456 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 39 



stars may have been grouped quite dijfferently, but seemingly the 

 same principle of association obtained, by which times of the year 

 could be plotted in the sky. We know that many constellations 

 of the Egyptians were sufficiently distinct from those of the Baby- 

 lonians and the Greeks. Yet the fact that dwellers on the Nile con- 

 nected the bright star Sirius, which they called Sothis, with the 

 flood stage of that great river shows clearly enough that they, too, 

 naively considered the sidereal and tropical years to be one and the 

 same. Also, I think, it is not impossible that Hathor and Sekhmet, 

 anthropomorphic cow and lioness wearing the sun disk on their 

 heads, may once have had some connection with the vernal equinox 

 and the summer solstice paralleling the Bull and Lion signs of 

 Mesopotamia. Sekhmet was goddess of devouring desert heat, and 

 when would that be worse than under the high sun? Wainwright 

 gives evidence to the effect that Heliopolis was originally a center 

 of solar worship identified with a Pillar of the Bull. The pillar 

 in solar symbolism refers, I believe, to a column used to test and 

 measure shadows. At the equinoxes morning and evening shadows 

 make a straight line, at the solstices noontime shadows are shortest 

 or longest of any during the year. 



The recognition of the sidereal year as a practical concomitant 

 of the tropical year was common before the effort to balance the 

 movements of moon and sun in compromising luni-solar calendars. 

 The star cluster Hyades was so named by the Greeks because it 

 appeared at the rainy season. They also paid their respects to the 

 Pleiades because these stars rose with the sun at the planting season 

 and set with the sun at harvest time in the northern hemisphere, 

 whereas in south Africa where the seasons are reversed the Pleiades 

 are known as the Ice Maidens. Historically early and culturally 

 primitive evidence supports the conclusion that the sun's movements 

 were correlated, first of all, with constellations taking the forms 

 of animal gods. This, in itself, is not enough to constitute sun 

 worship. 



THE SUN AS DYNASTIC FATHER 



The earliest high civilizations of the world were theocratic; in 

 other words the kings operated as the spokesmen of divinity. A 

 shamanistic origin for such great power is indicated, for the shaman 

 gains prestige through magic, and magic has a stronger hold on 

 the imagination of men than mere physical prowess or the advantages 

 of wealth or the respect due a patriarch. 



Anthropomorphic gods and divine kings are pretty closely linked 

 at different stages in their historical development. During the 

 nomadic hunting, fishing, and root-gathering stage the gods, if you 

 will, are generally animals and birds — natural creatures who can 



