Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Joan Relke is currently an Honorary Research Associate with the School of Classics, History and Religion, Division of Studies in Religion,
at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Her research focuses on Middle Eastern and South Asian Neolithic and early historic
religious imagery and iconography. Of particular interest are the implications of iconography for domestic and agricultural rituals.
Allan D. Ernest is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow in science education within the School of Education, Faculty of
Health Education and Professional Studies at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. He has been associated with the
university for the past 20 years, predominantly undertaking research in the area of atomic and molecular physics. He also has an interest
in astronomical research, particularly the applications of quantum physics to astronomy and cosmology, and teaches astronomy to
students enrolled in the relevant courses within the universitys distance education program.
642003ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
by the University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819 VOLUME XVII 2002-2003 64
spiritual importance. And the Sun, perhaps suitable
for a symbol of absolute, all-seeing, reliable author-
ity, hardly nourished agricultural life in its annual
cycle, as it brought intense heat and drought just at the
time of year when the Nile was at its lowest, com-
pounding the difficulties of having limited water:
The sun . . . was . . . a destructive force and an enemy
of farmers. Rather it was the Nile that was recognized
as the source of cosmic good will. . . . The sun was
respected for its power, but the Nile was the real ruler
of Egypt (Krupp 1984:187).3
The star we know as Sirius, rather than the Sun,
marked the beginning of the Egyptian lunar calendar
(Depuydt 1997:17) and agricultural year, for its heli-
cal rising in early July heralded the imminent inunda-
tion of the Nile after a three-month period of low
water, blistering summer heat, and accompanying
drought. In addition to Sirius, the constellation of
Ursa Major may have also functioned as an agricul-
tural symbol but had added eschatological signifi-
cance, and the following discussion explores the
possible significance of its observed behavior for both
priest and farmer.
FIGURE 1. Detail from the northern sky, region of the Imper-
ishable Stars. Tomb of Senmut ca. 1473 B.C.E. (adapted from
The Foreleg and the Opening of the Mouth
Neugebauer and Parker 1969b:Plate 1).
That part of Ursa Major, otherwise known to us as the
Big Dipper or the Plow,4 was known to the ancient
Egyptians as the Foreleg, or Meskhetiu (Neugebauer
and Parker 1969a:189; Parker 1974:51, 61). Depicted number of other lesser spiritual beings commonly
on Middle Kingdom coffins as a bulls foreleg, in the depicted in other similar tomb and coffin illustrations
New Kingdom, Meskhetiu appears as a bull, in full or and represented as a lion, a crocodile, and a man.5 In
part, in the tomb and coffin illustrations of the con- the full illustrations of the northern sky, human and
stellations of the northern sky of Earths Northern therianthrophic figures representing the 30 days of the
Hemisphere (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:183) lunar month (Neugebauer and Parker 1969:34) line
(Figure 1). In the Late and Ptolemaic periods, the up beside the principal deities on the left and right.
shape of Meskhetiu reverts to a bulls leg or a bull- The illustrations of the northern sky accompanied
headed leg (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:68, 188, several Egyptian kings, nobles, and well-off com-
1969b:Plates 26, 50). moners on the north or west ceilings of their tombs or
Figure 1, a section from the ceiling illustration on the right inside of their coffin lids. They also
from Senmuts tomb (ca. 1473 B.C.E., Dynasty 18), appear on temple ceilings and water clocks (Clagett
depicts the arrangement of deities and constellations 1995:106127).
envisioned by the Dynastic Egyptians to occupy the The central constellations of the northern sky today
northern sky. Meskhetiu is situated at the top. The revolve around the pole star, Polaris, situated at the tip
accompanying deities include Anu, the sacrificer; of the handle of the Little Dipper, or Ursa Minor. At
Hippo, a presiding deity; Isis, standing behind Hippo; the time of the ancient Egyptians, and prior to the
Serket, a goddess standing beside Meskhetiu; and a beginning of the Predynastic period, ca. 4000 B.C.E.,6
66 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
a bark with legs wide apart and holding a was scepter.
The earliest surviving record of the constellations of
the northern sky and the decans comes from the First
Intermediate Period coffins of Heny, Dynasty 11,
21342199 B.C.E. (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:8).
However, the characteristic form of Orion as Osiris
can be identified from a fragment from the Old
Kingdom funerary temple of Djedkare-Isei (Eaton-
Krauss 1987:234), suggesting that the myths and
traditions associated with the illustrations of the
northern and southern skies go back at least to the fifth
Dynasty.
The Imperishable Stars of the northern sky and the
decanal belt form the two major astronomical regions
of the Egyptian night sky. The Egyptians recognized
that the Sun and the planets follow a path across the
ORION/OSIRIS sky, but they did not recognize any constellations
SOPDET/ISIS
along the ecliptic, as did the Babylonians and later the
JUPITER Greeks. As the Greeks increasingly came to influence
Egypt in the later phases of the Dynastic period, these
FIGURE 4. Orion as Osiris and Sopdet as Isis on the decanal belt constellations, familiar to us as the zodiac, became
from the tomb of Pedamenope ca. 560 B.C.E. (adapted from incorporated into the Egyptian system to form a third
Neugebauer and Parker 1969b:Plate 18). band of constellations in the night sky. The merger of
these two systems can be best observed in the illustra-
tion on the ceiling of the Hathor Temple at Dendera
Complementary to the northern sky illustrations (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:7885), although it
are those of the southern sky (Figure 4), which appear also appears inside coffin lids.13
opposite the northern sky on the left inside of coffin Also depicted in mortuary iconography is the fore-
lids or on the opposite side of the ceiling, the south or leg of a sacrificed bull, an important offering made to
east side (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:15). The the king or Osiris and frequently found in tomb
star formations chosen by the Egyptians from the illustrations either among the many funerary offer-
southern sky compose the decanal belta belt of 36 ings or as a single offering (Figure 5). In Figure 5, the
stars and constellations (Neugebauer and Parker judgment scene from the Book of the Dead, a single
1969a:2), which lies nearly parallel to and south of the foreleg is offered to Osiris, who presides over the
ecliptic (Neugebauer and Parker 1960:99100; ritual. A foreleg is also mentioned in the Pyramid
Parker 1978:712713). Figure 4 comprises the cen- Texts as a mortuary offering14 or as the desired food in
tral part of the illustrations of the decanal belt, with the afterlife.15 The shape of Ursa Major suggested to
a range of deities and planets lined up on both sides, the Egyptians the shape of this foreleg, when depicted
to the east and west. Although the planets can be as an offering, and Figure 6 shows how Ursa Major in
identified (in Figure 4 Jupiter stands behind Isis), only a certain position parallels the shape of the foreleg
two of these star patterns can be identified: the con- seen in the offering to Osiris.16 The ladle on the left
stellation of Orion and the star Sirius (Neugebauer and the bends in the handle of the constellation
and Parker 1960:97). In these stars, the Egyptians mirror the form of the foreleg offering. That the
envisaged Osiris in Orion and Isis in Sirius, known to Egyptians thought of Meskhetiu as a foreleg, perhaps
them as Sopdet. Rather than in his typical mummy the foreleg of Seth cut off by Horus and placed in the
form, Osiris here appears as a male figure standing in northern sky where Hippo holds it (Neugebauer and
Parker 1969:190 191), suggests that they saw Ursa To the Egyptians, the bull had spiritual and politi-
Major a little differently than we do, that is, with a cal meaning transcending its material function as a
longer handle to accommodate the lower part of the food source. The Apis, Mnevis, and Buchis bulls
leg.17 Our perception of Ursa Major suggests the represented the power of the high gods Ptah, Re, and
foreleg up to the knee. The Egyptians may have Mont, respectively. The bull also represented the
perceived Meskhetiu extended to further stars, per- mediated power of the high gods on Earth through the
haps Lambda Botis and/or Nekkar, which are ideally king, and the iconography on the obverse side of the
situated to complete the foreleg.18 Narmer Palette associates the bull with one of the
Returning to Figure 1, in the northern sky illustra- earliest kings, Narmer. One epithet assigned to Egyp-
tions, Meskhetiu is sometimes found in the shape of an tian kings was victorious bull (Gardiner 1957:51,
abstracted bull with horns, as in Senmuts tomb, but 597).
at other times it appears as a complete bull, as in Setis The Egyptian word for bull was ka. This word
tomb (Figure 7). Thus, the offering version (Figure 5) has the same sound as the word used for one of the
more closely resembles the actual shape of the con- three spiritual essences possessed by each human
stellation (Figure 6). This departure from depicting being, particularly by the king: the ka, the akh, and the
Meskhetiu as a foreleg, as in Middle Kingdom stellar ba. The ka of the king was thought to survive bodily
clock illustrations (Parker 1974:54, 1978:712), sug- death but was believed still to require nourishment in
gests additional meanings. The abstracted bull or a the afterlife. The rituals commemorating the dead
fully illustrated bull implies the whole animal along king involved several methods of supplying the ka
with meanings, inclusive of, yet wider than, meanings with sustenance: rituals performed during the mortu-
at first implied by a single leg. ary feast; food inclusions in the tomb; spells and
68 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
FIGURE 7. Detail from the northern sky, region of the Imperishable Stars. Tomb of Seti 1 ca. 1300 B.C.E. (adapted from Neugebauer
and Parker 1969b:Plate 3).
sacrifices made during the mortuary ceremony; sacri- into one significant part of the animals anatomy, as
fices and offerings made to a statue of the king (the ka indicated by its frequent central role in the iconogra-
statue); and the magical ability of written spells and phy of mortuary offerings.
illustrations lining the walls of the tomb to provide The question is, Why did the foreleg alone come
food eternally.19 to stand for the temporal and spiritual power inherent
The word ka, written as a pair of upheld or out- or symbolized by the entire beast? Perhaps the shape
stretched arms, forms the basis for a number of words of Ursa Major suggested the shape of the foreleg and
whose meanings are associated with life and vitality: hence the entire animal, but very possibly the bulls
food (kaw), vagina (kat), pregnant woman (bkat), new foreleg already had special meaning to the Egyptians,
construction (kat), and bull (ka), as well as the vital, perhaps even prior to the rise of the Dynastic state. For
animating, soul-like force that inhabits the ka statue insight into this possibility, it might be useful to reach
(Faulkner 1988:283; Gardiner 1957:597; Gordon beyond ancient Egypt, for example, into contempo-
1996:3334). This soul-like force was not re- rary cultures living a lifestyle similar to that of the
stricted to human beings. It was extended to the entire Predynastic Egyptians.
natural world (Gordon 1996:32), including bulls Archaeologists often utilize an ethnographic paral-
perhaps especially bulls, considering their symbolic lel (ethnoarchaeology) to identify possible meanings
relationship to the king. Therefore, the relationship of and uses for prehistoric and ancient artifacts where
the word ka to mean bull and the word ka to mean textual information is limited or absent. This tech-
soul or spirit (Faulkner 1988:283) may be more nique involves identifying one or more suitable con-
than homonymous, as Gordon (1996) suggests. For temporary cultures that exhibit a significant resem-
the purposes of this discussion, the possible coinci- blance or connection to the past culture in question.20
dence of meaning will be explored. The parallel serves as an analogy to help explain
If the sacrificial bull and the ka as a spiritual entity certain past phenomena rather than provides hard
or quality are related, then it seems that the single evidence and proof: Useful models developed . . .
foreleg, as part of the sacrificial bull (ka), came to from the insights gained from ethnoarchaeology will
represent or condense the spiritual power of the bull likely not be in the form of absolutes, but rather in the
70 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
bellowing in mourning.24 Anyone who has heard a (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:185, Figure 28).
cows distressed call to her separated calf will know These various posts take a number of forms: a long
this tortured sound. The foreleg must have been a obelisk or spike, a short spike or post, a short peg, and
prized ka offering to elicit such a drastic and extreme a vertical crocodile. Hippo often holds the short peg
ritual. and crocodile with her front paws.
The bulls foreleg, as implied in the illustrations This presiding deity, however, is not Taweret.
of the northern sky by the complete or partial Sometimes she is called Isis, sometimes Ipy, or sim-
animal (Figure 1), is the focus of a scene that ply the Great One or the Great Hippopotamus
probably represents the sacrifice of a bull at the (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:190191). The fact
mortuary ceremony of the deceased king or noble that Isis, as Sopdet, is in the southern sky indicates the
contained in the tomb or coffin.25 The immortal flexibility with which the Egyptians interpreted the
stars occupy the Opfergefilde, or sacrificial celestial world, but more important, here, Isis as
realm, in the northern sky (Krauss 1997:121). The presiding deity over the mortuary sacrifice and the
animal appears attached to a tether, which is in turn procurement of the foreleg as a ka offering indicates
secured to a pole, or here, an elongated pyramid or her principal role as rejuvenator of Osiris and the king
obelisk, as mentioned in the passages from the as an Osiris.
Pyramid Texts concerning a mooring post.26 The The mooring post could represent a tethering peg to
mooring post, or posts, seems to be the pivot upon which the sacrificial bull is constrained prior to and
which Ursa Major as a foreleg, here symbolized by during the sacrifice. Once again, typical contempo-
Meskhetiu as an abstracted bull, circles the center rary Sudanese Nilotic practice suggests this use. Both
of the region of the Imperishable Stars. This post, the Nuer and Dinka tribes of southern Sudan conduct
at the very center of the universe, functions as a their sacrifices at modest shrines consisting of a raised
kind of axis mundi in the sky, the spiritual center mound or a collection of small mounds, supplanted or
around which all else revolves. It is the firm, im- accompanied by a forked branch and a tethering peg,
movable point, securing the revolving sky to its to which the beast is tied while the invocations take
immortal center. Though invisible, nevertheless, it place (Figure 8). Figure 8 is a drawing of the Dinka
holds the Meskhetiu in place, preventing its travel spear masters shrine, and the tethering peg appears
among the gods or sinking upside down into the central to the shrine, which incorporates small
Duat (Neugebauer and Parker 1969a:191) while it mounds and a forked stick. In some cases, only a peg
moves through its diurnal cycle, appearing to be at forms the shrine (Lienhardt 1961:259). The forked
the center of activity enacted in the scene. branch functions as the axis mundi, connecting
Holding on to the mooring post in some illustra- heaven and Earth, and in cases where the branch is
tions, here Figure 7 from the tomb of Seti I, is a large absent, the tethering peg marks the center, connecting
hippopotamus deity, who looks very much like the the material and spiritual worlds and opening human-
Egyptian goddess Taweret. In fact, she shares an ity during a sacred time in a sacred space to the often
identical form with Taweret, being mainly composed dangerous spiritual power behind or inherent in the
of a female hippopotamus with lion feet and crocodile universe.
teeth, with a crocodile hanging down her back. The As in the Egyptian illustrations, the Dinka moor-
only visual difference between this deity and Taweret ing posts vary in number and size. In the Senmut
is the mooring post. Taweret holds her hieroglyph of illustration (Figure 1), the sacrificial animal,
comfort and protection, while Hippo, as Neugebauer Meskhetiu (as an abstracted bull), is tethered to a
and Parker (1969a:84) call her, supports the center of mooring post, or obelisk, which resembles more the
the universe by securing the mooring post, which in large branch marking the Dinka shrines. In the Seti
this illustration resembles part of a bulls leg. Up to illustration (Figure 7), the large post is absent, while
four posts are depicted: Senmuts tomb (Figure 1) Meskhetiu is attached to a mooring post more indica-
displays three; Psusennes tomb seems to contain four tive of a tethering peg.
72 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
Meskhetiu adze used in
Opening of the Mouth28
Meskhetiuconstellation
of the Plough
74 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
harvest, or autumn, followed, and the food was stored
until the next harvest or beyond. Following the har-
vest, the drought set in, and as the Sun grew hotter and
the vegetation more parched and brown as the weeks
progressed, the Egyptians waited in anticipation and
apprehension for the return of the life-giving waters.
Therefore, to the Egyptians, the return of the Sun at
the vernal equinox did not presage life and abun-
dance, so, unlike more northern farmers, the Egyp-
tians did not look to the Sun for signs of imminent
agricultural prosperity (Krupp 1984:187).
Most discussions on the relationship of Egyptian
astronomy and agriculture focus on the reappearance
of Sopdet prior to the annual inundation. Isis, as the
goddess immanent in Sopdet, is credited with the
rejuvenation of life, most significantly in the rejuve-
nation of Osiris, the god of the underworld, also
associated with the inundation of the Nile. The sym-
bolic meanings inherent in the entanglement of Osiris
with the rebirth of the Nile and the birth of the ka, as
discussed previously, demonstrate the importance of
the river as a spiritual metaphor for the life, death, and
rebirth of the human soul as well as the source of
physical life. Sopdet was absent from the night sky for
70 consecutive days (Neugebauer and Parker
1960:97), reappearing in July. The period of drought,
or lowest ebb of the Nile, coincided with the absence
FIGURE 12. Annual inundation of the Nile, Egyptian agricul- of Sopdet. The corresponding period of drought, or
tural cycle, and the visibility of Meskhetiu (adapted from fallow, in the spiritual life of the human soul follow-
Hurst 1952). ing death was represented by the 70-day period of
embalming prior to the souls rebirth in the under-
world. Thus, the Egyptian mortuary ritual came to be
in discussions on the Nile and charts the average rise intimately bound up with the cycle of the Nile and the
and fall of the Nile based on observations from 1912 metaphor of life, death, and rebirth it inspired.
to 1936. From this graph, one can see why the Egyp- Meskhetiu, as a combined symbol of the adze, Ursa
tian new year began in July, when both Sopdet and the Major, and the foreleg, is also intimately connected to
Nile reappeared, for until this point, the Egyptians the agricultural cycle of the Nile, in addition to express-
would have suffered three months of drought, be- ing pastoral symbols of life and spiritual power. In
ginning in April, at the lowest ebb of the Nile. iconography (Figures 1, 9), it is the sign of the rebirth of
The ancient Egyptians based their agricultural cal- the ka and the beginning of immortal life for the
endar on the flux of the Nile rather than the annual deceased in the underworld, but it is also connected to
cycle of the Sun. Added to the Nile chart (Figure 12) the rebirth of vegetation through its annual cycle of
is the Egyptian agricultural cycle (Krupp 1984: revolution in the northern sky, as explained below.
190). The equivalent of spring planting began as early The Opening of the Mouth adze was usually shown
as mid-October, and the growing season, or the in the same position, mimicking the shape of Ursa
equivalent of summer, continued until February. The Major in the position of the foreleg. The constellation
Mid month Orientation of Ursa Time of Night at Which Horizontal Corresponding Agricultural
Major at Dawn Relative (Sacred) Positioning Is Achieved Significance
to Sacred Position (as a
Fraction of a Semicircle)
July Does not appear in sacred Nile in flood; too early to
August position (dawn arrives before plant crops
September horizontal position is reached)
October Sacred position ~5:30 A.M. Start of planting
November 1/6 ~3:30 A.M. Time to dawn denotes the
December 1/3 ~1:30 A.M. time since the beginning of
January 1/2 ~11:30 P.M. the season
February 2/3 ~9:30 P.M.
March 5/6 ~7:30 P.M. Harvest
April 1 Does not appear in sacred position Signifies end of season and
beginning of drought
reached this position once per day but was visible in this ceremony. From then on, the constellation reached the
position (at night) for only a limited period of the year. critical horizontal position at successively earlier times
Added to the graph illustrated in Figure 12 are the of the night, providing a calendar of the progress
times of the year that the adze as Ursa Major appeared through the seasons, from planting through to harvest,
to the Predynastic and Dynastic Egyptians in the from mid-October to early April.31
sacred position in the night sky described above. In Table 1 summarizes the time of night during the
July/August, the time before planting, Ursa Major season that Ursa Major achieved its sacred
would have been low in the sky at sunset. Through the position.From April to October, Ursa Major in this
night it would circle the North Celestial Pole, but position was absent, or not visible, to the Egyptians,
dawn would arrive, and the constellation would dis- as it assumed this position during the day. This period
appear before the sacred or most symbolic (hori- of its absence paralleled the period of drought and
zontal) orientation was reached. flood, when no food could be grown and the Egyp-
As October came, Ursa Major more closely ap- tians had to rely on past stores to see them through to
proached to the horizontal each night before it disap- the next harvest. Ursa Major in the shape of the adze
peared into the dawn, until mid-October, when it finally and in the position of the Meskhetiu in tomb-ceiling
achieved this horizontal position, coinciding approxi- illustrations reappeared at the beginning of the plant-
mately with the earliest time for planting and the ing period, when new grain would soon begin to
beginning of a new cycle of agricultural life. Indeed, sprout. The correct timing of planting was essential to
this very fact may have been important in triggering the the success of the harvest. Left too late, perhaps until
persistent depicting of the constellation in the horizon- December, the hot April weather would retard the
tal position in tomb and coffin illustrations and the crops, reducing yield as much as 50 percent (Hassan
shape of the adze in illustrations of the ritual, such as the 1980:17). Rather than look to the vernal equinox for
painting of Tutankhamens Opening of the Mouth the sign of imminent planting, the Egyptians would
76 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
have had the planting season coincide with the ap- 1992), Starry Night (Space Holding Corp. 1999), and
pearance and duration of the foreleg/adze in the Dance of the Planets (ARC Science 1994), one can
appropriate position, first appearing in the dawn sky see that the apparent movements of Ursa Major in
at the beginning when or shortly before the Nile combination with the fluctuations of the Nile River
receded enough to expose the fertile land in its wake. reveal the synchronous appearance of Ursa Major
Ursa Major in this position at this time presented an in the shape of the Opening of the Mouth adze with
immanent symbol for new life and the rebirth of the the beginning of the planting season after the retreat
human soul. The reappearance at planting time and of the inundation of the Nile. This combination unites
the connection of the adze to the rebirth of the Osiris the priestly ritual of the opening of the deceased
mummy in the Opening of the Mouth ritual bring to kings (Osiriss) mouth, the birth of the kings ka, and
mind Osiriss role as a grain god, symbolized by the rebirth of agricultural fecundity, infusing the
sprouting barley. This connection also reinforces the adze in its Meskhetiu form with added meanings and
intimate metaphorical relationship between the spiri- uniting elite and peasant concerns for spiritual and
tual and agricultural lives of the Egyptians and the material rebirth.
seamless merger of spiritual and material prosperity. In addition, understanding the symbolic meaning
There seems to be little doubt that the orientation of of the Opening of the Mouth adze in relation to
Ursa Major had critical, perhaps sacred, significance pastoral rituals, similar to those still practiced by
to the ancient Egyptians. This is especially evidenced todays Sudanese tribes, brings additional possible
in the part played by its horizontal positioning in the meanings to the ritual depiction of the mortuary
Egyptian foreleg as Meskhetiu (Figure 1) and the Sacrifice at the Center of the Universe, the
ritual of the Opening of the Mouth (Figure 9). It is no Opfergefilde, in which a bull is sacrificed for its
surprise then that this horizontal positioning could foreleg with its magical connection to Ursa Major, the
symbolize progress of various phases in the agricul- Opening of the Mouth adze, agricultural fertility, and
tural calendar. Being a circumpolar constellation for the immortality of the kings ka.
the Egyptians, Ursa Major would always be visible at Through the blending of multiple meanings given
any time of year in different orientations throughout to Ursa Major by various sectors of Egyptian
the night. However, what may have been most signifi- societypastoralists, crop farmers, priests, and roy-
cant to Egyptian agriculture was Ursa Majors orien- altythis constellation assumes a potent role as both
tation at dawn, a celestial combination similar in symbol and embodiment of the divine power of reju-
pattern to the reappearance of Sopdet with the rising venation, both spiritual and material.
Sun in July that signified the beginning of the new
year and the return of the Nile. Notes
1. To list a few: the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts
Conclusion (hereafter abbreviated to Pyr.) 250, 263, 458, 516, 537, 538,
Although the Sun in Egyptian mythology represented 871, 877, 882, 1038, 1719, 2014.
the supreme authority of the high god, Re, and the 2. To list a few: Pyr. 141, 380, 733, 749, 782, 818, 940,
1080, 1220, 1926, 2102, 2264.
source of light and heat that brought the world back to 3. The Sun as the source of heat and light brought the world
life each morning, the farmers looked to the night sky back to life every morning and was worshipped for this
for the spiritual forces regulating the agricultural reason. However, the agricultural cycle followed the Nile
cycle and the source of life, the Nile: Sopdet and Ursa cycle of inundation and retreat rather than the solar cycle
Major. The role of Sopdet is widely known, but marked by the solstices and equinoxes.
knowledge of the Opening of the Mouth adze in its 4. In this discussion, this part of Ursa Major will be
referred to as Ursa Major, as the ancient Egyptians did not see
relation to Ursa Major has not been so widely dis- it as a dipper or a plow; rather, they perceived it as an adze or
cussed in Egyptology. a bulls foreleg. They also probably did not see it exactly as
By taking advantage of modern computer- we have defined it, and this will be discussed later in this
simulation programs, such as SkyGlobe (Haney article.
78 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
30. Krauss (1997:95) describes the constellation as a Davis, Virginia Lee
Mundffnungsgerte, or a model of a mouth-opening- 1985 Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations.
appliance. Davis (1985:S103) describes Ursa Major, vari- Archaeoastronomy 16(9):S102S104.
ously represented as an adze or finger, the foreleg of a bull or Depuydt, Leo
foreleg with bulls head or a complete bull. Roth (1993:70, 1997 Civil Calendar and Lunar Calendar in Ancient
Figures 9, 10) clearly illustrates the visual relationship be- Egypt. Uitgeverij Peeters en Departmement
tween the constellation, the foreleg, and the adze. She also Oosterse Studies, Leuven, Belgium.
makes the points that the tip of meteoritic iron connects the Eaton-Krauss, Marianne
mouth-opening implements to the popular notion of them as 1987 The Earliest Representation of Osiris? Varia
fallen stars (1993:70) and that the adze as a wood-carving Aegyptiaca 3:233236.
tool connects it to the creation of the ka statue (1993:75). Evans-Pritchard, Edward Evan
31. During the length of the growing season, Ursa Major 1940 The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood
rotated approximately one full semicircle, the end of the and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People.
season coinciding with an upturned orientation. It can be seen Clarendon Press, Oxford.
from column 2 of the table that observation of the fraction of 1956 Nuer Religion. Oxford University Press, New York.
the semicircle through which Ursa Major had turned (at Faulkner, Raymond Oliver
dawn) relative to the sacred position represented the frac- 1969 The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Clarendon
tion of the time through harvest. Thus, the constellation in Press, Oxford.
this position accompanied the farmers during the planting 1985 The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. British
season, a celestial symbol for the rejuvenation and rebirth Museum Press, London.
taking place in their fields. 1988 A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith
Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Frankfort, Henri
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80 ARCHAEOASTRONOMY
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