CHAPTER XXXII.

THE EARLY TEMPLE AND GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS.

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 at Annu, and again by the observations of southern stars above Thebes as opposed to observations of high northern stars below.

There is still another fundamental difference to be signalised, and that is the building in some cases of pyramids, with or without associated temples, east and west true.

It will perhaps be generally conceded that the differences in thought indicated by the building or non-building of colossal pyramids are greater than those indicated by the two other _differentia_ to which I have referred, and on this ground I propose to enter upon this point at some length.

We may first inquire if there be any other class of considerations which can be utilised to continue the discussion of the question thus raised on astronomical grounds. It is obvious that if sufficient tradition exists to permit us to associate the different classes of structures which have been studied astronomically with definite periods of Egyptian history, a study of the larger outlines of that history will enable us to determine whether or not the critical changes in dynasties and rulers were or were not associated with critical changes in astronomical ideas as revealed by changes in temple-worship and pyramid building. If there be no connection the changes may have been due to a change of idea only--a variation in astronomical thought--and the suggestion of a distinction of race falls to the ground.

In a region of inquiry where the facts are so few and difficult to recognise among a mass of myths and traditions, to say nothing of contradictory assertions by different authors in their exposition of the inscriptions, the more closely we adhere to a rigidly scientific method of inquiry the better. I propose to show, therefore, that there is one working hypothesis which seems to include a great many of the facts, and I hope to give the hypothesis and the facts in such a way that if there be anything inaccurately or incompletely stated it will be easy at once to change the front of the inquiry and proceed along the new line indicated.

I may begin by remarking that it is fundamental for the hypothesis, that the temple of Annu or Heliopolis existed, as stated by Maspero and other high authorities, before the times of Mini (Mena) and the pyramid builders.

Before Mini, according to Maspero, "On et les villes du Nord avaient eu la part principale dans le développement de la civilisation Égyptienne. Les prières et les hymnes, qui formèrent plus tard le noyau des livres sacrés, avaient été rédigés à An."

My observations of the orientation of the obelisk at Annu show that the temple of which it formed part may have possibly been an early member of the series which includes the temple of Mut at Thebes, and of Hathor at Denderah; that is, the worship of Set was in question, to speak generically. Now, according to Maspero, Sit or Set formed one of the divine dynasties, being associated with the sun and air gods at Annu, _i.e._ with Rā, Atmu, Osiris, Horus, and Shou.

It is also certain that the solar temple at Annu at right-angles to the Sit temple, was pointed north-west, and probably to Capella setting, about 5000 B.C.

So much for the astronomical antiquity of Annu. But there are other northern towns besides Annu for which a very high antiquity is claimed.

On this point here is the opinion of Ebers and Dümichen, two of our highest authorities: "Dies ist die älteste Stadt in Aegypten, und das mit ihm verbundene Abydos kann nicht viel junger gewesen sein, denn schon im alten Reiche wird es vielfach als heilige Stadt erwähnt."[95]

The sacred character of Abydos is also pointed out by Maspero.[96]

"C'est comme ville sainte qu'elle était universellement connue. Ses sanctuaires étaient célèbres, son dieu Osiris vénéré, ses fêtes suivies par toute l'Égypte; les gens riches des autres nomes tenaient à honneur de se faire dresser une stèle dans son temple."

If it be found that the references to "ancestors," and "divine ancestors," occur after the eleventh dynasty, the race represented by Annu, or the one which immediately followed it (? the Hor-Shesu) may be referred to (_see_ the chapters on the Egyptian year).

Of Abydos astronomically I can only say very little, as the various statements as to the orientation of the north-east temples there by various authors are so conflicting that nothing certain can be made out. As they stand they are suggestive that these temples may possibly be associated with that at Luxor, and it may be gathered from the description of them by Ebers and Dümichen in Baedeker that many references to Set (Anubis) occur in the inscriptions. If subsequent measurements indicate that Abydos and Luxor are to be treated together, then astronomically both these places may represent a cult more ancient than that at Annu,[97] since it would appear that in these cases α Lyræ was the star personified by Anubis, as α Ursæ Majoris and γ Draconis were subsequently. But if the cult were more ancient the temple foundations were not, the first "length" of Luxor having been built, on this supposition, about 4900 B.C. The last length built by Ramses II. was certainly oriented to α Lyræ, by which I mean that if the building date given by Egyptologists is correct, α Lyræ rose in the axis prolonged--another instance of the long persistence of a cult, and of the fact that the temples that we see are but shrines restored.

On the assumption that the above view is true for Luxor and that Abydos followed suit, as is suggested by the imperfect orientations, we are led to the conclusion that, taking existing temple foundations, Annu preceded Abydos.[98]

The astronomical results, then, are certainly in harmony with the historical statement, which I take as fundamental, that Annu preceded Memphis and pyramid times.

These times were not only remarkable on account of the building of the great pyramids; there was a vast change in the cult.

I have already pointed out that at Annu we seemed limited to Set as a stellar divinity; so soon as pyramid times are reached, however, this is changed. The number of gods is increased, and there is apparently a mixture, as if some influence had been at work besides that represented by Annu and the pyramid builders.

I have given before the list of the gods of Heliopolis, and have shown that with the exception of Sit none are stellar. But we find in pyramid times the list is increased; only the sun gods Rā, Horus, Osiris, are common to the two. As new divinities we have[99]--

Isis. Hathor. Nephthys. Ptah. Serk-t. Sokhit.

Of these the first two and the last two undoubtedly symbolised stars, and there can be no question that the temples of Isis built at the pyramids, Bubastis, Tanis and elsewhere, were built to watch the rising of some of them.

The temple of Saïs, as I have said, had east and west walls, and so had Memphis, according to Lepsius. The form of Isis at Saïs was the goddess Nit, which, according to some authorities, was the precursor of Athene. The temple of Athene at Athens was oriented to the Pleiades.

There is also no question that the goddess Serk-t symbolised Antares.

We find ourselves, then, in the presence of the worship of the sun and stars in the ecliptic constellations in Egypt during pyramid times, and in constellations connected with the Equinox; for if we are right about the Pleiades and Antares, these are the stars which heralded the sunrise at the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox respectively, when the sun was in Taurus and Scorpio.

Now, associated with the introduction of these new worships in pyramid times was the worship of the bull Apis, this worship preceding the building of pyramids. Mena is credited by some authors with its introduction,[100] but at any rate Kakau of the second dynasty issued proclamations regarding it,[101] and a statue of Hapi was in the temple of Cheops.[102]

The ground being thus cleared, I now state the working hypothesis to which I have referred above.

1. The first civilisation as yet glimpsed, so far as temple building goes, in _Northern_ Egypt, represented by that at Annu or Heliopolis, was a civilisation with a non-equinoctial solar worship, combined with the cult of a northern star.

2. Memphis (possibly also Saïs, Bubastis, Tanis and other cities with east and west walls) and the great pyramids were built by a new invading race, representing an advance in astronomical thought. The northern stars were worshipped possibly on the meridian, and a star rising in the east was worshipped at each equinox.

3. The subsequent blank in Egyptian history was associated with conflicts between these and other races, which were ended by the victory of the representatives of the old worship of Annu, reinforced from the south, as if north-star and south-star cults had combined against the equinoctial cult.

After these conflicts, east and west pyramid building practically ceased, Memphis takes second place, and Thebes, a southern Annu, so far as the form of solar worship and the cult of Sit are concerned, comes upon the scene as the seat of the twelfth dynasty.[103]

4. The subsequent historical events were largely due to conflicts with intruding races from the north-east. The intruders established themselves in cities with east and west walls, and were on each occasion driven out by solstitial solar worshippers who founded dynasties (eighteenth and twenty-fifth) at Thebes.

Some detailed remarks are necessary on several points connected with the above generalisation. I will take them _seriatim_.

We find at Memphis, Saïs, Bubastis, and Tanis, east and west walls which at once stamp those cities as differing in origin from Annu, Abydos and Thebes, where, as I have shown, the walls trend either north-west--south-east or north-east--south-west.

For Memphis, Saïs and Tanis the evidence is afforded by the maps of Lepsius. For Bubastis it depends upon the statement of Naville, that the walls run "nearly from east to west," and with the looseness too often associated with such statements, it is not said whether this bearing is true or magnetic.

Associated with these east and west walls there is, moreover, evidence of great antiquity. Bubastis, according to Naville,[104] has afforded traces of the date of Cheops and Chephren, and it is stated by Manetho to have existed as early as the second dynasty.

It is a matter of common knowledge that the pyramids in Egypt are generally oriented east and west.[105] Nor is this all; there has been a distinct evolution in their method of structure.

One of the oldest, if not the oldest pyramid known is the so-called "step-pyramid of Sakkarah." The steps are six in number, and vary in height from thirty-eight to twenty-nine feet, their width being about six feet. The dimensions are (352 north and south) × (390 east and west) × 197 feet. Some authorities think this pyramid was erected in the first dynasty by the fourth king (Nenephes of Manetho, Ata of the tablet of Abydos). The arrangement of chambers in this pyramid is quite special.

The claim to the highest antiquity of the step-pyramid is disputed by some in favour of the "false pyramid" of Mêdûm. It also is a genuine step-pyramid, 115 feet high; its outline, which conceals some of the steps, shows three stages, seventy, twenty, and twenty-five feet high; but in its internal structure it is really a step-pyramid of six stages.

This pyramid must, according to the important and conclusive researches of Professor Flinders Petrie,[106] be attributed to Seneferu, although De Rougé had furnished evidence to the contrary.[107] Seneferu was a king of the fourth dynasty.

We have at Dashûr the only remaining abnormal pyramid, called the blunted pyramid, for the reason that the inclination changes at about one-third of the height. This pyramid forms one of a group of four, two of stone, and, be it carefully borne in mind, two of brick; their dimensions are 700 × 700 × 326 feet; 620 × 620 × 321 feet; 350 × 350 × 90 feet; and 343 × 343 × 156 feet.

One of these pyramids was formerly supposed to have been built by Seneferu; if any of them had been erected by King Usertsen III. of the twelfth dynasty, as was formerly thought, the hypothesis we are considering would have been invalid.

Only after Seneferu, then, do we come to the normal Egyptian pyramid, the two largest at Gîzeh built by Cheops (Chufu) and Chephren (fourth dynasty) being, so far as is accurately known, the oldest of the series. (According to Mariette the date of Mena is 5004 B.C., and the fourth dynasty commenced in 4235.)

Associated with the cities with east and west walls and these pyramids are temples facing due east, fit, therefore, to receive the rays from a star on the equator or of the morning sun rising at an equinox.

According to Professor Flinders Petrie, at the pyramid of Mêdûm there is a small temple open to the west on the east side of the pyramid. At sunset at the equinox the sepulchral chamber and the sun were in line from the adytum. The priest faced a double Osiris.

Other pyramids were built at Sakkarah during the sixth dynasty, but it is remarkable that such a king as Pepi-Meri-Rā should not have imitated the majestic structures of the fourth dynasty. He is said to have built a pyramid at Sakkarah, but its obscurity is evidence that the pyramid idea was giving way, and it looks as if this dynasty were really on the side of the southern cult, for the authority of Memphis declined, and Abydos was preferred, while abroad Sinai was reconquered, and Ethiopia was kept in order.[108]

The sphinx (oriented true east) may possibly be ascribed to the earliest pyramid builders; it could only have been sculptured by a race with an equinoctial cult.

_The Buildings of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties._

We have next to consider what happened after the great gap in Egyptian history between the sixth and twelfth dynasties, 3500 B.C.--2851 B.C. (Mariette); from Nitocris to Amenemhāt I. We pass to the Middle Empire, and here we have merely to deal with the worships previously referred to in Northern Egypt.

Amenemhāt I. built no pyramids, he added no embellishments to Memphis; but he took Annu under his care, and now we first hear of Thebes.[109]

Usertsen I. built no pyramids, he added no embellishments to Memphis, but he also took Annu under his care, and added obelisks to the temples, one of which remains to this day. Further, he restored the temple of Osiris at Abydos, and added to the temple of Amen-Rā at Thebes.[110]

Surely it is very noteworthy that the first thing the kings of the twelfth dynasty did was to look after the only three temples in Egypt of which traces exist, which I have shown to have been oriented to the Sun _not_ at an equinox. It is right, however, to remark that there seems to have been a mild recrudescence of pyramid building towards the end of the twelfth dynasty, and immediately preceding the Hyksos period, whether as a precursor of that period or not.

Usertsen's views about his last home have come down to us in a writing by his scribe Mirri:--[111]

"Mon maître m'envoya en mission pour lui préparer une grande demeure éternelle. Les couloirs et la chambre intérieure étaient en maçonnerie, et renouvelaient les merveilles de construction des dieux. Il y eut en elle des colonnes sculptées, belles comme le ciel, un bassin creusé qui communiquait avec le Nil, des portes, des obélisques, une façade en pierre de Rouou."

There was nothing pyramidal about this idea, but one hundred and fifty years later we find Amenemhāt III. returning both to the gigantic irrigation works and the pyramid building of the earlier dynasties.

The scene of these labours was the Fayyûm, where, to crown the new work, two ornamental pyramids were built, surmounted by statues, and finally the king himself was buried in a pyramid near the Labyrinth.

_The Buildings of the Eighteenth Dynasty._

The blank in Egyptian history between the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties is known to have been associated with the intrusion of the so-called Hyksos. It is supposed these made their way into Egypt from the countries in and to the west of Mesopotamia; it is known that they settled in the cities with east and west walls. They were finally driven out by Aāhmes, the king of solstitial-solar Thebes, who began the eighteenth dynasty.

On page 338 I have shown what happened after the first great break in Egyptian history--a resuscitation of the solar worship at Annu, Abydos and Thebes.

I have next to show that precisely the same thing happened after the Hyksos period (Dyn. 13 (?) Mariette, 2233 Brugsch; Dyn. 18, 1703 B.C., Mariette, 1700 B.C. Brugsch) had disturbed history for some five hundred years.

It is known from the papyrus Sellier (G.C. 257) that Aāhmes, the first king of the eighteenth dynasty, who re-established the independence of Egypt, was in reality fighting the priests of Sutech in favour of the priests of Amen-Rā, the solstitial-solar god, a modern representative of Atmu of Annu.

Amen-Rā was the successor of Menthu. So close was the new worship to the oldest at Annu, that at the highest point of Theban power the third priest of Amen took the same titles as the Grand Priest of Annu, "who was the head of the first priesthood in Egypt." The "Grand Priest of Annu," who was also called the "Great Observer of Rā and Atmu," had the privilege of entering at all times into the _Hahenben_ or Naos. The priest Padouamen, whose mummy was found in 1891, bore these among his other titles.

The assumption of the title was not only to associate the Theban priesthood with their northern _confrères_, but surely to proclaim that the old Annu worship was completely restored.

_The Buildings of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty._

There was another invasion from Syria, which founded the twenty-second dynasty, and again the government is carried on in cities with east and west walls (Saïs, Tanis and Bubastis). The solstitial-solar priests of Thebes withdraw to Ethiopia. They return, however, in 700 B.C., drive out the Syrian invaders, and, under Shabaka and Taharqa, found a dynasty (the twenty-fifth) at Thebes, embellish the temples there, and at Philæ, Medînet-Habû, and Denderah.

_Conclusion._

We see, then, that every important change of cult was associated either with invasions from without or with some disturbance in Egypt itself, for in no other way can the gaps in Egyptian history be explained.

* * * * *

So far we have considered the equinoctial temples as opposed to the non-equinoctial ones in Northern Egypt. We have next to go farther afield, and include the southern temple worship and the possible influence of southern races even in the very earliest times.