α Centauri.
| Place and Temple. | Amp. | Sea Horizon. | Hills 1° High. | Hills 2° High. | Remarks. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. of E. | Dec. S. | Years. | Dec. S. | Years. | Dec. S. | Years. | ||
| Barkal E | 33½° | 31¾° | 3825 | 31¼° | 3700 | 30¾° | 3800 | |
| Kûrnah (Seti I.) | 35½° | 31¾° | 3625 | 31¼° | 3700 | 30¾° | 3800 | Hills low. |
| Kûrnah (Palace) | 36° | 32¼° | 3500 | 31¾° | 3625 | 31° | 3750 | Hills low. |
| Wady Halfa (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° | 2700 | Hills low. |
| Kom Ombo (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 Chapter XX., divide into two series, dealing with α Ursæ Majoris before 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.
| Place and Temple. | Amp. | Sea Horizon. | Hills 1° High. | Hills 2° High. | Remarks. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. of E. | Dec. S. | Years. | Dec. S. | Years. | Dec. S. | Years. | ||
| Annu | 77° | 57° | 5200 | 58° | 5050 | 59° | 4900 | Hills low. |
| Denderah | 71½° | 57¾° | 5100 | 58¾° | 4950 | 59¾° | 4800 | Hills 2° high.l |
| Denderah | 78° | 60¾° | 4600 | 62° | 4400 | 63° | 4200 | " |
The second series, dealing with γ Draconis, is naturally much fuller.