of the Pyramids and Temples in the Sudan. 345 



better built, and better planned than the other pyramids which stand 

 near, and in each place this " step " pyramid has an orientation angle 

 of 129°. 



In Northern Egypt, as is well known, all the pyramids are oriented 

 east and west; and observations show that in Southern Egypt the 

 " step " pyramids are oriented not east and west, but in another 

 azimuth facing south-east, with such an amplitude that it could not 

 have been a question of the sunlight entering the shrine. We are 

 therefore driven to star worship. Now, the chief pyramids in 

 Northern Egypt date from B.C. 3800 to B.C. 2600; we may expect 

 therefore that, as the idea of pyramid building was introduced into the 

 south from the north, the building of the " step " pyramids must 

 have taken place at a very early date. Looking to this amplitude it 

 has already been shown that some of the chief temples of Southern 

 Egypt were oriented to cc Centauri. Taking the " step " pyramid at 

 Gebel Barkal with an azimuth of 129°, we have an amplitude of 39° 

 south of east, and, not taking into account refraction and the heights 

 of the hills on the horizon, which would tend to neutralise each other, we 

 find the declination of a star thus observed to be 35° 58' south, a posi- 

 tion which the star occupied B.C. 2700. These " step " pyramids then 

 were probably built under the influence of the kings of the Xlth and 

 Xllth dynasties, who were famous for their building operations. This 

 date will also suit admirably from both an astronomical and an 

 archaeological aspect the temple of Piankhi, which has a nearly identi- 

 cal amplitude. We have to assume therefore that Piankhi, like many 

 other kings, simply restored a Xllth dynasty temple. With regard to 

 azimuths from 143° to 150°, I find that the same star, a Centauri, 

 might still have been observed, but in this case the building of both 

 temple and pyramid must have taken place about the period which lies 

 between B.C. 1200 and B.C. 700. Here, in my opinion, the astro- 

 nomical determination agrees with the archaeological requirements. 



At Nuri, as at the other places mentioned above, we find numbers 

 of pyramids with the orientation angles of 122°, 140°, and 147°; and 

 the characteristics of the pyramids having the same angle in one place 

 are the same as those having the same angle elsewhere. At Nuri and 

 at Begrawiyyeh or Meroe, a considerable number of pyramids have 

 exactly the same angle of orientation, viz., 129°, and the number is so 

 great that it is clear that we are not dealing with a question of acci- 

 dent but of design. The great Lepsius came to the conclusion that 

 the pyramids of Nuri looked older, and were older, than the pyramids 

 of Gebel Barkal, and my own observations made on the spot convince 

 me that his view was right ; and he might have added also that the 

 pyramids at Meroe having the same angle of orientation as those at 

 Nuri are older than those which have a different angle. It has been 

 said above that of the shrines which originally stood before the 



