Again, inscribed in the kings' graves at Thebes we read:
"The four Northern Genii are the four gods of the follower [some constellation]. They keep back the conflict of the terrible one [Typhon]. He is a great quarreller. They trim the foresail and look after the mizen in the bark of Rā, in company with the sailors, who are the four constellations[41] [aχemu-sek], which are found in the northern heavens. The constellation of the Thigh appears at the late rising. When this constellation is in the middle of the heavens, having come to the south, where Orion lies [Orion typifying the southern part of the skies], the other stars are wending their way to the western horizon. Regarding the Thigh; it is the Thigh of Set, so long as it is seen in the northern heavens there is a band [of stars?] to the two [sword handles?] in the shape of a great bronze chain. It is the place of Isis in the shape of a Hippopotamus to guard."
In the square zodiac at Denderah we find an illustration of the Hippopotamus and the Thigh, and the chain referred to in the inscription is there also. It will be quite worth while to see whether this chain is not justified by some line of stars between the chief stars in Draco and those in the Great Bear.
Let us now turn to the associated mythology. We see that the astronomical ideas have a most definite character; we learn also from the inscriptions dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty, that the Egyptians at that time recognised three different risings. There was the rising at sunset, the rising at midnight, and the rising at dawn. Plutarch says that the Hippopotamus was certainly one of the forms of Typhon, and a reference to the myth of Horus, so beautifully told twenty years ago and illustrated by Naville by the help of inscriptions at Edfû, will show how important this identification is.
Naville rightly pointed out how vital the study of mythology becomes with regard to the advancement of any kind of knowledge of the thoughts and actions of the ancient Egyptians. Mythology, as Bunsen said, is one of the poles of the existence of every nation; hence it will be well not to neglect the opportunity thus afforded of studying the astronomical basis of one of the best-known myths.
First a word about the mythology of Horus. Generally we begin with the statement usually made that Horus meant the young (or rising) sun. But inquiry shows that Horus was something more than this; the Egyptians were great generalisers.
If we put the facts already known into diagrammatic form, we find that the condition of things is something like the following:—
HORUS = Sun, Planet, or Constellation Rising.
| Sun. | Planets. | Constellations. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horus | Mars as | Orion | Northern constellations |
| Hor-χuti | Sah-Horus | Set-Horus. | |
| (Laughing Horus) | |||
| (Red Horus) |
The table shows that, although the Egyptians undoubtedly called the rising sun Horus, the planets and constellations when rising were in certain cases called Horus too. We do not get any individual star rising referred to as Horus; they were always considered as goddesses. Hence, Horus seems to include constellations—that is, groups of stars rising—but not single stars.