The Dawn of Astronomy: A Study of the Temple-Worship and Mythology of the Ancient

Egyptians, by Professor J. Norman Lockyer, C. B.

Author(s): M. W. H.
Source: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 6, No. 35 (March 31, 1894),
pp. 126-132
Published by: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40670272
Accessed: 11-12-2015 20:00 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Astronomical Society of the Pacific and University of Chicago Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve
and extend access to Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
126 Publications of the

The Dawn of Astronomy: A Study of the Temple-

Worship and. Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians,
by Professor J. Norman Lockyer, C. B.
[Reviewedby M. W. H.]
The purpose of the presentvolume is to give an accountof
the endeavorsmade by theauthorduringthe last threeyears to
see whetherany trustworthy conclusionscould be reached as to
the early astronomicalviews of the Egyptiansfroma studyof
theirtemplesand the mythologyconnectedwith their various
cults. How ProfessorLockyer came to undertakethe inves-
tigationis worthrecounting fromthebearingof thestatement on
the questionof priorityof discovery. It seems that when he
visited Greece,in March,1890, he was struck by the curious
directionin whichthe Parthenonwas built;and themanychanges
in directionof thefoundations of the templeat Eleusis revealed
by the French excavations seemed likewiseso suggestivethat
he thought it worth whileto note,by meansofa pocketcompass,
the bearings,so as to see whether therewas any possibleastro-
nomicalorigin for the directionof the temple,and the various
changes in direction observable. What the author had in his
mind,he tellsus, was the familiarassertion that,in England,the
easternwindowsof churchesgenerally face to the place of sun-
risingon thefestivalofthe patron saint ; thisis why,forinstance,
the churchesof St. Johnthe Baptist face very nearlythe north-
east. This directiontoward the sunrisingis the origin of the
termorientation, which,however,has come to be applied just as
frequently to otherbuildings,the directionofwhichis towardthe
west, or north,or south. When ProfessorLockyer returned
to England he endeavoredto ascertainwhetherthissubjecthad
been workedout, but was led to believethatit had not been dis-
cussed in relationto ancient temples,and scarcely even with
regardto churches,outsideEnglandand Germany.Accordingly,
he enteredon the inquiry,and remembering that the templesof
Egypthad been carefullyexamined and oriented,both by the
Frenchin 1798 and by the Prussiansin 1844, he determinedto
see whetherit was possibleto get fromthemany information on
the generalquestion. He soon foundthat,although neither the
Frenchnorthe Germanhad paid any heed to the possible astro-
nomicalideas of the templebuilders,therewas littledoubtthat
astronomical considerationshad a greatdeal to do withthedirec-

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AstronomicalSocietyof the Pacific. 127
tion towardwhich these temples faced. In a seriesof lectures
given in November,1890, he pointed out that, by pursuing
this line of investigation,archaeologistsand others might
ultimatelybe enabled to arriveat dates in regard to the foun-
dation of temples, and possibly to advance knowledge in
several other ways. Afterthe lectureswere over the author
was informedby one of his audience that ProfessorNissen in
Germany had published some papers on the orientationof
ancient temples. These were at once ordered, but before
they were received ProfessorLockyer went to Egypt to
make some personal researcheson the spot with referenceto
certainpointswhichit was necessaryto elucidate,forthe reason
that when the orientations were observed and recordedit was
not knownwhatuse would be made of them,and consequently
certaindata requiredforthe astronomer's purpose were wanting.
In Cairo much interestwas taken in the matterby Brugsch
Bey, who looked up some of the old inscriptions,and one
day informedthe authorthat he had founda very interesting
one concerning thefoundation of the templeat Edfu. From this
inscriptionit is clear that ProfessorLockyer' s idea was not
new; on thecontrary, it was some six thousandyearsold. After-
ward, the authorwent up the Nile and made some observations
whichconvincedhimthat,for the orientationnot onlyof Edfu,
but of all the largertemples,therewas an astronomicalbasis.
Returningto England in Marcrî, 1891, ProfessorLockyer
received ProfessorNissen' s papers, and discovered that a
part of the subjectof thelecturesdeliveredin 1890 by himself
had been previouslydiscussed by ProfessorNissen, who had
employedthe same materials. It is, therefore, franklyacknowl-
edged by the author that to Professor Nissen belongsthe credit
of havingfirstmade the suggestionthat ancienttempleswere
orientedon an astronomical basis.
The determination of the starsto whichsome ofthe Egyptian
temples,sacredto a knowndivinity, weredirected,opened a way
to a study of the astronomicalbasis of parts of the Egyptian
mythologies. This inquiryProfessorLockyer has pursuedto a
certainextent,but he franklyadmitsthatto faceit requiresan
Egyptologist,whichhe has no pretensions to be. It soon, how-
ever,becameobviouseven to an outsiderthatthe mythology was
intensely astronomical,and crystallizedearly ideas suggestedby
actual observationof the Sun, Moon, and stars. Moreover,it

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
128 Publications of the

becameapparentthattherewereat leasttwo mythologies, repre-

sentingtwo schools of astronomicalthought. With the view,
finally,of obtaininga pictureas completeas possible,theauthor
has essayed to bring togetherthe information obtainablefrom
these and other sources,includingthe old Egyptiancalendars,
and to comparetheresultsdeduciblefromearly Babylonianme-
morialswith those whichare to be gatheredfromthe Egyptian
mythsand templeorientations. Afterall is said, it is acknowl-
edged by theauthorthatthe presentstateof our knowledgehas
allowed him to make only a fewsuggestions,and that,if these
inquiriesare worthcontinuing, a good deal of preparatory work
has to be done. Of thisthe mostimportantis a re-survey of the
templesites,withmoderninstruments and methods.Nextshould
be securedfromastronomers tablesof the risingand settingcon-
ditions of the stars for periods far beyond those whichhave
alreadybeen considered. The GermanAstronomical Societyhas
published a table of the places of a greatmany starsup to 2000
B. C, but to carry on the investigationbegun by Professor
Lockyer it will be necessaryto go back to 7000 B. C. , and to
includesouthernstars. While the astronomer is doingthis,the
Egyptologist, on his part,will have to look throughthe inscrip-
tionswithreference to the suggestionswhichlie on thesurfaceof
the inquiry. The astronomicaland mythologicaldata want
bringingtogether. The author'sown impressionis, however,
that the work here outlinedwill not reallybe so laboriousas
thestatement of it mayseem to.imply.
A word should be said about the chronologyprovisionally
accepted by the author. The latestdate for King Mena, or
Menés, the firstsovereignof the firstEgyptiandynastyis, ac-
cordingto Bunsen, 3600 B. C. ; the earliestdate, thatassigned
by Boeckh, is 5702 B. C. ; Unger, Brugsch, and Lepsius give
respectively5613, 4455 and 3892. For the purpose of the
presentinquirythe date takenis 4000 B. C, that is 6000 years
ago; this is adopted as the startingpoint forthe long seriesof
remainsof various orders to which referenceis made in this
volume. Now let us glanceat Babylonia; here inscribedtablets
carryus into the past fora periodof certainly5000 years; but
the so-called ' *omen' ' tablets indicate that observationsof
eclipses and other astronomicalphenomenahad been made for
some thousandsof yearsbeforethis period.
What are the conclusionsto which ProfessorLockyer' s re-

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AstronomicalSociety of the Pacific. 129
searchesseemto point? It resultsfromhis investigationof the
dawn of astronomyin Egypt that fromthe earliesttimesthere
were astronomicalobservationscarriedon, and that practically
therewerethreeschoolsof thought,two of these being original,
while the thirdwas an amalgam of the others. To all three
schoolsSun worshipwas common,but theymay be clearlysepa-
ratedby theassociatedstarworship. There are foundin ancient
Egypt,as we proceedup the Nile, firstworshippersof northern
stars,nextworshippers of east and weststars,and then worship-
pers of southern stars. The northern starworshippers are asso-
ciated with the northeastern cornerof the delta; the east and
weststarcultwiththe pyramidfieldsat Gizeh, and the southern
star worshipperswith upper Egypt. But are we to stop at the
places namedand acknowledgeEgypt to be the true cradle of
astronomicalscience, or do the factscompel us to go a stage
furtherback and to recognizethatthe trueoriginwas elsewhere;
in
that, short,astronomy, insteadof takingits rise in Egypt,was
simplyimported thither? As regardsthe northern starworship,
of whichthereare tracesin northeastern Egypt, this mighteasily
have been introducedfrom Babylonia,where a northernstar
worshipobtainedat the epoch requiredforthe hypothesisof an
emigration thenceto lower Egypt. It must,however,be noted
that Babylonia itselfwas the meeting-ground of at least two
differentschools of astronomicalthought,one of which,corres-
pondingwiththeworshipofsouthernstars,can onlybe explained
upon the theorythatit was broughtto Chaldeaby emigrants from
some regionsouth of the equator,and, therefore, probablyeast
Africa. As it happens,the same worshipofsouthernstarswhich
could only arise south of the equatorcharacterizes the dawn of
astronomyin upper Egypt. A littlereflection,however,will
demonstratethat an astronomicalsystemadapted to a people
dwellingsouth of the equator would notsuita people dwelling
northof it, and thelatterwould,accordingly,have to adapt it to
its own climatologicaland agriculturalconditions. The main-
springof earlierastronomymusthave been utility, or application
to practicalneeds,and amongall primitive peoples the most im-
portanttimesof theyearmustnecessarilyhave been those con-
nected with seed-timeand harvestin each locality. Now the
spring equinox and summersolstice south of the equator cor-
respondto theautumnalequinoxand the wintersolsticenorthof
it. If the colonistswho are said to have come to Eridu, at the

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
J3° Publicationsof the
head ofthePersianGulf,inveryremotetimes,camefroma region
southofthe equator,theywouldnaturallyhave broughtnot only
theirsouthernstarsbuttheirsouthernseasonswiththem. They
wouldat once discover,however,thattheirspring-time was the
northern autumn,and theirsummersolsticethe northernwinter.
This could go on fora time,and, as a matterof factit did, but
the climaticfacts were againstsuch an unnaturalsystem,and
eventuallytheold correspondenceof astronomicalmythologyto
actual conditionswas broughtback by calling the new winter
summer,or, in otherwords,by turningthe wintergod into the
summerSun god. When,however,the southernstarworshippers
and the northern starworshippers met in Egypt it was ultimately
foundthatneithertheastronomical systembased upon thefactof
sowing at the autumnal equinox,nor the systemadapted to the
EuphratesValley and based upon sowingat the vernal equinox,
wouldsuitthe conditionofthingsin Egypt,wherethe riseofthe
Nile, whichtook place not at an equinox,but at the solstice,
would determine thebeginningof the Egyptianyear.
What lightis thrownby the astronomicalevidencebrought
forwardin thisbook on the historyof earlyEgypt,that is to say
upon the interactionand resultantmythologyof the northand
south star worshippers? The followingare theelementsof the
workinghypothesisevolved by ProfessorLockyer fromdata
-eitherascertained or considered probable. About the year
6400 B. C. therecamedowntheriverNilefromthesoutha swarm
ofinvaders,bearingwiththemthreeMoongods, Osiris, Thoth,
and Khonsu, and a Sun god, Chnemu. The invadersfound
already settledin the valley a populationworshipping Ra and
Atmu. Possiblythese aborigineswere merelyworshippersof
the dawn and twilight. The Moon worshipwas accepted as an
addition,and the divine dynastyof Osiris began. The swarm
ofinvadersfromthesouthbrought, withthema lunaryear of 360
•days,and it was then that the Egyptian calendar beginning
I. Thoth commenced. The newcomersbuilttemplesat Amada,
Semneh, Philae,Edfu, and probably Abydos. All these were
probablyOsiris temples,so called, because Osiris, the Moon
god, was the chiefdeity,and theywere used forthe determina-
tion of the Sun's place at the autumnalequinox,at whichtime
the imported lunar year probably began. About the year
5400 B. C. came a swarmor swarmsfromthe northeast. One
certainlycame by the Red Sea and foundedtemplesat Redisieh

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AstronomicalSocietyof the Pacific, 131
and Denderah; anothermay have come over the isthmusand
foundedAnnu. They broughttheworshipof Anu. Now itwas
that the divine dynastyof Set was established,and one can
imaginereligiousstrifebetweenthepartisansof the newnorthern
cult and the southernMoon worshippers. These invadersfrom
the northeast mighthave come eitherfromnorthBabylonia,or
otherswarmsof the same race may have invaded northBaby-
lonia at thesame time.
We arriveat the date 5000 B. C. , a date fixedon one side by
thefactthattheconstellation Hippopotamus(now Draco) was not
circumpolar after it. The date might,in truth,have been much
earlier,but could not have been much later. It is at thedatethus
astronomically fixed thatHorus with his "blacksmiths" comes
downthe riverto revengehis " FatherOsiris " by killinghis
murderer, Set (the Hippopotamus). The 6400 B. C. people who
came fromthe south had been worstedby the last (5400 B. C.)
swarmfromthenortheast, and had sent forsouthernassistance.
of
The southerninvaders upperEgypt had by thistimebecome
Sun worshippers, and Osiris had cometo be Sun as wellas Moon.
In theresultant strugglethe northeastern peoplewerebeaten,and
therewas an amalgamationof the cult of the delta and of the
southerncult. The northeastern people werereducedto second
place, but Set was retained,and Anubis lookedaftersepulchres,
but was soon to be replaced by Osiris, as southernpriestcraft
prevailed. The priestlyheadquartersnow were at Annu and
Abydos. At the former place arose an amalgamatedcultrepre-
sentingthe Sun and northernstar gods ; at Abydos, Osiris,
changed into a Sun god, was supreme. We reach finallythe
pyramidtimes referredby Mariette to 4200 B. C. and by
Brugsch to 3700 B. C. At this epoch arrivedanotherswarm
fromthe northeast,certainlythis time from Babylonia, and
apparentlyby the isthmusonly,since no east-westtemplesare
foundon Red Sea roads. This timetheyno longerbringAnnu
alone,butalso a springequinoxSun god. At Barkaland Thebes,
thesouthernpeople remain; templebuildinggoes on thereon a
large scale, and eventually,in 3500 B.C., a thoroughblending
ofnorthand southcults takes place at Thebes. The worshipof
Amen-Ra is there established,and Theban priests become
supreme.
This is, of course,onlythefirstchapter,and but an outlineat
that,ofa history ofancientEgypt to be evolvedfromastronomical

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
I32 Publicationsof the
data. The authorfindsit comparatively that
easy to demonstrate
theastronomical observations and templeworshipoftheEgyptians
formthebasis firstof Greek,and later of Latin templebuilding.
In Greece,as it was not dominatedby the riseof the Nile, one
wouldnotexpecttheyearto beginat a summersolstice,butrather
at a vernalequinox. The authorofthisbook has shownthat,even
in pyramidtimesin Egypt,therisingsofthePleiades and Antares
werewatchedto heraldtheequinoticalSun. It is notsurprising,
therefore,to find the earliest templesin Greece so oriented.
Mr. F. C. Penrose, who is both an astronomerand an arch-
aeologist,has foundthat,ofthetenveryancienttemplesor temple
sitesexaminedby himin Greece,fourweredirectedto the rising
and one to the settingof the Pleiades, and threeto the settingof
Aniaresand one to the risingthereof. The Herseumat Argos,
the oldest templein a spot wrhich, by commonconsent,is the
very cradle of Greek civilization,was directedtowardthe rising
ofAntares. To the questionwhy Sirius, whichwas the para-
mount; starin Egyptat a timewhenone would expectto findher
influence mostimportant in Greece,is not represented amongthe
starsto which Greek templeswere built,the answer is that,as
the Greek year ignoredthe solstice,and had referenceto the
vernalequinox,the use of Sirius as a warningstarwouldnot be
obvious. As a matterof fact,however,Mr. Penrose has dis-
covered thatSirius was used in the great templeof Ceres, but
simplyfor its own refulgenceat midnight. It is furthernote-
worthythatin two-thirds ofthe cases examinedby Mr. Penrose
in Greece, the dates deduced fromthe orientationare clearly
earlier than the architectural remains now visible above the
grounds. This is explainedby the templeshaving been rebuilt
a
upon old foundations, thing which can be proved to have
occurred. In the book before us, Professor Lockyer has occa-
sion to insistrepeatedlythat, in the case of theEgyptiantemples,
thestateddate of foundationof a templeis almostalwayslong
afterthatat whichits lineswerelaid down in accordancewiththe
astronomicalritual. No wonder,then,that the same thingis
noticedin Greece.- From theN. Y. Sim, March n, 1894.

Erratum in Vol. I, Publications of the Lick Observatory.

On page 208, Star No. 434, eighthline of table,column C,
for 1.100 read 1.010. R. H. T.

This content downloaded from 41.130.205.178 on Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:00:46 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions