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

Chapter XX., divide into two series, dealing with α Ursæ Majoris before

Chapter 321,399 wordsPublic domain

it became circumpolar, and γ Draconis afterwards.

I have already (p. 208) stated that α Lyræ may possibly have preceded both α Ursæ Majoris and γ Draconis as a representative of Set, but no table is necessary.

The first series, dealing with α Ursæ Majoris, is as follows:--

α URSÆ MAJORIS.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ 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. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Annu= │ 77° │ 57°│=5200=│ 58° │ 5050 │ 59° │ 4900 │ 1. =Denderah= │ 71½° │ 57¾°│ 5100 │ 58¾°│ 4950 │ 59¾°│=4800=│ 2. =Denderah= │ 78° │ 60¾°│ 4600 │ 62° │ 4400 │ 63° │=4200=│ 3. ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remarks 1. Hills low. Remarks 2 and 3 Hills 2° high.

The second series, dealing with γ Draconis, is naturally much fuller.

γ DRACONIS.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ 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. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Redesieh= │ 77½° │ 61¾°│ 4250 │ 62¾°│=4600=│ 63¾°│ 4850 │ =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Z and X) │ 72½° │ 58¾°│ 3100 │ 59¾°│=3500=│ 60¾°│ 3000 │ =Dakkeh= │ 69¼ │ 58¾°│ 3100 │ 59¾°│=3500=│ 60¾°│ 3800 │ =Denderah= │ 71½° │ 57¾°│ 2650 │ 58¾°│ 3100 │ 59¾°│=3500=│ =Annu= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Restoration) │ 77° │ 57° │ 2300 │ 58° │ 2800 │ 59° │ 3200 │ =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ W │ 68½° │ 56½°│ 2100 │ 57½°│=2550=│ 58¼ │ 2900 │ =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ [86]A M C │ 63½° │ 53¼ │ 300 │ 54¼ | 1000 │ 55° │ 1400 │ ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remark 1. Hills 2° high. Remark 2. Hills 1½° high. [86 ] 54½°. 1200.

The table brings before us the remarkable fact that at Redesieh and Denderah, which both lie on the two old roads from the Red Sea into Upper Egypt, we have the first traces of the worship of Set: in other words, of observations during the night in that region, as we found it at Annu.

As α Ursæ Majoris and γ Draconis were observed in the extreme north, so several stars appear to have been observed near the south point, among them Canopus (α Argûs), towards which star the temples shown in the following table seem to have been directed, among them the well-known temple of Khons at Karnak, so that provisionally we may take that divinity as a personification of the star. Granting this, it will be noted that the introduction of this cult into Thebes was late; this is quite in harmony with the statements of Egyptologists, who point out that this god has the side-lock, indicating youth, and that he was the latest addition to the Theban Triad.

In later times the curve of declination of this star is so flat that most accurate measures are required.

CANOPUS.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ 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 B= │ 63½° │ 54¼ │=2150=│ 53¼ │ 1300 │ │ │ 1. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ =Naga= (_f_) │ 57° │ 53¾°│ 1700 │ 53¼ │=1300=│ 52¾°│ 300 │ 2. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ =Karnak=(Seti II.)│ 63° │ 53¾°│ 1700 │ 53° │ 1000 │ │ │ =Karnak= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Khons) │ 62° │ 53° │ 1000 │ 52¼ │ 300 │ │ │ 3. │ │ │ │ │ A.D.│ │ │ ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remark 1. Hills 1½° high give us 1800 B.C. Remark 2. Hills 1½° high give us =1400= B.C. Remark 3. Hills 1½° high give us =300= B.C.

When we attempt to trace the _most_ southerly stars to which temples were erected in Upper Egypt, we find a series of temples which are very remarkable in several respects from the orientation point of view. Their amplitudes are all above 74°, one being as high as 86½.° They all face South of _West_, and when their latitudes are taken into account, the very striking thing comes out that the declination of the star observed was very nearly the same--that is, that probably _all the temples were founded at about the same time to observe the same star_.

The facts are as follows:--

Temple. Amplitude S. of W. Declination S. =Edfû= 86½° 64¾° Hills 1° high. =Philæ Y= 76½° 64° Hills 2° high. =Semneh= 76½° 64¾° } =Amada= 74½° 64¾° }Local conditions not known.

With regard to the Philæ temple, the amplitude is uncertain, as the measures do not agree; but if we reject Philæ the other coincidences are too remarkable to be neglected.

It is to be hoped that a complete survey of the island will soon be undertaken.

Now, I cannot find any important stars to fit this declination since 7000 B.C. except Canopus and Phact, and the latter is barred because it was used as a _rising star_, and indeed was the first solstitial Isis.

If we inquire into the conditions relative to Canopus, we find that star had the declination of 64° about 6400 B.C., and that, as determined by the processional globe, it then set heliacally at the autumnal equinox.

If we assume that Canopus is in question, the break between the dates 6400 B.C. and 2150 B.C. has to be explained. There may have been temples at Thebes now destroyed. There seems no doubt that the temple at Philæ, lettered Y by the French and L in Baedeker's Handbook, was the most ancient one on the island, and that the cult was similar to that at Edfû.[87]

It will be most interesting to see whether the suggestion that Canopus was observed in early times at Philæ and Edfû especially, be confirmed.

It is clear that for these and other southern temples an examination of the local conditions and a determination of the places of the southern stars are necessary before the other southern gods and goddesses can be worked out.

We next come to the N.W. quadrant. Here, apparently, we have only to deal with Capella and Spica. Summarising the information detailed in a previous chapter, we find the following temples probably erected to these stars:--

CAPELLA.

──────────────────┬──────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───── │ │ 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. │ │ ──────────────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────── =Memphis= │ 12° │ 10° │ 5500 │ 10¾°│=5350=│ 11¼ │ 5300 │ =Annu= │ 13° │ 11° │=5325=│ 11½°│ 3250 │ 12° │ 5200 │ =Karnak U= │ 27½° │ 24¼ │ 3250 │ 24¾°│ 3150 │ 25¼ │=3050=│ =Thebes= │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Petit Temple │ 31½° │ 27¾°│ 2600 │ 28½°│ 2500 │ 29° │=2400=│ du Sud) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ =Karnak G= │ 35° │ 30¾°│ 2050 │ 31½°│ 1925 │ 32° │ 1850 │ 1. ──────────────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───── Remark 1. 32½°. =1750.= Hills 3° high

SPICA.

The temples oriented to Capella and Spica are discussed in the next chapter.

The information given in the present chapter may be completed by a table showing the warning stars available for heralding sunrise about the times when the orientations suggest that the various temples were originally founded.

To prepare this table I have used the precessional globe previously referred to. The results are therefore rough, as the ecliptic has been taken as fixed; but they are useful for the purpose of a reconnaissance. The table shows the stars on the horizon, or near it, at the equinoxes and solstices when the sun was 10° below the horizon. When the star was not exactly on the horizon when the sun was 10° below, its position above or below at that moment is indicated in the table by giving the number of degrees the star was above (+) the horizon or below it (-) at the time.

The dates taken are those most conveniently given by the globe, being those in fact occupied by the pole of the equator at some one or other of twenty-four equidistant points on a circle round the pole of the ecliptic starting from 1880 A.D. as zero.

It will be seen that all the stars referred to in the preceding tables occupied positions of great importance between 6000 B.C. and 2500 B.C., and that there are several southern stars indicated which eventually may be useful in the discussion of the southern temples.

TABLE OF HELIACAL RISINGS AND SETTINGS.

──────┬────────────────────────┬────────────────────── Date │ Spring Equinox. │ Summer Solstice. B.C. ├───────────┬────────────┼───────────┬───────── │ Rising. │ Setting. │ Rising. │ Setting. ──────┼───────────┼────────────┼───────────┼─────────── 5675 │ │ │ Phact │ │ │ │ │ 4600 │ Aldebaran │ │ Phact │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 3525 │α Phenicis│ Antares │ Phact │ │ │ + 2 │ │ │ Pleiades │ │ │ │ + 3 │ │ │ [3200]│ │ │ Sirius │ 2450 │ │ α Pavonis │ Sirius │ Altair │ │ │ + 3 │ ──────┴───────────┴────────────┴───────────┴───────────── ──────┬────────────────────────┬────────────────────── Date │ Autumnal Equinox. │ Winter Solstice. ├───────────┬────────────┼───────────┬───────── B.C. │ Rising. │ Setting. │ Rising. │ Setting. ──────┼───────────┼────────────┼───────────┼─────────── 5675 │ Vega. │ Canopus │α Phenicis │ β Muscæ │ - 1 │ │ │ 4600 │γ Draconis │ Capella │ │ │α Trianguli│ Canopus │ │ │ │ + 3 │ │ 3525 │ Antares │ Aldebaran │ │ │ - 1 │ + 2 │ │ │α Centauri │ │ │ │ + 3½ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 2450 │β Argus │ │ │ │ + 3 │ │ │ ──────┴───────────┴────────────┴───────────┴─────────────

The real precedence of Capella and Spica in temple-building is not shown in the above table, because these stars were not used either at the solstices or the equinoxes.