lO 



NA TURE 



[May 7, 



does at our summer solstice, and then go down agam ; 

 at the other point, when it has the greatest southern 

 declination, it will go down to the lowest point, as it does 

 in our winter, stop, and come up again— that is, the sun 

 will stand still, and the Latin word solstice exactly 

 expresses that idea. We have then two points in the 

 annual revolution of the earth round the sun at which we 

 have equal altitudes of the sun at noon, two others when the 

 altitude is greatest and least. We get the equal altitudes 

 at the equinoxes and the greatest and the least at the 

 solstices. These altitudes depend upon the change of 

 the sun's declination. The change of declination will 

 affect the azimuth and amplitude of the sun's rising and 

 setting, this is why the sun sets most to the north in 

 summer and most to the south in winter. At the 

 equinoxes the sun has always 0° Decl., so it rises and sets 

 due east and west all over the world. But at the solstices 

 it has its greatest declination of 23^° N. or S. ; it will 

 rise and set therefore fiir from the east and west points ; 

 how far, will depend upon the latitude of the place we 

 consider. The following are approximate values : 



Latitude of 

 place. 



25 



30 



35 



40 



45 



50 



55 



At Thebes, representing Egypt, we find that the sun's 

 azimuth at the summer solstice will be 26" N. of E. at 

 rising, and it will be 26' N. of W. at setting. 



These solstices and their accompaniments are among the 

 striking things in the natural world. In the winter solstice 

 we have the depth of winter, in the summer solstice we 

 have the height of summer, while at the equinoxes we 

 have but transitional changes ; in other words, while the 

 solstices point out for us the conditions of greatest heat 

 and greatest cold, the equinoxes point out for us those 

 two times of the year at which the temperature conditions 

 are very nearly equal, although of course in the one case 

 we are saying good-bye to summer and in the other to 

 winter. To people who live in tropical or sub-tropical 

 countries a summer solstice is a very much more definite 

 thing than it is to us. In Egypt the summer solstice was 

 paramount, for it heralded the rise of the Nile. Next 

 came the autumnal equinox, for it marked the height of 

 the inundation. 



Did the ancients know anything about these solstices 

 and these equinoxes ? That is one of the questions which 

 we have to discuss. Dealing with the monumental 

 evidence in Egypt alone, the answer is absolutely over- 

 whelming. The evidence I propose to bring before you 

 consists of that afforded by some of the very oldest 

 temples that we know of in Egypt. Among the most 

 ancient and sacred fanes in Egypt was one at Abydos, 

 which, the tradition runs, was built by the Shosou-Hor or 

 servants of Horus (therefore sun-worshippers) before the 

 time of Menes ; Menes, as we have seen, having reigned 

 at a date certainly not less than 4000, and possibly 5000 

 years B.C. 



First a word as to the general plan of a temple such as 

 we find it in Egypt. They may be arranged architecturally 

 into two main groups. Edfou is the most perfect example 

 of one of the first group, characterized by having a pylon 

 consisting of two massive structures right and left of the 

 entrance, which are somewhat like the two towers that 

 one sometimes seesonthe west front of some of our English 

 cathedrals. The Temple of Ramses II. in the Memnonia 

 at Thebes is another example (Fig. 8). 



From the entrance-pylon the temple goes stretching 

 along through various halls of different sizes and details 

 until at last at the extreme end of the temple what is 



NO. 1 1 23, VOL. 44] 



called the Sanctuary, Naos, or Holy of Holies, is reached. 

 The end of the temple at which the pylons are situated is 

 open, the other is closed. These lofty towers, and indeed 

 the walls, are sometimes covered with the most won- 

 derful drawings and hieroglyphic figures and records. 

 Stretching in front of the pylons, extending sometimes 

 very far in front, are rows of sphinxes. This prin- 



FiG. 8.— Plan of the Temple of Ramses II. in the Memn-nia at Thebes 

 (from Lepsius), showing the pylon at the open end, and the sanctuary at 

 the closed one. 



ciple is carried to such an extent that in some cases 

 separate isolated gates have been built right in front 

 and exactly in the alignment of the temple. At Karnak 

 there really are two such temples back to back, and the 

 distance which separates the outside entrances of both is 

 greater than the distance from Pall Mall to Piccadilly ; 

 the great temple covers about twice the area covered by 



