26 



of the sun at those respective periods of the year, the beginning 

 of spring and summer. 



Nor were the ancients indiiferent as to the part of a sign in 

 which the solar disc was placed. Indeed the more ancient the 

 date of the monument, greater appears to have been the atten- 

 tion to the exact place of the equinox. In the oblong zodiac 

 of this temple of Dendera, there is the figure of the Bull with 

 the vernal equinox marked by the placing of the solar disc 

 upon his shoulder. This again declares the date of the ancient 

 zodiac, from which the circular and oblong zodiacs both 

 spring, to have been about three thousand years B.C. 



Amongst the monuments of other ancient nations we find 

 both the positions marked in a similar manner; as appears 

 especially in the hump-backed Indian Bull, an animal ac- 

 counted sacred, chiefly, I believe, on account of the hump 

 being placed where the solar disc is seen on the Denderian 

 Bull. Here also is the spot where the ancient constellation 

 of the Pleiades is situated. This therefore appears to have 

 been the place of the vernal equinox in the day of the patri- 

 arch Job, for it can only be in allusion to the delightful 

 approach of spring (certainly not in his case to any astrological 

 power which that constellation possessed), that God enquires 

 of him " Canst thou bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades.^' 

 The ball in front of a famous bronze in the British Museum, 

 is another remarkable instance of the same thing, from a very 

 different part of the world. It comes from China. You see 

 indeed upon the shoulder, only the lunar disc resting upon a 

 quaint Chinese cloud ; but in that disc there is a groove, cut 

 for the purpose of inserting the solar disc at certain seasons. 

 Many instances of the same or similar contrivances are found 

 in the ancient monuments, and the reason for it is both 

 singular and interesting. All the ancient nations, including 

 the Hebrews, began their year with the new moon ; the first 

 new moon after the vernal equinox was the feast of the new 

 year. This coincided with the beginning of the solar year, but 



