CHAPTER XXX.

THE TEMPLE-STARS.

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 with besides Sirius and γ Draconis, and other temples besides those at Annu, Denderah and Thebes which have to be studied.

This is so, and I now propose to give a general account of the conclusions so far arrived at, but I must _in limine_ state that the account must be a brief one and more suggestive than final, for the reason that the lack of accurate local data stops the way.

In an inquiry of this kind it is well to work slowly out from the known. The facts which have been given will, I think, cause it to be generally agreed that in the temple of Isis at Denderah we have a structure which the inscriptions, as well as astronomical inquiry, show was certainly a temple oriented to Sirius. The other fact that New Year's Day in the Nile valley was determined for thousands of years by the heliacal rising of that star, is among the most familiar in the domain of Egyptology.

Obviously, then, the first inquiry must refer to the possible existence of other Sirian temples.

From 3285 B.C., when Sirius rose heliacally at the solstice, its declination has varied from 24° S. to 16½° S. in 500 B.C. The corresponding amplitudes for Thebes being 26½° and 18° S. of E.

Between these amplitudes we find the following temples:--

SIRIUS.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ Sea │ Hills 1° │ Hills 2° │ │ Amp. │ Horizon. │ High. │ High. │ Place and Temple. ├──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┤ Re- │ S. │Dec. │Years.│ Dec.│Years.│ Dec.│Years.│marks. │ of E.│ S. │ │ S.│ │ S. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ see (Temple O) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │below (Gr.) │ 26°½ │ 24° │ 3300 │ 23½°│=3150=│ 23° │ 3050 │ 1 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ =Dêr el-Bahari= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 24½° │ 22¼ │ 2850 │ 21¾°│=2700=│ 21¼ │ 2575 │ =Dosche= │ 21½° │ 20¼ │ 2225 │ 19¾°│=2050=│ 19½°│ 2000 │ =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Temple D) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 21½° │ 19½°│ 2000 │ 19° │=1800=│ 18½°│ 1600 │ =Naga= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Temple G) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 19° │ 18¼ │ 1500 │ 18° │=1400=│ 17¾°│ 1250 │ =Philæ= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Ethiopian Temple)│ 19½° │ 18° │ 1400 │ 17½°│ 1100 │ 17°│ =800=│ 2 =Denderah= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (N.W. Temple) │ 18½° │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 3 ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remarks 1 This may have been a solar temple, as its amplitude is nearly equal to that of the sun at the winter solstice. Remarks 2 Hills high. at least 2° Remarks 3 Hills very low.

It is quite clear that we must not look for Sirian temples before 3200 B.C., because the heliacal rising of Sirius at Thebes before that time did not take place near the solstice. The above table shows that the earliest Sirian temple really dates from about 3000 B.C.[85]

But what star did Sirius replace? An inspection of a precessional globe shows at once that the star which rose heliacally at the solstice before Sirius was α Columbæ (Phact). Its declination has varied from 57° S. at 5000 B.C. to 37° S. at 0.

We have the following temples which might have been oriented to this star; and here I must repeat that once a star has been symbolised as a god or a goddess on account of its astronomical utility, the cult would be continued after the utility had ceased--that is, in this case, after Sirius had replaced Phact astronomically.

PHACT.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ Sea │ Hills 1° │ Hills 2° │ │ Amp. │ Horizon. │ High. │ High. │ Place and Temple. ├──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┤ Re- │ S. │Dec. │Years.│ Dec.│Years.│ Dec.│Years.│marks. │ of E.│ S. │ │ S.│ │ S. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Memnonia= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Western Temple) │ 58½° │ 50½°│ 3750 │ 49¾°│=3700=│ 49° │ 3550 │ 1. =Barkal= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Temple B) │ 53½° │ 50° │ 3250 │ 49¼ │=3600=│ 48¾°│ 3500 │ =Karnak V= │ 56½° │ 49° │ 3550 │ 48¼ │=3400=│ 47½°│ 3250 │ =Abu Simbel= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Hathor Temple) │ 54° │ 48¾°│ 3500 │ 48° │ 3350 │ 47½°│=3250=│ 2. =Dêr el-Medinet= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 54½° │ 47½°│ 3250 │ 46¾°│=3050=│ 46° │ 2900 │ =Saboa= │ 51¼ │ 46° │ 2900 │ 45½°│=2750=│ 45° │ 2650 │ =Karnak= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Temple J) │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 51½° │ 45¼ │ 2700 │ 44½°│ 2525 │ 43¾°│ 2300 │ =Medînet Habû= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Small J J) │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 51½ │ 45¼ │ 2700 │ 44½°│=2525=│ 43¾°│ 2300 │ =Barkal= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Temples J and H) │ 47½° │ 44½°│ 2525 │ 44° │=2400=│ 43½°│ 2250 │ =Surarieh= │ 51° │ 43½°│ 2250 │ 42¾°│=2050=│ 42° │ 1850 │ =Medînet Habû= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Palace K K) │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Gr.) │ 46½° │ 40¾°│ 1500 │ 40° │=1250=│ 39½°│ 1050 │ =Medînet Habû= │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ (Ethiopian Temple)│ 45° │ 40° │ 1250 │ 39° │ =900=│ 38½°│ =500=│ 3. │ │ | │ │ │ │ │ │ ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remarks 1 Hills low. Remarks 2 Hills nearly 2° high. Remarks 3 The hills may be taken as a little over 1° high.

The temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel, embellished by Rameses II., was in all probability a shrine dedicated to Amen-t-Hathor about 3200 B.C. Amen-t seems to have been an Ethiopian goddess, for we hear nothing of her at Heliopolis or Memphis.

It follows that if this be so, Sirius succeeded to α Columbæ precisely as γ Draconis succeeded to Dubhe; but temples could still be dedicated to the old Hathor α Columbæ, while this was not possible for Dubhe, because it became circumpolar and never rose.

It may also be pointed out that the temple V of Lepsius at Karnak finds its place in a series by supposing it to have been oriented to the S.E. instead of the N.W. as shown in Lepsius' maps. Such a mistake might easily have arisen in consequence of its ruined condition. It may be stated in favour of my view that I am acquainted with no temple in Egypt directed between the amplitudes 35° and 90° N. of W.

But so far we have dealt only with the summer solstice, and yet in Egypt there were people who lived in towns with E. and W. walls who, I take it, must have had a worship depending upon the equinoxes.

About 3500 B.C., Antares (α Scorpii) rose heliacally at the autumnal equinox as α Columbæ did, as we have seen, at the summer solstice. There is not much doubt, from the symbol of Serk-t that this goddess represented a star in the Scorpion. Further, at that date its rising took place due east, so any E. and W. temple--and many existed in _Lower_ Egypt--might have been then used for observations of this star.

But about the same time the southern star, α Centauri, could have been used to herald the sunrise at the autumnal equinox.

α CENTAURI.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ Sea │ Hills 1° │ Hills 2° │ │ Amp. │ Horizon. │ High. │ High. │ Place and Temple. ├──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┼─────┬──────┤ Re- │ S. │Dec. │Years.│ Dec.│Years.│ Dec.│Years.│marks. │ of E.│ S. │ │ S.│ │ S. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Barkal E= │ 33½° │ 31¾°│ 3825 │ 31¼ │=3700=│ 30¾°│ 3800 │ =Kûrnah= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ (Seti I.) │ 35½° │ 31¾°│ 3625 │ 31¼ │=3700=│ 30¾°│ 3800 │Hills =Kûrnah= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ low. (Palace) │ 36° │ 32¼ │ 3500 │ 31¾°│=3625=│ 31° │ 3750 │Hills =Wady Halfa= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ low. (Thothmes II.) │ 38¾° │ 35¾°│ 2900 │ 35¼ │=3000=│ 34¾°│ 3075 │ =Barkal L= │ 38° │ 36° │ 2850 │ 35½°│=2950=│ 35° │ 3030 │ =Wady Halfa= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ (Thothmes III.) │ 40° │ 36¾°│ 2725 │ 36¼ │=2800=│ 35¾°│ 2900 │ =Wady E. Sofra= │ 38½° │ 37° │ 2675 │ 36¾°│=2700=│ 36¼ │ 2800 │ =Memnonia= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ Rameses II. │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ (Mean of Fr. & Gr.)│ 43° │ 38¼ │ 2475 │ 37½°│=2600=│ 37° │ 270 │Hills =Kom Ombo= │ │ │ │ | │ │ │ │ low. (Little Temple) │ 43½° │ 39° │ 2375 │ 38½°│=2450=│ 37¾°│ 2575 │ ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────

It would appear that several temples were directed to this star in _Upper_ Egypt from 3700 B.C. onward. The series of them is shown in the preceding table.

For the vernal equinox, so far, I have found no temples besides those directed due E. in which the rising of the Pleiades may have been watched. It is more than probable that the worship of the sacred bull by the Memphitic inhabitants of Egypt may have been connected with this constellation. Certainly in pyramid times Neith and Serk-t were both worshipped, and the goddesses under whose protection the Canopic vases were supposed to be--Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serk-t--may have symbolised the two solstices and the two equinoxes.

We may next consider the complete series of N.E. temples represented at Heliopolis, Denderah and Thebes. These we must, as I have shown in