298 



NATURE 



[January 28, 1892 



no definite knowledge, as the Thigh is so variously repre- 

 sented ; 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 must 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, there is another possible 

 interpretation of the word ak which we may consider. 

 The amplitude of the temple being 73° 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 1 



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 

 73°, 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 dis- 

 tance above the horizon, the stretching of a cord in the 

 building ceremonial -the " ausspannung der strickes," as 

 the words put-ser are translated by Diimichen— would 

 really have been no stretching of the cord at all, for the 

 star being many degrees above the horizon, another 



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 Mas^et [that is, the ' Bull's 

 Thigh constellation,' or Great Bear] ; (mine is 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 transla- 

 tion is Brugsch's. The phrases in brackets are in- 

 terpreted differently by Diimichen, who translates 

 them : " Standing as divider of time by his measuring 

 instrument," or " representing the divider of time {i.e. the 

 god Thot) at his measuring instrument." The word 

 merech or tnerchet, 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 



-Another form of the constellation of the Thigh. (From Brugsch.) 



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 discussing 

 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 founda- 

 tion. 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 Thotmes 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 Thotmes. 



Edfu.—K 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 

 Edfu. 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 ak is given. 



As before, I give the full translation of theinscription,i 

 remarking that the last restoration was made B.C. 237-57. 

 The king is represented as speaking thus : "I have grasped 



I Quoted from Nissen. 

 NO. II61, VOL. 45] 



Egyptian temple), which may have been used to ob- 

 serve 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. 



Taking the latitude of Edfu as 25°, and assuming the 

 angle of 40° to be not far from the truth, the North Polar 

 distance of the star observed would be 15°. 



This satisfies within a degree or so — and this is as 

 near as we can get till more accurate observations have 

 been made on the spot— Dubhe, the chief star in the 

 Great Bear in the time of the Ptolemies. 



I may here remark that, so far as I know, Edfu is the 

 only temple in Egypt on the meridian. If, therefore, it 

 were used, as on my theory all other temples were, it 

 could only have picked up the light from each of the 

 southerly stars, as by the precessional movements they 

 were brought into visibility very near the southern, 

 horizon. 



In this respect, then, it is truly a temple of Horus, in 

 relation to the southern stars — the southern eyes of 

 Horus. But it was not a sun-temple in the sense that 

 Karnak was one ; and if ceremonies were performed for 

 which light was required, perhaps the apparatus referred 

 to by Dupuis (vol. i. p. 450) was utilized. He mentions 

 that in a temple at Heliopolis, whether a solar temple or 

 not is not stated, the temple was flooded all day long 

 with sunlight by means of a mirror. I do not know the 



