Ml ZODIAC 



fall oear the centre, precisely on the figure of an animal resembling a 

 dog or wolf, probably the Cynoeura of the Greeks ; and those of Orion 

 on the figure of a man, apparently intended for Horus, the son of 

 Oiiru, to whom, according to Plutarch (' De Iside et Otiride '), Orion 

 was consecrated. 



Several indications exist in the planisphere of an intentional dis- 

 placement of the figures designating the constellations. In some cases, 

 apparently when a constellation could not be conveniently introduced 

 in its proper place for want of room, it has been transferred to the 

 margin in the direction of a line drawn from the centre through the 

 true place of the constellation. In other cases a constellation appears 

 to be removed and a hieroglyphic figure substituted for it. Thus a 

 line drawn from the centre of the planisphere, through Taurus, leads 

 near the margin, to a group of seven stars, which probably designate 

 the Pleiades ; and near it is another group, which may represent the 

 Hyades. Again, between Aries and Pisces, and a little above them, is 

 an niml in a sitting posture, which is found to coincide with the 

 computed places of the stars in Cassiopeia ; and near the margin of 

 the planisphere in a line drawn through the centre and this animal, 

 there is a human figure seated in a chair, as Cassiopeia is always 

 represented. In a few case* some emblem of a constellation is found at 

 the margin opposite the figure denoting the constellation : thus the 

 head of a rani surmounted by a winged globe is in the direction of a 

 line drawn from the centre through the front of Aries in the zodiacal 

 ring. A great figure, which is supposed to represent a hippopotamus, 

 is situated near the centre of the planisphere in a place corresponding 

 to a part of the heaveus very near Ursa Major, but where there are no 

 remarkable stars ; and M. Biot conjectures that the animal may be an 

 emblem of that constellation : he conceives that it may indicate Typhon, 

 who, according to Plutarch (' De Iside '), is represented by a hippo- 

 potamus, and to whom Ursa Major is assigned. That the ancient 

 Egyptians had a constellation which was designated by this name is 

 stated by Plutarch and by Diodorus Siculus (i. 27) ; the latter has 

 given translations of two inscriptions in hieroglyphics, which appear to 

 have existed in his time ; and in one of these Osiris is made to say 

 that he had been to the uninhabited parts of India, to the regions of 

 the Bear, and to the sources of the Istcr (Danube). 



In the direction of a line drawn from the centre of the planisphere, 

 towards the north, and passing through the figure of Cancer, is the 

 representation of a cow having a great star between its horns ; and 

 near it, in the direction of a line coinciding with the longitudinal axis 

 of the temple, is a tall lotus-stem surmounted by a hawk, the symbol 

 of deity. On this stem the place of Sirius, computed for the epoch of 

 the planisphere, is found to fall ; and the cow probably represents Isis, 

 to whom the star Sirius was consecrated. The solsticial colure being 

 due north and south, it is probable that the planisphere was intended 

 to show the aspect of the heavens at the time of the vernal equinox, 

 when the colures pass through the four cardinal points of the horizon ; 

 and the line passing through Cancer and the cow being in the plane of 

 the solsticial colure is an indication that at midsummer, at the epoch 

 of the planisphere, Sirius rose with the stars of Cancer. The line 

 representing the direction of the equinoctial colure passes, on the 

 eastern side, between two symbolical figures of men, a little way from 

 which is a small figure (supposed to* be Harpocrates) issuing from a 

 lotus-flower, and having above his head a star with a hieroglyphical 

 inscription. According to Plutarch (' De Iside ') the Egyptians repre- 

 sented the rising sun by a child issuing from a lotus ; and hence it is 

 inferred that the symbols indicate the rising of the sun in the east point 

 of the horizon on the day of the vernal equinox. 



The heads of all the figures, with scarcely an exception, tend towards 

 the centre of the planisphere, and the figures in the southern half of 

 the zodiac are arranged so that, to a spectator standing in the centre of 

 the room with his face to the south, and looking upwards, they must 

 have appeared as if moving from east to west ; that is in the direction 

 of the apparent diurnal motion of the heavens. The longer axis of the 

 temple is inclined to the meridian in an angle of about 17 degrees, and 

 the walls are directed so that the points at which the remarkable stars 

 Sirius and Antares must have seemed to rise coincided with the 

 directions of the north and south ends of the building. A temple near 

 Esne (Latopolis), in the portico of which is a representation of the 

 zodiacal signs, is disposed so that the longitudinal walls tend to the 

 points at which Antares and Sirius set ; and though no great stress 

 ought to be laid upon this circumstance, there is some probability 

 that the dispositions may have been intentional, since no reason can be 

 assigned why, otherwise, the temples should not, like the pyramids, 

 have bad their walls directed to the cardinal points of the horizon. 

 The golden circle of Osymandyas, which is mentioned by Diodorus 

 Siculus (i. 49) as being placed in the tomb of that ancient king at 

 Thebes, waa 365 cubits in circumference, and to each cubit was 

 assigned one of the 365 days of the year, with the risings and settings 

 of the stars for each day marked on the several divisions. 



The ceiling of the portico belonging to the temple at Denderah is' 

 nearly covered with sculptured figures, many of which resemble those 

 in the circular planisphere, and the twelve signs of the zodiac are 

 distinctly represented in two bands parallel to the axis of the building : 

 six of the figures appear to be entering the temple on the eastern side 

 of the portico, and of these Cancer is the last ; the other six, of which 

 the lint it Leo, appear to be quitting it on the \\c.-ui n side, so that 



ZODIAC. 



lns 



(the front of the portico being towards the north) the direction of their 

 motion corresponds to that of the apparent diurnal rotation. Within 

 the two lines of figures are those which belong to the northern con- 

 stellations, and beyond them, near the eastern and western extremities 

 of the portico, are figures relating to the southern constellations. 

 Among the former is a human figure surrounded by seven stars, 

 disposed similarly to .those of Ursa Major in the heavens, and near 

 them it a lotus-stem surmounted by a hawk, like that which in the 

 circular planisphere is in the place of Sirius : this emblem in the 

 planisphere of the portico is therefore supposed to be an indication of 

 Sirius ; and the opinion is confirmed by the fact that it is preceded by 

 a cow (Isis) and a great hieroglyphical inscription. 



In the planisphere of the portico, as well as in that of the temple, 

 the figure supposed to be that of Cancer is placed on one side of the 

 position which it should occupy among the zodiacal constellations ; 

 and this circumstance has given rise to a doubt concerning the justness 

 of that supposition. Some persons have imagined that the figure might 

 have been intended for the mythological scarabeus ; but as in this 

 temple, as well as in those at Esne, it has eight feet, while the scarabeus 

 has but six, it is more probable that it represents the zodiacal sign ; 

 and that, agreeably to the hypothesis of Biot, the displacement waa in 

 order to make room for some emblem. In fact, the place of Cancer is, 

 in the portico, occupied by a head of Isis, which is plunged in the 

 solar rays; and, since Sirius was consecrated to Isis, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that the emblem was intended to express that, at the epoch of 

 the planispheres, the star Sirius rose heliacally. By calculation it is 

 ascertained that about 700 years before Christ, in the latitude of 

 Denderah, Sirius rose with the star of Cancer when the sun was in that 

 constellation, that is, at the summer solstice. 



The two temples at Esne have, in the ceilings of their porticoes, 

 representations of the twelve zodiacal constellations in two lines pai.ille] 

 to the axes of the buildings. In the smaller temple six of the figures 

 appear to be entering on the southern side, and six to be issuing on the 

 northern side : the front of the portico being towards the east, the 

 direction of their movement corresponds, consequently, to that of the 

 diurnal rotation, as in the temple at Denderah ; but there is this differ- 

 ence in the division of the figures, that at Esne, Leo is the last to 

 enter, and Virgo the first to quit the temple. M. Biot endeavours to 

 account for this difference by the different inclinations which the axes 

 of the two temples have to the meridian ; the axis of the temple at 

 Denderah deviating 1 7 degrees, and that of the small temple at K-m- 

 71 degrees, both of them being from the north towards the east. Ho 

 observes that, in the former temple, a meridian line passing through 

 the centre of the circular planisphere cuts the zodiacal band in ( 

 towards the north, and in Capricorn towards the south; thus dividing 

 the twelve figures so that the six which are on the western side con- 

 stitute all those which at. a certain hour are descending towards the 

 west, and those which are on the eastern side are ascending towards 

 the meridian. At the head of this descending series is Leo, which is 

 the first to pass the inferior meridian and enter the eastern series ; and 

 at the head of the ascending series is Aquarius, which is passing the 

 upper meridian : this distribution corresponds to that which is repre- 

 sented in the zodiac of the portico. A like correspondence would be 

 found to exist in both the temples at Esue if a circular planisphere 

 were supposed to be placed in the ceiling of each, with the lotus-stem 

 in the longitudinal axis, towards the north, and the planisphere were 

 cut by a meridian-line so as to divide the figures into such as ascend 

 and such as descend. 



That there were among the ancient Egyptians a variety of sculptured 

 representations of the heavens is evident, since the planisphere 

 described by Scaliger, in his ' Notes on Manilius,' contained, among 

 many animals having no correspondence in form or situation with 

 those which have been mentioned, the figure of a man holding a scythe, 

 and of another who is killing a bear ; and in the ' Memoires de 

 1'Acadeime des Sciences,' 1708, there is described, by M. Bianchiui, a 

 fragment of an Egyptian planisphere consisting of a circular space sur- 

 rounded by five concentric bands : in the centre are two bears sepa- 

 rated by a serpent, as in the present spheres ; and in the nearest hand 

 are twelve figures representing constellations, most of which differ 

 from the zodiacal signs above described ; the place of Gemini, for 

 example, being occupied by a serpent. In the two next bands are the 

 signs of the (invk zodiac, and on the exterior of these is a band 

 divided into 30 parts, in each of which is a deity ; these are the 

 spaces of 10 degrees, into which, in the East, the zodiac was some- 

 times divided. 



There can be little doubt that the Egyptians and Chaldicans distin- 

 guished the groups of stars in the visible heaveus by the figures or 

 symbols of the deities which they worshipped, and of the men who, 

 among them, had signalised themselves by great actions ; but it has 

 been also assumed, that the names of the zodiacal constellations were, 

 given from circumstances relating to the apparent motion of the sun, 

 to the labours of husbandry, or to the productions of nature in differ- 

 ent seasons. Macrobius mentions (' Sntumal.,' lib. i.) that the constel- 

 lation in which the sun is, at the season when he ascends from tin- 

 winter solstice towards the equator, received the name of Capricromis, 

 because the goat is an animal accustomed to ascend to the highest 

 points of ground ; and that the constellation in which tin- sun is when 

 lie returns from the summer solstice towards the south was designated 



