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

by Sir Norman Lockyer

I have already pointed out that the possible temple of Osiris at the pyramids points to the westward, but our special reference now is to stars. When we come to look for this mummy-symbolism among the gods other than sun-gods (it is entirely and remarkably absent among the goddesses), we find Khons, Ptah, and Khem pictured as mummies; that is, they become a sort of Osiris. Supposing that these gods were worshipped, there would probably be temples dedicated to them; still, the absence of such temples would not be decisive, since they might have been destroyed. However, very fortunately for this inquiry, there are two temples still extant at Thebes, known as the temples of Khons and Ptah. If there is anything, then, in the idea that there must be some relation with the western horizon in the case of these gods represented as mummies, these temples should point to the west. They do point to the west.

Very fortunately, also, these temples have a pretty good history: that is, one knows, within some hundreds of years at all events, when they were founded. Therefore, by help of those astronomical methods to which I have previously referred, it is not difficult to get at the stars. They turn out to be a southern star—Canopus—in the case of the temple of Khons, and Capella in the case of the temple of Ptah. Now, there is another very important temple at Thebes, it is a temple without a name, at right angles to the temple of Mut. This also points to the west. Although the evidence is not complete, it clearly suggests that this temple was dedicated to the god Min or Khem, and was oriented to the star Spica; so that at Thebes alone it looks as if the three gods represented by mummies—different stellar forms of Osiris—Khons, Ptah and Min, have all been run to earth in the three stars Canopus, Capella, and Spica.

Provisionally, we way hazard the assertion that the mummy form marks a setting star, as the horns and disk mark a rising one. We get the antithesis between Osiris and Isis.

ISIS, OSIRIS AND HORUS.

We gather, then, that the wonderful old-world myth of Isis and Osiris is astronomical from beginning to end, although Osiris in this case is not the sun, but the moon. But I have not yet finished with the mummy form; the waning moon is also Osiris. It is supposed to be dying from the time of full moon to new moon. The Egyptians in their mythology were nothing if not consistent; the moon was called Osiris from the moment it began to wane, as the sun was Osiris so soon as it began to set. A constellation paling at sunrise was also Osiris.

A "CHANGE OF CULT" AT LUXOR.

I have previously noted the symbolism of Sirius-Hathor as a cow in a boat associated with the constellation of Orion. There is a point connected with this which I did not then refer to, but which is of extreme importance for a complete discussion of the question now occupying us. We get associated with the cow in the boat, Orion (Sah) as Horus, but in other inscriptions we get Orion as a mummy—that is to say, in the course of Egyptian history the same constellation is symbolised as a rising sun at one time and a setting sun at another. Now, that must have been so if the Egyptian mythology were consistent and rested on an astronomical basis, because Sah rose in the dawn in one case and faded at dawn in the other. From the table giving a generalised statement with regard to Osiris, similar to that we have already considered for Isis, it looks as if the mythology connected with Osiris is simply the mythology connected with any celestial body becoming invisible. We have the sun setting, the moon waning, a planet setting, stars setting, constellations fading at dawn. We see, therefore, that the Egyptian mythology was absolutely and completely consistent with the astronomical conditions by which they were surrounded; that, although it is wonderfully poetical, in no case is the poetry allowed to interfere with the strictest and most accurate reference to the astronomical phenomena which had to be dealt with.

The argument, then, for the use of Isis as a generic name is greatly strengthened by the similar way in which the term Osiris, which is acknowledged to be a generic name, is employed.