Chapter XXX., the oldest foundations in Egypt yet traced are to

southern stars. They are limited to Upper Egypt, and date from before 6000 B.C.

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 3500 B.C.

IV. The south star temples to Phact at the summer solstice, and α Centauri at the autumnal equinox, begin about 3700 B.C.

V. γ Draconis replaces α Ursæ Majoris at Denderah; north-star temples are for the first time erected in the south at Karnak and Dakkeh in 3500 B.C.

VI. For the first time about 3200 B.C., north-and south-star temples are built simultaneously.

VII. After this the building activity is chiefly limited to temples to southern stars.

If we take Brugsch's dates, we find that the foundations of the greatest number of temples were laid about the time of Seneferu, Pepi, and the twelfth dynasty. The more modern kings founded few temples--their functions were those of expanding, restoring, and _annexing_. Even Thothmes III. seems to have laid no new foundations except perhaps that of the Ptah temple at Karnak, and that is doubtful.

The wonderful Hall of Columns called Khu-mennu (Splendid Memorial), in the temple of Amen-Rā, was dedicated by Thothmes III. not only to Amen-Rā, but to his ancestors. It is important to see who these were in the present connection. I give them with approximate dates.[128]

Brugsch. Mariette. B.C. B.C. Seneferu, fourth dynasty 3766 4235 Assa, fifth dynasty 3366 3951 Pepi, sixth dynasty 3233 3703 The Antefs, eleventh dynasty 2500 3064 The most famous sovereigns of the twelfth dynasty 2433-2300 2851 Thirty princes of the thirteenth dynasty 2233 (?)

It is interesting to note that in this list the builders of the great pyramids at Gîzeh, and all the kings who in the last chapter were suggested as being given to equinoctial worship, are passed over without notice. It would appear, then, that the ancestors named were of southern origin, precursors of Thothmes in cult as well as in time.

Of these ancestors, the first--if Brugsch's dates can be taken, which, I think, is doubtful--limited himself to southern temples; the majority of temples built near Pepi's time were oriented to the south. The twelfth dynasty was more catholic.

The more we inquire, the more interesting does this inquiry into the north-star temples as opposed to the south-star temples become. These considerations are not limited to the temples--they apply also to pyramids. At Gîzeh we find both temples and pyramids oriented east and west. At Gebel Barkal, Nuri, and Meroë, in Upper Egypt, we find both temples and pyramids facing south-east, and at the first of these places, where both exist together, we find well-marked groups of pyramids connected by their orientations with each temple. I can, however, find no information as to the probable dates of these pyramids; in the absence of facts, it seems fair to assume that they follow the dates of the temples which agree in orientation.

In the following tables I give the values for Nuri, Meroë, and Gebel Barkal; a west variation of 8½° has been assumed.

NURI.[129]

─────────────────────────┬─────────────┬───────────────┬──────── │ Magnetic │ Astronomical │ Cult. │ Azimuth. │ Amplitude. │ Decl. ─────────────────────────┼─────────────┼───────────────┼──────── │ ° │ ° │ ° Pyramids 10, 11, 12 │ N. 136 E. │ 37½ S. of E. │ S. 35¼ Pyramids 1, 4 │ N. 137¼ E. │ 38¾ S. of E. │ S. 36¼ Pyramids 13, 14, 15 │ N. 139 E. │ 40½ S. of E. │ S. 38 │ │ │ Pyramids 2, 3, 16, 17 │ N. 145½ E. │ 47 S. of E. │ S. 43¾ Pyramids 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 │ N. 146½ E. │ 48 S. of E. │ S. 44¾ ─────────────────────────┴─────────────┴───────────────┴────────

MEROË.[130]

──────────────────────────┬────────────┬───────────────┬──────── │ Magnetic │ Astronomical │ Cult. │ Azimuth. │ Amplitude. │ Decl. ──────────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────┼──────── │ ° │ ° │ ° Pyramid 16 │ N. 102 E. │ 3½ S. of E. │ S. 3¼ Pyramid 20 │ N. 103 E. │ 4½ S. of E. │ S. 4¼ │ │ │ Temple near Watercourse │ N. 112 E. │ 13½ S. of E. │ S. 12¾ Pyramid 15 │ N. 112 E. │ 13½ S. of E. │ S. 12¾ Pyramids 14, 37 │ N. 113 E. │ 14½ S. of E. │ S. 13¾ │ │ │ Pyramid 10 │ N. 116 E. │ 17½ S. of E. │ S. 16¾ Pyramid 39 │ N. 118 E. │ 19½ S. of E. │ S. 18¾ │ │ │ Pyramid 19 │ N. 83 E. │ 15½ N. of E. │ N. 14¾ ──────────────────────────┴────────────┴───────────────┴────────

GEBEL BARKAL.[131]

──────────────────────────┬────────────┬───────────────┬──────── │ Magnetic │ Astronomical │ Cult. │ Azimuth. │ Amplitude. │ Decl. ──────────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────┼──────── │ ° │ ° │ ° Temple E │ N. 132 E. │ 33½ S. of E. │ S. 31½ Pyramid 18 │ N. 132½ E. │ 34 S. of E. │ S. 32 │ │ │ Temple L │ N. 136½ E. │ 38 S. of E. │ S. 35½ Pyramids 9, 13 │ N. 136 E. │ 37½ S. of E. │ S. 35¼ Pyramid 11 │ N. 140 E. │ 41½ S. of E. │ S. 39 Pyramids 1, 2 │ N. 141 E. │ 40½ S. of E. │ S. 39¾ │ │ │ Temples J and H │ N. 146 E. │ 47½ S. of E. │ S. 44¼ Pyramid 20 │ N. 146 E. │ 47½ S. of E. │ S. 44¼ Pyramids 2, 15, 16, 17 │ N. 147 E. │ 48½ S. of E. │ S. 45¼ │ │ │ Temple B │ N. 152 E. │ 53½ S. of E. │ S. 49¾ Pyramids 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 │ N. 153 E. │ 54½ S. of E. │ S. 50½ Pyramid 19 │ N. 156 E. │ 57½ S. of E. │ S. 53 ──────────────────────────┴────────────┴───────────────┴────────

It seems quite justifiable from the above facts to conclude that the pyramids and temples oriented S.E. and, as I hold, to α Centauri when it heralded the autumnal equinox, were not built by people having the same astronomical ideas, worships, and mythology as those who built at Gîzeh due E. and W., and marked the autumnal equinox by the heliacal rising of Antares.[132] The only thing in common was noting an equinox, and so far as this goes we may infer that neither people dwelt originally in the Nile Valley, but came by devious ways from a country or countries where the equinoxes had been made out.