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

by Sir Norman Lockyer

The Egyptians did not usually employ meridian observations. Did the Egyptians make star maps? They certainly did, as we shall see.

The first bit of solid information specially bearing upon ancient Egyptian constellations was gained at the temple of Denderah, a place which the traveller up the Nile reaches before he arrives so far as Thebes. Perhaps among the reasons why so great attention was given to the so-called zodiacs of Denderah was the fact that one of them, having been rudely wrenched from its resting-place in the platform of one of the temples, had been carried to the museum in Paris, so that the thing itself was en évidence and capable of being examined by experts whose opinions were of value, and by all the world besides.

The chief temple, when explored by the French expedition, was deeply buried in the sand. In the front part of it, covering the ceiling, before one enters the temple itself, there is displayed the square zodiac, so called, to which I shall have to refer briefly. The temple was pointed within a few degrees of north; at the north-east corner of the zodiac is a device, since found to represent the sunlight falling upon a statue of the Goddess of the Shrine. Investigations have shown that the zodiac includes a reference to a great many celestial phenomena of the utmost importance. There is no difficulty in recognising some of the zodiacal signs, but there the resemblance to the modern zodiac ends, for the reason that each of the strange processions of mythological personages represents not only constellations, with some of which we may be familiar, but a great deal more. It is noteworthy that the illustration of the very first astronomical point which we have to consider brings out the fact that it is impossible to disconnect Egyptian mythology from astronomy.

In the southern half of the zodiac, the lower part is occupied by stars represented in the guise of different mythological personages, sailing along in boats; and above them we get half of the zodiac with the signs of the Fish, the Ram, the Bull and the Twins represented. In the middle section the sun's course in different parts of the day, and different parts of the year, is given: whilst, outermost of all, we get the twelve solar positions, occupied by the sun each hour from rising to setting, represented by twelve boats. It may be here mentioned that in ancient Egypt, as in the modern Eastern world, both day and night always consisted of twelve hours; unequal, of course, the length of the hours varying according to the time of the year.

NORTHERN HALF OF THE SO-CALLED SQUARE ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.

Now, if we take the opposite side, that is the north-west corner, we find that we have to do chiefly with the opposite part of the sky, including the signs of the Lion, the Scales, and Sagittarius, and below them other stars are represented as mythological personages in boats. The courses of the sun and moon are next given, and some of the lunar mythology is revealed to us. We see Osiris represented by the moon, and by an eye at the top of fourteen steps, which symbolise the fourteen days of the waxing moon.

In the square zodiac, then, there is an immense amount of astronomy. In the round zodiac, found in another temple (see p. 18), there are some points which at once claim our attention. There is, first, a mythological figure of a cow in a boat, and, near it, another mythological figure, which the subsequent reading of inscriptions has proved to represent the constellation Orion. In the centre of the zodiac we have a jackal, and there is very little doubt that it represents the constellation which we now call the Little Bear, which then, as now, was near the pole. Not far away, we get the leg of an animal; this, we now know, was a constellation called the Thigh, and there seems to be absolutely no question that it represents the constellation which we now call the Great Bear. Again, close by is another mythological form, which we know represents the Hippopotamus. This was made up out of some of the group of stars which forms the present constellation Draco. There are also two hieroglyphs which subsequent research has proved to represent setting stars and rising stars, so that, whatever may have been the date of this round zodiac of Denderah, it is clear that we are dealing with a time when the stars had been classed in constellations, one of which, the constellation Orion, even survives to our own day.

It is little to be wondered at that, when these revelations first burst upon the scientific world, great excitement was produced. It was obvious that we had to do with a nation which had very definite ideas of astronomy, and that the astronomy was very closely connected with worship. It was also certainly suggested by so many animal forms, that we had to do with a people whose condition was not unlike that of the American Indians—to take a well-known instance—at the beginning of this century, one in which each tribe, or clan, had chosen a special animal totem.

It so happened that, while these things were revealing themselves, the discussions concerning them, which took place among the scientific world of France, were partly influenced by the writings of a man of very brilliant imagination and of great erudition. I refer to Dupuis, according to whose views an almost fabulous antiquity might be assigned to ancient traditions in general and astronomical traditions in particular. It is needless to say, however, that there were others to take the extreme opposite view—who held the opinion that his imagination had run away with his learning.