\nthe sun once a year, the year to us moderns is defined with the most\nabsolute accuracy. In fact, we have three years: we have a sidereal\nyear--that is, the time taken by the earth to go through exactly\n360\u00b0 of longitude; we have what is called the tropical year, which\nindicates the time taken by the earth to go through not quite 360\u00b0, to\ngo from the first point of Aries till she meets it again; and since\nthe equinoctial point advances to meet the earth, we talk about the\nprecession of the equinoxes; this year is the sidereal year minus\ntwenty minutes. Then there is also another year called the anomalistic\nyear, which depends upon the movement of the point in the earth's orbit\nwhere the earth is nearest to the sun; this is running away, so to\nspeak, from the first point of Aries, instead of advancing to meet it,\nso that in this case we get the sidereal year plus nearly five minutes.\n\nThe angle of the inclination of the earth's plane of rotation to the\nplane of its revolution round the sun, which, as I have said, is at the\npresent time something like 23\u00bd\u00b0, is called _the obliquity of the\necliptic_. This obliquity is subject to a slight change, to which I\nshall refer in a subsequent chapter.\n\nIn order to give a concrete idea of the most important points in the\nyearly path of the earth round the sun, let us imagine four globes\narranged on a circle representing the earth at different points of its\norbit, with another globe in the centre representing the sun, marking\nthe two practically opposite points of the earth's orbit, in which the\naxis is not inclined to or from the sun but is at right angles to the\nline joining the earth in these two positions, and the two opposite\nand intermediate points at which the north pole of the axis is most\ninclined towards and away from the sun.\n\nA diagram will show what will happen under these conditions. If we take\nfirst the points at which the axis, instead of being inclined towards\nthe sun, is inclined at right angles to it, it is perfectly obvious\nthat we shall get a condition of things in which the movement of the\nearth on its axis will cause the dark side of the earth and also the\nlight side represented by the side nearest to the sun, both being of\nequal areas, to extend from pole to pole; so that any place on the\nearth rotating under those conditions will be brought for half a period\nof rotation into the sunlight, and be carried for half a period of the\nrotation out of the sunlight; the day, therefore, will be of the same\nlength as the night, and the days and nights will therefore be equal\nall over the world.\n\nWe call this the time of the equinoxes; the nights are of the same\nlength as the day in both these positions of the earth with regard to\nthe sun.\n\n[Illustration: EARTH AND SUN AT THE EQUINOXES.]\n\nIn the next figure we have the other condition. Here the earth's axis\nis inclined at the greatest angle of 23\u00b0\u00bd, towards, and away from,\nthe sun. If I take a point very near the north pole, that point will\nnot, in summer, be carried by the earth's rotation out of the light,\nand a part equally near the south pole will not be able to get into\nit. These are the conditions at and near two other points called the\nsolstices.\n\n[Illustration: EARTH AND SUN AT THE SOLSTICES.]\n\nOn each of these globes I have drawn a line representing the overhead\ndirection from London. If we observe the angle between the direction of\nthe zenith and that to the sun in winter we find it considerable; but\nif we take the opposite six-monthly condition we get a small angle.\n\nIn other words, under the first condition the sun at noon will be far\nfrom the zenith of London, we shall have winter; and in the other\ncondition the sun will be as near as it can be to the zenith at noon,\nwe shall have summer. These two cases represent the two points in the\nearth's orbit at which the sun has the greatest declination south and\nnorth. With the greatest north declination the sun will come up high,\nappear to remain at the same height above the horizon at noon for a\nday or two, as it does at our summer solstice, and then go down again;\nat the other point, when it has the greatest southern declination, it\nwill go down to the lowest point, as it does in our winter, stop, and\ncome up again--that is, the sun will stand still, so far as its height\nabove the horizon at noon is concerned, and the Latin word solstice\nexactly expresses that idea. We have, then, two opposite points in the\nrevolution of the earth round the sun at which we have equal altitudes\nof the sun at noon, two others when the altitude is greatest and least.\n\n[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING POSITION OF THE SUN IN RELATION TO THE\nZENITH OF LONDON AT THE NORTHERN WINTER SOLSTICE.]\n\n[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING POSITION OF THE SUN IN RELATION TO THE\nZENITH OF LONDON AT THE NORTHERN SUMMER SOLSTICE.]\n\nWe get the equal altitudes at the equinoxes, and the greatest and the\nleast at the solstices.\n\nThese altitudes depend upon the change of the sun's declination. The\nchange of declination will affect the azimuth and amplitude of the\nsun's rising and setting; this is why, in our northern hemisphere, the\nsun rises and sets most to the north in summer and most to the south\nin winter. At the equinoxes the sun has always 0\u00b0 Decl., so it rises\nand sets due east and west all over the world. But at the solstices it\nhas its greatest declination of 23\u00bd\u00b0 N. or S.; it will rise and set,\ntherefore, far from the east and west points; how far, will depend on\nthe latitude of the place we consider. The following are approximate\nvalues:\n\n  Latitude of   Amplitude of Sun\n    Place.        at Solstice.\n       \u00b0             \u00b0   \u2032\n      25            26   5\n      30            27  24\n      35            29   8\n      40            31  21\n      45            34  40\n      50            38  20\n      55            44   0\n\nAt Thebes, Lat. 25\u00b0 40\u2032 N., representing Egypt, we find that the\namplitude of the sun at rising or setting at the summer solstice will\nbe approximately 26\u00b0 N. of E. at rising, and 26\u00b0 N. of W. at setting.\n\nThese solstices and their accompaniments are among the striking things\nin the natural world. At the winter solstice we have the depth of\nwinter, at the summer solstice we have the height of summer; while\nat the equinoxes we have but transitional changes; in other words,\nwhile the solstices point, out for us the conditions of greatest heat\nand greatest cold, the equinoxes point out for us those two times of\nthe year at which the temperature conditions are very nearly equal,\nalthough of course in the one case we are saying good-bye to summer and\nin the other to winter. In Egypt the summer solstice was paramount, for\nit occurred at the time of the rise of the Nile, the beginning of the\nEgyptian year.\n\nDid the ancients know anything about these solstices and these\nequinoxes? Were the almost mythical Hor-shesu or sun-worshippers\nfamiliar with the annual course of the sun? That is one of the\nquestions which we have to discuss.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n                    THE PROBABLE HOR-SHESU WORSHIP.\n\n\nAt the end of the last chapter I referred to the Hor-shesu or\nfollowers, that is worshippers, of the Sun-god Horus. I shall have to\nrefer to the traditions relating to them at a later stage, but it is\nwell that I should state here that those personages who preceded the\ntrue historic period are considered by De Roug\u00e9 and others to represent\n\"_le type de l'antiquit\u00e9 la plus recul\u00e9e_.\"\n\nLet us for the moment accept the truth of the various traditions\nrelating to them, and suppose that they left traces of their worship;\nwhat, in the light of the last chapter, should we expect to find? The\nthing most likely to remain would be ancient shrines in all probability\nserving for the foundation of nobler structures built in later times.\n\nThis brings us to the question as to the probabilities of\ntemple-building generally in relation to the heavenly bodies; but\nbefore I deal with it, it is important to consider a view first put\nforward, I believe, by Vitruvius, and repeated by all since his time\nwho have dealt with the question, that the temples were built purely\nand simply to face the Nile.[5]\n\nThe statement is so far from the truth that it is clear that those who\nhave made it had not studied the larger temple-fields. Indeed, we have\nonly to note the conditions at Karnak alone to determine whether there\nis any truth in the view that the temples face the river. We see at\nonce that this idea cannot be true, because we have the chief temples\nfacing in four directions, while the Nile flows only on one side.\n\nOther arch\u00e6ologists who have endeavoured to investigate the\norientations of these buildings have found that they practically\nface in all directions; the statement is that their arrangement is\nprincipally characterised by the want of it; they have been put down\nhiggledy-piggledy; there has been a symmetrophobia, mitigated perhaps\nby a general desire that the temple should face the Nile. This view\nmight be the true one, if stars were not observed as well as the sun.\n\nWith regard to all the temples of the ancient world, whether they are\nlocated in Egypt or elsewhere, we must never forget that if astronomy\nis concerned in them at all, we have to deal with the observations\nof the rising or setting of the heavenly bodies; whereas the modern\nastronomer cares little for these risings or settings, but deals only\nwith them on the meridian.\n\nThe place of rising or setting would be connected with the temple by\nthe direction of the temple's axis.\n\nNow, the directions towards which the temples point are astronomically\nexpressed by their \"amplitudes\"--that is, the distance in degrees from\nthe east or west point of the horizon. For instance, a temple facing\neast would have an amplitude of zero from the east point. If we suppose\na temple oriented to the north, it would have an amplitude of 90\u00b0; if\nhalf-way between the east and north, the amplitude would be 45\u00b0 north\nof east, and so on. So that it is possible to express the amplitude\nof a temple in such a way that the temples in the same or different\ncountries or localities, with the same or equivalent amplitudes, may be\nclassified; and the more temples which can be thus brought together,\nthe more likely is any law relating to their structure to come out.\n\nLet us take this, then, as a general principle. Now how would it be\ncarried out?\n\nIt becomes pretty obvious, when we consider the conditions of things\nin these early times, that the stars would be the objects which would\nfirst commend themselves to the attention of temple builders, for the\nreason that the movements and rising-and setting-places of the various\nplanets by night, and of the sun by day, would appear to be so erratic,\nso long as the order of their movements was not known.\n\nTo go a step further. It is clear in the first place that no one\nwould think of orienting a temple to the moon, as there is so little\nconstancy about its path in the sky, and, therefore, in its place of\nrising or setting. If the temple caught it each month, the intervals\nbetween which this occurrence takes place would vary very considerably,\nand in early times would have been impossible to predict. Similarly it\nwould not be worth while to orient temples to the planets. But when we\ncome to the stars, the thing is different. A few years' observations\nwould have appeared to demonstrate the absolute changelessness of the\nplaces of rising and setting of the same stars. It is true that this\nresult would have been found to be erroneous when a long period of time\nhad elapsed and when observation became more accurate; but for hundreds\nof years the stars would certainly appear to represent fixity, while\nthe movements of sun, moon and planets would seem to be bound by no law.\n\nBefore, then, the yearly apparent movements of the sun had been fully\nmade out, observations of a star rising or setting _with the sun_\nat some critical time of the agricultural cycle, say sowing-time or\nharvest, would be of the highest importance, and would secure the\nwork being done at the right time of the--to the early peoples--still\nunformulated year.\n\nIf a star was chosen in or near the ecliptic, sooner or later the\nsunlight as well as the starlight would enter the temple, and the\nuse of a solar temple might have thus been suggested even before the\nsolstices or equinoxes had been thoroughly grasped.\n\nThere is no doubt that if we are justified in assuming that the stars\nwere first observed, the next thing that would strike the early\nastronomers would be the regularity of the annual movement of the\nsun; the critical times of the sun's movements as related either to\ntheir agriculture, or their festivals, or to the year; the equinoxes\nand the solstices, would soon have revealed themselves to these early\nobservers, if for no other reason than that they were connected in some\nway or other with some of the important conditions of their environment.\n\nAfter a certain time, solar temples, if built at all, would be oriented\neither to the sun at some critical time of the agricultural--or\nreligious--year, or to the solstices and equinoxes. But at first, until\nthe fixity of the sun's yearly movements and especially the solstices\nand equinoxes had been recognised, it would have seemed as useless to\ndirect a temple to the sun as to the moon. After a time, however, when\nthe solstices and equinoxes had been made out, it would soon have been\nfound that a temple once directed to the sun's rising place at harvest\nor sowing time, or at a solstice or an equinox, would continue for a\nlong period to mark those critical points in the sun's yearly course;\nand when this yearly course had been finally made out it would soon\nbe observed that the sun at any part of the agricultural year was as\nconstant (indeed, as we now know, more constant) in its rising-and\nsetting-place as a star.\n\nBut dealing with _sun_-worshippers, and endeavouring to think out\nwhat the earliest observers probably would try to do in the case of a\n_solar_ temple, we see that, in all likelihood, they would orient it to\nobserve the sun at one of the chief points in the year which could be\nbest marked. I have said \"which could be best marked,\" but how was this\nto be done? Evidently, if terrestrial things were to be assisted, the\nmarking must have been by something exterrestrial, otherwise they would\nhave been reasoning in a circle; and moreover we must take for granted\nthat what was wanted was a warning of what was to be done.\n\nNow, in the earliest times, as I have said, the constant movements of\nthe stars would have stood out in strong contrast to the inconstant\nmovements of the sun, and I think that there can be little doubt that\nthe first fixing of any point in the year was by the rising or setting\nof some star at sunrise--or possibly sunset.\n\nIt is obvious that this might have gone on even before the solstices\nand equinoxes were recognised.\n\nWhen this came about, then temples might have been directed to the sun\nat a solstice or an equinox.\n\nWas it difficult to do this? Did it indicate that the people who built\nsuch temples were great astronomers? Nothing of the kind; nothing is\nmore easy to determine than a solstice or an equinox.\n\nLet us take the solstice first. We know that at the summer solstice\nthe sun rises and sets furthest to the north, at the winter solstice\nfurthest to the south. We have only from any point to set up a line\nof stakes before the time of the solstice, and then alter the line of\nthem day by day as the sun gets further to the north or south, until no\nalteration is wanted. The solstice has been found.\n\nThere is another way of doing it. Take a vertical rod. Such a rod,\nwhich I may state is sometimes called a _gnomon_ and used to measure\ntime, may be used with another object: we may observe the length of the\nshadow cast by the sun when it is lowest at the winter solstice, and\nwhen it is highest; at these two positions of the sun obviously the\nlengths of the shadows thrown will be different. When the noon-sun is\nnearest overhead in the summer the length of the shadow will be least,\nwhen the sun is most removed from the zenith the shadow will be longest.\n\nThe day on which the shortest shadow is thrown at noon will define the\nsummer solstice; when the shadow is longest we shall have the winter\nsolstice.\n\nThis, in fact, was the method adopted by the Chinese to determine the\nsolstices, and from it very early they found a value of the obliquity\nof the ecliptic.\n\nIt may be said that this is only a statement, and that the record has\nbeen falsified; some years ago anyone who was driven by facts to come\nto the conclusion that any very considerable antiquity was possible in\nthese observations met with very great difficulty. But the shortest and\nthe longest shadows recorded (1100 years B.C.) do not really represent\nthe true lengths at present. If anyone had forged these observations\nhe would state such lengths as people would find to-day or to-morrow,\nbut the lengths given were different from those which would be found\nto-day. Laplace, who gave considerable attention to this matter,\ndetermined what the real obliquity was at that time, and proved that\nthe record does represent an actual observation, and not one which had\nbeen made in later years.[6]\n\nNext suppose an ancient Egyptian wished to determine the time of an\nequinox. We know from the Egyptian tombs that their stock-in-trade, so\nfar as building went, was very considerable; they had squares, they\nhad plumb-lines, they had scales, and all that sort of thing, just as\nwe have. He would first of all make a platform quite flat; he could do\nthat by means of the square or plumb-line; then he would get a ruler\nwith pretty sharp edges (and such rulers are found in their tombs), and\nin the morning of any day he would direct this ruler to the position\nof the sun when it was rising, and he would from a given point draw a\nline towards the sun; he would do the same thing in the evening when\nthe sun set; he would bisect the angle made by these two lines, and it\nwould give him naturally a north and south line, and a right angle to\nthis would give him east and west. So that from observations of the\nsun on any one day in the year he would practically be in a position\nto determine the points at which the sun would rise and set at the\nequinox--that is, the true east and west points.\n\nSuppose that the sun is rising, let a rod throw a shadow; mark the\nposition of the shadow; at sunset we again note where the shadow\nfalls. If the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the\nwest, those two shadows will be continuous, and we shall have made an\nobservation at the absolute equinox. But suppose the sun not at the\nequinox, a line joining the ends of the shadows equally long before and\nafter noon will be an east and west line.\n\nIt is true that there may be a slight error unless we are very careful\nabout the time of the year at which we make the observations, because\nwhen the sun is exactly east or west at the time of rising or setting\nit changes its declination most quickly. So it is better to make the\nabove observations of the sun nearer the solstices than the equinoxes,\nfor the reason stated.[7]\n\nWe have now got so far. If the Egyptians worshipped the sun and built\ntemples to it, they would be more likely to choose the times of the\nsolstices and the equinoxes than any other after its annual movement\nhad been made out.\n\nIs it possible to bring any tests to bear to see whether they did this\nor not? Certainly: examine the temples which still remain, and where\nthey have disappeared examine the _temenos_ walls which still exist as\nmounds in many cases.\n\nSuppose we take, to begin with, as before, that region of the earth's\nsurface in the Nile valley with a latitude of about 26\u00b0 N. The temples\nwill have an amplitude of about 26\u00b0 N. or S. if they have anything to\ndo with the sun at the solstices. Any structures built to observe the\nsun will have an east and west aspect true if they have anything to\ndo with the sun at the equinoxes. Dealing with a solstitial temple,\nthe first thing to observe is the amplitude of the temple, which must\ndepend upon the latitude in which it was wished to note the rising or\nsetting of the sun at either of the solstices. If we take the latitude\n26\u00b0 N., which is very nearly the latitude of Thebes, the amplitude\nhas to be 26\u00b0 as stated above; so that a temple at Thebes having an\namplitude of 26\u00b0 would be very likely to have been oriented to the\nsun at the moment that it was as far from the equator as it could\nbe--_i.e._, at the time of the longest day of the year--in which case\nwe should be dealing with the summer or northern solstice; or of the\nshortest day of the year, if dealing with the winter or southern\nsolstice.\n\nAs we deal with higher latitudes, we gradually increase the amplitude,\nuntil, if we go as far as the latitude of the North Cape, the sun\nat the summer solstice, as everybody knows, has no amplitude either\nat rising or setting, because it passes clear above the horizon\naltogether, and is seen at midnight.\n\nThese are the conditions which will define for us a solstitial solar\ntemple. We see the amplitude of the temple must vary with the latitude\nof the place where it is erected.\n\nBut the temples directed to the sun at an equinox will be directed to\nan amplitude of 0: that is, they will point E. or W., and this will be\nthe case in all latitudes.\n\nThe orientation of a temple directed to the sun at neither the\nsolstices nor the equinoxes will have an amplitude less than the\nsolstitial amplitude at the place.\n\nAs a matter of fact, as I shall show in the sequel, some of the temples\nrecognised as temples of the sun in the inscriptions are of this latter\nclass.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VII.\n\n          METHODS OF DETERMINING THE ORIENTATION OF TEMPLES.\n\n\nThis brings us at once to a practical point. It will be asked, How can\nsuch an inquiry be prosecuted? How can the amplitudes of the temples be\ndetermined?\n\n[Illustration: AZIMUTH COMPASS.]\n\nNothing is easier. An azimuth compass is all that is necessary for all\nbut the most accurate inquiries.\n\n[Illustration: SECTION OF AZIMUTH COMPASS.\n A, needle and card; P, prism; SV, directrix or frame carrying a\n wire directed to the object and seen over the prism while the prism\n reflects to the eye the division of the scale underneath it.]\n\nThe azimuth compass is an instrument familiar to many; it consists of\na magnetic needle fastened to a card carrying a circle divided into\n360\u00b0, which can be conveniently read by a prism when the instrument is\nturned toward any definite direction marked by a vertical wire. Its use\ndepends upon the fact that at the same place and at the same time all\nmagnetic needles point in the same direction, and the variation for the\ntrue north and south direction is either supposed to be known or can be\nfound by observation.\n\n[Illustration: THEODOLITE FOR DETERMINING AZIMUTH AND ALTITUDES.]\n\nA theodolite armed with a delicately hung magnetic needle, which can\nbe rotated on a vertical axis, will do still better; it has first of\nall to be levelled. There is a little telescope with which we can see\nalong the line. When we wish, for instance, to observe the amplitude\nof a temple, the theodolite is set up on its tripod in such a position\nthat we can look along a temple wall or line of columns, etc., by means\nof the telescope. We then get a magnetic reading of the direction after\nhaving unclamped the compass; this gives the angle made between the\nline and the magnetic north (or south), as in the azimuth compass.\n\nWhat we really do by means of such an instrument is to determine\nthe astronomical meridian by means of a magnetic meridian. Here some\ndefinitions will not be out of place.\n\nThe _meridian_ (_meridies_ = midday) of any place is the great circle\nof the heavens which passes through the zenith (the point overhead) at\nthat place and the poles of the celestial sphere.\n\nThe _meridian line_ at any place is the intersection of the plane\nof the meridian with the plane of the horizon at that place, or, in\nother words, it is the line joining the north and south points. If\nwe have the proper instruments, we can determine the meridian line\nastronomically at any place by one of the following methods:--\n\n(1) If only an approximate position is required, the best means of\ndetermining it is by fixing the direction of the sun or a star when it\nhas the greatest altitude. The instrument to be used for this purpose\nwould be a small theodolite with both a vertical and horizontal circle,\nand provided also with tangent screws to give slow motion to each of\nthe circles as required.\n\nBy using stars of both high and low altitudes, a greater exactness\ncan be obtained, but, after all, the method only gives a first\napproximation, as its weakness lies in the very slow change of altitude\nas the meridian is approached.\n\n(2) A much more accurate method is that of observing with an altitude\nand azimuth instrument the azimuth (_i.e._, its angular distance east\nor west of the north or south) of a star when at the same altitude east\nand west of the meridian. If the mean of the two readings given by the\nazimuth circle be taken, the resulting reading indicates the direction\nof the meridian.\n\nIf we employ the sun in place of a star, its change of declination\nduring the interval between the observations must be taken into account.\n\n(3) To find the meridian line by means of the pole star is a simple and\naccurate method, as a value can be obtained at _any_ time at night by\na simple altitude, provided the time of observation is known.[8]\n\nIf these means of directly determining the astronomical meridian line\nare not available, then we have to do it indirectly by using the\nmagnetic meridian in the first instance.\n\nIf we take a magnetic needle and balance it horizontally on a vertical\npivot, its ends will be directed to two points on the horizon. By\ndrawing a great circle through these two points and the zenith point of\nthe place, we obtain the _magnetic meridian_.\n\nThe _magnetic meridian line_ is the intersection of the plane of the\nmagnetic meridian with the plane of the horizon. The angle between the\nastronomical and magnetic meridian lines is called the variation, E.\nor W. according as the needle points to the W. or E. of true--that is,\nastronomical--north at any particular place at any particular time. The\nvariation may vary from place to place, and always varies from time to\ntime.\n\nThe bearing required has, in the first instance, to be determined\nby the instruments already referred to in relation to the magnetic\nmeridian.\n\nHaving made such an observation, the next thing we have to do is to\ndetermine the astronomical or true north, which is the only thing of\nvalue.\n\n[Illustration: MAGNETIC MAP OF THE BRITISH ISLES, SHOWING THE VARIATION\nAT DIFFERENT POINTS.]\n\nIf the magnetic variation has been determined for the region, we may\nuse a map. Such a map as that shown below gives us the lines along\nwhich in the British Isles the compass variation west of north reaches\ncertain values. From such a map for Egypt we learn that in 1798 a\nmagnet swung along a line extending from a little to the west of\nCairo to the second cataract would have had a variation of 11\u00bd\u00b0 to\nthe west; in 1844 of 8\u00bd\u00b0 to the west; and at the present time the\nvariation is such that observations made along the same part of the\nNile valley will have a variation closely approximating 4\u00bd\u00b0 to the\nwest. By means of such a map it is quite possible to get approximately\nthe astronomical bearings of all temples which were observed by the\nFrench in 1798 or by the Germans in 1844, or which can be observed\nin the present day, provided always that there is no local magnetic\nattraction.\n\nIf we are not fortunate enough to possess such a map, the methods\npreviously referred to for obtaining the astronomical north must be\nemployed; observing the direction in which the sun culminates at noon\nwill give us the south point astronomically; from observations of the\npole star at night the astronomical north can also be determined. From\nthe former of these observations the magnetic variation is obtained\nwithout any difficulty, even in the absence of accurate local time.\nWhen this is available other methods are applicable.\n\nIt is sad to think how much time is lost in the investigation of\na great many of these questions for the reason that the published\nobservations were made only with reference to the magnetic north,\nwhich is vastly different at different places, and is always varying.\nFew indeed have tried to get at the astronomical conditions of the\nproblem. Had this been done with minute accuracy in all cases, either\nby the French or Prussian Commissions to which I have referred, it is\nperfectly certain that the solstitial orientation of Karnak and other\ntemples, which I shall have to mention, would have been long ago known\nto all scholars.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n                 THE EARLIEST SOLAR SHRINES IN EGYPT.\n\n\nNot only can an inquiry like that referred to in the previous chapter\nbe prosecuted--_it has been prosecuted_.\n\nThe French and Prussian Governments have vied with each other in the\nhonourable rivalry of mapping and describing the monuments. The French\nwent to Egypt at the end of the last century, while the Scientific\nCommission which accompanied the army, a Commission appointed by the\nInstitute of France, published a series of volumes containing plans of\nall the chief temples in the valley of the Nile as far south as Phil\u00e6.\n\nIn the year 1844, some time after Champollion had led the way in\ndeciphering the hieroglyphics, we became almost equally indebted to the\nPrussian Government, who also sent out a Commission to Egypt, under\nLepsius, which equalled the French one in the importance of the results\nof the explorations; in the care with which the observations were made,\nand in the perfection with which they were recorded. In attempting to\nget information from ancient temples on the points to which I have\nreferred, there is, therefore, a large amount of information available;\nand it is wise to study the region round and below Thebes where the\ninformation is so abundant and is ready to our hand.\n\nFirst, then, with regard to the existence of solar temples. Dealing\nwith the monumental evidence, the answer is absolutely overwhelming.\nThe evidence I bring forward consists of that afforded by some of the\nvery oldest temples that we know of in Egypt. Among the most ancient\nand sacred fanes was one at Annu, On, or Heliopolis, which, the\ntradition runs, was founded by the Shesu-Hor before the time of Mena;\nMena, as we have seen, having reigned at a date certainly not less than\n4000, and possibly 5000 years B.C.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE MOUNDS AT ABYDOS. (_From Mariette._)]\n\nThe Nile valley holds other solar temples besides that we have named at\nHeliopolis. Abydos was another of the holiest places in Egypt in the\nvery earliest times.\n\nSince the temples and temple mounds at Abydos can be better made out\nthan those at Heliopolis, I will take them first. The orientations\ngiven by different authors are so conflicting that no certainty can be\nclaimed, but it is possible that at Abydos one of the mounds is not far\nfrom the amplitude shown in the tables for the sun in the Nile valley\nat sunset at the summer solstice. If this were so, the Egyptians who\nwere employed in building the temple must have known exactly what they\nwere going to do.\n\nAt Heliopolis, as I have hinted, the matter is still less certain.\nAlmost every trace of the temple has disappeared, but of remains of\ntemenos walls in 1844, when the site was studied by Lepsius, there\nwere plenty. At Karnak, where both temples and temenos walls remain,\nwe can see how closely the walls reflect the orientation of the\nincluded temples, even when they seem most liable to the suggestion\nof symmetrophobia. I have before stated that the Egyptians have been\naccused of hating every regular figure, and the irregular figures at\nKarnak are very remarkable; in the boundary walls of the temple of\nAmen-R\u0101 there are two obtuse angles; round the Mut temple we also have\nwalls, and there again this hatred of similarity seems to come out, for\nwe have one obtuse and one acute angle. But if we examine the thing a\nlittle carefully, we find that there is a good deal of method in this\napparent irregularity. The wall of the temple of Amen-R\u0101 is parallel to\nthe face of the temple or at right angles to its length. One wall of\nMut is perfectly parallel to the face of the temple or at right angles\nto the sphinxes. And the reason that we do not get right angles at one\nend of the wall is that the walls of the temple at Mut are parallel to\nthe chief wall of the temple of Amen-R\u0101. Surely it must be that, before\nthese walls were built, it was understood that there was a combined\nworship; that they stood or fell together. One thing was not attempted\nin one temple and another thing in another, but the worship of each\nwas reflected in the other. If this be true, there was no hatred of\nsymmetry, but a definite and admirable reason why these walls should be\nbuilt as they were.\n\n[Illustration: THE MOUNDS AND OBELISK AT ANNU.]\n\nWith the knowledge we possess of both temenos walls and temples at\nKarnak, and of the, I may almost say, symbolism of the former, it is\nfair to conclude that when temples have gone we may yet get help from\nthe walls. The walls at Heliopolis are the most extraordinary I have\nmet with in Egypt, as may be gathered from the accompanying reduction\nof Lepsius' map.\n\nThe arrow in Lepsius' plan is so wrongly placed that the plan is very\nmisleading. It follows from Captain Lyons' observations and my own\nthat the longest mound heads 14\u00b0 N. of W. to 14\u00b0 S. of E. within a\ndegree; the condition of the mounds renders more accurate measures\nimpossible.[9]\n\nIt is to be gathered from the inscriptions that the temple within these\nmounds, now only represented by its solitary obelisk, was styled a\nsanctuary or temple of the sun.[10]\n\nAs the orientation of the N. and S. faces of the obelisk is 13\u00b0 N. of\nW., the sun's declination must have been 11\u00b0 N. The times of our year\nmarked by it, therefore, were 18th April and 24th August. But it must\nnot be forgotten that the temple may have been built originally to\nwatch the rising or setting of a star which occupied the declination\nnamed, and possibly, though not necessarily, at some other time of the\nyear. I shall return to this subject.\n\nIf Maspero and the great authorities in Egyptology are right--namely,\nthat the Annu temple was founded before 4000 B.C.--the above figures\ndrive us to the conclusion that we have in this temple a building\nwhich was orientated to the sun, _not_ at a solstice, some 6000 years\nago.\n\nSo much for two of the places known to be of the highest antiquity in\nEgypt. There remains another locality supposed to date from more modern\ntimes--I refer to Thebes. It is here that evidence of the most certain\nkind with regard to the solstitial temples is to be found.\n\nAt Karnak itself there are several temples so oriented, chief among\nthem the magnificent Temple of Amen-R\u0101, one of the wonders of the\nworld, to which a special chapter must be devoted. Suffice it to say\nhere that the amplitude of the point to which the axis of the great\ntemple of Amen-R\u0101 points is 26\u00b0 N. of W., which we learn from the table\nalready given is the amplitude of the place of sunset at the summer\nsolstice in the latitude of Thebes. The amplitude of the point to which\nthe axis of an attached small temple points is 26\u00b0 S. of E., exactly\nthe position of sunrise at the winter solstice.\n\nIt must not be forgotten in this connection that the Colossi of the\nplain on the other side of the river, and the associated temple, also\nface the place of sunrise at the winter solstice.\n\nThe list of solar solstitial temples, so far probably traced, is as\nfollows:--\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n            Place and Temple.             Amplitude.   Declination.  Date.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n            Kasr Kerun                    27\u00b0  S. of E.  S. 23\u00bc\u00b0\n    S.E.    Karnak (O)                    26\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.  S. 23\u00be\u00b0\n  Temples.  Memnonia (Avenue of Sphinxes) 27\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.  S. 24\u00bd\u00b0\n                (orientation not to \u00bd\u00b0)\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n    S.W.    Erment                        27\u00bd\u00b0 S. of W.  S. 24\u00bd\u00b0\n  Temples.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n    N.W.    Karnak (Q. K)                 26\u00bd\u00b0 N. of W.  N. 23\u00bd\u00b0\n  Temples.  Karnak (U)                    27\u00bd\u00b0 N. of W.  N. 24\u00bd\u00b0\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n\n[Illustration: THE COLOSSI OF THE PLAIN AT THEBES AT HIGH NILE ORIENTED\nTO THE SUNRISE AT THE WINTER SOLSTICE.\n(These are statues of Amen-hotep III., and are monoliths 60 feet\nhigh.)]\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF MEMPHIS. (_From Lepsius._)]\n\nWe have seen that it did not require any great amount of astronomical\nknowledge to determine either the moment of the solstice or the\nmoment of the equinox. The most natural thing to begin with was the\nobservation of the solstice, for the reason that at the solstice the\nsun can be watched day after day getting more and more north or more\nand more south until it comes to a standstill. But for the observation\nof the equinox, of course, the sun is moving-most rapidly either north\nor south, and therefore it would be more difficult to determine in\nthose days the exact moment.\n\n[Illustration: EAST AND WEST PYRAMIDS AND TEMPLES AT G\u00ceZEH. (_From\nLepsius._)]\n\nWe next come to the question as to whether any buildings were erected\nfrom an equinoctial point of view--that is, buildings oriented east and\nwest.\n\nNothing is more remarkable than to go from the description and the\nplans of such temples as we have seen at Abydos, Annu, and Karnak,\nto regions where, apparently, the thought is totally and completely\ndifferent, such as we find on the Pyramid Plains at G\u00eezeh, at Memphis,\nTunis, Sa\u00efs, and Bubastis. The orientation lines of the German\nsurveyors show beyond all question that the pyramids and some of the\ntemenos walls at the places named are just as true to the sun-rising\nat the equinoxes as the temples referred to at Karnak were to the\nsun-rising and setting at the solstices, and the Sphinx was merely a\nmysterious nondescript sort of thing which was there watching for the\nrising of the sun at an equinox, as the Colossi of the plain at Thebes\nwere watching for the rising of the sun at the winter solstice.\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLE AND TEMENOS WALLS OF TANIS. (_From Lepsius._)]\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLE AND TEMENOS WALLS OF SA\u00cfS (S\u0100-EL-LAGER). (_From\nLepsius._)]\n\nFurther, the temples at G\u00eezeh, instead of being oriented to the\nnorth-west, and to the south-east, are just as truly oriented to the\neast and west as the Pyramids themselves. We have either Temples of\nOsiris pointing to the sunset at the equinox, or temples of Isis\npointing to the sunrise at the equinox, but in either case built in\nrelation to the Pyramids. As an indication of the importance of the\nconsiderations with which we are now dealing, I may mention that it is\nsuggested by them that the building near the Sphinx is really a crypt\nof a temple of Isis or Osiris. This is a view which may change the\nideas generally held with regard to its age to the extent of something\nlike a thousand years. It has been imagined that it was at least one\nthousand years older than the second Pyramid; but if it be ultimately\nproved that this is really a temple of Isis or Osiris, then since it\nwas built in just as strict relation to the side of the Pyramid as\nthe temple near the Pyramid was to its centre, both temples were most\nprobably built at the same time as the Pyramid itself. However this\nmay be, the important thing is that when we pass from Thebes, and\npossibly Abydos, to the Pyramids at Memphis, to Sa\u00efs and Tanis, we find\na solstitial orientation changed to an equinoctial one. _There is a\nfundamental change of astronomical thought._\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLE NEAR THE SPHINX, LOOKING WEST (TRUE), SHOWING\nITS RELATION TO THE SOUTH FACE OF THE SECOND PYRAMID.\n(_From a photograph by Mr. Fearing._)]\n\nI confess I am impressed by this distinction; from the astronomical\npoint of view it is so fundamental that almost a difference of race is\nrequired to explain it. I say this advisedly, although I know creed can\ngo a great way, because among these early peoples their astronomy was\nchiefly a means to an end. It was not a story of abstract conceptions,\nor the mere expression of interesting facts whether used for religious\npurposes or not. The end was a calendar, of festivals and holydays if\nyou will, but a calendar which would allow their tillage and harvest to\nprosper.\n\nNow, it is almost impossible to suppose that those who worshipped the\nsun at the solstice did not begin the year at the solstice. It is, of\ncourse, equally difficult to believe that those who preferred to range\nthemselves as equinoctials did not begin the year at an equinox. Both\nthese practices could hardly go on in the case of the same race in the\nsame country, least of all in the valley where an annual inundation\nmarked the solstice.\n\nI shall show subsequently how the rise of the Nile, which took place at\nthe summer solstice, not only dominated the industry, but the astronomy\nand religion of Egypt; and I was much interested in hearing from my\nfriend Dr. Wallis Budge that the rise of the Tigris and Euphrates\ntakes place not far from the spring equinox. This may have dominated\nthe Babylonian calendar as effectually as the date of the Nile-rise\ndominated the Egyptian. If so, we have a valuable hint as to the\norigin of the equinoctial cult at G\u00eezeh and elsewhere, which in all\nprobability was interpolated after the non-equinoctial worship had been\nfirst founded at Annu, Abydos, and possibly Thebes.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\n                   OTHER SIMILAR SHRINES ELSEWHERE.\n\n\nThe observations which have been made in Babylonia are very discordant\namong themselves, and at present it is impossible to say, from\nthe monuments in any part of the region along the Tigris valley,\nwhether the temples indicate that the solstices were familiar to the\nBabylonians.\n\nThe ancient cities which have so far been excavated and the modern\nnames of the sites are as follows:\n\n  Nineveh             =   Kouyunjik.\n  Babylon             =   Birs Nimr\u00fbd.\n  Calah               =   Nimr\u00fbd.\n  Erech               =   Warka.\n  Ur of the Chaldees  =   Mukeyyer.\n  Ashur               =   Kalat Sherk\u00e2t.\n  Dur Sarginu         =   Khorsabad.\n\nLet us take, for instance, the region in the valley near where the\nUpper Zab joins the main stream. We gather from the map published in\n1867 by Place,[11] that Nimr\u00fbd, the modern Calah, is near the junction,\nwhile the mounds of Kouyunjik, Mosul, and Khorsabad, representing the\nancient Dur Sarginu, are to the north (36\u00b0 N. latitude). There are two\nother mounds shown on the map at Djigan and Tel Hakoab.\n\nNow, by inspection it is quite clear that none of the mounds except\nthat of Nimr\u00fbd lie east and west. It becomes important, therefore, to\ndetermine their orientation; but, alas! this is nearly impossible with\nthe sole exception of Khorsabad, for no measures appear to have been\nmade.\n\nAt first sight the matter seems more hopeful in the case of Khorsabad,\nfor we have not only the plans of Place, but those of Botta and\nFlandin.[12] The plans seem oriented with care, so far as the existence\nof a compass direction is concerned--for that is present while it too\noften is lacking in such productions--but in neither series is it\nstated whether N. means true or magnetic north.\n\nBoth observers noted a well-marked temple facing N.E., and also an\n\"observatory.\" About the temple there can be no mistake, for the\nfair-way of the light to it is carefully preserved, and there is a\nflight of wide steps on the north-east side of it.\n\nPlace gives the orientation 37\u00b0 N. of E. in one plan and 39\u00b0 in\nanother. Botta and Flandin give 31\u00bd\u00b0 in one plan and 32\u00b0 in another!\nNow, the change in the magnetic variation between 1849 and 1867 will\nnot explain this difference, nor indeed can it be accounted for by\nsupposing that the magnetic north is in question in one set of plans\nand the true north in the other;[13] and it is clear that no perfectly\ncertain conclusion can be arrived at till this work has been done\nover again. But it is known that M. Flandin was a skilled surveyor,\nand we have the remarkable fact, that if we take his value, _we have\nthe amplitude of the sun at the summer solstice in the latitude of\nNineveh_!\n\nI certainly think the temple may be accepted as a solstitial solar\ntemple provisionally; and if so, the question is raised whether the\nstructures in Assyria, supposed to be oriented so that the _angles_\nface the cardinal points, are not all of them oriented to the sun at a\nsolstice or to some other heavenly body. Certainly we must have more\ndefinite measures before the statement generally made can be accepted\nas final.\n\nWhen we leave Assyria we find other countries, it is true still farther\nafield, in which the existence of solstitial temples of a great\nantiquity of foundation is fully recognised.\n\nThe great temple of the sun at Pekin is oriented to the winter\nsolstice. The ceremonials which take place there are thus described by\nEdkins:--\n\n \"The most important of all the State observances of China is the\n sacrifice at the winter solstice, performed in the open air at the\n south altar of the Temple of Heaven, December 21st. The altar is\n called Nan-Tan, 'south mound,' or Yuenkieu, 'round hillock'--both\n names of the greatest antiquity.\n\n \"Here also are offered prayers for rain in the early summer. The altar\n is a beautiful marble structure, ascended by twenty-seven steps, and\n ornamented by circular balustrades on each of its three terraces.\n There is another on the north side of somewhat smaller dimensions,\n called the Ch'i-ku-t'an, or altar for prayer on behalf of grain. On\n it is raised a magnificent triple-roofed circular structure 99 feet\n in height, which constitutes the most conspicuous object in the _tout\n ensemble_, and is that which is called by foreigners the Temple of\n Heaven. It is the hall of prayer for a propitious year, and here,\n early in the spring, the prayer and sacrifice for that object are\n prosecuted. These structures are deeply enshrined in a thick cypress\n grove, reminding the visitor of the custom which formerly prevailed\n among the heathen nations of the Old Testament, and of the solemn\n shade which surrounded some celebrated temples of ancient Greece.\"\n\nThe Temple of Heaven is thus described:--\n\n \"The south altar, the most important of all Chinese religious\n structures, has the following dimensions: It consists of a triple\n circular terrace, 210 feet wide at the base, 150 in the middle, and 90\n at the top. In these, notice the multiples of three: 3 \u00d7 3 = 9, 3 \u00d7 5\n = 15, 3 \u00d7 7 = 21. The heights of the three terraces, upper, middle,\n and lower, are 5\u00b772 feet, 6\u00b723 feet, and 5 feet respectively. At\n the times of sacrificing, the tablets to heaven and to the Emperor's\n ancestors are placed on the top; they are 2 feet 5 inches long, and 5\n inches wide. The title is in gilt letters; that of heaven faces the\n south, and those of the ancestors east and west. The Emperor, with\n his immediate suite, kneels in front of the tablet of Shang-Ti and\n faces the north. The platform is laid with marble stones, forming\n nine concentric circles; the inner circle consists of nine stones,\n cut so as to fit with close edges round the central stone, which is a\n perfect circle. Here the Emperor kneels, and is surrounded first by\n the circles of the terraces and their enclosing walls, and then by the\n circle of the horizon. He thus seems to himself and his court to be\n in the centre of the universe, and turning to the north, assuming the\n attitude of a subject, he acknowledges in prayer and by his position\n that he is inferior to heaven, and to heaven alone. Round him on the\n pavement are the nine circles of as many heavens, consisting of nine\n stones, then eighteen, then twenty-seven, and so on in successive\n multiples of nine till the square of nine, the favourite number of\n Chinese philosophy, is reached in the outermost circle of eighty-one\n stones.\n\n \"The same symbolism is carried throughout the balustrades, the steps,\n and the two lower terraces of the altar. Four flights of steps of nine\n each lead down to the middle terrace, where are placed the tablets to\n the spirits of the sun, moon, and stars and the year god, Tai-sui.\n The sun and stars take the east, and the moon and Tai-sui the west:\n the stars are the twenty-eight constellations of the Chinese zodiac,\n borrowed by the Hindoos soon after the Christian era, and called by\n them the Naksha-tras; the Tai-sui is a deification of the sixty-year\n cycle.\"[14]\n\nWe find, then, that, the most important temple in China is oriented to\nthe winter solstice.\n\nTo mention another instance. It has long been known that Stonehenge\nis oriented to the rising of the sun at, the summer solstice. Its\namplitude instead of being 26\u00b0 is 40\u00b0 N. of E.; with a latitude of 51\u00b0,\nthe 26\u00b0 azimuth of Thebes is represented by an amplitude of 40\u00b0 at\nStonehenge.\n\nThe structure consists of a double circle of stones, with a sort of\nnaos composed of large stones facing a so-called avenue, which is a\nsunken way between two parallel banks. This avenue stretches away from\nthe naos in the direction of the solstitial sunrise.\n\nBut this is not all. In the avenue, but not in the centre of its width,\nthere is a stone called the \"Friar's Heel,\" so located in relation to\nthe horizon that, according to Mr. Flinders Petrie,[15] who has made\ncareful measurements of the whole structure, it aligned the coming\nsunrise from a point behind the naos or trilithon. The horizon is\ninvisible at the entrance of the circle, the peak of the heel rising\nfar above it; from behind the circles the peak is below the horizon.\nNow, from considerations which I shall state at length further on, Mr.\nPetrie concludes that Stonehenge existed 2000 B. C. It must not be\nforgotten that structures more or less similar to Stonehenge are found\nalong a line from the east on both sides of the Mediterranean.[16]\n\n[Illustration: STONEHENGE, FROM THE NORTH.]\n\nIt will be seen that the use of the marking stone to indicate the\ndirection in which the sun will rise answers exactly the same purpose\nas the long avenue of majestic columns and pylons in the Egyptian\ntemples. In both cases we had a means of determining the commencement\nand the succession of years.\n\n[Illustration: STONEHENGE RESTORED.]\n\nHence, just as surely as the temple of Karnak once pointed to the sun\n_setting_ at the summer solstice, the temple at Stonehenge pointed\nnearly to the sun _rising_ at the summer solstice. Stonehenge, there is\nlittle doubt, was so constructed that at sunrise at the same solstice\nthe shadow of one stone fell exactly on the stone in the centre; that\nobservation indicated to the priests that the New Year had begun, and\npossibly also fires were lighted to flash the news through the country.\nAnd in this way it is possible that we have the ultimate origin of the\nmidsummer fires, which have been referred to by so many authors.[17]\n\nWe have thus considered solstitial temples scattered widely over the\nearth's surface far from the Nile Valley.\n\nWe may now return to the equinoctial temples which can still be traced\nto the N.E. of that valley--the chief ones being those, remains of\nwhich still exist at Jerusalem, Baalbek, and Palmyra, where stone was\navailable for the temple builders. These temples were apparently as\nperfectly squared to the equinox as the Pyramids at G\u00eezeh. I will take\nthe temple of Jerusalem first, as its history is more complete than\nthat of the others.\n\nWe learn from the works of Josephus that as early as Solomon's time the\ntemple at Jerusalem was oriented to the east with care;[18] in other\nwords, the temple at Jerusalem was parallel to the temple of Isis at\nthe Pyramids; it was open to the east, closed absolutely to the west.\nIn plan, as we shall see, it was very like an Egyptian temple, the\nlight from the sun at the equinox being free to come along an open\npassage, and to get at last into the Holy of Holies. We find that the\ndirection of the axis of the temple shows the existence of a cult\nconnected with the possibility of seeing the sun rise at either the\nspring or the autumn equinox.\n\nAll the doors being opened, the sunlight would penetrate over the high\naltar, where the sacrifices were offered, into the very Holy of Holies,\nwhich we may remember was only entered by the high priest once a year;\nit could have done that twice a year, but as a matter of fact it was\nonly utilised once; whereas at Karnak the priest would only go into the\nHoly of Holies once a year, because it was only once illuminated by the\nsun in each year.\n\nThere is evidence, too, that the entrance of the sunlight on the\nmorning of the spring equinox formed part of the ceremonial. The priest\nbeing in the naos, the worshippers outside, with their backs to the\nsun, could see the high priest by means of the sunlight reflected from\nthe jewels[19] in his garments, thus referred to by Josephus:--\n\n \"I will now treat of what I before omitted--the garment of the high\n priest, for he [Moses] left no room for the evil practices of [false]\n prophets; but if some of that sort should attempt to abuse the Divine\n authority, he left it to God to be present at His sacrifices when He\n pleased, and when He pleased to be absent. And he was willing this\n should be known, not to the Hebrews only, but to those foreigners also\n who were there. For as to those stones, which we told you before,\n the high priest bare on his shoulders, which were sardonyxes (and\n I think it needless to describe their feature, they being known to\n everybody), _the one of them shined out when God was present at their\n sacrifices_.[20] I mean that which was of the nature of a button on\n his right shoulder, bright rays darting out thence, and being seen\n even by those who were most remote; which splendour yet was not before\n natural to the stone.\"\n\nJosephus[21] states that the miraculous shining of the jewels ceased\ntwo hundred years before his time, \"God having been displeased at the\ntransgression of His laws.\"\n\nThis remark of Josephus quite justifies the assumption that the effect\nof sunlight on the priest's jewels formed part of the ceremonial,\nand in this way. In the earliest times there is no doubt that the\nequinoctial temples were solar temples pure and simple, and the rising\nsun would always, in fine weather, shine into them at the equinox,\nwhich, while they were used as solar temples, marked New Year's Day.\nThe influence of the later Babylonian astronomy, however, at length\nreplaced the sun by the moon, and the year would commence, not at the\nequinox, but by a new or a full moon near the equinox. If either of\nthese happened _at_ the equinox, well and good; but if not, then the\nsun's declination might be widely different from 0\u00b0--it might amount\nroughly to 10\u00b0 either N. or S.--and under these circumstances, as the\namplitude would be greater, the sun's light could not enter the temple\nat all at the date of the feast. More than this, a mistake of a month\nmight be made, or a question of old style and new style might come in,\nand that of course would make matters worse. In this way, then, the\nwithdrawal of the sunlight from the temple at Jerusalem admits of being\nastronomically explained.\n\nIt seems highly probable that the temple in question was built on a\nPhenician foundation, for some of the stones exceed 38 feet in length\nand weigh 90 tons.[22] This remark is suggested by the fact that at\nBaalbek or Heliopolis, to which I next direct attention, the most\nancient and most massive part of the structure is, in all probability,\nof Phenician origin. To give an idea of its massiveness, which is\nalmost more than Egyptian, it may be stated that there are three\nstones each about 64 feet long, 13 feet high, and 13 feet thick. There\nare smaller stones used in the filling in, of the same height and\nthickness, and 30 feet long.[23] These form the western wall of the\noriginal naos or of its support.\n\nHere the orientation is due E.[24] When we come to Palmyra, we find\nalso another temple to the equinoctial sun; but here the sunset, and\nnot the sunrise, is in question--the temple faces due west.\n\nIn the whole problem, then, of orientation as I have had to present it,\nand as it now stands, we seem for the moment to be face to face with\ntwo very remarkable and strange things; so strange that the argument\nmay appear far-fetched and worthless, since we are landed in a region\napparently very far removed from our modern habits of thought. But\nis this really so? I assume the personification or the deification of\nthe sun: I shall subsequently have to include the stars; I indicate\nspecial orientations of buildings devoted to the worship of the sun at\none time of the year or another. But really both these things, though\nthey seem improbable, have been carried down to our own day, quite\nindependently of any question relating to Egypt. There is nothing new\nabout them at all, and there is nothing really strange. When we go into\nan observatory we think nothing of turning our telescope towards Venus,\nor Jupiter, or Mars. Here we have the deification of the planets. It is\nperfectly true that this religious treatment of the planets is not of\nour own day: we have inherited it from the Greeks through the Latins;\nbut we do not think it at all extraordinary that a planet should be\ncalled Venus or Jupiter. Thus we of to-day are completely in touch\nwith the old Egyptians, except that the Egyptians were wiser in their\ngeneration, and looked after the sun at fixed points in the year and\nthe constant stars instead of the variable planets.\n\nThen, again, take the question of orientation. This is, after all,\none which survives among ourselves. All our churches are more or less\noriented, which is a remnant of old sun-worship.[25] Any church that\nis properly built to-day will have its axis pointing to the rising\nof the sun on the Saint's Day, _i.e._, a church dedicated to St. John\nought not to be parallel to a church dedicated to St. Peter. It is true\nthat there are sometimes local conditions which prevent this; but if\nthe architect knows his business properly he is unhappy unless he can\ncarry out this old-world tradition. But it may be suggested that in our\nchurches the door is always to the west and the altar is always to the\neast. That is perfectly true, but it is a modern practice. Certainly in\nthe early centuries the churches were all oriented to the sun, so that\nthe light fell on the altar through the eastern doors at sunrise. The\nlate Gilbert Scott, in his \"Essay on Church Architecture,\" gives a very\ndetailed account of these early churches, which in this respect exactly\nresembled the Egyptian temples.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF ST. PETER'S AT ROME, SHOWING THE DOOR FACING THE\nSUNRISE.]\n\nIn regard to old St. Peter's at Rome,[26] we read that \"so exactly due\neast and west was the Basilica that, on the vernal equinox, the great\ndoors of the porch of the quadriporticus were thrown open at sunrise,\nand also the eastern doors of the church itself, and as the sun rose,\nits rays passed through the outer doors, then through the inner doors,\nand, penetrating straight through the nave, illuminated the High\nAltar.\" The present church fulfils the same conditions.\n\n[Illustration: ST. PETER'S AT ROME: FA\u00c7ADE FACING THE EAST (TRUE).]\n\nBut we have between our own churches and the Egyptian temples a link in\nthe chain which has just been magnificently completed by Mr. Penrose by\nhis study of the Greek temples. These interesting results will occupy\nus in a later chapter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER X.\n\n                THE SOLAR TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 AT KARNAK.\n\n\nSo much having been premised concerning the early temple-worship of\nthe sun in Egypt and the adjacent countries, and the survival of some\nof the ideas connected with it down to our own day, I next propose to\ndescribe the finest Egyptian solar temple which remains open to our\nexamination--that of Amen-R\u0101 at Karnak.\n\nOf the chief solar temples referred to in a previous chapter, two\nhave passed away; even the orientation of the one at Heliopolis I was\nonly able to determine by the mounds, assuming them to bear the same\nrelation to the temple as other mounds do, and the remaining obelisk.\n\nThe temple at Abydos is also a mound; but in the case of the temple of\nAmen-R\u0101 at Thebes the case is different: instead of being a mere heap,\nthe orientation of which is obtainable only by the general lie of the\nremains, this temple is still in such preservation that Lepsius in the\nyear 1844 could give us a large number of details about it, and locate\nthe position of the innumerable courts. Its orientation to the solstice\nwe can claim, as I hope to be able to show, as an early astronomical\nobservation. So it is quite fair to say that, many thousand years\nago at all events, the Egyptians were perfectly familiar with the\nsolstices, and therefore more or less fully with the yearly path of the\nsun.\n\n[Illustration: AXIS OF THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 FROM THE WESTERN PYLON,\nLOOKING SOUTH-EAST.]\n\nThis temple of Amen-R\u0101 is beyond all question the most majestic ruin\nin the world. There is a sort of stone avenue in the centre, giving\na view towards the north-west, and this axis is something like five\nhundred yards in length. The whole object of the builder of the great\ntemple at Karnak--one of the most soul-stirring temples which have ever\nbeen conceived or built by man--was to preserve that axis absolutely\nopen; and all the wonderful halls of columns and the like, as seen on\none side or other of the axis, are merely details; the point being\nthat the axis should be absolutely open, straight, and true. The axis\nwas directed towards the hills on the west side of the Nile, in which\nare the tombs of the kings. From the external pylon the South-eastern\noutlook through the ruins shows the whole length of the temple, and\nwe see at the very extremity of the central line a gateway nearly\nsix hundred yards away. This belonged to a temple pointing towards\nthe south-east. There were really two temples in the same line back\nto back, the chief one facing the sunset at the summer solstice, the\nother probably the sunrise at the winter solstice. The distance which\nseparates the outside entrances of both these temples is greater than\nthat from Pall Mall to Piccadilly; the great temple covers about twice\nthe area covered by St. Peter's at Rome, so that the whole structure\nwas of a vastness absolutely unapproached in the modern ecclesiastical\nworld.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 AND SOME OF ITS\nSURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING THE SACRED LAKE.\n\n    II. Original Sanctuary.\n   III. Obelisks.\n    IV. Hall of Columns.\n     V. Interior Pylon.\n    VI. Outer Court.\n   VII. External Western Pylon.\n  VIII. Sphinxes.\n\n   1 Temple M. of Lepsius.\n   2 Temple of Seti II.\n   3 Side Entrance.\n   4 South Wall.\n   5 } Pylons of South\n   6 }   Courts.\n   7 }\n   8 } Inner Courts near\n   9 }   the Sanctuary.\n  10 }\n\n  _a_ } N. Wall.\n  _b_ }\n  _c_ } Columns in Outer\n  _d_ }   Court, N. Side.\n  _e_ } Columns in Outer\n  _f_ }   Court, S. Side.\n  _g_ Taharqa's Columns.]\n\n\nSome Egyptian temples took many tens of years to build; the obelisks,\nall in single blocks, were brought for hundreds of miles down the\nNile. The building of a solar temple like that of Amen-R\u0101 meant to the\nEgyptians a very serious undertaking indeed.\n\nSome of the structural details are of a very curious nature, while the\ngeneral arrangement of the temple itself is no less extraordinary.\nFirst, with regard to the temple axis. It seems to be a general rule\nthat from the entrance-pylon the temple stretches through various halls\nof different sizes and details, until at last, at the extreme end, what\nis called the Sanctuary, Naos, Adytum, or Holy of Holies, is reached.\nThe end of the temple at which the pylons are situated is open, the\nother is closed. These lofty pylons, and even the walls, are sometimes\ncovered with the most wonderful drawings and hieroglyphic figures and\nrecords. Stretching in front of the pylons, extending sometimes very\nfar in front, are rows of sphinxes. This principle is carried to such\nan extent that in some cases separate isolated gates have been built\nright in front and exactly in the alignment of the temple.\n\nFrom one end of the temple to the other we find the axis marked out\nby narrow apertures in the various pylons, and many walls with doors\ncrossing the axis.\n\n[Illustration: VIEW TO THE SOUTH-WEST FROM THE SACRED LAKE OF AMEN-R\u0100.]\n\n[Illustration: RUINS OF DOOR AT ENTRANCE OF THE SANCTUARY.]\n\nIn the temple of Amen-R\u0101 there are 17 or 18 of these apertures,\nlimiting the light which falls into the Holy of Holies or the\nSanctuary. This construction gives one a very definite impression that\nevery part of the temple was built to subserve a special object, viz.,\nto limit the light which fell on its front into a narrow beam, and to\ncarry it to the other extremity of the temple--into the sanctuary, so\nthat once a year when the sun set at the solstice the light passed\nwithout interruption along the whole length of the temple, finally\nilluminating the Sanctuary in most resplendent fashion and striking the\nSanctuary wall. The wall of the Sanctuary opposite to the entrance of\nthe temple was always blocked. There is no case in which the beam of\nlight can pass absolutely through the temple.\n\n[Illustration: THE OBELISKS NEAR THE OLDEST PART OF THE TEMPLE OF\nAMEN-R\u0100 AT KARNAK.]\n\nThe point was to provide an axis open at one end and absolutely closed\nat the other, the open courts being only found towards that end towards\nwhich the temple opened, the other end being all but absolutely dark\nand quite blocked up at the extremity.\n\nThese sunlight effects were fully appreciated. Referring to the\nobelisks erected by Queen H\u0101t-shepset as a monument to her father Amen,\nan inscription at the base of one of these says, \"They are seen an\nendless number of miles off: _it is a flood of shining splendour when\nthe sun shines between the two_;\"[27] and again, \"The sun's disc shines\nbetween them as when it rises from the horizon of heaven.\"[28]\n\nPassing from the temple at Karnak to others in a better state of\npreservation, we can gather that the part of the axis furthest from the\nentrance was covered, so that in the _penetralia_ there was only a dim\nreligious light. The entrance is also, as it were, guarded by a massive\nexterior pylon, as in the more or less modern temple of Edf\u00fb. This,\nagain, reduces the light in the interior.\n\nIt is easy to recognise that these arrangements bear out the idea of an\nastronomical use of the temple.\n\n[Illustration: INNER COURT AND SANCTUARY AT EDF\u00db.\n(_From a Photograph by the Author._)]\n\nFirst of all we know that the temple was directed to the place of the\nsun's setting; and if the Egyptians wished to lead the narrow shaft\nof light which was bound to enter the temple, since it was directed\nto the sunset, they would have contrived the very system of gradually\nnarrowing doors which we have found to be one of the special features\nof the temple.\n\nThe doors were considered as very important--and no wonder. In the\naccount given of Thothmes III.'s restoration of the temple of Amen-R\u0101,\nwe read that after the building had been constructed in a \"position\ncorresponding to the four quarters of heaven\" the great stone gateways\nwere erected.\n\n\"The first had doors of real acacia wood covered with plates of gold,\nfastened with black bronze and iron.\"\n\nThen came a propylon (Bekhen) with three other gates connected with it\ncovered with plates of copper, and the sacrifices were brought through\nthese.[29]\n\nThis idea is strengthened by considering the construction of the\nastronomical telescope. Although the Egyptians knew nothing about\ntelescopes, it would seem that they had the same problem before them\nwhich we solve by a special arrangement in the modern telescope--they\nwanted to keep the light pure, and to lead it into their sanctuary as\nwe lead it to the eyepiece. To keep the light that passes into the\neyepiece of a modern telescope pure, we have between the object-glass\nand the eyepiece a series of what are called diaphragms; that is, a\nseries of rings right along the tube, the inner diameters of the rings\nbeing greatest close to the object-glass, and smallest close to the\neyepiece; these diaphragms must so be made that all the light from the\nobject-glass shall fall upon the eyepiece, without loss or reflection\nby the tube.\n\nThese apertures in the pylons and separating walls of Egyptian temples\nexactly represent the diaphragms in the modern telescope.\n\nWhat then was the real use of these pylons and these diaphragms? It\nwas to keep all stray light out of the carefully roofed and darkened\nSanctuary; but why was the Sanctuary to be kept in darkness?\n\nThe first point that I wish to make is that these temples--whatever\nview may be entertained with regard to their worship or the ceremonial\nin them--were undoubtedly constructed among other reasons for the\npurpose of obtaining an exact observation of the precise time of the\nsolstice. The priests having this power at their disposal, would not be\nlikely to neglect it, for they ruled by knowledge. The temples were,\nthen, astronomical observatories, and the first observatories that we\nknow of in the world.\n\nIf we consider them as horizontal telescopes used for the purpose I\nhave suggested, we at once understand the long axis, and the series of\ngradually narrowing diaphragms, for the longer the beam of light used\nthe greater is the accuracy that can be obtained.\n\nIndependently of ceremonial reasons--there is a good deal to be said\nunder that head--it is quite clear that the darker the sanctuary the\nmore obvious will be the patch of light on the end wall, and the more\neasily can its position be located. It was important to do this on the\ntwo or three days near the solstice, in order to get an idea of the\nexact time at which the solstice took place. We find that a narrow beam\nof sunlight coming through a narrow entrance some 500 yards away from\nthe door of the Holy of Holies would, provided the temple were properly\norientated to the solstice, and provided the solstice occurred at the\nabsolute moment of sunrise or sunset according to which the temple was\nbeing utilised, practically flash into the sanctuary and remain there\nfor about a couple of minutes, and then pass away. The flash would be\na crescendo and diminuendo, but the whole thing would not last above\ntwo minutes or thereabouts, and might be considerably reduced by an\narrangement of curtains. Supposing the solstice did not occur at the\nprecise moment of sunrise or sunset, and provided the Egyptians by any\nmeans whatever were able to divide the days and the nights into more\nor less equal intervals of time, two or three observations of the sun\nrising at the solstice on three different mornings, or of the sunset\nat the solstice on three different evenings, would enable a careful\nobserver to say whether the solstice had occurred at the exact moment\nof sunrise or sunset, or at some interval between two successive\nsunrises or sunsets, and what that interval was.\n\nWe may conclude that there was some purpose of utility to be served,\nand the solar temples could have been used undoubtedly, among other\nthings, for determining the exact length of the solar year.\n\nI now come to my next point, which is that here we have the true origin\nof our present means of measuring time; that our year as we know it\nwas first determined in these Egyptian temples and by the Egyptians.\nThe magnificent burst of the light at sunset into the sanctuary would\nshow that a new true solar year was beginning. It so happens that the\nsummer solstice was the time when the Nile began, and still begins,\nto rise; so that in Egypt the priests were enabled to determine, year\nafter year, not only the length of the year, but the exact time of its\ncommencement. This, however, they apparently kept to themselves, for\nthe year in use, called the vague year, began at different times of the\ntrue year through a long cycle, as I shall show in subsequent chapters.\n\nIf the Egyptians wished to use the temple for ceremonial purposes, the\nmagnificent beam of light thrown into the temple at the sunset hour\nwould give them opportunities and even suggestions for so doing; for\ninstance, they might place an image of the god in the sanctuary and\nallow the light to Hash upon it. We should have a \"manifestation of\nR\u0101\" with a vengeance during the brief time the white flood of sunlight\nfell on it; be it remembered that in the dry and clear air of Egypt the\nsun casts a shadow five seconds after the first little point of it has\nbeen seen above the horizon. So that at sunrise and sunset in Egypt the\nlight is very strong, and not tempered as with us. They did this: we\nnot only find the exact allocation of words \"the manifestation of R\u0101,\"\nbut what happened is described. One of the inscriptions relating to the\nmanifestation of R\u0101 has been translated by De Roug\u00e9 as follows:--\n\n \"Il vint en passant vers le temple de R\u0101; il entra dans le temple\n en adorant (deux fois). Le \u03c7er-heb [celebrant] invoqua (celui qui)\n repousse les plaies du roi; il remplit les rites de la porte; il prit\n le seteb, il se purifia par l'encens; il fit une libation; il apporta\n les fleurs de _Habenben_ [a part of the temple]; il apporta le parfum\n (?). Il monta les degr\u00e9s vers l'adytum grand, pour voir R\u0101 dans\n Habenben; lui-m\u00eame se tint seul; il poussa le verrou; il ouvrit les\n portes; il vit son p\u00e8re R\u0101 dans Habenben; il v\u00e9n\u00e9ra la barque de R\u0101\n et la barque de Tum. Il tira les portes, et posa la terre sigillaire\n (qu'il) scella avec le sceau du roi. Lui-m\u00eame ordonne aux pr\u00eatres,\n 'J'ai plac\u00e9 le sceau; que n'entre pas quelqu'un dedans de tout roi qui\n se tiendra (l\u00e0).'\"[30]\n\nIn the quotation the apparatus of doors is referred to, and it is not\ndifficult to understand that by a particular arrangement of them it\nwould be easily possible to allow the hash which lighted up the image\nof the god to be of very brief duration. Remember that the sanctuary\nwas dark, that the king stood with his back to the pylon (and therefore\nto the sun). Under these circumstances, to an excited imagination it\nwould be the god himself and not his image which appeared. Maspero[31]\nadduces much evidence to show that the priests were not above pious\nfrauds even in the worship connected with the Holy of Holies:--\n\n \"The shrines [in the sanctuary] are little chapels of wood or stone,\n in which the spirit of the deity was supposed at all times to dwell,\n and which on ceremonial occasions contained his image. The sacred\n barks were built after the model of the Bari, or boat in which the\n sun performed his daily course. The shrine was placed amidships of\n the boat and covered with a veil or curtain, to conceal its contents\n from all spectators.... We have not as yet discovered any of the\n statues employed in the ceremonial, but we know what they were like,\n what part they played, and of what materials they were made. They\n were animated.... They spoke, moved, acted--not metaphorically, but\n actually.... Interminable avenues of sphinxes, gigantic obelisks,\n massive pylons, halls of a hundred columns, mysterious chambers\n of perpetual night--in a word, the whole Egyptian Temple and its\n dependencies were built by way of a hiding-place for a performing\n puppet, of which the wires were worked by a priest.\"\n\nIn an inscription which covers, according to Brugsch, an entire wall\nnear the Holy of Holies in the temple of Amen-R\u0101 it is stated that\na beautiful harp, inlaid with silver and gold and precious stones,\non which to sing the praises of the god, statues of the god himself,\nand numerous gates (Selkhet) with locks of copper and dark bronze, to\nprotect the Holy of Holies from intrusion, were among the gifts to the\npriests.[32]\n\nThothmes III., in his account of his embellishments at Karnak, says of\nthe statues of the gods and of their secret place (possibly the Adytum)\nthat they were \"more glorious than what is created in heaven, more\nsecret than the place of the abyss, and more [invisible] than what is\nin the ocean.\"[33]\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XI.\n\n              THE AGE OF THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100 AT KARNAK.\n\n\nIf it be accepted that the arguments already put forward justify us in\nregarding the temple of Amen-R\u0101 as a solstitial solar temple, we are\nbrought face to face with the fact that if it be of any great antiquity\nits orientation should be such that it will no longer receive the light\nof the setting sun at the summer solstice along its axis.\n\nThis results from the fact that there is a slow change in what is\ncalled the obliquity of the ecliptic--that is, the angle between the\nplane of the earth's equator and the plane of the ecliptic; this\nchange is brought about by the attraction of the other planetary\nbodies affecting the plane of the ecliptic. If these planes approach\neach other, the obliquity will be reduced; the present obliquity is\nsomething like 23\u00b0 27\u2032; we know that 5,000 B.C. it was 24\u00b0 22\u2032, nearly\na degree more. A difference of 1\u00b0 means, then, a difference of time\nof about seven thousand years. It may go down to something below 21\u00b0.\nSince the obliquity has been decreasing for many thousand years, a\ntemple directed to the rising or setting sun at the solstice some\nthousands of years ago had a greater amplitude than it requires now.\n\nIt will be readily understood that if the orientation of the temple and\nthe height of the hills towards which it points be accurately known,\nknowing also the precise obliquity of the ecliptic at different epochs,\nwe have an astronomical means of determining the date of the original\nfoundation of the temple, supposing, of course, that it was founded to\nobserve the solstice.\n\nBut before I go into these matters it is essential that the evidence of\nEgyptologists should be considered. Very fortunately for us in these\ninquiries the temple of Amen-R\u0101 is one of those most carefully studied\nby Mariette, so that the _dernier mot_ of the arch\u00e6ologist is at our\ndisposal.\n\nMariette, in his magnificent memoir on Karnak,[34] surpassed himself in\nthe care and sagacity which he displayed in endeavouring to fix dates\nfor the various structures in that wonderful temple-field, and among\nthem the various parts of the temple of Amen-R\u0101.\n\nIn his maps, to which I now refer, each part of the temple is coloured\naccording to the supposed date of its building. He points out first of\nall that the inscriptions on the walls must be disregarded, as they\ncould have been put there at any date after the temples were built. On\nthis point I quote Mariette's own words:--[35]\n\n \"Les couleurs marqu\u00e9es sur le plan servent \u00e0 indiquer, au moyen\n de la l\u00e9gende explicative plac\u00e9e en marge, les \u00e9poques diverses\n de la construction des temples et de leurs parties. Quelques mots\n d'explication sont ici n\u00e9cessaires. Un mur porte les cartouches de\n Menephtah; mais il peut avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 construit deux-cent-cinquante ans\n plus t\u00f4t par Thoutm\u00e8s III. Les \u00e9poques de la d\u00e9coration ne sont\n ainsi pas toujours les \u00e9poques de la construction. Pour avoir les\n \u00e9poques de la d\u00e9coration, il ne s'agit que de regarder les murs et\n les inscriptions dont ils sont couverts. Pour avoir les \u00e9poques de la\n construction, tout un travail de confrontation, de comparaison, est\n n\u00e9cessaire. Il faut s'assurer si les m\u00eames mains qui ont construit\n le mur l'ont d\u00e9cor\u00e9; dans le cas contraire, il faut faire intervenir\n l'arch\u00e9ologie dans toutes les branches de cette science qui touchent \u00e0\n l'observation des lieux, au mode de construction, \u00e0 l'agencement des\n pierres, au choix et \u00e0 l'appareillage des mat\u00e9riaux.\"\n\nTaking the temple in its generality, he finds that, so far as his\ninquiries had carried him, parts were certainly built at a time an\nancient as the twelfth dynasty--say 2400 or 3000 B.C., according to the\nauthority in these matters that we may prefer.\n\nThen again we have dates given and indications of kings through the\neighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, and then again on to the times of\nthe Ptolemies.\n\nIn such an inquiry we must have arch\u00e6ological dates on which we can\nrely. In the date assigned to the time of Mena by various Egyptologists\nwe find a difference of nearly--in fact, rather more than--a thousand\nyears in our authorities. In the twelfth dynasty we find a difference\nof five hundred years; but in the later dynasties, such as the\neighteenth, the difference is reduced in some cases to ten years or\nso. So that in the later dynasties we know pretty well what time is in\nquestion. We are therefore on firm ground.\n\nThe first point to which I wish to call attention is that according to\nMariette the building dates change along the open axis of the temple.\nFrom photographs I took when in Egypt I found reason to believe that\nthe direction of the axis has been slightly changed at the west end.\n\nIf we refer to the plan of the temple, the point of importance to us in\nour present inquiry has relation to the circumstances connected with\nthe buildings of the temple itself. We have in the outer court to the\nnorth-west certain pillars which were built by one of the Ethiopian\nkings. These I mark =1=, =1= (see page 118). There is the temple =M=,\nbuilt by Rameses III, according to Mariette. There are walls with\ncolumns, marked =2=, =2=, built by the twenty-second dynasty, north\nand south of this outer court; and then there is the temple =L= in the\nouter court, supposed to have been built by Seti II. The western part\nof the temple, therefore, is of no high antiquity. To find this we have\nto go some 200 yards to the south-east. Near the central portion of\nthe temple (marked =4=) there are traces of the twelfth or possibly\nthe eleventh dynasty. What existed then might have been a shrine with\nnothing to the north-west or south-east of it.\n\nThis seems almost to have been its condition at the time of Thothmes\nIII. even.\n\nAccording to an inscription quoted by Brugsch,[36] \"The king (Thothmes\nIII.) found it in the form of a brick building, in a very dilapidated\ncondition, being a work of his predecessors. The king with his own hand\nperformed the solemn laying of the foundation stone for this monument.\"\n\nFrom this point, indeed, the temple seems to have extended in both\ndirections--that is, north-west and south-east--the sanctuary being\nthrown back to the eastward and pylons added to the westward.\n\nIt follows from the above very brief sketch that the original\norientation of the original shrine is to be gathered from the walls\ntowards the centre of the present ruins.\n\nLet us agree to this. The Egyptologist already gives us\neleventh-dynasty time, say 2500 B.C. for a part of the existing temple.\n\nLet us now pass to the astronomical problem. Lepsius and others have\nmeasured the amplitude of this part of the temple. It is given as 20\u00b0\nor 20\u00b0 30\u2032 N. of W.\n\nWhen there I measured the height of the opposite hills (near the tombs\nof the kings) roughly at 2\u00bd\u00b0. If we, therefore, deal with the\namplitude, considering the height of the hills as 2\u00bd\u00b0, we find that,\nas the horizon was above the sea horizon and the sun travels down an\ninclined path from south to north, it would meet the hill sooner than\nthe sea horizon; the apparent amplitude would, therefore, be less than\nthe true one, so that we get an amplitude of 25\u00b0 instead of 26\u00b0, and\nif we correct that for refraction we get 25\u00bd\u00b0.\n\nLet us take the lower amplitudes. We can construct the following\ntable:--\n\n  With present obliquity 23\u00b0 30\u2032 we have at Thebes,\n    lat. 25\u00b0 40\u2032 amplitude on horizon (sun's centre)  26\u00b0\n  Corrected for refraction                            26\u00b0 30\u2032\n  The amplitude behind hill, 2\u00bd\u00b0 high, will be        25\u00b0\n  Making correction for refraction                    25\u00b0 5\u2032\n\nSo that, taking the lowest amplitude, the temple axis points almost 1\u00b0\ntoo much to the north.\n\nI have already mentioned that the photographs I had taken of the temple\naxis towards, and from the outside of, the Ptolemaic pylon indicated a\ntwist in the temple axis. This was a question that in the absence of\naccurate measurements could only be determined by an actual observation\nof the solstice.\n\nThis being so, I begged the intervention of Col. Sir Colin\nScott-Moncrieff, the Under Secretary of State of the Public Works\nDepartment in Egypt, to detail one of his officers to make observations\nof the summer solstice of 1891. He was good enough to accede to my\nrequest, and I proceed to give extracts from the report of the officer\nin question, Mr. P. J. G. Wakefield, to Mr. Allan Joseph, the Director\nof Works and Irrigation:--\n\n \"In accordance with instructions received, I made the following\n observations at Karnak on June 21st, 1891:--\n\n \"I found that the points which I have marked A, C, D on the\n photographic plan (being the centres of the Pylon of Rameses I., the\n Pylon of Thothmes I., and the shrine or sanctuary of Philip III. of\n Macedon (?) respectively) were all in a straight line. B is a point\n midway between the only two opposite pillars of which the bases are\n intact (one set up by Rameses I., and the other by Seti I.), and was\n very nearly in line; probably the true centre between the pillars\n (which is difficult to obtain) would be exactly so. The centre of\n the Great Pylon (Ptolemaic) is not in line at all with these points,\n there being 1\u00b0 difference between D A prolonged and A E; I therefore\n accepted the line D C A as the true axis.\n\n \"From an inspection made on June 20th, it appeared to me that the\n setting sun would not be visible from any of the points indicated by\n Professor Norman Lockyer. I therefore placed the theodolite at A. I\n regret to say that my above supposition was correct, as even from A I\n was only able to see a portion of the setting sun, the remainder being\n hidden behind the south wall of the Great Pylon. I obtained, however,\n one reading, the right limb at, as nearly as I could judge, the moment\n of impact of the sun's diameter with the hill.\"\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMEN-R\u0100, SHOWING THE POINTS\nREFERRED TO IN THE PRESENT CHAPTER.]\n\nOf the measures given the most important are the angle between the axis\nof the temple looking south-east from A and the north point 116\u00b0 23\u2032\n40\u2033  (amplitude 26\u00b0 23\u2032) and the angle between the top of the hills and\nthe horizontal 2\u00b0 36\u2032 20\u2033 .[37] These measures, therefore, entirely\njustified the result of the calculations I have before given, and\nprove that the interval of over 5000 years is sufficient to cause us to\ndetect the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic by this method of\nobserving the sunset at a solstice with an instrument built on so large\na a scale.\n\nTaking the orientation as 26\u00b0, and taking hills and refraction into\nconsideration, we find that the true horizon sunset amplitude would be\n27\u00b0 30\u2032. This amplitude gives us for Thebes a declination of 24\u00b0 18\u2032.\n\nThis was the obliquity of the ecliptic in the year 3700 B.C., and this\nis therefore the date of the _foundation_ of the shrine of Amen-R\u0101 at\nKarnak, so far as we can determine it astronomically with the available\ndata; but about these there is still an element of doubt, for, so far\nas I learn, the recent magnetic readings have not been checked by\nastronomical observations.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XII.\n\n                THE STARS--THEIR RISINGS AND SETTINGS.\n\n\nFrom what has been stated it is not too much to assume that the\nEgyptians observed, and taught people to observe, the sun on the\nhorizon.\n\nThis being so, the chances are that at first they would observe the\nstars on the horizon too, both stars rising and stars setting; this\nindeed is rendered more probable by the very careful way in which early\nastronomers defined the various conditions under which a star can rise\nor set, always, be it well remembered, in relation to the sun.\n\nIt must not be forgotten that the ancients had no telescopes, and had\nto use their horizon as the only scientific instrument which they\npossessed. They spoke of a star as rising or setting cosmically,\nachronically, or heliacally.\n\nThe cosmic rising meant that the star rose, and the cosmic setting\nmeant that the star set, at the same moment as the sun--that is, that\nalong the eastern horizon we should see the star rising at the moment\nof sunrise, or along the western horizon a star setting at the moment\nof the sun setting; but unless certain very obvious precautions were\ntaken it is clear that neither the rising nor the setting star would be\nseen, in consequence of the presence of daylight. The achronical rising\nor setting is different from the cosmic in this respect--that we have\nthe star rising when the sun is setting, or setting when the sun is\nrising. Finally we have the heliacal rising and setting; that is taken\nto be that the star appeared in the morning a little in advance of the\nsunrise, or set at twilight a little later than the sun.\n\nIt is quite clear that if we observe a star rising in the dawn, it will\nget more and more difficult to observe the nearer the time of sunrise\nis approached. Therefore, what the ancients did was to determine a\ntime before sunrise in the early dawn at which the star could be very\nobviously and clearly seen to rise. The term \"heliacal rising\" was\ncoined to represent a star rising visibly in the dawn, therefore,\nbefore the sun. Generally throughout Egypt the sun was supposed to be\nsomething like 10\u00b0 below the horizon when a star was stated to rise\n_heliacally_.\n\nThe following table from Biot should make matters quite clear:--\n\n                    \u250c         \u250c True or Cosmic         Sun rising.\n                    \u2502         \u2502             \u250c Sun not yet risen, but\n                    \u2502 Morning \u2524 Apparent or \u2524  depressed below horizon\n                    \u2502         \u2502   Heliacal  \u2502  sufficiently to enable\n                    \u2502         \u2514             \u2514  the star to be seen.\n                    \u2502\n  Star at Eastern   \u2524         \u250c True or Achronic       Sun setting.\n   Horizon (Rising) \u2502         \u2502             \u250c Sun set, and depressed\n                    \u2502 Evening \u2524 Apparent or \u2524  below horizon sufficiently\n                    \u2502         \u2502   Heliacal  \u2502  to enable the\n                    \u2514         \u2514             \u2514  star to be seen.\n                    \u250c         \u250c True or Cosmic         Sun setting.\n                    \u2502         \u2502             \u250c Sun set and depressed\n                    \u2502 Evening \u2524 Apparent or \u2524  below horizon sufficiently\n  Star at Western   \u2502         \u2502   Heliacal  \u2502  to enable the\n   Horizon (Setting)\u2524         \u2514             \u2502  star to be seen.\n                    \u2502\n                    \u2502         \u250c True or Achronic       Sun rising.\n                    \u2502         \u2502             \u250c Sun not yet risen, but\n                    \u2502 Morning \u2524 Apparent or \u2524  depressed below horizon\n                    \u2502         \u2502   Heliacal  \u2502  sufficiently to enable\n                    \u2514         \u2514             \u2514  the star to be seen.\n\nIt is Ideler's opinion that, in Ptolemy's time, in the case of stars\nof the first magnitude, for heliacal risings and settings, if the star\nand sun were on the same horizon, a depression of the sun of 11\u00b0 was\ntaken; if on opposite horizons, a depression of 7\u00b0. For stars of the\nsecond magnitude these values were 14\u00b0 and 8\u00bd\u00b0. But if temples were\nemployed as I have suggested, even cosmic and achronic risings and\nsettings could be observed in the case of the brightest stars.\n\nBut it must not be imagined that, even in Egypt, all stars can be\nobserved the moment they are above the horizon. In the morning,\nespecially, there are mists, so that all but the brightest stars are\noften invisible till they are 1\u00b0 or 2\u00b0 high. On this point I quote\nBiot:--\n\n \"Comme le rapporte Nouet, l'astronome de l'exp\u00e9dition fran\u00e7aise, on\n n'y aper\u00e7oit jamais \u00e0 leur lever les \u00e9toiles de 2\u00b0 et de 3\u00b0 grandeur\n m\u00eame dans les plus belles nuits, \u00e0 cause d'une bande constant de\n vapeurs qui borde l'horizon.[38] Aussi en expliquant le calcul\n des levers h\u00e9liaques dans l'Almageste, Ptol\u00e9m\u00e9e a-t-il soin de\n remarquer[39] que les annonces qu'on voudrait faire de ces ph\u00e9nom\u00e8nes\n seront toujours tr\u00e8s-incertaines, \u00e0 cause de l'\u00e9tat des couches d'air\n dans lesquelles on les observe, et \u00e0 cause de la difficult\u00e9 optique\n qu'on \u00e9prouve \u00e0 saisir la premi\u00e8re apparition, comme il dit lui-m\u00eame\n en avoir fait l'exp\u00e9rience.\"[40]\n\nBefore we begin to consider the question of stars at all, we must\nbe able to describe them--to speak of them in a way that shall\ndefine exactly which star is meant. We can in these days define a\nstar according to its constellation, or its equatorial or ecliptic\nco-ordinates, but all these means of reference were unknown to the\nearliest observers. Still we may assume that the Egyptians could define\nsome of the stars in some fashion; and it is evident that we here\napproach a matter of the very highest importance for our subject, to\nwhich I shall have to return in a subsequent chapter.\n\nSo far as we have been dealing with the sun and the observations of the\nsun at rising and setting, we have taken for granted that the amplitude\nof the sun at the solstices does not change; the amplitude of 26\u00b0 at\nThebes for the solstices is practically, though as we have seen not\nabsolutely, invariable for a thousand years; but one of the results\nof astronomical work is that the _stars_ are known to behave quite\ndifferently. In consequence of what is called _precession_ the stars\nchange their place with regard to the pole of the equator; and further,\nin consequence of this movement, the position of the sun among the\nstars at the solstices and equinoxes changes also.\n\nIn reference to the sun's path we considered what are called the\necliptic and the equatorial co-ordinates. The ecliptic defines the\nplane in which the earth moves round the sun, and 90\u00b0 from that plane\nwe have the pole of the heavens; celestial latitude we found reckoned\nfrom the plane of the ecliptic north and south up to the pole of the\nheavens, and celestial longitude was reckoned along the plane of\nthe ecliptic from the first point of Aries. We had also declination\nreckoned from the equator of the earth prolonged to the stars, and\nright ascension reckoned along the equator from the first point of\nAries.\n\nThe pole of the heavens or of the ecliptic, then, we must regard as\npractically, but not absolutely, fixed; but the pole of the earth's\nequator is not fixed, it slowly moves round the pole of the heavens.\n_In consequence of that movement there is a change of declination in a\nstar's place._\n\nGoing back to the diagram (p. 49), we find that the amplitude of a\nbody rising or setting at Thebes or anywhere else depends upon its\ndeclination; so that if from any cause the declination of a star\nchanges, its amplitude must change.\n\nThat is the first point where we meet with difficulty, because if\nthe amplitude changes it is the same as saying that the place of\nstar-rising or star-setting changes; that is, a star which rises in the\neast in a certain amplitude this year will change its amplitude at some\nfuture time.\n\nIn the last chapter I referred to one of the difficulties of modern\ninquiries into the orientation of ancient temples, which arises from\nthe fact that the sun has not always, at the solstices, risen or set at\nexactly the same points of the horizon. We now find ourselves face to\nface with the fact that the stars do not rise or set at the same points\ncentury after century. We saw that the change in the position of the\nsun on the horizon at the solstices is due to a very small change of\nobliquity of the ecliptic, so that in a matter of something like 6,000\nyears the position of the sun at sunrise and sunset on the horizon\nmay be varied by, roughly speaking, 1 degree. But in the case of the\nstars the matter is very much more serious, because in the course of\nsomething like 13,000 years the rising-or setting-places of a star may\nvary by something like 47\u00b0 along the horizon north or south.\n\nSo that in the cases both of sun and stars there is no real fixity in\nthe places of rising or setting, although of course those who made the\nfirst observations and built the first temples were not in a position\nto know this.\n\nThe real cause of this precessional movement which causes the stars to\nchange their places lies in the fact that the earth is not a sphere,\nits equatorial diameter being longer than its polar diameter, so that\nthere is a mass of matter round the equator in excess of what we should\nget if the earth were spherical. Suppose that matter to be represented\nby a ring. The ring is differently presented to the sun, one part being\nnearer than the other, the nearer part being attracted more forcibly.\nIf we take the point in the ring nearest the sun where there is the\ngreatest attraction, and draw a line to the opposite point where the\nattraction is least, we can show that the case stands in this way: the\nsun's pull may be analysed into two forces, one of them represented by\nthe line joining the centre of the sun and the centre of the ring, and\nanother at right angles to it let fall from the point most strongly\nattracted on to the first line. The question is, what will that force\nat right angles do?\n\nThe figure below represents a model illustrating the rotation of the\nearth on its axis, and the concurrent revolution of the sun round the\nearth once a year. To represent the downward force it is perfectly fair\nif I add a weight. The moment this is done the axis of the gyroscope\nrepresenting the earth's axis, instead of retaining its direction to\nthe same point as it did before, now describes a circle round the pole\nof the heavens.\n\n[Illustration: MODEL ILLUSTRATING THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES.]\n\nIt is now a recognised principle that there is, so to speak, a wobble\nof the earth's axis round the pole of the heavens, in consequence of\nthe attraction of the sun on the nearer point of this equatorial ring\nbeing greater than on the part of the ring further removed from it.\nThat precessional movement is not quite so simple as it is shown by the\nmodel, because what the sun does in this way is done to a very much\nlarger extent by the moon, the moon being so very much nearer to us.\n\nIn consequence, then, of this luni-solar precession we have a variation\nof the points of intersection of the planes of the earth's equator and\nof the ecliptic; in consequence of that we have a difference in the\nconstellations in which the sun is at the time of the solstices and the\nequinoxes; and, still more important from our present point of view,\nwe have another difference, viz., that the declinations, and therefore\nthe amplitudes, and therefore the places of setting and rising of the\nstars, change from century to century.\n\nNow that we have thus become acquainted with the physical cause of\nthat movement of the earth's axis which gives rise to what is called\nthe precession of the equinoxes, we have next to enter with somewhat\ngreater detail into some of the results of the movement.\n\nThe change of direction of the axis in space has a cycle of something\nbetween 25,000 and 26,000 years. As it is a question of the change of\nthe position of the celestial equator, or rather of the pole of the\ncelestial equator, amongst the stars in relation to the pole of the\nheavens, of course the declinations of stars will be changed to a very\nconsiderable extent; indeed, we have seen that the declination of a\nstar can vary by twice the amount of the obliquity, or say 47\u00b0, so\nthat a star at one time may have zero declination--that is, it may lie\non the equator--and at another it may have a declination 47\u00b0 N. or S.\nOr, again, a star may be the pole star at one particular time, and at\nanother it will be distant from the pole no less than 47\u00b0. Although we\nget this enormous change in one equatorial co-ordinate, there would\nfrom this cause alone be practically no change with regard to the\ncorresponding ecliptic co-ordinate--that is to say, the position of\nthe star with reference to the earth's movement round the sun. This\nmovement takes place quite independently of the direction of the\naxis, so that while we get this tremendous swirl in declination, the\nlatitudes of the stars or their distances from the ecliptic north or\nsouth will scarcely change at all.\n\n[Illustration: STAR-MAP. REPRESENTING THE PRECESSIONAL MOVEMENT OF THE\nCELESTIAL POLE FROM THE YEAR 4000 B.C. TO THE YEAR 2000 A.D. (_From\nPiazzi Smyth._)\n_Symbols adapted to represent the magnitudes or brightnesses of the\nstars_, _1^{st}._ \u2299, _2^{nd}._ \u2b2d, _3^{rd}._ \u2206, _4^{th}._ \u22a1.]\n\nAmong other important results of these movements dependent upon\nprecession we have the various changes in the pole-star from period\nto period, due to the various positions occupied by the pole of the\nearth's equator. We thus see how in this period of 25,000 years or\nthereabouts the pole-stars will change, for a pole-star is merely the\nstar near the pole of the equator for the time being. At present, as\nwe all know, the pole-star is in the constellation Ursa Minor. During\nthe last 25,000 years the pole-stars have been those lying nearest to\na curved line struck from the pole of the heavens with a radius equal\nto the obliquity of the ecliptic, which, as we have seen, is liable to\nchange within small limits; so that about 10,000 or 12,000 years ago\nthe pole-star was no longer the little star in Ursa Minor that we all\nknow, but the bright star Vega, in the constellation Lyra. Of course\n25,000 years ago the pole-star was practically the same as it is at\npresent.\n\nAssociated with this change in the pole-star, the point of intersection\nof the two fundamental planes (the plane of the earth's rotation and\nthe plane of the earth's revolution) will be liable to change, and the\nperiod will be the same--about 25,000 years. Where these two planes\ncut each other we have the equinoxes, because the intersection of the\nplanes defines for us the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes; when the\nsun is highest and lowest half-way between these points we have the\nsolstices. In a period of 25,000 years the star which is nearest to an\nequinox will return to it, and that which is nearest a solstice will\nreturn to it. During the period there will be a constant change of\nstars marking the equinoxes and the solstices.\n\nThe chief points in the sun's yearly path then will change among the\nstars in consequence of this precession. It is perfectly clear that if\nwe have a means of calculating back the old positions of stars, and\nif we have any very old observations, we can help matters very much,\nbecause the old observations--if they were accurately made--would tell\nus that such and such a star rose with the sun at the solstice or at\nthe equinox at some special point of ancient time. If it be possible to\ncalculate the time at which the star occupied that position with regard\nto the sun, we have an astronomical means of determining the time,\nwithin a few years, at which that particular observation was made.\n\nFortunately, we have such a means of calculation, and it has been\nemployed very extensively at different periods, chiefly by M. Biot in\nFrance, and quite recently by German astronomers, in calculating the\npositions of the stars from the present time to a period of 2000 years\nB.C. We can thus determine with a very high degree of accuracy the\nlatitude, longitude, right ascension, declination, and the relation\nof the stars to an equinox, a solstice, or a pole, as far back as we\nchoose. Since we have the planes of the equator and ecliptic cutting\neach other at different points in consequence of the cause which I\nhave pointed out--the attraction of the sun and moon--we have a fixed\nequator and a variable equator depending upon that. In consequence of\nthe attraction of the planets upon the earth, the plane of the ecliptic\nitself is not fixed, so that we have not only a variable equator, but\nalso a variable ecliptic. What has been done in these calculations is\nto determine the relations and the results of these variations.\n\nThe calculations undertaken for the special purposes of this book will\nbe referred to later.\n\nA simpler, though not so accurate a method consists in the use of a\nprocessional globe. In this we have two fixed points at the part of the\nglobe representing the poles of the heavens, on which the globe may\nbe rotated; when this is done the stars move absolutely without any\nreference to the earth or to the plane of the equator, but purely with\nreference to the ecliptic. We have, then, this globe quite independent\nof the earth's axis, flow can we make it dependent upon the earth's\naxis? We have two brass circles at a distance of 23\u00bd\u00b0 from each\npole of the heavens (north and south); these represent the circle\ndescribed by the pole of the earth in the period of 25,000 years. In\nthese circles are forty-eight holes in which I can fix two additional\nclamping screws, and rotate the globe with respect to them by throwing\nout of gear the two points which produced the ecliptic revolution.\n\nIf I use that part of the brass circle which is occupied by our\npresent pole-star, we get the apparent revolution of the heavens with\nthe earth's axis pointing to the pole-star of to-day. If we wish to\ninvestigate the position of things, say 8,000 years ago, we bring the\nglobe back again to its bearings, and then adjust the screws into the\nholes in the brass circles which are proper for that period. When\nwe have the globe arranged to 6000 years B.C. (_i.e._, 8,000 years\nago), in order to determine the equator at that time all we have to\ndo is to paint a line on the globe-in some water-colour, by holding a\ncamel's-hair pencil at the east or west point of the wooden horizon.\nThat line represents the equator 8,000 years ago. Having that line, of\ncourse, the intersection of the equator with the ecliptic will give us\nthe equinoxes, so that we may affix a wafer to represent the vernal\nequinox. Or if we take that part of the ecliptic which is nearest\nto the North Pole, and, therefore, the N. declination of which is\ngreatest, viz., 23\u00bd\u00b0 N., we have there the position of the sun at\nthe summer solstice, and 23\u00bd\u00b0 S. will give us the position of the\nsun at the winter solstice. So by means of such a globe as this it is\npossible to determine roughly the position of the equator among the\nstars, and note those four important points in the solar year, the two\nequinoxes and the two solstices. I have taken a period of 8,000 years,\nbut I might just as easily have taken a greater or a smaller one. By\nmeans of this arrangement, therefore, we can determine within a very\nsmall degree of error, without any laborious calculations, the distance\nof a star north or south of the equator, _i.e._, its declination, at\nany point of past or future time.\n\nThe positions thus found, say, for intervals of 500 years, may be\nplotted on a curve, so that we can, with a considerable amount of\naccuracy, obtain the star's place for any year. Thus the globe may be\nmade to tell us that in the year 1000 A.D. the declination of Fomalhaut\nwas 35\u00b0 S., in 1000 B.C. it was 42\u00b0, in 2000 it was about 44\u00b0, in 4000\nit was a little over 42\u00b0 again, but in 6000 B.C. it had got up to about\n33\u00b0, and in 8000 B.C. to about 22\u00b0.\n\nThe curve of Capella falls from 41\u00b0 N. at 0 A.D. to 10\u00b0 at 5500 B.C.,\nso we have in these 5500 years in the case of this star run through a\nlarge part of that variation to which I have drawn attention.\n\nI have ascertained that the globe is a very good guide indeed within\nsomething like 1\u00b0 of declination. Considering the difficulty of the\ndetermination of amplitudes in the case of buildings, it is clear that\nthe globe may be utilised with advantage, at all events to obtain a\nfirst approximation.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIII.\n\n            THE EGYPTIAN HEAVENS--THE ZODIACS OF DENDERAH.\n\n\nWe can readily understand that in the very beginning of observations\nin all countries, the moment man began to observe anything, he took\nnote of the stars, and as soon as he began to talk about them he must\nhave started by defining, in some way or other, the particular stars he\nmeant.\n\nObservers would first consider the brightest stars, and separate them\nfrom the dimmer ones; they would then discuss the stars which never\nset, and separate them from those which did rise and set; then they\nwould take the most striking configurations, whether large or small.\nThey would naturally, in a Northern clime, choose out the constellation\nthe Great Bear, or Orion, and for small groups the Pleiades. These\nwould attract attention, and be named before anything else. Then, later\non, it would be imperative, in order to connect their solar with their\nstellar observations, that they should name the stars which lay along\nthe sun's path in the heavens, or those the rising of which heralded\nthe sunrise at their festivals. They would confine their attention\nto a belt round the equator rather than consider the configuration\nof stars half-way between the equator and the north pole. In all\ncountries--India, China, Babylonia, Egypt--they had eventually such\na girdle round the heavens, called by different names in different\ncountries, and the use of this girdle of stars, which sometimes\nconsisted of twenty-eight stations, sometimes of twenty-seven, and\nsometimes of less, was to enable them to define the place of the sun,\nmoon, or of any of the planets in relation to any of these stars.\n\nNot very many years ago, when the literature of China and India was\nas a sealed book, and the hieroglyphics of Egypt and the wedges of\nBabylonia were still unread, we had to depend for the earliest traces\nof astronomical observation upon the literatures of Greece and Syria,\nand according to these sources the asterisms first specialised and\nnamed were as follows:--\n\n  The Great Bear               Job (xxxviii. 31), Homer.\n  Orion                        Job (ix. 9), Homer, Hesiod.\n  Pleiades, Hyades             Job (xxxviii. 31), Homer, Hesiod.\n  Sirius and the Great Dog     Hesiod (viii.), the name; Homer called it\n                                  the Star of Autumn.\n  Aldebaran, the Bull          Homer, Hesiod.\n  Arcturus                     Job (ix. 9; xxxviii. 32), Homer, Hesiod.\n  The Little Bear              Thales, Eudoxus, Aratus.\n  The Dragon                   Eudoxus, Aratus.\n\nIn the Book of Job we read, \"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of\nPleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth\nin his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?\"\n\nHere we have the difficulty which has met everybody in going back into\nthese old records, because there was no absolute necessity for a common\nlanguage at the time; it was open to everyone to call the stars any\nname they chose in any country, therefore it is difficult for scholars\nto find out what particular stars or constellations were meant by any\nparticular words. In the Revised Version, Arcturus has given place to\n\"the Bear with its train,\" and even our most distinguished scholars do\nnot know what Mazzaroth means. I wrote to Professor Robertson Smith to\nask him to give me the benefit of his great knowledge, and he tells me\nthat Mazzaroth is probably that band of stars round the ecliptic or\nround the equator to which I have referred, but he will only commit\nhimself to the statement that it is a probable enough conjecture; other\npeople believe that it was a reference to the Milky Way.\n\nI mention this to show how very difficult this inquiry really is. The\n\"seven stars\" are held by many to mean the Pleiades, and not the Great\nBear; but this, I think, is very improbable.\n\nMuch is to be hoped from the study of the Babylonian records in\nrelation to the Egyptian ones. This is a point I shall return to in the\nsequel.\n\nIn observing stars nowadays, we use a transit circle which is carried\nround by the earth so as to pick up the stars in different circles\nround the axis of the earth prolonged, and by altering the inclination\nof the telescope of this instrument we can first get a circle of one\ndeclination and then a circle of another.\n\nThe Egyptians did not usually employ meridian observations. Did the\nEgyptians make star maps? They certainly did, as we shall see.\n\nThe first bit of solid information specially bearing upon ancient\nEgyptian constellations was gained at the temple of Denderah, a place\nwhich the traveller up the Nile reaches before he arrives so far as\nThebes. Perhaps among the reasons why so great attention was given to\nthe so-called zodiacs of Denderah was the fact that one of them, having\nbeen rudely wrenched from its resting-place in the platform of one of\nthe temples, had been carried to the museum in Paris, so that the thing\nitself was _en \u00e9vidence_ and capable of being examined by experts whose\nopinions were of value, and by all the world besides.\n\nThe chief temple, when explored by the French expedition, was\ndeeply buried in the sand. In the front part of it, covering the\nceiling, before one enters the temple itself, there is displayed the\nsquare zodiac, so called, to which I shall have to refer briefly.\nThe temple was pointed within a few degrees of north; at the\nnorth-east corner of the zodiac is a device, since found to represent\nthe sunlight falling upon a statue of the Goddess of the Shrine.\nInvestigations have shown that the zodiac includes a reference to a\ngreat many celestial phenomena of the utmost importance. There is no\ndifficulty in recognising some of the zodiacal signs, but there the\nresemblance to the modern zodiac ends, for the reason that each of the\nstrange processions of mythological personages represents not only\nconstellations, with some of which we may be familiar, but a great\ndeal more. It is noteworthy that the illustration of the very first\nastronomical point which we have to consider brings out the fact that\nit is impossible to disconnect Egyptian mythology from astronomy.\n\nIn the southern half of the zodiac, the lower part is occupied by\nstars represented in the guise of different mythological personages,\nsailing along in boats; and above them we get half of the zodiac with\nthe signs of the Fish, the Ram, the Bull and the Twins represented. In\nthe middle section the sun's course in different parts of the day, and\ndifferent parts of the year, is given: whilst, outermost of all, we get\nthe twelve solar positions, occupied by the sun each hour from rising\nto setting, represented by twelve boats. It may be here mentioned that\nin ancient Egypt, as in the modern Eastern world, both day and night\nalways consisted of twelve hours; unequal, of course, the length of the\nhours varying according to the time of the year.\n\n[Illustration: NORTHERN HALF OF THE SO-CALLED SQUARE ZODIAC OF\nDENDERAH.]\n\nNow, if we take the opposite side, that is the north-west corner, we\nfind that we have to do chiefly with the opposite part of the sky,\nincluding the signs of the Lion, the Scales, and Sagittarius, and below\nthem other stars are represented as mythological personages in boats.\nThe courses of the sun and moon are next given, and some of the lunar\nmythology is revealed to us. We see Osiris represented by the moon, and\nby an eye at the top of fourteen steps, which symbolise the fourteen\ndays of the waxing moon.\n\nIn the square zodiac, then, there is an immense amount of astronomy.\nIn the round zodiac, found in another temple (_see_ p. 18), there\nare some points which at once claim our attention. There is, first,\na mythological figure of a cow in a boat, and, near it, another\nmythological figure, which the subsequent reading of inscriptions\nhas proved to represent the constellation Orion. In the centre of\nthe zodiac we have a jackal, and there is very little doubt that it\nrepresents the constellation which we now call the Little Bear, which\nthen, as now, was near the pole. Not far away, we get the leg of an\nanimal; this, we now know, was a constellation called the Thigh,\nand there seems to be absolutely no question that it represents the\nconstellation which we now call the Great Bear. Again, close by is\nanother mythological form, which we know represents the Hippopotamus.\nThis was made up out of some of the group of stars which forms the\npresent constellation Draco. There are also two hieroglyphs which\nsubsequent research has proved to represent setting stars and rising\nstars, so that, whatever may have been the date of this round zodiac of\nDenderah, it is clear that we are dealing with a time when the stars\nhad been classed in constellations, one of which, the constellation\nOrion, even survives to our own day.\n\nIt is little to be wondered at that, when these revelations first burst\nupon the scientific world, great excitement was produced. It was\nobvious that we had to do with a nation which had very definite ideas\nof astronomy, and that the astronomy was very closely connected with\nworship. It was also certainly suggested by so many animal forms, that\nwe had to do with a people whose condition was not unlike that of the\nAmerican Indians--to take a well-known instance--at the beginning of\nthis century, one in which each tribe, or clan, had chosen a special\nanimal _totem_.\n\nIt so happened that, while these things were revealing themselves, the\ndiscussions concerning them, which took place among the scientific\nworld of France, were partly influenced by the writings of a man\nof very brilliant imagination and of great erudition. I refer to\nDupuis, according to whose views an almost fabulous antiquity might be\nassigned to ancient traditions in general and astronomical traditions\nin particular. It is needless to say, however, that there were others\nto take the extreme opposite view--who held the opinion that his\nimagination had run away with his learning.\n\nWith all this new work before them, and with a genius like\nChampollion's among them, it was not long before the French _savans_\ncompelled the hieroglyphs to give up some of their secrets. First one\nword gave two or three letters, then another two or three more, and\nfinally an alphabet and syllabary were constructed. So it was not long\nbefore some of the inscriptions at Denderah were read. Then it was\nfound that the temple, as it then stood, had certainly been, partly\nat all events, embellished so late as the time of the Roman Emperors.\nNaturally there was then a tremendous reaction from the idea of\nfabulous antiquity which had been urged by the school of Dupuis. There\nwere two radically opposed camps, led by Letronne, a distinguished\narch\u00e6ologist, and Biot, one of the most eminent astronomers of his\nday, and both of these _savans_ brought papers before the Academy of\nInscriptions. Biot's first paper was read in 1822, and was replied to\nby Letronne in 1824; Biot wrote his next paper in 1844, in which he\nheld to everything that he had stated in his first memoir; and this was\nreplied to, the next year, by Letronne.\n\n[Illustration: SIRIUS AND ORION (18TH DYNASTY). (_From Brugsch._)]\n\nBiot had no difficulty whatever in arriving at the conclusion that,\nprecisely as in the case of the sphere of Eudoxus, a prior bone of\ncontention, however true it might be that, the circular zodiac had\nbeen sculptured in the time of the Roman emperors, still it certainly\nreferred to a time far anterior; and he suggested that we have in it\nsculptures reproducing very old drawings, which had been made long\nbefore on parchment or on stone. He pointed out that in the condition\nof astronomy one would expect to be extant in ancient times, it was\nfar easier to reproduce old drawings than to calculate back what the\npositions of the stars had been at some prior date, so that in his\nmagnificent summing-up of the case in his last paper, he rested his\nscientific reputation on the statement that the sculptures of Denderah\nrepresent the celestial sphere on a plane round the north pole of\nthe equator at a year not far removed from 700 B.C. More than this, he\nstated that the time of the year was the time of the summer solstice,\nand the hour was midnight. He also showed that, calculating back what\nthe position of the stars would have been at midnight on the 20th of\nJune (Gregorian), 700 B.C., the constellations, and even many of the\nseparate stars shown in the medallion, would occupy exactly the places\nthey did occupy in the projection employed.\n\n[Illustration: ASTRONOMICAL DRAWINGS FROM BIB\u00c2N EL-MUL\u00dbK (18TH\nDYNASTY). (_From \"Description de l'\u00c9gypte.\"_)]\n\nLet us then, for the moment, assume this to be true. What does it tell\nus? That 700 years B.C. in Egypt the solstice was recognised; a means\nof determining the instant of midnight with more or less precision was\nknown; observations of the stars were regularly made; the risings of\nsome of them were associated with the rising of the sun, and many of\nthem had been collected into groups or constellations.\n\nThis is a wonderful result. I suppose that Biot is universally held\nto have proved his case; in fact, Brugsch, who is now regarded as one\nof the highest authorities in Egyptian history, has shown that almost\nevery detail seen in the zodiac of Denderah reproduces inscriptions\nor astronomical figures, unearthed since the date of Biot's memoir,\nwhich, without doubt, must be referred to the time of the Eighteenth\nDynasty--that is, 1700 B.C. or thereabouts; so that practically the\nEgyptologist has now chapter and verse for many things in the zodiac of\nDenderah dating 1,000 years before the period assigned to it by Biot.\n\nThe next point to notice is connected with the astronomical drawings\nwhich have been found in the Ramesseum at Thebes--drawings which also\nhave very obvious connections with the zodiac of Denderah. On these we\nfind the hieroglyphics for the different months--the constellations\nOrion, Hippopotamus, and Jackal, as we saw them at Denderah, and\nanother form of the constellation of the Thigh. There is certainly the\nclosest connection between the two sets of delineations.\n\n[Illustration: RUINS OF THE RAMESSEUM, WHERE THE MONTH-TABLES WERE\nFOUND.]\n\nBiot set himself to investigate what was the probable date to which\nthe inscriptions in the Ramesseum referred. When we have the months\narranged in a certain relationship to certain constellations we have\nan opening for the discussion of the precessional movements; in other\nwords, for the consideration of the various changes brought about by\nthe swinging of the pole of the equator round the pole of the ecliptic.\nHere, again, there was no uncertain sound given out by the research.\nBiot pointed out that we are here in presence of records, no longer of\na summer solstice, as in the case of Denderah, but of a spring equinox,\nthe date being 3285 B.C. He further suggested that, in all probability,\none of the mythological figures might be a representation of the\nintersection of the ecliptic and the equator in the constellation\nTaurus at the date mentioned. This undoubtedly, to a large extent,\njustifies what Dupuis had long before pointed out--that the perpetual\nreference to the Bull found in ancient records and mythologies arose\nfrom the fact that this constellation occupied an important position at\na critical time in the year, which would indicate a very considerable\nlapse of time. This idea was justified by the researches of Biot,\nbecause we are driven back by them to a date preceding 3000 years B.C.\nWe find in the table at the Ramesseum distinct references to the Bull,\nthe Lion and the Scorpion, and it is also clearly indicated that at\nthat time the star Sirius rose heliacally at the beginning of the\nNile-rise.\n\nThe month-table at Thebes tells us that the sun's journey in relation\nto some of the zodiacal constellations was perfectly familiar 5000\nyears ago.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIV.\n\n          THE CIRCUMPOLAR CONSTELLATIONS: THE MYTH OF HORUS.\n\n\nThere was to all early peoples all the difference in the world, of\ncourse, between day and night, while we, with our firm knowledge,\nclosely associate them. There was no artificial illumination such as we\nhave, and the dark night did not so much typify rest as death; so that\nthe coming of the glorious morning of tropical or sub-tropical climates\nseemed to be a re-awakening to all the joys and delights and activities\nof life; thus the difference between night and day was to the ancient\nEgyptians almost the difference between death and life. We can imagine\nthat darkness thus considered by a mythologically-thinking people was\nregarded as the work of an enemy, and hence, in time, their natural\nenemies were represented as being the friends of darkness.\n\n[Illustration: THE GOD OF DARKNESS--SET.]\n\nHere a very interesting astronomical point comes in. With these views,\nthere must have been a very considerable difference in the way the\nEgyptians regarded those stars which were always visible and those\nwhich rose and set.\n\nThe region occupied by the stars always visible depends, of course,\nupon the latitude of the place. Taking Thebes, with its latitude of\n26\u00b0, as representing Egypt, the area of stars always visible was about\none-fourth of that visible to us, so that there would be a very sharp\ndistinction between the stars constantly seen at night, and those\nwhich rose and set, the rising stars being regarded as heralds of\nthe sunrise. It seems very probable that the circumpolar stars were\nquite early regarded as representing the powers of darkness, because\nthey were there, visible in the dark, always disappearing and never\nappearing at sunrise. If that were so, no doubt prayers would be\nas necessary to propitiate them as those powers or gods which were\nmore beneficent; and, as a matter of fact, one finds that the god\nSet--identified sometimes with Typhon, Anubis, and Tebha--was amongst\nthe greatest gods of ancient Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: VARIOUS FORMS OF ANUBIS.]\n\nThe female form of Typhon--his wife--was called Taurt or Thoueris,\nrepresented generally as a hippopotamus.\n\n[Illustration: FORMS OF TYPHON.]\n\nIt is probable that the crocodile was a variant of the hippopotamus in\nsome nomes, both having reference to our modern constellation Draco.\n\nIf we return for a moment to the zodiac of Denderah, we find that the\nconstellations which I indicated--the Thigh, the Hippopotamus and the\nJackal--represent our present constellations of the Great Bear, Draco,\nand the Little Bear, which were all of them circumpolar; that is, they\nneither rose nor set at the time of the inscription of the zodiac of\nDenderah. It therefore will not surprise us, with the above suggested\nexplanation in mind, to hear that the Hippopotamus was called the Wife\nof Set, the Thigh the Thigh of Set, and the Jackal the Jackal of Set.\n\nIn the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., we read the following\nreference to some of the northern stars and constellations:\n\n \"The gods Mestha, H\u0101pi, Tuam\u0101utef, and Qebhsennuf are those, namely,\n which find themselves behind the constellation of the Thigh in the\n northern heavens.\"\n\n[Illustration: MESTHA. H\u0100PI. TUAM\u0100UTEF. QEBHSENNUF.]\n\nAgain, inscribed in the kings' graves at Thebes we read:\n\n \"The four Northern Genii are the four gods of the follower [some\n constellation]. They keep back the conflict of the terrible one\n [Typhon]. He is a great quarreller. They trim the foresail and look\n after the mizen in the bark of R\u0101, in company with the sailors, who\n are the four constellations[41] [a\u03c7emu-sek], which are found in the\n northern heavens. The constellation of the Thigh appears at the late\n rising. When this constellation is in the middle of the heavens,\n having come to the south, where Orion lies [Orion typifying the\n southern part of the skies], the other stars are wending their way\n to the western horizon. Regarding the Thigh; it is the Thigh of Set,\n so long as it is seen in the northern heavens there is a band [of\n stars?] to the two [sword handles?] in the shape of a great bronze\n chain. It is the place of Isis in the shape of a Hippopotamus to\n guard.\"\n\nIn the square zodiac at Denderah we find an illustration of the\nHippopotamus and the Thigh, and the chain referred to in the\ninscription is there also. It will be quite worth while to see whether\nthis chain is not justified by some line of stars between the chief\nstars in Draco and those in the Great Bear.\n\nLet us now turn to the associated mythology. We see that the\nastronomical ideas have a most definite character; we learn also from\nthe inscriptions dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty, that the Egyptians\nat that time recognised three different risings. There was the rising\nat sunset, the rising at midnight, and the rising at dawn. Plutarch\nsays that the Hippopotamus was certainly one of the forms of Typhon,\nand a reference to the myth of Horus, so beautifully told twenty years\nago and illustrated by Naville by the help of inscriptions at Edf\u00fb,\nwill show how important this identification is.\n\nNaville rightly pointed out how vital the study of mythology becomes\nwith regard to the advancement of any kind of knowledge of the thoughts\nand actions of the ancient Egyptians. Mythology, as Bunsen said, is\none of the poles of the existence of every nation; hence it will be\nwell not to neglect the opportunity thus afforded of studying the\nastronomical basis of one of the best-known myths.\n\nFirst a word about the mythology of Horus. Generally we begin with the\nstatement usually made that Horus meant the young (or rising) sun. But\ninquiry shows that Horus was something more than this; the Egyptians\nwere great generalisers.\n\nIf we put the facts already known into diagrammatic form, we find that\nthe condition of things is something like the following:--\n\n\n             HORUS = SUN, PLANET, OR CONSTELLATION RISING.\n\n  SUN.        PLANETS.                 CONSTELLATIONS.\n                              \u250c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2510\n  Horus   Mars as              Orion    Northern constellations\n          Hor-\u03c7uti             Sah-Horus    Set-Horus.\n          (Laughing Horus)\n          (Red Horus)\n\nThe table shows that, although the Egyptians undoubtedly called the\nrising sun Horus, the planets and constellations when rising were in\ncertain cases called Horus too. We do not get any individual star\nrising referred to as Horus; they were always considered as goddesses.\nHence, Horus seems to include constellations--that is, groups of stars\nrising--but not single stars.\n\nSince the northern constellations were symbolised by the name of Set,\nthe god of darkness, we should take Set-Horus to mean that the stars\nin the Dragon were rising at sunrise. This may explain the meaning of\na remarkable figure which has set Egyptologists thinking a great deal.\nIt is the combination of Horus and Set--a body of Horus with two heads,\nthose of the hawk and jackal.\n\n[Illustration: SET-HORUS.]\n\nNow then for the myth. The reason why Naville went to the temple of\nEdf\u00fb for his facts is that in the later-time temples--and this is one\nof them--the inscriptions on the walls have chiefly to do with myth\nand ritual, whereas in the period covered by the earlier dynasties\nthe temple inscriptions related chiefly to the doings of the kings.\nWhen we come to read the story which Naville brings before us, it\nlooks as though the greatest antiquity must be conceded to it from\nthe fact that the god Horus--the rising sun--is accompanied by the\nHor-shesu, the followers or worshippers of Horus. These people are\nalmost prehistoric, even in Egyptian history. De Roug\u00e9 says of them, as\nI have previously pointed out, _C'est le type de l'antiquit\u00e9 la plus\nrecul\u00e9e_. They represent, possibly, the old sun-worshippers at a time\nwhen as yet there was no temple of the sun. Now, in this famous myth\nof Horus, Horus, accompanied and aided by the Hor-shesu, does battle\nwith Typhon, the god of darkness, who had killed his father Osiris,\nand Horus avenges his father in the manner indicated in the various\ninscriptions and illustrative drawings given in the temple of Edf\u00fb.\nHow does he do it? We find that in this conflict to revenge his father\nOsiris, he is represented in a boat killing a hippopotamus with ten\ndarts, the beast being ultimately cut up into eight pieces. In some\ndrawings it is a hippopotamus that he is slaying; in others, possibly\nfor some totemic reason, a crocodile has been selected, but we can only\nsee that it has been a crocodile by the fact that a little piece of the\ntail remains. Doubtless the reference had been found objectionable by\nsome crocodile-worshipping people.\n\nIn very many inscriptions the constellation which, as I have stated,\nrepresents the hippopotamus, is really represented as a crocodile,\nor as a crocodile resting on the shoulders of a hippopotamus, so\nthat there is no doubt that the crocodile and the hippopotamus were\nvariants; and we can quite understand, further, that the hippopotamus\nmust have been brought into Egypt by a tribe with that totem, who must\nhave come from a very long way up the Nile, since the hippopotamus was\nnever indigenous in the lower reaches of the river; so that we have in\nthe myth to do with a hippopotamus-worshipping tribe, which, for that\nreason, probably came from a region very far to the south. There is\nevidence of local tribes in Egypt among which the crocodile was sacred.\n\n[Illustration:\n ILLUSTRATION FROM A THEBAN TOMB, SHOWING THE ASSOCIATION OF THE\n CROCODILE AND HIPPOPOTAMUS, AND HORUS SLAYING THE CROCODILE, AND THE\n CONSTELLATION OF THE THIGH.]\n\nThe astronomical explanation of this myth is, I think, very clear. The\ninscriptions relating to one of the very earliest of the illustrations\nrefers to Horus, \"the great god, the light of the heavens, the lord\nof Edf\u00fb, _the bright ray which appears on the horizon_.\" The myth,\ntherefore, I take it, simply means that _the rising sun destroys the\ncircumpolar stars_. These stars are represented in the earliest forms\nof the myth either by the crocodile or the hippopotamus; of course\nthey disappeared (or were killed) at sunrise. Horus, the bright ray\non the horizon, is victorious by destroying the crocodile and the\nhippopotamus, which represent the powers of darkness.\n\n[Illustration: HORUS AND CROCODILES.]\n\nThis is a general statement. I should not make it if I could not go\na little further. There is an astronomical test of its validity, to\nwhich I must call attention. The effect of precession is extremely\nstriking on the constellations near the pole, for the reason that the\npole is constantly changing, and the changes in the apparent position\nof the stars there soon become very obvious. The stars in Draco were\ncircumpolar, and could, therefore, have been destroyed (or rendered\ninvisible), as the hippopotami were destroyed in the myth by the rising\nsun, about 5000 years B.C.; and be it noted that at that time there was\nonly one star in the Great Bear (or the Thigh) which was circumpolar.\nBut at 2000 years B.C. the stars in Ursa Major were the circumpolar\nones, and the chief stars in the constellation Draco, which formed\nthe ancient constellation of the Hippopotamus, rose and set; so that,\nif there is anything at all in the explanation of the myth which I\nhave given, and if there is anything at all in the idea that the myth\nis very ancient and refers to the time when the constellation of the\nHippopotamus was really circumpolar--a time 7000 years ago--we ought to\nfind that as the myth existed in more recent times, we should no longer\nbe dealing with Draco or the Hippopotamus, because Draco was no longer\ncircumpolar.\n\nAs a matter of fact, in later times we get Horus destroying no longer\nthe Hippopotamus or the Crocodile, but _the Thigh of Set_; and, as I\nhave said, 2000 years B.C. the Thigh occupied exactly the same position\nin the heavens with regard to the pole as the Hippopotamus or the\nCrocodile did 3000 years before.\n\n[Illustration: HORUS AND CROCODILES.]\n\nThus, I think, we may claim that this myth is astronomical from top\nto bottom; it is as old as, and probably rather older than, Naville\nthought, because it must certainly have originated in a period\nsomewhere about 5000 years B. C., otherwise the constellation of the\nHippopotamus would not have figured in it.\n\nThe various illustrations of Horus on the crocodiles are a reference to\nthe myth we have just discussed.\n\nIt is easy to understand that if the myth were astronomical in origin\nthere was no reason why it should be limited to Horus representing the\nrising sun; we accordingly find it extended to the god Ptah.\n\n[Illustration: PTAH AND CROCODILES.]\n\nBut although I hold that the _astronomical_ meaning of the myth is that\nthe rising sun kills the circumpolar stars, I do not think that is the\nlast word. A conflict is suggested between a people who worship the\nrising sun and another who worship the circumpolar stars. I shall show\nin the sequel that there is an astronomical suggestion of the existence\nof two such distinct races, and that the companions of the sun-god of\nEdf\u00fb must probably be distinguished from the northern Hor-shesu.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHere we may conclude our reference to the stars which, in the latitude\nof Egypt, do not rise and set--or, rather, did not rise and set at the\nepochs of time we have been considering.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XV.\n\n                    TEMPLES DIRECTED TO THE STARS.\n\n\nI have now to pass from the circumpolar stars to those which both rise\nand set. The difference between the two groups--those that do not rise\nand set and those which do--was fully recognised by the Egyptians, and\nmany references are made to the fact in the inscriptions.\n\nIn a previous chapter I have given reasons to show that some of the\nearliest solar temples in Egypt were not oriented to the solstice.\n\nThe temple of Amen-R\u0101 at Karnak, however, and others elsewhere were\nbuilt in such a manner that at sunset at the summer solstice--that is,\non the longest day in the year--the sunlight entered the temple and\npenetrated along the axis to the sanctuary. I also pointed out that a\ntemple oriented in this manner truly to a solstice was a scientific\ninstrument of very high precision, as by it the length of the year\ncould be determined with the greatest possible accuracy, provided only\nthat the observations were continued through a sufficient period of\ntime.\n\nAll the temples in Egypt, however, are not oriented in such a way that\nthe sunlight can enter them at this or any other time of the year. They\nare not therefore solar temples, and they cannot have had this use.\nThe critical amplitude for a temple built at Thebes so that sunlight\ncan enter it at sunrise or sunset is about 26\u00b0 north and south of east\nand west, so that any temples facing more northerly or southerly are\nprecluded from having the sunlight enter them at any time in the year.\n\nIt is imperative to be perfectly definite and clear on the question\nof the amplitudes above 26\u00b0 at Thebes. I repeat, therefore, that any\namplitude within 26\u00b0 means that up to that point the sun at sunrise\nor sunset could be observed some day or days of the year--once only\nin the year if the amplitude is exactly at the maximum, twice if the\nmaximum is not reached. But in the case of these temples with greater\namplitudes than 26\u00b0, it is quite clear that they can have had nothing\nto do with the sun.\n\nThis being so, we have the problem presented to us whether or not\ntemples were built so that starlight might fall along their axes in\nexactly the same way that the sunlight could fall along the axes of the\nsolar temples when the sun was rising in the morning or setting in the\nevening.\n\nIt is abundantly clear that temples with a greater amplitude than 26\u00b0\nwere oriented to stars if they were oriented at all by astronomical\nconsiderations. How can this question be studied? What means of\ninvestigation are at our disposal?\n\nSuppose that the movements of the stars are absolutely regular; that\nthere is no change from year to year, from century to century, from\n\u00e6on to \u00e6on; then, of course, the question as to whether or not these\ntemples were pointed to a star, at rising or setting, would be easily\nand sufficiently settled by going to see; because if the stars did\nnot change their apparent places in the heavens--accurately speaking,\ntheir declinations--and, therefore, the amplitudes at which they appear\nto rise and set, then, of course, a temple consecrated to Sirius ten\nthousand years ago would view the rising or setting of Sirius now as it\ndid then.\n\nBut, as a matter of fact, astronomy tells us, as we have seen, that the\napparent positions of the stars are liable to change. The change is\nmuch greater in the case of the stars than it is in the case of the\nsun, referred to in Chapters VI. and XI.; but still we have seen that\nthe latter is one which has to be reckoned with the moment it becomes a\nquestion of inquiry into any time far removed from the present.\n\nHence, although in the case of the sun, there is, of course, no\nprocessional movement, and although a temple once oriented to the sun\nwould remain so for a long time; still, after some thousands of years,\nthe change in the obliquity of the ecliptic would produce a small\nchange in the amplitude at which a solstice is observed.\n\nBut while, in the case of the sun, we have to deal with a change of\nsomething like 1\u00b0 in seven thousand years; we have to face in the case\nof the stars a maximum change of something like 47\u00b0 in a period of\nthirteen thousand years. The change of declination must be accompanied\nby a change of amplitude, and therefore by a change in the direction of\nthe temples.\n\n[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF EDF\u00db.]\n\nHence, when we get a temple of known date, with an amplitude which\nhas been accurately measured, we can determine from that amplitude\nthe exact declination of the body the temple was intended to\nobserve, supposing, of course, that the temple was oriented upon any\nastronomical considerations at all. If the declination of the body\nturns out to be 23\u00b0 30\u2032 or less, the temple may have been, in all\nprobability was, a solar one; if the declination is greater it cannot\nhave had anything to do with the sun directly.\n\n[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF HATHOR AT DENDERAH.]\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF SETI AT ABYDOS.]\n\nThis being so, it will be understood why in an inquiry of this kind it\nis obviously desirable to begin with a region in which the number of\ntemples is considerable. Such a condition we have in the region near\nThebes; and the directions of the axes of the different temples--that\nis, the orientation of each of them, or, in other words, the amplitude\nof the direction in which each temple points--have all been tabulated.\nChief among these we have the large temple of Karnak, showing that the\namplitude of its orientation is 26\u00b0 north of west, and the temple of\nMut, showing that its orientation is 72\u00bd\u00b0 north of east. There is a\ntemple at right angles to the temple at Karnak, and again another with\nan amplitude of 63\u00b0 south of west, and so on.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF RAMSES II. IN THE MEMNONIA AT\nTHEBES (FROM LEPSIUS) SHOWING THE PYLON AT THE OPEN END AND THE\nSANCTUARY AT THE CLOSED ONE.]\n\nIt may be stated generally that at Karnak itself, not to go farther\nafield, there are two well-marked series of temples which cannot,\nfor the reason given, be solar, since one series faces a few degrees\nfrom the north, and the other a few degrees from the south. There are\nsimilar temples scattered all along the Nile valley.\n\nWhen we come to examine these non-solar temples, the first question\nis, Do they resemble the solar ones in construction? Are the\nhorizontal telescope conditions retained? The evidence on this point\nis overwhelming. Take the Temple of Hathor at Denderah. It points very\nfar away from the sun; the sun's light could never have enfiladed it;\nin many others pointing well to the north or south the axis extends\nfrom the exterior pylon to the Sanctuary or Naos, which is found always\nat the closed end of the temple; we have the same number of pylons,\ngradually getting narrower and narrower as we get to the Naos, and in\nsome there is a gradual rise from the first exterior pylon to the part\nwhich represents the section of the Naos, so that a beam of horizontal\nlight coming through the central door might enter it over the heads\nof the people flocking into the outer courts of the temple, and pass\nuninterruptedly into the Sanctuary.\n\nIn this way the Egyptians had, if they chose to use it, a most\nadmirable arrangement for observing, with considerable accuracy, either\nthe rising or the setting of any celestial body, whether it were sun or\nstar, and especially the possibility of observing a _cosmical_ rising,\nas the eye was shielded from the sunrise light, and the place of rising\nwas completely indicated.\n\nIn these, as at Karnak, we have a collimating axis. We have the other\nend of the temple blocked; we have these various diaphragms or pylons,\nso that, practically, there is absolutely no question of principle of\nconstruction involved in this temple that was not involved in the great\nsolar temple of Amen-R\u0101 itself.\n\nWe made out that in the case of the temples devoted to sun-worship and\nto the determination of the length of the year, there was very good\nreason why all these attempts should be made to cut off the light, by\ndiaphragms and stone ceilings, because, among other things, one wanted\nto find the precise point occupied by the sunbeam on the two or three\ndays near the winter or summer solstice in order to determine the exact\nmoment of the solstice.\n\nBut if a temple is not intended to observe the sun, why these\ndiaphragms? Why keep the astronomer, or the priest, so much in the\ndark? There is a very good reason indeed.\n\nFrom the account given by Herodotus[42] of the ceremonials and\nmysteries connected with the temple of Tyre, it is suggested that\nthe priests used starlight at night for some of their operations,\nvery much in the same way as they might have used sunlight during the\nday. According to Herodotus, in the temple in question there were two\npillars--the one of pure gold, and the other of an emerald stone of\nsuch size as to shine by night.[42] Now, there can be little doubt that\nin the darkened sanctuary of an Egyptian temple the light of \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6,\none of the brightest stars in the northern heavens, rising in the clear\nair of Egypt, would be quite strong enough to throw into an apparent\nglow such highly-reflecting surfaces as those to which Herodotus\nrefers.\n\nSupposing such a ceremonial as this, the less the worshippers--who,\nreasoning from the analogy of the ceremonial termed the manifestation\nof R\u0101,[43] would stand facing the sanctuary, with their backs to the\nchief door of the temple--knew about the question of a bright star\nwhich might probably produce the mystery, the better.\n\nAgain, the truer the orientation of the temple to the star, and the\ngreater the darkness the priest was kept in, the sooner would he catch\nthe star quivering in the light of either early or late dawn.\n\nIn the first place, the diaphragms would indicate the true line that\nhe had to watch; he would not have to _search_ for the star which he\nexpected; and obviously the more he was kept in the dark the sooner\ncould he see the star.\n\nIs there any additional line of evidence beyond the structural\nconditions of the temples that the Egyptians used these temples to\nobserve the stars? Here a very interesting question comes in: a temple\nbuilt at one period to observe a star could not go on for ever serving\nits purpose, for the reason that the declination of the star must\nchange, as we have seen, by precession. Therefore a temple built with a\nparticular amplitude to observe a particular star at one period would\nbe useless later on.\n\nWe have here possibly a means of testing whether or not any of these\ntemples were used to observe the stars. In those very early days,\n3000 or 4000 years B.C., we must assume that the people who observed\nthe stars had not the slightest idea of these possible precessional\nchanges; they imagined that they were just as safe in directing a\ntemple to a star as they were in directing a temple to the sun. But\nwith a star changing its declination in an average way, the _same_\ntemple could not be used to observe the _same_ star for more than 200\nor 300 years; so that at the end of that time, if they still wished to\nobserve that particular star, they must either change the axis of the\nold temple, or build a new one. I have mentioned an average time as the\nchange of the star's declination is involved.\n\nNow this change of direction is one of the most striking things which\nhave been observed for years past in Egyptian temples.\n\nAs a matter of fact, we find that the axes of the temples have been\nchanged, and have been freely changed; that there has been a great deal\nof work done on many of the temples which are not oriented to the sun,\nin order to give them a twist.\n\nOnce a solar temple, a solar temple for thousands of years; once a star\ntemple, only _that_ star temple for something like 300 years, so that\nthe conditions were entirely changed.\n\nWe get cases in which the axis of a temple has had its direction\nchanged, and others in which, where it has been difficult or impossible\nto make the change in a temple, the change of amplitude has been met\nby putting up a new temple altogether. We are justified in considering\nsuch temples as a series in which, instead of changing the orientation\nof a pre-existing temple, a new temple has been built to meet the\nnew condition of things. That, I think, is a suggestion which we are\njustified in making to Egyptologists on astronomical grounds.\n\nFor an instance, I may refer to the well-known temple at Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb.\nWe have there two temples side by side--a large temple, which was\nbuilt later, with its systems of pylons and sanctuaries; a smaller\ntemple, with outside courts, and, again, a sanctuary built much\nearlier. The direction of these two temples is very different; there\nis a difference of several degrees. It is very difficult indeed to\nunderstand why these two structures should have been built in that way\nif there were not some good reason for it. The best hitherto found is\nthe supposed symmetrophobia of the Egyptians.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF TWO TEMPLES AT MED\u00ceNET-HAB\u00db.]\n\nWe find the same thing in Greece. There is the old Parthenon, a\nbuilding which may have been standing at the time of the Trojan war,\nand the new Parthenon, with an outer court very like the Egyptian\ntemples, but with its sanctuary more nearly in the centre of the\nbuilding. It was by the difference of direction of these two temples at\nAthens that my attention was called to the subject.\n\n[Illustration: THE BENT AXIS OF THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR, LOOKING TOWARD THE\nSANCTUARY.]\n\nIf we study the orientation of these, we find that, like those\nat Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, they are not parallel; there is a difference of\norientation. This method of coping with the changes of amplitude of\nthe star apparently represents that adopted where there has been ample\nspace to build another temple by the side of the old one when the star\ncould no longer be seen from end to end of the old one. But another\nway was found where the space was more circumscribed, and that is well\nrepresented by the temple at Luxor, in which the addition is made _end\non_. The suggestion is that, after the temple at Luxor had been built\na certain number of years, the amplitude of the star had got a little\nout of the initial line, and the direction was changed at the time when\nit was determined to make the temple more beautiful and to amplify it\nby adding an outer court. There is another outer court and another very\nconsiderable change. There are four well-marked deviations.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVI.\n\n         FURTHER INQUIRIES WITH REGARD TO THE STELLAR TEMPLES.\n\n\nIn the preceding chapter I discussed the suggestion, quite\nindependently of any records the Egyptians may have left on the\nsubject, that certain of the temples were oriented to stars; and I\napplied one test, that, namely, of the change of direction which was\nimperative if stars were observed for any lengthened period. In such an\ninquiry we must proceed with great caution.\n\nWe cannot make a statement regarding every particular temple with\nabsolute certainty, for the reason that in the case of most of the\ntemples the best Egyptologists cannot give us the most precious\npiece of information which we require from the astronomical point of\nview--that is, the date of the _foundation_ of the temple. If in the\ncase of these temples it were absolutely certain that each temple was\nbuilt at a certain time with a certain orientation, we could tell at\nonce whether or not that temple was pointed to any particular star.\n\nIn the absence of this precise information a general attack on the\nquestion has been necessary. The method adopted in the search has been\nas follows:--\n\n(1) To tabulate the orientations of some of the chief temples described\nby the French Commission, by Lepsius and others.\n\nSeveral interesting facts were soon revealed by this tabulation.\n\nThe first point that I have to note is that, in the case of some of\nthese temples, we get the same, or nearly the same, amplitudes in\ndifferent localities. To show this clearly it will be convenient to\ncompare together the chief temples near Karnak and those having the\nsame amplitudes elsewhere. We can do this by laying down along a circle\nthe different amplitudes to which these various temples point. To begin\nwith and to make the story complete, I draw attention to the temples\nwhich we have already discussed with an amplitude of 27\u00b0, or 26\u00b0, at\nThebes, Karnak, and elsewhere. These, of course, are solar temples.\nNext we have non-solar amplitudes at Karnak and Thebes, associated with\ntemples having the same amplitude at Denderah, Annu, and other places.\n\nAnother point is that we have the majority of the non-solar temples\nremoved just as far as they can be in amplitude from the solar ones,\nfor the reason that they are as nearly as possible _at right angles_ to\nthem, so that if the sun were observed in one temple and a star in the\nother, there would be a difference of 90\u00b0 between the position of the\nsun and the position of the star at that moment. This would, of course,\napply also to two stars. Sometimes this rectangular arrangement is in\nthe same temple, as at Karnak, sometimes in an adjacent one, as at\nDenderah.\n\nIf we study Denderah we find that we have there a large temple enclosed\nin a square _temenos_ wall, the sides of which are parallel to the\nsides of the temple; and also a little temple at right angles to the\nprincipal one.\n\nIt is hardly fair to say that a rectangular arrangement, repeated in\ndifferent localities, is accidental; it is one which is used to some\nextent in our modern observatories.\n\nThe perpetual recurrence of these rectangular temples shows, I think,\nthat there was some definite view in the minds of those who built all\nthe pairs of temples which are thus related to each other; what that\nview was I shall endeavour to discuss in the sequel.\n\nA third circumstance is that, when we get some temples pointing a\ncertain number of degrees south of east, we get other temples pointing\nthe same number of degrees south of west, so that some temples may\nhave been used to observe risings and others settings of stars in\nthe same declination. It is then natural, of course, to suggest that\nthese temples were arranged to observe the rising and setting of the\nsame stars; but further inquiry has shown that there are mythological\nobjections to this explanation.\n\nFinally, we have temples with the same amplitudes high north and\nhigh south, in different places--temples which could not have been\nbuilt with reference to the sun; just as we have at different places\ntemples with the same amplitudes which _could_ have been used for solar\npurposes.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n(2) To extend and check some of these observations with special\nreference to my new point of view in Egypt itself.\n\nIn connection with the possible astronomical uses of these temples,\nI find that when one of the temples has been built, the horizon\nhas always been very carefully left open; there has always been a\npossibility of vision along the collimating axis prolonged. Lines of\nsphinxes have been broken to ensure this;[44] at Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, on the\nopposite side of the river to Karnak, we have outside this great temple\na model of a Syrian fort. If we prolong the line of the temple from\nthe middle of the Naos through the systems of pylons, we find that in\nthe model of the fort an opening was left, so that the vision from the\nsanctuary of the temple was left absolutely free to command the horizon.\n\nIt may be said that that cannot be true of Karnak, because we see on\nthe general plan that one of the temples, with an azimuth of 72\u00bd\u00b0N.,\nhad its collimating axis blocked by numerous buildings. That is true;\nbut when one comes to examine into the date of these buildings, as I\npropose to do in a subsequent chapter, it is found that they are all\nvery late; whereas there is evidence that the temple in question was\none of the first, if not the very first, of the temples built at Thebes.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n(3) To determine the declinations to which the various amplitudes\ncorrespond. In this direction I have made use of the German Catalogue\nof star places from 1800 A.D. to 2000 B.C., the places for dates beyond\nthis, and for southern stars, having been calculated chiefly by my son,\nMr. W. J. S. Lockyer, B.A.\n\nSome places for Sirius and Canopus have been obligingly placed at my\ndisposal by Mr. Hind, and approximate values obtained by the use of a\nprecessional globe constructed for me by Mr. Newton. This globe differs\nconsiderably from that previously contrived by M. Biot, about which\nI was ignorant when I began the work, and enables right ascensions\nand declinations, but especially the latter, to be determined with a\nfair amount of accuracy for forty-eight equidistant points occupied by\nthe pole of the equator round the pole of the ecliptic (assumed to be\nfixed) in the precessional revolution.\n\nSome simple astronomical considerations may here come to our help. If\nthe north polar distance of a star is increasing--that is, if a star\nis increasing its distance from the north pole--its declination if\nnorth or south will be decreased or increased respectively, and the\norientation of the temple would be gradually becoming more and more\nparallel to an E. and W. line; if the declination north or south of the\nstar be increasing, then the orientation of the temple would have to be\nlikewise increased. The change in the orientation, therefore, gives us\ninformation towards determining in which quarter of the heavens each\nparticular star might have been.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n(4) In cases where the date of the foundation of a temple dedicated\nto a particular divinity has been thoroughly known, there was no\ndifficulty in finding the star the declination of which at the time\nwould give the amplitude; and, in the case of series of temples\ndedicated to the same divinity, an additional check was afforded if the\nchanges of amplitude from the latest to the newest temple agreed with\nthe changes of the declinations of the same star.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n(5) Having the declinations of the stars thus determined for certain\nepochs, I have next plotted them on curves, showing the amplitude for\nany year up to 5000 B.C. at Thebes for a true horizon and when the\nhorizon is raised 1\u00b0 or 2\u00b0 by hills or mist; and, finally, a table has\nbeen prepared showing the declination proper to the amplitude of each\nof the chief temples when the needful information was available.\n\nAlthough, however, these matters can be discussed in a way that will\nindicate that the inquiry is raised, I do not wish for one moment to\nspeak of it as being settled, because the observations which have\nbeen made already in Egypt with regard to the orientation of these\ntemples have not been made from such a very special point of view; and,\nfurther, considerable alteration in the amplitude would be made by the\npresence of even a low range of hills miles away in the case of stars\nrising or setting not many degrees from the north or south. No one\nwould care to make the assertion with absolute definiteness until it\nwas known whether or not the horizon in each case was interfered with\nby hills or any intervening objects--was or was not one, in fact, which\nmight be regarded as a sea horizon from the point of observation; if\nthere were impediments, the angular height of them must, of course, be\nexactly known; but this information is almost entirely lacking.\n\nNow, however, that the question has been raised by observations of the\ntemples themselves, it becomes interesting to ask of the inscriptions\nif there are records that these temples were directed to stars?\n\nIt will be seen in the next chapter that the inscriptions give out no\nuncertain sound on this point.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVII.\n\n                      THE BUILDING INSCRIPTIONS.\n\n\nNumerous references to the ceremonial of laying the foundation-stones\nof temples exist, and we learn from the works of Chabas, Brugsch,\nD\u00fcmichen,[45] and others, that the foundation of an Egyptian temple was\nassociated with a series of ceremonies which are repeatedly described\nwith a minuteness which, as Nissen has pointed out,[46] is painfully\nwanting in the case of Greece and Rome. Amongst these ceremonies, one\nespecially refers to the fixing of the temple-axis; it is called,\ntechnically, \"the stretching of the cord,\" and is not only illustrated\nby inscriptions on the walls of the temples of Karnak, Denderah, and\nEdf\u00fb--to mention the best-known cases--but is referred to elsewhere.\n\nAnother part of the ceremony consisted in the king proceeding to the\nsite where the temple was to be built, accompanied mythically by the\ngoddess Sesheta, who is styled \"the mistress of the laying of the\nfoundation-stone.\"\n\nEach was armed with a stake. The two stakes were connected by a cord.\nNext the cord was aligned towards the sun or star, as the case might\nbe; when the alignment was perfect the two stakes were driven into\nthe ground by means of a wooden mallet; there was no difference of\nprocedure in the case of temples directed to the sun. One boundary wall\nparallel to the main axis of the temple was built along the line marked\nout by this stretched cord.\n\nIf the moment of sun--or star-rise or--set were chosen, as we have\nevery reason to believe was the case seeing that all the early\nobservations were made on the horizon, it is obvious that the light\nfrom the body towards which the temple was aligned would penetrate the\naxis of the temple thus built from one end to the other in the original\ndirection of the cord.\n\n[Illustration: THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION-STONE CEREMONIAL.]\n\nWe learn from Chabas that the Egyptian word which expresses the idea\nof founding or laying the foundation-stone of a temple is _Senti_--a\nword which still exists in Coptic. But in the old language another\nword, _Put-ser_, which no longer remains in Coptic, has been traced.\nIt has been established that _put_ means \"to stretch,\" and _ser_\nmeans \"cord;\" so that that part of the ceremonial which consisted in\nstretching a cord in the direction of a star was considered of so great\nan importance that it gave its name to the whole ceremonial.\n\nI will next refer to some of the inscriptions; one, dating from the\nlast half of the third thousand B.C., occurs in the document describing\nthe building of the temple of Annu (Heliopolis). We read:--\"Arose the\nking, attired in his necklace and the feather crown; all the world\nfollowed him, and the majesty of Amenemh\u0101t [first king of the Twelfth\ndynasty]. The Kher-heb read the sacred text during the stretching\nof the measuring-cord and the laying of the foundation-stone on the\npiece of ground selected for this temple. Then withdrew His Majesty\nAmenemh\u0101t; and King Usertsen [son and co-regent] wrote it down before\nthe people.\"\n\nNissen, from whom (_loc. cit._) I quote the above, adds:--\"On account\nof the stretching of the measuring-cord, the Egyptian engineers were\ncalled by the Greeks \u1f01\u03c1\u03c0\u03b5\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03ac\u03c0\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 whose art Democritus boasts of having\nacquired.\"\n\nWe next turn to Abydos, possibly one of the oldest temple-fields in\nEgypt. There is an inscription relating to the rebuilding of one of\nthem in the time of Seti I. (about 1380 B.C.). In this the goddess\nSesheta addresses the king as follows:--\"The hammer in my hand was\nof gold, as I struck the peg with it, and thou wast with me in thy\ncapacity of Harpedonapt. Thy hand held the spade during the fixing of\nits [the temple's] four corners with accuracy by the four supports\nof heaven.\" On the pictures the king appears with the Osiris crown,\nopposite the goddess. Both hold in their right hand a club, and with it\nthey each hammer a long peg into the ground. Round the two pegs runs a\nrope, which is stretched tight, the ends being tied together.\n\nIn two cases the star used for the alignment is actually named. Of\nthese I will take, first, the record of the ceremony used in the\nbuilding of the temple of Hathor at Denderah.\n\n\n          THE ALIGNMENT OF THE TEMPLE OF HATHOR AT DENDERAH.\n\nThe inscriptions state that the king while stretching the cord had his\nglance directed to the _\u0101k_ of the constellation of the _Thigh_--the\nold name of the constellation which we now recognise as the Great\nBear--and on this line was built the new temple, \"as had been done\nthere before.\"\n\nThe actual inscription has been translated as follows:--\"The living\nGod, the magnificent son of Asti [a name of Thoth], nourished by the\nsublime goddess in the temple, the sovereign of the country, stretches\nthe rope in joy. With his glance towards the _\u0101k_ [the middle?] of the\nBull's Thigh constellation, he establishes the temple-house of the\nmistress of Denderah, as took place there before.\" At another place the\nking says: \"Looking to the sky at the course of the rising stars [and]\nrecognising the _\u0101k_ of the Bull's Thigh constellation, I establish the\ncorners of the temple of Her Majesty.\"\n\nHere, then, we have more than evidence of the stretching of a cord\ntowards a star; an actual constellation is named, and it may be easily\nimagined that in connection with this many interesting questions arise\nof the utmost importance to the subject we are considering.\n\nD\u00fcmichen, in his references to this passage, discusses the meaning\nof the word _\u0101k_ in relation to some Theban grave-inscriptions, in\nwhich it is suggested that _\u0101k_ is used to represent the middle course\nof a star, or, astronomically speaking, its culminating point as it\npasses the meridian. But such a meaning as this will never do in this\nconnection; for if a cord was stretched towards a star on the meridian\nit would lie north and south, and therefore the temple would be\nbuilt north and south. But this is by no means the orientation of the\ntemple--a point to which I shall return presently.\n\nBut it may be suggested that the word _\u0101k_, used in relation to the\nking's observation, more probably referred to the brightest star,\nDubhe (\u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris) in the asterism, or the \"middle point\" of the\nconstellation, which would be about represented by the star \u03b4, which\nlies nearly in the centre of the modern constellation of the Great\nBear, supposing, indeed, that the same stars were included in the\nold constellation. On this point we unfortunately have no definite\nknowledge, as the Thigh is so variously represented; sometimes there is\na hind-quarter, represented evidently by the well-known seven stars; at\nothers the body of a cow (with horns and disk) is attached.\n\nHowever this may be, without such a reference to some particular part\nof the constellation it is obvious that the stretched cord may have had\na most indeterminate direction.\n\nIn order to leave no stone unturned in attempting to explain\nthis description--supposing it to represent an undoubted fact of\nobservation--we may consider another possible interpretation of the\nword _\u0101k_. The amplitude of the temple being 71\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E., shows\nconclusively that we cannot be dealing with the meridian, but may we\nbe dealing with the most eastern elongation of the star in its journey\nround the Pole?\n\nI have inquired into this matter for the time of the last building of\nthe temple in the time of the Ptolemies, and find that the amplitude\nof the temple, instead of being 71\u00bd\u00b0, would have been about 70\u00b0. It\nseems probable, then, that this interpretation will not hold, and it\nmay be further stated that, in the case of a star at a considerable\nangle above the horizon, the stretching of a cord in the building\nceremonial--the \"Ausspannung der Strickes,\" as the words _put-ser_ are\ntranslated by D\u00fcmichen--would really have been no stretching of the\ncord at all; for the star being many degrees above the horizon, another\nmethod must have been employed, and in all probability would have been\ndistinctly referred to in the careful statements of the ceremonies\nwhich exist, I think, then, that we are perhaps justified in dismissing\nthis possible explanation, especially as rising stars are referred to.\n\nWe now come to considerations of a different order. The inscription\nwhich we have quoted is put into the mouth of the Emperor Augustus,\nthough he never was at Denderah.\n\nThis suggests that the temple built in the time of Augustus carried\nforward the account of the old foundation. There is evidence of this.\nThe constellation of the Thigh neither rose nor set in the time of\nAugustus--it was circumpolar. The same statement may be made regarding\nthe restoration in the time of Thothmes III. So we are driven to the\nconclusion that if we regard the inscription as true, it must refer to\na time preceding the reign of Thothmes. I shall return to this subject\nin a subsequent chapter.\n\n\n                 THE ALIGNMENT OF THE TEMPLE OF EDF\u00db.\n\nA reference to the same constellation (the Thigh) is also made in the\naccount of the ceremonial used at the laying of the foundation-stone of\nthe temple at Edf\u00fb. The king's glance was directed--in the case of the\nbuilding of that temple--to the _Thigh_, but no precise reference to\nany star or to any point _\u0101k_ is given.\n\nAs before, I give the full translation of the inscription,[47]\nremarking that the last restoration was made B.C. 237-57. The king is\nrepresented as speaking thus:--\"I have grasped the wooden peg and the\nhandle of the club; I hold the rope with Sesheta; my glance follows\nthe course of the stars; my eye is on Mes\u03c7et [that is, the 'Bull's\nThigh constellation,' or Great Bear]; (mine the part of time of the\nnumber of the hour-clock); I establish the corners of thy house of\nGod.\" And in another place:--\"I have grasped the wooden peg; I hold\nthe handle of the club; I grasp the cord with Sesheta; I cast my face\ntowards the course of the rising constellations; I let my glance enter\nthe constellation of the Great Bear (the part of my time stands in\nthe place of his hour-clock); I establish the four corners of thy\ntemple.\" The translation is Brugsch's. The phrases in parentheses are\ninterpreted differently by D\u00fcmichen, who translates them:--\"Standing\nas divider of time by his measuring instrument,\" or \"representing the\ndivider of time (_i.e._ the god Thoth) at his measuring instrument.\"\nThe word _merech_ or _merchet_, in which Brugsch suspects hour-or\nwater-clock, does not occur elsewhere.\n\nIn this case, seeing that the temple lies with its axis very nearly\nnorth and south, as I determined by my own (magnetic) observations,\nthe stretching of the cord was certainly in or very near the meridian;\nand it may be remarked that in the Naos there is an opening in the\nroof, over the side of the second or third door from the sanctuary,\nand inclined at an angle of 40\u00b0 (unlike any other opening that I have\nseen in the roof of any Egyptian temple), which may have been used to\nobserve the transit of some particular star. The angle I was not able\nto determine with absolute accuracy, as the vertical circle of the\ntheodolite I had with me was out of adjustment.\n\nTaking the latitude of Edf\u00fb as 25\u00b0, and assuming the angle of 40\u00b0 to be\nnot far from the truth, the North Polar distance of the star observed\nwould be 15\u00b0.\n\nWithin a degree or so--and this is as near as we can get till more\naccurate observations have been made on the spot--this satisfies\nDubhe, the chief star in the Great Bear in the time of the Ptolemies.\nSupposing the temple was originally oriented to Dubhe, its amplitude,\n86\u00bd\u00b0 S. of W., gives us the date 3900 B.C. I shall show, however,\nthat it is more probable that the temple was oriented on some southern\nstar.\n\nI may here remark that, so far as I know, Edf\u00fb is the temple in Egypt\nnearest the meridian. If, therefore, it were used as, on my theory, all\nother temples were, it could only have picked up the light from each of\nthe southerly stars, as by the precessional movements they were brought\ninto visibility very near the southern horizon.\n\nIn this respect, then, it is truly a temple of Horns, in relation\nto the southern stars--the southern eyes of Horus. But it was not a\nsun-temple in the sense that Karnak was one; and if ceremonies were\nperformed for which light was required, perhaps the apparatus referred\nto by the writer Dupuis[48] was utilised. He mentions that in a temple\nat Heliopolis--whether a solar temple or not is not stated--the temple\nwas flooded all day long with sunlight by means of a mirror. I do not\nknow the authorities on which Dupuis founds his statement, but I have\nno doubt that it is amply justified, for the reason that doubtless all\nthe inscriptions in the deepest tombs were made by means of reflected\nsunlight, for in all freshly-opened tombs there are no traces whatever\nof any kind of combustion having taken place, even in the inner-most\nrecesses. So strikingly evident is this that my friend M. Bouriant,\nwhile we were discussing this matter at Thebes, laughingly suggested\nthe possibility that the electric light was known to the ancient\nEgyptians.\n\nWith a system of fixed mirrors inside the galleries, whatever their\nlength, and a movable mirror outside to follow the course of an\nEgyptian sun and reflect its beams inside, it would be possible to keep\nup a constant illumination in any part of the galleries, however remote.\n\nDupuis quotes another statement that the greatest precautions were\ntaken that the first rays of sunlight should enter a temple (of course,\nhe means a solar temple).\n\nBut it is possible that there might have been another temple at right\nangles, facing nearly due east. In this case, the larger temple\nwould have been named after the worship to which the smaller one was\ndedicated. If so, unlike the solar temples at Heliopolis, Abydos, and\nThebes, the Edf\u00fb temple was sacred to the Equinoctial Sun, or, at all\nevents, to the Sun very near an equinox.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n                      THE STAR-TEMPLES AT KARNAK.\n\n\nWhen I began my studies of the Egyptian temples the building\ninscriptions referred to in the preceding chapter lay forgotten in\nthe Egyptologist's archives. I purpose now to give some account of my\nwork at Thebes, where I made a special study of the temples, because\nthere is a very great number there, and many are in a fair state of\npreservation. These investigations convinced me that temples were\noriented to stars before the inscriptions in question were known\nto me, although the whole temple field is so crowded with temples,\neach apparently blocking up the fair-way of the other, that it seems\nwell-nigh impossible that any such process as that described in the\nlast chapter could have been applied.\n\nThis difficulty will be gathered from the accompanying folding plate\ngiving a reproduction of Lepsius's general maps of the temple region of\nKarnak, showing his reference letters and also the _true_ north and the\norientation of the chief temples. We have already dealt with the solar\ntemple of Amen-R\u0101.\n\nWe find, beginning at the south, a large temple with a long line of\nsphinxes, the temple of Mut (X) facing the large temple of Amen-R\u0101 (K).\nTo the north of the latter is another temple system (A and B and C),\nalso with an avenue of sphinxes. On the east side of K another temple\n(O) is only slightly indicated.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLES AT KARNAK (FROM LEPSIUS), FOLLOWING\nTHEIR ORIENTATIONS.\n _To face p._ 183.]\n\nTo the south of the large temple K is another one--that of Khons (T),\nalso with its sphinxes. Connected with K are two other temples, L,\nnearly, and M, exactly, at right angles to it. There is also such\na rectangular temple (Y) added to the temple of Mut. I also call\nattention to the temples V and W, chiefly to point out that when I went\nover the ground with M. Bouriant it seemed to us as if the temple V\nfaced S.E. and not N.W. as indicated by Lepsius. Very few traces of the\ntemple are left.\n\nSince the labours of the French and Prussian Governments gave full\nrecords of Karnak a memoir on the temples has been published by\nMariette, which gives us not only plans, but precious information\nrelating to the periods at which, and the kings by whom, the various\nparts of the temples were constructed or modified. No doubt those which\nare still traceable form only a very small portion of those which once\nexisted; but however that may be, I have now only to call attention to\nsome among them.\n\nI have previously shown that the magnificent work of Mariette has\nsupplied us with building dates for the solar temple to which reference\nhas been made; so that we have, with more or less accuracy, the\nsequence of the various parts of the completed building.\n\nIf we consider the plan without any reference to the building dates at\nall, the idea that the smaller temples were built for observations of\nstars seems to be entirely discountenanced. The temple L, for instance,\ninstead of having a clear horizon, is blocked by the very solid wall\n(2) and its accompanying columns; the temple M, instead of having a\nclear horizon, is absolutely blocked by two of the line of pillars (1)\nvery carefully built in front of it. But if we consult Mariette, _we\nfind in both cases that the wall was built long after one temple, and\nthe pillars were built long after the other_.\n\nThis result is satisfactory, inasmuch as it indicates that a natural\nobjection to the orientation hypothesis is invalid. But can we\nstrengthen it by supporting Mariette's statement as to the dates?\n\nMariette states that the temple M was built by Rameses III., a king of\nthe twentieth dynasty. With this datum, we consider the orientation of\nthe temple. The problem is one of this kind:--Taking the Egyptologist's\ndate for Rameses III. at 1200 B.C., and taking the amplitude of the\ntemple as 63\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E., was there, when that temple was built, any\nstar opposite to it, any star to which it accurately pointed? We can\ntranslate the amplitude of that temple into the declination of a star,\nmaking a slight correction for the stated conditions of observation\nin Egypt, which would make the apparent amplitude less than the true\none, because the star would appear to rise more to the south. In the\nabsence of precise information, we are justified in taking the mean of\nthe values referred to by Biot--that is, an apparent amplitude due to a\nstratum of haze 1\u00bd\u00b0 high, especially as the temple looked away from\nthe Nile.\n\nSearching the astronomical tables, we find that there was a star\nvisible along the temple axis. The star was \u03b3 Draconis.\n\nSo much for the temple M. We now proceed to the other one lettered L,\nthe temple of Seti II.\n\nThe amplitude of temple L is 63\u00b0 S. of W., and the date, according to\nMariette, 1300 B.C. We find the declination, proceeding as before, and\nassuming hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high, to be 53\u00bd\u00b0 S., and about that date the\nbright star Canopus set on the alignment of the temple.\n\nIt will hence be gathered that just as truly as the temple M seems to\nhave been pointed to the northern star \u03b3 Draconis rising, the temple L\nwas pointed to the southern star Canopus, setting.\n\nBut this is not all. There is another temple to which I have already\ndirected attention--the temple of Khons (T of Lepsius), founded by\nRameses III., though as it comes to us it is a Ptolemaic structure, it\nhaving been enlarged and restored by the Ptolemies. It is very nearly,\nbut not quite, parallel to the temple of Seti II.\n\nMy measures and those of Lepsius give, approximately, amplitudes as\nunder--\n\n  Temple of Seti (T)  63\u00b0 S. of W.\n  Temple of Khons (L) 62\u00b0    \"\n\nContinuing, therefore, the same line of inquiry, and assuming that\nMariette was right, and that the temple was really finally completed\n(and no doubt its axis revised) by the Ptolemies, and that they\nflourished about 200 B.C., we have the same problem. Was there a star\ntowards which that temple could have been directed, and which could\nhave been seen in that temple with its actual orientation?\n\nCalculation shows that the change of amplitude of Canopus due to the\nprecessional movement between 1300 B.C. and 200 B.C. is almost exactly\n1\u00b0, the difference in the amplitude of the temples. We seem, then, to\nhave in the temples L and T two temples directed to the same star at\ndifferent times.\n\nThese statements must be taken as provisional only. To render them\nabsolute, careful measurements must be made, on the spot, of the\nheights of the hills towards which the temples point.\n\nLeaving this for the moment on one side, we get in this manner\nastronomical dates of the reigns of Seti II. and Rameses III. within a\nvery few years of those given by the Egyptologists.\n\nMore than this, the application of this method entirely justifies\nMariette's view with regard to these more modern temples at Thebes,\nand shows that when they were built the outlook was clear, so that the\nbuilding ceremonials referred to in the last chapter might have been\nperformed.\n\nI am next anxious to point out that not only is this so, but, accepting\nit, we can explain exactly why the walls and temples and columns were\nerected in the sequence which Mariette indicates. We not only know when\nthey were built, but we can presently understand _why they were built_.\n\nThe first point to which I draw attention in this matter is the\nfollowing:--Referring to the plan, we find that before the time of\nRameses III. the temple of Seti II. was right out in the open. It thus\nrepresented just one of those external rectangular temples which have\nbeen found at Denderah and at very many other places in Egypt. It\nwas one of the Egyptian ideas to have two temples at right angles to\neach other. That temple, then, stood alone. The next change seems to\nhave been this: The star Canopus, the setting of which it was built\nto watch, was, through the processional movement to which I have\nreferred, no longer conveniently observed in that temple. To obviate\nthis the temple T was built by Rameses III. with a change of amplitude\nequivalent to the actual precessional change of the star's declination,\nto carry on the observations.\n\nFurther, at the same time another temple (M) was built to observe \u03b3\nDraconis. It is now easy to understand what the 21st--a Theban--dynasty\ndid. Seti's temple (L) had been superseded; the temple M was a second\nrectangular temple outside the great temple of Karnak (K). They said\nto themselves: \"We will make Karnak more beautiful, and we will extend\nit. We can now build walls in continuation of the old walls, and we can\nbuild still another pylon, because Seti's temple is no longer being\nused, the worship having been transferred to the temple of Rameses\nIII. (Khons). By building the northern wall we prevent the use of\ntemple M, sacred to our enemy Sutech.\"\n\nI should add that the opening in the wall, in prolongation of the axis\nof temple M, is _not_ directly opposite the temple M, but a little to\nthe east; it was probably made later, possibly by the twenty-second\ndynasty, who were Set worshippers. Again, coming to the time of\nTaharqa, returning at the end of the exile of the priests of Amen in\nNubia, the temple, M was again thrown out of use. Pillars were built in\nfront of it, right in the fair-way, affording an instance that when a\ntemple was thrown out of use, not by the precessional movement of the\nstar to which it had been directed, but by the partisans of another\ncreed, the fact of its being no longer in operation was insured by\nsomething being built in front of it, to prevent observation of the\nstellar divinity no longer in vogue.\n\nIt may be added that long after the temple of Seti II. fell out of\nastronomical use, and was on that account blocked by the walls of the\ntwenty-first dynasty, the Ptolemies built a new temple of Osiris,\nwhich, if built before, would have been in the fair-way of the temple\nof Seti. Thus, there is a reason for all the changes made at all the\ndates referred to by Mariette.\n\nI think we find in this result of the inquiry a valuable corroboration\nof Mariette's conclusions, and another reason why we should not cease\nto admire his magnificent works.\n\nSo far I have only referred to the relatively modern parts of Karnak. I\nnow pass to the more ancient ones, in which we ought to note the same\nlaws holding good, if there be any value in the view we are discussing.\n\nWe find that some of the most important temples given by Lepsius and\nMariette (B, X, and W) are just as effectively blocked by the mass of\nthe temple of Amen-R\u0101 as those we have already considered were by the\nwalls of the twenty-first dynasty and Taharqa's columns; and, looking\nat the plan, it seems at first perfectly absurd to continue to hold for\none moment the idea that these temples were built for observations of\nstars on the horizon.\n\nThe temple X (Mut) is blocked by the pylon marked 3, the temple B by\nthe eastern end of the great temple, the temple W by the temple O.\n\nMariette here again comes to our rescue to a certain extent. He shows,\nas I have stated in Chapter XI., that in the beginning of things,\ncertainly in the twelfth dynasty, possibly in the eleventh dynasty,\nand possibly even before that, only the central part, marked 4, of the\nsolar temple existed, less as a temple than as a shrine, with nothing\nto the west of it and nothing to the east of it.\n\nThat being so, the temple B gets its fair-way to the south, and the\ntemple of Mut (X) and the smaller temple (W) to the north.\n\nMariette in his two plates shows the growth of the temple of Amen-R\u0101 in\na most admirable way, from the central portion of the temple to which I\nhave referred--that, is, the small central court, which, he is careful\nto note, existed before Thothmes I.; how much before, he does not say.\nAfterwards, the pylons are added; then they are elaborated; then the\nsanctuary is thrown back to the eastward, and the temple O built, and B\nthereby blocked, and then thrown forward to the westward, thus blocking\nX and Z.\n\nIf there is anything in these considerations at all, it is suggested\nthat all the temples to which 1 have referred were founded before these\neasterly and westerly extensions, of which Mariette gives us such ample\nevidence.\n\nIn a subsequent chapter it is suggested that this great lengthening\nof the original shrine of Amen-R\u0101 was undertaken for the purpose of\nblocking temples X, Z, and W, all dedicated to Set. Thothmes III. and\nTaharqa had precisely the same objects in view, apparently.\n\nHere, however, we meet a real difficulty. Mariette states that, so\nfar as he has been able to find, the temple B, a temple of which the\nworship is Amen, and the temple X, in which the worship is Mut, were\nbuilt by Amen-hetep III. If that were so, they would have been built\nblocked; none of the usual ceremonials could have been employed at\ntheir foundation. They could not have been used at all for astronomical\npurposes, because their horizons were blocked by these extensions of\nthe temple of Amen-R\u0101.\n\nHere I must refer specially to temple B. Its amplitude is, according to\nLepsius, 63\u00bd\u00b0 S. of W. I have already shown that the amplitudes of\ntemples L (Khons) and T (Seti II.) are 62\u00b0 and 63\u00b0 S. of W., and that\nin the times of the Ptolemies and Seti II., each faced the star Canopus\nin turn. Hence the probability that we have three temples of nearly\nequal orientation sacred to the same divinity.\n\n   Temple.   Orientation.  Declination.     Date.\n  Khons         62            52\u00bd\u00b0          300 B.C.\n  Seti II.      63            53\u00bd\u00b0         1350 B.C.\n  B             63\u00bd           54           1800 B.C.\n\nThe statement is that the part of the temple of Amen-R\u0101, the building\nof which blocked B, was commenced by Thothmes III., whose date,\naccording to Brugsch, is 1600 B.C., and continued by Amen-hetep\nIII. (1500 B.C.). Unless, then, some other provision was made, the\nobservations of Canopus were not continued until another shrine was\nbuilt. We know that another shrine was built, that of Seti II., and\nthat its orientation gives a date of 1350 B.C. It might have been\ncommenced by Seti I. after the Khu-en-Aten troubles, and finished by\nSeti II.\n\nOne is therefore tempted to ask whether we have not here one of those\ncrucial cases which Mariette himself contemplated, in which the true\nfoundation is so far anterior to the last restoration or the last\ndecoration, from which, for the most part, the arch\u00e6ologist gets his\ninformation, that one is absolutely misled by the restorations or\ndecorations as to the true date of the original foundation of the\nshrine.[49]\n\nIf the arch\u00e6ologists are right in attributing the granite temple\nof Osiris (?), near the sphinx, to a date anterior to, or even\ncontemporaneous with, the second pyramid, we have evidence that in\nthe early dynasties the temple building in stone, and even in granite\nbrought from Asw\u00e2n, was as perfect in the matter of workmanship as\nin the eighteenth dynasty; and that it was not then the fashion to\ninscribe walls, but only statues and stelas. May it possibly be that\nthe fashion in question came in, or reached its greatest development,\nduring the eighteenth dynasty, and that on this account so many temples\nare ascribed to that period, whereas they were actually in existence\nbefore?\n\nIf the prior dynasties built no temples, why did they not do so?\nand if they did, where are they, if some of those _inscribed_ by the\neighteenth dynasty be not they?\n\nIn the absence of final arch\u00e6ological evidence--that is, admitting\nMariette's own doubt as to the mere existence of inscriptions--are\nthere any astronomical considerations which may possibly help us?\nAssuming that the temples were astronomically oriented, we have _one_\nregistering for us the time elapsed since the original direction of\nthe axis was laid down, in terms of the change in the obliquity of the\necliptic.\n\nWe have others registering time in like manner in terms of the change\ndue to precession, if we can get any light as to the stars towards\nwhich the temples were oriented.\n\nI have already dealt with the temple of Amen-R\u0101 in Chapter XI., and we\nfound a foundation date of 3700 B.C. for the original shrine, so far as\nthe rough observations already available can be trusted. Assuming the\naccuracy of this determination, it is clear that we must look for stars\nwith appropriate amplitudes between that date and say 2500 B.C.\n\nLet us take the temple of Mut (X of Lepsius); its amplitude is 72\u00bd\nN. of E. This was the amplitude of \u03b3 Draconis about 3500 B.C. This\ntemple, then, bore the same relation to M as T did to L! We have two\ncases of two temples erected at different dates to the same star.\n\nAlthough it has been convenient to begin with Thebes for the reasons\ngiven, the records concerning any one temple there are far more\nrestricted than those which relate to some temples elsewhere; while the\ncult can only be determined in few instances. I propose, therefore, for\nthe present to content myself with the above general considerations\nshowing the first application of the method of investigation adopted,\nand to pass on to Denderah, where we are sure of the cult and where\nmany particulars are given.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIX.\n\n     THE PERSONIFICATION OF STARS--THE TEMPLE OF ISIS AT DENDERAH.\n\n\nWe have now to pass from the building ceremonials and a general\nconsideration of the temples at Karnak, to the worships to which\nthe various temples were dedicated. And to do this we must face the\nproblems of Egyptian mythology, so far as the names and origins of the\nvarious gods and goddesses are concerned.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF DENDERAH. (_Mariette._)]\n\nThere is ample evidence that each temple was sacred to some god or\ngoddess, although in many cases the name of the patron divinity has\nbeen lost.\n\nFortunately, at Denderah the patron divinities are well known, so\nit will be well to begin with the temples there. We find a general\nplan of Denderah among the magnificent drawings which we owe to the\nFrench expedition of 1798. This shows the wall round the temple-space\ncontaining the temple of Hathor, the great temple; and the smaller\ntemple of Isis at right angles to it. We find, roughly, that the great\ntemple points to the north-east; the smaller temple of Isis points to\nthe south-east. A later plan has been published by Mariette in his work\non Denderah.\n\nThese, then, are the main conditions of the temples at Denderah. But\nwe can go a little more closely into them by referring to the map\nwhich accompanies Biot's memoir, to which I have previously referred.\nHe gives the axis of the Hathor temple pointing, not merely to the\nnorth-east, but to 18\u00b0 E. of N. Since the other temple lies at right\nangles to the great one, its direction, according to Biot, is 18\u00b0 S. of\nE.\n\nTo show the uncertainty in these inquiries brought about by the absence\nof a proper survey, I may give the following later values:--\n\n  1. LEPSIUS, 1844--\n       Magnetic azimuth of the axis        N. 25\u00b0 E.\n          \"     amplitude   \"   \"          65\u00b0 N. of E.\n              Correction 8\u00bd\u00b0\n       \u2234 Astronomical amplitude            73\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E.\n\n  2. MARIETTE, 1870--\n       Astronomical azimuth                 N. 15\u00b0 E.\n             \"      amplitude               75\u00b0 N. of E.\n\n  3. LOCKYER, 1891--\n       Magnetic azimuth of axis             N. 23\u00b0 E.\n          \"     amplitude   \"               67 N. of E.\n              Assumed correction 4\u00bd\u00b0\n       Astronomical amplitude               71\u00bd\u00b0\n\nAs my value agrees closely with that of Biot, I adhere to it; and it\ngives, for the amplitude of the temple of Isis at right angles to the\nHathor temple, 18\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.\n\nNow, it is stated distinctly in the inscriptions that \"the place of the\nbirth of Isis is to the north-west of the temple of Hathor, its portal\nis turned to the east, and the sun shines on its portal when it rises\nto illuminate the world.\"[50] We learn from this that the small temple\nwas locally celebrated as the birthplace of Isis.\n\nIt is, then, a temple of Isis. Who was Isis?\n\nLet us begin by considering the temple, remarking that the\ninscriptions, apparently relating to both temples, are found in\none only. On this point, I, for the present, content myself with\nquoting Plutarch's statement[51] that Isis and Hathor were the same\ndivinities--at all events, in later Egyptian times.\n\nIf we study the inscriptions--and this, thanks chiefly to Mariette's\nmagnificent book on Denderah, we can do--we find that they give out a\nvery certain sound. Here is one of them:--\n\n \"She [_i.e._ her Majesty Isis] shines into her temple on New Year's\n Day, and she mingles her light with that of her father R\u0101 on the\n horizon.\"\n\nHere we have nothing more nor less than a distinct and perfectly\naccurate statement relating to the cosmical rising of a star, _i.e._,\nas I have before explained, of the sun and the star both rising at the\nsame instant of time.\n\n[Illustration: RUINS OF THE MAMISI (PLACE OF BIRTH) OR TEMPLE OF ISIS\nAT DENDERAH.]\n\nFurther, in the inscriptions the \"_rising of Hathor_\" is mentioned\ndistinctly. \"La grande d\u00e9esse Sefekh [Sesheta] apport\u00e9 les \u00e9crits qui\nse rapportent \u00e0 ton lever, \u00f4 Hathor, et au lever de R\u0101.\"[52] Everybody\nknows that \"R\u0101\" means the sun, and therefore the rising of R\u0101 is at\nonce accepted by everybody as obviously meaning sunrise. But if we\nfind \"Hathor\" treated in the same way as the sun, then Hathor must be\na celestial body rising like the sun. I consider this a very important\nconclusion to arrive at, for many reasons.\n\nBut, further, Hathor was also worshipped, according to the\ninscriptions,[53] under the name of Sothis.\n\nNow we know, quite independently of all mythology, that Sothis is\nsimply the Greek form of the Egyptian name (Sept) of the star Sirius.\n\nTaking, then, all these inscriptions together, we have an absolute\nastronomical demonstration of the fact that the \"rising of Hathor,\"\nwhich is referred to mythologically in the inscriptions given by\nMariette, was the rising of Sirius; that the star which \"shone into the\ntemple, and which mingled her light with the light of her father R\u0101,\"\nwas really the star Sirius. We get the demonstration of the fact that\nmythologically the star Sirius was Hathor, or otherwise Isis.\n\nIn other words, we find a star personified; Sirius being personified as\nHathor or Isis.\n\nBut we can go much further than this. It is possible, as I have shown,\nto determine the position of Sirius in past times, and therefore to\ndetermine whether the light of that star ever did fall along the axis\nof the temple. We know its orientation approximately--18\u00bd\u00b0 S. of\nE.--so that any celestial body which rose at that amplitude would shine\nupon any object enshrined in the sanctuary. In the case of Sirius,\nthe conditions are such that, owing to the precessional movement, the\ndistance of the star from the equator has been gradually lessening from\nthe earliest times. Its declination in 8000 B.C. was 50\u00b0 S.; it became\nsomething more than 17\u00b0 S. in A.D. 1000.\n\nKnowing the declination, it is easy to determine the amplitude--and\ngiven the conditions at the temple of Isis at Denderah, viz., that we\nare practically dealing with a sea horizon, we find that the temple\nreally pointed to Sirius about 700 B.C., which is the date Biot found\nfor the construction of the zodiac in the temple of Osiris, referred to\nin Chapter XIII.\n\nFurther, it is easy to show that Sirius at that date rose with the\nsun on the Egyptian New Year's Day;[54] in mythological language, she\nmingled her light with that of her father R\u0101 on the great day of the\nyear.\n\nAs this is the first instance of such personification that we have\ncome across, it behoves us to study it very carefully. Why was Sirius\npersonified and worshipped?\n\nThe summer solstice--that is, the 20th of June, the longest day--was\nthe most important time of the Egyptian year, as it marked the rise of\nthe all-fertilising Nile. It was really New Year's Day. It has been\npointed out, times without number, that the inscriptions indicate that\nby far the most important astronomical event in Egyptian history was\nthe rising of the star Sirius at this precise time.\n\nNow it seems as if among all ancient peoples each sunrise, each return\nof the sun--or of the sun-god--was hailed, and most naturally, as a\nresurrection from the sleep--the death--of night: with the returning\nsun, man found himself again in full possession of his powers of\nliving, of doing, of enjoying. The sun-god had conquered death; man was\nagain alive. Light and warmth returned with the dawn in those favoured\nEastern climes where man then was, and the dawn itself was a sight, a\nsensation, in which everything conspired to suggest awe and gratitude,\nand to thrill the emotions of even uncivilised man.\n\nWhat wonder, then, that sunrise was the chief time of prayer and\nthankfulness? But prayer to the sun-god meant, then, sacrifice; and\nhere a practical detail comes in, apparently a note of discord, but\nreally the true germ of our present knowledge of the starry heavens\nwhich surround us.\n\nTo make the sacrifice at the instant of sunrise, preparations had to be\nmade, beasts had to be slaughtered, and a ritual had to be followed;\nthis required time, and a certain definite quantity of it. To measure\nthis, the only means available then was to watch the rising of a star,\nthe first glimmer of which past experience had shown to precede sunrise\nby just that amount of time which the ritual demanded for the various\nfunctions connected with the sunrise sacrifice.\n\nThis, perhaps, went on every morning, but beyond all question the most\nsolemn ceremonial of this nature in the whole year was that which took\nplace on New Year's morning, or the great festival of the Nile-rising\nand summer solstice, the 1st of Thoth. Besides the morning ceremonial\nthere were processions of the gods during the day.\n\nHow long these morning and special yearly ceremonials went on before\nthe dawn of history we, of course, have no knowledge. Nor are the\nstars thus used certainly known to us. Of course any star would do\nwhich rose at the appropriate time before the sun itself, whether the\nstar was located in the northern or in the southern heavens. But in\nhistoric times there is no doubt whatever about the star so used. The\nwarning-star watched by the Egyptians at Thebes, certainly 3000 B.C.,\nwas Sirius, the brightest of them all, and there is complete evidence\nthat Sirius was not the star first so used.[55]\n\n[Illustration: CEREMONIAL PROCESSION IN AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. (_From a\nRestoration by the French Commission._)]\n\nThe astronomical conditions of the rising of this star have,\nfortunately for us, been most minutely studied both by Biot and, in\nmore recent times, by Oppolzer, and from their labours it seems to\nbe abundantly clear that the rising of Sirius at the solstice was\ncarefully watched certainly as early as 3285 B.C., according to Biot's\ncalculations; and, further, that the rising of the same star was still\nstudied in a relatively modern time. At the earlier date its heliacal\nrising was observed, but in later times means had been secured of\nnoticing its cosmical rising, because although it rose long before the\nsun on the longest day 3000 B.C., it rose _with_ the sun on the same\nday in the later times referred to. This \"cosmical rising\" observation\nwas doubtless secured by the construction of their temples, as I have\nshown.\n\nWe are, then, astronomically on very firm ground indeed. We have got\none step into the domain of mythology. I assume it is agreed that we\nhave arrived at the certain conclusion that the goddess Hathor or Isis\npersonified a star, Sirius, rising at the dawn; and that the temple of\nIsis at Denderah was built to watch it.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XX.\n\n   THE PERSONIFICATION OF STARS (CONTINUED)--THE TEMPLE OF HATHOR AT\n                               DENDERAH.\n\n\nIn Chapter XVII. I quoted from the inscriptions relating to the\nalignment of the axis of the temple of Hathor at Denderah. It will be\nremembered that the king, while stretching the cord, had his glance\ndirected to the _\u0101k_ of the constellation of the Thigh. Further, we saw\nin the last chapter that the amplitude of the temple axis is 71\u00bd\u00b0 N.\nof E.\n\nA copy of Biot's plan giving his value of the orientation is given on\nthe next page.\n\nI have shown how truly the temple of Isis was pointed to Sirius. We\nhave now to try to find a star towards which the temple of Hathor may\nhave been pointed in like manner.\n\nIt will be generally understood that in an inquiry of this kind there\nare very many difficulties, chiefly depending upon the uncertainty\nof the building-date of the original foundation, and upon the\nindeterminate nature of the information available. But although we meet\nwith these difficulties in the case of the temple of Hathor, there\nare many from which we are free. In the case of many of the temples\nin Egypt we have no knowledge of the tutelary divinity. For a great\nmany temples no observational data exist; they have not been properly\nmeasured--that is, we do not know exactly in what direction they point\nor what their amplitudes are; and, further we do not know anything\nof the horizon at the temple building, so as to be able to make the\nnecessary corrections due to heights of hills.\n\n[Illustration: ORIENTATION OF THE TEMPLE OF HATHOR AT DENDERAH (BIOT).\n(THE TEMPLE OF OSIRIS ON THE ROOF IS ALSO SHOWN ON A LARGER SCALE.)]\n\nThis premised, I will now return to the statement regarding the temple\nof Hathor, to see what can be made of it on the view that either\nthe middle or the chief point, that is, the brightest star, of the\nconstellation of the Great Bear as we now know it, was the one referred\nto, and that the cord was stretched to the star on the horizon.\n\nThe first question which arises is, Was there any reason why \u03b4 Urs\u00e6\nMajoris at the centre, or \u03b1 the brightest, should have been used\nas the orientation point at any time? Was there any reason why any\nspecial sanctity should have been associated with either? Certainly\nnot, in the case of \u03b4, on account of its magnitude, because Dubhe,\nnot far from it, is much brighter; and possibly not, in the case both\nof \u03b4 and \u03b1, on account of the time of their heliacal rising. We seem\ntherefore in an _impasse_ along this line of inquiry; but a further\nconsideration of the question brings out the remarkable fact that at\nthree widely-sundered points of time the stars \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6, \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris,\nand \u03b3 Draconis have been the brightest stars nearest the North Pole,\nand with such declinations that \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6 would be visible at one of the\ndates, \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris at another, and \u03b3 Draconis at another still--all\nrising in nearly the same amplitude far to the north.\n\nIn Chapter XVIII. I have shown that one of the temples, and possibly\na series of them, at Thebes were directed to \u03b3 Draconis. It is\ninteresting, then, to carry the inquiry further. It may possibly\nexplain how it is that we get a definite statement about the _\u0101k_ of\nthe Great Bear in one case and a certain sure orientation to \u03b3 Draconis\nin the other.\n\nIn the first place, it has to be borne in mind that when a star is\ncircumpolar--that is, never sets--no temple can be directed to its\nrising. Now, accepting the _\u0101k_ as the brightest star (and as I stated\nin Chapter XVII., it might, indeed, have been the central one as well\nin the old constellation, for we do not know its limits), we have to\ndeal with the facts concerning \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris, called by the Arabians\nDubhe.\n\nThe latitude of Denderah is a little over 20\u00b0 N., therefore all stars\nwith a less polar distance than that--or, to put it another way, all\nstars with a declination greater than (90\u00b0-26\u00b0 = 64\u00b0. N.)--will be\ncircumpolar. Now, the declination of Dubhe was greater than 64\u00b0 between\n4000 B.C. and 1500 A.D. (I neglect refractions and hills); hence, if\nthere is any truth in the statements made in the building ceremonials,\nthe temple could not have been founded between those dates.\n\nBut what are the records concerning this temple? We know that the\nstructure as we see it was built in the time of the last Ptolemies\nand the first Roman emperors, and I have already shown that at those\ndates the Great Bear (the old Thigh) did not rise at all, as it was\ncircumpolar.\n\nIt is also known that there was a temple here in the time of Thothmes\nIII., and even earlier, going back to the earliest times of Egyptian\nhistory. King Pepi, of the Sixth Dynasty (_circ._ 3233 B.C.), is\nportrayed over and over again in the crypts.\n\nEven this is not all the evidence in favour of a high antiquity. In\none of the crypts (No. 9), according to Ebers and D\u00fcmichen, there are\ntwo references to the earliest plans of the temple. One inscription\nstates that the great ground-plan (_Senti_) of Ant (Denderah) was\nfound in old writing on parchments of the time of the followers of\nHorus (sun-worshippers) preserved in the walls of the temple during\nthe reign of King Pepi. Another inscription goes further, referring to\nthe restoration by Thothmes III. (_circ._ 1600 B.C.) of the temple to\nthe state in which it was found described in old writings of the time\nof the King Chufu (Cheops) of the Fourth Dynasty (_circ._ 3733 B.C.).\nIf any faith is to be placed in this inscription, it seems to me to\nsuggest a still higher antiquity. There would have been more reason for\ndescribing an antique shrine than a brand new one.\n\nStill another inscription runs:--\n\n \"King Tehuti-mes III. has caused this building to be erected in memory\n of his mother, the goddess Hathor, the Lady of An (Denderah), the eye\n of the Sun, the heavenly queen of the gods. The ground plan was found\n in the city of An, in archaic drawing on a leather roll of the time of\n the Hor-Shesu: it was found in the interior of a brick wall in the\n south side of the temple in the reign of King Pepi.\"[56]\n\nBut let us see what the facts are regarding the date supplied by the\ntemple itself, accepting the statement made regarding the actual\noperations at the laying of the foundation stone originally.\n\nTo determine the dates approximately, we find that an amplitude of\n71\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E. in the latitude of Denderah gives a declination of\n57\u00be\u00b0 N., with a sea horizon (correcting for refraction) 58\u00be\u00b0 N.\nwith hills 1\u00b0 high, and 59\u00be\u00b0 N. with hills 2\u00b0 high, which is not far\nfrom the exact conditions.\n\nThe star Dubhe had the declination of 60\u00b0 N. in 5000 B.C.\n\nIf, then, I am right in my suggestion as to the word _\u0101k_ referring to\n\u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris, we find the closest agreement between the astronomical\norientation; the definite statement as to a certain star being used in\nthe building ceremonies; the inscriptions in the crypts referring to\nCheops as the earliest historical personage who describes the building,\nand to the Shesu-Hor as the original designers of the building.\nAccording to most authorities, 5000 B.C. lands us in the times of the\nShesu-Hor before Mena.\n\nI must confess that this justification of the double record strikes\nme as very remarkable, and I think it will be generally conceded that\nfurther local observations should be made in order to attempt to carry\nthe matter a stage beyond a first approximation.\n\nWe have got so far, then. If we take the history as we find it, and\nfurther take the trouble to work out the very definite statements made,\nwe find that the temple was founded pointing to the rising of Dubhe\nbefore it became circumpolar, and that in those times this star was\nsymbolised by the name of Hathor.\n\nWe may accept, then, the possibility that as the temple of Isis was\noriented to Sirius, that dedicated to Hathor was directed to Dubhe.\n\nIt will have been obvious from what has preceded, that if the worship\nof Hathor was to go on at all, and if it were in any way connected with\nthe observations of a star rising near the north point of the horizon,\na new star must be chosen when \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris became circumpolar. That\nis the first point.\n\nI have already stated that \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris began to be circumpolar\nat Denderah 4000 B.C. I may now add that \u03b3 Draconis ceased to be\ncircumpolar about 5000 B.C. They had the same declination (62\u00b0 N.) and\nthe same amplitude (78\u00b0 N.) 4400 B.C.\n\nMariette's plan shows a second temple oriented to N. 6\u00b0 E., which we\nmay perhaps be justified in taking as N. 9\u00b0 E., since his azimuth of\nthe great temple differs from Biot's and my own by 3\u00b0.\n\nThe corresponding declination would be 68\u00b0 N. of E., the declination of\nDubhe in 4200 B.C. and of \u03b3 Draconis in 4300 B.C. The temple may well,\ntherefore, have been erected when both stars had the same amplitude,\nthe apparent difference of 100 years being due to the uncertainty of\nthe measures available.\n\nThe second point, then, is that when Dubhe, which, while it rose\nand set, was the brightest star near the pole which did so, _became\ncircumpolar_; \u03b3 Draconis, when it _ceased to be circumpolar_, fulfilled\nthese conditions; astronomically, then, it became the natural successor\nof \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris.\n\nI have before pointed out that it is not impossible that a temple\nonce oriented to a certain star, and long out of use on account\nof the precessional movement, may be utilised for another, and be\nrehabilitated in consequence, when that same movement brings another\nconspicuous star into the proper rising amplitude.\n\nThis consideration at once leads to my third point, which is, that\nafter Dubhe became circumpolar the temple of Hathor at Denderah would\nbecome useless--there would be no star to watch--unless a new star was\nchosen.\n\nNow, let us suppose this to have been so, and that the natural\nsuccessor of the star in question were chosen. Studying the facts as\nbefore approximately, as final data are not yet available, we have the\ndeclination 59\u00be\u00b0 N. This was the declination of \u03b3 Draconis about\n3500 B.C., assuming hills 2\u00b0 high, which I think is too much; 3300\nB.C., with hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high.\n\nIn the present case the orientation fits \u03b3 Draconis in the historic\nperiod, but it also fits Dubhe in the times of the Hor-shesu, the\ndimly-seen followers of Horus, or sun-worshippers, before the dawn of\nthe historic period.\n\nNext let us go back to the inscriptions. We found that King Pepi\nis portrayed over and over again in the crypts, and, which is more\nimportant, that the plan of the temple on parchment, dating from the\ntimes of the Shesu-Hor, had actually been walled up in the temple\nduring the reign of the same king, no doubt at the ceremony of\nrestoration or laying a new foundation stone, as is sometimes done to\nthis day.\n\nNow, Pepi's date, according to the chronologists, is 3200 B.C., a\ndifference of 100 years only from the rough orientation date.\n\nWe see, therefore, the full importance of the work done in Pepi's\nreign. The _\u0101k_ of the Thigh was no longer of use; but a new star was\nnow available. Hathor was rehabilitated. Perhaps even the priests alone\nknew that the star had been changed.\n\nBy the temple of Hathor, then, if we assume that the record is\nabsolutely true (and I, for one, believe in these old records more\nand more), and that Cheops only described a shrine founded by the\nHor-shesu, we are carried back to _circ._ 5000 B.C. I am indebted to\nmy friend Dr. Wallis Budge for the suggestion that the position of\nDenderah as the terminus of the highway from the Red Sea--which may\nsoon again be reached by a railway from Keneh to Kosseir!--would have\nmade it one of the most important places in ancient Egypt.\n\nIt is important to note that at a very early date the traffic between\nthe Nile Valley and the Red Sea, and thence probably with Arabia and\nSouth Africa, flourished, and grew to be a by no means insignificant\ncommerce.\n\nAccording to Ebers,[57] \"the oldest and most famous of all these\nhighways is that which led from Koptos (Keneh, Denderah) to the Red\nSea, through the valley now known as the Wady Hammam\u0101t, and called by\nthe ancient Egyptians Rohanu. It was a busy high-road, not alone for\ntrading caravans, but from time to time for stonemasons and soldiers,\nwhose task it was to hew the costly building materials from the hard\nrocks, which here abound, and to prepare the vast monoliths which were\nfinished _in situ_, and then to convey them all to the residence of the\nPharaohs. A remarkably beautiful kind of alabaster, of a fine honey\nyellow or white as snow, is found in these mountains.\" Another road led\nfrom Esneh or Edf\u00fb to the ancient port of Berenice. We shall see in the\nsequel that the temple of Redisieh on this route was dedicated to the\nsame cult as that at Denderah.\n\nIf the above results be confirmed, we have a most definite indication\nof the fact that in the rebuilding in the times of Pepi, Thothmes III.,\nand the Ptolemies, the original orientation of the building was not\ndisturbed; and that in the account of the building ceremonies we are\ndealing as surely with the laying of the first foundation-stone as with\nthe original plan.\n\nIn any case the consideration has to be borne in mind that the series\nof temples with high northern (and southern) amplitudes at Denderah,\nThebes, and possibly other places, were nearly certainly founded\nbefore the time at which the heliacal rising of Sirius, near the time\nof the summer solstice, was the chief event of the year, watched by\npriests, astronomers--if the astronomers were not the only priests--and\nagriculturists alike. Now we know, from Biot's calculations, that this\nbecame possible _circ._ 3285 B.C., and that Sirius--though, as I am\ninformed by Prof. Maspero, _not_ its heliacal rising--is referred to in\ninscriptions in pyramid times.\n\nSubsequent research may possibly show that these temples had to do with\nthe heralding of sunrise throughout the year, the Sirian temples being\nlimited to New Year's Day.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXI.\n\n                              STAR-CULTS.\n\n\nThe last two chapters, then, have brought us so far. There are two\nprincipal temples at Denderah. The smaller is called the temple of\nIsis. It is oriented 18\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E. The inscriptions tell us that the\nlight of Sirius shone into it, and that Sirius was personified as Isis.\nWe can determine astronomically that the statement is true for the time\nabout 700 B.C., which was the date determined independently by Biot for\nthe circular zodiac referred to on page 18.\n\nThe larger temple is called the temple of Hathor. It is oriented\n71\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E. The inscriptions very definitely tell us what star\ncast its light along its axis, and give also definite statements about\nthe date of its foundation, which enable us to determine astronomically\nthat in all probability the temple was oriented to Dubhe somewhat later\nthan 5000 B.C.\n\nNow we are _certain_ that Isis personified Sirius. That \"Her Majesty of\nDenderah\" was Sirius, at all events in the later times referred to in\nthe inscriptions, is not only to be gathered from the inscriptions, but\nhas been determined astronomically.\n\nIt is also _probable_ that Hathor personified Dubhe. Now this looks\nvery satisfactory, and it seems only necessary to test the theory by\nfinding temples of Isis and Hathor in other places, and seeing whether\nor not they were oriented to Sirius and Dubhe respectively.\n\nBut, unfortunately for us, we have already learned from Plutarch\nthat Isis and Hathor are the same goddesses, although they certainly\npersonify different stars, if they personify stars at all.\n\nWe seem, then, in a difficulty, and at first sight matters do not\nappear to be made any clearer by the fact that Hathor (and, therefore,\nIsis) was worshipped under different names in every nome.\n\nLanzoni, in his admirable volumes on Egyptian mythology, gives us, not\ndealing with the matter from this point of view at all, _no less than\ntwenty-four variants for Hathor_!\n\nIn the temple at Edf\u00fb no less than 300 names are given with the various\nlocal relations and forms used in the most celebrated shrines.[58]\n\nIn the inscriptions at Denderah itself a great number of variants is\ngiven.[59] It is important to give some of them in this place; the full\nvalue of the information thus afforded will be seen afterwards.\n\n  Hathor of Denderah = Sekhet     of Memphis.\n     \"          \"      Neith       \" Sa\u00efs.\n     \"          \"      Saosis      \" Heliopolis.\n     \"          \"      Nehem-an    \" Hermopolis.\n     \"          \"      Bast  }     \" Bubastis.\n     \"          \"      Bes-t }\n     \"          \"      Anub-et     \" Lycopolis.\n     \"          \"      Amen-t      \" Thebes.\n     \"          \"      Bouto       \" Unas.\n     \"          \"      Sothis      \" Elephantine.\n     \"          \"      Apet\n     \"          \"      Mena-t\n     \"          \"      Horus       \" Edf\u00fb.\n                       (female)\n\nOne variant is of especial importance in the present connection, and\nis emphasised in a special inscription in one of the chambers of the\ntemple of Hathor--_not_, be it remarked, in the temple of Isis.\n\n \"Elle est la Sothis de Denderah, qui remplit le ciel et la terre de\n ses bienfaits. Elle est la r\u00e9gente et la reine des villes.... Au Sud\n elle est la reine du ma\u00eetre divin; au nord elle est la reine des\n divins anc\u00eatres. Rien n'est \u00e9tabli sans elle.... Elle est la grande\n dans le ciel, la reine parmi les \u00e9toiles.\"[60]\n\nWell may Mariette remark on this:\n\n \"Cette invocation \u00e0 Sothis, dans une chambre consacr\u00e9e \u00e0 la\n cons\u00e9cration de certains produits de la terre, n'a rien qui doit\n surprendre. Sothis est le symbole du renouvellement de l'ann\u00e9e et de\n la r\u00e9surrection de la nature. Au lever h\u00e9liaque de Sothis, le Nil sort\n de son lit. Jusqu'\u00e0 ce moment la terre de l'\u00c9gypte est st\u00e9rile et nue.\n F\u00e9cond\u00e9e par la fleuve, elle va se couvrir d'une verdure nouvelle.\"\n\nBut the Sothis here in question is _Sirius_, the star to the rising of\nwhich the temple of Isis, and _not_ the temple of Hathor, was directed!\n\nWe have, then, at Denderah a temple _not_ pointed to Sirius, the\nworship in which is that of Hathor, and there can be little doubt\nthat we have astronomically determined the fact that \"Her Majesty of\nDenderah\" was really the star Sirius.\n\nWe can pass from Denderah to the temple of Hathor at Thebes. The\ngeneral plan of Thebes prepared by Lepsius indicates the orientation\nof the temple of D\u00ear el-Bahari, to which I refer, the temple in the\nwestern hills of Thebes, embellished by Queen Hatshepset (_circ._ 1600\nB.C.). This temple, instead of being-oriented 71\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E., lies\n24\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.; it can never, therefore, have faced the star observed\nin the temple of Hathor at Denderah. There is also another temple\nannexed to the temple of Amen-R\u0101, which received the light of Sirius\nin former years. These temples were, in all probability, intended to\nobserve the same star which was subsequently observed in the temple of\nIsis at Denderah.\n\nThat is one point; here is another. We have it from Plutarch[61] that\nIsis = Mut = Hathor = Methuer.\n\nThe amplitude of the temple at Denderah dedicated to _Hathor_ is\n71\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E. (59\u00b0 N. declination). That of the temple dedicated\nto Mut at Karnak is 72\u00bd\u00b0 N. of E. (58\u00be\u00b0 N. declination), which,\nassuming for a moment the same star to have been used, corresponds to a\ndate (according to the height of the horizon) of _circ._ 3000 to 3500\nB.C. This is therefore later than the original foundation of the Hathor\ntemple of Denderah, but not far from the date of its restoration by\nPepi.\n\nIt is fundamental to the orientation theory that the cult shall follow\nthe star. But we have here the same cult, according to Plutarch; we are\nhence permitted to suggest that in dealing with the temples of Hathor\nat Denderah and Mut at Thebes we are dealing with local names of the\nsame goddess personifying the same star.\n\nTwo lines of argument may be followed to strengthen this conclusion.\n\nThe first has to do with the orientation of the temple of Mut at\nThebes. There is no statement of its great antiquity, as in the case\nof the temple of Hathor at Denderah. Here we find again one of the\ngreat difficulties in our way, the impossibility of running back to the\noriginal foundation among the many restorations effected of the most\nimportant among the Egyptian temples. The temple of Mut is ascribed to\nAmen-hetep III., but I cannot hold this to be the original foundation,\nfor the following reasons:--\n\n1. With its orientation in the time of Amen-hetep III. it pointed to no\nstar in particular.\n\n2. There is a series of four temples at Thebes turned to the same part\nof the horizon nearly, their amplitudes ranging from 62\u00b0 to 72\u00bd\u00b0 N.\nof E. Of these temples that of Mut has the highest amplitude; the one\nwith the lowest but one is the temple lettered M by Lepsius. There is\nno question about the real founder of this temple, and there is not\nmuch question as to the date of the founder, Rameses III.\n\nNow in the time of this king a temple erected with the orientation\ngiven pointed precisely to \u03b3 Draconis. (_See_ Chapter XVIII.) The\namplitude was 62\u00b0 N. of E.; the time, 1200 B.C. If we take the simplest\ncase in the orientation theory--that the amplitudes\n\n  62\u00b0      N. of E.\n  63\u00bd\u00b0       \"\n  68\u00bd\u00b0       \"\n  72\u00bd\u00b0       \"\n\nwere given to the various temples to enable observations to be made\nof the same star, which was being carried nearer the equator by the\nprecessional movement, we can not only date the temple of Mut, but find\nan explanation of Plutarch's equation Hathor = Mut.\n\nIn other words, we watch the Mut-Hathor worship provided for from 3000\nB.C. to the times of the Ptolemies.\n\nSo that here we have a very concrete case of the cult following the\nstar, not only in the same place, but at different places, and we are\ndriven to the conclusion that Hathor at Denderah and Mut at Thebes,\nexoterically different goddesses, were esoterically the same star, \u03b3\nDraconis.\n\nWe are not, however, limited to a comparison between Denderah and\nThebes. We have Annu and Abydos, and other places, to appeal to, since\nthere are temples remaining there also facing N.E. Those at Abydos,\nhowever, we must leave out of consideration here, as their exact\norientation is not determined. With regard to Heliopolis, and dealing\nwith the obelisk which tradition tells us was erected by Usertsen I.,\nthe orientation of its N.E. face, according to my own observations,\ntaking the present variation at 4\u00bd\u00b0 W., is 77\u00b0 N. of E. This\ncorresponds approximately to a declination of 57\u00bd\u00b0 N., which was the\ndeclination of \u03b3 Draconis in 2500 B.C. The date given to Usertsen I. by\nBrugsch is 2433 B.C.\n\nThis is very satisfactory so far, but we can go further. Here we are\nlanded evidently in the worship of one of the local divine dynasties,\nthat of Set; and we may justly, therefore, ask if Usertsen did not do\nat Heliopolis what it is very probable Pepi did at Denderah--namely,\nembellish an old temple which had in the first instance been used for\nobservations of Dubhe and appropriate it to the use of the new Hathor \u03b3\nDraconis. If this were so, then the original foundation stone was laid\nabout 5100 B.C.\n\nThe next line of argument is furnished by the emblems which are\nassociated with the various goddesses. These obviously indicate that\nthey arose in a time of totemism, when each tribe or nome had its\nspecial totem, which would be certain to be associated with the local\ngoddesses or the stars which they personified.\n\nThe local totem of the special warning-star in use at any time or place\nmay be anything: hippopotamus, crocodile, hawk, vulture, lion, or even\nsome other common living thing into which the totem degraded when the\nsupply of the original fell short.[62]\n\nHence, as the number of warning-stars was certainly very restricted,\nthey--or, rather, the goddesses which typified them--had different\nnames in almost every nome. Hence Egyptian mythology should be, as\nit is in fact, full of synonyms; each local name being liable to be\nbrought into prominence at some time or another, owing to adventitious\ncircumstances relating either to dynasties or the popularity of some\nparticular shrine.\n\nApplying this test of symbolism, we find in the case of Hathor that the\nsymbolism was double.\n\nThe Denderah _Hathor_ was connected with the hippopotamus, while at\nThebes _Mut_ was represented by a hippopotamus.\n\nNow this symbol of the hippopotamus helps us greatly, because it allows\nevidence to be gathered from a consideration of the old constellations.\nI do not think it is saying too much to remark that among these the\nattention of the North Egyptians was almost exclusively confined to\nthe circumpolar ones. Further, the mean latitude being, say, 25\u00b0, the\ncircumpolar region was a restricted one; 50\u00b0 in diameter, instead of\nover 100\u00b0, as with us. But not quite exclusively, for to them in later\ntimes, as to us now, the Great Bear and _Orion_ were the two most\nprominent constellations in the heavens; for them, as for us, they\ntypified the northern and southern regions of the sky.\n\n[Illustration: CAPITAL, WITH MASKS OF HATHOR WITH COWS' EARS.]\n\nThere can be no question that the chief ancient constellation in\nthe north was the Great Bear, or, as it was then pictured, the\nThigh (Mes\u03c7et). After this came the Hippopotamus. I had come to the\nconclusion that this had been replaced on our maps by part of Draco\nbefore I found that Brugsch and Parthey had expressed the same opinion.\n\nThe female hippopotamus typified Taurt, the wife of Set (represented\nby a jackal with erected tail, or hippopotamus), and one of the most\nordinary forms of Hathor is a hippopotamus. There is evidence that the\nstar we are considering, \u03b3 Draconis, occupied the place of the head or\nthe mythical head-gear.\n\nHere, then, in the actual symbolism of Hathor we find \u03b3 Draconis as\ndistinctly pointed to as by the orientation of the temples.\n\n[Illustration: THE COW OF ISIS.]\n\nThe other symbolism is quite different; instead of a hippopotamus we\ndeal with a cow.\n\nIn the inscriptions at Denderah we find the star Sirius represented by\na cow in a boat. In the circular zodiac we have the cow in the boat,\nthe point of the beginning of the year, and the constellation Orion,\nso located as to indicate clearly that, at that time, the beginning of\nthe year fell between the heliacal rising of Sirius and of the stars in\nOrion. Sirius was Isis-Sothis.\n\nIf we go to Thebes, we pass there from the cow Isis-Sothis to\nIsis-Hathor, and there we find the mythology retains the idea of\nthe cow, the cow gradually appearing from behind the western hills.\nThere is not a doubt, I think, that the basis of this mythological\nrepresentation was, that the temple which was built to observe the\nrising of the star at a time perhaps somewhat later than that given by\nBiot (3285 B.C.) was situated in the western hills of Thebes, so that\nHathor, the goddess on which the light was to fall in the sanctuary,\nwas imaged as dwelling in the western hills. At Phil\u00e6 we get no longer\neither Isis-Sothis or Isis-Hathor, but Isis-Sati.[63]\n\n[Illustration: HATHOR AS A COW.]\n\nNow just as certainly as the hippopotamus had to do with the\nconstellation Draco, the cow had to do with Sirius, for Sirius was\nrepresented as a cow in a boat.\n\n[Illustration: HATHOR, \"THE COW OF THE WESTERN HILLS.\"]\n\nIt may be gathered from this how truly astronomical in basis was the\nmythologic symbolism to which we have been driven in the effort to\nobtain more light; and, indeed, it is necessary for us to consider it\nstill more closely.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXII.\n\n               STAR-CULTS (CONTINUED)--AMEN-T AND KHONS.\n\n\nWhen I had the privilege of discussing at Thebes the orientation\nhypothesis with M. Bouriant, the distinguished head of the French\nSchool of Arch\u00e6ology in Egypt, he suggested that I should accompany\nhim one day to Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, at which place he was then superintending\nexcavations, and where there are three temples dedicated to Amen.\n\nM. Bouriant, from the first, saw that if there were anything in the new\nviews, the cult must follow the star; and it was natural, therefore,\nthat the three temples dedicated to the same divinity at the same place\nshould be directed to the same star. The three temples to which I\nrefer are the two well-known temples the lack of parallelism of which\nhas been so often remarked, and a third much smaller one, built more\nrecently, lying to the south-west. The amplitudes I found to be as\nfollows:--\n\n                                    Amplitude S. of E.\n  Ethiopian or Ptolemaic Temple           45\u00b0\n  Great Temple                            46\u00bd\u00b0\n  Ancient Temple                          51\u00bd\u00b0\n\nOn the orientation hypothesis we were dealing with a star the S.E.\namplitude of which was decreasing like that of Sirius; _it was\ntherefore in the same quarter of the heavens_.\n\nBut which star? To investigate this it was best to deal in the first\ninstance with the orientation of the great temple, since its building\ndate was supposed to be that most accurately known; and there is not\nmuch danger in doing this in the present case, because the king\nobviously had not expanded an old temple, for there it still is\nalongside.\n\nThe king was Rameses III., the date, according to Brugsch, 1200 B.C.,\nand the hills to which the temples are directed may be taken as 1\u00b0\nhigh. With these data we get the declination appropriate to the\namplitude of the temple 40\u00b0 S. Now, this was nearly the declination\nof the star Phact or \u03b1 Columb\u00e6 in the time of Rameses III.; the\norientation date is 1250 B.C.\n\nTaking this star, then, and correcting for heights of hills and\nrefraction, we get approximately the following dates:--\n\n                        B.C.\n  Modern Temple          900\n  Great Temple          1250\n  Ancient Temple        2525\n\nIf the hills are taken as 1\u00bd\u00b0 high, these dates will stand 750,\n1150, and 2400.\n\nThe date 700 B.C. we have already found as the probable date of the\nundertaking of the restoration at Denderah. It is the time of the\nvictorious march of the Theban priests northwards from their exile at\nGebel Barkal.\n\nThe date 2400 B.C. lands us in the times of the great solstitial king,\nUsertsen I., about whom more in a subsequent chapter. Although the more\nancient temple is generally ascribed to Thothmes III., traces of the\nwork of Amen-hetep I. have been discovered. I think we have a case here\nwhere the eighteenth dynasty enlarged and embellished a shrine erected\nby the twelfth dynasty, precisely as the temple of Amen-R\u0101 at Karnak\nhas been traced back to the twelfth dynasty.\n\nIf I am right, then, it follows that temples erected to stars\nassociated in any way with the chief cult, such as that of Amen-R\u0101, may\neither be dedicated to the god or goddess personified by the star or\nto the associated solar deity. Thus at Thebes we have the temple of\nMut, so-called, though Mut was the wife of Amen-R\u0101; and the temples now\nunder consideration, called temples of Amen, though they are dedicated\nto the goddess Amen-t, the wife of Amen. This may or may not be\nconnected with the fact that the first of them was dedicated possibly\nbefore the cult of Amen alone had been intensified and expanded by the\nTheban priests--probably in the eighteenth dynasty--into the cult of\nthe solstitial sun-god Amen-R\u0101.\n\nThere is evidence, indeed, that Amen-t replaced Mut in the Theban\ntriad. With regard to these triads, a few words may be said here\nfrom the astronomical point of view, though the subject, I am told,\nis one on which a great diversity of opinion exists on the part of\nEgyptologists.\n\nI have collected all the most definite statements I can find on this\nhead, and it is certainly interesting to see that in many cases, though\nnot in all, the triad seems to consist of a form of the sun-god,\ntogether with two stellar divinities, one of them certainly associated\nwith the heliacal rising of the sun at some time of the year, and\ntherefore a recognised form of Isis or Hathor. Thus we have:--\n\n    Place.                Triad.\n  Thebes                 Amen-R\u0101\n      (Greater Triad)       Mut\n                            \u03c7onsu\n      (Lesser Triad)        \u03c7em-R\u0101\n                                Tamen (? Amen-t)\n                                Harka\n  Denderah                  Atmu\n                                Isis\n                                Hathor\n  Memphis                   Atmu\n                                Sekhet\n                                Ptah\n  Hermonthis                Men\u03b8u-R\u0101\n                                Ra-Ta (= Hathor)\n                                Hor-Para\n\nNot only may this table enable us to see how Amen-t was sunk at\nMed\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb in the term Amen, but it enables us to consider a similar\ncase presented by those temples at Thebes, some of them associated with\nKhons and another with Amen, referred to in Chapter XVII.\n\nThe temple of _Khons_ is among the best known at Karnak; the visitor\npasses it before the great temple of Amen-R\u0101 is reached. M. Bouriant\nwas able to prove, while we were together at Karnak, that the temple of\nSeti II., nearly parallel to it, was also dedicated to _Khons_; but the\ntemple B of Lepsius, nearly parallel to both, is sacred to _Amen_. It\nis seen at once that the main cult is the same, although the amount of\ndetail shown in the reference is different--we have the generic name of\nthe triad in one case, the specific name of the member of the triad in\nthe other.\n\nAs this is the first time a setting star has been in question, it is\nwell to point out that in this case the ancient Egyptians no longer\ntypified the star as a goddess but as a god--and, more than this, as\na dying god; for Khons is always represented as a _mummy_--the Osiris\nform. Egyptologists state that both Thoth and Khons were moon-gods.\nPerhaps the lunar attributes were assigned prior to the establishment\nof sun-worship.\n\nI shall show, subsequently, that the temples now being considered find\ntheir place in continuous series stretching back in the case of Amen-t\nto 3750 B.C., and in the case of Khons to possibly a long anterior date.\n\nIn the case of Amen-t and Khons, therefore, where we are free from the\ndifficulties connected with the interchange of the titles of Isis and\nHathor at Denderah, the star-cults stand out much more clearly, and we\nget a step further into the domain of mythology.\n\nBut what did the cults mean? What was the utility of them? What their\nprobable origin? The cult of Sirius we already understand.\n\nI will deal with Amen-t first. No doubt it will have been already asked\nhow it came that such an unfamiliar star as Phact had been selected.\n\nHere the answer is overwhelming. This star, although so little familiar\nto us northerners, is one of the most conspicuous of the stars in the\nsouthern portion of the heavens, _and its heliacal rising heralded the\nsolstice and the rise of the Nile before the heliacal rising of Sirius\nwas useful for that purpose_!\n\nIn Phact we have the star symbolised by the ancient Egyptians under the\nname of the goddess Amen-t or Te\u03c7i, whose figure in the month table at\nthe Ramesseum leads the procession of the months.\n\nAmen-t, the wife of the solstitial sun-god R\u0101, symbolised the star the\nrising of which heralded the solstice; and the complex title Amen-R\u0101\nsignified in ancient times, to _those who knew_, that the solstitial\nsun-god R\u0101, so heralded, was meant.\n\nThe answer is clear, though not so simple in the case of Khons. The\nsetting of Canopus marked the autumnal equinox about 5000 B.C. We have\nfound that the first Khons temple at Karnak was possibly built as late\nas 2000 B.C., when the utility of the observations of Canopus from\nthis point of view had therefore ceased; but it is also known that\nKhons was a late addition to the Theban triad, and I shall subsequently\ngive evidence that the worship was introduced from the south, where\nit had been conducted when the condition of utility held. The time of\nintroduction to Thebes was the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty,\nwhen the priests wished to increase their power by conciliating all\nworships; and we now see that with their local sun-god Amen-R\u0101 and the\ngoddess Amen-t, with the Northern Mut (Isis) and the Southern Khons,\nthe Theban triad represented the worship of Central, Northern and\nSouthern Egypt.\n\nIt is an important fact to bear in mind that in the North of Egypt\nin early times the stellar temples were more particularly directed\nto the north, while south of Thebes, so far as I know, there is only\none temple so directed. It is suggested, therefore, that the Theban\npriests amalgamated the northern and southern cults, probably for\npolitical purposes. There is evidence that the priests were at heart\nmore sympathetic with the southern cults, and a further investigation\nof this matter may eventually help us in several points of Egyptian\nhistory.\n\nIt will have been noticed also that so far as we have gone, whether\ndiscussing solar or stellar temples, we have had to associate the cults\ncarried on in most of them with some particular season of the year. If\nI am right, in the worships at Denderah, Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, and Karnak, we\nhave a strict reference to the year, and in Egypt the year was always,\nas it is now, associated with the rise of the river.\n\nThe sacred river must now occupy our attention for a while; we must\nbecome familiar with its phenomena, and the divisions of time and the\ncalendar systems which were associated with them.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n                    THE EGYPTIAN YEAR AND THE NILE.\n\n\nOur researches so far leave no doubt upon the question that a large\npart of the astronomical activity of the earliest Egyptians had\nreference to observations connected especially with New Year's Day.\nIt has been made abundantly clear, too, that in very early times the\nEgyptians had a solar year commencing at the Summer Solstice, and that\nthis solstice was then, and is now, coincident with the arrival of the\nNile flood at Heliopolis and Memphis, the most important centres of\nnorthern Egyptian life during the early dynasties.\n\nIn the dawn of civilisation it was not at all a matter of course that\nthe sun should be taken as the measurer of time, as it is now with\nus; and in this connection it is worth while to note how very diverse\nthe treatment of this subject was among the early peoples. Thus, for\ninstance, it was different in Egypt from what it was in Chald\u00e6a and\nBabylonia, and later among the Jews. In the Egyptian inscriptions we\nfind references to the moon, but they prove that she occupied quite\na subordinate position to the sun, at least in the later times.\nThe week of seven days was utterly unknown amongst the Egyptians.\nEverything that can be brought forward in its favour belongs to the\nlatest periods. The passage quoted by Lepsius from the Book of the Dead\nproves nothing, since, according to Krall, an error has crept into his\ntranslation. In Babylonia it would seem that the moon was worshipped\nas well as the sun; and it was thus naturally used for measuring time;\nand, so far as months were concerned, this, of course, was quite\nright. In Babylonia, too, where much desert travel had to be undertaken\nat night, the movements of the moon would be naturally watched with\ngreat care.\n\nAn interesting point connected with this is that, among these ancient\npeoples, the celestial bodies which gave them the unit period of\ntime by which they reckoned were practically looked upon in the same\ncategory. Thus, for instance, in Egypt the sun being used, the unit\nof time was a year; but in Babylonia the unit of time was a month,\nfor the reason that the standard of time was the moon. Hence, when\nperiods of time were in question, it was quite easy for one nation\nto conceive that the period of time used in another was a year when\nreally it was a month, and _vice vers\u00e2_. It has been suggested that the\nyears of Methuselah and other persons who are stated to have lived a\nconsiderable number of years were not solar years but lunar years--that\nis, properly, lunar months This is reasonable, since, if we divide the\nnumbers by twelve, we find that they come out very much the same length\nas lives are in the present day, and there is no reason why this should\nnot be so.\n\nThere seems little doubt that the country in which the sun was\ndefinitely accepted as the most accurate measurer of time was Egypt.\n\nR\u0101, the sun, was the chief god of ancient Egypt. He was worshipped\nthroughout the various nomes. Even the oldest texts (_cf._ that of\nMenkaur\u0101 in the British Museum) tell of the brilliant course of R\u0101\nacross the celestial vault and his daily struggle with darkness.\n\n\"The Egyptians,\" says Ranke in the first chapter of his \"Universal\nHistory,\" which is devoted to Egypt, \"have determined the motion of\nthe sun as seen on earth, and according to this the year was divided,\nin comparison with Babylon, in a scientific and practically useful\nway, so that Julius C\u00e6sar adopted the calendar from the Egyptians and\nintroduced it into the Roman Empire. The other nations followed suit,\nand since then it has been in general use for seventeen centuries. The\ncalendar may be considered as the noblest relic of the most ancient\ntimes which has influenced the world.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE ANNUAL RISE AND FALL OF THE NILE. (_From Horner._)]\n\nWherever the ancient Egyptians came from--whether from a region where\nthe moon was the time-measurer or not--so soon as they settled in\nthe valley where the Nile then, as now, like a pendulum slowly beat\nthe years by its annual inundation at the Summer Solstice, the solar\nbasis of their calendar was settled. Hence it was Nature, the Nile--on\nthe regulation of which depended the welfare of the country--which\nfacilitated the establishment of the Egyptian year. Solstice and\nNile-flood are the turning-points of the old Egyptian year.\n\nThat Egypt is the gift of the Nile is a remark we owe to the Father\nof History, who referred not only to the fertilising influence of\nthe stream, but to the fact that the presence of the Nile, and its\nphenomena, are the conditions upon which the habitability of Egypt\naltogether depends. That the Egyptian year and that part of Egyptian\narch\u00e6ology and myth which chiefly interests astronomers are also the\ngift of the Nile, is equally true.\n\nThe heliacal rising of Sirius and other stars at the time of the\ncommencement of the inundation each year; all the myths which grew out\nof the various symbols of the stars so used; are so many evidences of\nthe large share the river, with its various water-levels at different\ntimes, had in the national life. It was, in fact, the true and unique\nbasis of the national life.\n\nIn this the Nile had a compeer or even compeers. What the Nile was to\nEgypt the Euphrates and Tigris were to a large region of Western Asia,\nwhere also we find the annual flood a source of fertility, a spectacle\nwhich inspired poets, and an event with which astronomers largely\noccupied themselves.\n\nWhat more natural than that Euphrates, Tigris, and Nile were looked\nupon as deities; that the gods of the Nile valley on the one hand, and\nof the region watered by the Euphrates and Tigris, on the other, were\ngods to swear by; that they were worshipped in order that their benign\ninfluences might be secured, and that they had their local shrines and\nspecial cults?\n\nThe god sacred to the Euphrates and Tigris was called Ea.\n\n[Illustration: H\u0100PI, THE GOD OF THE NILE.]\n\nThe god sacred to the Nile was called H\u0101pi. The name is the same\nas that of the bull Apis, the worship of which was attributed to\nMena.[64] Certainly Mena, Mini, or Menes, as he is variously called,\nwas fully justified in founding the cult of the river-god, for he first\namong men appears to have had just ideas of irrigation, and I have\nheard the distinguished officers who have lately been responsible for\nthe irrigation system of to-day speaking with admiration of the ideas\nand works of Mena. Whether the Tigris had a Mena in an equally early\ntime is a point on which history is silent; but, according to the\naccounts of travellers, the Tigris in flood is even more majestic than\nthe Nile, and yet the latter river in flood is a sight to see--a whole\nfertile plain turned, as it were, into an arm of the sea, with here\nand there an island, which, on inspection, turns out to be a village,\nthe mud houses of which too often are undermined by the lapping of the\nwaves in the strong north wind.\n\nThere is no doubt that the dates of the rise of these rivers not only\ninfluenced the national life, but even the religions of the dwellers on\ntheir banks. The Euphrates and Tigris rise at the Spring Equinox--the\nreligion was equinoxial, the temples were directed to the east. The\nNile rises at a solstice--the religion was solstitial and the solar\ntemples were directed no longer to the east. To the Egyptians the\ncoming of the river to the parched land was as the sunrise chasing the\ndarkness of the night; the sun-god of day conquering the star-gods\nof night; or again the victorious king of the land slaughtering his\nenemies.\n\nEgypt, in the words of Amru, first appears like a dusty plain, then as\na fresh sea, and finally as a bed of flowers.\n\nIt might be imagined at first sight that as the year was thus\ndetermined, so to speak, by natural local causes, the divisions or\nseasons would be the same as those which Nature has given _us_. This\nis not so. The river and land conditions are so widely different.\n\nBy no one, perhaps, have the actual facts been so truly and poetically\ndescribed as by Osborn, who thus pictures the low Nile[65]:--\n\n \"The Nile has shrunk within its banks until its stream is contracted\n to half its ordinary dimensions, and its turbid, slimy, stagnant\n waters scarcely seem to flow in any direction. Broad flats or steep\n banks of black, sun-baked Nile mud, form both the shores of the river.\n All beyond them is sand and sterility; for the hamseen, or sand-wind\n of fifty days' duration, has scarcely yet ceased to blow. The trunks\n and branches of trees may be seen here and there through the dusty,\n hazy, burning atmosphere, but so entirely are their leaves coated with\n dust that at a distance they are not distinguishable from the desert\n sand that surrounds them. It is only by the most painful and laborious\n operation of watering that any tint approximating to greenness can be\n preserved at this season even in the pleasure-gardens of the Pacha.\n The first symptom of the termination of this most terrible season is\n the rising of the north wind (the Etesian wind of the Greeks), blowing\n briskly, often fiercely, during the whole of the day. The foliage of\n the groves that cover Lower Egypt is soon disencumbered by it of the\n dust, and resumes its verdure. The fierce fervours of the sun, then\n at its highest ascension, are also most seasonably mitigated by the\n same powerful agency, which prevails for this and the three following\n months throughout the entire land of Egypt.\"\n\nThen comes the inundation:--\n\n \"Perhaps there is not in Nature a more exhilarating sight, or one\n more strongly exciting to confidence in God, than the rise of the\n Nile. Day by day and night by night, its turbid tide sweeps onward\n majestically over the parched sands of the waste, howling wilderness.\n Almost hourly, as we slowly ascended it before the Etesian wind, we\n heard the thundering fall of some mud-bank, and saw, by the rush of\n all animated Nature to the spot, that the Nile had overleapt another\n obstruction, and that its bounding waters were diffusing life and joy\n through another desert. There are few impressions I ever received\n upon the remembrance of which I dwell with more pleasure than that\n of seeing the first burst of the Nile into one of the great channels\n of its annual overflow. All Nature shouts for joy. The men, the\n children, the buffaloes, gambol in its refreshing waters, the broad\n waves sparkle with shoals of fish, and fowl of every wing flutter over\n them in clouds. Nor is this jubilee of Nature confined to the higher\n orders of creation. The moment the sand becomes moistened by the\n approach of the fertilising waters, it is literally alive with insects\n innumerable. It is impossible to stand by the side of one of these\n noble streams, to see it every moment sweeping away some obstruction\n to its majestic course, and widening as it flows, without feeling the\n heart to expand with love and joy and confidence in the great Author\n of this annual miracle of mercy.\"\n\n[Illustration: DIFFERENT FORMS OF THOTH.]\n\nAfter the flood comes the sowing time. The effects of the inundation,\nas Osborn shows in another place,\n\n \"exhibit themselves in a scene of fertility and beauty such as will\n scarcely be found in another country at any season of the year. The\n vivid green of the springing corn, the groves of pomegranate-trees\n ablaze with the rich scarlet of their blossoms, the fresh breeze laden\n with the perfumes of gardens of roses and orange thickets, every\n tree and every shrub covered with sweet-scented flowers. These are\n a few of the natural beauties that welcome the stranger to the land\n of Ham. There is considerable sameness in them, it is true, for he\n would observe little variety in the trees and plants, whether he first\n entered Egypt by the gardens of Alexandria or the plain of Assouan.\n Yet is it the same everywhere, only because it would be impossible to\n make any addition to the sweetness of the odours, the brilliancy of\n the colours, or the exquisite beauty of the many forms of vegetable\n life, in the midst of which he wanders. It is monotonous, but it is\n the monotony of Paradise.\"\n\nThe flood reaches Cairo on a day closely approximating to that of the\nSummer Solstice. It attains its greatest height, and begins to decline\nnear the Autumnal Equinox. By the Winter Solstice the Nile has again\nsubsided within its banks and resumed its blue colour. Seed-time has\noccurred in this interval.\n\nBeginning with the inundation (Summer Solstice) we have--\n\n  (1) The season or _tetramene_ of the inundation, July-October.\n  (2)       \"            \"         \"  sowing, November-February.\n  (3)       \"            \"         \"  harvest, March-June.\n\nFrom the earliest times the year was divided into twelve months, as\nfollows, the leading month being dedicated to the God of Wisdom, Thoth\n(Tehuti):--\n\n                 {Thoth            End of June (Gregorian).\n  Inundation     {Phaophi            \"    July.\n                 {Athyr              \"    August.\n                 {Choiak             \"    September.\n\n                 {Tybi               \"    October.\n  Seed-time      {Menchir            \"    November.\n                 {Phamenoth          \"    December.\n                 {Pharmouthi         \"    January.\n\n                 {Pachons            \"    February.\n  Harvest        {Payni              \"    March.\n                 {Epiphi             \"    April.\n                 {Mesori             \"    May.\n\nThe terms for the seasons and months are found even on the building\nmaterial of the largest pyramid of Dash\u00fbr, and in the oldest records we\nalready find calendar indications. On the steles of the Mast\u0103bas, in\nwhich the deceased prays Anubis for a good sepulture, we find a list of\nthe festal days on which sacrifices are to be offered for the dead.\n\nA modern calendar (given both by Brugsch and De Roug\u00e9) is, doubtless, a\nsurvival from old Egyptian times. It is good for the neighbourhood of\nCairo, and the relation of the important days of the inundation to the\nsolstice, in that part of the river, is as follows:--\n\n  Night of the drop               11 Payni\n                                  15   \"          Summer solstice.\n  Beginning of the inundation     18   \"            3 days after.\n  Assembly at the nilometer       25   \"           10     \"\n  Proclamation of the inundation  26   \"           11     \"\n  Marriage of the Nile            18 Mesori        63     \"\n  The Nile ceases to rise         16 Thoth         96     \"\n  Opening of the dams             17   \"           97     \"\n  End of the greater inundation    7 Phaophi      117     \"\n\nIn order to show how the astronomy of the ancient Egyptians--to deal\nspecially with them--was to a large extent concerned with the annual\nflood and all that depended upon that flood; and how the first tropical\nyear used on this planet, so far as we know, was established, it is\nimportant to study the actual facts of the rise somewhat closely, not\nonly for Egypt generally, but for several points in the line, some\nthousand miles in extent, along which in the earliest times cities and\nshrines were dotted here and there.\n\nTime out of mind the fluctuations in the height of the river have\nbeen carefully recorded at different points along the river. In the\n\"Description de l'\u00c9gypte\" we find a full description of the so-called\nnilometer at Asw\u00e2n (First Cataract), which dates from a remote period,\nperhaps as early as the fifth dynasty.\n\nIn Ebers' delightful book on Egypt space is given to the description of\nthe much more modern one located at R\u00f4da.\n\nThe nilometer, or \"miky\u0101s,\" on the island of R\u00f4da, now visible, is\nstated to have replaced one which was brought thither from Memphis at\nsome unrecorded date. Makr\u012bz\u012b in 1417, according to Ebers, saw the\nremains of the older nilometer.\n\nThe present miky\u0101s is within a covered vault or chamber, the roof\nbeing supported on simple wooden pillars. In a quadrangular tank\nin communication with the river by a canal is an octagon pillar on\nwhich the Arabic measurements are inscribed. These consist of the pic\n(variously called ell or cubit) = 0\u00b754 metre, which is divided into\ntwenty-four kirats. In consequence of the rise of the river bed in\nrelatively recent times, the nilometer is submerged at high Nile to a\ndepth of two cubits.\n\n[Illustration: SCALE OF THE NILOMETER AT R\u00d4DA.]\n\nThe rise of the Nile can now be carefully studied, as gauges are\ndistributed along the river. We have the Asw\u00e2n gauge from 1869, the\nArmant gauge from 1887, the Suhag gauge from 1889, and the Asy\u00fbt gauge\nfrom 1892. The distances of these gauges from Asw\u00e2n are as follows:--\n\n                        Kilometres.\n  Asw\u00e2n                       0\n  Armant                    200\n  Suhag                     447\n  Asy\u00fbt                     550\n  R\u00f4da                      941\n\nThe R\u00f4da gauge is not to be depended on, as the movements of the\nbarrage regulation destroy its value as a record. The heights of these\ngauges above mean sea-level are as follows:--\n\n                             Metres.\n  Asw\u00e2n                      84\u00b7158\n  Armant                     69\u00b7535\n  Suhag                      56\u00b700\n  Asy\u00fbt                      53\u00b710\n  R\u00f4da                       13\u00b714\n\n[Illustration: THE ISLAND OF R\u00d4DA.]\n\nGreat vagueness arises in there being no very obvious distinction\nbetween the gauge readings reached in summer and that from which the\nrise is continuous. There are apparently rainfalls in the end of spring\nof sufficient power to raise the Nile visibly in summer, just as muddy\nrises have been seen in winter to pass down the valley, leaving a muddy\nmark on the rocks at Asw\u00e2n and Manfal\u016bt. Independently of the actual\ngauge-reading of the rise, there are facts about it which strike every\nbeholder. At the commencement of the rise we have the _green water_.\nThis occurs in June, but varies in date as much as the top of the flood\nvaries.\n\nFrom the fact that modern observations show that the very beginning of\nthe rise, and the first flush, second flush and final retirement vary,\nit seems evident that the ancient Egyptians could not have had any\nfixed zero-gauge or time for the real physical fact of the rise, but\nmust have deduced from a series of observations either a mean period of\ncommencement, or a mean arrival of the red water, or a mean rising up\nto a certain gauge.\n\nFirst, to deal with the green water. Generally when the rise of an\ninch or two is reported from the nilometer at R\u00f4da, the waters lose\nthe little of clearness and freshness they still possessed. The green\ncolour is the slimy, lustreless hue of brackish water within the\ntropics, and no filter that has yet been discovered can render such\nwater clear. The colour is really due to alg\u00e6.\n\nHappily, the continuance of this state of the water seldom exceeds\nthree or four days. The sufferings of those who are compelled to drink\nit in this state, from vesical disease, even in this short interval,\nare very severe. The inhabitants of the cities generally provide\nagainst it by Nile water stored in reservoirs and tanks.\n\nColonel Ross, R.E., noticed in 1887 and in 1890, when, owing to the\nslow retreat of the Nile, the irrigation officers had to hold back many\nbasins in the G\u00eezeh province, and also in 1888 when the water remained\nlong stagnant, that the basin water got green--showed the alg\u00e6 and\nsmelt marshy--just as the June green water does.\n\nHence it has been argued that, as the Nile water in the bed of the\nstream--even in very slow-flowing back-waters--does not become green,\nthe greenness must be produced by an almost absolute stagnation of the\nwater. We know of great marshes up above Gondokoro, and hence it is\nthought that the green water of summer, which comes on suddenly, is\nthis marsh-water being pushed out by the new water from behind, and\nthat is why it heralds the rise. No one has so far minutely observed\nthe gradual intrusion of the green water.\n\nThe rise of the river proceeds rapidly, and the water gradually becomes\nmore turbid. Ten or twelve days, however, elapse before the development\nof the last and most extraordinary of all the appearances of the Nile,\nthus described by Mr. Osborn[66]:--\n\n \"It was at the end of--to my own sensations--a long and very sultry\n night, that I raised myself from the sofa upon which I had in vain\n been endeavouring to sleep, on the deck of a Nile boat that lay\n becalmed off Benisoueff, a town of Middle Egypt. The sun was just\n showing the upper limb of his disc over the eastern mountains. I\n was surprised to see that when his rays fell upon the water a deep\n ruddy reflection was given back. The depth of the tint increased\n continually as a larger portion of his light fell upon the water, and\n before he had entirely cleared the top of the hill it presented the\n perfect appearance of a river of blood. Suspecting some delusion, I\n rose up hastily, and, looking over the side of the boat, saw there\n the confirmation of my first impression. The entire body of the water\n was opaque and of a deep red colour, bearing a closer resemblance\n to blood than to any other natural production to which it could be\n compared. I now perceived that during the night the river had visibly\n risen several inches. While I was gazing at this great sight the\n Arabs came round me to explain that it was the Red Nile. The redness\n and opacity of the water, in this extraordinary condition of the\n river, are subject to constant variations. On some days, when the\n rise of the river has not exceeded an inch or two, its waters return\n to a state of semi-transparency, though during the entire period of\n the high Nile they never lose the deep red tinge which cannot be\n separated from them. It is not, however, like the green admixture,\n at all deleterious; the Nile water is never more wholesome or more\n deliciously refreshing than during the overflow. There are other days\n when the rise of the river is much more rapid, and then the quantity\n of mud that is suspended in the water exceeds, in Upper Egypt, that\n which I have seen in any other river. On more than one occasion I\n could perceive that it visibly interfered with the flow of the stream.\n A glassful of it in this state was allowed to remain still for a short\n time. The upper portion of it was perfectly opaque and the colour\n of blood. A sediment of black mud occupied about one-quarter of the\n glass. A considerable portion of this is deposited before the river\n reaches Middle and Lower Egypt. I never observed the Nile water in\n this condition there, and indeed no consecutive observations exist\n of the reddening of the water. It is quite clear that the reddening\n cannot come from the White Nile, but must be the first floods of the\n Blue Nile and Bahral Azral coming down.\"\n\nOne of the most important matters for the purposes of our present\ninquiry is connected with the influence upon local calendars, in\ndifferent parts of the Nile valley, of the variations of the phenomena\nupon which the Egyptians depended for the marking of New Year's Day.\n\nIf the _solstice_ had been taken alone, the date of it would have been\nthe same for all parts of the valley; but certainly the solstice was\nnot taken alone, and for the obvious reason, that they wanted something\nto warn them of the Nile rise, and in the lower reaches of the river\nthe rise precedes the solstice. Nor was the heliacal rising of Sirius,\nof which more presently, taken alone.\n\nBut it was chiefly a question of the arrival of the Nile flood, and the\ndate of the commencement of the Nile flood was by no means common to\nall parts of Egypt.\n\nNow it is to be gathered from the modern gauges that it takes the flood\nsome time, as we can easily imagine, to pass down the 600 miles between\nElephantine and Cairo.\n\nIn the early flood, rising from, say, one cubit Asw\u00e2n to six cubits,\nwhere there are many dry sandbanks, and the spreading out of the river\nis considerable, and there is an absence of overlapping flushes from\nbehind, the rate goes up to fifteen days, and the _earliest_ indication\nof the rise may take longer still, but this is very difficult to\nobserve.\n\nThe rate in Hood is 1\u00be days from W\u0101dy Halfa to Asw\u00e2n, and six days\nfrom Asw\u00e2n to R\u00f4da (941 kilometres). In very high Niles this is perhaps\naccelerated to five days.\n\nThere is, therefore, a very great difference in time and rate between\nGreen and Red Nile.\n\nThe rise is 45 ft. at Asw\u00e2n, 38 at Thebes, and 25 at Cairo.\n\nFrom the data obtained at the gauges named, which have been kindly\nforwarded to me by Mr. Garstin, the Under Secretary of State of the\nPublic Works Department of Egypt, I have ascertained that the average\ntime taken by the first indication of the flood to travel between\nThebes and Memphis is now about nine days.\n\nIt must be remembered, however, that the river-bed is now higher than\nformerly; the land around Thebes, according to Budge, has been raised\nabout nine feet in the last 1,700 years.\n\nIf, therefore, at each great city, such as Thebes and Heliopolis, New\nYear's Day depended absolutely on the arrival of the inundation, not\nonly would the day have been uncertain, but the difference of time\nin the arrival of the Hood at various places along the river would\nrepresent a difference in the New Year's Days of those places, compared\nto which our modern differences of local time sink into insignificance,\nfor they only touch hours of the day.\n\nThe great difficulty experienced in understanding the statements\ngenerally made concerning the Nile-rise is due to the fact that the\nmaximum flood is, as a rule, registered in Cairo upwards of forty days\nafter the maximum at Asw\u00e2n.\n\nFor the following account of how this is brought about I am indebted to\nthe kindness of Colonel Ross, R.E.:--\n\n \"The behaviour of the flood at the Asw\u00e2n gauge is as follows: Between\n August 20 and 30 a good average gauge of 16 cubits is often reached,\n and between August 27 and September 3 there is often a drop of about\n 30 centimetres. The August rise is supposed to be mostly due to the\n Blue Nile and Atbara River. Between September 1 and 8 the irrigation\n officers generally look for a maximum flood-gauge of the year at\n Asw\u00e2n. This is supposed to be the first flush of the White Nile. In\n the middle of September there are generally two small flushes, but the\n last twenty days of September are generally distinctly lower than that\n of the first week. The final flush of the Nile is seldom later than\n the 21st to 25th September.\n\n \"All this water does not merely go down the Nile; it floods the\n different basins. The opening of these basins begins from the south\n to the north. This operation is generally performed between the 29th\n September and the 22nd October. The great Central Egypt basins are\n not connected with the Nile for purposes of discharge into the river\n between Asy\u00fbt and near Wasta, or a distance of 395-90 kilometres = 305\n kil.\n\n \"The country in the middle or Central Egypt is broad, and thus there\n is an enormous quantity of water poured out of these basins into the\n lower reaches of the river about the 20th October, which seriously\n raises the Nile at Cairo, and in a good average year will bring the\n Cairo gauge (at R\u00f4da) up to the maximum of the year on or about\n October 22, and hence it is that the guide-books say the Nile is at\n its highest in the end of October.\n\n \"A gauge of 16\u00bd cubits at Asw\u00e2n while the basins are being filled\n does not give more than 21 cubits at R\u00f4da (Cairo), but, as the basins\n with a 16\u00bd gauge will fill by the 10th September, it follows that\n a 16\u00bd to 16 cubit gauge at Asw\u00e2n will not give a constant Cairo\n gauge, as the great mass of water passes by the basins and reaches\n Cairo. Hence we have frequently the paradox of a steady or falling\n gauge at Asw\u00e2n showing a steady rise at Cairo.\n\n \"If the gauge at Asw\u00e2n keeps above 16 cubits to near the end of\n September, the basin-emptying is much retarded, as the emptying at\n each successive basin fills the Nile above the 16 cubit level; _hence\n the lower halves of the basins do not flow off_, and thus, when the\n great Middle Egypt basins are discharged, they do not raise the Nile\n so much as they do when the last half of September Nile is below 16 at\n Asw\u00e2n.\n\n \"In years like 1887 and 1892, which differ from each other only in\n date of maximum gauge at Asw\u00e2n, the river, having filled the basins in\n fifteen to twenty days instead of in twenty-five to thirty days, comes\n down to Cairo in so largely increased a volume that a really dangerous\n gauge of 25 cubits at Cairo is maintained for over a fortnight (the\n average October gauge in Cairo is about 23 cubits), and from September\n 10 to October 25 the river remains from 24 cubits to 25\u00bd cubits,\n and the Middle Egypt basins discharge so slowly that the opening day\n is hardly traceable on the Cairo gauge.\n\n\"In the 1878 flood, which was the most disastrous flood possible, the\nriver rose in the most abnormal fashion, and on October 3 attained 18\ncubits at Asw\u00e2n. This breached the Delta, and in addition so delayed\nthe Upper Egypt basins emptying, from the reason before given, that the\nwheat was sown too late, and got badly scorched by the hot winds of\nMarch and April.\"[67]\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n                    THE YEARS OF 360 AND 365 DAYS.\n\n\nWhether the Egyptians brought their year with them or invented it in\nthe Nile valley, there is a belief that it at first consisted of 360\ndays only, that is, 5\u00bc days too little.\n\nIt is more likely that they brought the lunar month with them, taking\nit roughly as 30 days (30 \u00d7 12 = 360), than that they began with such\nan erroneous notion of the true length of the solar year, seeing that\nin Egypt, above all countries in the world, owing to the regularity of\nthe inundation, the true length could have been so easily determined,\nso soon as that regularity was recognised. We must not in these\nquestions forget to put ourselves in the place of these pioneers of\nastronomy and civilisation; if we do this, we shall soon see how many\ndifficulties were involved in determining the true length of such a\ncycle as a year, when not only modern appliances, but all just ideas\ntoo, were of necessity lacking.\n\nSince 360 days do not represent the true length of the year, it is\nclear that any nation which uses such a year as that will find the\nseasons and festivals sweeping through the year. Further, such a year\nis absolutely useless for the agriculturist, or the gardener, because\nafter a time the same month, to say nothing of the same day of the\nmonth, will not mean reaping-time, will not mean sowing-time, or\nanything else.\n\nStill, it is right that I should state that all authorities are not\nagreed as to the use of this year of 360 days; at all events, during\nthe times within our ken. Maspero[68] states:--\n\n \"Des observations nouvelles, faites sur le cours du soleil, d\u00e9cid\u00e8rent\n les astronomes \u00e0 intercaler chaque ann\u00e9e, apr\u00e8s le douzi\u00e8me mois, et\n avant le premier jour de l'ann\u00e9e suivante, cinq jours compl\u00e9mentaires,\n qu'on nomma _les cinq jours en sus de l'ann\u00e9e_ ou jours _epagom\u00e8nes_\n (_epacts_). L'\u00e9poque de ce changement \u00e9tait si ancienne que nous ne\n saurions lui assigner aucune date, et que les Egyptiens eux-m\u00eames\n l'avaient report\u00e9e jusque dans les temps mythiques ant\u00e9rieurs \u00e0\n l'av\u00e8nement de Mini.\"\n\nIdeler[69] is of the same opinion as Maspero:--\n\n \"I do not hesitate ... to declare that the existence of such a time\n cycle--used without reference to the course of the sun or moon simply\n for the sake of simple figures--is extremely doubtful to me.\"\n\nKrall remarks (p. 17):--\n\n \"It is probable that the year of 360 days dates from the time before\n the immigration into the Nile valley, when the Egyptians were unguided\n by the regular recurrence of the Nile flood. In any case, this must\n soon have convinced the priests that the 360-days year did not agree\n with the facts. But it is well known to everybody familiar with these\n things how long a period may be required before such determinations\n are practically realised, especially with a people so conservative of\n ancient usages as the Egyptians.\"\n\nAnd on this ground, apparently, he joins issue with the authorities\nalready quoted:--\n\n \"The Egyptian monuments have contradicted Ideler in this respect. The\n trilingual inscription of Tanis testifies expressly that it has only\n 'later become usual to add the five epagomenes;' that, therefore, the\n year originally had 360 days, which were divided into twelve months of\n thirty days each.\"\n\nKrall also argues that the expressions great and little year and their\nhieroglyphics referred to the rears of 365 and 360 days respectively,\nand adds:--\n\n \"If we inquire into the time at which the epagomenes were introduced,\n we can only fix approximate dates. If the calendars of the Mastabas,\n complete as they are, do not mention the epagomenes, whereas\n inscriptions of the period of the Amenamh\u0101ts refer to them, this\n can only be due to the circumstance that the epagomenes were only\n introduced in the meantime, but probably nearer the upper than the\n lower limit.... For the sake of completeness, we may mention that,\n according to Censorinus, the five epagomenes were introduced by the\n King Arminon.... Louth conjectures that Arminon is identical with\n Amenamh\u0101t I., under whom the epagomenes are first met with. But\n since, between Nitokris and Amenamh\u0101t I., there is a period of 500\n years void of records, and the name Arminon has nothing to do with\n Amenamh\u0101t, we can hardly share this view.\"\n\nHowever this knotty point may subsequently be settled by Egyptologists,\nfrom the astronomers point of view the words of Ideler[70]--\"Had\nignorance lead to the establishment of a year of 360 days, yet\nexperience would have led to its rejection in a few years\"--will carry\nconviction with them. Indeed, one may ask whether it is not possible\nthat the use of the 360-day year, and the complications which it\ninvolved, may have had something to do with the foundation of the solar\ntemples.\n\nLet us attempt to put ourselves, in imagination, in the place of the\nancient Egyptians after the use of this 360-day year had been continued\nfor any length of time. It is perfectly certain that now in this part\nof the Nile valley, now in that, everybody, from Pharaoh to fellah,\nmust have got his calendar into the most hopeless confusion, compared\nwith which \"the year of confusion\" was mere child's-play, and that the\nexact determination of the times, either of state functions or sowing,\nreaping, or the like, by means of such a calendar would have been next\nto impossible.\n\nAs each year dropped 5\u00bc days, it is evident that in about seventy\nyears (365\u00b725\u22155\u00b725) a cycle was accomplished, in which New Year's Day\nswept through all the months. The same month (so far as its name was\nconcerned) was now in the inundation time, now in the sowing time, and\nso on. Of fixed agricultural work for such months as these there could\nbe none.\n\nIt must have been, then, that there were local attempts to retain the\ncoincidences between the true and the calendar year--intercalation\nof days or even of months being introduced, now in one place, now in\nanother; and these attempts, of course, would make confusion worse\nconfounded, as the months might vary with the district, and not with\nthe time of year.\n\nThat this is what really happened is, no doubt, the origin of the\nstringent oath required of the Pharaohs in after times, to which I\nshall subsequently refer.\n\nTo acknowledge that the calendar year was wrong implied that they knew\nthe length of the true one. How had they found it out? I think there\ncan be no question that this knowledge had come to them by observations\neither of the solstices or the equinoxes. It is true they had the\ninundation; but, as we have seen, the rise is not absolutely regular,\nand the inundation takes many days to travel from Phil\u00e6 to Cairo\n(Memphis). If, then, the inundation had fixed the beginning of the\nyear, each nome would have its special New Year's Day, and this would\nnever have been tolerated by a settled government embracing the whole\nNile valley, especially as each king's reign was supposed to commence\non New Year's Day.\n\nIt seems, then, that the solstitial temples and the pyramids were, if\nnot actually requisite for settling the matter, at all events all that\nwas necessary, if they existed.\n\nBut now comes in a most interesting and important point. If\nobservations of the sun at solstice or equinox had been alone made use\nof, the true length of the year would have been determined in a few\nyears. But the next scene in Egyptian history shows us that the true\nlength of the year was not determined, but only an approximation to it.\n\nHow was this? The astronomical answer is very simple.\n\nI have already referred to the common practice of all ancient peoples\nthat we know of to make sacrifices at dawn, and have shown how, in\norder to do this, they took their time from a star rising before the\nsun. An observation of the so-called \"heliacal rising\" of a star--if\nthe star were properly chosen--would give them the interval necessary\nfor their preparations before the sun itself appeared; and, as the\nhighest festival of all was that of New Year's Day, it was especially\nimportant that the work should be well done then.\n\nNow, if the stars had no precessional movement, the sun and stars,\nafter each interval of a true year, would be in exactly the same\nposition; but in consequence of the stars having the precessional\nmovement to which I have before referred, the star so observed and the\nsun will _not_ be in exactly the same position after the interval of a\ntrue year. On this account, then, the difference of time between the\nheliacal risings will not represent the length of a true year. But,\nfurther, the heliacal rising of the star will not take place on the\nsame day for the whole of Egypt, the difference between Thebes and\nMemphis, depending upon their latitudes, amounting to about four days;\nand, further still, the almost constant mists in the mornings in the\nNile valley prevent accurate observations of the moment of rising.\n\nStill, as a matter of fact, the Egyptians defined their new year by\nthe rising of a star, and the length of it by the interval separating\ntwo heliacal risings. Such a year could not be accurate; and again, as\na matter of fact, their correction was not accurate, for the year was\ndefined now as consisting of 365 days. It seems clear from this that\nthe correction was made before the solar temples were in use.\n\nIn any case the year of 360 days had naturally to give way, and it\nultimately did so, in favour of one of 365. The precise date of the\nchange is, as we have seen, not known.[71] The five days were added\nas epacts or epagomena; the original months were not altered, but a\n\"little month\" of five days was interpolated at the end of the year\nbetween Mesori of one year and Thoth of the next, as already stated.\n\nWhen the year of 365 days was established, it was evidently imagined\nthat finality had been reached; and, mindful of the confusion which, as\nwe have shown, must have resulted from the attempt to keep up a year of\n300 days by intercalations, each Egyptian king, on his accession to the\nthrone, bound himself by oath before the priest of Isis, in the temple\nof Ptah at Memphis, not to intercalate either days or months, but to\nretain the year of 365 days as established by the Antiqui.[72] The\ntext of the Latin translation preserved by Nigidius Figulus cannot be\naccurately restored; only thus much can be seen with certainty.\n\nTo retain this year of 365 days, then, became the first law for the\nking, and, indeed, the Pharaohs thenceforth throughout the whole course\nof Egyptian history adhered to it, in spite of their being subsequently\nconvinced, as we shall see, of its inadequacy. It was a Macedonian king\nwho later made an attempt to replace it by a better one.\n\nWe may reckon upon the conservatism of the priests of the temples\nretaining the tradition of the old rejected year in every case. Thus\neven at Phil\u00e6 in late times, in the temple of Osiris, there were 360\nbowls for sacrifice, which were filled daily with milk by a specified\nrotation of priests. At Acanthus there was a perforated cask into which\none of the 360 priests poured water from the Nile daily.\n\nIndeed, these temple ceremonials are an evidence of their antiquity,\nand the further we put back the change from the 360 to 365 days, the\ngreater the antiquity we must assign to them, and therefore to the\ntemples themselves.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXV.\n\n                    THE VAGUE AND THE SIRIAN YEARS.\n\n\nDuring three thousand years of Egyptian history the beginning of the\nyear was marked by the rising of Sirius, which rising took place nearly\ncoincidently with the rise of the Nile and the Summer Solstice.\n\nI have insisted upon the regularity of the rise of the Nile affording\nthe ancient Egyptians, so soon as this regularity had been established,\na moderately good way of determining the length of the year, but we\nhave seen they did not so employ it.\n\nIt is also clear that so soon as the greatest northing and southing of\nthe sun rising or setting at the solstices had been recognised, and the\nintervals between them in days had been counted, a still more accurate\nway would be open to them. The solstice _must_ have occurred with\ngreater regularity than the rise of the river, so that as accuracy of\ndefinition became more necessary the solstice would be preferred. The\nsolstice was common to all Egypt; the commencement of the inundation\nwas later as the place of observation was nearer the mouth of the\nriver. This means they also did not employ, at all events in the first\ninstance. Of the three coincident, or nearly coincident, phenomena, the\nrise of the Nile, the Summer Solstice, and the rising of Sirius, they\nat first chose the last.\n\nAccording to Biot the heliacal rising of Sirius _at the solstice_ took\nplace on July 20 (Julian), in the year 3285 B.C.; and according to\nOppolzer it took place on July 18 (Julian), in the year 3000 B.C.\n\nBut this is too general a statement, and it must be modified here.\nThere was a difference of seven days in the date of the heliacal\nrising, according to the latitude, from southern Elephantine and\nPhil\u00e6, where the heliacal rising at the solstice was noted first, to\nnorthern Bubastis. There was a difference of four days between Memphis\nand Thebes, so that the connection between the heliacal rising and the\nsolstice depended simply upon the latitude of the place. The further\nsouth, the earlier the coincidence occurred.\n\nHere we have an _astronomical_ reason for the variation in the date of\nNew Year's Day.\n\nThere no doubt was a time when the Egyptian astronomer-priests\nimagined that, by the introduction of the 365-days year, marking its\ncommencement, as I have said, by the rising of one of the host of\nheaven, they had achieved finality. But, alas, the dream must soon have\nvanished.\n\nEven with this period of 365 days, the true length of the year had\nnot been reached; and soon, whether by observations of the beginning\nof the inundation, or by observations of the solstice in some of the\nsolar temples when these had been built, it was found that there was\na difference of a day every four years between the beginning of the\nnatural and of the newly-established year, arising, of course, from the\nfact that the true year is 365 days _and a quarter of a day_ (roughly)\nin length.\n\nWith perfectly orientated temples they must have soon found that their\nfestival at the Summer Solstice--which festival is known all over\nthe world to-day--did not fall precisely on the day of the New Year,\nbecause, if 365 days had exactly measured the year, that flash of\nbright sunlight would have fallen into the sanctuary just as it did 365\ndays before. But what they must have found was that, after an interval\nof four years, it did not fall on the first day of the month, but on\nthe day following it.\n\n   Recurrent solstices    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502\n   Recurrent 1st. of Thoth \u2502    \u2502   \u2502    \u2502   \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502    \u2502   \u2502\n\nThe true year and the newly-established year of 365 days, then, behaved\nto each other as shown in the following diagram, when the solstice,\nrepresenting the beginning of the calendar year, occurred on the 1st\nThoth of the newly-established calendar year. We should have, in\nthe subsequent years, the state of things shown in the diagram. The\nsolstice would year by year occur _later_ in relation to the 1st of\nThoth. The 1st of Thoth would occur _earlier_, in relation to the\nsolstice; so that in relation to the established year the solstice\nwould sweep forwards among the days: in relation to the true year the\n1st of Thoth would sweep backwards.\n\nLet us call the true natural year a _fixed_ year: it is obvious that\nthe months of the 365-day year would be perpetually varying their place\nin relation to those of the fixed year. Let us, therefore, call the\n365-day year a _vague_ year.\n\nNow if the fixed year were exactly 365\u00bc days long, it is quite clear\nthat, still to consider the above diagram, the 1st of Thoth in the\nvague year would again coincide with the solstice in 1,460 years, since\nin four years the solstice would fall on the 2nd of Thoth, in eight\nyears on the 3rd of Thoth, and so on (365 \u00d7 4 = 1460).\n\nBut the fixed year is not 365\u00bc days long _exactly_. In the time of\nHipparchus 365\u00b725 did not really represent the true length of the solar\nyear; instead of 365\u00b725 we must write 365\u00b7242392--that is to say, the\nreal length of the year is a little _less_ than 365\u00bc days.\n\nNow the length of the year being a little _less_, of course we should\nonly get a second coincidence of the 1st of Thoth vague with the\nsolstice in a _longer_ period than the 1460-years cycle; and, as a\nmatter of fact, 1506 years are required to fit the months into the\nyears with this slightly shortened length of the year. In the case of\nthe solstice and the vague year, then, we have a cycle of 1,506 years.\n\nThe variations between the fixed and the vague years were known\nperhaps for many centuries to the priests alone. They would not allow\nthe established year of 365 days, since called the _vague_ year, to\nbe altered, and so strongly did they feel on this point that, as\nalready stated, every king had to swear when he was crowned that he\nwould not alter the year. We can surmise why this was. It gave great\npower to the priests; they alone could tell on what particular day\nof what particular month the Nile would rise in each year, because\nthey alone knew in what part of the cycle they were; and, in order\nto get that knowledge, they had simply to continue going every year\ninto their Holy of Holies one day in the year, as the priests did\nafterwards in Jerusalem, and watch the little patch of bright sunlight\ncoming into the sanctuary. That would tell them exactly the relation\nof the true solar solstice to their year; and the exact date of the\ninundation of the Nile could be predicted by those who could determine\nobservationally the solstice, but by no others.\n\nBut now suppose that, instead of the solstice, we take the heliacal\nrising of Sirius, and compare the successive risings at the solstice\nwith the 1st of Thoth.\n\nBut why, it will be asked, should there be any difference in the\nlength of the cycles depending upon successive coincidences of the\n1st of Thoth with the solstice and the heliacal rising of Sirius? The\nreason is that stars change their places, and the star to which they\ntrusted to warn them of the beginning of a new year was, like all\nstars, subject to the effects brought about by the precession of the\nequinoxes. Not for long could it continue to rise heliacally either at\na solstice or a Nile flood.\n\nAmong the most important contributors to the astronomical side of\nthis subject are M. Biot and Professor Oppolzer. It is of the highest\nimportance to bring together the fundamental points which have been\nmade out by their calculations. We have determinate references to the\nheliacal rising of Sirius, to the 1st of Thoth, to the solstice, and\nto the rising of the Nile in connection with the Egyptian year; but,\nso far as I have been able to make out, we find nowhere at present any\nsharp reference to the importance of their correlation with the times\nof the _tropical_ year at which these various phenomena took place. The\nquestion has been complicated by the use by chronologists of the Julian\nyear in such calculations; so the Julian year and the use made of it by\nchronologists have to be borne in mind. Unfortunately, many side-issues\nhave in this way been raised.\n\nThe heliacal rising of Sirius, of course--if in those days a true\n_tropical_ year was being dealt with--would have given us a more or\nless constant variation in the time of the rising over a long period,\n_on account of its precessional movement_; and M. Biot and others\nbefore him have pointed out that the variation, produced by that\nmovement, in the time of the year at which the heliacal rising took\nplace was almost exactly equal to the error of the _Julian_ year as\ncompared with the true tropical or Gregorian one. The Sirius year,\nlike the Julian, was about eleven minutes longer than the true year,\nso that in 3,000 years we should have a difference of about 23 days.\nBiot showed by his calculations, using the solar tables extant before\nthose of Leverrier, that from 3200 B.C. to 200 B.C. in the Julian year\nof the chronologists, Sirius had constantly, in each year, risen\nheliacally on July 20 Julian = June 20 Gregorian. Oppolzer, more\nrecently, using Leverrier's tables, has made a very slight correction\nto this, which, however, is practically immaterial for the purposes of\na general statement. He shows that in the latitude of Memphis, in 1600\nB.C., the heliacal rising took place on July 18\u00b76, while in the year 0\nit took place on July 19\u00b77, both Julian dates.\n\nThe variation from the true tropical year brought about by the\nprocessional movement of Sirius or any other star, however, can be\nwatched by noting its heliacal rising in relation to any physical\nphenomenon which marks the true length of the tropical year. Such a\nphenomenon we have in the solstice and in the rising of the Nile,\nwhich, during the whole course of historical time, has been found to\nrise and fall with constancy in each year, the initial rise of the\nwaters, some little way above Memphis, taking place very nearly at the\nSummer Solstice.\n\nAgain, M. Biot has made a series of calculations from which we learn\nthat the heliacal rising of Sirius AT THE SOLSTICE occurred on July\n20 (Julian) in the year 3285 B.C., and that in the year 275 B.C., the\n_solstice_ occurred on June 27 (Julian), while the heliacal _rising\nof Sirius_ took place, as before, on July 20 (Julian), so that in\nPtolemaic times, at Memphis, there was a difference of time of about\n24 days between the heliacal rising of Sirius and the solstice, and\ntherefore the beginning of the Nile flood in that part of the river.\nThis, among other things, is shown on the next page.\n\n[Illustration: CONDITIONS OF THE HELIACAL RISING OF SIRIUS FROM 4000\nB.C. TO 600 A.D.\n\n The diagram shows (1) by white horizontal lines the Gregorian and\n Julian dates for the rising at Thebes and at Memphis; (2) by the full\n diagonal line the Julian date of the solstice or beginning of the\n inundation in each century, at a point of the river near Memphis. The\n fainter lines show the Julian dates for other places where the time\n of the beginning of the flood differs by three days from the Memphis\n dates. The interval between each line represents a difference of three\n days in the arrival of the flood; (3) the interval in days between\n the heliacal rising and the inundation at different periods and at\n different points of the river. This can be determined for each century\n by noticing the interval between the proper diagonal line and that\n indicating the heliacal rising; (4) by dots at the top of the diagram\n the commencement of the Sothic period as determined by Oppolzer, Biot,\n and the author.]\n\nWe learn from the work of Biot and Oppolzer, then, that the\nprecessional movement of the star caused successive heliacal risings\nof Sirius at the solstice to be separated by almost exactly 365\u00bc\ndays--that is, by a greater period than the length of the true year. So\nthat, in relation to this star, two successive heliacal risings at the\n1st of Thoth vague are represented by a period of (365\u00bc \u00d7 4 =) 1461\nyears, while in the case of the solstices we want 1506.\n\nNow in books on Egyptology the period of 1461 years is termed the\nSothic period, and truly so, as it very nearly correctly measures the\nperiod elapsing between two heliacal risings at the solstice (or the\nbeginning of the Nile flood) on the 1st of Thoth in the _vague_ year.\n\nBut it is merely the result of _chance_ that 365\u00bc \u00d7 4 represents it.\nIt was not then known that the precessional movement of Sirius almost\nexactly made up the difference between the true length of the year\nand the assumed length of 365\u00bc days. It has been stated that this\nperiod had not any ancient existence, but was calculated back in later\ntimes. This seems to me very improbable. I look upon it rather as a\ntrue result of observation, the more so as _the period was shortened in\nlater times_, as Oppolzer has shown.\n\nIt will be seen that our investigations land us in several astronomical\nquestions of the greatest interest, and that the study is one in\nwhich modern computations, with the great accuracy which the work of\nLeverrier and others gives to them, can come to the rescue, and eke out\nthe scantiness of the ancient records.\n\nTo consider the subject further, we must pass from the mere question of\nthe year to that of chronology generally.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n               THE SOTHIC CYCLE AND THE USE MADE OF IT.\n\n\nAlthough it is necessary to enter somewhat into the domain of\nchronology to really understand the astronomical observations on which\nthe Egyptian year depended and the uses made of the year, I shall limit\nmyself to the more purely astronomical part. To go over the already\nvast literature is far from my intention, nor is it necessary to\nattempt to settle all the differences of opinion which exist, and which\nare so ably referred to by Krall in his masterly analysis,[73] to which\nI own myself deeply indebted. The tremendously involved state of the\nproblem may be gathered from the fact that the authorities are not yet\ndecided whether many of the dates met with in the inscriptions really\nbelong to a fixed or a vague year!\n\nLet us, rather, put ourselves in the place of the old Egyptians, and\ninquire how, out of the materials they had at hand, a calendar could be\nconstructed in the simplest way.\n\nThey had the vague year and the Sirius year, so related, as we have\nseen, that the successive coincidences of the 1st Thoth in both years\ntook place after an interval of 1460 years. Now, for calendar purposes,\nthey wanted not only to know the days of the years, but the years of\nthe cycle. This latter is the only point we need consider here. How\nwere they to do this? The _easiest_ way would be to conceive a great\nyear or _annus magnus_, consisting of 1460 years, each day of which\nwould represent four years in actual time; and further, to consider\neverything that happened, which had to be thus chronicled, to take\nplace on the 1st of Thoth in each year. How would this system work?\nDuring the first four years, at the beginning of a cycle, the 1st Thoth\nvague would happen on the 1st Thoth of the cycle. During the next four\nyears the 1st Thoth of the vague year would fall on the fifth epact,\nand so on; so, as the cycle swept onward, each group of four years\nwould be marked by a date in the cycle, which would allow the place of\nthe group of years in the cycle to be exactly defined. But as the cycle\nswept onward, the date would sweep backward among the months of the\ngreat sacred year until its end.\n\nTo make this clear, it will be well to construct another diagram\nsomewhat like the former one.\n\n[Illustration: THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE 1ST OF THOTH (REPRESENTING THE\nRISE OF SIRIUS) AMONG THE EGYPTIAN MONTHS IN THE 1460-YEAR SOTHIC\nCYCLE.]\n\nLet us map out the 1460 years which elapsed between two successive\ncoincidences between the 1st of Thoth in the vague year and the\nheliacal rising of Sirius at the solstice, so that we can see at a\nglance the actual number of years from any start-point (= 0) at which\nthe 1st of Thoth in the vague year occurred successively further and\nfurther from the heliacal rising, until at length, after a period of\n1460 years, it coincided again. As the Sirius-year is longer than the\nvague one, the first vague year will be completed before the first\nSirius-year, hence the second vague year will commence just before the\nend of the fixed year, and that is the reason I have reversed the order\nof months in the diagram.\n\nNow it is clear that, if the Egyptians really worked in this fashion,\nthe date of the heliacal rising of Sirius, given in this way, would\nenable us to determine the number of years which had elapsed from the\nbeginning of the cycle.\n\nThis calendar system, it will be seen, is good only for groups of four\nyears. Now, a system which went no further than this would be a very\ncoarse one. We find, however, that special precautions were taken\nto define which year of the four was in question, and the fact that\nthis was done goes some way to support the suggestion I have made.\nBrugsch,[74] indeed, shows that a special sign was employed to mark the\nfirst year of each series of four.\n\nNext, as a matter of fact it is known (I have the high authority of\nDr. Krall for the statement) that each king was supposed to begin his\nreign on the 1st Thoth (or 1st Pachons) of the particular year in which\nthat event took place, and the fact that this was so further supports\nthe suggestion we are considering. During the reign its length and the\nsmaller events might be recorded in vague years and days so long as the\ndate of its commencement had been referred to a cycle.\n\nThe diagram will show how readily the cycle year can be determined for\nany vague year. If, for instance, the 1st Thoth in the vague year falls\non 1 Tybi of the cycle, we see that 980 years must have elapsed since\nthe beginning of the cycle, and so on.\n\nHere, then, we have a true calendar system. If the Egyptians had not\nthis, what had they?\n\nDealing, then, with the matter so far as we have gone, we find that\nthe system suggested enabled the place of the beginning of each vague\nyear and of each king's reign to be dated in terms of the cycle of 1460\nyears; and further that, if they had not such a system as this, they\nhad no means of recording any lapse of time which exceeded a year. It\nis not likely that any nation would put itself in such a position,\nleast of all the ancient Egyptians.\n\nThe existence of periods of 365 years and of 120 years among the\nEgyptians is easily explained when the existence of this great year is\nrecognised; the 365 years' period, marking approximately the intervals\nfrom solstice to equinox and equinox to solstice, in the natural year.\n\nLet us next try to get a little further by assuming the supposed method\nof dating to have been actually employed, and finding the year of the\nbeginning of one or more of these cycles thus obtained. This should\neventually help us to determine whether or not the Egyptians acted on\nthis principle, or used one widely different. In such an investigation\nas this, however, we are terribly hampered by the uncertainty of\nEgyptian dates; while, as I have said before, there is great divergence\nof opinion among Egyptologists as to whether, from very early times,\nthere was not a true fixed year.\n\nBut let us suppose that the vague year was in common use as a civil\nyear, and that the rising of Sirius started the year; then, if we can\nget any accepted date to work with, and use the diagram to see how many\nyears had elapsed between that date and the start-point of the cycle,\nwe shall see if there be any cyclical relation; and if we find it, it\nwill be evidence, so far as it goes, of the existence not only of a\nvague year, but of the mode of reckoning we are discussing.\n\nNow it so happens that there are three references, with dates given,\nto the rising of Sirius in widely different times; and, curiously\nenough, the month references are nearly the same. I begin with the\nmost recent, as in this case the date can be fixed with the greater\ncertainty. It is an inscription at Phil\u00e6, described by Brugsch (p.\n87), who states that, when it was written, the 1st of Thoth = 28th of\nEpiphi. That is, according to the view we are considering, the heliacal\nrising of Sirius--that is, the 1st Thoth of the vague year fell on the\n28th Epiphi of our cycle. He fixes the date of the inscription between\n127 and 117 B.C. Let us take it as 122. Next, referring to our diagram\nto find how many years had elapsed since the beginning of the cycle, we\nhave--\n\n  Days.\n    5 Epacts.\n   30 Mesori.\n    2 Epiphi.\n   \u2500\u2500\n   37 \u00d7 4 = 148 years elapsed.\n\nThe cycle, then, began in (118 + 122 =) 270 B.C.\n\nWe next find a much more ancient inscription recording the rising\nof Sirius on the 28th of Epiphi. Obviously, if the Sothic cycle had\nanything to do with the matter, this must have happened 1458 years\nearlier, _i.e._, about (1458 + 122 =) 1580 B.C. Under which king?\nThothmes III., who reigned, according to Lepsius, 1603-1565 B.C.;\naccording to Brugsch, 1625-1577. Now, the inscription in question is\nstated to have been inscribed by Thothmes III., and, it may be added,\non the temple (now destroyed) at Elephantine.\n\nThere is yet another inscription, also known to be of a still earlier\nperiod, referring to the rising of Sirius on the 27th of Epiphi. We\nmay neglect the difference of one day in the cycle (representing four\nyears); and again, if the use of the Sothic cycle were the origin of\nthe identity of dates, we have this time, according to Oppolzer, a\nperiod of 1460 years to add: this gives us (1580 + 1460 =) 3040 B.C.\nAgain under which king? Here we are face to face with one of the\ndifficulties of these inquiries, to which reference has already been\nmade. It may be stated, however, that the inscription is ascribed to\nPepi, and that, according to various authorities, that king reigned\nsome time between 3000 and 3700 B.C.\n\nWe come, then, to this: that one of the oldest dated inscriptions known\nseems to belong to a system which continued in use at Phil\u00e6 up to about\n100 B.C., and it was essentially a system of a vague year, the 1st\nThoths of which were represented as days on a 1460-years' cycle.\n\nNow, assuming that the approximate date of the earliest inscription is\n3044 B.C., and that it represented the heliacal rising of Sirius on\nthe 27th of Epiphi, the year 3044 must have been the [(5 + 30 + 3) x 4\n=] 152nd after the beginning of the cycle. The cycle, then, must have\ncommenced (3044 + 152 =) 3196 B.C.\n\nIf we assume that the real date of Pepi, who, it is stated, reigned\n100 years, included the year 3044 B.C., it may be, then, that the\ninscriptions to which I have directed attention give us three Sothic\ncycles beginning--\n\n   122 + 148 =  270 B.C.\n  1580 + 148 = 1728 B.C.\n  3044 + 148 = 3192 B.C.\n\nAccording to Biot's calculation, the first heliacal rising of Sirius at\nthe solstice took place in the year 3285 B.C.; it is possible, then,\nthat the Egyptians utilised this heliacal rising within a hundred\nyears of the date on which it would have been first possible for them\nto do so. This shows how keenly alive they were in these matters, and\nalso, I think, that they had been trained by watching some other star\npreviously.\n\nIt would also follow that the vague year was in common use. There is\nample evidence to show, however, that by this time the priests were\nfully acquainted with the true year, which was called the sacred year,\nand that every four years an additional epact was interpolated. Their\nsolar temples, then, at last had been utilised.\n\nOne argument which has been used to show that a vague year was not\nin use during the time of the Ramessids has been derived from some\ninscriptions at Silsilis which refer to the dates on which sacred\nofferings were presented there to the Nile-god. As the dates 15th\nof Thoth and 15th of Epiphi are the same in all three inscriptions,\nalthough they cover the period from Rameses II. to Rameses III.--120\nyears--it has been argued by Brugsch that a fixed year is in question.\n\nBrugsch points out that the two dates are separated by 65 days;\nthat this is the exact interval between the Coptic festivals of the\ncommencement of the flow and the marriage of the Nile--the time of\nhighest water; and that, therefore, in all probability these are the\ntwo natural phenomena to commemorate which the offerings on the dates\nin question were made.\n\nBut Brugsch does not give the whole of the inscription. A part of it,\ntranslated by De Roug\u00e9,[75] runs thus:--\n\n \"I (the king) know what is said in the dep\u00f4t of the writings which are\n in the House of the Books. The Nile emerges from its fountains to give\n the fulness of life-necessaries to the gods,\" etc.\n\nDe Roug\u00e9 justly remarks:\n\n \"Le langage singulier que tient le Pharaon d\u00e9dicateur pourrait m\u00eame\n faire soup\u00e7onner _qu'il ne s'agit pas de la venue effective de l'eau\n sainte du Nil \u00e0 l'une des deux dates pr\u00e9cit\u00e9es_.\"\n\nKrall (_loc. cit._, p. 51) adds the following interesting remarks:--\n\n \"Consider, now, what these 'Scriptures of the House of Life' were\n like. In a catalogue of books from the temple of Edf\u00fb we find,\n besides a series of purely religious writings, 'The knowledge of the\n periodical recurrence of the double stars (sun and moon),' and the\n 'Law of the periodical recurrence of the stars.'\n\n \" ... The knowledge embodied in these writings dated from the oldest\n times of the Egyptian empire, in which the priests placed, rightly\n or wrongly, the origin of all their sacred rolls\" (_cf._ Manetho's\n \"History,\" p.130).\n\nNow, to investigate this question we have to approach some\nconsiderations which at first sight may seem to be foreign to our\nsubject. I shall be able to show, however, that this is not so.\n\n_Imprimis_ we must remember that it is a question of Silsilis, where\nwe know, both from tradition and geological evidence, in ancient times\nthe first cataract was encountered. The phrase \"the Nile emerges from\nits fountains\" would be much more applicable to Silsilis, the seat of\na cataract, than as it is at present. We do not know when the river\nmade its way through this impediment, but we do know that after it took\nplace and the Nile stream was cleared as far as the cataract that still\nremains at Elephantine, a nilometer was erected there, and that during\nthe whole of later Egyptian history, at all events, the time of the\nrise of the river has been carefully recorded both there and at R\u00f4da.\n\nFrom this it is fair to infer that in those more ancient times the same\nthing took place at Silsilis; if this were so, the reason of the record\nof the coming of the inundation at Silsilis is not far to seek, and\nhence the suggestion lies on the surface that the records in question\nmay state the date of the arrival _in relation to Memphis time_.\n\nIt has been rendered, I hope, quite clear in Chapter XXIII. that there\nis a difference of fifteen or sixteen days between the arrival of the\ninundation at Elephantine and at Memphis. Hence, if in Pepi's time a\nNile rise were observed at Silsilis, there might easily be a difference\nof fifteen days between the rise of the Nile at Silsilis and the\nMemphic 1st of Thoth. If both at Silsilis and Memphis the Nile rise\nmarked 1st Thoth, the day of the rise at Memphis would correspond to\n15th Thoth at Silsilis, so that a king reaching Silsilis with Memphis\nlocal time would be struck with this difference, and anxious to record\nit. May not this, then, have been the important datum recorded in the\nsacred books? If so, it would not touch the question of the fixed or\nvague year at all.\n\nLet it, then, be for the present conceded that there was a vague year,\nand that at least some of the inscriptions which suggest the use of\nonly a fixed year in these early times may be explained in another way.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXVII.\n\n                    THE CALENDAR AND ITS REVISION.\n\n\nIn the last chapter the so-called Sothic cycle was discussed, and dates\nof the commencement of the successive cycles were suggested.\n\nThese dates were arrived at by taking the very simplest way of writing\na calendar in pre-temple times, and using the calendar inscriptions in\nthe most natural way.\n\nThe dates for the coincidence of the heliacal rising of Sirius and the\n1st Thoth of the vague year at, or near, the solstice, were--\n\n   270 B.C.\n  1728 B.C.\n  3192 B.C.\n\nHere, _in limine_, we meet with a difficulty which, if it cannot be\nexplained, evidently proves that the Egyptians did not construct and\nuse their calendar in the way we have supposed.\n\nWe have it on the authority of Censorinus that a Sothic period was\ncompleted in 139 A.D., and that there was then a vague year in partial\nuse. It is here that the work of Oppolzer is of such high value to us;\nhe discussed all the statements made by Censorinus, and comes to the\nconclusion that his account is to be depended upon. It has followed\nfrom the inquiries of chronologists that in this year the 1st of Thoth\ntook place on July 20 (Julian), the date originally of the heliacal\nrising of Sirius, the beginning of the year.\n\nThis being so, then, in the year 23 A.D.--in which the Alexandrine\nreform of the calendar, of which more presently, was introduced--the\n1st of Thoth would take place on August 29, a very important date.\nCensorinus also said that in his own time (A.D. 238) the 1st of Thoth\nof the vague year fell on June 25. The diagram will show the connection\nof these three dates in reference to the vague year. The relations\nof the statements made as to the years 139 and 238 are very clearly\ndiscussed by Prof. Oppolzer.\n\n[Illustration: JULIAN DATES OF THE 1ST OF THOTH (VAGUE) FROM 23 A.D.\nAND 240 A.D.]\n\nOppolzer, then, being satisfied as to the justice of taking the year\n139 A.D. as a time of coincidence of the fixed and vague years--the\nlatter being determined alone by the heliacal rising of Sirius, and,\nbe it remembered, not by the solstices--calculated with great fulness,\nusing Leverrier's modern values, the years in which, in the various\nEgyptian latitudes, chiefly taking Memphis (lat. 30\u00b0) and Thebes (lat.\n25\u00b0), the coincidence between the two Thoths occurred in the previous\nperiods of Egyptian history. He finds these dates for latitude 30\u00b0 as\nfollow:--\n\n        Julian year.      Historical year.[76]\n  0        -4235               -4236\n  1        -2774               -2775\n  2        -1316               -1317\n  3        + 139               + 139\n  4        +1591               +1591\n  5        +3039               +3039\n\nNow, the date which Oppolzer gives for the coincidence which is nearest\nthe date we had previously determined at 270 B.C. is 139 A.D. There is\na difference of 409 years.\n\nThe question is, Can this fundamental difference be explained? I think\nit can.\n\nIn the first place, it is beyond doubt that, in the interval between\nthe Ramessids and the Ptolemies, the calendar, even supposing the\nvague year to have been used and to have been retained, had been\nfundamentally altered, and the meanings of the hieroglyphics of the\ntetramenes had been changed--in other words, the designations of the\nthree seasons had been changed.\n\nOn this point I quote Krall[77]:--\n\n \"It is well known that the interpretation of the seasons and the\n months given by Champollion was opposed by Brugsch, who propounded\n another, which is now universally adopted by experts. Something has\n happened here which is often repeated in the course of Egyptian\n history--the signs have changed their meaning. Under the circumstance\n that the vague year during 1461 years wanders through the seasons in\n a great cycle, it is natural that the signs for the tetramenes should\n have changed their significations in the course of millenniums.\n\n \"While Thoth was the first month of the inundation in the documents of\n the Thutmosids and Ramessids, we have in the time of the Ptolemies the\n month Pachons as the first month of the flood season. Whilst Brugsch's\n explanation is valid for the time of the Ramessids, it is not so for\n that of the Ptolemies, to which Champollion's view is applicable.\"\n\nThe signs used for the tetramenes are supposed to represent water,\na field with growing plants, and a barn; the natural order would be\nthat the first should represent the inundation, the second the sowing\nwhich succeeds it, and the last harvest-time. If this be conceded, the\ninitial system would have had the month Thoth connected with the water\nsign, as Thoth in early Egyptian times was the first inundation month.\nBut in the times of the Ramessids even this is not so. Thoth has the\nsowing sign assigned to it. In the time of the Ptolemies the Hood is no\nlonger in Thoth, but in Pachons, and Pachons has the barn sign attached\nto it, while the month Thoth is marked by the water sign, thereby\nbringing back the hypothetical relation _between the name of the month\nand the sign_, although, as we have seen, Thoth is no longer the flood\nmonth.\n\nEgyptologists declare that all, or at least part, of this change took\nplace between the periods named; they are undoubtedly justified as\nregards a part.\n\nAt one point in this interval we are fortunately supplied with\nsome precise information. In the year 238 B.C. a famous decree was\npublished, variously called the decree of Canopus and the decree of\nTanis, since it was inscribed on a stone found there. It is perfectly\nclear that one of the functions of this decree was to change, or to\napprove an already made change in, the designation of the season or\ntetramene in which the inundation commenced, from Thoth to Pachons.\n\nAnother function was to establish a fixed year, as we shall see\npresently. We must assume, then, that a vague year was in vogue prior\nto the decree. Now the decree tells us that at its date the heliacal\nrising of Sirius took place on 1 Payni. Assuming that this date had any\nrelation to the system we have been considering, the cycle to which it\nbelonged must have begun\n\n  Days.\n   5 Epacts\n  30 Mesori\n  30 Epiphi\n  30 Payni\n  \u2500\u2500\n  95 \u00d7 4 = 380 years previously--that is, in the year 618 B.C.\n\nHere at first sight it would seem that the Sothic cycles we have\nbeen considering have no relation to the one now in question; for,\naccording to my view, the last Sothic cycle began in 1728 B.C. A little\nconsideration, however, will lead to the contrary view, and show that\nthe time about 600 B.C. was very convenient for a revision of the\ncalendar.\n\nIn the first place, nearly a month now elapsed between the coming of\nthe flood and the heliacal rising; and in the second, by making the\nyear for the future _to begin with the flood_, a change might be made\ninvolving tetramenes only.\n\n  Thus, commencement of cycle            1728 B.C.\n  Epacts                         5\n  Two tetramenes               240\n  Month between flood and\n    rising of Sirius            30[78]\n                               \u2014\u2014\u2014\n                               275 \u00d7 4 = 1100\n                                         \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n                                          628 B.C.\n\nNor is this all. A very simple diagrammatic statement will\n\n    1728\n    B.C.\n\n  Thoth   \u2510\n  Phaophi \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Athyr   \u2502\n  Choiach \u2518\n  Tybi      \u2510\n  Menchir   \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Phamenoth \u2502\n  Pharmuti  \u2518\n  Pachons \u2510\n  Payni   \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Epiphi  \u2502\n  Mesori  \u2518\n\nshow what might also have happened about 618 B.C. if a reformer\nof the calendar (and one especially of conservative tendencies)\nappeared upon the scene, who believed that the ancient sign for the\ninundation-tetramene was the water sign, and that the ancient name was\nThoth. Finding the cycle beginning in 1728 B.C. with the signs as shown\nabove--\n\n  B.C.\n  618\n\n  Thoth    \u2510\n  Phaophi  \u251c   [Hieroglyph]\n  Athyr    \u2502\n  Choiach  \u2518\n  Tybi       \u2510\n  Menchir    \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Phamenoth  \u2502\n  Pharmuti   \u2518\n  Pachons \u2510\n  Payni   \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Epiphi  \u2502\n  Mesori  \u2518\n\nwhen starting fresh, he would seize the opportunity of effecting a\nchange, not only by dealing with a tetramene, but he would change the\nnames of the tetramenes allocated to the signs; as Krall remarks, it\nwas almost merely a question of a change of the sign! It really was\nmore, because the new tetramene began with the flood.\n\nAssuming this, we can see exactly what was done in 238 B.C., _i.e._,\nabout 380 years later. We have seen that the 380 years is made up of\n\n   5 Epacts\n  30 Mesori\n  30 Epiphi\n  30 Payni\n  \u2500\u2500\n  95 \u00d7 4 = 380\n\n--the heliacal rising of Sirius occurring on 1 Payni, having swept\nbackwards along the months in the manner already explained. We had, to\ncontinue the diagrammatic treatment--\n\n  B.C.\n  238\n\n  Pachons \u2510\n  Payni   \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Epiphi  \u2502\n  Mesori  \u2518\n  Thoth    \u2510\n  Phaophi  \u251c  [Hieroglyph]\n  Athyr    \u2502\n  Choiach  \u2518\n  &c.\n\nTo sum up, so far as we have gone, we have the three inscriptions\nat Phil\u00e6, Elephantine and the still more ancient one of Pepi (?),\nindicating on the simple system we have suggested beginnings of Sothic\ncycles on the 1st Thoth about the years\n\n   270  \u2510\n  1728  \u251c B.C.\n  3192  \u2518\n\nOn the other hand, we have the decree of Canopus, giving us by exactly\nthe same system a local revision of the calendar about 600 B.C. I\nsay _about_ 600 B.C. because it must be remembered that a difference\nof 2\u00bd days in the phenomena observed will make a difference of 10\nyears in the date, and we do not know in what part of the valley the\nrevision took place, and therefore at what precise time in relation to\nthe heliacal rising the Nile-rise was observed.\n\nWhenever presumably it took place, New Year's Day was reckoned by the\nFlood, and the rising of Sirius followed nearly, if not quite, a month\nafterwards. The equivalent of the old 1st Thoth was therefore 1 Payni.\nIn months, then, the old 1st Thoth was separated from the new one (= 1\nPayni) by three months (Payni, Mesori, Epiphi) and the Epacts.\n\nIn this way, we can exactly account for the difference of 409 years\nreferred to above as the dates assigned by Censorinus and myself for\nthe beginning of the Sirius cycle.\n\n  Difference between 270 and 239 =  31 years.\n  3 months = 90 days \u00d7 4         = 360   \"\n  5 epacts \u00d7 4                   =  20   \"\n                                   \u2500\u2500\u2500\n                                   411   \"\n\nThe difference of two years is equal only to half a day!\n\nIt seems, then, pretty clear from this that the suggestion I have\nventured to make on astronomical grounds may be worth consideration\non the part of Egyptologists. If our inquiries have really led us to\nthe true beginnings of the Sothic periods, it is obvious that those\nwho informed Censorinus that the year 139 A.D. was the end of a cycle\n_omitted to tell him what we now can learn from the decree of Tanis_.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n                THE FIXED YEAR AND FESTIVAL CALENDARS.\n\n\nThe reformation of the Egyptian calendar, to be gathered, as I\nsuggested in the last chapter, from the decree of Tanis, is not,\nhowever, the point to which reference is generally made in connection\nwith the decree. The attempt recorded by it to get rid of the vague\nyear is generally dwelt on.\n\nAlthough the system of reckoning which was based on the vague year\nhad advantages with which it has not been sufficiently credited,\nundoubtedly it had its drawbacks.\n\nThe tetramenes, with their special symbolism of flood-, seed-, and\nharvest-time, had apparently all meant each in turn; however the\nmeanings of the signs were changed, the \"winter season\" occurred in\nthis way in the height of summer, the \"sowing-time\" when the whole\nland was inundated and there was no land to plant, and so on. Each\nfestival, too, swept through the year. Still, it is quite certain that\ninformation was given by the priests each year in advance, so that\nagriculture did not suffer; for if this had not been done, the system,\ninstead of dying hard, as it did, would have been abolished thousands\nof years before.\n\nBefore I proceed to state shortly what happened with regard to the\nfixing of the year, it will be convenient here to state a suggestion\nthat has occurred to me, on astronomical grounds, with regard to the\ninitial change of sign.\n\nIt is to be noted that in the old tables of the months, instead of\nSirius leading the year, we have Te\u03c7i with the two feathers of Amen. In\nlater times this is changed to Sirius.\n\nI believe it is generally acknowledged that the month-table at the\nRamesseum is the oldest one we have; there is a variant at Edf\u00fb. They\nboth run as follows, and no doubt they had their origin when a 1st\nThoth coincided with an heliacal rising and Nile flood.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Egyptian month.\u2502Tropical month.\u2502    Ramesseum.      \u2502   Edf\u00fb.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                 \u2502               \u2502                    \u2502\n   1. Thoth      \u2502   June-July   \u2502Te\u03c7i                \u2502Te\u03c7i\n   2. Phaophi    \u2502   July-Aug.   \u2502Ptah                \u2502\n                 \u2502               \u2502   (Ptah-res-aneb-f)\u2502Ptah Men\u03c7\n   3. Athyr      \u2502   Aug.-Sep.   \u2502Hathor              \u2502 ?\n   4. Choiach    \u2502   Sep.-Oct.   \u2502Pa\u03c7t                \u2502Kehek\n   5. Tybi       \u2502   Oct.-Nov.   \u2502Min                 \u2502Set-but\n   6. Menchir    \u2502   Nov.-Dec.   \u2502Jackal (rekh-ur)    \u2502Hippopotamus\n                 \u2502               \u2502                    \u2502 (rekh-ur)\n   7. Phamenoth  \u2502   Dec.-Jan.   \u2502  \" (rekh-netches)  \u2502Hippopotamus\n                 \u2502               \u2502                    \u2502  (rekh-netches)\n   8. Pharmuthi  \u2502   Jan.-Feb.   \u2502Rennuti             \u2502Renen\n   9. Pachons    \u2502   Feb.-Mar.   \u2502\u03c7ensu               \u2502\u03c7ensu\n  10. Payni      \u2502   Mar.-Ap.    \u2502Horus (\u03c7onti)       \u2502Horus\n                 \u2502               \u2502                    \u2502 (Hor-\u03c7ent-\u03c7ati)\n  11. Epiphi     \u2502   Ap.-May     \u2502Apet                \u2502Apet\n  12. Mesori     \u2502   May-June    \u2502Horus (Hor-m-\u03c7ut)   \u2502Horus\n                 \u2502               \u2502                    \u2502 (Hor-ra-m-\u03c7ut)\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n\nI am informed that Te\u03c7i, in the above month-list, has some relation\nto Thoth. In the early month-list the goddess is represented with the\ntwo feathers of Amen, and in this early stage I fancy we can recognise\nher as Amen-t; but in later copies of the table the symbol is changed\nto that of _Sirius_. This, then, looks like a change of cult depending\nupon the introduction of a new star--that is, a star indicating by\nits heliacal rising the Nile-rise after the one first used had become\nuseless for such a purpose.\n\n[Illustration: THE MONTH-TABLE AT THE RAMESSEUM.]\n\nI have said that the Ramesseum month-list is probably the oldest one we\nhave. It is considered by some to date only from Rameses II., and to\nindicate a fixed year; such, however, is not Krall's opinion.[79] He\nwrites:--\n\n \"The latest investigations of D\u00fcmichen show that the calendar of\n Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb is only a copy of the original composed under Ramses II.\n about 120 years before....\n\n \"But the true original of the calendar of Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb does not even\n date from the time of Ramses II. It is known to every Egyptologist how\n little the time of the Ramessids produced what was truly original,\n how much just this time restricted itself to a reproduction of the\n traditions of previous generations. In the calendar of Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb\n we have (p. 48) not a fixed year instituted under Ramses II., but\n the normal year of the old time, the vague year, as it was, to use\n Dschewhari's words quoted above (p. 852) in the first year of its\n institution, the year as it was before the Egyptians had made two\n unwelcome observations: First, that the year of 365 days did not\n correspond to the reality, but shifted by one day in four years with\n regard to the seasons; secondly--which, of course, took a much longer\n time--that the rising of Sirius ceased to coincide with the beginning\n of the Nile flood.\n\n \"We are led to the same conclusion by a consideration of the\n festivals given in the calendar of Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb. They are almost\n without exception the festivals which we have found in our previous\n investigation of the calendars of Esne and Edf\u00fb to be attached to the\n same days. We know already the Uaya festival of the 17th and 18th\n Thoth, the festival of Hermes of the 19th Thoth, the great feast of\n Amen beginning on the 19th Paophi, the Osiris festivals of the last\n decade of Choiak, and that of the coronation of Horuz on the 1st Tybi.\n\n \"Festivals somehow differing from the ancient traditions and general\n usage are unknown in the calendar of Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, and it is just such\n festivals which have enabled us to trace fixed years in the calendars\n of Edf\u00fb and Esne.\n\n \"We are as little justified in considering the\n mythologico-astronomical representations and inscriptions on the\n graves of the time of the Ramessids as founded on a fixed year, as\n we can do this in the case of the Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb calendar. In this\n the astronomical element of the calendar is quite overgrown by the\n mythological. Not only was the daily and yearly course of the sun a\n most important event for the Egyptian astronomer, but the priest also\n had in his sacred books many mythological records concerning the god\n R\u0101, which had to be taken into account in these representations. The\n mythological ideas dated from the oldest periods of Egyptian history;\n we shall therefore be obliged, for their explanation, not to remain in\n the thirteenth or fourteenth century before Christ, but to ascend into\n previous centuries. _I should think about the middle of the fourth\n millennium before Christ, that is the time at which the true original\n of the Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb calendar was framed._ Further, we must in these\n mythological and astronomical representations not overlook the fact\n that we cannot expect them to show mathematical accuracy--that, on\n the contrary, if that is a consideration, we must proceed with the\n greatest caution. We know now how inexact were the representations and\n texts of tombs, especially where the Egyptian artist could suppose\n that no human eye would inspect his work; we also know how often\n representations stop short for want of room, and how much the contents\n were mutilated for the sake of symmetry.\"\n\n\n       Sirian,    Pre-Sirian\n      3192 B.C.     Te\u03c7i\n\n                  Thoth   \u2510\n                  Phaophi \u251c [Hieroglyph]\n                  Athyr   \u2502\n                  Choiach \u2518\n      Thoth   \u2510   Tybi      \u2510\n      Phaophi \u251c   Menchir   \u251c [Hieroglyph]\n      Athyr   \u2502   Phamenoth \u2502\n      Choiach \u2518   Pharmuthi \u2518\n      Tybi     \u2510  Pachons \u2510\n      Menchir  \u251c  Payni   \u251c [Hieroglyph]\n      Phamenoth\u2502  Epiphi  \u2502\n      Pharmuthi\u2518  Mesori  \u2518\n      Pachons\n      Payni\n      Epiphi\n      Mesori\n\n                SYRIAN AND PRE-SYRIAN TETRAMENE-SIGNS.\n\nThere is also, as I have indicated, temple evidence that Sirius was\nnot the first star utilised as a herald of sunrise. We have, then,\nthis possibility to explain the variation from the true meaning of the\nsigns in Ramessid times. And it may be gathered from this that the\ncalendar was reorganised[80] when the Sirius worship came in, and that\nthe change effected in 619 B.C. brought the hieroglyphic signs back to\ntheir natural meaning and first use.\n\nThe whole story of calendar revision may, therefore, possibly have been\nas follows:--\n\n[Illustration: [Each group of four linked to a Hieroglyph]\n\n  Pre-Sirian\n  Te\u03c7i\n\n  Thoth\n  Phaophi\n  Athyr\n  Choiach\n  Tybi\n  Menchir\n  Phamenoth\n  Pharmuthi\n  Pachons\n  Payni\n  Epiphi\n  Mesori\n\n  Sirian,\n  3192 B.C.\n  1st. Cycle\n\n  Thoth\n  Phaophi\n  Athyr\n  Choiach\n  Tybi\n  Menchir\n  Phamenoth\n  Pharmuthi\n  Pachons\n  Payni\n  Epiphi\n  Mesori\n\n  2nd. Cycle.\n  1728 B.C.\n\n  Thoth\n  Phaophi\n  Athyr\n  Choiach\n  Tybi\n  Menchir\n  Phamenoth\n  Pharmuthi\n  Pachons\n  Payni\n  Epiphi\n  Mesori\n\n  B.C.\n  618\n\n  Thoth\n  Phaophi\n  Athyr\n  Choiach\n  Tybi\n  Menchir\n  Phamenoth\n  Pharmuthi\n  Pachons\n  Payni\n  Epiphi\n  Mesori\n\n  B.C.\n  238\n\n  Pachons\n  Payni\n  Epiphi\n  Mesori\n  Thoth\n  Phaophi\n  Athyr\n  Choiach\n\n  &c.\n\nThe revision of 618 B.C. was not universally accepted, so from that\ntime onward there was an old and a new style in force.\n\nBefore I pass on, it may be convenient, in connection with the above\nmonth-tables, to refer in the briefest way to the mythology relating\nto the yearly movement of the sun, in order to show that when this\nquestion is considered at all, if it helps us with regard to the\nmythology connected with the rising and setting of stars, it will as\nassuredly help us with regard to the mythology of the various changes\nwhich occur throughout the year.\n\nWe have, as we have seen, in the Egyptian year really the prototype of\nour own. The Egyptians, thousands of years ago, had an almost perfect\nyear containing twelve months; but, instead of four seasons, they had\nthree--the time of the sowing, the time of the harvest, and the time of\nthe inundation. Unfortunately, at various times in Egyptian history,\nthe symbols for the tetramenes seem to have got changed.\n\nThe above-given inscriptions show that they had a distinct symbolism\nfor each of the months. Gods or goddesses are given for ten months out\nof the twelve, and where we have not these we have the hippopotamus (or\nthe pig) and the jackal, two circumpolar constellations. I think there\nis no question that we are dealing here with these constellations,\nthough the figures have been supposed to represent something quite\ndifferent.\n\nThere are also myths and symbols of the twelve changes during the\ntwelve hours of the day; the sun being figured as a child at rising,\nas an old man when setting in the evening. These ideas were also\ntransferred to the annual motion of the sun. In Macrobius, as quoted by\nKrall, we find the statement that the Egyptians compared the yearly\ncourse of the sun also with the phases of human life.\n\n  Little child = Winter Solstice.\n  Young man    = Spring Equinox.\n  Bearded man  = Summer Solstice.\n  Old man      = Autumnal Equinox.\n\nWith the day of the Summer Solstice the sun reaches the greatest\nnorthern rising amplitude, and at the Winter Solstice its greatest\nsouthern amplitude. By the solstices the year is divided into two\napproximately equal parts; during one the points of rising move\nsouthwards, during the other northwards.\n\nThis phenomenon, it is stated, was symbolised by the two eyes of R\u0101,\nthe so-called Utchats, which look in different directions. They appear\nas representing the sun in the two halves of the year.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have next to discuss the fixed year, to which the Egyptian\nchronologists were finally driven in later Egyptian times. The decree\nof Tanis was the true precursor of the Julian correction of the\ncalendar. In consequence of this correction we now add a day every four\nyears to the end of February. The decree regulated the addition, by the\nEgyptians, of a day every four years by adding a day to the epacts,\nwhich were thus six every four years instead of being always five, as\nthey had been before.\n\nIn fact, it replaced the vague year by the sacred year long known to\nthe priests.\n\nBut if everything had gone on then as the priests of Tanis imagined,\nthe Egyptian New Year's Day, _if_ determined by the heliacal rising\nof Sirius, would not always afterwards have been the 1st of Payni,\nalthough the solstice and Nile flood would have been clue at Memphis\nabout the 1st of Pachons; and this is, perhaps, one among the reasons\nwhy the decree was to a large extent ignored.\n\nHence, for some years after the date of the decree of Tanis, there were\nat least three years in force--the new fixed year, the new vague year,\nreckoning from Pachons, and the old vague year, reckoning from Thoth.\n\nBut after some years another attempt was made to get rid of all this\nconfusion. The time was 23 B.C., 216 years after the decree of Tanis,\nand the place was Alexandria. Hence the new fixed year introduced is\ntermed the Alexandrine year.\n\nThis new attempt obviously implied that the first one had failed;\nand the fact that the vague year was continued in the interval is\nsufficiently demonstrated by the fact that the new year was 216\u22154 =\n54 days _en retard_. In the year of Tanis it is stated that the 1st\nPachons, the new New Year's Day, the real beginning of the Hood, fell\non the 19th of June (Gregorian), the Summer Solstice, and hence the 1st\nof Thoth fell on the 22nd of October (Gregorian). In the Alexandrine\nyear the 22nd of October is represented by the 29th of August, and the\n19th of June by the 20th of April.\n\nIt is noteworthy that in the Alexandrine year the heliacal rising\nof Sirius on the 23rd of July (Julian) falls on the 29th of Epiphi,\nnearly the same date as that to which I first drew attention in the\ninscriptions of the date of Thothmes and Pepi. This, however, it is now\nclearly seen, is a pure accident, due to the break of continuity before\nthe Tanis year, and the _slip_ between that and the Alexandrine one. It\nis important to mention this, because it has been thought that somehow\nthe \"Alexandrine year\" was in use in Pepi's time.\n\nIt would seem that the Alexandrine revision was final, and that the\nyear was truly fixed, and from that time to this it has remained so,\nand must in the future for ever remain so. It must never be forgotten\nthat we owe this perfection to the Egyptian Festival Calendars.\n\nOne of the chief uses of the Egyptian calendar that has come down to us\nwas the arrangement and dating of the chief feasts throughout the year\nin the different temples.\n\nThe fact that the two great complete feast-calendars of Edf\u00fb and Esne\nrefer to the only fixed years evidenced by records--those of Tanis\nand Alexandria--one of which was established over 200 years after the\nother, is of inestimable value for the investigation of the calendar\nand chronology of ancient Egypt.\n\nIn an excellent work of Brugsch, \"Three Festival Calendars from the\nTemple of Apollinopolis Magna (Edf\u00fb) in Upper Egypt,\" we have two\ncalendars which we can refer to fixed years, and can date with the\ngreatest accuracy. In the case of one of these, that of Esne, this is\nuniversally recognised; as to the other, that of Apollinopolis Magna,\nwe are indebted to the researches of Krall, who points out, however,\nthat \"it is only when the province of Egyptian mythology has been dealt\nwith in all directions that we can undertake a successful explanation\nof the festival catalogues. Even externally they show the greatest\neccentricities, which are not diminished, but increased, on a closer\ninvestigation.\"\n\nAbout some points, however, there is no question. The Summer Solstice\nis attached in the Edf\u00fb calendar to the 6th Pachons, according to\nKrall, while the beginning of the flood is noted on the 1st of that\nmonth. In the Esne calendar the 26th Payni is New Year's Day. We\nread:--\"26th Payni, New Year's Day, Feast of the Revelation of Kahi in\nthe Temple. To dress the crocodiles, as in the month of Menchir, day\n8.\"\n\nPeculiar to the Esne calendar, according to Krall, is the mentioning\nof the \"New Years Festival of the Ancestors\" on the 9th of Thoth; to\nthe Edf\u00fb calendar, publication No. 1 of Brugsch, the festival \"of the\noffering of the first of the harvested fruits, after the precept of\nKing Amenemha I.,\" on the 1st Epiphi, and \"the celebration of the feast\nof the Great Conflagration\" on the 9th of Menchir. In feast-calendar\nNo. 1, the reference to the peculiar Feast of Set is also remarkable;\nthis was celebrated twice, first in the first days of Thoth (? 9th),\nthen, as it appears, in Pachons (10th). This feast is well known to\nhave been first mentioned under the old Pharaoh Pepi Merinr\u0101.\n\nIt is a question whether in the new year of the ancestors and the\nfeasts of Set, all occurring about the 9th Thoth and Pachons, we have\nnot Memphis festivals which gave way to Theban ones; for, so far as I\ncan make out, the flood takes about nine days to pass from Thebes to\nMemphis, so that in Theban time the arrival of the flood at Memphis\nwould occur on 9th or 10th Thoth. There is no difficulty about the\nsecond dating in Pachons, for, as we have seen, this followed on the\nreconstruction of the calendar.\n\nIt is also worthy of note that the feast of the \"Great Conflagration\"\ntook place very near the Spring Equinox.\n\nLet us dwell for a moment on the Edf\u00fb inscriptions to see if we can\nlearn from them whether or not they bear out the views brought forward\nwith regard to this reconstruction.\n\nAs we have seen, it is now acknowledged that the temple inscriptions at\nEdf\u00fb (which are stated to have been cut between 117 and 81 B.C.[81])\nare based upon the fixed year of Tanis; hence we should expect that the\nrising of Sirius would be referred to on 1 Payni, and this is so. But\nhere, as in the other temples, we get double dates referring to the old\ncalendars, and we find the \"wounding of Set\" referred to on the 1st\nEpiphi and the rising of Sirius referred to under 1 Mesori. Now this\nmeans, if the old vague year is referred to, as it most probably is,\nthat\n\n   5 Epacts\n  30 Mesori\n  \u2500\u2500\n  35 \u00d7 4 = 140 years\n\nhad elapsed since the beginning of a Sothic cycle, when the calendar\ncoincidences were determined, which were afterwards inscribed on the\ntemple walls. We have, then, 140 years to subtract from the beginning\nof the cycle in 270 B.C. This gives us 130 B.C., and it will be seen\nthat this agrees as closely as can be expected with my view, whereas\nthe inscription has no meaning at all if we take the date given by\nCensorinus.\n\nI quote from Krall[82] another inscription common to Edf\u00fb and Esne,\nwhich seems to have astronomical significance.\n\n \"1. Phamenoth. Festival of the suspension of the sky by Ptah, by the\n side of the god Harschaf, the master of Heracleopolis Magna (Al).\n Festival of Ptah. Feast of the suspension of the sky (Es).\n\n \"Under the 1st Phamenoth, Plutarch, _de Iside et Osiride_, c. 43, b,\n notices the \u1f14\u03bc\u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 \u1f48\u03c3\u03af\u03c1\u03b9\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03c3\u03b5\u03bb\u1f74\u03bd\u03b7\u03bd. These are festivals\n connected with the celebration of the Winter Solstice, and the filling\n of the Uza-eye on the 30th Menchir. Perhaps the old year, which\n the Egyptians introduced into the Nile valley at the time of their\n immigration, and which had only 360 days, commenced with the Winter\n Solstice. Thus we should have in the 'festival of the suspension\n of the sky,' by the ancient god Ptah--venerated as creator of the\n world--a remnant of the time when the Winter Solstice ... marked the\n beginning of the year, and also the creation.\"\n\nThe reconstruction of the calendar naturally enhanced the importance of\nthe month Pachons; this comes out very clearly from the inscriptions\ntranslated by Brugsch. On this point Krall remarks:--\n\n \"It is, therefore, quite right that the month Pachons, _which took\n the place of the old Thoth by the decree of Tanis_, should play a\n prominent part in the feast-calendars of the days of the Ptolemies,\n and the first period of the Empire in general, but especially in the\n _Edf\u00fb_ calendar, which refers to the _Tanitic_ year. The first five\n days of Pachons are dedicated in our calendar to the celebration\n of the subjection of the enemies by Horus; we at once remember the\n above-mentioned (p. 7) record of Edf\u00fb of the nature of a mythological\n calendar, describing the advent of the Nile flood. On the 6th of\n Pachons--remember the great importance of the sixes in the Ptolem\u00e6an\n records--the solstice is then celebrated. The Uza-eye is then filled,\n a mythical act which we have in another place referred to the\n celebration of the solstice, and 'everything is performed which is\n ordained' in the book 'on the Divine Birth.'\"\n\nNext let us turn to Esne. The inscriptions here are stated to be based\non the Alexandrine year, but we not only find 1st Thoth given as New\nYear's Day, but 26 Payni given as the beginning of the Nile flood.\n\nNow I have, already stated that the Alexandrine year was practically\na fixing of the vague Tunis year--that is, a year beginning on 1st\nPachons in 239 B.C.\n\nIf we assume the date of the calendar coincidences recorded at Esne to\nhave been 15 B.C. (we know it was after 23 B.C. and at the end of the\nRoman dominion), we have as before, seeing that, if the vague Tunis\nyear had really continued, it would have swept forward with regard to\nthe Nile flood,\n\n  Pachons 30\n  Payni   26\n          \u2500\u2500\n          56 \u00d7 4 = 224 years after 239 B.C.\n\nThis double dating, then, proves the continuation of the vague year of\nTunis if the date 15 B.C. of the inscription is about right.\n\nCan we go further and find a trace of the old cycle beginning 270\nB.C.? In this case we should have the rising of Sirius\n\n   270\n  - 15\n   \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  4)255 years\n   \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     64 = say, five Epacts and two months.\n\nThis would give us 1 Epiphi. Is this mentioned in the Esne calendar?\nYes, it is, \"1 Epiphi. To perform the precepts of the book on the\nsecond divine birth of the child Kahi.\"\n\nNow the 26th Payni, the new New Year's Day, is associated with the\n\"revelation of Kahi,\" so it is not impossible that \"the second divine\nbirth\" may have some dim reference to the feast.\n\nIt is not necessary to pursue this intricate subject further in this\nplace; so intricate is it that, although the suggestions I have\nventured to make on astronomical grounds seem consistent with the\navailable facts, they are suggestions only, and a long labour on the\npart of Egyptologists will be needed before we can be said to be on\nfirm ground.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n                   THE MYTHOLOGY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS.\n\n\nA long parenthesis has been necessary in order to inquire fully into\nthe yearly festivals of the Egyptian priests, the relation of the\nfeasts to the rising of stars, and the difficulties which arose from\nthe fact that a true year was not in use till quite late.\n\nIt is now time to return to the subject-matter of Chapters XIX.-XXII.\nin order to show that since the goddesses chiefly worshipped at\nDenderah and Thebes were goddesses whose cult was associated with the\nyear, it is open to us to inquire whether we may not use the facts with\nwhich we are now familiar to obtain a general idea of that part of\nmythology which refers to them.\n\nI will begin by taking a certain group of goddesses.\n\n1. _There is evidence that many of the goddesses under discussion\npersonified stars in exactly the same way that Isis personified Sirius\nand Mut_ \u03b3 _Draconis._--If we leave Denderah and Thebes for the moment,\nand consider the pyramid region of G\u00eezeh, we find that the temples\nthere, which are associated with each of the pyramids, are not oriented\nto Sirius; but yet they are temples of Isis, pointing due east;\ntherefore they could not have pointed to the same Isis worshipped at\nDenderah, or the same Hathor worshipped at Thebes.\n\nThus, in the case of the temple of Mut at Thebes, of Isis at Denderah,\nand the temples of Isis at the pyramids, and in many towns facing East,\nobviously different stars were in question, whatever the mythology\nmight have been.\n\n[Illustration: BLACK GRANITE STATUE OF SEKHET FROM THE TEMPLE OF MUT AT\nTHEBES.]\n\nFurther, it seems quite certain that the star symbolised as Isis in the\npyramid worship was the star Antares (Serk-t) heralding the autumnal\nequinox, and it is probable that the Pleiades (Nit) were so used at the\nvernal equinox.\n\n[Illustration:\n  THE GODDESS TAURT.       THE GODDESS SERK-T OR SELK-T.\n(_Both with horns and disk._)]\n\n2. _There is evidence that many of the names of these goddesses are\npure synonyms._--That is to say, we have the same goddess (or the same\nstar) called different names in different places, and associated with\ndifferent animal emblems, in consequence of the existence of different\ntotems in different nomes. I have already referred to the symbolism\nof the goddess Mut. In one form she is a hippopotamus; in another\nshe has a cow's horns and disk. The temple of Hathor at Denderah was\nprobably associated with the crocodile or the hippopotamus; so that\nfrom the symbolism referred to we get the suggestion that the goddess\nMut was really the Theban form of the goddess Hathor at Denderah.\nThere is another delineation which shows that even more clearly: it\nis a drawing of the goddess with both the lion's and crocodile's\nhead. One of the most wonderful things to be seen at Thebes is that\nmarvellous collection of the statues of Sechet in the temple of Mut,\nall of them lion-headed. From evidence of this kind in addition to the\ntemple inscriptions already referred to, we get a clear indication of\nthe fact that Apet, Mut, Taurt, Sechet, Bast, were the same goddess\nunder different names, and I may add that they, in all probability,\nsymbolised the star \u03b3 Draconis.\n\n[Illustration: NIT. NIT (ANOTHER FORM). BAST.]\n\n3. _All these goddesses have a special symbol._--Hathor wears the cow's\nhead and the horns with the disk. Taurt, the hippopotamus-goddess,\nis also represented with horns and disk. The horns and disk are also\nworn by Serk-t, Sati and R\u0101-t, the wife of the sun-god R\u0101; many other\ngoddesses might be added to this list. Indeed, it looks as if all the\ngoddesses who are stated to be variants either of Isis or Hathor have\nthis same symbol.\n\nThis generic symbolism suggests that the names Isis and Hathor are\nthemselves generalisations, meaning an accompaniment of sunrise,\nwhether that light be the dawn, or an heliacally-rising star, or even\nthe moon. The generic symbol is the sun's disk and horns, which, I\nthink, may not impossibly be a poetic development of the sign for\nsunrise. Isis and Hathor are two different ways of defining or thinking\nabout a rising star--that is, a star heralding the sunrise, for such\nwere the rising stars _par excellence_.\n\n[Illustration: ANUQA.   SATI.]\n\nAll the goddesses so symbolised are either different forms of Isis\nor Hathor, or represent goddesses who personify or bring before us\nmythologically stars the rising of which was observed at the dawn at\nsome time of the year or another.\n\nBut it must be added that these goddesses are not always represented\nwith this head-gear, possibly because they had other functions besides\ntheir astronomical one.\n\nThe extent of this variation may be gathered from the two forms of\nNeith or Nit given on page 290.\n\n[Illustration: ISIS NURSING HORUS. (The last form is Serk-t-Isis, the\nscorpion goddess.)]\n\n4. _Many of the goddesses are represented as Isis nursing Horus._--It\nis very important not to forget that stars were chiefly observed rising\nin the dawn, and that mythologically such an event was represented by\nthe Egyptians as Isis (the rising star-goddess) nursing Horus (the\nrising sun-god). The sun was supposed to be a youth in the morning, to\nbe very young therefore at the moment of rising, and the goddess Isis\nwas supposed to be then nursing him. Many of the goddesses are thus\nportrayed. I may mention Renen-t, Serk-t, R\u0101-t, Amen-t, as instances.\nThus I hold that we get in this series of goddesses the statement, put\nmythologically, that certain stars to which the goddesses were sacred\nrose heliacally at some time of the year or another. Of course the\nrecord is far from complete, and probably it will become more complete\nwhen inquiries are made from this point of view. The original symbolism\nis that Isis or Hathor is a star rising in the dawn, watching over the\nsun or taking him from his cradle; and the young Horus, the rising sun,\nis, of course, the son of Isis. The emblem of the mother and child is\nthus shown to have been in established use for the expression of high\nreligious thought at least 5000 years ago.\n\nThese and other facts may be brought together in a tabular form, to\nshow what apparently the complete mythology of Isis meant.\n\n\n      ISIS = ANYTHING LUMINOUS TO THE EASTWARD HERALDING SUNRISE.\n\n  DAWN.  MOON.   \u03b3 DRACONIS.         ANTARES.       \u03b1 COLUMB\u00c6.\n                 (3000 B.C.)        (3700 B.C.)   (Before 3000 B.C.)\n\n  Isis   Isis    Isis                 Serk-t           Te\u03c7i\n                 Hathor (hawk and     (N. Egypt)       Amen-t\n                   hippopotamus)\n                 Mut (vulture)\n                 Sechet } Lion or     \u03b1 Centauri\n                 Bast   }  cat        3700 B.C.\n                 Menkh                (S. Egypt)\n                 Tafnet\n                 Apet\n                 Nebun\n\n  SIRIUS.              DOUBTFUL.\n  (After 3000 B.C.)   (Probably late.)\n  Isis                 Anuqa\n  Hathor (cow)         Hak   }\n  R\u0101-t                 Haka  }\n                       Hak-t }\n                       Hequet}\n                       Maloul\n\nIt will be seen that in the case of Isis we are not dealing merely with\na rising star, while, so far as I know, Hathor is limited to stars.\n\nIf we accept the general statement regarding Isis, namely, that it was\na term applied to anything appearing to the eastward and heralding\nsunrise, many of our difficulties at once disappear. The Isis of the\npyramid-temples and of the smaller temple of Denderah symbolised\ndifferent celestial bodies, though they served the same purpose.\nThe Hathor of the greater temple of Denderah, and the Hathor of D\u00ear\nel-Bahari, symbolised different celestial bodies, but their function\nwas the same. On the other hand, the Hathor of Denderah and the Mut\nof Thebes were neither different divinities, nor did they personify\ndifferent stars; they were simply local names of \u03b3 Draconis.\n\nWe are thus enabled to understand the doubling of the symbolism in the\ncase of Hathor. The hippopotamus and the cow generically are dealt with\nas rising stars; specifically we deal with \u03b3 Draconis in one case, and\nSirius in the other.\n\nThe evidence goes to show that these two stars were those to the\nrisings of which very great importance was attached, but they did not\nstand alone. We get another form of Isis (referring, it is possible,\nto the star \u03b1 Columb\u00e6, before even Sirius was used), so that we have a\nnorthern star and a southern star observed at the same time--the two\neyes of R\u0101. Idle other goddesses which have not yet been worked out\nprobably refer to one or other of these stars, or to others which lie\nmore to the south. These are represented rather in the temples above\nthe first cataract than in those below. This fact will be enlarged upon\nin the sequel.\n\nThe study of orientation, then, combined with mythology, supplies us\nwith other rising stars besides Sirius, and, indeed, although the\ndate given by Riot for the first heliacal rising of Sirius at the\nsolstice--3285 B.C.--seems a very remote one, it is practically certain\nthat \u03b1 Columb\u00e6 was previously used, because before that time it was\nconveniently situated to give warning of the sunrise at the Summer\nsolstice, as Sirius was subsequently. The worship would be kept up\nafter the utility had gone.\n\nD\u00fcmichen's view with regard to the local cult of Hathor and its\nastronomical origin is not very different from mine. He writes:--\n\n \"Der Cult der G\u00f6ttin Hathor geht in die \u00e4ltesten Zeiten der\n \u00e4gyptischen Geschichte zur\u00fcck. Schon die Pyramideninschriften erw\u00e4lmen\n eine Heliopolitische Hathor und Priester und Priesterinnen dieser\n G\u00f6ttin werden in denselben Grabkapellen nicht selten genannt. Die\n Hathor war keine speciell lokalisirte Gottheit, sondern eine allgemein\n in s\u00e4mmtlichen Tempeln Aegyptens verehrte Form eines Cultes, dessen\n Urgedanke, im weitesten Sinne, die Auffassung des weiblichen Principes\n gegenuber dem m\u00e4nnlichen Principe der Gottheit war. In dieser\n Auffassung erscheint sie geradezu identisch mit der Isis, weshalb auch\n beiden G\u00f6ttinnen die Kuh das geheiligte Thier war. Da in jeder Stadt,\n vor allen aber in jeder Nomos-Hauptstadt eine Hathor als Schutzg\u00f6ttin\n des betreffenden Ortes aufgef\u00fchrt wird, so ist es erkl\u00e4rlich, dass\n die lokalen Formen dieser G\u00f6ttin in den Inschriften der Tempel in\n gr\u00f6sster Anzahl aufgef\u00fchrt werden. Im Tempel von Edfu werden Beispiels\n halber an der Decke des Pronaos \u00fcber 300 Namen der G\u00f6ttin mit ihren\n lokalen Beziehungen hergez\u00e4hlt mit besonderer Bevorzugung derjenigen\n lokalen Formen, welche in den einzelnen Nomos-Hauptst\u00e4dten sich eines\n hervorragenden Cultes erfreuten. Die letzteren ber\u00fchren vorz\u00fcglich\n eine Sieben-Zahl von Hathoren, welche als die grossen bezeichnet\n werden und von denen fast in allen gr\u00f6sseren Tempeln Listen an den\n W\u00e4nden zu lesen sind.\n\n \"In der \u00e4lteren Zeit bezeichnet Hathor einen kosmischen Urbegriff.\n Schon ihr Name verr\u00e4th aufs Deutlichste die kosmogonische Wurzel. Ha.\n t. hor w\u00f6rtlich \u00fcbersetzt \"Wolnung des Horus--Behausung Gottes\" d. i.\n die Welt, die Darstellung Gottes in der sichtbaren Welt, die Natur, in\n welcher die Gottheit wirksam ist.\"[83]\n\nBefore I pass on, it will, I think, be well to point out that the\nargument I have used to show that Isis was really a generic name is\nenforced when we consider the allied points relating to Osiris.\n\nIt is quite clear that some of the gods symbolised setting stars. We\nalready know that the setting sun became Osiris, Atmu, or Tmu, and,\nwhatever the names, they were all represented as mummies. But the sun\nwas not the only body that was symbolised as Osiris; the moon and stars\nwere at times symbolised in the same way. We may, indeed, venture to\nmake the following generalised statement:--\n\n            OSIRIS = ANY CELESTIAL BODY BECOMING INVISIBLE.\n\n     SUN      MOON     PLANET      STARS       BODIES PALING AT DAWN.\n   SETTING.  WANING.  SETTING.    SETTING.      Stars.       Planets.\n\n    Osiris   Osiris    Venus     Khons-Osiris   Sah-Osiris    Venus\n                     as Osiris   Ptah-Osiris              Star of Osiris\n                                 Min-Osiris\n\nIt will be observed with what fulness the antithesis of Isis is\nindicated.\n\nI have already pointed out that the possible temple of Osiris at the\npyramids points to the westward, but our special reference now is to\nstars. When we come to look for this mummy-symbolism among the gods\nother than sun-gods (it is entirely and remarkably absent among the\ngoddesses), we find Khons, Ptah, and Khem pictured as mummies; that\nis, they become a sort of Osiris. Supposing that these gods were\nworshipped, there would probably be temples dedicated to them; still,\nthe absence of such temples would not be decisive, since they might\nhave been destroyed. However, very fortunately for this inquiry, there\nare two temples still extant at Thebes, known as the temples of Khons\nand Ptah. If there is anything, then, in the idea that there must\nbe some relation with the western horizon in the case of these gods\nrepresented as mummies, these temples should point to the west. _They\ndo point to the west._\n\nVery fortunately, also, these temples have a pretty good history: that\nis, one knows, within some hundreds of years at all events, when they\nwere founded. Therefore, by help of those astronomical methods to which\nI have previously referred, it is not difficult to get at the stars.\nThey turn out to be a southern star--Canopus--in the case of the temple\nof Khons, and Capella in the case of the temple of Ptah. Now, there\nis another very important temple at Thebes, it is a temple without a\nname, at right angles to the temple of Mut. This also points to the\nwest. Although the evidence is not complete, it clearly suggests that\nthis temple was dedicated to the god Min or Khem, and was oriented\nto the star Spica; so that at Thebes alone it looks as if the three\ngods represented by mummies--different stellar forms of Osiris--Khons,\nPtah and Min, have all been run to earth in the three stars Canopus,\nCapella, and Spica.\n\n_Provisionally, we way hazard the assertion that the mummy form marks\na setting star, as the horns and disk mark a rising one. We get the\nantithesis between Osiris and Isis._\n\n[Illustration: ISIS, OSIRIS AND HORUS.]\n\nWe gather, then, that the wonderful old-world myth of Isis and Osiris\nis astronomical from beginning to end, although Osiris in this case is\nnot the sun, but the moon. But I have not yet finished with the mummy\nform; the waning moon is also Osiris. It is supposed to be dying from\nthe time of full moon to new moon. The Egyptians in their mythology\nwere nothing if not consistent; the moon was called Osiris from the\nmoment it began to wane, as the sun was Osiris so soon as it began to\nset. A constellation paling at sunrise was also Osiris.\n\n[Illustration: A \"CHANGE OF CULT\" AT LUXOR.]\n\nI have previously noted the symbolism of Sirius-Hathor as a cow in\na boat associated with the constellation of Orion. There is a point\nconnected with this which I did not then refer to, but which is of\nextreme importance for a complete discussion of the question now\noccupying us. We get associated with the cow in the boat, Orion (Sah)\nas Horus, but in other inscriptions we get Orion as a mummy--that is\nto say, in the course of Egyptian history the same constellation is\nsymbolised as a rising sun at one time and a setting sun at another.\nNow, that must have been so if the Egyptian mythology were consistent\nand rested on an astronomical basis, because Sah rose in the dawn\nin one case and faded at dawn in the other. From the table giving a\ngeneralised statement with regard to Osiris, similar to that we have\nalready considered for Isis, it looks as if the mythology connected\nwith Osiris is simply the mythology connected with any celestial\nbody becoming invisible. We have the sun setting, the moon waning, a\nplanet setting, stars setting, constellations fading at dawn. We see,\ntherefore, that the Egyptian mythology was absolutely and completely\nconsistent with the astronomical conditions by which they were\nsurrounded; that, although it is wonderfully poetical, in no case is\nthe poetry allowed to interfere with the strictest and most accurate\nreference to the astronomical phenomena which had to be dealt with.\n\nThe argument, then, for the use of Isis as a generic name is greatly\nstrengthened by the similar way in which the term Osiris, which is\nacknowledged to be a generic name, is employed.\n\nNow to return to Denderah in the light of the preceding discussion.\nA curious and interesting thing is that we find that the temple of\n_Isis_, which is very much ruined, does not contain emblems of the\nSirius worship; but that all these appear in the temple of _Hathor_,\nwhich, of course, pointing as it does to the north-east, could never\nhave received any light from a star south of the equator. There has\nbeen a change of cult.\n\nOn the other hand, the temple of Isis presents so many emblems thought\nto relate to the worship connected with \u03b3 Draconis, to which the temple\nof Hathor was in all probability directed, that it was named the\nTyphoneum by the French Commission.\n\nThere has been an apparent change of _r\u00f4le_ and cult, due either to the\nfact that in time the observation of the rising of Sirius superseded\nthat of the rising of \u03b3 Draconis, or that the worship of Set was\nreplaced.\n\nWith regard to this change of cult, we moderns should have no\ndifficulty. We go to Constantinople and see Mahommedans worshipping\nin St. Sophia; we go to Greece or Sicily and find Christian worship\nin many of the old temples. Thus the change of cult in Egypt, which\nI claim to have demonstrated on astronomical grounds at Denderah,\nis a thing with which we are perfectly familiar nowadays. The great\npoint, however, is that in Egypt the change of cult might depend upon\nastronomical change--upon the precession of the equinoxes, as well as\nupon different schools of religious or astronomical thought. We gather\nfrom this an idea of the wonderfully continuous observations which were\nmade by the Egyptians of the risings and settings of stars, because,\nif the work had not been absolutely continuous, they would certainly\nnever have got the very sharp idea of the facts of precession which\nthey undoubtedly possessed; and it is also, I think, pretty clear\nthat future astronomical study will enable us to write the history of\nthose changes which are now hidden by that tremendous mythological\ndifficulty, which has not yet been faced. That, of course, is not the\nonly difficulty, because the question is clouded by the absence of\nauthentic dates and the perpetual reference to the past which is met\nwith in all the monuments. The Egyptians were much more anxious to\nbring back to knowledge what happened 1000 years before than to give an\nidea of the current history of the country.\n\nWe have, then, at length arrived at a possible explanation of the\ndifficulties acknowledged in regard to the temples of Denderah in\nChapters XIX. and XX.\n\nIt is, briefly, that at some epoch observations of the star Sirius\nreplaced, or were added to, those made of \u03b3 Draconis. Mythologically, a\nnew Isis would be born.\n\nThis point will be referred to later; one of the longest-lasting\nastro-theological strifes in Egypt was the fight for supremacy between\nthe priests of Amen and the priests of Set. At Denderah the former were\nultimately victorious, and hence the change of cult.\n\nThis suggestion is based on the following considerations:--\n\n(1) While the Denderah Hathor was represented by the disk and horns\non a hippopotamus, at Thebes (the city of the \"Bull\" Amen) Hathor is\nrepresented by a cow with a like head-dress.\n\n(2) Isis, represented originally as a goddess with the two feathers of\nAmen, standing in a boat, is now changed to a cow with the disk and\nhorns.\n\n(3) Hathor was the \"cow of the western hills\" of Thebes. It is in these\nhills that the temple D\u00ear el-Bahari lies; and this temple, if oriented\noriginally to Sirius, would have been founded about 8000 B.C., when\nSirius at rising would have an amplitude of 20\u00b0 S. of E.\n\n(4) A temple was built or restored later at Denderah, and Sirius with\nthe cow's horns and disk became the great goddess there; and when\nher supremacy all over Egypt became undoubted, her birthplace was\ndeclared--at Denderah--to have been Denderah.[84]\n\n(5) In the month-list at the Ramesseum the first month is dedicated to\nSirius, the third to Hathor. This is not, however, a final argument,\nbecause _local_ cults may have been in question.\n\n(6) \"Set\" seems to have been a generic name applied to the northern\n(? circumpolar) constellations, perhaps because _Set_ = darkness, and\nthese stars, being _always visible_ in the night, may have in time\ntypified it. Taurt, the hippopotamus, was the wife of Set. The Thigh\nwas the thigh of Set, etc. \u03b3 Draconis was associated therefore with\nSet, and the symbolism for Set-Hathor was the hippopotamus with horns\nand disk. Now if, as is suggested, Sirius replaced \u03b3 Draconis, and the\ncow replaced the hippopotamus, the cult of Set might be expected to\nhave declined; and as a matter of fact the decline of the worship of\nSet, which was generally paramount under the earlier dynasties, and\neven the obliteration of the emblems on the monuments, are among the\nbest-marked cases of the kind found in the inscriptions.\n\n(7) The _Isis_ temple of Denderah was certainly oriented to Sirius; the\n_Hathor_ temple was as certainly _not_ so oriented. And yet, in the\nrestorations in later times (say, Thothmes III.--Ptolemies), the cult\nhas been made Sirian, and the references are to the star which rises at\nthe rising of the Nile.\n\nSo far, then, mythology is with me; but there is a difficulty.\nAccording to the orientation theory, the cult must follow the star;\nthis must be held to as far as possible. But suppose the processional\nmovement causes the initial function of a star to become inoperative,\nmust not the cult--which, as we assume, had chiefly to do with the\nheralding of sunrise at one time of the year or other--change? And if\nthe same cult is conducted in connection with another star, will not\nthe old name probably be retained?\n\nI do not see why the Egyptians should have hesitated to continue the\nsame cult under a different star when they apparently quite naturally\nchanged Orion from a form of Osiris (Sah-Osiris) and a mummy (as he\nwas represented when the light of his stars was quenched at dawn at\nthe rising of Sirius) to that of Sah-Horus (when in later times the\nconstellation itself rose heliacally).\n\nAnd, moreover, the antagonism of rival priesthoods has to be\nconsidered. It is extremely probable that the change of a Set temple at\nDenderah into a Theban Hathor-temple was only one example of a system\ngenerally adopted, at least in later times.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXX.\n\n                           THE TEMPLE-STARS.\n\n\nThe two preceding chapters should have suggested that if there be any\ntruth in the astronomical and mythological views therein put forth,\nthere should be other stars to deal with besides Sirius and \u03b3 Draconis,\nand other temples besides those at Annu, Denderah and Thebes which have\nto be studied.\n\nThis is so, and I now propose to give a general account of the\nconclusions so far arrived at, but I must _in limine_ state that the\naccount must be a brief one and more suggestive than final, for the\nreason that the lack of accurate local data stops the way.\n\nIn an inquiry of this kind it is well to work slowly out from the\nknown. The facts which have been given will, I think, cause it to be\ngenerally agreed that in the temple of Isis at Denderah we have a\nstructure which the inscriptions, as well as astronomical inquiry, show\nwas certainly a temple oriented to Sirius. The other fact that New\nYear's Day in the Nile valley was determined for thousands of years by\nthe heliacal rising of that star, is among the most familiar in the\ndomain of Egyptology.\n\nObviously, then, the first inquiry must refer to the possible existence\nof other Sirian temples.\n\nFrom 3285 B.C., when Sirius rose heliacally at the solstice, its\ndeclination has varied from 24\u00b0 S. to 16\u00bd\u00b0 S. in 500 B.C. The\ncorresponding amplitudes for Thebes being 26\u00bd\u00b0 and 18\u00b0 S. of E.\n\nBetween these amplitudes we find the following temples:--\n\n                                SIRIUS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n      =Karnak=      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 see\n    (Temple O)      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502below\n       (Gr.)        \u2502 26\u00b0\u00bd \u2502 24\u00b0 \u2502 3300 \u2502 23\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=3150=\u2502 23\u00b0 \u2502 3050 \u2502  1\n                    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n                    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  =D\u00ear el-Bahari=   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 24\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 22\u00bc \u2502 2850 \u2502 21\u00be\u00b0\u2502=2700=\u2502 21\u00bc \u2502 2575 \u2502\n     =Dosche=       \u2502 21\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 20\u00bc \u2502 2225 \u2502 19\u00be\u00b0\u2502=2050=\u2502 19\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2000 \u2502\n     =Karnak=       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n   (Temple D)       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 21\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 19\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2000 \u2502 19\u00b0 \u2502=1800=\u2502 18\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 1600 \u2502\n      =Naga=        \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n   (Temple G)       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 19\u00b0  \u2502 18\u00bc \u2502 1500 \u2502 18\u00b0 \u2502=1400=\u2502 17\u00be\u00b0\u2502 1250 \u2502\n      =Phil\u00e6=       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Ethiopian Temple)\u2502 19\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 18\u00b0 \u2502 1400 \u2502 17\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 1100 \u2502  17\u00b0\u2502 =800=\u2502  2\n     =Denderah=     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (N.W. Temple)     \u2502 18\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  3\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Remarks 1\n This may have been a solar temple, as its amplitude is nearly equal to\n that of the sun at the winter solstice.\n  Remarks 2\n Hills  high. at least 2\u00b0\n  Remarks 3\n  Hills very low.\n\nIt is quite clear that we must not look for Sirian temples before 3200\nB.C., because the heliacal rising of Sirius at Thebes before that time\ndid not take place near the solstice. The above table shows that the\nearliest Sirian temple really dates from about 3000 B.C.[85]\n\nBut what star did Sirius replace? An inspection of a precessional globe\nshows at once that the star which rose heliacally at the solstice\nbefore Sirius was \u03b1 Columb\u00e6 (Phact). Its declination has varied from\n57\u00b0 S. at 5000 B.C. to 37\u00b0 S. at 0.\n\nWe have the following temples which might have been oriented to this\nstar; and here I must repeat that once a star has been symbolised as a\ngod or a goddess on account of its astronomical utility, the cult would\nbe continued after the utility had ceased--that is, in this case, after\nSirius had replaced Phact astronomically.\n\n                                PHACT.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     =Memnonia=     \u2502      \u2502 |   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Western Temple)  \u2502 58\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 50\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 3750 \u2502 49\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3700=\u2502 49\u00b0 \u2502 3550 \u2502 1.\n      =Barkal=      \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n    (Temple B)      \u2502 53\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 50\u00b0 \u2502 3250 \u2502 49\u00bc \u2502=3600=\u2502 48\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3500 \u2502\n     =Karnak V=     \u2502 56\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 49\u00b0 \u2502 3550 \u2502 48\u00bc \u2502=3400=\u2502 47\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 3250 \u2502\n    =Abu Simbel=    \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Hathor Temple)   \u2502 54\u00b0  \u2502 48\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3500 \u2502 48\u00b0 \u2502 3350 \u2502 47\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=3250=\u2502 2.\n   =D\u00ear el-Medinet= \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 54\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 47\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 3250 \u2502 46\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3050=\u2502 46\u00b0 \u2502 2900 \u2502\n      =Saboa=       \u2502 51\u00bc  \u2502 46\u00b0 \u2502 2900 \u2502 45\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2750=\u2502 45\u00b0 \u2502 2650 \u2502\n     =Karnak=       \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n   (Temple J)       \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 51\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 45\u00bc \u2502 2700 \u2502 44\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2525 \u2502 43\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2300 \u2502\n   =Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb=   \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n   (Small J J)      \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Gr.)         \u2502 51\u00bd  \u2502 45\u00bc \u2502 2700 \u2502 44\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2525=\u2502 43\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2300 \u2502\n     =Barkal=       \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Temples J and H) \u2502 47\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 44\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2525 \u2502 44\u00b0 \u2502=2400=\u2502 43\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2250 \u2502\n      =Surarieh=    \u2502 51\u00b0  \u2502 43\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2250 \u2502 42\u00be\u00b0\u2502=2050=\u2502 42\u00b0 \u2502 1850 \u2502\n    =Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb=  \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n    (Palace K K)    \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n        (Gr.)       \u2502 46\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 40\u00be\u00b0\u2502 1500 \u2502 40\u00b0 \u2502=1250=\u2502 39\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 1050 \u2502\n     =Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb= \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Ethiopian Temple)\u2502 45\u00b0  \u2502 40\u00b0 \u2502 1250 \u2502 39\u00b0 \u2502 =900=\u2502 38\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 =500=\u2502 3.\n                    \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Remarks 1\n Hills low.\n  Remarks 2\n Hills nearly 2\u00b0 high.\n  Remarks 3\n The hills may be taken as a little over 1\u00b0 high.\n\nThe temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel, embellished by Rameses II., was in\nall probability a shrine dedicated to Amen-t-Hathor about 3200 B.C.\nAmen-t seems to have been an Ethiopian goddess, for we hear nothing of\nher at Heliopolis or Memphis.\n\nIt follows that if this be so, Sirius succeeded to \u03b1 Columb\u00e6 precisely\nas \u03b3 Draconis succeeded to Dubhe; but temples could still be dedicated\nto the old Hathor \u03b1 Columb\u00e6, while this was not possible for Dubhe,\nbecause it became circumpolar and never rose.\n\n[Illustration: CURVES SHOWING THE DECLINATIONS OF SOME OF THE STARS\nUSED BY THE EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMERS AT DIFFERENT EPOCHS.]\n\n\nIt may also be pointed out that the temple V of Lepsius at Karnak finds\nits place in a series by supposing it to have been oriented to the S.E.\ninstead of the N.W. as shown in Lepsius' maps. Such a mistake might\neasily have arisen in consequence of its ruined condition. It may be\nstated in favour of my view that I am acquainted with no temple in\nEgypt directed between the amplitudes 35\u00b0 and 90\u00b0 N. of W.\n\nBut so far we have dealt only with the summer solstice, and yet in\nEgypt there were people who lived in towns with E. and W. walls who, I\ntake it, must have had a worship depending upon the equinoxes.\n\nAbout 3500 B.C., Antares (\u03b1 Scorpii) rose heliacally at the autumnal\nequinox as \u03b1 Columb\u00e6 did, as we have seen, at the summer solstice.\nThere is not much doubt, from the symbol of Serk-t that this goddess\nrepresented a star in the Scorpion. Further, at that date its rising\ntook place due east, so any E. and W. temple--and many existed in\n_Lower_ Egypt--might have been then used for observations of this star.\n\nBut about the same time the southern star, \u03b1 Centauri, could have been\nused to herald the sunrise at the autumnal equinox.\n\n                              \u03b1 CENTAURI.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n       =Barkal E=   \u2502 33\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 31\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3825 \u2502 31\u00bc \u2502=3700=\u2502 30\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3800 \u2502\n        =K\u00fbrnah=    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n        (Seti I.)   \u2502 35\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 31\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3625 \u2502 31\u00bc \u2502=3700=\u2502 30\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3800 \u2502Hills\n        =K\u00fbrnah=    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 low.\n       (Palace)     \u2502 36\u00b0  \u2502 32\u00bc \u2502 3500 \u2502 31\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3625=\u2502 31\u00b0 \u2502 3750 \u2502Hills\n      =Wady Halfa=  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 low.\n    (Thothmes II.)  \u2502 38\u00be\u00b0 \u2502 35\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2900 \u2502 35\u00bc \u2502=3000=\u2502 34\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3075 \u2502\n      =Barkal L=    \u2502 38\u00b0  \u2502 36\u00b0 \u2502 2850 \u2502 35\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2950=\u2502 35\u00b0 \u2502 3030 \u2502\n     =Wady Halfa=   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n   (Thothmes III.)  \u2502 40\u00b0  \u2502 36\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2725 \u2502 36\u00bc \u2502=2800=\u2502 35\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2900 \u2502\n    =Wady E. Sofra= \u2502 38\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 37\u00b0 \u2502 2675 \u2502 36\u00be\u00b0\u2502=2700=\u2502 36\u00bc \u2502 2800 \u2502\n     =Memnonia=     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n     Rameses II.    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502   | \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n (Mean of Fr. & Gr.)\u2502 43\u00b0  \u2502 38\u00bc \u2502 2475 \u2502 37\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2600=\u2502 37\u00b0 \u2502  270 \u2502Hills\n     =Kom Ombo=     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  |  \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 low.\n   (Little Temple)  \u2502 43\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 39\u00b0 \u2502 2375 \u2502 38\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2450=\u2502 37\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2575 \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\nIt would appear that several temples were directed to this star in\n_Upper_ Egypt from 3700 B.C. onward. The series of them is shown in the\npreceding table.\n\nFor the vernal equinox, so far, I have found no temples besides those\ndirected due E. in which the rising of the Pleiades may have been\nwatched. It is more than probable that the worship of the sacred bull\nby the Memphitic inhabitants of Egypt may have been connected with\nthis constellation. Certainly in pyramid times Neith and Serk-t were\nboth worshipped, and the goddesses under whose protection the Canopic\nvases were supposed to be--Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serk-t--may have\nsymbolised the two solstices and the two equinoxes.\n\nWe may next consider the complete series of N.E. temples represented\nat Heliopolis, Denderah and Thebes. These we must, as I have shown in\nChapter XX., divide into two series, dealing with \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris before\nit became circumpolar, and \u03b3 Draconis afterwards.\n\nI have already (p. 208) stated that \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6 may possibly have preceded\nboth \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris and \u03b3 Draconis as a representative of Set, but no\ntable is necessary.\n\nThe first series, dealing with \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris, is as follows:--\n\n\n                            \u03b1 URS\u00c6 MAJORIS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     =Annu=         \u2502 77\u00b0  \u2502  57\u00b0\u2502=5200=\u2502 58\u00b0 \u2502 5050 \u2502 59\u00b0 \u2502 4900 \u2502 1.\n     =Denderah=     \u2502 71\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 57\u00be\u00b0\u2502 5100 \u2502 58\u00be\u00b0\u2502 4950 \u2502 59\u00be\u00b0\u2502=4800=\u2502 2.\n     =Denderah=     \u2502 78\u00b0  \u2502 60\u00be\u00b0\u2502 4600 \u2502 62\u00b0 \u2502 4400 \u2502 63\u00b0 \u2502=4200=\u2502 3.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n   Remarks 1.\n    Hills low.\n   Remarks 2 and 3\n    Hills 2\u00b0 high.\n\nThe second series, dealing with \u03b3 Draconis, is naturally much fuller.\n\n                              \u03b3 DRACONIS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     =Redesieh=     \u2502 77\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 61\u00be\u00b0\u2502 4250 \u2502 62\u00be\u00b0\u2502=4600=\u2502 63\u00be\u00b0\u2502 4850 \u2502\n      =Karnak=      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n    (Z and X)       \u2502 72\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 58\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3100 \u2502 59\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3500=\u2502 60\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3000 \u2502\n     =Dakkeh=       \u2502 69\u00bc  \u2502 58\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3100 \u2502 59\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3500=\u2502 60\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3800 \u2502\n    =Denderah=      \u2502 71\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 57\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2650 \u2502 58\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3100 \u2502 59\u00be\u00b0\u2502=3500=\u2502\n      =Annu=        \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Restoration)     \u2502 77\u00b0  \u2502 57\u00b0 \u2502 2300 \u2502 58\u00b0 \u2502 2800 \u2502 59\u00b0 \u2502 3200 \u2502\n     =Karnak=       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n       W            \u2502 68\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 56\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2100 \u2502 57\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=2550=\u2502 58\u00bc \u2502 2900 \u2502\n     =Karnak=       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  [86]A M C         \u2502 63\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 53\u00bc \u2502 300  \u2502 54\u00bc | 1000 \u2502 55\u00b0 \u2502 1400 \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n   Remark 1.\n    Hills 2\u00b0 high.\n   Remark 2.\n    Hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high. [86 ]  54\u00bd\u00b0.    1200.\n\nThe table brings before us the remarkable fact that at Redesieh and\nDenderah, which both lie on the two old roads from the Red Sea into\nUpper Egypt, we have the first traces of the worship of Set: in other\nwords, of observations during the night in that region, as we found it\nat Annu.\n\nAs \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris and \u03b3 Draconis were observed in the extreme north, so\nseveral stars appear to have been observed near the south point, among\nthem Canopus (\u03b1 Arg\u00fbs), towards which star the temples shown in the\nfollowing table seem to have been directed, among them the well-known\ntemple of Khons at Karnak, so that provisionally we may take that\ndivinity as a personification of the star. Granting this, it will be\nnoted that the introduction of this cult into Thebes was late; this is\nquite in harmony with the statements of Egyptologists, who point out\nthat this god has the side-lock, indicating youth, and that he was the\nlatest addition to the Theban Triad.\n\nIn later times the curve of declination of this star is so flat that\nmost accurate measures are required.\n\n                               CANOPUS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     =Karnak B=     \u2502 63\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 54\u00bc \u2502=2150=\u2502 53\u00bc \u2502 1300 \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 1.\n                    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n     =Naga= (_f_)   \u2502 57\u00b0  \u2502 53\u00be\u00b0\u2502 1700 \u2502 53\u00bc \u2502=1300=\u2502 52\u00be\u00b0\u2502  300 \u2502 2.\n                    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  =Karnak=(Seti II.)\u2502 63\u00b0  \u2502 53\u00be\u00b0\u2502 1700 \u2502 53\u00b0 \u2502 1000 \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      =Karnak=      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n      (Khons)       \u2502 62\u00b0  \u2502 53\u00b0 \u2502 1000 \u2502 52\u00bc \u2502 300  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502 3.\n                    \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502  A.D.\u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n   Remark 1.\n    Hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high give us 1800 B.C.\n   Remark 2.\n    Hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high give us =1400= B.C.\n   Remark 3.\n    Hills 1\u00bd\u00b0 high give us =300= B.C.\n\nWhen we attempt to trace the _most_ southerly stars to which temples\nwere erected in Upper Egypt, we find a series of temples which are very\nremarkable in several respects from the orientation point of view.\nTheir amplitudes are all above 74\u00b0, one being as high as 86\u00bd.\u00b0 They\nall face South of _West_, and when their latitudes are taken into\naccount, the very striking thing comes out that the declination of the\nstar observed was very nearly the same--that is, that probably _all the\ntemples were founded at about the same time to observe the same star_.\n\nThe facts are as follows:--\n\n  Temple.    Amplitude S. of W.  Declination S.\n  =Edf\u00fb=           86\u00bd\u00b0             64\u00be\u00b0       Hills 1\u00b0 high.\n  =Phil\u00e6 Y=        76\u00bd\u00b0             64\u00b0        Hills 2\u00b0 high.\n  =Semneh=         76\u00bd\u00b0             64\u00be\u00b0      }\n  =Amada=          74\u00bd\u00b0             64\u00be\u00b0      }Local conditions not known.\n\nWith regard to the Phil\u00e6 temple, the amplitude is uncertain, as the\nmeasures do not agree; but if we reject Phil\u00e6 the other coincidences\nare too remarkable to be neglected.\n\nIt is to be hoped that a complete survey of the island will soon be\nundertaken.\n\nNow, I cannot find any important stars to fit this declination since\n7000 B.C. except Canopus and Phact, and the latter is barred because it\nwas used as a _rising star_, and indeed was the first solstitial Isis.\n\nIf we inquire into the conditions relative to Canopus, we find\nthat star had the declination of 64\u00b0 about 6400 B.C., and that, as\ndetermined by the processional globe, it then set heliacally at the\nautumnal equinox.\n\nIf we assume that Canopus is in question, the break between the dates\n6400 B.C. and 2150 B.C. has to be explained. There may have been\ntemples at Thebes now destroyed. There seems no doubt that the temple\nat Phil\u00e6, lettered Y by the French and L in Baedeker's Handbook, was\nthe most ancient one on the island, and that the cult was similar to\nthat at Edf\u00fb.[87]\n\nIt will be most interesting to see whether the suggestion that Canopus\nwas observed in early times at Phil\u00e6 and Edf\u00fb especially, be confirmed.\n\nIt is clear that for these and other southern temples an examination of\nthe local conditions and a determination of the places of the southern\nstars are necessary before the other southern gods and goddesses can be\nworked out.\n\nWe next come to the N.W. quadrant. Here, apparently, we have only to\ndeal with Capella and Spica. Summarising the information detailed in\na previous chapter, we find the following temples probably erected to\nthese stars:--\n\n\n                               CAPELLA.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n     =Memphis=      \u2502 12\u00b0  \u2502 10\u00b0 \u2502 5500 \u2502 10\u00be\u00b0\u2502=5350=\u2502 11\u00bc \u2502 5300 \u2502\n      =Annu=        \u2502 13\u00b0  \u2502 11\u00b0 \u2502=5325=\u2502 11\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 3250 \u2502 12\u00b0 \u2502 5200 \u2502\n    =Karnak U=      \u2502 27\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 24\u00bc \u2502 3250 \u2502 24\u00be\u00b0\u2502 3150 \u2502 25\u00bc \u2502=3050=\u2502\n     =Thebes=       \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  (Petit Temple     \u2502 31\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 27\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2600 \u2502 28\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 2500 \u2502 29\u00b0 \u2502=2400=\u2502\n     du Sud)        \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n    =Karnak G=      \u2502 35\u00b0  \u2502 30\u00be\u00b0\u2502 2050 \u2502 31\u00bd\u00b0\u2502 1925 \u2502 32\u00b0 \u2502 1850 \u2502 1.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n   Remark 1.\n    32\u00bd\u00b0. =1750.= Hills 3\u00b0 high\n\n\n                                SPICA.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                    \u2502      \u2502     Sea    \u2502  Hills 1\u00b0  \u2502  Hills 2\u00b0  \u2502\n                    \u2502 Amp. \u2502  Horizon.  \u2502    High.   \u2502    High.   \u2502\n  Place and Temple. \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2524 Re-\n                    \u2502  S.  \u2502Dec. \u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502 Dec.\u2502Years.\u2502marks.\n                    \u2502 of E.\u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502   S.\u2502      \u2502  S. \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n    =Karnak Y=      \u2502 17\u00bd\u00b0 \u250215\u00bd\u00b0 \u2502 2850 \u2502 16\u00b0 \u2502 2950 \u2502 16\u00bd\u00b0\u2502=3050=\u2502 1.\n  =Tell el-Amarna=  \u2502 13\u00b0  \u250210\u00be\u00b0 \u2502=1900=\u2502     \u2502      \u2502     \u2502      \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n   Remark 1.\n    17\u00b0. =3200.= Hills 3\u00b0.\n\nThe temples oriented to Capella and Spica are discussed in the next\nchapter.\n\nThe information given in the present chapter may be completed by a\ntable showing the warning stars available for heralding sunrise about\nthe times when the orientations suggest that the various temples were\noriginally founded.\n\nTo prepare this table I have used the precessional globe previously\nreferred to. The results are therefore rough, as the ecliptic has\nbeen taken as fixed; but they are useful for the purpose of a\nreconnaissance. The table shows the stars on the horizon, or near it,\nat the equinoxes and solstices when the sun was 10\u00b0 below the horizon.\nWhen the star was not exactly on the horizon when the sun was 10\u00b0\nbelow, its position above or below at that moment is indicated in\nthe table by giving the number of degrees the star was above (+) the\nhorizon or below it (-) at the time.\n\nThe dates taken are those most conveniently given by the globe, being\nthose in fact occupied by the pole of the equator at some one or other\nof twenty-four equidistant points on a circle round the pole of the\necliptic starting from 1880 A.D. as zero.\n\nIt will be seen that all the stars referred to in the preceding tables\noccupied positions of great importance between 6000 B.C. and 2500 B.C.,\nand that there are several southern stars indicated which eventually\nmay be useful in the discussion of the southern temples.\n\n                TABLE OF HELIACAL RISINGS AND SETTINGS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Date  \u2502    Spring Equinox.     \u2502    Summer Solstice.\n  B.C.  \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n        \u2502  Rising.  \u2502   Setting. \u2502   Rising. \u2502 Setting.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  5675  \u2502           \u2502            \u2502   Phact   \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  4600  \u2502 Aldebaran \u2502            \u2502   Phact   \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  3525  \u2502\u03b1  Phenicis\u2502   Antares  \u2502   Phact   \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502      + 2   \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502 Pleiades  \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502      + 3  \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  [3200]\u2502           \u2502            \u2502   Sirius  \u2502\n  2450  \u2502           \u2502 \u03b1  Pavonis \u2502   Sirius  \u2502  Altair\n        \u2502           \u2502            \u2502      + 3  \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Date  \u2502     Autumnal Equinox.  \u2502     Winter Solstice.\n        \u251c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  B.C.  \u2502   Rising. \u2502  Setting.  \u2502  Rising.  \u2502  Setting.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  5675  \u2502   Vega.   \u2502  Canopus   \u2502\u03b1 Phenicis \u2502  \u03b2 Musc\u00e6\n        \u2502    - 1    \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  4600  \u2502\u03b3 Draconis \u2502  Capella   \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502\u03b1 Trianguli\u2502  Canopus   \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502    + 3     \u2502           \u2502\n  3525  \u2502  Antares  \u2502 Aldebaran  \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502      - 1  \u2502    + 2     \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502\u03b1 Centauri \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502    + 3\u00bd   \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502           \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  2450  \u2502\u03b2 Argus    \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n        \u2502   + 3     \u2502            \u2502           \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\nThe real precedence of Capella and Spica in temple-building is not\nshown in the above table, because these stars were not used either at\nthe solstices or the equinoxes.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXI.\n\n            THE HISTORY OF SUN-WORSHIP AT ANNU AND THEBES.\n\n\nNow that we have been able to discuss with more or less fulness the\nstars--very few in number--to which the temples in both Upper and\nLower Egypt were probably oriented, and further, the astronomical\nrequirements which they were intended to fulfil, we are in a position\nto consider several questions of great interest in relation to the\nearliest observations of the sun and stars.\n\nOne of the first among these questions is whether the complete inquiry\nthrows any light upon the suggestion made on page 85, that in different\ntemples we seem to be dealing with at least two different kinds of\nastronomical thought and methods; as if, indeed, we were in presence of\nideas so differently based that the assumption of different races of\nmen, rather than different astronomical and religious ideas, is almost\nnecessary to account for them.\n\nLet us begin with the apparent result of the inquiry into sun-worship\nas practised at Annu and Thebes.\n\nIt was suggested that, although in the matter of simple worship the sun\nwould come before the stars, in _temple_-worship the conditions would\nbe reversed in consequence of the stable rising-and setting-places of\nthe latter as compared with those of the sun at different times of the\nyear.\n\nAnother suggestion was hazarded that sun temple-worship might have been\nan accidental result of the sunlight entering a temple which had really\nbeen built to observe a star; and that such temple sun-worship might\npossibly have preceded the time at which the solstices and equinoxes,\nand their importance, had been made out. I think it is possible to\nshow that this really happened, and we owe the demonstration of this\nimportant fact to the Egyptian habit of having two associated temples\nat right angles to each other, because this habit justifies the\nassumption that at Annu the mounds and single obelisk which now remain\nnot only indicate the certain existence in former times of one temple,\nbut, in all probability, of two at right angles to each other.\n\nThe next question we have to consider is whether the researches at Annu\nbear this surmise out. Let me refer to what has already been stated.\nAs I have shown in Chapter VIII. (p. 77), the north and south faces\nbear 13\u00b0 north of west--13\u00b0 south of east. I have elsewhere shown\n(Chap. XXI., p. 215) that there is good reason for believing that the\noriginal foundation of the temple at Annu dates from the time when the\nnorth-pointing member of such a double system was directed to \u03b1 Urs\u00e6\nMajoris. This was somewhat earlier than 5000 B.C.\n\nBearing in mind the facts obtained with regard to other similar\nrectangular systems, we are led to inquire whether at that date a\ntemple oriented to declination 11\u00b0 north, that is the declination\nproper to the amplitude of the member looking west, was directed to any\nstar.\n\nWe find that the important star Capella was in question.\n\nNow, so far in my references to stars, little mention has been made\nof Capella. It is obvious that the first thing to be done on the\norientation hypothesis is to see whether any other temple--and if of\nknown cult, so much the better--is found oriented to Capella. There is\none such temple; it was erected by Thothmes III. (Time of Thothmes,\n1600 B.C. Amplitude of temple, 35\u00b0 west of north = with hills 3\u00b0 high,\n32\u00bd\u00b0 north declination; Capella 33\u00b0 north declination about 1700\nB.C.) It is the temple of _Ptah_ at Karnak.\n\nAnd now it appears there is another. During the year 1892 the officers\nof the Museum of G\u00eezeh, under the direction of M. de Morgan, excavated\na temple at Memphis to the north of the hut containing the recumbent\nstatue of Rameses, and during their work they found two magnificent\nstatues of Ptah, \"les plus remarquables statues divines qu'on ait\nencore trouv\u00e9es en \u00c9gypte,\"[88] and a colossal model in rose granite of\nthe sacred boat of Ptah.\n\nThese discoveries have led the officers in question to the conclusion\nthat the building among the ruins of which these priceless treasures\nhave been found is veritably the world-renowned temple of Ptah of\nMemphis. It may, therefore, be accepted as such for the purpose\nof the present inquiry, although it is difficult to reconcile its\n_emplacement_ in relation to the statues with the accounts given by the\nArab historians.\n\nIn January, 1893, Captain Lyons, R.E., was good enough to accompany me\nto determine the orientation of the newly uncovered temple walls. We\nhad already, two years previously, carefully measured the bearings of\nthe statues of Rameses. We found the temple in all probability facing\nwestwards, and not eastwards; this we determined by a seated statue\nfacing westwards; and we concluded its orientation, assuming a magnetic\nvariation of 4\u00bd\u00b0 west, to be 12\u00be\u00b0 north of west, and the hills in\nfront of it, assuming the village of M\u00eet-Rah\u00eeneh non-existent, to be\n50\u2032 high.\n\nHere, then, we get reproduced almost absolutely the conditions of the\nobelisk at Heliopolis in a Ptah temple oriented to Capella 5200 B.C.\n\nWe are driven, then, to the conclusion that the star Capella is\npersonified by _Ptah_, and that as Capella was worshipped setting, Ptah\nis represented as a mummy. If this be so, we must also accept another\nconclusion: the temples both at Annu and Memphis were dedicated to Ptah.\n\nAbout 5300 B.C. we seem almost in the time of the divine dynasties, and\nbegin to understand how it is that in the old traditions Ptah precedes\nR\u0101 and is called \"the father of the beginnings, and the creator of the\negg of the Sun and Moon.\"[89]\n\nWe are driven to the conclusion that this worship at Annu and Memphis\nwas the worship of the sun's disc when setting, at the time of the year\nheralded by Capella, when it had the declination of 10\u00b0 north. The\ndates on which the sun had this declination were, as already stated,\nabout April 18 and August 24 of our Gregorian year. The former, in\nEgypt, dominated by the Nile, was about the time of the associated\nspring and harvest festivals.\n\nSo much for the Ptah mummy form of the Sun-God, to which the _Theban_\npriests erected no important temples. There was still another mummy\nform of the Sun-God, the worship of which existed at Thebes, but which\nthey did their best to abolish by the intensification of the worship of\nAmen-R\u0101.\n\nAt Thebes, as we have seen, the temple of Mut is associated with one at\nright angles to it, facing north-west. The amplitudes are 72\u00bd\u00b0 north\nof east and 17\u00bd\u00b0 north of west. I have shown that the temple of Mut\nwould allow \u03b3 Draconis to be seen along its axis about 3200 B.C. _I\nnow state that_ Spica _would be seen along the axis of the rectangular\ntemple at the same time_.\n\nThe cult in this temple-system there can be no doubt, I think, was the\nworship of Min, otherwise read Amsu, or Khem in ithyphallic mummy form.\nThis was associated possibly with a harvest-home festival on May 1.\n(Amplitude of temple, 17\u00bd\u00b0 north of west = declination 15\u00b0 = sun's\nN. declination on May 1.)\n\nBoth at Annu and Thebes, therefore, before the temple of Amen-R\u0101 at the\nlatter place became of importance, the sun was worshipped in a temple\npointed neither to a solstice nor to an equinox.\n\nIt seems, then, that the suggestion that _possibly_ sun-worship existed\nbefore any great development of the solstitial solar worship is amply\njustified.\n\nWe have next to consider what had taken place at Thebes, so far as\nwe can trace it on the orientation hypothesis after 3200 B.C., when\napparently the Spica temple and the associated Mut temple were founded.\n\nTo do this it is important to study the masterly essay by M. Virey,\nentitled \"Notices G\u00e9n\u00e9rales,\" on the discoveries made at D\u00ear el-Bahari\nby MM. Maspero and Gr\u00e9baut, which is to be found in the new edition of\nthe G\u00eezeh Catalogue.[90] M. Virey makes us acquainted with the politics\nof the Theban priests, or rather of the confraternity of Amen which\nthey had founded.\n\nFrom his account of the confraternity and of the various attempts made\nby it to acquire political power, however, we gather that it was not\nonly intended to intensify the cult of Amen-R\u0101 at the expense of the\nsun-worship previously existing at Thebes (in the Spica temple), but\nthat one of the chief aims of the confraternity of Amen was to abolish\nthe worship of Set, Sit, Sut, or Sutech; that is, as I think I have\nproved, generically, the stars near the North Pole, and, as it can be\nshown, in favour of the southern ones.\n\nThe temple of Mut was the chief temple at Karnak in which the cult of\nthe northern stars was carried on, and this was associated with the\nSpica temple; so both these temples had to go.\n\nWe can now realise what the Theban priests got Thothmes to do. They\nwere strong measures, since in his day the cult of Spica (the solar\ndisc, Aten, Min, Khem), and \u03b3 Draconis (the Hippopotamus-and-Lion Isis)\nwas supreme.\n\nThe little shrine of the Theban Amen was enlarged and built right\nacross the fair-way of the temple of Mut, so that the worship was as\neffectively stopped as the worship of Isis (when it was prohibited by\nlaw) was stopped at Pompeii by the town authorities bricking up the\nwindow by which the star was observed.[91]\n\nFurther, the shrine so restored was to be of such magnificence that\nthe Spica temple, which had hitherto held first rank, became an\ninsignificant chapel in comparison. Nor was this all: in order still to\nemphasise the supremacy of Amen-R\u0101, a third-rate temple was erected to\nPtah.\n\nIt is clear from this that we must date the great supremacy of the cult\nof Amen-R\u0101 in and after the time of Thothmes III., and that the cult\nsuperseded at Thebes was largely based upon the old worship at Annu.\n\nNow, one of the most remarkable events in Egyptian history was the\nso-called apostasy of Amen-hetep IV., some hundred and fifty years\nafter Thothmes III.\n\nIn the time of Thothmes III. the alliance between the royal and the\nsacerdotal power was of the closest, and in no time of the world's\nhistory have priests been more richly endowed than were then the\npriests of Amen. Not content, however, with their sacred functions,\nthey aimed at political power so obviously that Thothmes IV. and\nAmen-hetep III., to check their intentions, favoured the cults and\npriesthoods of Annu and other cities of the north. Amen-hetep III.\nand his son, Amen-hetep IV., also looked for alliances out of Egypt\naltogether, and entered into diplomatic relations with the princes of\nAsia, including even the king of Babylon. This brought him and the\npriests to open warfare. He replied to their anger by proscribing the\ncult of Amen, and the name of Amen was effaced from the monuments;\nstill the priestly party was strong enough to make it unpleasant for\nthe king in Thebes; and, to deal them yet another blow, he quitted\nthat city and settled at Tell el-Amarna, at the same time, according\nto the statement of M. Virey, reviving an old Heliopolitan cult. He\ntook for divine protection the solar disk _Aten_, \"which was one of\nthe most ancient forms of one of the most ancient gods of Egypt, R\u0101\nof Heliopolis.\"[92] Now let us say that the time of Amen-hetep IV.,\naccording to the received authorities, was about 1450 B.C. The lines\nof the \"Temple of the Sun\" at Tell el-Amarna are to be gathered from\nLepsius' map, reproduced in the illustration on the next page. The\norientation is 13\u00b0 north of west.[93] This gives us a declination of\n11\u00b0 north, and the star Spica at its setting would be visible in the\ntemple.\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLES AT TELL EL-AMARNA. A, The Aten (Spica)\nTemple; B, the Set Temple.]\n\nStill the light would not enter it _axially_ if the orientation is\ncorrect. This would have happened in 2000 B.C., that is, 600 years\nbefore the time of Amen-hetep IV. This is a point which Egyptologists\nmust discuss; it is quite certain that such a pair of temples as\nthose of which Lepsius gives us the plans could not have been\ncompletely built in his short reign, and they would not perhaps have\nbeen commenced on _heretical_ lines in any previous reign during the\nEighteenth dynasty. They must therefore have been commenced before\n1700 B.C., perhaps in the Seventeenth dynasty. In any case they were\ncertainly finished by Khu-en-Aten.\n\nProfessor Flinders Petrie has been good enough, in reply to an inquiry,\nto state his opinion that the temple was entirely built by Khu-en-Aten.\nShould this be confirmed, it may have been oriented directly to the\nsun, on the day named, or was probably built parallel to some former\ntemple, for traces of other temples are shown on Lepsius' plan, and I\npresume Khu-en-Aten is not supposed to have built all of them.\n\nWhat, then, was this worship which had been absent from Thebes, but\nwhich had held its own to the north to such an extent that Amen-hetep\nIV. went back to it so eagerly? It could not have been the worship of\nCapella as a star alone, for such worship had been provided for by\nThothmes III. by building temple G. Nor could it have been the worship\nof Spica as a star alone, for in that case the precedent of Annu would\nnot have been appealed to.\n\nThe worship he emphasised there exactly resembled that which had in\nearly times been paramount at Heliopolis. One based on it, but not\nidentical with it, had been in vogue at Thebes from 3200 B.C. to the\ntime of Thothmes III., who, as the tool of the confraternity of Amen,\nintensified the solstitial worship, and did his best to kill that which\nhad been based upon the Heliopolis cult.\n\nI say _exactly resembled_, because Amen-hetep IV., or some one of the\npreceding kings of Egypt, when reintroducing the old worship at Tell\nel-Amarna, orients the solar temple 13\u00b0 north of west according to the\ndata available. Now when we take the difference of latitude between\nHeliopolis and Tell el-Amarna into account, we find that the same\ndeclination (within half a degree) is obtained from both.\n\nHence, at Annu in the old days, and at Tell el-Amarna afterwards, the\nsun was worshipped on the same day of the year. At both places the\nsunlight at sunset would enter the temple on April 18 and August 24 of\nthe Gregorian year; hence both temples were probably built really to\nobserve the sunset on a special day. In this view how appropriate was\nthe prayer of A\u0101hmes, Khu-en-Aten's chief official--\n\n \"Beautiful is thy setting, thou sun's disk of life, thou Lord of Lords\n and King of the worlds. When thou unitest thyself with the heaven at\n thy setting, mortals rejoice before thy countenance and give honour\n to him who has created them, and pray before him who has formed them,\n before the glance of thy son who loves thee the King Khu-en-aten.\n The whole land of Egypt and all peoples repeat all thy names at thy\n rising, to magnify thy rising in like manner as thy setting.\"[94]\n\nAs may be gathered from Lepsius' maps and plans, this \"temple of the\nSun\" was not built alone. Set was again brought to the front. There was\nanother at right angles to it, and while Spica was seen setting in one,\na star near \u03b3 Draconis was rising in the other.\n\nIt may be added that it was not apparently till Rameses II. built\nhis temple M that Set again had an available temple at Karnak: one,\nhowever, again to be blocked when the victorious Tirhaqa and the Theban\npriests returned after their exile. (See page 186.)\n\nWe see, then, that in a detailed study of the sun-worship at Thebes\nalone, we distinctly trace two schools of astronomical thought\nassociated with different religious tendencies. As a protest against\nthe Southern worship of the Theban priests, Khu-en-Aten goes back to a\nNorthern cult. This point is evidently worth further inquiry.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXII.\n\n             THE EARLY TEMPLE AND GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS.\n\n\nIn previous chapters I have referred to the difference in astronomical\nthought evidenced by the solstitial solar worship at Thebes as\nopposed to the non-solstitial solar worship at Annu, and again by the\nobservations of southern stars above Thebes as opposed to observations\nof high northern stars below.\n\nThere is still another fundamental difference to be signalised, and\nthat is the building in some cases of pyramids, with or without\nassociated temples, east and west true.\n\nIt will perhaps be generally conceded that the differences in thought\nindicated by the building or non-building of colossal pyramids are\ngreater than those indicated by the two other _differentia_ to which I\nhave referred, and on this ground I propose to enter upon this point at\nsome length.\n\nWe may first inquire if there be any other class of considerations\nwhich can be utilised to continue the discussion of the question thus\nraised on astronomical grounds. It is obvious that if sufficient\ntradition exists to permit us to associate the different classes of\nstructures which have been studied astronomically with definite periods\nof Egyptian history, a study of the larger outlines of that history\nwill enable us to determine whether or not the critical changes in\ndynasties and rulers were or were not associated with critical changes\nin astronomical ideas as revealed by changes in temple-worship and\npyramid building. If there be no connection the changes may have been\ndue to a change of idea only--a variation in astronomical thought--and\nthe suggestion of a distinction of race falls to the ground.\n\nIn a region of inquiry where the facts are so few and difficult to\nrecognise among a mass of myths and traditions, to say nothing of\ncontradictory assertions by different authors in their exposition of\nthe inscriptions, the more closely we adhere to a rigidly scientific\nmethod of inquiry the better. I propose to show, therefore, that there\nis one working hypothesis which seems to include a great many of the\nfacts, and I hope to give the hypothesis and the facts in such a way\nthat if there be anything inaccurately or incompletely stated it will\nbe easy at once to change the front of the inquiry and proceed along\nthe new line indicated.\n\nI may begin by remarking that it is fundamental for the hypothesis,\nthat the temple of Annu or Heliopolis existed, as stated by Maspero and\nother high authorities, before the times of Mini (Mena) and the pyramid\nbuilders.\n\nBefore Mini, according to Maspero, \"On et les villes du Nord avaient eu\nla part principale dans le d\u00e9veloppement de la civilisation \u00c9gyptienne.\nLes pri\u00e8res et les hymnes, qui form\u00e8rent plus tard le noyau des livres\nsacr\u00e9s, avaient \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9dig\u00e9s \u00e0 An.\"\n\nMy observations of the orientation of the obelisk at Annu show that the\ntemple of which it formed part may have possibly been an early member\nof the series which includes the temple of Mut at Thebes, and of Hathor\nat Denderah; that is, the worship of Set was in question, to speak\ngenerically. Now, according to Maspero, Sit or Set formed one of the\ndivine dynasties, being associated with the sun and air gods at Annu,\n_i.e._ with R\u0101, Atmu, Osiris, Horus, and Shou.\n\nIt is also certain that the solar temple at Annu at right-angles to the\nSit temple, was pointed north-west, and probably to Capella setting,\nabout 5000 B.C.\n\nSo much for the astronomical antiquity of Annu. But there are other\nnorthern towns besides Annu for which a very high antiquity is claimed.\n\nOn this point here is the opinion of Ebers and D\u00fcmichen, two of our\nhighest authorities: \"Dies ist die \u00e4lteste Stadt in Aegypten, und das\nmit ihm verbundene Abydos kann nicht viel junger gewesen sein, denn\nschon im alten Reiche wird es vielfach als heilige Stadt erw\u00e4hnt.\"[95]\n\nThe sacred character of Abydos is also pointed out by Maspero.[96]\n\n\"C'est comme ville sainte qu'elle \u00e9tait universellement connue. Ses\nsanctuaires \u00e9taient c\u00e9l\u00e8bres, son dieu Osiris v\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9, ses f\u00eates suivies\npar toute l'\u00c9gypte; les gens riches des autres nomes tenaient \u00e0 honneur\nde se faire dresser une st\u00e8le dans son temple.\"\n\nIf it be found that the references to \"ancestors,\" and \"divine\nancestors,\" occur after the eleventh dynasty, the race represented by\nAnnu, or the one which immediately followed it (? the Hor-Shesu) may be\nreferred to (_see_ the chapters on the Egyptian year).\n\nOf Abydos astronomically I can only say very little, as the various\nstatements as to the orientation of the north-east temples there by\nvarious authors are so conflicting that nothing certain can be made\nout. As they stand they are suggestive that these temples may possibly\nbe associated with that at Luxor, and it may be gathered from the\ndescription of them by Ebers and D\u00fcmichen in Baedeker that many\nreferences to Set (Anubis) occur in the inscriptions. If subsequent\nmeasurements indicate that Abydos and Luxor are to be treated together,\nthen astronomically both these places may represent a cult more\nancient than that at Annu,[97] since it would appear that in these\ncases \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6 was the star personified by Anubis, as \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris and\n\u03b3 Draconis were subsequently. But if the cult were more ancient the\ntemple foundations were not, the first \"length\" of Luxor having been\nbuilt, on this supposition, about 4900 B.C. The last length built by\nRamses II. was certainly oriented to \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6, by which I mean that if\nthe building date given by Egyptologists is correct, \u03b1 Lyr\u00e6 rose in the\naxis prolonged--another instance of the long persistence of a cult, and\nof the fact that the temples that we see are but shrines restored.\n\nOn the assumption that the above view is true for Luxor and that Abydos\nfollowed suit, as is suggested by the imperfect orientations, we are\nled to the conclusion that, taking existing temple foundations, Annu\npreceded Abydos.[98]\n\nThe astronomical results, then, are certainly in harmony with the\nhistorical statement, which I take as fundamental, that Annu preceded\nMemphis and pyramid times.\n\nThese times were not only remarkable on account of the building of the\ngreat pyramids; there was a vast change in the cult.\n\nI have already pointed out that at Annu we seemed limited to Set as a\nstellar divinity; so soon as pyramid times are reached, however, this\nis changed. The number of gods is increased, and there is apparently\na mixture, as if some influence had been at work besides that\nrepresented by Annu and the pyramid builders.\n\nI have given before the list of the gods of Heliopolis, and have shown\nthat with the exception of Sit none are stellar. But we find in pyramid\ntimes the list is increased; only the sun gods R\u0101, Horus, Osiris, are\ncommon to the two. As new divinities we have[99]--\n\n  Isis.\n  Hathor.\n  Nephthys.\n  Ptah.\n  Serk-t.\n  Sokhit.\n\nOf these the first two and the last two undoubtedly symbolised stars,\nand there can be no question that the temples of Isis built at the\npyramids, Bubastis, Tanis and elsewhere, were built to watch the rising\nof some of them.\n\nThe temple of Sa\u00efs, as I have said, had east and west walls, and so had\nMemphis, according to Lepsius. The form of Isis at Sa\u00efs was the goddess\nNit, which, according to some authorities, was the precursor of Athene.\nThe temple of Athene at Athens was oriented to the Pleiades.\n\nThere is also no question that the goddess Serk-t symbolised Antares.\n\nWe find ourselves, then, in the presence of the worship of the sun and\nstars in the ecliptic constellations in Egypt during pyramid times,\nand in constellations connected with the Equinox; for if we are right\nabout the Pleiades and Antares, these are the stars which heralded the\nsunrise at the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox respectively, when the sun\nwas in Taurus and Scorpio.\n\nNow, associated with the introduction of these new worships in pyramid\ntimes was the worship of the bull Apis, this worship preceding the\nbuilding of pyramids. Mena is credited by some authors with its\nintroduction,[100] but at any rate Kakau of the second dynasty issued\nproclamations regarding it,[101] and a statue of Hapi was in the temple\nof Cheops.[102]\n\n[Illustration: APIS. APIS.]\n\nThe ground being thus cleared, I now state the working hypothesis to\nwhich I have referred above.\n\n1. The first civilisation as yet glimpsed, so far as temple building\ngoes, in _Northern_ Egypt, represented by that at Annu or Heliopolis,\nwas a civilisation with a non-equinoctial solar worship, combined with\nthe cult of a northern star.\n\n2. Memphis (possibly also Sa\u00efs, Bubastis, Tanis and other cities\nwith east and west walls) and the great pyramids were built by a new\ninvading race, representing an advance in astronomical thought. The\nnorthern stars were worshipped possibly on the meridian, and a star\nrising in the east was worshipped at each equinox.\n\n3. The subsequent blank in Egyptian history was associated with\nconflicts between these and other races, which were ended by the\nvictory of the representatives of the old worship of Annu, reinforced\nfrom the south, as if north-star and south-star cults had combined\nagainst the equinoctial cult.\n\n[Illustration: MNEVIS.]\n\nAfter these conflicts, east and west pyramid building practically\nceased, Memphis takes second place, and Thebes, a southern Annu, so far\nas the form of solar worship and the cult of Sit are concerned, comes\nupon the scene as the seat of the twelfth dynasty.[103]\n\n4. The subsequent historical events were largely due to conflicts\nwith intruding races from the north-east. The intruders established\nthemselves in cities with east and west walls, and were on each\noccasion driven out by solstitial solar worshippers who founded\ndynasties (eighteenth and twenty-fifth) at Thebes.\n\n[Illustration: THE TWO GREAT PYRAMIDS AT THE TIME OF THE INUNDATION.]\n\nSome detailed remarks are necessary on several points connected with\nthe above generalisation. I will take them _seriatim_.\n\nWe find at Memphis, Sa\u00efs, Bubastis, and Tanis, east and west walls\nwhich at once stamp those cities as differing in origin from Annu,\nAbydos and Thebes, where, as I have shown, the walls trend either\nnorth-west--south-east or north-east--south-west.\n\nFor Memphis, Sa\u00efs and Tanis the evidence is afforded by the maps of\nLepsius. For Bubastis it depends upon the statement of Naville, that\nthe walls run \"nearly from east to west,\" and with the looseness too\noften associated with such statements, it is not said whether this\nbearing is true or magnetic.\n\nAssociated with these east and west walls there is, moreover, evidence\nof great antiquity. Bubastis, according to Naville,[104] has afforded\ntraces of the date of Cheops and Chephren, and it is stated by Manetho\nto have existed as early as the second dynasty.\n\nIt is a matter of common knowledge that the pyramids in Egypt are\ngenerally oriented east and west.[105] Nor is this all; there has been\na distinct evolution in their method of structure.\n\nOne of the oldest, if not the oldest pyramid known is the so-called\n\"step-pyramid of Sakkarah.\" The steps are six in number, and vary in\nheight from thirty-eight to twenty-nine feet, their width being about\nsix feet. The dimensions are (352 north and south) \u00d7 (390 east and\nwest) \u00d7 197 feet. Some authorities think this pyramid was erected in\nthe first dynasty by the fourth king (Nenephes of Manetho, Ata of the\ntablet of Abydos). The arrangement of chambers in this pyramid is quite\nspecial.\n\n[Illustration: THE STEP-PYRAMID OF SAKKARAH.]\n\nThe claim to the highest antiquity of the step-pyramid is disputed by\nsome in favour of the \"false pyramid\" of M\u00ead\u00fbm. It also is a genuine\nstep-pyramid, 115 feet high; its outline, which conceals some of the\nsteps, shows three stages, seventy, twenty, and twenty-five feet high;\nbut in its internal structure it is really a step-pyramid of six stages.\n\n[Illustration: THE PYRAMID OF M\u00caD\u00dbM.]\n\nThis pyramid must, according to the important and conclusive researches\nof Professor Flinders Petrie,[106] be attributed to Seneferu, although\nDe Roug\u00e9 had furnished evidence to the contrary.[107] Seneferu was a\nking of the fourth dynasty.\n\nWe have at Dash\u00fbr the only remaining abnormal pyramid, called the\nblunted pyramid, for the reason that the inclination changes at about\none-third of the height. This pyramid forms one of a group of four,\ntwo of stone, and, be it carefully borne in mind, two of brick; their\ndimensions are 700 \u00d7 700 \u00d7 326 feet; 620 \u00d7 620 \u00d7 321 feet; 350 \u00d7 350 \u00d7\n90 feet; and 343 \u00d7 343 \u00d7 156 feet.\n\n[Illustration: THE \"BLUNTED PYRAMID\" OF DASH\u00dbR.]\n\nOne of these pyramids was formerly supposed to have been built by\nSeneferu; if any of them had been erected by King Usertsen III. of\nthe twelfth dynasty, as was formerly thought, the hypothesis we are\nconsidering would have been invalid.\n\nOnly after Seneferu, then, do we come to the normal Egyptian pyramid,\nthe two largest at G\u00eezeh built by Cheops (Chufu) and Chephren (fourth\ndynasty) being, so far as is accurately known, the oldest of the\nseries. (According to Mariette the date of Mena is 5004 B.C., and the\nfourth dynasty commenced in 4235.)\n\nAssociated with the cities with east and west walls and these pyramids\nare temples facing due east, fit, therefore, to receive the rays from a\nstar on the equator or of the morning sun rising at an equinox.\n\nAccording to Professor Flinders Petrie, at the pyramid of M\u00ead\u00fbm there\nis a small temple open to the west on the east side of the pyramid. At\nsunset at the equinox the sepulchral chamber and the sun were in line\nfrom the adytum. The priest faced a double Osiris.\n\nOther pyramids were built at Sakkarah during the sixth dynasty, but it\nis remarkable that such a king as Pepi-Meri-R\u0101 should not have imitated\nthe majestic structures of the fourth dynasty. He is said to have built\na pyramid at Sakkarah, but its obscurity is evidence that the pyramid\nidea was giving way, and it looks as if this dynasty were really on the\nside of the southern cult, for the authority of Memphis declined, and\nAbydos was preferred, while abroad Sinai was reconquered, and Ethiopia\nwas kept in order.[108]\n\nThe sphinx (oriented true east) may possibly be ascribed to the\nearliest pyramid builders; it could only have been sculptured by a race\nwith an equinoctial cult.\n\n\n        _The Buildings of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties._\n\nWe have next to consider what happened after the great gap in Egyptian\nhistory between the sixth and twelfth dynasties, 3500 B.C.--2851 B.C.\n(Mariette); from Nitocris to Amenemh\u0101t I. We pass to the Middle\nEmpire, and here we have merely to deal with the worships previously\nreferred to in Northern Egypt.\n\nAmenemh\u0101t I. built no pyramids, he added no embellishments to Memphis;\nbut he took Annu under his care, and now we first hear of Thebes.[109]\n\nUsertsen I. built no pyramids, he added no embellishments to Memphis,\nbut he also took Annu under his care, and added obelisks to the\ntemples, one of which remains to this day. Further, he restored the\ntemple of Osiris at Abydos, and added to the temple of Amen-R\u0101 at\nThebes.[110]\n\nSurely it is very noteworthy that the first thing the kings of the\ntwelfth dynasty did was to look after the only three temples in Egypt\nof which traces exist, which I have shown to have been oriented to the\nSun _not_ at an equinox. It is right, however, to remark that there\nseems to have been a mild recrudescence of pyramid building towards\nthe end of the twelfth dynasty, and immediately preceding the Hyksos\nperiod, whether as a precursor of that period or not.\n\nUsertsen's views about his last home have come down to us in a writing\nby his scribe Mirri:--[111]\n\n \"Mon ma\u00eetre m'envoya en mission pour lui pr\u00e9parer une grande\n demeure \u00e9ternelle. Les couloirs et la chambre int\u00e9rieure \u00e9taient\n en ma\u00e7onnerie, et renouvelaient les merveilles de construction des\n dieux. Il y eut en elle des colonnes sculpt\u00e9es, belles comme le\n ciel, un bassin creus\u00e9 qui communiquait avec le Nil, des portes, des\n ob\u00e9lisques, une fa\u00e7ade en pierre de Rouou.\"\n\nThere was nothing pyramidal about this idea, but one hundred and fifty\nyears later we find Amenemh\u0101t III. returning both to the gigantic\nirrigation works and the pyramid building of the earlier dynasties.\n\nThe scene of these labours was the Fayy\u00fbm, where, to crown the new\nwork, two ornamental pyramids were built, surmounted by statues, and\nfinally the king himself was buried in a pyramid near the Labyrinth.\n\n\n              _The Buildings of the Eighteenth Dynasty._\n\nThe blank in Egyptian history between the twelfth and eighteenth\ndynasties is known to have been associated with the intrusion of the\nso-called Hyksos. It is supposed these made their way into Egypt from\nthe countries in and to the west of Mesopotamia; it is known that they\nsettled in the cities with east and west walls. They were finally\ndriven out by A\u0101hmes, the king of solstitial-solar Thebes, who began\nthe eighteenth dynasty.\n\nOn page 338 I have shown what happened after the first great break in\nEgyptian history--a resuscitation of the solar worship at Annu, Abydos\nand Thebes.\n\nI have next to show that precisely the same thing happened after the\nHyksos period (Dyn. 13 (?) Mariette, 2233 Brugsch; Dyn. 18, 1703 B.C.,\nMariette, 1700 B.C. Brugsch) had disturbed history for some five\nhundred years.\n\nIt is known from the papyrus Sellier (G.C. 257) that A\u0101hmes, the first\nking of the eighteenth dynasty, who re-established the independence of\nEgypt, was in reality fighting the priests of Sutech in favour of the\npriests of Amen-R\u0101, the solstitial-solar god, a modern representative\nof Atmu of Annu.\n\nAmen-R\u0101 was the successor of Menthu. So close was the new worship to\nthe oldest at Annu, that at the highest point of Theban power the third\npriest of Amen took the same titles as the Grand Priest of Annu, \"who\nwas the head of the first priesthood in Egypt.\" The \"Grand Priest of\nAnnu,\" who was also called the \"Great Observer of R\u0101 and Atmu,\" had the\nprivilege of entering at all times into the _Hahenben_ or Naos. The\npriest Padouamen, whose mummy was found in 1891, bore these among his\nother titles.\n\nThe assumption of the title was not only to associate the Theban\npriesthood with their northern _confr\u00e8res_, but surely to proclaim that\nthe old Annu worship was completely restored.\n\n\n             _The Buildings of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty._\n\nThere was another invasion from Syria, which founded the twenty-second\ndynasty, and again the government is carried on in cities with east and\nwest walls (Sa\u00efs, Tanis and Bubastis). The solstitial-solar priests\nof Thebes withdraw to Ethiopia. They return, however, in 700 B.C.,\ndrive out the Syrian invaders, and, under Shabaka and Taharqa, found a\ndynasty (the twenty-fifth) at Thebes, embellish the temples there, and\nat Phil\u00e6, Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, and Denderah.\n\n\n                             _Conclusion._\n\nWe see, then, that every important change of cult was associated either\nwith invasions from without or with some disturbance in Egypt itself,\nfor in no other way can the gaps in Egyptian history be explained.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSo far we have considered the equinoctial temples as opposed to the\nnon-equinoctial ones in Northern Egypt. We have next to go farther\nafield, and include the southern temple worship and the possible\ninfluence of southern races even in the very earliest times.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n          THE CULT OF NORTHERN AS OPPOSED TO SOUTHERN STARS.\n\n\nSo far as my inquiries have yet gone, there is not above Thebes, with\nthe exceptions of Redesich and Dakkeh, any temple resembling those at\nAnnu, Thebes, Denderah and Abydos, to which I have directed attention\nas having a high north-east amplitude.\n\nSimilarly, with one or two exceptions which are probably late, there\nare no temples facing the south-east below Thebes.\n\nIn short, in Lower Egypt the temples are pointed to rising stars near\nthe north point of the horizon or setting north of west. In Upper Egypt\nwe deal chiefly with temples directed to stars rising in the south-east\nor setting low in the south-west.\n\nHere again we are in presence of as distinct differences in\nastronomical thought and purpose of observation as we found among those\nwho directed temples to the sun at the equinox, as opposed to those who\nworshipped that luminary at some other time of the year.\n\nNow with regard to the northern stars observed rising in high\namplitudes, we have found traces of their worship in times so remote\nthat in all probability at Annu and Denderah \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris was used\nbefore it became circumpolar. We deal almost certainly with 5000 B.C.\n\nSince undoubtedly _new_ temples with nearly similar amplitudes (such as\nthat denoted by M at Karnak) were built in late times, we find so long\na range of time indicated that the utility of the stellar observations\n_from the yearly point of view_ could scarcely have been in question,\nfor the reason that the same star could not herald an equinox or a\nsolstice for four thousand years.\n\nIt may be suggested, therefore, that the observations made in them had\nultimately to do with the determination of the hours of the night; this\nseems probable, for in Nubia at present, time at night is thus told.\n\nIt may be that such stars as Canopus were used by the southern peoples\nfor the same purpose as \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris first and then \u03b3 Draconis were\nused by the northerners. In other words, the question arises whether\nthe extreme north and south stars were not both used as warners of the\ndawn all the year round, after the cult had been established for use\nat some special time. Canopus, for instance, was of use to herald the\nautumnal equinox, 6--5000 B.C.; but it is quite natural to suppose that\nits utility for night work at all times of the year during which it was\nvisible would soon suggest itself, and the same remarks apply to the\nNorthern star \u03b3 Draconis.\n\nIt is well known that in quite early times means had been found of\ndividing the day and night into twelve hours. In the day shadows cast\nby the sun, or sundials, might have been used, but how about the night?\n\nWe have seen that the Egyptians chiefly, if not exclusively, observed a\nheavenly body and the position of other bodies in relation to it, when\nit was rising or setting, so that it was absolutely essential that the\nbody which they were to observe should rise and set. Everybody knows\nthat as seen in England there are many stars which neither rise nor\nset. The latitude of London being 51\u00b0, the elevation of the pole is 51\u00b0.\n\nHence, any star which lies within that distance from the pole cannot\nset, but sweeps round without touching the horizon at all. The\nlatitude of Thebes being 25\u00b0, the distance from the pole to the horizon\nis much smaller, and so the number of stars which do not rise and set\nis much smaller. The stars which do not rise or set are stars near the\npole, and therefore stars which move very slowly, and the stars which\nrise most to the north and most to the south are those bodies which\nare moving most slowly while they yet rise or set. Can this slow rate\nof motion have had anything to do with such stars being selected for\nobservation, the brightest star to the north most slowly moving, the\nbrightest star to the south most slowly moving? It is possible that\nobservations of these stars might have been made in such a way that at\nthe beginning of the evening the particular position of \u03b3 Draconis,\nfor instance, might have been noted with regard to the pole-star; and\nseeing that the Egyptians thoroughly knew the length of the night\nand of the day in the different portions of the year, they could at\nonce--the moment they had the starting-point afforded by the position\nof this star--practically use the circle of the stars round the north\npole as the dial of a sort of celestial clock. May not this really have\nbeen the clock with which they have been credited? However long or\nshort the night, the star which was at first above the pole-star,[112]\nafter it had got round so that it was on a level with it, would have\ngone through a quarter of its revolution.\n\nIn low northern latitudes, however, the southern stars would serve\nbetter for this purpose, since the circle of northern circumpolar stars\nwould be much restricted. Hence there was a reason in such latitudes\nfor preferring southern stars. With regard both to high north and\nsouth stars, then, we may in both cases be in presence of observations\nmade to determine the time at night. So that the worship of Set, the\ndetermination of the time at night by means of northern stars, might\nhave been little popular with those who at Gebel Barkal and elsewhere\nin the south had used the southern ones for the same purpose, and\nthis may be one reason why the Theban priests, representing Nubian\nastronomical culture and methods, were pledged to drive the cult of\nSutech out of the land.\n\nSince, then, the observations of \u03b3 Draconis might be used to herald the\nsunrise almost all the year round; and since the modern constellation\nDraco is the old Hippopotamus, we can readily understand Plutarch's\nstatement that \"Taurt presides over the birth of the sun,\" and why\nTaurt or Mut should be called the Mistress of Darkness.[113]\n\nIt does not seem too much to hope that the continuation of such\ninquiries may ultimately enable us to solve several points connected\nwith early Egyptian history. We read in Brugsch:--[114]\n\n\"According to Greek tradition, the primitive abode of the Egyptian\npeople is to be sought in Ethiopia, and the honour of founding\ntheir civilisation should be given to a band of priests from Mero\u00eb.\nDescending the Nile, they are supposed to have settled near the\nlater city of Thebes, and to have established the first state with a\ntheocratic form of government.\n\n\"But it is not to Ethiopian priests that the Egyptian Empire owes its\norigin, its form of government, and its high civilisation; much rather\nwas it the Egyptians themselves that first ascended the river to found\nin Ethiopia temples, cities, and fortified places, and to diffuse the\nblessings of a civilised state among the rude dark-coloured population.\n\n... \"Strange to say, the whole number of the buildings in stone, as yet\nknown and examined, which were erected on both sides of the river by\nEgyptian and Ethiopian kings, furnish incontrovertible proof that the\nlong series of temples, cities, sepulchres, and monuments in general,\nexhibit a distinct chronological order, of which the starting-point is\nfound in the pyramids, at the apex of the Delta.\"\n\nIt must be emphatically stated that the results obtained from these\nmonuments, studying them from the astronomical point of view, lead to a\nvery different conclusion. Instead of one series, there are distinctly\ntwo (leaving out of consideration the great pyramid builders at G\u00eezeh)\nabsolutely dissimilar astronomically; and instead of one set of\ntemple-builders going up the river, there were at least two sets, one\ngoing _up_ the river building temples to north stars, the other going\n_down_ building temples to south stars; and the two streams practically\nmet at Thebes, or at all events they were both very fully represented\nthere, either together or successively.\n\nThe double origin of the people thus suggested on astronomical grounds\nmay be the reason of the name of \"double country,\" used especially in\nthe titles of kings, of the employment of two crowns, and finally of\nthe supposed sovereignty of Set over the north, and of Horus over the\nsouth divisions of the kingdom.[115]\n\nOnly by the time of Seneferu was there anything like an amalgamation of\nthe peoples. He first was \"King of the two Egypts,\"[116] while later\nChephren called himself \"Horus and Sit\"[117]--a distinct indication, I\ntake it, that the influence of Upper Egypt was already felt as early as\nSeneferu, and, I think, much earlier, although all _temple_ trace of it\nis lost.\n\n[Illustration: SHIP OF H\u0100T-SHEPSET LADEN WITH PRODUCE FROM PUN-T. (_D\u00ear\nel-Bahari Inscriptions._)]\n\nWith regard to the start-point of the temple-builders who came down\nthe river, there is no orientation evidence, for the reason that there\nis little or no information from the regions south of Naga. At Naga\n(lat. 16\u00b0 18\u2032 N.), Mero\u00eb (lat. 16\u00b0 55\u2032 N.), Gebel Barkal and Nuri\n(both in lat. 18\u00b0 30\u2032 N.), there is information of the most important\nkind, but beyond Naga there is a gap; but since important structures\nwere erected at the places named in early times (my inquiries suggest\n3000-4000 B.C.), it is probable that the peoples who built them\nstretched further towards the equator.\n\nBut although the orientation evidence is lacking for the lower\nlatitudes, the inscriptions are by no means silent, and over and over\nagain it is stated that those particular gods whom I have found to be\nassociated with southern stars came from a locality called the land of\nPun-t.\n\n[Illustration: HUTS BUILT ON PILES IN PUN-T. (_D\u00ear el-Bahari\nInscriptions._)]\n\nPun-t was always considered a \"Holy Land.\" Hathor was \"Queen of the\nHoly Land,\" \"Mistress and Ruler of Pun-t.\" Amen-R\u0101 was \"Hak\" or \"King\"\nof Pun-t, and Horus was the Holy Morning Star which rose to the west\n(?) of the land of Pun-t.[118]\n\nMaspero refers to an ancient tradition that the land of Pun-t could\nbe reached by going up the Nile, where eventually one came to an\nunknown sea which bathed the land of Pun-t. Was this one of the great\nlakes?[119]\n\nBrugsch[120] is of opinion that Pun-t occupied the south and west\ncoasts of Arabia Felix, but Maspero and Mariette do not agree with\nhim. The two latter authorities identify it with that part of the\nSomali-land which borders on the Gulf of Aden. It is the Cinnamonifera\nregio or Aromatifera regio of the ancients.[121]\n\nThe inscriptions at D\u00ear el-Bahari make it quite certain that Pun-t is\nin Africa. Hottentot Venuses, pile dwellings,[122] elephants, to say\nnothing of the products of the country referred to as among the freight\nof the ships on their homeward voyage, distinctly point to Africa, and\nI think a southern part of it. The Cynocephalus ape, perhaps, is more\ndoubtful.\n\nThe first organised expedition to Pun-t of which we hear anything is\nthat organised by Se-\u0101n\u03c7-ka-R\u0101, the last king of the 11th _Theban_\ndynasty. This was a new traffic by way of the Red Sea. There was then\nno canal in existence joining the sea with the Nile; the expedition\nwent by land to Coptos.[123]\n\nThey further indicate, as Maspero suggests, that the expedition of\nH\u0101t-shepset anchored up a river, and not on the sea-shore. This, again,\nmakes Africa much more probable than Arabia.\n\nIf we agree that Pun-t is really in Africa, south of Somali-land, there\nis a great probability that the tradition referred to by Maspero is a\ntrue one.\n\nIt is also to be pointed out that there is no trace of the southern\nstar temples along the various roads to the Red Sea, while, on the\nother hand, the earliest traces of northern star worship, with the\nexception of Annu or On, occur along one or other of them. There is\ndistinct evidence that Osiris, Horus, Hathor, Chnemu, Amen-R\u0101, and\nKhons, are worships coming from the south. With regard to Horus, it is\nnecessary to discriminate, since there were two distinct gods--Horus in\nNorthern and Horus in Southern Egypt, _and Horus of the south was the\nelder of the two_.\n\n[Illustration: CYNOCEPHALUS APE WITH MOON EMBLEM.]\n\nThe Hawk-god of Edf\u00fb, Harhouditi, the southern Horus, had for servants\na number of individuals called Masniu or Masnitiu = blacksmiths. The\nHawk-god of the Delta, the northern Horus, Harsiisit, had for his\nentourage the Shesu Horu.\n\nNow Maspero has recently pointed out[124] that the southern Horus may\nhave been imported, not from Arabia Felix or Somali-land, but from\nCentral Africa! and in a most interesting paper has called attention to\nsome customs still extant among the castes of blacksmiths in Central\nAfrica, which have suggested to him that the followers of the Edf\u00fb\nHorus may have come from that province.\n\nHe writes:--\n\n \"C'est du sud de l'\u00c9gypte que les forgerons sont remont\u00e9s vers le\n nord; leur si\u00e8ge primitif \u00e9tait le sud de l'\u00c9gypte, la partie du pays\n qui a le plus des rapports avec les r\u00e9gions centrales de l'Afrique et\n leurs habitants.\"\n\nThen, after stating the present conditions of these workers in\nEquatorial Africa, where they enjoy a high distinction, he concludes:--\n\n \"Je pense qu'on peut se repr\u00e9senter l'Horus d'Edfou comme \u00e9tant au\n d\u00e9but, dans l'une de ses formes, le chef et le dieu d'une tribu\n d'ouvriers travaillant le m\u00e9tal, ou plut\u00f4t travaillant le fer. On ne\n saurait en effet se dissimuler qu'il y a une affinit\u00e9 r\u00e9elle entre\n le fer et la personne d'Horus en certains mythes. Horus est la face\n c\u00e9leste (horou), le ciel, le firmament, et ce firmament est de toute\n antiquit\u00e9, un toit de fer, si bien que le fer en prit le nom de\n ba-ni-pit, m\u00e9tal du ciel, m\u00e9tal dont est form\u00e9 le ciel: Horus l'a\u00een\u00e9,\n Horus d'Edfou, est donc en r\u00e9alit\u00e9 un dieu de fer. Il est, de plus,\n muni de la pique ou de la javeline \u00e0 point de fer, et les dieux qui\n lui sont apparent\u00e9s, Anhouri, Shou, sont de piquiers comme lui, au\n contraire des dieux du nord de l'\u00c9gypte, R\u0101, Phtah, etc., qui n'ont\n pas d'armes \u00e0 l'ordinaire. La l\u00e9gende d'Harhouditi conqu\u00e9rant l'\u00c9gypte\n avec les masniou serait-elle donc l'\u00e9cho lointain d'un fait qui se\n serait pass\u00e9 au temps ant\u00e9rieurs \u00e0 l'histoire? Quelque chose comme\n l'arriv\u00e9e des Espagnols au milieu des populations du Nouveau Monde,\n l'irruption en \u00c9gypte de tribus connaissant et employant le fer, ayant\n parmi elles une caste de forgerons et apportant le culte d'un dieu\n belliqueux qui aurait \u00e9t\u00e9 un Horus ou se serait confondu avec l'Horus\n des premiers Egyptiens pour former Harhouditi. Ces tribus auraient \u00e9t\u00e9\n n\u00e9cessairement d'origine Africaine, et auraient apport\u00e9 de nouveaux\n \u00e9l\u00e9ments Africains \u00e0 ceux que renfermait d\u00e9j\u00e0 la civilisation du bas\n Nil. Les forgerons auraient perdu peu \u00e0 peu leurs privil\u00e8ges pour\n se fondre au reste de la population: \u00e0 Edfou seulement et dans les\n villes ou l'on pratiquait le culte de l'Horus d'Edfou, ils auraient\n conserv\u00e9 un caract\u00e8re sacr\u00e9 et se seraient transform\u00e9s en un sorte de\n domesticit\u00e9 religieuse, les masniou du mythe d'Horus, compagnons et\n serviteurs du dieu guerrier.\"\n\nIf we are to accept Maspero's suggestion that the elder Horus really\ncame from Central Africa, traces of the cult of his followers should be\nfound high up the river.\n\nBut such a search is now denied us, while in the time of Thothmes\nIII. it is supposed that the south frontier Kali of the inscriptions\nis probably connected with Kolo\u00eb in 4\u00b0 15\u2032 N. lat. according to\nPtolemy.[125]\n\nAs a matter of fact, there is distinct evidence of the cult of the\nsouthern stars coming down the river in the region we can get at; \u03b1\nCentauri, _e.g._, seems to have been observed at Gebel Barkal before\nThebes--Sirius is too modern to be considered--and above all there is\nthe remarkable series of temples, apparently oriented to Canopus before\n6000 B.C., which come down no lower than Edf\u00fb.\n\nThe general statement is, then, that there were two distinct groups of\nstellar temples, probably built by different races, or at all events by\npeoples having very different astronomical methods.\n\nIt is well to inquire here whether the dates of the various temples as\ndetermined by the methods dwelt on in previous chapters can throw any\nlight upon the inquiry. Here I must re-state that in almost every case\nthe date of foundation so determined precedes the generally-received\ndate, which invariably has reference to a stone building, while in all\nprobability the first structure was a brick shrine merely. In support\nof this view I may state that the looking after ruined shrines was\nrecognised as one of the duties of kingship.\n\n \"I have caused monuments to be raised to the gods; I have embellished\n their sanctuaries that they may last to posterity; I have kept up\n their temples; I have restored again what was fallen down, and have\n taken care of that which was erected in former times.\"[126]\n\nNot only did Thothmes III. find the original temple of Amen-R\u0101 built in\nbrick, but he found the temple at Semneh in brick also, and he rebuilt\nit in memory of Usertsen III.[127]\n\nIn the following table I bring together the foundation dates I have\nfound most probable, bearing the above and many other considerations\nin mind. The dates are, of course, only provisional, since local data\nare in many cases wanting. Where no information is forthcoming as to\nthe height of the horizon visible along the temple axis, I have assumed\nhills 1\u00b0 high, and used the dates printed in heavy type in Chapter XXX.\n\n\n              TABLE OF TEMPLES BUILT TO N. AND S. STARS.\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n        \u2502     Northern Stars.    \u2502     Southern stars.   \u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  Years \u2502  \u03b1  \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n        \u2502Ursa \u2502  \u03b3  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  \u03b1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   B.C. \u2502Maj- \u2502Drac-\u2502Cap- \u2502Spica.\u2502Phact.\u2502Cent-\u2502Can- \u2502Sir-\u2502Remarks.\n        \u2502oris.\u2502onis.\u2502ella.\u2502      \u2502      \u2502auri.\u2502opus.\u2502ius.\u2502\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  [6400]\u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u25021, 2,\u2502    \u2502 1      2\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u25023, 4.\u2502    \u2502 ?Edf\u00fb, Phil\u00e6,.\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 3      4\n   5400 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 Amada, Semneh\n   5300 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Memphis.\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  2  \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Annu.\n   5200 \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Annu.\n   5100 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   5000 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4900 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4800 \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Denderah.\n   4700 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4600 \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Redesieh.\n   4500 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4400 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4300 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   4200 \u2502  1  \u2502  2  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1, 2. Denderah\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 (temple built\n   4100 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 when both stars\n   4000 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 had an equal\n   3900 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 amplitude).\n   3800 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   3700 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Barkal (E).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  2  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. K\u00fbrnah (Seti I.).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  3   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 3. Memnonia\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Western Temple).\n   3600 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. K\u00fbrnah (Palace).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Barkal (B).\n   3500 \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (Z and X).\n        \u2502     \u2502  2  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Dakkeh.\n        \u2502     \u2502  3  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 3. Denderah.\n   3400 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  1   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (V).\n   3300 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   3200 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  1   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Abu Simbel\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Hathor Temple).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  2   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Karnak (Y).\n   3100 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Karnak\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Temple O) Gr.\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. D\u00ear el-\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  Medinet (Gr.).\n   3000 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (U).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  2  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Wady Halfa\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Thothmes II.).\n   2900 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Barkal (L).\n   2800 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Wady Halfa\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Thothmes III.).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Sabooa.\n   2700 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. D\u00ear el-Bahari.\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  2  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Wady E. Sofra.\n   2600 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Memnonia\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Rameses II.)\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Mean of Fr.\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  and Gr.).\n   2500 \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (W).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Karnak (J).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  3   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 3. Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb (JJ).\n   2400 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Kom Ombo\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Little Temple).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  2  \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Petit Temple\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  du Sud (Memnonia).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  3   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 3. Barkal (J and H).\n   2300 \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Annu\n   2200 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502   (Restoration).\n   2100 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (B).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Semneh.\n   2000 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Dosche.\n   1900 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  1   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Tell el-Amarna.\n   1800 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Karnak (D) Gr.\n   1700 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (G).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502  2  \u2502    \u2502 2. Karnak (Seti II.).\n   1600 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   1500 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   1400 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Naga (Temple g), Gr.\n   1300 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502    \u2502 1. Naga (Temple f).\n   1200 \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak, (A.M.C).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502  2   \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Palace K K).\n   1100 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n   1000 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502  1  \u2502    \u2502 1. Karnak (Khons).\n    900 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502\n    800 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Phil\u00e6\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 (Ethiopian Temple).\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502  2   \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 2. Med\u00eenet Hab\u00fb\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502 (Ethiopian Temple).\n    700 \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502 1  \u2502 1. Denderah\n        \u2502     \u2502     \u2502     \u2502      \u2502      \u2502     \u2502     \u2502    \u2502  (Isis Temple).\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n  Gr. = German values of Orientation.\n  Fr. = French               \"\n\nThe following general conclusions may be drawn from the table:--\n\nI. At the earlier periods there are well-marked epochs of\ntemple-building revealed by the table.\n\nII. If we can accept the possible Canopus temples referred to in\nChapter XXX., the oldest foundations in Egypt yet traced are to\nsouthern stars. They are limited to Upper Egypt, and date from before\n6000 B.C.\n\nIII. The temples to the north stars, \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris, \u03b3 Draconis, and\nCapella (Set and Ptah), begin in the Delta and about 1000 years later.\nThe series is then broken till about 3500 B.C.\n\nIV. The south star temples to Phact at the summer solstice, and \u03b1\nCentauri at the autumnal equinox, begin about 3700 B.C.\n\nV. \u03b3 Draconis replaces \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris at Denderah; north-star temples\nare for the first time erected in the south at Karnak and Dakkeh in\n3500 B.C.\n\nVI. For the first time about 3200 B.C., north-and south-star temples\nare built simultaneously.\n\nVII. After this the building activity is chiefly limited to temples to\nsouthern stars.\n\nIf we take Brugsch's dates, we find that the foundations of the\ngreatest number of temples were laid about the time of Seneferu,\nPepi, and the twelfth dynasty. The more modern kings founded few\ntemples--their functions were those of expanding, restoring, and\n_annexing_. Even Thothmes III. seems to have laid no new foundations\nexcept perhaps that of the Ptah temple at Karnak, and that is doubtful.\n\nThe wonderful Hall of Columns called Khu-mennu (Splendid Memorial),\nin the temple of Amen-R\u0101, was dedicated by Thothmes III. not only to\nAmen-R\u0101, but to his ancestors. It is important to see who these were\nin the present connection. I give them with approximate dates.[128]\n\n                                             Brugsch.      Mariette.\n                                               B.C.          B.C.\n  Seneferu, fourth dynasty                     3766          4235\n  Assa, fifth dynasty                          3366          3951\n  Pepi, sixth dynasty                          3233          3703\n  The Antefs, eleventh dynasty                 2500          3064\n  The most famous sovereigns of the\n      twelfth dynasty                          2433-2300     2851\n  Thirty princes of the thirteenth dynasty     2233           (?)\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE PYRAMIDS AT NURI.]\n\nIt is interesting to note that in this list the builders of the great\npyramids at G\u00eezeh, and all the kings who in the last chapter were\nsuggested as being given to equinoctial worship, are passed over\nwithout notice. It would appear, then, that the ancestors named were\nof southern origin, precursors of Thothmes in cult as well as in time.\n\nOf these ancestors, the first--if Brugsch's dates can be taken, which,\nI think, is doubtful--limited himself to southern temples; the majority\nof temples built near Pepi's time were oriented to the south. The\ntwelfth dynasty was more catholic.\n\nThe more we inquire, the more interesting does this inquiry into the\nnorth-star temples as opposed to the south-star temples become. These\nconsiderations are not limited to the temples--they apply also to\npyramids. At G\u00eezeh we find both temples and pyramids oriented east\nand west. At Gebel Barkal, Nuri, and Mero\u00eb, in Upper Egypt, we find\nboth temples and pyramids facing south-east, and at the first of\nthese places, where both exist together, we find well-marked groups\nof pyramids connected by their orientations with each temple. I\ncan, however, find no information as to the probable dates of these\npyramids; in the absence of facts, it seems fair to assume that they\nfollow the dates of the temples which agree in orientation.\n\nIn the following tables I give the values for Nuri, Mero\u00eb, and Gebel\nBarkal; a west variation of 8\u00bd\u00b0 has been assumed.\n\n\n                              NURI.[129]\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                           \u2502   Magnetic  \u2502 Astronomical  \u2502\n            Cult.          \u2502   Azimuth.  \u2502  Amplitude.   \u2502 Decl.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                           \u2502     \u00b0       \u2502  \u00b0            \u2502     \u00b0\n  Pyramids 10, 11, 12      \u2502 N. 136 E.   \u2502 37\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 35\u00bc\n  Pyramids 1, 4            \u2502 N. 137\u00bc E.  \u2502 38\u00be S. of E.  \u2502 S. 36\u00bc\n  Pyramids 13, 14, 15      \u2502 N. 139 E.   \u2502 40\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 38\n                           \u2502             \u2502               \u2502\n  Pyramids 2, 3, 16, 17    \u2502 N. 145\u00bd E.  \u2502 47 S. of E.   \u2502 S. 43\u00be\n  Pyramids 5, 6, 7, 8, 9   \u2502 N. 146\u00bd E.  \u2502 48 S. of E.   \u2502 S. 44\u00be\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n                              MERO\u00cb.[130]\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                            \u2502  Magnetic  \u2502 Astronomical  \u2502\n          Cult.             \u2502  Azimuth.  \u2502  Amplitude.   \u2502  Decl.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                            \u2502      \u00b0     \u2502  \u00b0            \u2502     \u00b0\n  Pyramid 16                \u2502  N. 102 E. \u2502  3\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S.  3\u00bc\n  Pyramid 20                \u2502  N. 103 E. \u2502  4\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S.  4\u00bc\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Temple near Watercourse   \u2502  N. 112 E. \u2502 13\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 12\u00be\n  Pyramid 15                \u2502  N. 112 E. \u2502 13\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 12\u00be\n  Pyramids 14, 37           \u2502  N. 113 E. \u2502 14\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 13\u00be\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Pyramid 10                \u2502  N. 116 E. \u2502 17\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 16\u00be\n  Pyramid 39                \u2502  N. 118 E. \u2502 19\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 18\u00be\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Pyramid 19                \u2502  N. 83 E.  \u2502 15\u00bd N. of E.  \u2502 N. 14\u00be\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n\n                          GEBEL BARKAL.[131]\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                            \u2502  Magnetic  \u2502 Astronomical  \u2502\n          Cult.             \u2502  Azimuth.  \u2502  Amplitude.   \u2502  Decl.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n                            \u2502     \u00b0      \u2502  \u00b0            \u2502     \u00b0\n  Temple E                  \u2502 N. 132 E.  \u2502 33\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 31\u00bd\n  Pyramid 18                \u2502 N. 132\u00bd E. \u2502 34 S. of E.   \u2502 S. 32\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Temple L                  \u2502 N. 136\u00bd E. \u2502 38 S. of E.   \u2502 S. 35\u00bd\n  Pyramids 9, 13            \u2502 N. 136 E.  \u2502 37\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 35\u00bc\n  Pyramid 11                \u2502 N. 140 E.  \u2502 41\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 39\n  Pyramids 1, 2             \u2502 N. 141 E.  \u2502 40\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 39\u00be\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Temples J and H           \u2502 N. 146 E.  \u2502 47\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 44\u00bc\n  Pyramid 20                \u2502 N. 146 E.  \u2502 47\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 44\u00bc\n  Pyramids 2, 15, 16, 17    \u2502 N. 147 E.  \u2502 48\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 45\u00bc\n                            \u2502            \u2502               \u2502\n  Temple B                  \u2502 N. 152 E.  \u2502 53\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 49\u00be\n  Pyramids 5, 6, 7, 8, 10   \u2502 N. 153 E.  \u2502 54\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 50\u00bd\n  Pyramid 19                \u2502 N. 156 E.  \u2502 57\u00bd S. of E.  \u2502 S. 53\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\nIt seems quite justifiable from the above facts to conclude that the\npyramids and temples oriented S.E. and, as I hold, to \u03b1 Centauri when\nit heralded the autumnal equinox, were not built by people having\nthe same astronomical ideas, worships, and mythology as those who\nbuilt at G\u00eezeh due E. and W., and marked the autumnal equinox by the\nheliacal rising of Antares.[132] The only thing in common was noting an\nequinox, and so far as this goes we may infer that neither people dwelt\noriginally in the Nile Valley, but came by devious ways from a country\nor countries where the equinoxes had been made out.\n\n[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TEMPLES AND PYRAMIDS AT GEBEL BARKAL.]\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXIV.\n\n        THE ORIGIN OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY--THE NORTHERN SCHOOLS.\n\n\nSo far we have dealt with the dawn of astronomy in Egypt. We have found\nthat from the earliest times there were astronomical observations\ncarried on, and that practically there were three schools of thought.\nTo all three schools sun-worship was common, but we may clearly\nseparate them by the associated star-worship. We have found worshippers\nof northern stars, east and west stars, and southern stars.\n\nThe northern star-worshippers we may associate with Annu, the east\nand west star cult with the pyramid fields at G\u00eezeh, and the southern\nstar-worshippers with Upper Egypt.\n\nWhat we have to do in the present chapter is to see whether the\norientation of the structures helps us with any suggestions touching\nthe question whether we have to stop at the places named and\nacknowledge Egypt to be the true cradle of astronomical science; or\nwhether the facts we have considered compel us to go a stage further\nback, and to recognise that the true origin was elsewhere; that, in\nshort, astronomy, instead of taking its rise in Egypt, was simply\nimported thither.\n\nIt would appear from the recent work of the students of the languages\nof Babylonia and Assyria that in these countries, if anywhere, there\nmight have been civilisations more ancient than the Egyptian, which\nhave already been glimpsed.\n\nBut before I go further something must be said about Babylonia itself,\nfor the reason that it also was the meeting-ground of at least two\ndifferent schools of astronomical thought. The facts connected with\nthis subject are still to a certain extent involved in obscurity, which\nis little to be wondered at when we think how recently any knowledge\nhas been available to throw light upon the past of these regions. I\nneed, however, only briefly refer to them, and for this purpose shall\nuse the two most recently published books dealing with the question\nwhich at present concerns us. I refer to Prof. Sayce's \"Hibbert\nLectures\" and Prof. Jensen's \"Kosmologie der Babylonier.\"\n\nBut what period are we to take?\n\nIt follows from the investigation into the orientation of Egyptian\ntemples that the stars \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris, Capella, Antares, Phact, and \u03b1\nCentauri were carefully observed, some of them as early as 5000 B.C.,\nthe others between 4000 and 3000 B.C. I have also shown that it is\npossible that at Edf\u00fb and Phil\u00e6 the star Canopus may have been observed\nas early as 6400 B.C. Further, that the constellations of the Thigh\n(Ursa Major), the Hippopotamus (Draco), the Bull, and the Scorpion had\nbeen established in pyramid times.\n\nIt becomes important, therefore, if we recognise this as the dawn of\nastronomy in Egypt, to see if any information is extant giving us\ninformation concerning Babylonia, so that we may be able to compare the\nobservations made in the two regions, not only with a view of tracing\nthe relative times at which they were made, but to gather from these\nany conclusions that may be suggested in the course of the inquiry.\n\nThe inquiry must be limited to certain detailed points; we know quite\nwell already, as I have stated before, that the omen tablets, which\nmention a king called Sargon (probably Sargon I. of Agade), who reigned\nin Babylon about 3700 B.C., prove unquestionably that astronomy had\nbeen cultivated for thousands of years before the Christian Era.[133]\nBut to institute a comparison we must leave the general and come to\nthe particular. I will begin with the northern constellations, as it\nfollows from my researches that very early at Annu and Denderah temples\nwere erected for their worship--the worship of Anubis or Set, as I have\nshown before; that is, of \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris and \u03b3 Draconis.\n\n\n                 THE ANNU SCHOOL. THE WORSHIP OF SET.\n\nAccording to Maspero, Set formed one of the divine dynasties at Annu,\nand the northern stars seem to have been worshipped there. I suppose\nthere is now no question among Egyptologists that the gods Set, Sit,\nTyphon, Bes, Sutekh, are identical. To this list possibly Ombo and Nubi\nshould be added.[134] It is also equally well known that Sutekh was a\ngod of the Canaanites,[135] and Bes is identified with Set in the Book\nof the Dead.[136]\n\nIt is also stated by Maspero that at Memphis[137] (time not given)\nthere were temples dedicated to \"Sutekh\" and \"Baal.\" In the chapter\non the circumpolar stars I have suggested that they were taken as\ntypifying the powers of darkness and of the lower world, and I believe\nit is conceded by Egyptologists that Anubis in jackal form was either\ncontemporaneous with or preceded Osiris in this capacity.\n\nIn the exact centre of the circular zodiac of Denderah we find the\njackal located at the pole of the equator; it obviously represents the\npresent Little Bear.\n\nNow, do we get any Babylonian connection so far as we have gone?\n\nWe learn, to begin with, from Pierret[138] that the hippopotamus, the\nemblem of Set and Typhon, was the hieroglyph of the Babylonian god\n\"Baal.\"\n\nDo we get the jackal constellation in Babylonian astronomy? Of this\nthere is no question, and in early times. Jensen refers[139] to\nthe various readings \"jackal\" and \"leopard,\" and states that it is\nonly doubtful whether by this figure the _god_ ANU or the _pole of\nthe ecliptic_ ANU is meant. Either will certainly serve our present\npurpose, and a leopard in Babylonia might as easily symbolise the night\nas a jackal in Northern Egypt.\n\nThere seems little doubt that the jackal, leopard, hy\u00e6na, black pig\n(wild boar), and hippopotamus were chosen as the representatives\nof the god of evil and darkness (associated with the circumpolar\nconstellations), on account of their ravages on flocks and herds and\ncrops. If this be agreed, nothing is more proper than that the jackal\nshould be associated with North Egypt, the hippopotamus with South\nEgypt, and the wild boar with a latitude to the north of Egypt (and\nperhaps of Nineveh) altogether. The representative of the god of\ndarkness, then, depended upon the latitude. In this connection I may\nstate that Drs. Sclater and Salvin have quite recently referred me to\nan interesting paper by the late Mr. Tomes[140] on the habit of the\nhippopotamus when it comes out of the water to exude a blood-coloured\nfluid from special pores in its skin. This explains at once why Typhon\ntook the form of a _red_ hippopotamus, and why Mr. Irving, on the\nmodern stage, couples Mephistopheles, the modern devil, with red fire.\n\nI know not whether the similarity in the words Anu, Annu and An results\nmerely from a coincidence, but it is certainly singular that the most\nancient temples in Lower Egypt (Heliopolis and Denderah) should be\ncalled Annu or An[141] if there be no connection with the Babylonian\ngod Anu.\n\nWith regard to Anubis, it is quite certain that the seven stars in\nUrsa Minor make a very good jackal with pendent tail, as generally\nrepresented by the Egyptians (_see_ page 276), and that they form the\nnearest compact constellation to the pole of the ecliptic.\n\nThe worship of Anubis as god of the dead, or the night god, whether\nassociated with the Babylonian Anu or not, was supreme till the time of\nMen-Kau-R\u0101, the builder of the third pyramid of G\u00eezeh[142] (3633 B.C.,\nBrugsch; 4100 B.C., Mariette). Osiris is not mentioned. The coffin-lid\nof this king with the prayer to Osiris \"marks a new religious\ndevelopment in the annals of Egypt. The absorption of the justified\nsoul in Osiris, the cardinal doctrine of the Ritual of the Dead, makes\nits appearance here for the first time.\"\n\nIt seems extremely probable, therefore, that the worship of the\ncircumpolar stars went on in Babylonia as well as in Egypt in the\nearliest times we can get at.\n\nA very wonderful thing it is that, apparently in very early times, the\nBabylonians had made out the pole of the equator as contradistinguished\nfrom the pole of the ecliptic. This they called B\u012bl. With this Jensen\nfinds no star associated,[143] but 6000 B.C. this pole would be not\nfar removed from those stars in the present constellation Draco,\nout of which I have suggested that the old Egyptian asterism of the\nhippopotamus was formed.\n\nNor was this all; movements in relation to the ecliptic had been\ndifferentiated from movements in relation to the equator. We have\ninscriptions running:--\n\n \"_The way in reference to Anu_,\" that is the ecliptic with its pole at\n Anu.\n\n \"_The way in reference to B\u012bl_,\" the equator with its pole at B\u012bl.\n\nIn other words, the daily and yearly apparent movements of the heavenly\nbodies were clearly distinguished, while we note also\n\n _Kabal \u0161ami_, \"the middle of the heavens,\" defining the meridian.\n\nSo far as I can make out, when Anubis was supreme in Egypt, the only\nsun-gods at Memphis and Annu were R\u0101 and Atmu. Ptah appears to have\nbeen a mixed sun-star god, _i.e._, Capella heralding the sunrise in the\nHarvest Time.\n\nNow I learn from Prof. Sayce[144] that in Babylonia Anu and B\u012bl ranked\nas two members of a triad from the commencement of the Semitic period,\nthe third member being probably a southern star symbolised as we shall\nsee in the sequel; it is only in later times in Babylonia apparently\nthat we get a triad consisting of sun, moon, and Venus,[145] Venus\nbeing replaced at Babylon by Sirius.[146]\n\nTo the two northern divinities temples were built; both were worshipped\nin one temple at Babylon,[147] which must therefore have been oriented\ndue north; and the pole of the equator (the altitude of which is equal\nto the latitude of the place) was probably in some way indicated.\nHere there was no rising or setting observation, for Eridu, the most\nsouthern of the old Babylonian cities, had about the same latitude as\nBubastis, in Egypt. The pole of the ecliptic (Anu) would revolve round\nthe pole of the equator (B\u012bl) always above the horizon.\n\n  So that since      Sutekh = Anu\n            and        Baal = B\u012bl,\n\nthe temple at Memphis to those divinities reported by Maspero (see\n_ante_) must have been oriented in the same way as the one at Babylon,\nthat is to the north; and if the above evidence be considered strong\nenough to enable us to associate the Babylonian B\u012bl with the Egyptian\nTaurt, we have not only Ursa Minor but Draco represented in the early\nworship and mythology both of Egypt and of Babylonia.\n\nAccording to Prof. Sayce[148] there is distinct evidence of a change\nof thought with regard to Anu in Babylonia--there certainly were\ngreat changes of thought in Egypt with regard to Anubis. Observations\nof stars near the pole of the ecliptic appear to have been utilised\nbefore they were taken as representing either the superior or inferior\npowers--before, in fact, the Anubis or Set stage _qu\u00e1_ Egypt was\nreached. After this had been accomplished there was still another\nadvance, in which Anu assigns places to sun, moon, and evening star,\nand symbolises the forces of nature.\n\nThere is evidence, though unfortunately it is very meagre, that the\ntemple worship was very similar in the two countries.\n\nIn the ceremonials in the temples the statues of the gods in boats\nor arks were always carried in procession.[149] The same rectangular\narrangement of temples which held in Egypt, held also in Babylonia, and\nthis perhaps may be the reason why B\u012bl seems so often to refer to the\nsun, whereas it was the name given to the combined worship. Sometimes,\non the other hand, the worship of the stars is distinctly referred to\nas taking place in a solar temple. Thus at Marduk's temple, E-Sagili,\nwe are told that \"two hours after nightfall the priest must come and\ntake of the waters of the river; must enter into the presence of B\u012bl,\nand putting on a stole in the presence of B\u012bl must say this prayer,\"\netc.[150] The temple, then, will probably have been oriented to the\nnorth. Night prayers in a sun-temple afford pretty good indications of\na mixed cult.\n\nThe evidence, then, seems conclusive that by the time of the founding\nof the temple at Annu a knowledge of the stars near the pole of the\nequator, and of the importance of observing them, was common to N.\nEgypt and to the region N.E. of it. Whether the worship of Set was\nintroduced into Egypt from this region, or whether there was a common\norigin, must for the present, then, remain undetermined.\n\n\n        THE EQUINOCTIAL SCHOOL--THE WORSHIP OF THE SPRING-SUN.\n\nThe East and West orientation, as we have seen, is chiefly remarkable\nat the pyramids of G\u00eezeh and the associated temples, but it is not\nconfined to them.\n\nThe argument in favour of these structures being the work of intruders\nis that a perfectly new astronomical idea comes in, one not represented\nat Annu and quite out of place in Egypt, with the solstitial rising\nriver, as the autumnal equinox was at Eridu, with the river rising at\nthe spring equinox.\n\nWe are justified from what is known regarding the rise of the Nile as\ndominating and defining the commencement of the Egyptian year at the\nsolstice, in concluding that other ancient peoples placed under like\nconditions would act in the same way; and if these conditions were such\nthat spring would mean sowing-time and autumn harvest-time, their year\nwould begin at an equinox.\n\nNow what the valley of the Nile was to Egypt those of the Tigris and\nthe Euphrates were to the Babylonian empire. Like the Nile, these\nvalleys were subject to annual inundations, and their fertility\ndepended, as in Egypt, upon the manner in which the irrigation was\nlooked after.\n\nBut unlike the Nile, the commencement of the inundation of these rivers\ntook place near the vernal equinox; hence the year, we may assume,\nbegan then, and, reasoning by analogy, the worship in all probability\nwas equinoctial.\n\nA people entering Egypt from this region, then, would satisfy one\ncondition of the problem. But is there any evidence that this people\nbuilt their solar temples and temple walls east and west, and that they\nalso built pyramids?\n\nThere is ample evidence (referred to in Chapter IX.)--although, alas!\nthe structures in Babylonia, being generally built in brick and not in\nstone, no longer remain, as do those erected in Egypt. Still, in spite\nof the absence of the possibility of a comparative study, research has\nshown that in the whole region to the north-east of Egypt the temenos\nwalls of temples and the walls of towns run east and west; and though\nat present actual dates cannot be given, a high antiquity is suggested\nin the case of some of them. Further, as has been already pointed out,\nthe temples which remain in that region where stone was procurable, as\nat Palmyra, Baalbek, Jerusalem, all lie east and west.\n\nBut more than this, it is well known that from the very earliest\ntimes pyramidal structures, called ziggurats, some 150 feet high,\nwere erected in each important city. These were really observatories;\nthey were pyramids built in steps, as is clearly shown from pictures\nfound on contemporary tablets; and one with seven steps and of great\nantiquity, it is known, was restored by Nebuchadnezzar II. about 600\nB.C. at Babylon.\n\n[Illustration: STATUE OF CHEPHREN, FOUND IN THE TEMPLE NEAR THE\nSPHINX.]\n\nA careful study of the historical references to the various pyramids\nbuilt in Egypt, leaves it beyond doubt that the step pyramids are the\noldest. They could, then, most easily have been constructed on the\nBabylonian model, and in this fact we have an additional argument for\nthe intrusion of the pyramid builders into Egypt from Babylonia.\n\nBut did this equinox-worshipping, pyramid-building race live at\nanything like the time required?\n\nThere is no doubt now in the minds of scholars that the evidence is\nconclusive that among the kings of Babylonia were the following:--[151]\n\n                   B.C.\n  Entenna          4200\n  Naram-Sin        3800\n  Sargon I.        3750\n\nThe date of the earliest known pyramid in Egypt may perhaps be put down\nas about 3700 B.C. (Brugsch), or 4200 B.C. (Mariette).\n\nHence it seems that a third line of evidence is in favour of the\nBabylonian intrusion. There was undoubtedly an equinox-worshipping,\npyramid-building race existing in Babylonia at the time the Egyptian\npyramids are supposed to have been built.\n\nAnother connecting link is found in the statues of Chephren discovered\nin the temple at the pyramids, and at Tel-loh (ancient Lagash) by M.\nde Sarzec in 1881. This last find consisted of some large statues of\ndiorite, and the attitude is nearly identical with that of Chephren\nhimself as represented in the statues in the museum of G\u00eezeh.\n\nThis indicates equality in the arts, and the possession of similar\ntools, in Chald\u00e6a and Egypt about the time in question. Further it\nis supposed that the diorite out of which both series of statues\nwere fashioned came out of the same quarry in Sinai. The characters\nin which the inscriptions are written are in what is termed \"line\"\nBabylonian--_i.e._, they resemble pictures more than cuneiform\ncharacters; and the standard of measurement marked upon the plan of\nthe city, which one of the figures of Tel-loh holds upon his knees,\nis the same as the standard of measurement of the Egyptian pyramid\nbuilders--the cubit of 20\u00b763, not the Assyro-Babylonian cubit of\n21\u00b76.[152]\n\nNow, although with regard to the cult of the northern stars it was\nimpossible to decide whether the Egyptian school of astronomers came\nfrom Babylonia or from a source common to both countries, it is clear\nthat with regard to the equinoctial cult we are limited absolutely to\nBabylonia as the special source. The coincidence in time of the same\nkind of buildings and the same art in the two countries puts a common\norigin out of the question.\n\nTo sum up, then, so far as we have gone, both the north-star worship\nand the equinoctial worship were imported into Egypt.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXV.\n\n   THE ORIGIN OF EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY (CONTINUED)--THE THEBES SCHOOL.\n\n\nThe next question which arises now that we have considered the facts\nrelating to the astronomy of Northern Egypt is one connected with the\ncults which we have proved to come down the Nile. Were they indigenous\nor imported?\n\nAlthough I have put it forward with all reserve, there is evidence\nwhich suggests that the temples so far traced sacred to the southern\ncult are of earlier foundation than those to the north; and they\nare associated with Edf\u00fb and Phil\u00e6, which are known to be of high\nantiquity. This is one point of difference. Another is that the almost\nentire absence of Set temples and east and west pyramids up the river\nindicates that, so far as these structures go, we lack the links which\nastronomically and mythologically connect the Delta with Babylonia\neither directly or by common origin.\n\nFrom Prof. Sayce it is to be gathered that the most ancient people yet\nglimpsed there inhabited the region at the head of the Persian Gulf,\none of the chief cities being Eridu, now represented by the mounds\nof Abu Shahr\u00ean on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. It was founded\nas a maritime city, but is now far inland, owing to the formation of\nthe delta, the alluvium of which at the present time advances about\nsixty-six feet a year.[153] This alone is an argument in favour of its\nhigh antiquity.\n\nAlong with the culture of Eridu went the worship of the god of Eridu,\nthe primal god of Babylonia, Ea, \u00cda, or Oannes, symbolised as a\ngoat-fish, and connected in some way with the sun when in Capricornus.\n\nThis, Jensen, by his wonderful analysis (would that I could completely\nfollow it in its marvellous philological twistings, pages 73-81) puts\nbeyond question; and he clinches the argument by showing that our\n\"tropic of Capricorn\" of to-day--the goat still represented on our\nglobes of to-day with a fish's tail!--was called by the Babylonians\n\"the path followed by \u00cda\" or in relation to \u00cda.\n\nThis \u00cda was such a great god that to him was assigned the functions of\nMaker of Men; he was also a great potter and art workman (p. 293), a\npoint I shall return to presently. He eventually formed a triad with\nAnu and B\u012bl, that is, the poles of the heavens and the equator.[154]\n\n\n                          _The God of Eridu._\n\nLet us assume that the earliest sun-god traced at Eridu was the sun-god\nof those early argonauts who founded the colony.\n\nWe are told that this god was the son of \u00cda, and that his name was\nTammuz; he was in some way associated with Asari (? Osiris) (Sayce, p.\n144), who, according to Jensen, represented the Earth (p. 195); of the\nMoon we apparently hear nothing.\n\nThis Tammuz (Dumuzi), we find, ultimately became \"the Nergal of\nSouthern Chald\u00e6a, the sun-god of winter and night, who rules, like\nRhadamanthos, in the lower world\" (Sayce, p. 245), and as lord of Hades\nhe was made son of Mul-lil (Sayce, p. 197).\n\nThis was at first. But what do we find afterwards?\n\nNergal is changed into the Midsummer Sun! (Jensen, p. 484). And\nfinally he is changed into the Spring Sun Marduk at Babylon (Sayce, p.\n144)[155] where he is recognised as the son of \u00cda and Duazag, that is\nthe Eastern Mountain (Jensen, p. 237).\n\nNow, however difficult it may be to follow these changes from the\nreligious point of view, from the astronomical side they are not\nonly easily explained, but might have been predicted, provided one\nhypothesis be permitted, namely, that the colony who founded Eridu were\noriginally inhabitants of some country where the chief agricultural\noperations were carried on about the time of the Autumnal Equinox in\nthe northern hemisphere.[156]\n\nThis country might lie south of the equator, and indeed we find one\nwhich answers the requirements in the region of the great lakes and on\nthe coast opposite Zanzibar.\n\nSuch an hypothesis may at first sight appear strange, but the view\nthat Eridu was colonised from Cush has been supported by no less an\nauthority than Lepsius.[157] The boundaries of Cush are not defined,\nbut they may possibly include the Land of Pun-t, from which certainly\npart of the Egyptian culture was derived.\n\nAmong all early peoples the most important times of the year must\nnecessarily have been those connected with seed-time and harvest in\neach locality. Now the spring equinox and summer solstice south of the\nequator are represented by the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice\nto the north of it. If the colonists who came to Eridu came from a\nregion south of the equator, they would naturally have brought not only\ntheir southern stars, but their southern seasons with them; but their\nspringtime was the northern autumn, their summer solstice the northern\nwinter. This could have gone on for a time, and we see that their\nsun-god was the god of the winter solstice, Tammuz-Nergal.\n\nBut it could only have gone on for a time; the climatic facts were\nagainst such an unnatural system,[158] and the old condition could\nhave been brought back by calling the new winter summer, or in other\nwords making the winter-god into the summer sun-god--in short, changing\nNergal into a midsummer sun-god. This it seems they did.[159]\n\nBut why the further change of Nergal to Marduk? Because the northern\nraces were always tending southwards, being pushed from behind, while\nthe supply of Eridu culture was not being replenished. The religion\nand astronomy of the north were continually being strengthened, and\namong this astronomy was the cult of the sun at the vernal equinox,\nthe springtime of the northern hemisphere, sacred to Marduk. Nergal,\ntherefore, makes another stage onward, and is changed into Marduk!\n\nIt is also interesting to find that in Ninib, another sun-god, we\nhave almost the exact counterpart of the Egyptian Horus. He is the\neastern morning sun, the son of Asari (? Osiris), and the god of\nagriculture.[160]\n\nI append here the most recent translation of the hymn to the sun-god,\nreferred to in the Introduction:--\n\n  \"O Sun (god)! on the horizon of heaven thou dawnest,\n  The bolt of the pure heaven thou openest,\n  The door of heaven thou openest.\n  O Sun (god)! thou liftest up thy head to the world;\n  O Sun (god)! thou coverest the earth with the majestic brightness of\n    heaven.\"\n\nMarduk, then, the son of Ea, or \u00cda, was finally as definite a spring\nequinox sun-god as Amen-R\u0101 in Egyptian mythology was a summer solstice\nsun-god.\n\nWe have, then, the undoubted facts that in Southern Babylonia, to\nstart with, the sun-worship had to do with the winter half of the\nyear. As the Babylonian culture advanced northward from Eridu and met\nthe Semitic culture, the winter season was changed for the spring\nequinox--that is, a worship identical with that of the pyramid builders\nwho intruded into Northern Egypt.\n\n\n                   _The Myths of Horus and Marduk._\n\nIn my references to the myth of Horus in Chapter XIV. I have shown\nthat in all probability an astronomical meaning is that the rising\nsun puts out the northern stars. It was also indicated that the myth\nwas one of great antiquity, as it was formulated when Draco was\ncircumpolar; was not simple in its nature, and probably had reference\nto a sun-worshipping race abolishing the cult of Set representing the\nnorthern stars.\n\nThe facts brought together in subsequent chapters show that if there\nwere not such a myth, there should have been; for the temple evidence\nalone showing the antithesis between Osiris-worship and the worship of\nSet is overwhelming.\n\nI have also indicated that temples built to northern stars are\ngeographically separated from those built to southern ones, and that\nthe former have had their axes blocked to prevent the worship.\n\nThe Horus of Edf\u00fb, who is represented as leading the victorious\nhosts who revenge the killing of Osiris by Set, is the ally of the\nsouthern-star worshippers whom we have traced from Thebes, possibly\nto Central Africa (see page 350); and if we associate the myth with\nthe records on the walls of the temple of Edf\u00fb, and agree to the\npossibility of that temple having been founded in 6400 B.C. (see page\n311), then there must have been an invasion of the southern peoples\nabout that date--an invasion which reached Northern Egypt, where\neventually they were conquered by the Set-worshipping race, who came,\nas I think I have proved, from a country to the N.E. of the Delta. The\nquestion is: Did this first colony represent the original Hor-Shesu,\nso-called specially because perhaps as a novelty they had _added_ the\nworship of the sun to the worship of the moon? and was the moon the\nfirst Osiris brought in by moon-worshippers with a year of 360 days?\n\nIn Accad and Sumer, where also, according to Hommel and others, the\nword Osiris (Asari) has been traced, the sun-god was the daughter of\nthe moon-god. An eye forms part both of the hieroglyphic and of the\ncuneiform name, and the eye was one of the symbols in the name of\nOsiris in Egypt. Be this as it may, we have temple evidence to show\nthat in Egypt the worship of Set was the worship of a northern race,\nand that it was finally abolished by a southern one.\n\nNow in Babylonia exactly the opposite happened. The proto-Chald\u00e6an\nsouth-star and winter-sun cult of Eridu was ultimately changed,\nabsorbed, and buried in the Semitic cult of the northern stars Anu and\nB\u012bl and the spring sun, first Marduk and afterwards \u0160ama\u0161.\n\nHad there been then myth-makers in Babylonia, the myth would have been\nthe converse of the Egyptian one. There were myth makers, and precisely\nsuch a myth! It is called the Myth of Marduk and Ti\u0101mat.\n\nThe chief change had been in the sun-god. When the northern cult\nconquered, the exotic worship of the autumn and winter constellations\nwas abolished, and they were pictured as destroyed under the form of\nTi\u0101mat, although the worship was once as prominent as that of Set\nin Egypt. We have the later developed northern spring-sun Marduk\ndestroying the evil gods or spirits of winter; and chief among them,\nof course, the Goat-fish, which, from its central position, would\nrepresent the winter solstice.\n\nThe myth, then, has to do with the fact that the autumn-and\nwinter-sun-worship of Eridu was conquered by the spring-sun-worship of\nthe north.\n\nIf we accept this, we can compare the Egyptian and Babylonian myths\nfrom the astronomical point of view in the following manner; and a\nwonderful difference in the astronomical observations made, as well\nas in the form, though not in the basis, of astronomical mythology\nin Egypt and in Babylonia is before our eyes. Astronomically in both\ncountries we are dealing with the dawn preceding sunrise on New Year's\nDay, and the accompanying extinction of the stars.\n\nBut which stars? In Egypt there is no question that the stars thus\nfading were thought of as being chiefly represented by the stars\nwhich never set--that is, the circumpolar ones, and among them the\nHippopotamus chiefly. In Babylonia we have to do with the ecliptic\nconstellations.\n\nNow I believe that it is generally recognised that Marduk was\nrelatively a late intruder into the Babylonian pantheon. If he were a\ngod brought from the north by a conquering race (whether conquering by\ncraft or _kraft_ does not matter), and his worship replaced that of \u00cda,\nhave we not, _mutatis mutandis_, the exact counterpart of the Egyptian\nmyth of Horus? In the one case we have a southern star-worshipping race\nousting north-star worshippers, in the other a northern equinoctial\nsun-worshipping race ousting the cult of the moon and solstitial sun.\nIn the one case we have Horus, the rising sun of every day, slaying the\nHippopotamus (that is, the modern Draco), the regent of night; in the\nother, Marduk, the spring-sun-god, slaying the animals of Ti\u0101mat--that\nis apparently the origin of the Scorpion, Capricornus, and Pisces, the\nconstellations of the winter months, which formed a belt across the sky\nfrom east to west at the vernal equinox.\n\nThe above suggested basis of the Babylonian mythology regarding the\ndemons of Ti\u0101mat, established when the sun was in Taurus at the spring\nequinox, enables us to understand clearly the much later (though\nsimilar) imagery employed when the sun at the equinox had passed from\nTaurus to Aries--when the Zend Avesta was written, and after the twelve\nzodiacal constellations had been established. We find them divided\nequally into the kingdoms of Ormazd and Ahriman. Here I quote Dupuis:--\n\n \"L'agneau est aux portes de l'empire du bien et de la lumi\u00e8re, et\n la balance \u00e0 celles du mal et des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres; l'un est le premier des\n signes sup\u00e9rieurs, et l'autre des signes inf\u00e9rieurs.\n\n \"Les six signes sup\u00e9rieurs comprennent les six mille de Dieu, et les\n six signes inf\u00e9rieurs les six mille du diable. Le bonheur de l'homme\n dure sous les premiers signes, et son malheur commence au septi\u00e8me, et\n dure sous les six signes affect\u00e9s \u00e0 Ahriman, ou au chef des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres.\n\n \"Sous les six signes du r\u00e8gne du bien et la lumi\u00e8re, qui sont agneau,\n taureau g\u00e9meaux, cancer, lion et vierge ou \u00e9pi, nous avons marqu\u00e9 les\n \u00e9tats vari\u00e9s de l'air et de la terre, qui sont le r\u00e9sultat de l'action\n du bon principe. Ainsi on lit sous l'agneau ou sous le premier mille\n ces mots, printemps, zephyr, verdure; sous le taureau, s\u00e8ve et fleur;\n sous les g\u00e9meaux, chaleurs et longs jours; sous le cancer, \u00e9t\u00e9, beaux\n temps; sous le lion, \u00e9pis et moissons; et sous la vierge, vendanges.\n\n \"En passant \u00e0 la balance, on trouve les fruits; la commence le r\u00e8gne\n du ma aussit\u00f4t que l'homme vient \u00e0 cueillir les pommes. La nature\n quitte sa parure; aussi nous avons \u00e9crit ces mots, d\u00e9pouillement de\n la nature; sous le scorpion on lit froid; sous le sagittaire, neiges;\n sous le capricorne, glace et brouillard, si\u00e8ge des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres et de\n longs nuits; sous le verseau, pluies et frimas; sous les poissons,\n vents imp\u00e9tueux.\"\n\nSince the great pyramids were built in the time of the fourth dynasty,\nit is quite clear that Eridu must have been founded long before if the\ntransitions were anything like those I have stated.\n\n\n                 _The Argument touching_ \u03b7 _Argus_.\n\nBut there is not only evidence that at Eridu the sun-worship was at\nfirst connected with the winter solstice. It is known that there was\nstar-worship as well; and there must have been moon-worship too,\njudging by the moon-god of the adjacent town of Ur.\n\nAssociated with \u00cda was an \u00cda-star, which Jensen concludes may be \u03b7\nArg\u00fbs. This we must consider.\n\nJensen concludes that the \u00cda-star is \u03b7 Arg\u00fbs on the ground that many\nof the texts suggest a darkening of it now and again; he very properly\npoints out that a variability in the star is the only point worth\nconsidering in this connection, and by this argument he is driven to \u03b7,\nwhich is one of the most striking variables in the heavens, outshining\nCanopus at its maximum. Speaking generally, everybody would agree that\nobscuration by clouds, etc., would not be recorded; but if the star\nwere observed just rising above the southern horizon only, then its\nabsence, due to such causes, would, I should fancy, be chronicled,\nand it must not be forgotten that this is precisely the region where\nthe \u00cda star would be observed, if all of the inscriptions referred to\nby Jensen are to be satisfied; its place was in \"_\u00e4ussersten S\u00fcden_\"\n(page 153). It was \"_das Pendant des im Nordpol des Aequators sitzenden\nHimmels-Bi'l_\" (page 148); \"_\u00cda's 'Ort' am Himmel liegt im S\u00fcden_\"\n(page 26).\n\nThere is another argument. Professor Sayce in his lectures reproduces\n(page 437) Mr. George Smith's account of the Temple of Bel derived\nfrom a Babylonian text. The temple was oriented east and west. In a\ndescription of one of the enclosures we read that on the northern side\nwas a temple of \u00cda, while on the southern side there was a temple of\nB\u012bl and Anu. This not only shows that \u00cda was regarded as sacred to\nthe true south, but that the temple buildings were planned like the\nEgyptian ones, the light either from sun or star passing over the heads\nof the worshippers in the courts into the temples. (Compare temple M in\nthe temple of Amen-R\u0101, page 118 _ante_.)\n\nBut \u03b7 Arg\u00fbs never rose or set anywhere near the south. I have\nascertained that its declination was approximately 32\u00b0 S. in 5000 B.C.,\nand increased to 42\u00b0 S. by about 2000 B.C. Hence between these dates\nat Eridu its amplitude varied between 38\u00b0 and 51\u00b0 S. of E. or W. Now\nhere we are far away from the S. point, though very near the S.E. or\nS.W. point, to which it is stated some of the Babylonian structures had\ntheir sides oriented.\n\nThe question arises whether there was a star which answers the other\nconditions. _There was a series of such stars._\n\nIt may be here mentioned generally that the precessional movement\nmust, after certain intervals, cause this phenomenon to be repeated\nconstantly with one star after another.\n\nBeginning with perhaps a sufficiently remote period, we have:--\n\n  Achernar       8000 B.C.\n  Phact          5400 B.C.\n  Canopus        4700 B.C.\n\nThese stars would appear very near the south point of the horizon at\nEridu at the dates stated, and describe a very small arc above it\nbetween rising and setting at certain times of the year.\n\nNow to go a stage further in the study of the \u00cda--Ea or Eridu--star, it\nis desirable to quote the legend concerning \u00cda or Oannes derived from\nB\u00ear\u00f4ssos through Alexander Polyhist\u00f4r.[161]\n\n \"In the first year there appeared in that part of the Erythraean sea\n which borders upon Babylonia a creature endowed with reason, by name\n Oannes, whose whole body (according to the account of Apollod\u00f4ros)\n was that of a fish; under the fish's head he had another head, with\n feet also below similar to those of a man subjoined to the fish's\n tail. His voice, too, and language were articulate and human; and a\n representation of him is preserved even to this day.\n\n \"This being was accustomed to pass the day among men, but took no\n food at that season; and he gave them an insight into letters and\n sciences and arts of every kind. He taught them to construct houses,\n _to found temples_,[162] to compile laws, and explained to them the\n principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the\n seeds of the earth, and showed them how to collect the fruits; in\n short, he instructed them in everything which could tend to soften\n manners and humanise their lives. From that time nothing material has\n been added by way of improvement to his instructions. Now, when the\n sun had set, this being Oannes used to retire again into the sea, and\n pass the night in the deep, for he was amphibious. After this there\n appeared other animals like Oannes.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLES AT PHIL\u00c6.]\n\nIt is not necessary to give the string of \"other animals\" enumerated by\nEusebius, but one of them is important. A companion of An\u00f4daphas and\nOdak\u00f4n shows the true reading to have been An\u00e2dak\u00f4n--that is, Anu and\nDagon. This other animal, then, clearly refers to the introduction of\nthe northern Semitic cult, and hence the suggestion is strengthened\nthat some of the earlier \"other animals\" who subsequently appeared,\nlike \u00cda (? Oannes), may really have been new southern stars making\ntheir appearance in the manner I have shown, and perhaps varying the\ncult.\n\nThe whole legend is, I think, clearly one relating to men coming from\nthe south (?) to Eridu in ships. The boat is turned into a \"fish-man,\"\nand the star to which they pointed to show whence they came is made a\ngod.\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLE AT AMADA.]\n\nIt is evident the intrusion was from the south, because otherwise\nextreme south stars would not have been in question. We have, then, got\nso far. The worshippers of the southern star and of the winter months,\nincluding the solstice, were certainly not indigenous at Eridu. They\nwere probably introduced from the south, and they were sea-borne.\n\nThe next question which concerns us is, was this worship in any way\nconnected with Egypt?\n\nOne of the most definite and striking conclusions to which the study\nof temples has led, is that in Southern Egypt the temple worship was\nlimited to southern stars, and, further, that there is a chain of\ntemples, possibly dating from 6400 B.C., and oriented to Canopus. This\ncertainly is an argument in favour of a worship similar to that traced\nat Eridu.\n\nBut is there any trace of \u00cda or of his son, the sun-god?\n\nThis god was, as we have seen, associated in some way with Asari. I am\ntold that students will probably agree that the connection between this\nword and the Egyptian Osiris is absolute. Professor Sayce informs me\nthat the cuneiform ideograms and the hieroglyphs have the same meaning,\nand indicate the same root-words.[163]\n\n\u00cda was represented as a goat-fish, and was a potter and \"maker of men.\"\nThis being so, I confess the facts relating to the southern Egyptian\ngod Chnemu strike me as very suggestive. He is represented goat-headed,\nand not ram-headed, as generally stated; he is not only the creator of\nmankind, but he is a potter, and he is actually represented at Phil\u00e6\nas combining these attributes in making man out of clay on a potter's\nwheel. Nay, according to Bunsen, he is stated to have formed on his\nwheel the divine limbs of Osiris, and is styled the \"sculptor of all\nmen.\"[164]\n\nI give the following extracts from Lanzoni (p. 956):--\n\n \"\u03c7^{NUM.}--\u03c7^{num} [Chnemu] significa 'fabbricatore, modellatore.'\n ... Questo demiurgo apparisce come una delle pi\u00f9 it antiche divinit\u00e0\n dell' Egitto, ed aveva un culto speziale nello Nubia nell' isola di\n File di Beghe e di Elephantina.... Esso era il dio delle cataratte,\n identificato al dio Nun, il Padre degli dei, il principio Umido.\n Il grande testo geografico di Edfu parlando di Elephantina, quale\n metropoli del primo Nomo dell' Alto Egitto, ne ricorda la divinit\u00e0,\n come una personificazione dell' Acqua dell' inondazione.\"\n\nHe is also Horma\u03c7u, the god of the universe: The father of the father\nof the gods: Creator of heaven, earth, water, and mountains; a local\nform of Osiris. His wife was the frog-goddess, Hekt (? Serk-t).\n\nFurther, he was also regarded as presiding in some special way over\nwater,[165] and, unlike Amen-R\u0101, though like \u00cda, he has a position\namong the gods of the lower world.\n\nA sun-god, with ur\u00e6us and disk, he is closely associated with Amen-R\u0101,\nand if he were one of the earliest of the South Egyptian gods this\ncould only be by Amen-R\u0101 being an emanation from him; the temples in\nany case do not afford us traces of Amen-R\u0101 before 3700 B.C., and\nChnemu is recognised as one of the oldest gods in Egypt, on the same\nplatform as Ptah in the North. If we assume a connection with Eridu,\nthen we are driven to the conclusion that the Eridu culture came either\nfrom Egypt or from a common source.\n\n[Illustration: CHNEMU.]\n\nHere for the present the question must be left. I must be content to\nremark that many of the facts point to a common origin south of the\nequator. It is clear that if Chnemu were a sun-god of the _Winter_,\nbrought into Egypt from without, the change to Amen-R\u0101 is precisely\nwhat would have been certain to happen, for in Egypt the Summer\nSolstice, over which Amen-R\u0101 presided, was all-important.\n\n\n                      _Anthropological Evidence._\n\nIt will be seen, then, that a general survey of Egyptian history\ndoes suggest conflicts between two races, and this of course goes to\nstrengthen the view that the temple-building phenomena suggest two\ndifferent worships, depending upon race distinctions.\n\nWe have next to ask if there is any anthropological evidence at our\ndisposal. It so happens that Virchow has directed his attention to this\nvery point.\n\nPremising that a strong race distinction is recognised between peoples\nhaving brachycephalic or short, and dolichocephalic or long, skulls,\nand that the African races belong to the latter group, I may give the\nfollowing extract from his paper:--\n\n\"The craniological type in the Ancient Empire was different from\nthat in the middle and new. The skulls from the Ancient Empire are\nbrachycephalic, those from the new and of the present day are either\ndolichocephalic or mesaticephalic; the difference is therefore at least\nas great as that between the dolichocephalic skulls of the Frankish\ngraves and the predominantly brachycephalic skulls of the present\npopulation of South Germany. I do not deny that we have hitherto\nhad at our disposal only a very limited number of skulls from the\nAncient Empire which have been certainly determined; that therefore\nthe question whether the brachycephalic skull-type deduced from these\nwas the general or a least the predominant one cannot yet be answered\nwith certainty; but I may appeal to the fact that the sculptors of the\nAncient Empire made the brachycephalic type the basis of their works of\nart too.\"\n\nIt will be seen, then, that the anthropological as well as the\nhistorical evidence runs on all fours with the results to be obtained\nfrom such a study of the old astronomy as the temples afford us.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXVI.\n\n         GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH RACES.\n\n\nIt is now time to summarise the evidence concerning the north and south\ntemple builders, including those who built pyramids as well.\n\nTo do this we must deal not only with the buildings, but with the\nassociated mythology, or, rather, with the astronomical part of the\nmythology, for there seems to be very little doubt that in the earliest\ntimes, before knowledge replaced or controlled imagination, everything\nwas mythologically everything else in turn. It is for this reason that\ntrusting to genealogies especially seems like building on sand. That\nFather-ship and Son-ship in the earliest days were mythologically\nsomething quite different from what the words in their strict sense\nimply to-day will be agreed to by everybody; and there is evidence that\nmany of the absolute contradictions met with, and statements which it\nis impossible to reconcile, may all depend upon the point of view from\nwhich the mythological statements were made.\n\nBut when astronomy helps us to _the point of view_, the mythological\nstatements, and even the genealogies, become much clearer and\nunmistakable, and contradiction vanishes to a great extent; and it\nwould seem as if genealogies _en bloc_ were never propounded, hence it\nwas a commonplace either that a god should be the father of his mother,\nor that he should have no father.\n\nThus, in one sense, R\u0101 is father of all the gods; but in another Ptah\nis the creator of the egg of the sun because Capella setting heralded\nsunrise at a particular time of the year; and Isis is the _mother_ of\nHorus because Phact = \u03b1 Columb\u00e6, Serk-t = \u03b1 Centauri, Mut = \u03b3 Draconis,\nand other stars (Isis) did precisely the same; while in another\nconnection Isis is the sister of Osiris, and therefore the _mother_\nof Horus. But here the relationship depends upon the association of\nthe moon and warning star in the morning sky. I only offer these as\nsuggestions; similar variations might be multiplied _ad nauseam_.\n\nBut while all this proves that genealogies may be manufactured without\neither end or utility, we gather that the association of mythological\npersonages with definite astronomical bodies may in time be of great\nhelp in such inquiries, and ultimately enable us to raise the veil of\nmystery by which these old ideas have of set purpose, and partly by\nthese means, been hidden.\n\nThere seems no doubt that we have got definite evidence that the very\noldest mythological personages were closely connected either with the\nsun at some special time of the year, with the moon, or with the rising\nand setting of some star or another. Hence we ought to be able from the\ntemple evidence to classify the northern and southern gods.\n\n\n                    _Northern Gods and Goddesses._\n\n               GOD.                                 GODDESS.\n  Ptah = Capella, April sun (1)        Bast-Isis  =  \u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris.\n  Anubis = Northern constellations.    Taurt-Isis = {\u03b1 Urs\u00e6 Majoris.\n                                                    {\u03b3 Draconis.\n  {Min:\n  {Khem = May Sun (2).                 Menat-Isis     Spica.\n  Autumn Sun                           Serk-t-Isis    Antares.\n  Spring Sun                           Nit-Isis       Pleiades.\n\n                    _Southern Gods and Goddesses._\n\n  Osiris = Moon-god.\n  Chnemu = Sun-god, autumnal equinox.\n  Khonsu = Canopus, autumnal equinox, warner.\n                             West horizon\n                             followed by    Serk-t = \u03b1 Centauri\n                                                     east horizon.\n  Amen-R\u0101   A combined north and      Te\u03c7i-Isis   } Phact (1)\n             south god, established   Amen-t-Isis } Sirius (2)\n             about 3700 B.C.          Hathor-Isis }\n\nThe establishment of Amen-R\u0101 gives us a fair indication of the changes\nwhich must have taken place among the early civilisations when the\nbeginning of the year was altered. There can be no doubt, I think,\nthat Chnemu was the first Sun-god of Southern Egypt; the cryosphinxes\nat Thebes are alone sufficient to prove it;[166] and if so, then the\nsouthern people must have come from a region where the autumnal equinox\nmarked the most important time of the year for their agricultural\noperations. And this year had eventually to give way, as we know it\ndid, about 3700 B.C., for one beginning at the summer solstice.\n\nIn the above list I have indicated Osiris as a Moon-god. Many\ninscriptions might be quoted similar to the following one:--\n\n \"Salute a te, Hesiri, il signore dell' eternit\u00e0. Quando tu sei in\n Cielo, tu apparisci come sole, et tu rinnuovi la tua forma comme\n Luna.\"[167]\n\nIt has also to be borne in mind that the complicated head-dress,\nincluding the goat's horns, is represented in connection with Thoth\nChnemu and Osiris.[168]\n\nLater he was unquestionably a sun-god, but this would be certain to\nhappen if the southern intruders worshipped the moon in the first line.\n\nFurther, if in later times he represented both sun and moon, as he\ncertainly did, it is not probable that he did so from the beginning.\nAll the special symbolism refers to him as a Moon-god; he is certainly\na Moon-god in the myth of Isis and Osiris, for he was cut into fourteen\npieces, the number of days of the waning moon.\n\nNow, we can easily understand an evolution beginning with a Moon-god\nand ending with a Sun-god. But the contrary is almost unthinkable;\nbesides, we know that in Egypt it did not happen; the solar attributes\ngot hardened as time went on. The calendar evidence, as we have\nseen, in relation to the original year of 360 days is in favour of\nMoon-worship, and therefore of a Moon-god in the earliest times.\n\nFurther, if we accept this, the myth of Horus becomes a complete\nhistorical statement, of which parts have already been shown to refer\nto astronomical facts past all dispute. It is well here to give\nNaville's remarks upon it. It will be seen that they strengthen my\nview.[169]\n\n \"La 363^{me} ann\u00e9e de son r\u00e8gne, le dieu part avec son fils pour\n l'\u00c9gypte. Voil\u00e0 donc une date pr\u00e9cise de l'un de ces rois qui, selon\n les traditions \u00e9gyptiennes, avaient occup\u00e9 le tr\u00f4ne de l'\u00c9gypte avant\n les souverains indig\u00e8nes. Cette ann\u00e9e-l\u00e0, Horhut chass\u00e9 Typhon de\n l'\u00c9gypte, et s'\u00e9tablit en roi sur tout le pays. Cela concorderait donc\n avec ce que nous disent Man\u00e9thon et Eus\u00e8be, que, dans la premi\u00e8re\n dynastie des dieux, Typhon pr\u00e9c\u00e9da imm\u00e9diatement Horus. La succession\n se serait faite par droit de conqu\u00eate.\n\n \"Horus a avec lui des compagnons qui sont nomm\u00e9s partout ses suivants:\n les Schesou Hor. M. de Roug\u00e9 a d\u00e9j\u00e0 fait remarquer que, dans plusieurs\n inscriptions, ces hommes sont consid\u00e9r\u00e9s comme les habitants primitifs\n de l'\u00c9gypte, les contemporains des dynasties divines. Ce sont ces\n Mesennou dont il a d\u00e9j\u00e0 \u00e9t\u00e9 question dans la s\u00e9rie pr\u00e9c\u00e9dente. Le\n r\u00f4le qu'ils jouent dans ce r\u00e9cit montre, plus clairement encore, que\n l'\u00e9poque dont il s'agit est la fin des temps mythologiques auxquels\n M\u00e9na devait succ\u00e9der. C'est une tradition relative aux \u00e9v\u00e9nements qui\n ne doivent avoir pr\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 que de peu les temps historiques.\n\n \"Horhut monte dans la barque de son p\u00e8re, qui le suit pendant toute\n l'exp\u00e9dition, et lui donn\u00e9 son appui et ses conseils. Les dieux\n poursuivent Typhon tout le long du fleuve; Horhut livre plusieurs\n batailles dans des lieux qui recevront des noms propres \u00e0 rappeler\n ses exploits, et qui seront plus particuli\u00e8rement vou\u00e9s \u00e0 son culte.\n C'est \u00e0 Edfon qu'ont lieu les premiers combats, puis dans le 16^{me}\n nome de la Haute-\u00c9gypte. Le nome de Mert, celui du Fayoum et du lac\n Moeris, est le th\u00e9\u00e2tre de plusieurs \u00e9pisodes de la lutte. C'est dans\n la ville de Sutenchenen, appel\u00e9e ici Nanrutef, un sanctuaire important\n d'Osiris, que s'\u00e9tablissent les Schesou Hor. Enfin, lorsque Set a \u00e9t\u00e9\n chass\u00e9 du nome de Chent-ab, le 14^{me} de la Basse-\u00c9gypte, le pays est\n d\u00e9livr\u00e9, et la royaut\u00e9 est assur\u00e9e \u00e0 Horhut. Son p\u00e8re, qui, \u00e0 chaque\n nouvelle victoire, lui a d\u00e9cern\u00e9 quelque honneur special, lui accorde\n d'\u00eatre repr\u00e9sent\u00e9 sous la form\u00e9 du disque ail\u00e9, ou du scarab\u00e9e, sur\n tous les temples de la Haute et de la Basse-\u00c9gypte. Horus devient le\n seigneur des deux r\u00e9gions, s'assied dans un sanctuaire ou il est ador\u00e9\n comme Horchuti, avec qui il finit par se confondre.\n\n \"Telle est cette seconde l\u00e9gende, bien mieux caract\u00e9ris\u00e9e que la\n premi\u00e8re, car elle est rattach\u00e9e \u00e0 des localit\u00e9s connues et \u00e0 une\n \u00e9poque d\u00e9termin\u00e9e. Elle me semble m\u00eame assez claire pour qu'on puisse\n y voir une tradition, qui aurait \u00e0 sa base un fait historique. Set\n est un dieu bien connu dans l'histoire d'\u00c9gypte; c'est le dieu\n des ennemis, et particuli\u00e8rement des populations s\u00e9mitiques, qui\n conquirent une fois le pays et le mirent souvent en danger. Si nous\n consid\u00e9rons qu'il est chass\u00e9 par Horus, le dieu qui lui a succ\u00e9d\u00e9 dans\n la royaut\u00e9, et par les habitants primitifs du pays \u00e0 un moment donn\u00e9\n des annales divines, n'est-il pas naturel d'expliquer ce mythe par une\n guerre entre les \u00c9gyptiens venus de Nubie, et les S\u00e9mites qui auraient\n \u00e9t\u00e9 chass\u00e9s du pays; soit que cette guerre soit plus ancienne que les\n temps historiques, soit que, venue plus tard, elle ait pass\u00e9 dans le\n domaine de l'histoire l\u00e9gendaire? Les textes relatifs aux dynasties\n divines sont encore trop rares pour que nous puissions pousser\n tr\u00e8s-loin ces recherches. Le temple d'Edfou nous fournira peut-\u00eatre un\n jour de nouvelles indications sur ces \u00e9poques pr\u00e9historiques, et sur\n l'origine si mysterieuse de la civilisation de l'\u00c9gypte.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE WINGED SOLAR DISK.]\n\nIn another passage Naville remarks:\n\n \"Typhon n'est pas simplement le dieu du mal, l'adversaire personnel\n d'Osiris, c'est un souverain qui occupe avec ses alli\u00e9s la plus grande\n partie de l'\u00c9gypte depuis Edfou jusqu'a l'Orient du Delta.\"[170]\n\nIt was suggested (page 154) that Horus slaying Set represented by a\nhippopotamus was a reference to a time antecedent to 5000 B.C., when\nthe constellation of Draco was circumpolar; and we now learn from\nChapter XXXII. that Set represented the Northern-Star worship brought\nin from the N.E.\n\nHorus, then, represented a conquering force coming from the South.\n\nHe was recognised as a Southern god. Naville remarks:\n\n \"Horchuti est par excellence le dieu de la Nubie; c'est \u00e0 lui que sont\n consacr\u00e9s plusieurs des temples pharaoniques qui existent le long du\n Nil entre Ouadi-Halfa et Phil\u00e6.\"[171]\n\nBut this is not all. The sequence of the Divine Dynasties is as\nfollows, according to Maspero:--[172]\n\n  Atmu.\n  R\u0101\n  Shou\n  Sibou [Seb]\n  Osiris\n  Set\n  Horus\n\nNeglecting the first four, we find Osiris preceding Set, and are driven\nto the conclusion that in Osiris, in this connection, we are dealing\nwith the Moon, for the Sun-gods Atmu and R\u0101 head the list. Besides, the\nworship of Set did not kill the worship of the _Sun_, for the power of\nR\u0101 finally became paramount.\n\nWe must hold, then, that the Southern Sun-god Horus, the son of Osiris,\nwas the son of a Moon-god, and it becomes necessary to inquire if such\nan idea occurred to other early peoples. Professor Sayce[173] tells\nus--\n\n \"According to the official religion of Chald\u00e6a, the Sun-god was the\n offspring of the Moon-god,\" and he adds, \"Such a belief could have\n arisen only where the Moon-god was the supreme object of worship....\n To the Semite the Sun-god was the lord and father of the gods.\"[174]\n\nIf we, then, with this precedent, are prepared to take Osiris as the\nMoon-god of the Southern race, there is no doubt that the first Sun-god\nwas Chnemu, and the first Southern Star-god--the star which heralded\nsunrise at the Autumnal Equinox--Khonsu (Canopus). Thoth also must\nbe named, for it is certain that the Calendar which he leads was of\nSouthern origin, because New Year's Day at the Summer Solstice was\nheralded first by Phact and afterwards by Sirius, both Southern stars.\n\nThere is likewise ample temple evidence to show that the Autumnal\nEquinoctial Sun was also heralded, and in even earlier times, first\nby Canopus and next by \u03b1 Centauri, and it becomes a question whether\nthe original moon-calendar of Thoth did not refer to a year beginning\nat the Autumnal Equinox. This is a suggestion resulting from later\ninquiries, and hence I have not referred to it in the chapters on the\nyear.\n\nAnd here, perhaps, in their dependence upon the Moon-god Osiris, we\nfind the real reason that Khonsu and Thoth have lunar instead of solar\nemblems; Thoth led the initial lunar year, Khonsu only heralded the\nadvent of the son of the Moon.\n\nIf this be so, before the foundation of the temple of Annu by \"la\ngrande tribu des Anou,\"[175] the Southern (originally Moon-worshipping)\nrace had already made its appearance in force in Northern Egypt,\notherwise the divine dynasties would not have included Osiris; we need\nnot be astonished that the temple evidence has disappeared there. The\nmost northern ancient temple of Osiris was at Abydos; that also has\ngone, while those at Phil\u00e6 and Edf\u00fb remain, the latter, at some time\nsubsequent to its original foundation, dedicated to a _female_ Horus.\n\nThese things being presumed, we can now bring together in a working\nhypothesis the temple evidence so far as it bears upon the mythology\nand interaction of the North-and South-Star worshippers.\n\n  Date B.C.\n                                         Osiris}\n 6400    A swarm from the south with Thoth } Moon Gods.\n                                     Khonsu}\n                                     Chnemu  (Sun God).\n             come down the River.\n         They find a population worshipping R\u0101 and Atmu. Possibly they\n             were merely worshippers of the dawn and twilight.\n         The Moon worship is accepted as an addition, and _the divine\n             dynasty of Osiris_ begins.\n         The swarm brings a lunar year of 360 days with it, and the\n             Egyptian Calendar beginning I. Thoth commences.\n         They build temples at Amada, Semneh, Phil\u00e6, Edf\u00fb, and probably\n             Abydos. All these were probably Osiris temples, so called\n             because Osiris, the Moon-god, was the chief deity, and they\n             were used for the determination of the Sun's place at the\n             Autumnal Equinox, at which time their lunar year probably\n             began.\n 5400    A swarm, or swarms, from the N.E. One certainly comes by the\n             Red Sea, and founds temples at Redisieh and Denderah;\n             another may have come over the isthmus and founded Annu.\n             They bring the worship of _Anu_.[176]\n         The _Divine dynasty_ of Set is founded, and we can imagine\n             religious strifes between the partisans of the new northern\n             cult and the southern moon-worshippers.\n         These people might have come either from North Babylonia, or\n             other swarms of the same race may have invaded North\n             Babylonia at the same time.\n \u00b15000   [This date is fixed by Hippopotamus not being circumpolar after\n             it. It might have been much earlier, but not much later.]\n         Horus with his \"blacksmiths\" comes down the river to revenge his\n             \"father Osiris\" by killing his murderer Set (the\n             Hippopotamus). The 6400 B.C. people, who came from the\n             South, had been worsted by the last (5400 B.C.) swarm from\n             the N.E., and have sent for southern assistance.\n         The South people by this time had become Sun-worshippers, and\n             \"Osiris\" now means Sun as well as Moon.\n         The N.E. people are beaten, and there is an amalgamation of the\n             _Original_ and Southern cults. The N.E. people are reduced\n             to second place, but Set is retained, and _Anubis_ looks\n             after sepulchres, soon to be replaced by Osiris as Southern\n             priestcraft prevails. The priestly headquarters now are at\n             Annu and Abydos. At the former place we have an amalgamated\n             cult representing Sun and N. Star gods. At Abydos Osiris\n             (changed into a Sun-God) is supreme.\n\n  [Sidenote: Pyramid Times\n  [Mariette 4200,\n  Brugsch 3700.]]\n\n             Another Swarm from N.E., certainly from Babylonia this time,\n             and apparently by isthmus only, since no E.-W. temples are\n             found on Red Sea roads.\n             They no longer bring Anu alone. There is a Spring Equinox\n             Sun-God.\n\n 3700    Southern people at Barkal and Thebes in force; temple-building\n             on a large scale. Chnemu begins to give place to Amen-R\u0101.\n             Still more blending between _original_ and Southern peoples.\n\n 3500    Final blending of North and South cults at Thebes. Temples\n             founded there to Set and Min, on the lines of Annu and An.\n\n 3200    Establishment of worship of Amen-R\u0101 at Thebes. Supremacy of\n             Theban priests.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXVII.\n\n         THE EGYPTIAN AND BABYLONIAN ECLIPTIC CONSTELLATIONS.\n\n\nI have already, in Chapter XXXII., pointed out that at Annu we seemed\nlimited to Set as a stellar divinity; so soon as pyramid times are\nreached, however, this was changed, and we found the list of the\ngods increased, and the worship of the sun and of stars in the\nconstellations of the Bull and Scorpion went on, if it was not begun,\nin Egypt, in pyramid times. These constellations were connected with\nthe equinoxes; and associated with the introduction of these new\nworships in pyramid times was the worship of the bull Apis.\n\nThe first question which now arises is, When were any ecliptic\nconstellations established in Babylonia? and next, Which were they?\n\nJensen, in his \"Kosmologie der Babylonier,\" tells us that there is some\nvery definite information relating not only to Taurus and Scorpio, but\nto Capricornus and other winter constellations; and, as in Egypt so in\nBabylonia, for the first references to the constellations we have to\nrefer to the religion and the mythology.\n\nSo far as I have been able to gather, any myth like the Egyptian myth\nof Horus, involving combats between the sun and circumpolar star gods,\nis entirely lacking in Babylonia, but a similar myth in relation to\nsome of the ecliptic constellations is among the best known. Jensen\nshows that the first notions of the Babylonian constellations are to be\ngot by studying the sun-gods, and especially the mythic war between the\nlater sun-god Marduk and the monster Ti\u0101mat.\n\nI have already referred to Marduk; he is the Spring Sun-God, and it\nhas also been stated that the greatest god of ancient Babylonia, \u00cda of\nEridu, was connected with the constellation of Capricornus.\n\nMarduk represented the constellation of the Bull. Here I quote\nJensen:--[177]\n\n\"It has already been suggested that the Bull is a symbol of the\nSpring-Sun _Marduk_; that he was originally complete; that he at one\ntime extended as far as the Fish of _\u00cda_, _i.e._ the western Fish;\nthat the Fish of _\u00cda_, out of which the sun emerged at the end of the\nyear in ancient times to enter Taurus, is to represent _\u00cda_, the God\nof the Ocean, out of which his son _Marduk_, the early sun, rises\ndaily; finally, that a series of constellations west of the Fish(es) is\nintended to represent symbolically this same ocean. _Marduk_ is on the\none hand, as early sun of the day (and the year), the son of _\u00cda_, the\ngod of the world-water.\"\n\nAs to the sun-god Marduk, then, he represents the sun at the vernal\nequinox, when the sunrise was heralded by the stars in the Bull.\n\nBut what, then, are the fish of _\u00cda_ and the other constellations\nreferred to? They are all revealed to us by the myth. They are the\nSouthern ecliptic constellations.\n\n\n                               _Ti\u0101mat._\n\nTi\u0101mat, according to Jensen, means initially the Eastern Sea (p. 307).\nThis was expanded to mean the \"Weltwasser\" (p. 315), which may be taken\nto mean, I suppose, the origin of the Greek \u1f60\u03ba\u03b5\u03b1\u03bd\u1f78\u03c2, and possibly\nthe overlying firmament of waters. These firmamental waters contain\nthe southerly ecliptic constellations, the winter and bad-weather\nsigns--the Scorpion, the Goat-fish, and the Fish among them.\n\nIt must be pointed out that these southerly constellations were\nassociated with the God of Eridu _in his first stage_.\n\n\n_The Constellations referred to in the Myth of Marduk and Ti\u0101mat._\n\nWe are indebted to the myth, then, for the knowledge that when it was\ninvented, not only the constellations Bull and Scorpion, but also the\nGoat and Fishes had been established in Babylonia.\n\nThis argument is strengthened by the following considerations suggested\nby Jensen:--\n\n\"We look in vain among the retinue of Ti\u0101mat for an animal\ncorresponding to the constellations of the zodiac to the east of\nthe vernal equinox. This cannot be accidental. If, therefore, we\ncontended that the cosmogonic legends of the Babylonians stood in\nclose relationship to the phenomena of sunrise on the one hand and\nthe entrance of the sun into the vernal equinox on the other--that,\nin fact, the creation legends in general reflect these events--there\ncould not be a more convincing proof of our view than the fact just\nmentioned. The three monsters of Ti\u0101mat, which _Marduk_ overcomes, are\nlocated in the 'water-region' of the heavens, which the Spring-Sun\n_Marduk_ 'overcomes' before entering the (ancient) Bull. If, as cannot\nbe doubted, the signs of the zodiac are to be regarded as symbols, and\nespecially if a monster like the goat-fish, whose form it is difficult\nto recognise in the corresponding constellation, can only be regarded\nas a symbol, then we may assume without hesitation that at the time\nwhen the Scorpion, the Goat-Fish, and the Fish were located as signs of\nthe zodiac in the water-region of the sky, they already played their\nparts as the animals of Ti\u0101mat in the creation legends. Of course\nthey were not taken out of a complete story and placed in the sky, but\nconceptions of a more general kind gave the first occasion. It does\nnot follow that all the ancient myths now known to us must have been\navailable, but certainly the root-stock of them, perhaps in the form of\nunsystematic and unconnected single stories and concepts.\"\n\nThere is still further evidence for the constellation of the Scorpion.\n\n\"A Scorpion-Man plays also another part in the cosmology of the\nBabylonians. The Scorpion-Man and his wife guard the gate leading to\nthe M\u0101\u0161u mountain(s), and watch the sun at rising and setting. Their\nupper part reaches to the sky, and their _irtu_ (breast?) to the lower\nregions (Epic of Gistubar 60, 9). After Gistubar has traversed the M\u0101\u0161u\nMountain, he reaches the sea. This sea lies to the east or south-east.\nHowever obscure these conceptions may be, and however they may render a\ngeneral idea impossible, one thing is clear, that the Scorpion-Men are\nto be imagined at the boundary between land and sea, upper and lower\nworld, and in such a way that the upper or human portion belongs to the\nupper region, and the lower, the Scorpion body, to the lower. Hence\nthe Scorpion-Man represents the boundary between light and darkness,\nbetween the firm land and the water region of the world. _Marduk_,\nthe god of light, and vanquisher of Ti\u0101mat, _i.e._ the ocean, has for\na symbol the Bull = Taurus, into which he entered in spring. This\nleads almost necessarily to the supposition that both the Bull and\nthe Scorpion were located in the heavens at a time when the sun had\nits vernal equinox in Taurus and its autumnal equinox in Scorpio, and\nthat in their principal parts or most conspicuous star groups; hence\nprobably in the vicinity of Aldebaran and Antares, or at an epoch when\nthe principal parts of Taurus and Scorpio appeared before the sun at\nthe equinoxes.\"\n\nIf my suggestion be admitted that the Babylonians dealt not with the\ndaily fight but with the yearly fight between light and darkness--that\nis, the antithesis between day and night was expanded into the\nantithesis between the summer and the winter halves of the year--then\nit is clear that at the vernal equinox Scorpio setting in the west\nwould be watching the sunrise; at the autumnal equinox rising in the\neast, it would be watching the sunset; one part would be visible in\nthe sky, the other would be below the horizon in the celestial waters.\nIf this be so, all obscurity disappears, and we have merely a very\nbeautiful statement of a fact, from which we learn that the time to\nwhich the fact applied was about 3000 B.C., if the sun were then near\nthe Pleiades.\n\nJensen, in the above-quoted passage by implication, and in a subsequent\none directly, suggests that not all the zodiacal constellations were\nestablished at the same time. The Babylonians apparently began with\nthe easier problem of having six constellations instead of twelve. For\ninstance, we have already found that to complete the present number,\nbetween\n\n  Scorpio          Capricornus         Pisces\n\nwe must interpolate\n\n        Sagittarius           Aquarius.\n\nAries and Libra seem also to be late additions according to Jensen, who\nwrites:--\n\n\"We have already above (p. 90) attempted to explain the striking\nphenomenon that the Bull and Pegasus, both with half-bodies only,\n\u1f21\u03bc\u03af\u03c4\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03b9, enclose the Ram between them, by the assumption that the\nlatter was interposed later, when the sun at the time of the vernal\nequinox was in the hind parts of the Bull, so that this point was\nno longer sufficiently marked in the sky. Another matter susceptible\nof a like explanation may be noted in the region of the sky opposite\nto the Ram and the Bull. Although we cannot doubt the existence of\nan eastern balance, still, as already remarked (p. 68), the Greeks\nhave often called it \u03c7\u03b7\u03bb\u03b1\u1f76 'claws' (of the Scorpion), and according\nto what has been said above (p. 312), the sign for a constellation\nin the neighbourhood of our Libra reads in the Arsacid inscription\n'claw(s)' of the Scorpion. These facts are very simply explained on the\nsupposition that the Scorpion originally extended into the region of\nthe Balance, and that originally \u03b1 and \u03b2 Libr\u00e6 represented the 'horns'\nof the Scorpion, but later on, when the autumnal equinox coincided with\nthem, the term Balance was applied to them. Although this was used as\nan additional name, it was only natural that the old term should still\nbe used as an equivalent. But it also indicates the great age of a\nportion of the zodiac.\"\n\nLet us suppose that what happened in the case of Aries and Libra\nhappened with six constellations out of the twelve: _in other words,\nthat the original zodiac consisted only of six constellations_.\n\n  Taurus\n                  _Gemini_\n  Crab\n    (or Tortoise)\n                  _Lion_\n  Virgin\n    (or ear of corn)\n                   _Libra_\n  Scorpion\n                   _Sagittarius_\n  Capricornus\n                    _Aquarius_\n  Pisces\n                    _Aries_\n\nThe left-hand list not only classifies in an unbroken manner\nthe Fish-Man, the Goat-Fish, the Scorpion-Man, and Marduk of the\nBabylonians, but we pick up all or nearly all of the ecliptic stars\nor constellations met with in early Egyptian mythology, Apis, The\nTortoise,[178] Min, Serk-t, Chnemu, as represented by appropriate\nsymbols.\n\nFurther, the remarkable suppression or small representation of the\nLion in both the more ancient Babylonian and Egyptian mythology is\nexplained. I have shown before how the Babylonians with an equinoctial\nyear would take slight account of the solstice, while it also follows\nthat the Egyptians, who were wise enough not to use zodiacal stars for\ntheir warnings of sunrise, for the reason that stars in the brighter\nlight of dawn near the sun are more difficult to see, might easily\nneglect the constellation of the Lion, as first Phact and then Sirius,\nboth southern stars, marked for them the advent of the summer solstice;\non different grounds, then, the Lion might well have been at first\nomitted in both countries.\n\nSince there is a doubt as to the existence of the Lion among the first\nBabylonian constellations, the argument in the following paragraph\nwould appear to refer to observations made at a later time, when\ntotemism was less prevalent:--\n\n\"The Lion in the heavens must represent the heat of the summer. He\ndoes this most effectually when the summer solstice coincides with\nthe constellation--that is, when its principal stars appear before\nthe sun at the summer solstice. This happened at the time when the\nvernal equinox lay in Taurus, and when the principal star-group of\nthe Bull appeared before the sun at the time of the vernal equinox.\nThe Water-jug (Amphora), Aquarius, must represent symbolically the\nwatery season of winter. It does this most effectually when the winter\nsolstice coincides with it, or its principal star-group appears before\nthe sun at the winter solstice. This happened about the time when the\nvernal equinox lay in Taurus, and its principal star-group rose before\nthe sun at the time of the vernal equinox.\"\n\nThanks to Jensen's researches, then, we have the important conclusion\nbefore us that the Babylonians, as well as the Egyptians, in early\ntimes symbolised the following constellations:--\n\n  Taurus          Bull.\n  Cancer          Tortoise.\n  Virgo           Ear of corn or other product representing fertility.\n  Scorpio         Scorpion.\n  Capricornus     Goat-man or goat-fish.\n  Pisces          Fish-man.\n\nBut what time was this?\n\nWe have seen that in Egypt the Bull constellation had been established\npossibly in the time of Mena, and that certainly both the Bull and the\nScorpion had been established in pyramid times.\n\nI have also given evidence to show that the E. and W. pyramid worship\nwas brought from Babylonia. Now, about this date we know that Sargon\nI. was king of that country, and reigned at Accad or Agade, lat. 33\u00b0\nN., on the right bank of the Euphrates, Sippara being across the river.\nHere it may be mentioned that the latitudes of Eridu and Babylon are\n31\u00b0 N. and 32\u00bd\u00b0 N. respectively, so that Agade was to the north of\nboth.\n\nAlthough the worship of Marduk--that is, the vernal equinox\nSun-god--in Babylon was much intensified when Khammurabi reigned about\n2200 B.C., it is known that it existed long before; how long I cannot\nfind. It is also very remarkable that the deities of Eridu, whenever\nthat city was pre-eminent, were guarded by sacred bulls. We must\nleave it undetermined, therefore, at what date the Bull sun-god was\nestablished; but it seems certain, on the above grounds, that it must\nhave been before pyramid times.\n\nBut we are not limited to the above line of evidence. There are\nastronomical considerations which will help us. For the purpose of\nnoting the validity of the argument based upon them, a slight reference\nis necessary to the change of the equinoctial point along the ecliptic.\n\nBy the processional movement, the position of the sun in the ecliptic\nat an equinox or solstice sweeps round the ecliptic in about 25,000\nyears. Now if we suppose twelve ecliptic constellations of equal\nsize--that is, 30\u00b0 long (30\u00b0 \u00d7 12 = 360\u00b0)--the time it would take the\nsun's place at the vernal equinox to pass through one constellation\nwould be (25000\u221512 =) 2083 years. If the constellation of the Bull were\ntwice as long formerly as it is now (when the constellations are twice\nas numerous), of course this period would be doubled.\n\nSo that the statement that the sun at the equinox was in the Bull does\nnot help us very much to an actual date, and the constellation of the\nLion could have been established 2000 years after the Bull, and yet\nhave marked the summer solstice.\n\nFurther, if all the stars of the Bull (speaking generally) are seen\nat dawn--that is, before the sun rises--the sun has not yet reached\nthe Bull. We can then, at all events, fix a minimum of time. The sun's\nlongitude at the vernal equinox being always 0, the longitude of the\nmost easterly part of the constellation, assuming this part not to\nhave been changed, will give us the number of years that have elapsed.\n\nI now go on to state Jensen's view as to the date of the introduction\nof the god Marduk into Babylonian mythology, or, in other words, of the\nworship of the spring-tide sun.\n\nJensen remarks:--\n\n\"It may safely be assumed that the constellations of the Scorpion and\nthe Bull actually originated at the latest at a time when the autumnal\nand vernal equinoctial points respectively coincided with their\nprincipal stars. But this was the case more than 4900 years ago. But\nif we assume that Taurus and Scorpio were given their names at a time\nwhen their main stars rose before the sun at the time of the vernal and\nautumnal equinoxes respectively, we should obtain as the date of the\nestablishment of the constellations of Taurus and Scorpio in the skies\nabout the year-5000.[179] According to Dr. Tetens, the sun stood at the\ntips of the horns of the Bull at the commencement of spring 6000 years\nago. At this time, therefore, Taurus had completely risen above the\neastern horizon at sunrise.\n\n\"Since it is not inconceivable that in the delineation of the first\nsigns of the zodiac a name was attached to a constellation of the\necliptic emerging from behind the sun, and apparently more or less\nconnected, the name being such as to indicate symbolically the\nbeginning of the spring then occurring, the time, about 1400 B.C.,\nmight also be that of the introduction of the Bull (and the Scorpion).\nBut it is, of course, not necessary that this should have occurred at\none of the three epochs mentioned; this is, indeed, highly improbable,\nand the process must be regarded as follows: When the idea was\nconceived of indicating symbolically the beginning of spring in the\nsky--whether the idea originated in the brains of the masses or in\nthat of a learned scholar, whether it had a mythological or a more\nscientific basis--a name was given in the first instance to the region\nin which the sun was at the beginning of spring, or to that west of\nit, the name denoting symbolically the beginning of spring. This, of\ncourse, does not exclude the possibility that more eastward portions of\nthe ecliptic, whose stars were less prominent, were included in this\nname. From this we may conclude that Taurus did not originate later\nthan-3000, for at that time Aldebaran, its principal star, stood east\nof the sun at the beginning of spring. Hence it would follow that our\ncreation legends are, at least in part, just as old.\"[180]\n\nIt may, then, be gathered from the above that the constellations of the\nBull and the Scorpion were recognised as such at the same early date\nboth in Babylonia and Egypt; and to these we may add the Tortoise (our\npresent Cancer) and some of the southern constellations. Further, that\nthe date of their establishment was certainly not later than, say, 4000\nB.C., and probably much earlier.\n\nWith regard to the complete ecliptic, the information seems meagre\nboth from Babylonia and from Egypt in early times. I have already\nreferred to the Egyptian decans, that is, the lists of stars rising\nat intervals of ten days. The lists will be found in Lepsius and in\nBrugsch's \"Astronomische und Astrologische Inschriften,\" but the stars\nhave not been made out. In later times in Babylonia--say 1000 B.C.--the\nfollowing list represents the results of Jensen's investigations:--\n\n (1) Perhaps Aries (= \"leading sheep\").\n\n (2) A \"Bull (of the Heavens)\" = Aldebaran or (and) = our Taurus.\n\n (3) Gemini.\n\n (4)?\n\n (5) Perhaps Leo.\n\n (6) The constellation of the \"Corn in Ears\" = the Ear of Corn. [Spica.]\n\n (7) Probably Libra, whose stars are, however, at least in general,\n called \"The Claw(s)\" (_i.e._, of the Scorpion).\n\n (8) The Scorpion.\n\n (9) Perhaps Sagittarius.\n\n (10) The \"Goat-fish\" = Caper.\n\n (11)?\n\n (12) The \"Fish\" with the \"Fish band.\"\n\nA few hundred years later, we learn from the works of Strassmeyer and\nEpping, a complete chain of twenty-eight stars along the ecliptic had\nbeen established, and most careful observations made of the paths of\nthe moon and planets, and of all attendant phenomena. The ecliptic\nstars then used in Babylonia were as follows:--[181]\n\n   1. \u03b7 Piscium.\n   2. \u03b2 Arietis.\n   3. \u03b1 Arietis.\n   4. \u03b7 Tauri.\n   5. \u03b1 Tauri.\n   6. \u03b2 Tauri.\n   7. \u03b6 Tauri.\n   8. \u03b7 Geminorum.\n   9. \u03bc Geminorum.\n  10. \u03b3 Geminorum.\n  11. \u03b1 Geminorum.\n  12. \u03b2 Geminorum.\n  13. \u03b4 Cancri.\n  14. \u03b7 Leonis.\n  15. \u03b1 Leonis.\n  16. \u03c1 Leonis.\n  17. \u03b2 Leonis.\n  18. \u03b2 Virginis.\n  19. \u03b3 Virginis.\n  20. \u03b1 Virginis.\n  21. \u03b1 Libr\u00e6.\n  22. \u03b2 Libr\u00e6\n  23. \u03b4 Scorpionis.\n  24. \u03b1 Scorpionis.\n  25. \u03b4 Ophiuchi.\n  26. \u03b1 Capricorni.\n  27. \u03b3 Capricorni.\n  28. \u03b7 Capricorni.\n\nIn Egypt, dating from the twentieth dynasty (1100 B.C.), is a series\nof star tables which have puzzled Egyptologists from Champollion and\nBiot downwards. These observations are recorded in several manuscripts\nfound in tombs; they seem to have been given as a sort of charm to the\npeople who were buried, in order to enable them to get through the\ndifficulties of the way in the nether world.\n\nThe hieroglyphs state that a particular star of a particular Egyptian\nconstellation is seen at a particular hour of the night. We have twelve\nlines representing the twelve hours of the night, and it is stated that\nwe have in these vertical lines the equivalent of the lines in our\ntransit instruments, and that the reference \"in the middle,\" \"over the\nright eye,\" \"over the right shoulder,\" or \"over the left ear,\" as the\ncase may be, is simply a reference to the position of the star.\n\nWere this confirmed, one of the remarkable things about the inquiry\nwould be that the Egyptians did not hesitate in those days to make a\nconstellation cover very nearly 90\u00b0 of right ascension, showing that\nthey wished to have as few constellations, including as many stars, as\npossible. But the best authorities all agree that these are tables of\nstars rising at different hours of the night, and a small constellation\nnear the pole might have taken many hours to rise.\n\nThe observations were made on the 1st and 16th of every month. The\nchief stars seem to be twenty-four in number, and it looked at first as\nif we had really here a list of priceless value of twenty-four either\necliptic or equatorial stars, similar to the decans to which reference\nhas already been made.\n\nUnfortunately, however, the list has resisted all efforts to\ncompletely understand it. Whether it is a list of risings or meridian\npassages even is still in dispute. Quite recently, indeed, one of\nthe investigators, Herr Gustav Bilfinger,[182] has not hesitated to\nconsider it not a list of observations at all, but a compilation for a\nspecial purpose.\n\n\"The star-table is intended to carry the principle of time into the\nrigid world of the grave, and represents over the sepulchral vault\n'the eternal horizon,' as the ancient Egyptians so aptly styled the\ngrave, an imitation of the sky, a compensation for the sky of the upper\nworld with its time-measuring motion; yet the idea here is bolder,\nthe execution is more artificial and complicated, since the sculptor\nendeavoured to combine the daily and the annual motion of the celestial\nvault in _one_ picture; wanted to transfer into the grave the temporal\nframes in which all human life is enacted. This endeavour to represent\nby one configuration both motions and both chronological units explains\nall the peculiarities and imperfections of our star-table.\n\n\"The simplest means of representing both motions was found in the\nstars, which circle the earth in the course of a day, and indicate the\nyear by the successive appearance of new stars in the morning twilight.\nIf the same stars were to serve both purposes in one representation,\nit was necessary to take twenty-four stars which rose at intervals\nof fifteen days, since only such followed each other at an average\ndistance of 15\u00b0, and were therefore useful for showing the hours.\n\n\"If the calendar-maker really possessed a list of the twenty-four\nprincipal (zodiacal) stars, the course of the year was indicated\nthereby; but since he also wanted to represent the daily motion, he\nmight with some justice have composed each night out of eleven of\nthese stars, since the stars' risings are only visible during the ten\nmiddle hours of the night. But ten hours would not have adequately\nrepresented the night, since this was thought of as a twelve hours'\ninterval.\n\n\"There was a way out of it--viz., to call hora 0 'sunset,' hora 12\n'sunrise,' which would have been a simple and correct solution if the\ndivision of the night into twelve parts for practical purposes had been\naimed at. But this expedient he could not adopt, because he could or\nwould only operate with stars, and the notions of sunrise and sunset\nfound no place in his tables. Thus he was forced to _falsify_ the\ncustomary division of the hours, by squeezing the twelve hours of the\nnight into the time during which star risings are visible--viz., the\ndark night exclusive of twilight. On the other hand, he could not, with\nhis principal stars at intervals of 15\u00b0, divide his night, shortened\nas it was by two hours, into twelve parts, and thus he was obliged to\nmake use of two or three auxiliary stars, as we have proved in detail\nabove, and thus yet more to disfigure the hour-division, since thereby\nthe lengths of the hours were made very variable. These are then two\nthings which we must not regard as peculiarities of ancient Egyptian\nreckoning, but as a consequence of the leading idea of our table, which\ndid not intend to facilitate the division of the night into twelve\nparts by star observations, but was calculated, by the connection of\nthirteen stars with thirteen successive moments, to create the idea of\nthe circling host of stars and thence the course of the night.\"\n\nI give an abstract of the list of the twenty-four principal stars and\nthe Egyptian constellations in which they occur:--\n\n  1. Sahu = Orion.\n  2. Sothis = Sirius.\n  3. The two stars.\n  4. The stars of the water.\n  5. The lion.\n  6. The many stars.\n  7.  Mena's herald.\n  8.  Mena.\n  9.  Mena's followers.\n  10.  }\n  11.  }\n  12.  } Hippopotamus.\n  13.  }\n  14.  }\n  15.}\n  16.}\n  17.} Necht.\n  18.}\n  19.}\n  20.}\n  21.  Ari.\n  22.}\n  23.} Goose.\n  24.  Sahu = Head of Orion.\n\nIt will be seen that even this Egyptian star-list is very\nindeterminate. It is known that Sahu is the name for the constellation\nof Orion. The hippopotamus represents Draco, and probably Necht another\nnorthern constellation. There are indications, too, that Mena may\nsymbolise Spica, with which star we have seen Min-worship associated.\nFurther than this the authorities do not venture at present to go.\n\n\n\n\n                           CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\n       THE INFLUENCE OF EGYPT UPON TEMPLE-ORIENTATION IN GREECE.\n\n\nIn the final pages of this book I have to show that recent\ninvestigations have put beyond all doubt the fact that the astronomical\nobservations and temple-worship of the Egyptians formed the basis first\nof Greek and later of Latin temple-building.\n\nI have indicated in a former chapter that in our own days, and in our\nown land, the idea of orientation which I have endeavoured to work out\nfor Egypt still holds its own. It was more than probable, therefore,\nthat we should find the intermediate stages in those countries whither\nby universal consent Egyptian ideas percolated. Among these, Greece\nholds the first place, as it was the nearest point of Europe to the\nNile Valley.\n\nBefore we study the orientation of the Greek temples, let us endeavour\nto realise the conditions of those Greek colonists who, filled with the\nEgyptian learning; impressed with the massive and glorious temples in\nwhich they had worshipped; favoured, perchance, moreover, with glimpses\nof the esoteric ideas of the priesthood; and finally, fired with Greek\nideals of the beautiful, determined that their new land should not\nremain altarless.\n\nWhat would they do? They would naturally adapt the Egyptian temple to\nthe new surroundings, climatic among others. The open courts and flat\nroofs of Egyptian temples would give way to covered courts and sloping\nroofs to deal with a more copious rainfall; and it is curious to note\nthat the chief architectural differences have this simple origin. The\nsmall financial resources of a colony would be reason good enough for a\ncella not far from the entrance, with courts surrounding it under the\nnow necessary roof. The instinctive love of beauty would do the rest,\nand make it a _sine qu\u00e2 non_ that the rosy-fingered dawn should be\nobservable, and that the coloured light of the rising sun in the more\nboreal clime should render glorious a stately statue of the divinity.\n\n[Illustration: A GREEK TEMPLE RESTORED--THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON AT\nP\u00c6STUM.]\n\nIt is well to take this opportunity of emphasising the transition from\nthe Egyptian form of temple to the Greek one, in order to show how\ncompletely among many apparent changes the astronomical conditions were\nretained. The entrance door and the cella are always in the axis of\nthe temple; the number of columns in the front is always even; _the\ndoor is never blocked_.\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF THESEUS AT ATHENS: THE ACROPOLIS, WITH THE\nPARTHENON, IN THE BACKGROUND.]\n\nI have already pointed out that in both groups of Egyptian temples,\nwhether furnished with a pylon or not, one goes from the entrance to\nthe other end, which held the sanctuary, through various halls of\ndifferent styles of architecture and different stages of magnificence.\nBut in the Greek temple this is entirely changed; the approach to the\ntemple was outside--witness the glorious propyl\u00e6um of the Parthenon at\nAthens--the temple representing, so to speak, only the core, the Holy\nof Holies, of the Egyptian temple; and any magnificent approach to it\nwhich could be given was given from the outside. Be it further remarked\nthat the propyl\u00e6um was never in the fair-way of the light entering the\ntemple.\n\n[Illustration: THE EAST FRONT OF THE PARTHENON, FACING THE RISING OF\nTHE PLEIADES.]\n\nThe massive pylons of some of the Egyptian temples were useful for\nshading the roofless outer courts. In Greece these were no longer\nuseful.\n\nThe east front of the Parthenon very much more resembles the temple of\nDenderah than it does the early Egyptian temple--that is to say, the\neastern front is open; it is not closed by pylons.\n\nThe view as to the possibility of temple-orientation being dominated by\nastronomical ideas first struck me at Athens and Eleusis, and when I\nfound that the same idea had been held by Nissen, and that the validity\nof it seemed to be beyond all question, I consulted my friend Mr. F.\nC. Penrose specially with regard to Greece, as I knew he had made a\nspecial study of some of the temples, and that, he being an astronomer\nas well as an arch\u00e6ologist (for, alas! they are not, as I think they\nshould be, convertible terms), it was possible that his observations\nwith regard to them included the requisite data.\n\nI was fortunate enough to find that he had already determined the\norientation of the Parthenon with sufficient accuracy to enable him\nto agree in my conclusion that that temple had been directed to the\nrising of the Pleiades. He has subsequently taken up the whole subject\nwith regard to Greece in a most admirable and complete way,[183] and\nhas communicated papers to the Society of Antiquaries (February 18,\n1892), and more recently to the Royal Society (April 27, 1893) on his\nresults.[184]\n\nThese results are so numerous and complete that it is now quite\npossible to trace the transition from Egyptian to Greek temple-worship,\nand this, with Mr. Penrose's full permission, I propose to do in this\nchapter.\n\nBut, in the first instance, I am anxious to state that Mr. Penrose was\nsoon convinced that in Greece, as in Egypt, the stars were used for\nheralding sunrise. He writes:--\n\n \"The object the ancients had in using the stars was to employ their\n rising and setting as a clock to give warning of the sunrise, so that\n on the special feast days the priests should have timely notice for\n preparing the sacrifice or ceremonial, whatever it may have been:\n\n                    \"'Spectans orientia solis\n  Lumina _rite_ cavis undam de flumine palmis\n  Sustulit,' etc.\"\n\nI may further give an extract from a letter received from him in which\nhe deals with the demonstration of the orientation hypothesis furnished\nby the Greek temples alone.\n\n \"In my paper sent to the Royal Society there was a passage which seems\n to make it practically _certain_ that heliacal stars were connected\n with the intra-solstitial temples as derived from Greek sources alone,\n independent of the powerful aid of the Egyptian cases.\n\n \"'That the first beam of sunrise should fall upon the statue centrally\n placed in the adytum of a temple or on the incense altar in front of\n it on a particular day, it would be requisite that the orientation of\n the temple should coincide with the amplitude of the sun as it rose\n above the visible horizon, be it mountain or plain.\n\n \"'That a star should act as time-warner it was necessary that it\n should have so nearly the same amplitude as the sun that it could\n be seen from the adytum through the eastern door, if it was to give\n warning at its rising, or to have a similar but reversed amplitude\n towards the west, if its heliacal setting was to be observed; and it\n follows that in the choice of the festival day and the corresponding\n orientation, on these principles, both the amplitude of the sun at its\n rising and that of the star eastwards or westwards, as the case might\n be, would have to be considered in connection with one another.\n\n \"'From what has been said it is obvious that in the intra-solstitial\n temples the list of available bright stars and constellations is in\n the first instance limited to those which lie within a few degrees\n of the ecliptic, and it will be found that in the list above given\n and those which follow, if we omit Eleusis, where the conditions\n were exceptional, all but one of the stars are found in the zodiacal\n constellations. A very great limit is imposed, in the second place,\n by one of the conditions being the heliacal rising or setting of\n those stars from which the selection has to be made. So that,\n when both these combined limitations are taken into account, it\n becomes improbable to the greatest degree that in every instance of\n intra-solstitial temples of early foundation of which I have accurate\n particulars, being twenty-eight in number and varying in their\n orientation from 21\u00b0 N. to 18\u00b0 25\u2032 S. of the true east, there should\n be found a bright heliacal star or constellation in the right position\n at dates not in themselves improbable unless the temples had been so\n oriented as to secure this combination.'\n\n \"I have just been looking into the number of possible stars which\n could have been used, _i.e._ within the limits of the greatest\n distance from the ecliptic that could have been utilised.\n\n \"The stars which could have been utilised in addition to the seven\n which serve for nearly thirty temples are ten only, viz.:--\n\n  Aldebaran.\n  Pollux.\n  \u03b2 Arietis.\n  \u03b2 Tauri.\n  \u03b1 and \u03b2 Capricorni as a group.\n  \u03b2 Libr\u00e6.\n  \u03b1 Libr\u00e6.\n  \u03b1 Leonis.\n  \u03b3 Leonis.\n  \u03b2 Leonis.\n\n \"If the orientations had been placed at random, would not our thirty\n temples have made many misses in aiming at these seventeen stars, it\n being necessary also to hit exactly the heliacal margin? And would\n they have secured anything like a due arch\u00e6ological sequence?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n \"Another point is this:--\n\n \"Whenever a star less than first magnitude is used (Pleiades only\n excepted) it has been necessary, to secure coincidence, to give it\n several more degrees of sun depression than in the cases of Spica and\n Antares.\"\n\nThe problem in Greece was slightly different from that in Egypt. We\nhad not such a great antiquity almost without records to deal with,\nand moreover the feast-calendars of the various temples presented less\ndifficulty. There was no vague year to contend with, and in some cases\nthe actual dates of building were known within a very few years.\n\nIn Greece, not dominated by the rise of the Nile, we should not expect\nthe year to begin at a solstice, but rather at the vernal equinox.\nI have shown that even in pyramid times in Egypt the risings of the\nPleiades and Antares were watched to herald the equinoctial sun; it is\nnot surprising, therefore, to find the earliest temples in Greece to be\nso oriented. Mr. Penrose has found the following:--\n\n                                                           B.C.\n    \u03b7 Tauri       Archaic temple of}  Athens        R[185] 1530\n  (The Pleiades)    Minerva        }\n                  Asclepieion             Epidaurus     R  1275\n                  The Hecatompedon     }  Athens        R  1150\n                    (site of Parthenon)}\n                  Temple of Bacchus       Athens        R  1030\n                  Temple of Minerva       Sunium        S   845\n\n                                                           B.C.\n  Antares         Her\u00e6um                  Argos         R  1760\n                  Earlier  Erechtheum     Athens        S  1070\n                  Temple at               Corinth       S   770\n                  Temple on the Mountain} \u00c6gina         S   630\n                  Jupiter Panhellenius  }\n\nHere we find the oldest temple in a spot which by common consent is the\nvery cradle of Greek civilisation.\n\nIt has also been shown that in Khu-en-Aten's time the sun-temple at\nTell el-Amarna was oriented to Spica. Spica, too, we find so used in\nGreece in the following temples:--\n\n                                                    B.C.\n  Spica       The Her\u00e6um at   Olympia       R   1445\n              Nike Apteros    Athens        S   1130\n              Themis          Rhamnus       R   1092\n              Nemesis         Rhamnus       R    747\n              Apollo          Bass\u00e6         R    728   Eastern doorway.\n              Diana           Ephesus       R    715\n\nWhen the sun at the spring equinox had left Taurus and entered Aries,\nowing to precession, in Egypt the equinoxes were no longer in question,\nsince the solstitial year was thoroughly established, and consequently\nwe find no temples to the new warning star \u03b1 Arietis.\n\nIn Greece, however, where the vernal equinox had now been established\nas the beginning of the year, we find a different state of things. No\nless than seven temples oriented to \u03b1 Arietis are already known:--\n\n                                                     B.C.\n  \u03b1 Arietis  Minerva                 Tegea        R  1580\n             Jupiter Olympius        Athens       R  1202\n             Jupiter                 Olympia      R   790\n             Temple (perhaps Juno)   Platea       S   650\n             Jupiter                 Megalopolis  S   605\n             Temple at the Harbour   \u00c6gina        S   580\n             Temple on Acropolis of  Mycen\u00e6       R   540 Eastern doorway.\n             The Metroum             Olympia      S   360\n\n[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPIUS BELOW THE ACROPOLIS, AT\nATHENS, ORIENTED TO \u03b1 ARIETIS.]\n\nThe above are all intra-solstitial temples--that is, the sunlight as\nwell as the light of the star can enter them--and this enables us to\nnote a certain change of thought brought about in all probability by\nthe artistic spirit of the Greeks. The Egyptian temples were all dark,\noften with a statue of a god or a reptile obscure in the naos, and many\nwere oriented so that sunlight never entered them. Mr. Penrose points\nout that almost all the Greek temples are oriented so that sunlight can\nenter them. Of such temples we have the following twenty-nine:--\n\n  7 examples from Athens.\n  3    \"       \"  Olympia.\n  2    \"       \"  Epidaurus.\n  2    \"       \"  Rhamnus.\n  2    \"       \"  \u00c6gina.\n  2    \"       \"  Tegea.\n  1    \"       \"  Nemea.\n  1    \"       \"  Corcyra.\n  1    \"       \"  Sunium.\n  1    \"       \"  Corinth.\n  1    \"       \"  Bass\u00e6.\n  1    \"       \"  Ephesus.\n  1    \"       \"  Plat\u00e6a.\n  1    \"       \"  Lycosura.\n  1    \"       \"  Megalopolis.\n  2    \"       \"  Argos.\n\nNow in all these Greek temples, instead of the dark naos of the\nEgyptian building, we find the cella fully illumined and facing the\nentrance. Frequently, too, there was a chryselephantine statue to be\nrendered glorious by the coloured morning sunlight falling upon it, or,\nif any temple had the westerly aspect, by the sunset glow.\n\nIt was perhaps this, combined eventually with the much later invention\nof water-clocks for telling the hours of the night, which led to the\nnon-building of temples resembling those at Thebes and Denderah facing\nnearly north; of these, however, there are scattered examples; one of\nvery remarkable importance, as it is a temple oriented to \u03b3 Draconis\n1130 B.C., built therefore not very long after the temple M at Karnak,\nand this temple is at B\u0153otian Thebes! A better proof of the influence\nexerted by the Egyptians over the temple-building in Greece could\nscarcely be imagined. As Mr. Penrose remarks:--\n\n \"Thebes was called the City of the Dragon, and tradition records that\n Cadmus introduced both Ph\u0153nician and Egyptian worship.\"\n\nIt would be very surprising, if we assume, as we are bound to do, that\nthese temples to stars were built under Egyptian influence, that Sirius\nshould not be represented among them, that being the paramount star\nin Egypt at a time when we should expect to find her influence most\nimportant in Greece. Still, I have shown already that, as the Greek\nyear ignored the solstice, the use of Sirius as a warning star for all\npurposes of utility would not come in. Mr. Penrose finds, however,\nthat, in spite of this, Sirius was used for temple-worship.\n\n \"Leaving the solar temples, we find that the star which was observed\n at the great temple of Ceres must have been Sirius, not used, however,\n heliacally--although this temple is not extra-solstitial--but for its\n own refulgence at midnight. The date so determined is quite consistent\n with the probable time of the foundation of the Eleusinian Mysteries,\n and the time of the year when at its rising it would have crossed the\n axis at midnight agrees exactly with that of the celebration of the\n Great Mysteries.\"\n\n \"It is reasonable to suppose that when, as in the case of Sirius\n at Eleusis, brilliant stars were observed at night, the effect was\n enhanced by the priests by means of polished surfaces.\"\n\nAnother question. Does the star follow the cult in Greece as it does in\nEgypt?\n\nIn Greece we find the following:--\n\n \"The star \u03b1 Arietis is the brightest star of the _first sign of the\n Zodiac_, and would therefore be peculiarly appropriate to the temple\n of Jupiter. The heliacal rising of this star agrees both with the\n Olympieium at Athens and that at Olympia. There is a considerable\n difference in the deviation of the axes of these two temples from the\n true east; but this is exactly accounted for by the greater apparent\n altitude of Hymettus over the more distant mountain at Olympia.[186]\n\n \"The Pleiades are common to the following temples of Minerva--viz.,\n the Archaic temple on the Acropolis, the Hecatompedon, and Sunium. In\n the two former it is the rising, the latter the setting star.\n\n \"There must have been something in common between the temples at\n Corinth, \u00c6gina, and Nemea. The two last, at any rate, are reputed\n temples of Jupiter.\"\n\nThe Greek side of the inquiry becomes more interesting when the\nconnection between the orientation of the intra-solstitial temples\nand the local festivals is inquired into; in Egypt this is all but\nimpossible at present.\n\nA temple oriented to either solstice can only be associated with the\nlongest or with the shortest day; if the temple points to the sunrise\nor sunset at any other period of the year, the sunlight will enter the\ntemple twice, whether it points to the sunrise or sunset place.\n\nNow Mr. Penrose finds that in Greece, as in Egypt, the initial\norientation of each intra-solstitial temple was to a star, and this\nwould, of course, secure observations of the star and the holding of an\nassociated festival at the same time of the year for a long period. But\nwhen the precessional movement carried the star away, they would only\nhave the sun to depend on, and this they might use twice a year. It is\npossible, as Mr. Penrose remarks, that\n\n \"there would have been no reason for preferring one of these solar\n coincidences to the other, and the feast could have been shifted to a\n different date if it had been thought more convenient.\"\n\nHe goes on to add:--\n\n \"It would appear that something of this sort may have taken place at\n Athens, for we find on the Acropolis the archaic temple, which seems\n to have been intended originally for a vernal festival, offering its\n axis to the autumnal sunrise on the very day of the great Panathenaia\n in August.\n\n \"The chryselephantine statue of the Parthenon, which temple followed\n on the same lines as the earlier Hecatompedon (originally founded\n to follow the rising of the Pleiades after that constellation had\n deserted the archaic temple alongside), was lighted up by the sunrise\n on the feast to the same goddess in August, the Syn\u00e6cia, instead of\n some spring festival, for which both these temples seem at first to\n have been founded.\n\n \"The temple at Sunium, already quoted for its October star-heralded\n festival to Minerva, was oriented also axially to the sun on February\n 21, the feast of the Lesser Mysteries.\"\n\nI have had to insist again and again that in the case of the Egyptian\ntemples the stated date of foundation of a temple is almost always long\nafter that in which its lines were laid down in accordance with the\nritual. No wonder, then, that the same thing is noticed in Greece.\n\n \"In about two-thirds of the cases which I have investigated the\n dates deduced from the orientations are clearly earlier than the\n architectural remains now visible above the ground. This is explained\n by the temples having been rebuilt upon old foundations, as may be\n seen in several cases which have been excavated, of which the archaic\n temple of Minerva on the Acropolis of Athens and the temple of Jupiter\n of Olympius on a lower site are instances. There are temples also of\n the middle epoch, such as the examples at Corinth, \u00c6gina, and the\n later temples at Argos and at Olympia (the Metroum at the last-named),\n of which the orientation dates are not inconsistent with what may be\n gathered from other sources.\"\n\nThe problem is, moreover, helped in Greece by architectural\nconsiderations, which are frequently lacking in Egypt: of two temples\nit can be shown, on this evidence alone, that one is older than the\nother. Such an appeal strengthens my suggestion that two of the temples\nof the Acropolis Hill were oriented to the Pleiades, by showing the\nolder temple to point to an earlier position of the star group. To\nthese Mr. Penrose adds another pair at Rhanmus, where he has found that\nthere are two temples almost touching one another, both following (and\nwith accordant dates) the shifting places of Spica, and still another\npair at Tegea.\n\n\n\n\n                                INDEX.\n\n\n  A\n\n  =A\u0101hmes=, King, 339\n\n  =Abd el-Lat\u00eef=, 12\n\n  =Abu Shahr\u00ean=, 371\n\n  =Abu Simbel=, 16, 306\n\n  =Abydos=, mounds and temples at, 74, 99, 175, 214, 338, 393\n    sanctity of, 327\n\n  =Achernar=, 381\n\n  =Adytum.= _See_ Sanctuary\n\n  =Africa E.=, 373\n\n  =Agni=, god of fire, 7\n\n  =Ahura-Mazda or Ormuzd=, 6\n\n  =Air=, god of, 33\n\n  =\u0100k=, 176, 205\n\n  =Amada=, 311\n\n  =Amen=, confraternity of, 319\n    worship of, 189\n    temples dedicated to, 220, 222\n\n  =Amen-t=, Hathor Temple, 306\n    wife of Amen, 222\n    star symbol, 223\n\n  =Amen-R\u0101=, Hak of Pun-t, 347\n    obelisks to, 106\n    Southern worship, 319\n    temples of, 25, 75, 78, 99, 223, 351, 354\n      date of, 119\n      direction of axis of, 78\n      growth of, 188\n      restoration of,108\n    _See_ also Karnak\n\n  =Amenemh\u0101t I.=, 77, 175, 338\n\n  =Amen-hetep I.=, 221\n\n  =Amen-hetep III.=, Mut Temple, 213\n    Karnak Temple B, builder of, 189\n    quarrel with Theban priests, 321\n\n  =Amen-hetep IV.=, date of, 321\n    conservatism of, 320\n    leaves Thebes, 321\n    builds Tell el-Amarna, 323\n\n  =Amenti=, 35\n\n  =Amplitude=, 46\n\n  =Amplitudes=, of temples, 59, 67, 170, 309\n    at Annu, 168\n    at Denderah, 168, 210\n    at Karnak, 47, 160, 168, 171, 189\n    tables of, 305, 306, 311, 312, 318\n\n  =Amru=, description of Egypt, 230\n\n  =Amsu.= _See_ Min\n\n  =An=, and god Anu, 363\n\n  =Anaximander=, 8\n\n  =Ancestors=, divine, 327\n\n  =Annu=, 74\n    grand priest of (title of Theban priest), 340\n    list of gods at, 329\n    Nile flood at, 226\n    obelisk and mounds at, 214, 316\n    temples at, 78, 94, 168, 175, 214, 309, 316, 326, 327\n    walls at, 76\n    worship at, 318, 319, 326, 359\n\n  =Antares=, symbolised by Serk-t, 329, 360\n    temples in Greece, 419\n\n  =Anu=, Babylonian, astronomical meaning for, 363, 365, 372, 377\n\n  =Anubis.= _See_ Set\n\n  =Ap=, god of the waters, 7\n\n  =Apet=, 290\n\n  =Apis=, bull, also Hapi, 229, 330, 396\n\n  =Apollinopolis Magna.= _See_ Edf\u00fb\n\n  =Argus= \u03b7, 374\n\n  =Aries=, first point of, 53\n\n  =Arietis= \u03b1, temples oriented to, Grecian, 420\n\n  =Armant=, Nile gauge at, 235\n\n  =Asari=, 372, 384\n\n  =Asti=, name of Thoth, 176\n\n  =Asw\u00e2n=, nilometer at, 234, 235\n    distances of gauges from, 235\n    Nile flood, maximum time of, 240\n    to R\u00f4da, Nile flood, rate of, between, 240\n\n  =Aten=, most ancient god, 321\n\n  =Athene=, temple of, 329\n\n  =Athens=, Parthenon at, propyl\u00e6um of, 415\n\n  =Atmu=, Tmu, or Osiris, 25, 26, 295\n\n  =Axis= of temples, 169, 173\n    changes in, 163\n\n  =Azimuths=, 46\n\n  =Azimuth compass=, 67\n\n\n  B\n\n  =Baal=, hieroglyph for, 361, 362\n\n  =Baalbek=, structural origin, 92, 94, 367\n\n  =Babylonia=, ancient cities in, modern sites of, 86\n    Anu and B\u012bl, 365\n    kings of, 369\n    state of astronomy 300 B.C., 3\n    temple structures in, 367\n    unit of time in, 227\n    ziggurats, 367\n\n  =Bast=, symbolised star \u03b3 Draconis, 290\n\n  =Bear=, Great, represented by Thigh, 137, 146, 216\n    Little, represented by Jackal, 137, 146\n\n  =Bel=, temple of, 380\n\n  =Berenice=, road between Edf\u00fb and, 208\n\n  =B\u00ear\u00f4ssus=, 381\n\n  =Bes=, 28, 368\n\n  =B\u012bl=, 363, 372, 377\n\n  =Bilfinger=, star tables, 409\n\n  =Biot=, ancient star places, calculation of, 129\n    Denderah, inscriptions, 139, 193\n    observing conditions in Egypt, 122\n    precessional globe of, 170\n    Ramesseum inscriptions, date of, 143\n    risings, heliacal, of Sirius, 200, 210, 249, 253, 254, 262\n\n  =Boeckh=, date of King Mena, 22\n\n  =Botta=, 87\n\n  =Bouriant=, 183, 220\n\n  =Boussard=, 111\n\n  =Brugsch=, Amen-R\u0101's ancestors, 355\n    book on calendars, 282\n    Denderah inscriptions, 141\n    date of Mena, 22\n      Rameses III., 221\n      Thothmes III, 189, 261\n      Usertsen I., 215\n    Edf\u00fb, temple at, alignment of, 179\n    Egyptian history, 344\n    furniture of sanctuaries, 112\n    G\u00eezeh-pyramids, 363\n    Hippopotamus, constellation, 216\n    Hyksos period, 339\n    inscription at Phil\u00e6, 261\n      Silsilis, 263\n    Karnak temple, 116\n    location of Pun-t, 348\n    pyramid, oldest, date of, 369\n    Sothic Cycle, 259\n    temple-foundations, 354\n\n  =Bubastis=, antiquity of, 82, 333\n    Isis temple at, 329\n\n  =Budge=, Dr. Wallis, 85, 208, 240\n\n  =Bull=, constellation of, pyramid period, 360, 403, 404\n\n  =Bunsen=, 22, 148, 384\n\n\n  C\n\n  =Cairo=, Nile flood, time of, 233, 240\n\n  =Calah=, ancient Nimr\u00fbd, 86\n\n  =Calendar=, Alexandrine reform, date of, 281\n    Egyptian, chief use of, 282\n\n  =Canopus=, decree of, 270\n\n  =Canopus= (\u03b1 Argus), 280, 281\n    early observations, 312, 360\n    heralded autumnal equinox, 342\n    temples to, amplitudes of, 311\n\n  =Capella= observed at Annu, 316, 360\n    personified by Ptah, 318\n    temples to, amplitudes and dates, 312, 354\n\n  =Capricornus=, 372, 378\n\n  =Censorinus=, 267\n\n  =Centauri= \u03b1, temples to, 308, 351, 354, 360\n\n  =Chabas=, 173, 174\n\n  =Champollion=, 10, 11, 73\n\n  =Cheops.= _See_ Chufu\n\n  =Chephren=, 327, 346, 369\n\n  =China=, early astronomical observations, 4\n\n  =Chnemu=, 35, 384\n    R\u0101, 25, 319, 385, 389\n\n  =Chufu=, 12, 204, 336\n\n  =Churches=, architecture, Scott on, 96\n    orientation of, 96\n\n  =Colossi= at Thebes, 78\n\n  =Columb\u00e6 \u03b1.= _See_ Phact\n\n  =Compass=, Azimuth, 67\n\n  =Constellations=, early names for, 42, 133, 397, 399, 407\n    northern, called Set, 149\n\n  =Country=, double, meaning of, 345\n\n  =Cow= = Star Sirius, 218\n\n  =Crocodile=, variant of hippopotamus, 146\n\n  =Crown=, double, 345\n\n  =Cubit=, Babylonian, 370\n\n  =Cults=, change of, 300\n    origin of Egyptian, 371\n    northern and southern, 225\n\n  =Cycle=, Sothic, beginning of, 262\n\n  =Cynocephalus= ape from Pun-t, 348\n\n\n  D\n\n  =Dakkeh=, temple at, 341, 354\n\n  =Darkness=, gods of, 27, 28\n\n  =Dash\u00fbr=, blunted pyramid at, 233, 336\n\n  =Dawn=, flames of, Tefnut, 36\n    goddess of, Sechet, 31\n    gods, hymn to, 7\n    Isis, 29\n    names for, 7\n    representation of Nephthys, 31\n    risings at, 148\n\n  =Declination=, definition of, 45\n\n  =Declinations=, corresponding amplitudes, 170\n\n  =Delta=, Hawk-god of, 349\n\n  =Denderah=, example of second group of temples, 14\n    Hathor temple, 160, 193, 293, 319, 354\n    Isis temple, 193\n      date of, 197\n      oriented to Sirius, 304\n    inscriptions at, 141\n      meaning, 138, 173\n    Set worship at, 310\n    temples at, amplitudes, 168, 176\n    variants of Hathor in, 211\n    zodiacs of, 19, 134, 146\n\n  =Deodorus=, 12\n\n  =D\u00ear el-Bahari=, temple of, orientation of, 16, 212\n    cult of Hathor, 293\n    inscriptions at, 319, 348\n\n  =De Roug\u00e9.= _See_ Roug\u00e9\n\n  =Devas=, 6\n\n  =Djigan=, mounds at, 86\n\n  =Draco=, constellation of, forms of, 137, 146\n\n  =Draconis= \u03b3, temples to, 310, 354\n\n  =Dubhe=, \u0100k refers to, 176, 203\n    \u0100k, meaning of, 176\n\n  =D\u00fcmichen=, antiquity of This, 327\n    building inscriptions, 173\n    Denderah temple, 204\n    Edf\u00fb, temple at, alignment of, 179\n    Hathor, cult of, 294\n    Put-Ser, meaning of, 178\n\n  =Dumuzi.= _See_ Tammuz, 372\n\n  =Dupuis=, 138, 143, 180, 379\n\n  =Dur Sarginu=, 86\n\n  =Dyaus=, 7\n\n  =Dynasties=, divine, 326\n\n  =Dyotan\u00e2=, 7\n\n\n  E\n\n  =Ea.= _See_ \u00cda\n\n  =Earth=, axis of, 126\n    emblem of, 33\n    god of, 7\n    shape of, 8\n\n  =Ebers=, antiquity of This, 327\n    old roads to Red Sea, 208\n    R\u00f4da nilometer, 235\n    the Denderah crypts, 204\n\n  =Ecliptic=, obliquity of, 53\n    pole of, Babylonian observations, 363\n    plane of, 52\n\n  =Edf\u00fb=, early temple at, 311, 360\n    festival calendar at, 282\n    Hawk-god of, 349\n    inscriptions at, temple axis, 173, 179, 284\n    month-table at, 275\n    names for Hathor, 211\n    road between Berenice and, 208\n    temple of, 14, 106, 181\n      date of, 363, 376\n      orientation of, 178, 179, 180\n\n  =Edkins=, Sun-temple at Pekin, 88\n\n  =El-Mamun=, 12\n\n  =Entenna=, 369\n\n  =Epacts= (or Epagomena), 247\n\n  =Epping=, 3, 407\n\n  =Equator=, pole of, Babylonian name for, 365\n\n  =Equinoxes=, 54, 57, 62\n    established in pyramid times, 329\n\n  =Eridu=, 371\n    colonisation of, 374, 385\n    god of, 372, 377\n\n  =Esne=, feast calendars of, 282\n    inscription at, 284\n\n  =Ethiopia=, early history of, 345\n    exile of Theban priests to, 340\n    return of Theban priests from, 340\n\n  =Eudoxus=, sphere of, 139\n\n  =Euphrates=, god sacred to, 229\n    rise of, 85, 230, 267\n\n\n  F\n\n  =Fayy\u00fbm=, pyramids, 339\n\n  =Fire=, god of, 7\n\n  =Fitz-Gerald=, agriculture in Africa, 273\n\n  =Flandin=, plans of Khorsabad, 87\n\n  =Foundation-stone=, laying of, 173, 175\n\n  =Foundations= of temples, table of dates of, 352\n    oldest in Egypt, 354\n\n\n  G\n\n  =Garstin=, Nile rising, average rate of, 240\n\n  =Gauges=, Nile, distances from Asw\u00e2n, 235\n    heights above sea-level 236\n\n  =Gebel Barkal=, 221, 347\n    pyramids at, 356\n    temples at, 356\n\n  =G\u00eezeh=, cult at, equinoctial, 85, 359\n    pyramids of, 12, 82, 336, 363\n    temples at, 82, 287\n\n  =Globe=, to rectify the, 44, 130\n    precessional, 170\n\n  =Gnomon=, 63\n\n  =Goat-fish= in Babylonia, 377\n\n  =Gondokoro=, 238\n\n  =Gr\u00e9baut=, discoveries at D\u00ear el-Bahari, 319\n\n  =Greece=, orientation of temples in. _See_ Chap. xxxviii. _passim_\n\n  =Green Water=, Nile, why it heralds the rise, 238\n\n  =Green and Red Nile=, difference of time between, 240\n\n\n  H\n\n  =Habenben.= _See_ Sanctuary.\n\n  =Hak=, of Pun-t, name for Amen-R\u0101, 347\n\n  =H\u0101pi=, god of Nile, 147, 229\n\n  =Harhouditi=, 349\n\n  =Harpocrates= (or Hor or Horus), 24, 26\n\n  =Harsiisit=, 349\n\n  =Harvest= festivals, 233, 319\n\n  =Hathor= = Isis, 210\n    = Isis = Mut = Methuer, 212\n    change of representation, 301\n    connection with hippopotamus, 216\n    form of, ordinary, 217\n    generic symbolisms, meaning of, 291\n    goddess from Pun-t, 347\n    local cult of, 294\n    = Mut, 214, 289\n    name of Sirius, 196\n    personification of, 210\n    present views of, 32\n    represented by Dubhe and \u03b3 Draconis, 205, 214\n    rising of, reference to, 194\n    southern worship, 349\n    symbol of, 216, 290, 293\n    temples of 160, 202, 210\n      amplitude of, 176, 193, 210\n      at Abu Simbel, 306\n      at Denderah, 293\n      at D\u00ear el-Bahari, 193, 293\n    various names for, 211\n    worshipped in pyramid times, 329\n\n  =H\u0101t-shepset=, queen, 106, 212\n    expedition to Pun-t, 349\n\n  =Heliopolis.= _See_ Annu\n\n  =Herodotus=, on temple of Tyre, 161\n\n  =Hieroglyphics=, decipherment of, 11\n\n  =Hind=, star-places, 170\n\n  =Hippopotamus=, connected with Hathor, 178, 216\n    constellation Draco, 137, 143, 146, 218\n    in pyramid times, 360\n    form of Taurt, 146\n    female, 216\n    hieroglyph for, 362\n    represents Mut\u00e2t Thebes, 216\n    red, 362\n    variant of crocodile, 146\n    wife of Set, 146\n\n  =History= of Egypt, first blank in, 331, 337\n    second blank in, 339\n    north, first civilisation, 330\n\n  =Holy of Holies.= _See_ Sanctuary\n\n  =Hommel=, 377\n\n  =Horizon=, definition of, 40, 169\n\n  =Hor-shesu=, 57, 74, 150, 215, 376\n\n  =Horus= or Hor or Harpocrates, 26\n    = rising sun, 293\n    = S. Egypt, 345\n    god from Pun-t, 347, 392\n    god of the Hor-shesu, 58\n    hymn to, 26\n    laughing, 149\n    meaning of, 148, 149\n    Northern, 349\n    myth of, description of, 148-151, 378, 390\n    red, 149\n    Southern worship, 349\n    temple of, 180\n    and Set, 149\n    = Set, 149\n\n  =Hottentot Venus= in Pun-t, 348\n\n  =Hours= (12) of day and night, 342\n\n  =Hyksos= period, date of, 338, 339\n\n\n  I\n\n  =\u00cda=, 372, 397\n    Annu, and B\u012bl, triad, 372\n    father of Tammuz, 372\n    legend of, 381\n    representation of, 384, 397\n\n  =\u00cda-star=, 380\n\n  =Ideler=, heliacal risings, 121\n    length of year, 244\n\n  =India=, temples in, age of, 2\n\n  =Indra=, 7\n\n  =Inundation= of Nile, 233, 234\n\n  =Isis= = Hathor, 210, 217\n    = Mut = Hathor = Methuer, 212\n    change of representation, 301\n    form of, at Sa\u00efs, 329\n    generic symbolisms, 291, 293\n    mythology of, complete, 293, 388\n    name for Sirius, 196, 210\n    nursing Horus, meaning of, 292\n    pyramid temples, 293, 329\n    present ideas of, 29\n    temples of, amplitude of, 82, 206, 210\n      Denderah, 83, 193, 210\n      date of, 197\n\n  =Isis-Sati=, 218\n\n  =Isis-Sothis=, 217\n\n\n  J\n\n  =Jackal=, constellation of, 137, 143, 146, 361\n    of Set, 146\n\n  =Jensen=, \u00cda-star, 380\n    Kosmologie der Babylonier, 360, 396, 397, 405\n    pole of ecliptic, early Babylonian observations, 363\n    reference to \"Jackal,\" 362\n    Scorpio, 405\n    sun-god, Tammuz, 372\n    Marduk, 397, 405\n    Ti\u0101mat, 397\n    the god \u00cda, 372\n    zodiacal constellations, 400\n\n  =Jerusalem=, temples at, equinoctial, 92, 367\n\n  =Josephus=, temple at Jerusalem, 92\n\n\n  K\n\n  =Kahi=, revelation of, feast of, 282\n\n  =Kakau=, worship of Apis, 330\n\n  =Kali= = Kolo\u00eb, 351\n\n  =Karnak=, inscriptions at, temple axis, 173\n    observations at, solstice, 117\n    orientation of, solstitial, 72\n    north star, 354\n    temples at, 14, 75\n    temples at, amplitudes of, 160, 168\n      date of, Mariette, 113\n      description of, 100, 102\n      Amen-Ra at, 78, 99\n    Amen-R\u0101, temple of, date of, 119\n    temple B, 187, 189\n      amplitude of, 189\n    temple L, 115, 183, 185\n      date of, 116, 184\n      amplitude of, 189\n      Brugsch on, 116\n    temple M, 115, 183\n      date of, 184\n      \u03b3 Draconis, 184\n    temple of Mut (X), 187, 188, 213\n      builder of, 189\n    temple of Ptah, 317, 354\n    temple of Spica, 313\n    temple T, amplitude of, 189\n      date of, 186\n    temple V, orientation, 308\n    temple W, 187\n\n  =Kemball=, Sir A.,\n    agriculture of E. Africa, 273\n\n  =Khem.= _See_ Min\n\n  =Khnum.= _See_ Chnemu\n\n  =Khons=, or Khonsu, connection with Canopus, 296\n    how represented, 223\n    personification of, 296\n    Southern worship, 349, 393\n    temple of, 182, 223, 224, 296\n    measures of, 185, 310\n\n  =Khons-lunus=, 29, 393\n\n  =Khorsabad=, mounds at, 36, 87\n\n  =Khu-en-Aten.= _See_ Amen-hetep IV.\n\n  =Kirk=, Sir John, on pile-dwellings in Central Africa, 348\n\n  =Koptos=, high road between Red Sea and, 208\n\n  =Kouyunjik=, mounds of, 86\n\n  =Krall=, quoted, 257, 263\n    change of signs, 269\n    festival calendar at Edf\u00fb, 282\n    king's reign, time of commencement, 259\n    length of year, 244\n    month Pachons, 284\n    mythology of the sun, 279\n    oldest month-list, 275\n    the week, 226\n\n\n  L\n\n  =Lanzoni=, variant for Hathor, 211\n    Chnemu, 384\n\n  =Latitude=, terrestrial definition of, 52\n    celestial, 52\n\n  =Lenormant=, 4\n\n  =Lepsius=, work on the monuments of Egypt, 73\n    date of Mena, 22\n    Eridu, 374\n    Karnak temples, 116, 187, 213, 306\n    Thothmes III., date of, 261\n    temple of Amen-R\u0101, 99\n    temple at Heliopolis, 75\n    the week, 226\n\n  =Letronne=, Denderah inscriptions, 138\n\n  =Leverrier=, 256\n\n  =Lion=, early Babylonian mythology, 402\n\n  =Lockyer=, W. J. S., calculation of star tables, 170\n\n  =Longitude=, celestial, 52\n    terrestrial, definition of, 52\n\n  =Luxor=, temple at, 166, 328\n\n  =Lyons=, Capt., R.E., measures at Annu, 76\n      Memphis, 317\n      Wady Halfa, 358\n\n\n  M\n\n  =Ma\u0101t=, relation to R\u0101, 32, 36\n\n  =Makr\u012bzi=, R\u00f4da nilometer, 235\n\n  =Marduk= = spring-sun, 373, 397\n    destroys winter gods, 377\n    myth of, 375\n    temple of, ceremony at, 366\n    and Ti\u0101mat, myth of, 377, 378, 398\n\n  =Mariette=, Amen-R\u0101, temple of, growth of, 115, 188\n    Denderah temples, 193\n    Hyksos period, 339\n    Karnak temples, 113, 183, 184, 187\n    location of Pun-t, 348\n    Mena, date of, 337\n    modern Theban temples, 186\n    pyramids, 363, 369\n    Sothis, 212\n\n  =Masnitiu= or Masniu of Edf\u00fb, 349\n\n  =Maspero=, Baal worship at Memphis, 361\n    building of Annu, 77, 326\n    discoveries at D\u00ear el-Bahari, 319\n    divine dynasties, 392\n    the land of Pun-t, 347\n    length of year, 244\n    location of land of Pun-t, 347\n    origin of southern Horus, 349\n    priestcraft, 111\n    sanctity of Abydos, 327\n    Sirius in pyramid times, 209\n\n\n  =Max M\u00fcller=, age of Indian temples, 2\n    sunrise and sunset, 23\n    Vedas, 5\n\n  =Mazzaroth=, meaning of, 133\n\n  =Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb=, 169\n    temples at, 163, 220\n    orientation dates, 221\n\n  =M\u00ead\u00fbm=, pyramid of, 335, 337\n\n  =Memphis=, Nile flood at, 226\n    pyramids of, 82, 83\n    temple of Sutech, 361\n      Baal, 361\n      Ptah, 248, 317\n      worship, 318\n\n  =Memphis= and Thebes, Nile flood, rate of, between, 240\n\n  =Mena= or Menes, 22, 230, 326\n    date of reign, 74, 115, 337\n    worship of Apis, 330\n\n  =Menthu=, 339\n\n  =Merchet= or Merech, 179\n\n  =Meridian=, astronomical, 69\n    magnetic, 70, 71\n\n  =Mer\u00f6e=, 344, 347, 356\n\n  =Mestha=, god, 147\n\n  =Mes\u03c7et= = Thigh, q.v.\n\n  =Methuer= = Mut = Isis = Hathor, 212\n\n  =Midnight=, risings at, 148\n\n  =Min= or Khem, connection with Spica, 25, 297, 319\n    temple dedicated to, 297\n\n  =Moncrieff=, Sir Colin Scott, 117\n\n  =Months=, names for Egyptian, 233\n\n  =Moon-gods=, 28, 29, 389, 392, 393\n    Osiris representation, 137\n    worship, 379\n    stations, Egyptian equivalents, 37\n\n  =Mosul=, mounds of, 86\n\n  =Mul-lil=, 372\n\n  =Mut= = Hathor, 214\n    = Isis = Hathor = Methuer, 212\n    Hathor worship, 214\n    mistress of darkness, 344\n    represented by hippopotamus, 216\n    \u03b3 Draconis, 214\n    symbolised \u03b3 Draconis, 289, 290\n    temple of, 75, 182, 191, 294, 318\n      associated with Spica, 320\n      date of, 213, 214\n\n  =Myths=, Babylonian, 377\n    Egyptian and Babylonian, compared, 377\n    of Horus, 148, 390\n    of Marduk and Ti\u0101mat, 375, 377, 378, 398\n\n\n  N\n\n  =Naga=, buildings at, 347\n\n  =Naos.= _See_ Sanctuary\n\n  =Napoleon's= expedition to Egypt, 10\n\n  =Naram-Sin=, king, date of, 369\n\n  =Naville=, Horus, myth of, 148, 153, 390\n\n  =Nebuchadnezzar II.=, ziggurat at Babylon, 367\n\n  =Nephthys=, 31, 35\n    in pyramid times, 329\n\n  =Nergal=, son of \u00cda and Duazag. 373\n    = spring sun, 373\n    = midsummer sun, 373\n\n  =Neshem=, 31\n\n  =New= year's day, variation in date of, 250\n\n  =Nigidius Figulus=, 248\n\n  =Nile= Flood, at Asw\u00e2n, 240\n    at Cairo, 233, 240\n    rate of, 240\n    gauges, 235\n    gauge of, heights above sea-level, 236\n      at Armant, 235\n      at Asw\u00e2n, 235\n      at Asy\u00fbt, 235\n      at Suhag, 235\n    god sacred to, 229\n    inundation, effects of, 226, 232\n    red, 238\n    rise of, appearance of, 238\n      at R\u00f4da, 237\n      average rate of, 240\n      description of, 241\n      festival of, 198\n      importance of, 228\n      indication of, 237\n      phenomena coincident with, 249\n      rate of, 240\n      warnings of, 239\n    green water at, why it heralds rise, 238\n      colour, origin of, 237\n    time of, rising, 85, 230\n\n  =Nilometer= at Asw\u00e2n, 234\n\n  =Nimr\u00fbd=, mounds at, 86\n    modern Calah, 86\n\n  =Ninib=, sun-god, 375\n\n  =Nissen= on temple building, 173, 175\n\n  =Nubia=, mode of telling time at night, 342\n\n  =Nuri=, buildings at, 347, 356\n\n  =Nu-t= or Nu, 32, 33\n    double representation of 34\n    relation to Seb, 35\n\n\n  O\n\n  =Oannes.= _See_ \u00cda\n\n  =Obelisk=, at Annu, orientation of, 214, 326\n\n  =Obliquity= of ecliptic, values of, 113\n\n  =Observations= of stars daily as opposed to yearly, 341\n\n  =On.= _See_ Annu\n\n  =Oppolzer=, risings, heliacal of Sirius, 200, 249, 253, 268\n\n  =Orion=, constellation of, 137, 143\n\n  =Ormuzd= or Ahura-Mazda, 6\n\n  =Osborn=, the Nile, 232, 238\n\n  =Osiris= in Book of the Dead, 28, 35\n    hymn to, 26\n    mythology of, 296\n    representation of, 137\n    moon-god, 389\n    sunset-god, 25\n    southern worship, 349\n    temples of, 187\n      at Abydos, 338\n      bowls at, 248\n      direction of orientation, 82, 206, 393\n    Tmu or Atmu, 295\n    traced in Babylonia, 334, 377\n    = waning moon, 297\n\n\n  P\n\n  =Padoramen= priest, titles of, 340\n\n  =Palmyra=, temples at, equinoctial, 92, 94, 367\n\n  =Parthenon= at Athens, 164, 415, 416\n\n  =Parthey=, 216\n\n  =Patah.= _See_ Ptah\n\n  =Pekin=, sun temple at, 88, 89\n\n  =Penrose= on Greek temples, 98, and chap. xxxviii, _passim_\n\n  =Pepi=, King, date of, 207, 262, 337\n    restoration of Denderah, 204\n    temple foundations, 354\n\n  =Period=, Sothic, 256\n\n  =Petrie=, Flinders, on Stonehenge, 90\n    M\u00ead\u00fbm pyramid, 335, 337\n    Tell-el-Amarna, 323\n\n  =Phact= (\u03b1 Columb\u00e6), 82, 354, 360, 381\n\n  =Phil\u00e6=, Chnemu at, 384\n    inscription at, 261\n    Isis-Sati at, 218\n    temples at, 73\n      early to Canopus, 311, 360\n\n  =Pierret=, hieroglyph of hippopotamus, 362\n\n  =Pile= dwellings in Pun-t, 348\n\n  =Pisces=, 378\n\n  =Place=, on Assyria, 86\n\n  =Pleiades=, temples oriented to, in Greece, 419, 424\n\n  =Pompeii=, temple of Isis at, 320\n\n  =Precession=, cause of, 124, 126\n    effects of, 23, 123, 157\n    model illustrating, 125\n\n  =Priests=, Theban, hatred of Set, 319\n\n  =Prithiv\u012b=, earth god, 7\n\n  =Ptah=, connection with Capella, 296\n    in pyramid times, 329\n    god of Memphis, 153, 318\n    personification of, 296\n    temples of, 248, 296, 317\n\n  =Pun-t=, Hak of, 347\n    land of, 347\n    possibly in S. Africa, 348\n\n  =Put-ser=, meaning of, 174, 175, 178\n\n  =Pyramid= builders, 325\n    -building in 12th dynasty, 338\n    Isis temples at, 329\n    of Dash\u00fbr, 336\n       G\u00eezeh, 82\n       M\u00ead\u00fbm, 335, 337\n       Sakkarah, 333\n    oldest, 369\n    orientation of, 333\n    Step, age of, 369\n\n\n  Q\n\n  =Qebhsennuf=, 147\n\n\n  R\n\n  =R\u0101=, eyes of, 280\n    hymn to, 27\n    manifestation of, 111\n    meaning of, 194\n    sun-god, 25, 26, 35, 227\n\n  =R\u0101=--Tmu--Horus, hymn to, 26\n\n  =R\u0101-t=, symbol of, 290\n\n  =Rameses III.=, date of, 135, 184, 221\n    building of temple T, Karnak, 186\n    temple M, 115, 214\n\n  =Ramessids=, Thoth, sign of, in time of, 269\n    time of, year used, 263\n\n  =Ramesseum=, old month-table at, 141, 275\n\n  =Ranke=, 227\n\n  =Red= and Green Nile, difference of time between, 240\n\n  =Redisieh=, temple of, 208, 341\n    Set worship at, 310\n\n  =Refraction=, 48\n\n  =Renouf=, Le Page, 23\n\n  =Rhamnus=, temples oriented to Spica, 424\n\n  =Rig-Veda=, 38\n\n  =Right= ascension, definition of, 52\n\n  =Risings.= _See_ Stars and Sun\n\n  =R\u00f4da=, nilometer at, 234\n    rise of Nile at, 237\n\n  =Rome=, St. Peter's, 96, 102\n\n  =Rosetta= Stone, 11\n\n  =Ross=, Col., R.E., 237, 241\n\n  =Roug\u00e9=, De, on Hor-Shesu, 150\n    Silsilis inscriptions, 263\n    M\u00ead\u00fbm pyramid, 336\n    manifestation of R\u0101, 111\n\n\n  S\n\n  =Sa\u00efs=, 82, 329\n\n  =Sakkarah=, step-pyramid of, 333, 337\n\n  =Samas=, 377\n\n  =Sanctuary=, 102, 340\n    illumination of, 106\n    darkness of, object of, 109\n\n  =Sargon I.=, King, date of, 360, 369, 403\n\n  =Sarzec=, M. de, discoveries at Tel-loh, 369\n\n  =Sati=, symbol of, 290\n\n  =Sayce=, Ann and B\u012bl, 364\n    Asari and Osiris, 384\n    Eridu, 371\n    \u00cda-star, 380\n    sun-god, Tammuz, 372, 393\n\n  =Scorpion=, constellation of, 143, 378, 399, 401, 403\n    known in pyramid times, 329, 360\n\n  =Scott=, Gilbert, on church architecture, 96\n\n  =Se-\u0101n\u03c7-ka-R\u0101's= expedition to land of Pun-t, 348\n\n  =Seb=, the god, 33, 35\n\n  =Sebak-R\u0101=, 25\n\n  =Sekhet=, goddess, 31\n    symbolised \u03b3 Draconis, 290\n    statues of, at Thebes, 290\n\n  =Semneh=, temple at, 311, 351\n\n  =Seneferu=, Dash\u00fbr pyramid, 336\n    King, title of, 346\n    M\u00ead\u00fbm pyramid, 335\n    temple foundations, 354\n\n  =Senti=, 174\n\n  =Sept=, 196\n\n  =Serk-t= = Antares and \u03b1 Centauri, 358\n    in pyramid times, 329\n    symbol of, 290, 329\n\n  =Sesheta=, goddess, 29, 173, 175\n\n  =Set=, Sit, Sut, Typhon, Sutech, god of Darkness, 27, 145, 147\n    and Horus, 149\n    associated with \u03b3 Draconis, 302\n    conquered by Horus. _See_ Myth of Horus.\n    emblem of, 28, 148, 362\n    feast of, 283\n    form of, 361\n    hated by Theban priests, 319\n    jackal of, 146\n    N. Egypt, 345\n    symbolised by northern constellations, 149\n    temple at Tell el-Amarna, 324\n      at Annu, 326\n    temples absent in S. Egypt, 371\n    thigh of, 146, 147\n    wife of, 146, 216\n    worship of, 215, 344, 361, 377\n\n  =Seti II.=, 115, 185, 189, 223\n\n  =Shabaka=, 340\n\n  =Shesu-Hor=, 57, 74, 150, 215\n\n  =Shu=, 33, 36\n\n  =Silsilis=, inscriptions at, 263\n\n  =Sirius-Hathor=, 196, 212, 299\n    temples to, in Greece, 305, 422\n\n  =Sit.= _See_ Set\n\n  =Sky=, god of, 7, 33\n\n  =Smith=, George, on temple of Bel, 380\n\n  =Smith=, Robertson, on Mazzaroth, 133\n\n  =Sokhit= in pyramid times, 329\n\n  =Solstices=, 55, 57\n    determination of, 62 _et seq._\n      by Chinese, 63\n    relation to inundation, 234\n    summer, festival of, 198\n    temples oriented to, 78\n    and vague year cycle, 252\n\n  =Sothis=, Greek form of Sirius, q.v.\n\n  =Sowing=, season of, 233\n\n  =Sphinx=, object of, 82\n\n  =Spica=, associated with Mut temple, 320\n    observed at Thebes, 318\n    temples to, 313\n      in Greece, 419, 424\n\n  =St. Peter's=, Rome, 96, 102\n\n  =Stars=, apparent paths of, 41\n    how used to tell time at night, 343\n    non-rising at Thebes, 44\n    non-setting at Thebes, 44\n    northern, antiquity of worship of, 341\n    risings of, achronic, 121\n      cosmical, 121, 160\n      heliacal of Sirius, 121, 200, 209, 210, 249, 250, 254, 262\n    rising with sun, 60\n    risings at sunset, 148\n    settings, achronic, 121\n      heliacal, 121\n      table of, 314\n    southern, used in upper Egypt, 343\n    southern, worship of, as opposed to northern, 325\n    table of, 314\n\n  =Storms=, god of, 7\n\n  =Stonehenge=, 89, 90\n\n  =Strassmeyer=, 3, 407\n\n  =Suhag=, Nile gauge at, 235\n\n  =Sun=, course of, mythology of, 279\n    the midnight, 65\n    temples to, at solstices, 78\n    yearly path of, 53\n\n  =Sun-gods=, names for, 7, 373\n\n  =Sunlight=, god of, 33, 36\n\n  =Sunrise=, herald of, first star used, 277\n    in Greece, 416\n\n  =Sunset=, explanation of red colour of, 32\n    represented by Nephthys, 31\n\n  =Sut.= _See_ Set\n\n  =Sutech.= _See_ Set\n    god of Canaanites, 361\n    temple at Memphis, 361\n\n  =Syria=, invaders from, found 25th dynasty, 340\n\n\n  T\n\n  =Tables= of dates of foundations, 352\n    of stars, 20th dynasty, 408, 410\n\n  =Taharqa=, 187, 340\n\n  =Tammuz=, associated with Asari, 372\n    son of \u00cda, 372\n    son of Mul-lil, 372\n\n  =Tammuz-Nergal=, sun-god, 372, 374\n    son of \u00cda, 372\n      Mul-lil, 372\n\n  =Tanis=, decree of, 270\n    temple of, 82, 281, 329\n\n  =Taurus=, constellation of, 143, 378\n    in pyramid times, 329\n\n  =Taurt=, goddess, 28, 146, 302\n    mistress of darkness, 344\n    represented by hippopotamus, 146\n    symbol of, 216, 290\n    symbolised star \u03b3 Draconis, 290\n\n  =Tebha=, 145\n\n  =Tefnut=, 31, 36\n\n  =Tel Hakoab=, mounds at, 86\n\n  =Tell el-Amarna=, Spica temple, 313\n    temples at, 322, 419\n\n  =Temples= in Lower Egypt, as opposed to those in Upper Egypt, 341\n    series of, in Southern Egypt, 311\n    diversity of, due to different races, 315\n\n  =Tetramenes=, 272\n\n  =Te\u03c7i=, 223, 275\n\n  =Thebes=, amplitudes at, 47, 171\n    astronomical thought at, 324\n      two schools of, 325\n    city of Dragon in Greece, 422\n    first appearance of in Egyptian history, 331, 338\n    history of cults at, 320\n    month table at, 143\n    Nile flood, 240\n    rising of land about, 240\n    statues of Sechet, 290\n    temples at, amplitudes of, 156, 168, 309\n      of Amen R\u0101, 99\n      modern, 186\n      M, 213\n      solstitial, 78\n\n  =Thigh=, \u0101k of, 176\n    (Mes\u03c7et), 179, 216\n    constellation, 137, 143, 302\n      in pyramid times, 360\n    of Set, 146, 147\n    represents Great Bear, 146\n\n  =This=, antiquity of, 327\n\n  =Thistleton-Dyer=, on Myrrh from Pun-t, 348\n\n  =Thoth= = Asti, 176\n    1st of, dates of, 268\n      festival of, 198\n    lunus, 29, 393\n    month of, sign of, 269\n    relation to Te\u03c7i, 275\n    sign of, in Ramessids' time, 269\n\n  =Thothmes I.=, 188\n\n  =Thothmes III.=, date of, 261\n    and the Theban priests, 321\n    Ptah temple, 354\n    Karnak, embellishments at, 112\n    restoration of temple of Amen-R\u0101, 108\n    temples at Med\u00eenet-Hab\u00fb, 221\n\n  =Thoueris.= _See_ Taurt\n\n  =Ti\u0101mat= and Marduk, myth of, 378, 398\n\n  =Tigris=, god sacred to, 229\n    inundation, time of, 85, 230, 367\n\n  =Tmu.= _See_ Atmu\n\n  =Tomes= on red hippopotamus, 362\n\n  =Totemism=, 215\n\n  =Triads=, 222\n\n  =Tuam\u0101utef=, 147\n\n  =Tum.= _See_ Atmu\n\n  =Twilight=, representation of, Isis, 29\n    representation of, Nephthys, 31\n\n  =Typhon.= _See_ Set\n\n  =Tyre=, temple of, 161\n\n\n  U\n\n  =Unger=, date of Mena, 22\n\n  =Ur= of the Chaldees, 379\n\n  =Urs\u00e6 Majoris= \u03b1, temples to, 309, 341, 354, 360\n\n  =Usertsen I.=, 179, 221, 215\n    obelisk at Annu, 214, 338\n\n  =Ushas=, 7\n\n  =Utchats=, 280\n\n\n  V\n\n  =Varuna=, 7\n\n  =Vedas=, 4, 5, 6\n\n  =Virchow=, on race distinctions, 386\n\n  =Virey=, D\u00ear el-Bahari discoveries, 319\n    on cult of Aten, 321\n\n  =Vitruvius=, on temple orientation, 58\n\n  =Vyse=, Col. Howard, 12\n\n\n  W\n\n  =Wady Halfa= to Asw\u00e2n, rate of Nile flood, 240\n    Capt. Lyons' work at, 358\n\n  =Wady Hammam\u0101t=, 208\n\n  =Wakefield=, measurements at Karnak, 117\n\n  =Worship= of N. star, imported into Egypt, 370\n\n\n  Y\n\n  =Year=, anomalistic, 53\n    calendar, 246\n    definition of, 247\n    fixed, 251\n      length of, 251\n    length of, 244, 247\n      true, 250\n    fixed and vague, time of coincidence, 267\n      variation between, 252\n    great, Annus Magnus, 257\n    measure of length of, first, 110\n    new, indications, 247\n    sidereal, 53\n    Sirian, length of, 253\n    tropical, 53\n    vague, 251\n      beginnings of, 110\n      and solstice, cycle, 252\n      in time of Ramessids, 263\n\n  =Young=, Thomas, Rosetta stone, 11\n\n\n  Z\n\n  =Zend-Avesta=, 6\n\n  =Ziggurats=, erection of, 367\n\n  =Zodiac=, the signs of, 137\n\n  =Zodiacs=, of Denderah, 135, 146\n    discovery of, 18\n\n\n PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C.\n\n\n\n\n                              FOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] My lectures, given in November, 1890, were printed in _Nature_,\nApril-July, 1891, under the title \"On some Points in the Early History\nof Astronomy,\" with the following note:--\"From shorthand notes of a\ncourse of lectures to working men delivered at the Museum of Practical\nGeology, Jermyn Street, in November, 1890. The notes were revised by\nme at Asw\u00e2n during the month of January. I have found, since my return\nfrom Egypt in March, that part of the subject-matter of the lectures\nhad been previously discussed by Professor Nissen, who has employed the\nsame materials as myself. To him, therefore, so far as I at present\nknow, belongs the credit of having first made the suggestion that\nancient temples were oriented on an astronomical basis. His articles\nare to be found in the _Rheinisches Museum f\u00fcr Philologie_, 1885.\"\n\n[2] Maspero, \"Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l'Orient.\" p. 136.\n\n[3] Hibbert Lectures, 1879.\n\n[4] _See_ Rawlinson's \"History of Egypt,\" Vol. II., p. 134, for\nreferences on this subject.\n\n[5] \"The temples of the gods ought to be so placed that the statue,\nwhich has its station in cella, should, if there be nothing to\ninterfere with such a disposition, face the west; in order that those\nwho come to make oblations and offer sacrifices may face the east....\nWhen temples are built in the neighbourhood of a river, they should\ncommand a view of its banks, like the temples of Egypt upon the borders\nof the Nile.\"--_Vitruvius, Civil Architecture, Section I., Chapter V._\n\n[6] _See_ Biot, \"\u00c9tudes sur l'Astronomie Indienne,\" p. 293.\n\n[7] _See_ Biot, \"Sur divers points d'Astronomie ancienne: M\u00e9moires,\nAcad\u00e9mie des Sciences,\" 1846, p. 47.\n\n[8] For a detailed account of the way in which the formula in use\nhas been obtained, the reader had better turn to Vol. I., p. 253, of\nChauvenet's \"Spherical and Practical Astronomy.\"\n\nIf we denote the latitude by \u03c6,\n\n  and let _p_ = the star's polar distance,\n          _a_ =  \"    \"   right ascension,\n           \u0398  = sidereal time of observation,\n          _h_ = the star's altitude,\n          _t_ =  \"    \"    hour angle;\n\nthen, knowing that\n\n  _t_ = \u0398 - _a_,\n\nthe formula may be written as follows:--\n\n  \u03c6 = _h_ - _p_ cos. t + \u00bd{_p_\u00b2} sin. 1\u201d sin. _t\u00b2_ tan. _h_.\n\nThe Nautical Almanac gives tables to facilitate the computations\ninvolved, but greater exactness is obtained by direct computation.\n\n[9] Since I left Egypt, in February, 1893, Captain Lyons has been good\nenough to comply with my request to repeat the observations. I give the\nfollowing extract from his letter:--\n\n\"The mounds are only within a degree, as it is only the general\ndirection which can be taken.\n\n  South mound old temenos wall, 289\u00bd\u00b0 mag. bearing = 19\u00bd\u00b0 N. of W.\n  Wall at right angles          189\u00b0 mag. bearing = 71\u00b0 S. of W.\n\nGoing to the West mound there are two higher humps with an opening\nbetween them, tons of limestone chips, sandstone blocks with Rameses\nII.'s name; so that I take this for the site of the great pylon. It is\nexactly opposite the obelisk, and distant, I should guess, 600 yards.\n\n  Site of S. pylon to obelisk, 106\u00bd\u00b0 mag. bearing = 16\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.\n  Pole of N. pylon to obelisk, 109\u00bd\u00b0 mag. bearing = 19\u00bd\u00b0 S. of E.\n\nSo I think probably the remaining obelisk is the northern one (_cf._\nHorner, \"Phil. Trans.,\" MDCCCLV., pp. 124 and 131), and the temple axis\nwas directed 289\u00bd\u00b0 mag. bearing with corr. 5\u00bd\u00b0 = 284\u00b0 = 14\u00b0 N. of\nWest true amplitude.\"\n\n[10] Amenenem\u0101t I., the founder of the sanctuary of the sun, entreats,\nafter he has begun the great work (which was not finished till the\ntime of his son, Usertesen), \"May it not perish by the vicissitudes\nof time, may that which is made endure!\" This desire of a great king\nwhich has come down to us through the leathern roll now preserved at\nBerlin, has not been fulfilled; for of his magnificent structure, built\nfor all eternity, nothing remains but the obelisk we have seen, and a\nfew blocks of stone scarcely worth mentioning. The Persian Cambyses\nis unjustly accused of having destroyed the temple and city of the\nsun, for the city was minutely described in detail long after his\ntime, and the temple was still flourishing; nay, many remains of the\nsanctuary, that have now long since vanished, were described even by\nArab authors.--Ebers, \"Egypt,\" p. 190.\n\n[11] \"Ninive et l'Assyrie,\" par Victor Place. Imprimerie Imperiale,\n1867.\n\n[12] \"Monument de Ninive,\" par Botta and Flandin. Imprimerie Nationale,\n1849.\n\n[13] From a magnetic chart which has been prepared for me by the\nkindness of Captain Creak, R.N., F.R.S., of the Hydrographic Department\nof the Admiralty, it seems that the variation at Nineveh and Babylon\nmay be taken as follows:--\n\n         Nineveh.     Babylon.\n  1800   8\u00b0 25\u2032 W.    8\u00b0 25\u2032 W.\n  1900   0\u00b0           0\u00b0 25\u2032 W.\n\nThe values for intermediate dates may be roughly arrived at by an\ninterpolation curve.\n\n[14] \"Journeys in North China,\" Williamson. Vol. II., chap. xvi., by\nEdkins. p. 253.\n\n[15] \"Stonehenge: Plans, Descriptions, and Theories,\" 1880, p. 20.\n\n[16] Ferguson: \"Rude Stone Monuments.\"\n\n[17] _See_ especially \"The Golden Bough,\" by J. G. Fraser, for the\nmidsummer and Beltaine fires.\n\n[18] \"Antiquities,\" b. 8, c. 4, p. 401, Whiston's edition.\n\n[19] Josephus, \"Antiquities\" III., c. 8, \u00a7 9.\n\n[20] The italics are mine--J. N. L.\n\n[21] \"Antiquities\" III., c. 8, \u00a7 9.\n\n[22] Warren: \"Underground Jerusalem.\"\n\n[23] Acosta, in his \"History of Indies,\" lib. vi., p. 459. quoted by\nMaurice (\"Observations Connected with Astronomy and Ancient History\nand Ruins of Babylon\"), states that some of the stones in the Mexican\ntemples to sun and moon measure 38 feet by 18 feet by 6 feet.\n\n[24] _See_ \"Palmyra and Baalbek.\" R. Wood, 1827. Plates.\n\n[25] On this point I gather the following information from the article\n\"Orientation\" in the \"Grand Dictionnaire Universel du 19 Si\u00e8cle,\"\nby M. Pierre Larousse:--\"From the fifth century to the time of the\nRenaissance, the orientation of churches was generally carried out.\nThe mystical reasons furnished by the sacred writers--according to\nSt. John of Damascus and Cassiodorus--were that Jesus on the Cross\nhad His face turned towards the West, hence Christians during prayer\nmust turn to the East to see it. Further, in the sacred writings Jesus\nis called the East (_Oriens ex alto_). Again, Christians hope to see\nChrist descending in the East on the last day. Finally, the faithful\nwhen turning to the East during prayer establish a difference between\nthemselves and the Jews and heretics, for the Jews when praying turn\nWest, and certain heretics South, and others North, hence the heathen\nsaid they were sun-worshippers.\" In the ninth century there was a\nstrong protest against orientation. Catholic churches were built any\nway, and it was said, \"_Nunc oremus ad omnem partem quia Deus ubique\nest_.\"\n\n[26] See _Builder_, Jan. 2, 1892.\n\n[27] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 174.\n\n[28] Inscription south side of obelisk quoted in \"Records of the Past,\"\nVol. XII. (Letter from Capt. Lyons).\n\n[29] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 177.\n\n[30] \"Chrestomathie \u00c9gyptienne,\" Do Roug\u00e9, iii., p. 60.\n\n[31] \"Egyptian Arch\u00e6ology,\" English edition, p. 105.\n\n[32] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 174.\n\n[33] Brugsch, op. cit., p. 187.\n\n[34] \"Karnak. \u00c9tude topographique et arch\u00e9ologique.\"\n\n[35] Mariette, _op. cit._, text, p. 2.\n\n[36] \"History\" p. 175.\n\n[37] Nissen in his important memoir does not refer to this hill; his\nconclusions, therefore, are not absolutely justified by the facts as he\nstates them.\n\n[38] \"\u0152uvres de Volney,\" vol. v., p. 431.\n\n[39] \"Ptolemy Almagest VIII.,\" chap. vi.\n\n[40] \"Recherches sur l'ann\u00e9e vague des Egyptiens,\" by M. Biot. Acad\u00e9mie\ndes Sciences 4th April, 1831.\n\n[41] _I.e._, the stars which never set.\n\n[42] Herodotus II., 44. (I am indebted to my friend Prof. Robertson\nSmith for this reference.)\n\n[43] See _ante_, p. 111.\n\n[44] For instance, in the line of sphinxes in front of temple X, shown\nin the folding plate inserted in Chap. XVIII., the line was left\nincomplete to preserve the fair-way of the ruined temple north of Y\noutside the _temenos_ wall.\n\n[45] \"Baugeschichte des Dendera-Tempels,\" 1877.\n\n[46] \"Rheinisches Museum f\u00fcr Philologie,\" 1885, p. 39.\n\n[47] Quoted from Nissen, _op. cit._\n\n[48] \"Origine des Cultes,\" vol. i., p. 450.\n\n[49] On this point I am permitted by Professor Maspero to print the\nfollowing extract from a letter I received from him:--\"Tous les temples\nptol\u00e9ma\u00efques et la plus grande partie des temples pharaoniques sont\ndes _reconstructions_. Ce que vous avez observ\u00e9 de Dend\u00e9rah, est\nvrai d'Esn\u00e9h, d'Ombos, d'Assouan, de Phil\u00e6, etc. Or, si les premiers\nconstructeurs d'un temple--ou chez nous d'une \u00e9glise--peuvent choisir\npresque \u00e0 leur gr\u00e9 l'emplacement, et par suite l'orientation, la plus\nconvenable, il en est bien rarement de m\u00eame des _reconstructeurs_.\nLes maisons accumul\u00e9es autour du temple les g\u00eanaient, d'ailleurs les\nhabitudes du culte et de la population \u00e9taient prises; on reb\u00e2tissait\nle temple--comme d'ordinaire chez nous on reb\u00e2tit l'\u00e9glise--sur\nla m\u00eame orientation et sur les m\u00eames fondations. J'ai constat\u00e9 le\nfait \u00e0 Kom-Ombo, o\u00f9 les d\u00e9bris du temple d\u00e9cor\u00e9 par Amenhotpou I.\net Thoutmosis III. sont orient\u00e9s exactement comme ceux du temple\nptol\u00e9ma\u00efque actuel, b\u00e2ti sur les ruines du pr\u00e9c\u00e9dent. Vous avez donc le\ndroit de dire, non seulement pour Dend\u00e9rah, mais pour beaucoup d'autres\ntemples, qu'ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 reconstruits sur l'orientation du temple qu'ils\nrempla\u00e7aient, quand m\u00eame cette orientation ne r\u00e9pondait plus \u00e0 la\nr\u00e9alit\u00e9 des choses.\"\n\n[50] Mariette, \"Denderah,\" vol. i., p. 263.\n\n[51] Mariette, _op. cit._, p. 142. Plutarch wrote in the first century\nA.D.\n\n[52] Mariette, _op. cit._, p. 206.\n\n[53] Mariette, _op. cit._, p. 142.\n\n[54] Hathor is termed \"La ma\u00eetresse du commencement de l'an.\" Mariette,\n_loc. cit._, p. 207.\n\n[55] \"Besides the solstice and the beginning of the Nile flood,\nthere was an event in the sky which was too striking not to excite\nthe general attention of the Egyptian priesthood. We also know from\nthe newly-discovered inscriptions from the ancient empire that\nthe risings of Orion and Sirius were already attentively followed\nand mythologically utilised at the time of the building of the\npyramids.\"--KRALL.\n\n[56] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" Edition 1891, p. 189.\n\n[57] Ebers, \"Egypt,\" p. 335.\n\n[58] Mariette, pp. 168 and 178.\n\n[59] D\u00fcmichen, \"Bauurkunde der Tempelanlagen von Dendera,\" p. 20.\n\n[60] Mariette, p. 156.\n\n[61] \"Isis and Osiris,\" Parthey, cap. 56.\n\n[62] Have we such instances of degradation in the cat replacing the\nlion and the black pig the hippopotamus, to give two instances?\n\n[63] It has been assumed by several authorities in Egyptology that Sati\nis a variant for Sirius. It is quite certain that in late times there\nwas a temple at Phil\u00e6 oriented to Sirius; but there are many grounds\nfor supposing that both Sati and Anuqa referred to special southern\nstars. There were several points of dissimilarity between Phil\u00e6 (and\nElephantine) and Thebes.\n\n[64] Maspero, \"Hist. Anc.\" xi. 10.\n\n[65] \"Monumental Egypt,\" chapter i.\n\n[66] \"Monumental Egypt,\" chapter i.\n\n[67] The modern Egyptians still hold to the old months for irrigation.\n7 Taba = January 15, is commencement of wheat irrigation; 30 Misra is\nthe last safe date for sowing maize in the Delta; 1st Tut is the date\nof regulating the bridges = September 8 in Upper Egypt.\n\n[68] \"Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l'Orient,\" p. 72.\n\n[69] \"Chronologie,\" i., p. 70.\n\n[70] _Op. cit._, p. 187.\n\n[71] Krall, _loc. cit._, p. 20.\n\n[72] Mommsen, \"Chronologie,\" p. 258.\n\n[73] \"Studien zur Geschichte der Alten Aegypten,\" I. Wien, 1881.\n\n[74] \"Mat\u00e9riaux pour servir \u00e0 la Reconstruction du Calendrier,\" p. 29.\n\n[75] \"Aeg. Zeit.,\" 1886, p. 5, quoted by Krall.\n\n[76] It should be observed that a distinction is made between the\nJulian and the historical year. This comes from the fact that when\nastronomical phenomena are calculated for dates B.C., it must be\nremembered that chronologists are in the habit of designating by 1,\nor rather by-1, the first year which precedes the instant of time at\nwhich the chronological year commenced, while astronomers mark this\nyear in their tables by 0. It follows, therefore, that the rank of any\nyear B.C. is always marked by an additional unit in the chronological\ndates. For the Christian era, of course, chronologists and astronomers\nwork in the same way. The following table, given by Biot, exhibits the\nconnection between these two methods. In the latter Biot shows the\nleap-years marked B, and the corresponding years in the Scaligerian\nchronological period are also given.\n\n\n            DATES OF JULIAN YEARS COMMENCING ON JANUARY 1.\n\n  According to          According to         Corresponding\n  Chronologists.        Astronomers.       years of the period\n                                               of Scaliger.\n       -6                   -5                    4708\n       -5B                  -4B                   4709\n       \u2500\u2500                   \u2500\u2500                     \u2500\u2500\u2500\n       -4                   -3                    4710\n       -3                   -2                    4711\n       -2                   -1                    4712\n       -1B                  -0B                   4713B\n            Physical instant when the era commenced.\n       +1                   +1                    4714\n       +2                   +2                    4715\n       +3                   +3                    4716\n       +4B                  +4B                   4717B\n       \u2500\u2500                   \u2500\u2500                     \u2500\u2500\u2500\n       +5                   +5                    4718\n\n\n[77] _Loc. cit._, p. 29.\n\n[78] Probably too great a value by two or three days.\n\n[79] _Op. cit._, p. 48.\n\n[80] Goodwin has already asked, \"Does the Smith Papyrus refer to some\nrectification of the calendar made in the fourth dynasty, similar to\nthat made in Europe from the old to the new style?\" Quoted by Riel,\n\"Sonnen-und Sirius-Jahr,\" p. 361.\n\n[81] On the 7th Epiphi of the tenth year of Ptolemy III. the ceremony\nof the stretching off the cord took place. D\u00fcmichen, _Aeg. Zeit._, 2,\n1872, p. 41.\n\n[82] _Op. cit._, p. 37.\n\n[83] D\u00fcmichen, \"Bauurkunde der Tempelanlagen von Dendera,\" p. 20.\n\n[84] Brugsch thus translates one of the inscriptions:--\"Horus in\nweiblicher Gestalt ist die F\u00fcrstin, die M\u00e4chtige, die Thronfolgerin\nund Tochter eines Thronfolger. Ein fliegender K\u00e4fer wild (sie?)\ngeboren am Himmel in der uranf\u00e4nglichen Stadt (Denderah) zur Zeit der\nNacht des Kindes in seiner Wiege. Es strahlt die Sonne am Himmel in\nder D\u00e4mmerung, wann ihre Geburt vollbracht wird.\" Brugsch, \"Astron.\nInscript.,\" p. 97.\n\n[85] In this and the following tables the dates connected with the\nheights of hills where they are known are given in heavy type. Where\nthe local conditions are unknown, hills 1\u00b0 high have been assumed.\n\n[86] With regard to the temple A of Lepsius, it may be stated that\nin the time of the Ptolemies it received considerable and curious\nenlargements and embellishments which make it unique among Egyptian\ntemples.\n\n[87] Baedeker, \"Ober-Aegypten,\" p. 320.\n\n[88] New G\u00eezeh Catalogue, p. 61.\n\n[89] Brugsch, \"Religion und Mythologie,\" p. 111. Pierret, \"Salle\nHistorique de la Galerie \u00c9gyptienne\" (du Louvre), p. 199.\n\n[90] \"Notices des Principaux Monuments Expos\u00e9s au Mus\u00e9e de G\u00eezeh,\" p.\n260. (1893.)\n\n[91] The little temple of Isis at Pompeii and the associated frescoes\nin the Naples Museum are well worth careful study, especially with\nregard to the arrangements made for the stellar observations (and their\nfinal stoppage by the drastic proceeding referred to in the text),\nand the evolution of Horus in Greek times. The Hippopotami are most\ncarefully drawn.\n\n[92] G\u00eezeh Catalogue, 1893, p. 63.\n\n[93] Professor Flinders Petrie has been good enough to send me his\nrecent measurements. They justify those obtained from Lepsius' plan.\n\n[94] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" 1891, p. 220.\n\n[95] Ebers and D\u00fcmichen, in Baedeker's \"Ober-Aegypten,\" p. 59.\n\n[96] _Op. cit._, p. 21.\n\n[97] That is, if we take the temple as oriented originally to \u03b1 Urs\u00e6\nMajoris.\n\n[98] No sun temple is closely associated with the Set temples either at\nLuxor or Abydos, and one on the Annu model would not be so associated,\nfor a right angle would carry its axis outside the ecliptic limits.\n\n[99] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 64.\n\n[100] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 44, note.\n\n[101] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 64.\n\n[102] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 46.\n\n[103] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 41.\n\n[104] \"Bubastis,\" preface, p. iv.\n\n[105] There are, however, notable exceptions to this rule, which will\nbe discussed further on.\n\n[106] \"M\u00ead\u00fbm,\" chap. i.\n\n[107] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 59.\n\n[108] Further, it is known that there was some connection between\nPepi-Meri-R\u0101 and the eleventh dynasty of Thebes. Maspero, _op. cit._,\np. 91. And it must also be mentioned that in the later pyramids \"texts\"\nare introduced.\n\n[109] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 112.\n\n[110] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 112.\n\n[111] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 113.\n\n[112] It is worthy of inquiry whether the northern star so observed is\nnot the true Nephthys (Nebt-het). If so, the triad Nephthys, Isis and\nHorus represents daily astronomical observations.\n\n[113] Rawlinson, i. 337.\n\n[114] \"Egypt under the Pharaohs,\" ed. 1891, p. 3.\n\n[115] Brugsch, \"History,\" p. 6.\n\n[116] Maspero, \"Histoire ancienne,\" p. 59.\n\n[117] _Idem_, p. 63.\n\n[118] Rawlinson, ii., p. 134.\n\n[119] Maspero, \"Histoire ancienne,\" p. 5.\n\n[120] Brugsch, \"History of Egypt,\" 1891, p. 54.\n\n[121] Mariette, \"D\u00ear el-Bahari,\" p. 31. Mr. W. T. Thistleton-Dyer, the\ndirector of the Royal Gardens, Kew, agrees in this view. He permits\nme to print the following extract from a letter written to me:--\"The\nonly positive fact that I can deal with is the representation in the\npictures of a small scrubby tree, which seems to have been about four\nfeet high. It appears to have yielded a gummy or resinous exudation\nfrom its trunk. Mariette supposes this to be myrrh. Pount to be\nSomali-land, and To Nuter the Socotran Archipelago. All this fits in\nvery well with botanical facts. Myrrh-producing plants exist both in\nSomali-land and Arabia, and also in Socotra, as ascertained by Bayley\nBalfour. The two former places still are, as they always have been, the\nplace of origin of myrrh, and we know that it was largely used by the\nEgyptians in embalming. There is no evidence that myrrh, or anything in\nany way resembling it, was ever found south of the Equator. I cannot\ncarry you further south than Berbera.\"\n\n[122] On this point I am permitted to print the following extract from\na letter received from my friend Sir John Kirk, K.C.B.:--\"I send you\na photo, taken in 1858, in the delta of the Zambezi, of a house built\non high poles. The people there live in such houses. There is a ladder\nby which they mount, and all their belongings are kept above. Such\nhouses I have since seen at the mouth of the River Rufiji, opposite the\nisland of Monfia, to the south of Zanzibar. The reason in both cases\nfor such a type of house is that the country at one time is flooded,\nand also to avoid mosquitoes. Similar structures are used, I am told,\nin Madagascar. At Lake Nyassa I believe there are village communities\nliving in the lake, on artificial islands of piles.\"\n\n[123] Rawlinson, ii., p. 131.\n\n[124] \"L'Anthropologie,\" 1891, No. 4.\n\n[125] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 184.\n\n[126] Inscription of Thothmes III., translated by Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p.\n188.\n\n[127] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 184.\n\n[128] Brugsch, \"Egypt,\" p. 180.\n\n[129] For plans, _see_ Lepsius, vol. ii., p. 130.\n\n[130] For plans, _see_ Lepsius, vol. ii., pp. 133 and 134.\n\n[131] For plans, _see_ Lepsius, vol. ii., pp. 125 and 127.\n\n[132] There is a point of great interest here. It would seem from\nCaptain Lyons' examination of the temples at Wady Halfa, which I make\nout to have been oriented to \u03b1 Centauri, that when the two races were\namalgamated in later times, both the stars to which I have referred as\nheralding the equinox were personified by the same goddess, Serk-t.\n\n[133] Besides the book on omens we have \"The observations of Bel,\"\nor \"Illumination of Bel\" (Mul-lil), seventy-two books dealing with\nconjunctions of Sun and Moon, phases (?) of Venus, and appearance of\ncomets. (Sayce, \"Hibbert Lectures,\" p. 29.) The complete materials for\nthe study of Babylonian and Assyrian astronomy cannot be available\nuntil the catalogue of the Kouyunjik Collection, now in course of\npublication by the British Museum, is finished.\n\n[134] Rawlinson, vol. i., p. 316.\n\n[135] Maspero, \"Histoire Ancienne,\" p. 165.\n\n[136] Pierret, \"Le Panth\u00e9on \u00c9gyptien,\" p. 48. I have before referred to\na doubt on this point.\n\n[137] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 357.\n\n[138] \"Le Panth\u00e9on \u00c9gyptien,\" p. 4.\n\n[139] \"Kosmologie der Babylonier,\" p. 147.\n\n[140] \"Proc. Zool. Soc.,\" 1850, p. 160.\n\n[141] Dr. Wallis Budge informs me that An was an old name of the\nsun-god.\n\n[142] Rawlinson, vol. ii., p. 64.\n\n[143] \"Kosmologie der Babylonier,\" p. 147.\n\n[144] Sayce, \"Hibbert Lectures,\" 1887, p. 193.\n\n[145] Sayce, p. 193.\n\n[146] Jensen, p. 149.\n\n[147] Sayce, p. 439.\n\n[148] Sayce, \"Hibbert Lectures,\" p. 190.\n\n[149] Sayce, p. 280. There is a bas-relief in the British Museum\nshowing this ceremonial.\n\n[150] Sayce, p. 101.\n\n[151] _See_ \"Guide to the British Museum,\" p. 71.\n\n[152] Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 33. Flinders Petrie, _Nature_, Aug.\n9, 1883, p. 341.\n\n[153] Sayce, _op. cit._, p. 135.\n\n[154] One gets the idea, from reading Professor Sayce's work, that\nthere might have been in the earliest times a north-star-worshipping\nrace up the valley before \u00cda and Sun and Moon worship were established\nat Eridu; and that the addition of \u00cda to the B\u012bl-Anu-worship to make\none triad, and the addition of B\u012bl to the \u00cda-Asari-worship to make\nanother, were both compromises. See Sayce, pp. 320, 347, 400.\n\n[155] Prof. Sayce has been good enough to inform me that he is of\nopinion that Marduk or Merodach was originally a local god of Babylon,\nand that he was identified with the son of Ea when a colony came to\nBabylon or founded that city, bringing with it the culture and theology\nof the south. In this way the sun-god of Babylon became confounded with\nthe sun-god of Eridu. I should add that Assyriologists are not all\nagreed about the transitions to which I have referred.\n\n[156] I owe to the kindness of Sir Arnold Kemball, K.C.B., the perusal\nof a valuable report on the agriculture of British East Africa,\nprepared for him by Mr. W. W. A. Fitz-Gerald. He has permitted me\nto print the following abstract:--\"The whole of the eastern coast\nis affected in a greater or lesser degree by the S.W. and N.E.\nmonsoons. The following notes deal only with the extent of coast-land\nlying opposite and to the north of Zanzibar and Pemba islands. The\nagricultural seasons on the coast-lands are two in number, and\ncorrespond with the advent of the N.E. and S.W. monsoons respectively.\nThey are distinguished locally as the 'greater rains,' or 'Masika\nM'Ku;' the 'lesser rains,' or 'Masika M'dogo.' The greater rains\ninaugurate the most important cultivating season, commencing in March\nwith the S.W. monsoon. Some years the sowing commences as early as\nthe 7th, but generally speaking the average period may be given as\nbeginning from the middle of the month, and by the first week in\nApril all sowings of Indian corn, rice and 'mfmah' (Millet or Sorghum\nvulgare), the chief and staple food-stuffs of the people, are generally\nfinished, though sowings may continue till the end of April. The\nheaviest fall of rain occurs in April and May, and the rain continues\nwith gradually diminishing force to September. _Harvest_ takes place\nin July and August, and once the grain is off the field the land is\nimmediately cleared and prepared for sowing, in anticipation of the\ncoming of the 'lesser rains' in _October_. The season of the lesser\nrains is chiefly the time for the cultivation of Gingelly oil seed,\nbeans, and such other lesser food-stuffs. The season of the 'lesser\nrains' is deemed more uncertain and less to be depended upon, and the\nrainfall is decidedly very much smaller in comparison. The 'lesser\nrains' practically end in November, for though the wind continues\nsteadily from the N.N.E., the rainfall in December, January, and\nFebruary is slight and uncertain, and it is during these three months,\nespecially the two last, that the greatest heat prevails. The influence\nof the monsoons is considerably less than on Zanzibar Island, and the\ndifference of rainfall may be put down as about 20 to 30 inches.\"\n\n[157] Introduction to \"Nubische Grammatik,\" 1880.\n\n[158] Just in the same way that the Equinoctial Pyramid cult gave way\nin Egypt, dominated by the rise of the Nile at the solstice.\n\n[159] I shall show subsequently that a similar change seems also to\nhave been made at Thebes. Amen-R\u0101, the Summer Sun-god, was a late\ninvention.\n\n[160] Jensen, pp. 195-198.\n\n[161] Sayce, p. 131.\n\n[162] The italics are mine.--J. N. L.\n\n[163] Professor Sayce also tells me that Asari was subsequently\nidentified by the Semitic Babylonians with Merodach.\n\n[164] \"Egypt's Place,\" vol. i., p. 377.\n\n[165] Rawlinson's \"Ancient Egypt,\" vol. i., p. 328.\n\n[166] Lanzoni also states that Amen-R\u0101 sometimes appears with the four\nheads of the goat, once special to Chnemu, q.v.\n\n[167] Lanzoni, p. 692.\n\n[168] Rawlinson, vol. i., p. 371.\n\n[169] Naville, \"Mythe d'Horus,\" p. 8.\n\n[170] \"Mythe d'Horus,\" p. 7.\n\n[171] \"Mythe d'Horus,\" p. 7.\n\n[172] \"Hist. Anc.,\" p. 33.\n\n[173] \"Hibbert Lectures,\" p. 155.\n\n[174] In modern German, even, the Moon is masculine and the Sun\nfeminine.\n\n[175] Maspero, _op. cit._, p. 14.\n\n[176] _Annu_ and _An_ (Denderah): (? \"la grande Tribu des Anou\" of\nMaspero?)\n\n[177] _Op. cit._, p. 315.\n\n[178] I think I am right about the Tortoise, for I find the\nfollowing passage in Jensen, p. 65, where he notes the absence of\nthe Crab:--\"Ganz absehend davon, ob dasselbe f\u00fcr unsere Frage von\nWichtigkeit werden wird oder nicht, muss ich daran erinnern, das unter\nden Emblemen, welche die sogenannten 'Deeds of Sale' h\u00e4ufig begleiten,\nverschiedene Male wie der Scorpion so die Schildkr\u00f6te abgebildet\ngefunden wird.\"\n\n[179] According to a communication of Dr. Tetens, Aldebaran rose\nheliacally at the beginning of spring for Babylon 6900 years ago.\n\n[180] With regard to these legends Jensen writes: \"Now it is\nremarkable that the oldest historical king about whom the Babylonians\nknow anything, Sargon of Agadi (?) is said to have lived about 3750\nB.C.--_i.e._, 5639 years ago--and that his son is called Nar\u0101m-S\u012bn\n= 'favourite of S\u012bn,' the moon-god. And if we bear in mind that the\nzodiac with its signs plays into the Babylonian legends of creation,\nand that the Hebrew cosmogonic legends are derived from these, it is\nfor us even more remarkable that the Jews place the creation of the\nworld 5649 years ago, however much the figures derived from the Bible,\naccording to other computations and traditions, may depart therefrom.\nWhether this is accidental or not, I do not profess to judge.\"\n\n[181] \"Astronomisches aus Babylon,\" pp. 117-133.\n\n[182] \"Die Sterntafeln in den \u00e4gyptischen Konigsgr\u00e4bern von Bib\u00e2n\nel-Mol\u00fbk,\" von Gustav Bilfinger (p. 69).\n\n[183] In the lists of temples which follow, all the orientations were\nobtained from azimuths taken with a theodolite, either from the sun or\nfrom the planet Venus. In almost every case two or more sights were\nobserved, and occasionally also the performance of the instrument was\ntested by stars at night. The heights subtended by the visible horizon\nopposite to the axes of the temples were also observed.\n\n[184] _See_ _Nature_, February 25, 1892, and May 11, 1893.\n\n[185] R indicates a rising, and S a setting observation.\n\n[186] With regard to a temple of Minerva using \u03b1 Arietis at Tegea, Mr.\nPenrose writes:--\"Minerva is allowed by the poets to have been able\nto use Jupiter's thunder, so this is no misappropriation of the star.\nJuno also seems to have claimed the use of \u03b1 Arietis as at Samos, and\nat Girgenti it suits the orientation of the temple of Juno better than\nSpica. But Spica seems to have been connected with the worship of Juno\nand Diana in their more strictly female capacity.\"","title":"The dawn of astronomy: A study of the temple-worship and mythology of the ancient Egyptians","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":117895}