The dawn of astronomy A study of the temple-worship and mythology of the ancient Egyptians

In the final pages of this book I have to show that recent investigations have put beyond all doubt the fact that the astronomical observations and temple-worship of the Egyptia...

Our researches so far leave no doubt upon the question that a large part of the astronomical activity of the earliest Egyptians had reference to observations connected especiall...

I have already, in Chapter XXXII., pointed out that at Annu we seemed limited to Set as a stellar divinity; so soon as pyramid times are reached, however, this was changed, and...

The next question which arises now that we have considered the facts relating to the astronomy of Northern Egypt is one connected with the cults which we have proved to come dow...

A long parenthesis has been necessary in order to inquire fully into the yearly festivals of the Egyptian priests, the relation of the feasts to the rising of stars, and the dif...

The reformation of the Egyptian calendar, to be gathered, as I suggested in the last chapter, from the decree of Tanis, is not, however, the point to which reference is generall...

This being so, the chances are that at first they would observe the stars on the horizon too, both stars rising and stars setting; this indeed is rendered more probable by the v...

So far as my inquiries have yet gone, there is not above Thebes, with the exceptions of Redesich and Dakkeh, any temple resembling those at Annu, Thebes, Denderah and Abydos, to...

In previous chapters I have referred to the difference in astronomical thought evidenced by the solstitial solar worship at Thebes as opposed to the non-solstitial solar worship...

The observations which have been made in Babylonia are very discordant among themselves, and at present it is impossible to say, from the monuments in any part of the region alo...

So far we have dealt with the dawn of astronomy in Egypt. We have found that from the earliest times there were astronomical observations carried on, and that practically there...

So much having been premised concerning the early temple-worship of the sun in Egypt and the adjacent countries, and the survival of some of the ideas connected with it down to...

It will be abundantly clear from the statements made in the foregoing chapter that, as I have said, the main source of information touching things Egyptian consists no longer in...

Now that we have been able to discuss with more or less fulness the stars--very few in number--to which the temples in both Upper and Lower Egypt were probably oriented, and fur...

At the end of the last chapter I referred to the Hor-shesu or followers, that is worshippers, of the Sun-god Horus. I shall have to refer to the traditions relating to them at a...

We can readily understand that in the very beginning of observations in all countries, the moment man began to observe anything, he took note of the stars, and as soon as he beg...

Although it is necessary to enter somewhat into the domain of chronology to really understand the astronomical observations on which the Egyptian year depended and the uses made...

I have now to pass from the circumpolar stars to those which both rise and set. The difference between the two groups--those that do not rise and set and those which do--was ful...

In Chapter XVII. I quoted from the inscriptions relating to the alignment of the axis of the temple of Hathor at Denderah. It will be remembered that the king, while stretching...

It is not only of the first importance for our subject, but of great interest in itself, to study some of the astronomical problems connected with this horizon worship, which in...

Numerous references to the ceremonial of laying the foundation-stones of temples exist, and we learn from the works of Chabas, Brugsch, Dümichen,[45] and others, that the founda...

When we inquire among which early peoples we are likely to find the first cultivation of astronomy, whatever the form it may have taken, we learn that it is generally agreed by...

The last two chapters, then, have brought us so far. There are two principal temples at Denderah. The smaller is called the temple of Isis. It is oriented 18½° S. of E. The insc...

There was to all early peoples all the difference in the world, of course, between day and night, while we, with our firm knowledge, closely associate them. There was no artific...

During three thousand years of Egyptian history the beginning of the year was marked by the rising of Sirius, which rising took place nearly coincidently with the rise of the Ni...

The French and Prussian Governments have vied with each other in the honourable rivalry of mapping and describing the monuments. The French went to Egypt at the end of the last...

Whether the Egyptians brought their year with them or invented it in the Nile valley, there is a belief that it at first consisted of 360 days only, that is, 5¼ days too little.

Let us, then, imagine the ancient Egyptians, furnished with the natural astronomical circle which is provided whenever there is an extended plain, engaged in their worship at su...

If it be accepted that the arguments already put forward justify us in regarding the temple of Amen-Rā as a solstitial solar temple, we are brought face to face with the fact th...

Here, _in limine_, we meet with a difficulty which, if it cannot be explained, evidently proves that the Egyptians did not construct and use their calendar in the way we have su...

We have now to pass from the building ceremonials and a general consideration of the temples at Karnak, to the worships to which the various temples were dedicated. And to do th...

In the general survey, which occupied the preceding chapter, of the records left by the most ancient peoples, it was shown that Egypt, if we consider her monuments, came first i...

When I had the privilege of discussing at Thebes the orientation hypothesis with M. Bouriant, the distinguished head of the French School of Archæology in Egypt, he suggested th...

In the preceding chapter I discussed the suggestion, quite independently of any records the Egyptians may have left on the subject, that certain of the temples were oriented to...

To do this we must deal not only with the buildings, but with the associated mythology, or, rather, with the astronomical part of the mythology, for there seems to be very littl...

rectangular temple outside the great temple of Karnak (K). They said to themselves: "We will make Karnak more beautiful, and we will extend it. We can now build walls in continu...

When I began my studies of the Egyptian temples the building inscriptions referred to in the preceding chapter lay forgotten in the Egyptologist's archives. I purpose now to giv...

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ Sea │ Hills 1° │ Hills 2° │ │ Amp. │ Horizon. │ High. │ High. │ Place and Temple. ├──────┼─────┬──────...

The two preceding chapters should have suggested that if there be any truth in the astronomical and mythological views therein put forth, there should be other stars to deal wit...

The azimuth compass is an instrument familiar to many; it consists of a magnetic needle fastened to a card carrying a circle divided into 360°, which can be conveniently read by...

Neglecting the first four, we find Osiris preceding Set, and are driven to the conclusion that in Osiris, in this connection, we are dealing with the Moon, for the Sun-gods Atmu...

III. The temples to the north stars, α Ursæ Majoris, γ Draconis, and Capella (Set and Ptah), begin in the Delta and about 1000 years later. The series is then broken till about...