But it may be suggested that the word āk, used in relation to the king's observation, more probably referred to the brightest star, Dubhe (α Ursæ Majoris) in the asterism, or the "middle point" of the constellation, which would be about represented by the star δ, which lies nearly in the centre of the modern constellation of the Great Bear, supposing, indeed, that the same stars were included in the old constellation. On this point we unfortunately have no definite knowledge, as the Thigh is so variously represented; sometimes there is a hind-quarter, represented evidently by the well-known seven stars; at others the body of a cow (with horns and disk) is attached.
However this may be, without such a reference to some particular part of the constellation it is obvious that the stretched cord may have had a most indeterminate direction.
In order to leave no stone unturned in attempting to explain this description—supposing it to represent an undoubted fact of observation—we may consider another possible interpretation of the word āk. The amplitude of the temple being 71½° N. of E., shows conclusively that we cannot be dealing with the meridian, but may we be dealing with the most eastern elongation of the star in its journey round the Pole?
I have inquired into this matter for the time of the last building of the temple in the time of the Ptolemies, and find that the amplitude of the temple, instead of being 71½°, would have been about 70°. It seems probable, then, that this interpretation will not hold, and it may be further stated that, in the case of a star at a considerable angle above the horizon, the stretching of a cord in the building ceremonial—the "Ausspannung der Strickes," as the words put-ser are translated by Dümichen—would really have been no stretching of the cord at all; for the star being many degrees above the horizon, another method must have been employed, and in all probability would have been distinctly referred to in the careful statements of the ceremonies which exist, I think, then, that we are perhaps justified in dismissing this possible explanation, especially as rising stars are referred to.
We now come to considerations of a different order. The inscription which we have quoted is put into the mouth of the Emperor Augustus, though he never was at Denderah.
This suggests that the temple built in the time of Augustus carried forward the account of the old foundation. There is evidence of this. The constellation of the Thigh neither rose nor set in the time of Augustus—it was circumpolar. The same statement may be made regarding the restoration in the time of Thothmes III. So we are driven to the conclusion that if we regard the inscription as true, it must refer to a time preceding the reign of Thothmes. I shall return to this subject in a subsequent chapter.
THE ALIGNMENT OF THE TEMPLE OF EDFÛ.
A reference to the same constellation (the Thigh) is also made in the account of the ceremonial used at the laying of the foundation-stone of the temple at Edfû. The king's glance was directed—in the case of the building of that temple—to the Thigh, but no precise reference to any star or to any point āk is given.
As before, I give the full translation of the inscription,[47] remarking that the last restoration was made B.C. 237-57. The king is represented as speaking thus:—"I have grasped the wooden peg and the handle of the club; I hold the rope with Sesheta; my glance follows the course of the stars; my eye is on Mesχet [that is, the 'Bull's Thigh constellation,' or Great Bear]; (mine the part of time of the number of the hour-clock); I establish the corners of thy house of God." And in another place:—"I have grasped the wooden peg; I hold the handle of the club; I grasp the cord with Sesheta; I cast my face towards the course of the rising constellations; I let my glance enter the constellation of the Great Bear (the part of my time stands in the place of his hour-clock); I establish the four corners of thy temple." The translation is Brugsch's. The phrases in parentheses are interpreted differently by Dümichen, who translates them:—"Standing as divider of time by his measuring instrument," or "representing the divider of time (i.e. the god Thoth) at his measuring instrument." The word merech or merchet, in which Brugsch suspects hour-or water-clock, does not occur elsewhere.
In this case, seeing that the temple lies with its axis very nearly north and south, as I determined by my own (magnetic) observations, the stretching of the cord was certainly in or very near the meridian; and it may be remarked that in the Naos there is an opening in the roof, over the side of the second or third door from the sanctuary, and inclined at an angle of 40° (unlike any other opening that I have seen in the roof of any Egyptian temple), which may have been used to observe the transit of some particular star. The angle I was not able to determine with absolute accuracy, as the vertical circle of the theodolite I had with me was out of adjustment.