I merely point out here what I shall discuss more fully later on, that, in the Egyptian An, “he who turns himself around,” we have the counterpart, not only of the Assyrian An-shar (fig. [65], 5) who shoots his darts in all directions, but also of the “North god” of the ancient Mexicans, who, fully armed is held by one foot, by the sign of the North, to the centre of the cross, the symbol of the Four Quarters, and like the Akkadian “lord of heaven,” Akanna, is identified with Ursa Major.
I note, moreover, that, whereas the common name for hawk is bak, that employed by Brugsch is hru (cf. inversion ur=the Egyptian name for cross symbol) which is sometimes transcribed as hur, her or heru, hor or har=and translated as Horus or Ra Harmachis. An interesting image of the hawk god is found in another inscription in the temple of Denderah containing the group (pl. [V], 6) consisting of a single star, the bull and hawk, transcribed by Brugsch as “Hru-Ka” and translated as “the bull (of) Horus” (op. cit. i, p. 7). Another interesting case of the combination of the bull and hawk is the hawk with a bull's head also figured by Brugsch, and which is obviously a variant of “hru-ka.” A curious instance which seems to contain a reversal of these syllables is the bull, repeated in inverted positions, with the cross-sign=ur, a group which might well have been employed as a rebus expressing the sound ur-ak-ka, a combination which I shall discuss further on.
The identity of Horus as a form of Polaris is hinted at in the following inscription in the temple at Denderah (pl. [v], 10) which Brugsch translates: “Ra Horchuti (=hur-chuti) the shining Horus, the ray of light in the night” ... (op. cit. i, p. 16). The “god” is figured in mummy form, holding the sceptre tam (cf. mat=justice, truth) and the sign ankh (life), with the head of a hawk=bak or hru (cf. ur=four, and head=tep or tepet, also name for “chief”), the head conveying idea of four-fold chieftainship, surmounted by the horns=ap and circle or disk=ra.
Figure 65.
An extremely suggestive astronomical picture (pl. [v], 13) contains [pg 403] the combination of Horus, the An, in the form of the human-headed hawk, with a serpent Na, the boat (uaa, am or makhen) and the circle enclosing a single star, duat (cf. ua=one). The complete group thus conveys a wealth of hidden meaning which is perfectly intelligible when interpreted as pole-star symbolism.
The reader is now invited to take a preliminary look at the columns of signs included in figs. [66], [67], [68], some of which will be recognized as primitive pole-star symbols already discussed, and which will respectively be found to contain homonyms of ua=One and uahi=permanent; ak and kabal=centre, ka=double, an=he who turns and ankh=life, etc. Special attention is also drawn to the modes of expressing the syllable am by the homonyms boy or child, boat and tree (fig. [63], 20-22).
Different combinations of identical phonetic elements are found in the following groups which prove to be but different ingenious figures expressing the same sounds, with more or less the same meanings: pl. [v], 15, represents the boat, whose phonetic values are given above, with a flower=ankh, the homonym of life, containing the names an and na, from which the uræus=ara, is rising. Later on the deeper symbolism of this and fig. [12], pl. [v], will be further discussed. In the latter, instead of the flower the boat contains the ara and a boy=ah or aah, whose name is the homonym for great, mighty, powerful, etc. Assuming that the boat expressed its particular name uaa=ua=one, we thus have a rendering of the appellation so constantly given to Amen-Ra in the hymns and invocations: “One, great, powerful, mighty god,” accompanied by a whole series of secondary meaning and symbolism. In pl. [v], 9, the boat containing the bull or cow, is accompanied by stars which reproduce Ursa Major exactly, minus one star, the head of the animal occupying the centre of the four stars forming the inverted square of “the dipper.” In this case the boat seems to express its name makhen, incorporating ak, the name for the sacred centre of the sky, which is repeated in the name ka=bull, whose image, like that of the boat, conveys the allusion to ua=one, by their respective double names, aua and uaa.
What appears to me to contain the most convincing proof of the identity of Amen-Ra with Polaris is 11, pl. [v], which shows us a boat in which lies a mummy, above which is a row of seven stars under an oval, containing two eyes. The oval ring is evidently the image of Amen-Ra, who united in his person the dual principles [pg 404] of nature symbolized by sun and moon=his “two eyes.” The symbolism of the boat and mummy has already been sufficiently discussed to enable the reader to discern its association with the idea of oneness, of stability and centrality. Further light is thrown upon the connection of the two eyes with the sacred centre by pl. [v], 14, from the Book of the Dead, where the chosen place of sepulchre for the dead person, mentioned in the text, is the temple pyramid, the apex of which is rendered prominent by being painted black and suggestively occupies a central position between two eyes. After the periods of Greek rule in Egypt, the point of the pyramid must have been associated with the Greek words, akra=hill-top and aku=point, which recurs in the Latin name acacia, by which the thorny tree, originally found in Egypt, is still known. It can readily be seen how this tree would have been chosen as a symbol of the ak=middle and it is possible that its name may originally have been that also given to the olive tree=bak. The inscription on the famous obelisks erected by queen Hat-shepsut contains a special mention of the point of the obelisk, as being made of precious material: “two great obelisks of hard granite of the south, the point of each is of electrum, the tribute of the best quality of all countries” (Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, Vol. ii, p. 86).