In 1799, Napoleon and his army began expanding their presence throughout Egypt. Napoleon not only brought troops but also artists to record sketches of his discoveries about a country considered exotic and far from the norms of traditional European culture. One artist in particular, Vivant Denon, was fascinated by a full circular zodiac carved on the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor, located in the village of Dendera. After carefully sketching the circular zodiac, Denon returned to Paris and made his findings public. His report was published in a work that became widely popular in England and France, as people seemed to be thirsting for more knowledge about this strange circular design in the temple.
Hathor Temple at Dendera (CC BY SA 4.0)
Calendar chaos
Now known as the “Dendera Zodiac,” some of France’s greatest scientists, astronomers, and mathematicians are in an uproar, trying to find the exact dates and times of the celestial events described. describe inside it. Physicists Joseph Fourier and Jean-Baptiste Biot along with astronomer Johan Karl Burckhardt led the investigation, but were confused by the constellations depicted on the zodiac. Are they actual astronomical calculations depicting the movements of stars or are they merely symbolic representations? France is starting to research the world of archaeological astronomy.
Figure 2. Sketch of the Dendera zodiac sign (Public domain)
The Dendera zodiac is the only circular astronomical depiction found in ancient Egypt. All other references to the zodiac or astrology are square or pyramidal in shape and design. The zodiac itself describes the 360 days of the Egyptian year, with the 36 decans arranged in a circular fashion. One deca represents one-third of the lifespan of a zodiac constellation. Twelve signs with three decans each mean a total of thirty-six decans. This is the measure that Western astrologers continue to use to this day.
An obvious comparison emerges
The famous British Egyptologist Gerald Massey was able to reconcile each traditional Western zodiac sign with an Egyptian counterpart. Looking at the Dendera Zodiac, the ram of Aries corresponds to the ram-headed god Amun. Taurus corresponds to Osiris, sometimes called the “Eternal Bull,” while the two fishes of Pisces are represented by two crocodiles swimming in opposite directions. For every constellation in the traditional Western zodiac, there is an Egyptian equivalent with the same symbol; from the goat Khnum, whose characteristics resemble Capricorn, to Atum, the lion-headed god who resembles Leo. The image of Isis holding Horus in her arms is synonymous with the constellation Virgo and resembles the image of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus.
Figure 3. The numbers represented in the Dendera Zodiac correspond to the traditional zodiac signs ( CC BY 4.0 )
Seasonal meaning
The important question remains; What did these symbols convey and how important did the ancient Egyptians consider them? For the Egyptians, each zodiac sign corresponded to a season of the year believed to be ruled by a specific god. Cancer’s scarab represents summer, while Libra’s scales represent the autumnal equinox. You may have noticed that although all twelve constellations appear in the Dendera Zodiac, the positions of some are somewhat distorted and off. Cancer the Crab (number 39 in the photo) appears to have been deliberately placed towards the center of the zodiac, resulting in the spiral-like shape of the zodiac. It is unclear why this choice was included in the design; Cancer month can have a special meaning.
For the Egyptians, each season had a unique influence on the passage of days in the 360-day calendar. The number of hours in a day is not calculated in a static and fixed manner but can change with the seasons. The zodiac also describes the movements of the star Sirius; a star of prime importance to the ancient Egyptians. Sirius rising from the horizon marks the beginning of the New Year, but the date changes eight and a half days every thousand years. Aquarius is given great importance because it represents the sign of inundation, indicating a time of flood. The Egyptians would use Sirius as a marker to indicate when the annual flood of the Nile would occur, which we now call June.
Figure 4. Detailed view of the Dendera Zodiac ( CC BY 3.0 )
The oldest astronomy?
There is no doubt that the ancient Egyptians attached great importance to astronomy and the movement of the heavens, however, where does the construction of the zodiac fit into the timeline? Charles Dupuis, a scholar before the French Revolution, believed that Egyptian astrology originated 14,000 years ago; 10,000 years earlier than the commonly accepted date of 4000 BC. Dupuis believed that the ancient Egyptians were far ahead of the ancient Greeks in their knowledge of astronomy, even considering the Greeks ‘children’ in comparison.
The Dendera zodiac describes the sun’s ecliptic, referring to the circular path of the sun’s orbit. The configuration of the motifs on the zodiac shows a strange feature; The arrangement of the constellations shows a date that occurred at least 650 years before the construction of the zodiac. The solstice between Gemini and Cancer shows the position of an ecliptic that should have existed in 650 BC. French scholars believe that the Dendera Zodiac dates back thousands of years to the biblical date of creation. This certainly caused trouble for the church, whose beliefs were in danger of being overturned because of this strange new artifact. Jean-Francois Champollion, the most famous French Egyptologist during the reign of Napoleon, was able to correct the date of creation of the zodiac signs. He examined the hieroglyphs adjacent to the zodiac and traced royal names to the period 100-20 BC, which is the late Ptolemaic or Augustan period. Champollion’s opinion carries great weight because he was the first to decipher the hieroglyphs on the infamous Rosetta Stone. The Pope was so grateful for Champollion’s amendment that he offered to make him a Cardinal in the church, even though he was an atheist.
Why is astronomy so important?
In the grand scheme of things, what is the purpose of studying ancient astrology? The reality is that almost every ancient civilization was interested in recording the movements of the stars, and focusing on 12 distinct constellations can help us piece together the larger story of human history. Psychologist Carl Jung believed that certain images and symbols were imprinted on the subconscious of our earliest ancestors, called archetypes. These archetypes are universal in scope and are easily recognizable to everyone. Early civilizations transcribed their interpretations of the stars into twelve distinct archetypes associated with human psychology. We also see the number twelve appear at many points in history and mythology, from the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve trials of Hercules, to the twelve disciples of Jesus and the original twelve points of the Order. Freemasons, and the list goes on. The fact that the description of each zodiac sign is repeated across almost every civilization might lead us to believe that there is some hidden meaning in this ongoing story, the images repeated across time periods. different time. The idea of a universal myth is discussed in great detail by authors Giorgio DeSantillana and Hertha von Dechend in their book Hamlet’s Mill, in which the authors point out striking similarities between the celestial myths of most cultures in the world. A similar conclusion was reached by Joseph Campbell, who once declared that the world’s myths are “as similar as the dialects of a single language.”
Figure 5. The Dendera zodiac sign is currently displayed on the ceiling at the Louvre Museum, France
The Dendera Zodiac was eventually stolen and taken to France in 1821 by engineer Jean Lelorrain, who used gunpowder and explosives to shatter the zodiac from its rightful place on the temple’s ceiling. . The Zodiac now resides on a different ceiling, in the Egyptian Antiquities exhibition of the famous Louvre Museum in Paris.
Top image: Dendera zodiac sign added in blue and yellow, Neues Museum, Berlin (CC BY 2.0)
Copyright © 2015 Tashi Alexander Javed
Tashi Javed is an emerging author with a burning passion for history and politics. His recent work, ‘Human Anomalies’ examines some of the problematic aspects of tracing human origins. His areas of focus include ancient culture and religion. Tashi Javed holds an honors degree from the University of Toronto. www.thehumananomaly.com
