j. a. belmonte:the decans and the ancient egyptian skylore

7/28/2019 J. A. Belmonte:The Decans and the ancient Egyptian Skylore

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THE DECANS AND THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN

SKYLORE: AN ASTRONOMER’S APPROACH

JUAN ANTONIO BELMONTE

Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, [email protected]

ABSTRACT. In this work, a hypothetical identification of the ancient Egyptian decan stars or,

simply, decans is presented. This is based on an astronomical analysis of the original 36 decans of the

diagonal clocks located inside the coffin lids of the 1st

Intermediate Period (Dyn. IX to XI; c. 2100 BC).

Besides, we also present sensible translation for most of the terms according to their identification. Theresults are compared with later representations of the decans in the New Kingdom and Greco-Roman

times. Previous proposals are also reviewed.

1. Introduction

To attempt to go further in the determination of thedecans is not only of very little interest but would necessarily imply ascribing to our texts anastronomical accuracy which they never intended tohave

O. Neugebauer (1957)

This extremely pessimistic sentence was written more than four decades ago by oneof the most important historians of astronomy so far (Neugebauer, 1969). Despite

his merits in the field (his “Egyptian astronomical texts”, edited with Richard Parker in the 1960s, hereafter referenced as N&P, are a real masterpiece), statements like

this have severely handicapped any advance in ancient Egyptian skylore, specially

when focussed on an actual astronomical point of view. However, it is worth

mentioning that some effort have been devoted to other areas of ancient Egyptian

astronomy. General reviews can be found in Gallo (1998) and the excellent

compilation by Clagett (1995). Discussions on the calendar, after the classical work of Parker (1950), can be found in Roy (1982), Wells (1994) and, most recently, in

the interesting work of von Bomhard (1999). Since the pioneering, and contested,

book of Lockyer (1894), Hawkins (1973, 1975), Krupp (1977, 1984, 1991), Haack (1984), Leitz (1991), Belmonte (1999, 2000) or Spence (2000) have discussed on

archaeoastronomy and the problem of astronomical orientation.



scattered all around the sky. Some of his identifications are very interesting: xAw

with the Pleiades, art with Taurus or the Hyades, kdty with Corona Australis (but

also with Corona Borealis), xntt with Scorpio (including Antares like Tms n

xntt, the Red on the Front) or spd, which he translates as the Triangle, withSirius.

Others, however, are non-sense either from a philological or an astronomical

point of view. Examples are: hAt xAw with shooting stars, srt, translated as the

Highest and then identified with a star in the zenith, kd (translated as the Bed) with

Ursa Minor, which is a circumpolar star and can not be a decan star in any sensesince they were clearly chosen to mark the beginning of an Egyptian 10 day weeks

(decades) through their heliacal rising, etc.

Most interesting are the proposals of Locher (1981, 1985, 2001; reviewed by von

Bomhard, 2000) who, using N&P ideas and considering differences in eclipticlongitude between different stars and asterisms, has produced quite sensible

identifications for some decans or, better, for their associated constellations (seeFigure 1): i.e. the Circle with the head of Cetus, the Sheep with our Capricornus or

the Boat (including xntt considered as its prow) like parts of Sagittarius and

Scorpio (with Antares as the Red of the Prow). However, the most important would

be the identification of the sAH [ ] hieroglyphic with the asterism formed by

the Belt and the Sword of Orion (see Figure 2 and 3) and, consequently, ending the

equation Sah equal to (all) Orion. We will further mention these proposals in the

discussion.

Figure 2: Image of a part of the inner face of the coffin lid of Idy (c. 2150 BC, 1st

Intermediate Period).

There are four astronomical representations to the right: Nut, perhaps the Milky Way (Wells 1994),mSxtyw (the Plough), sAH (part of Orion) and spd (part of Canis Major, including Sirius). The last twohave their hieroglyphic signs over their head. Part of the corresponding diagonal decan star clock is seen

to the left of the image, starting by Xry-ib wi3, the Heart of the Boat.



hghj

AFig. 3: Identification of the decan star in the area of sAH and spd , represented on the lower right

corner with their hieroglyphic crowns over their head. Following Locher (2001), the sAH sign would be

the belt and sword of Orion. We also propose that the crown of spd can be identified with 5 stars of CMa,including Sirius (Sepedet). After that, the rest of the decans are easily identified. Specially suggestive

would be the identity of xAw, the Myriad or the Flock, with the Pleiades cluster (see Table 3). In later

sources, abwt was transformed into the decan sAH per excellence.

2. Discussion and conclusions

This was the situation when we decided to study the problem of the decans not from

later sources, but from the primary sources that we know, the diagonal clocks

painted in the interior of nearly a dozen of coffin lids of the 1st

Intermediate Period,dated between 2150 and 2050 BC. N&P had studied in details those materials and

had proposed a comprehensive list of 36 original decans (with later variants, seeTable 3) that would have been used to mark the last hour of the night (dawn) of the

36 Egyptian decades through their heliacal rising. This phenomenon was known in

later sources as prt, going forth, or ms, birth (Clagett 1995). This is the list that we

analyse in this work, imposing a series of premises which can be ascertained fromthe original sources. These are that the decans should belong to the Southern Sky

(they are called southerners), they should rise in the Southeast or near there (together with the sun in the land of Punt) and they should stay in the Duat for 70 days. This

last premise probably meant that they were lost in the sun glare for that period and,in my opinion, it should not be interpreted in a very restrictive way (as N&P did);

the theoretical period being originated for the period of invisibility of Sirius, the

head of the decans, in Middle Egypt in the second half of the 3

rd

Millennium BC.Finally, we believe that the decans should have been, predominantly, prominentstars or asterisms. Taking all these facts into account, we have made the following

approach to the problem:



First, we tried to produce a series of stars separated by approximately 10º of

ecliptic longitude starting by Sirius, which normally had been interpreted as the

decan star spd. However, this idea did not work properly in our opinion since,

among other examples, the constellations Sah would have extended then as far as the Pleiades.

We then used the Gotto Planetarium of the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos deTenerife to observe which prominent stars and asterisms would have been rising

in the SE in 10 day intervals for various latitudes and epochs, allowing anaverage error of one day. We started again with Sirius. The results are

summarised in Table 1 where we present the results for the latitudes of Memphis, Thebes and Asswan for 2200 BC and, for checking, for Middle

Egypt in 2800 BC.

At this moment, we realised that the decan spd (Triangle) could also be found

in the sky (see Figures 2 & 3) in the same way as the decan sAH had been

suggested by Locher (2001). We then will continue using that idea in all the

following arguments, considering that Sirius (Sepedet) was just one star more of

the asterism of the Triangle. This situation might have changed in later sources,specially when the system was converted in a transit device, and when thisdecan was normally written [ ] (i.e Sepedet or Sirius).

Then we proceed to calculate the dates of the heliacal rising of all these stars

trying to fit then in a 10 day interval scheme, for 2200 BC and differentlatitudes, starting not by the heliacal rising of Sirius but of all the Triangle

(spd), represented by the fainter star CMa. The results are summarised now in

Table 2 and , from my point of view, they offer extremely suggestive

possibilities, specially for the area between Sirius (or better the Triangle) and

the Pleiades (see Figure 3).

To further identify the rests of the decan stars, we had to impose a new criterion

to answer the question: what is the frontier between the Egyptian southern and

northern skies? According to Krauss (1997 and private communications), thefrontier could be the Ecliptic, interpreted by him as the “winding water way”(this is much surer for the frontier between the Filed of reeds and the Field of Offerings of the Pyramid Texts).

However, Davis (1985) has suggested that the frontier might also be the MilkyWay, identified by Wells (1994) with goddess Nut whom, in several ceilings is

represented in the middle of the sky. Considering that later possibility, we have

proposed our list of decans presented in Table 3 and illustrated in Fig. 3 and 4.

One result of our proposal is the impossibility of following several of Locher’sidentification of the ancient Egyptian constellations. Although the Circle (kd)

would be effectively the Head of Cetus, for us the Sheep (srt) should be

located in Grus (or Piscis Austrinus) and the Boat (wiA) should be identified

with Capricornus (constellation which, in fact, resembles the form of an ancient

Egyptian boat). The Front (xntt) is still in Scorpio but we are not sure of itsidentification with the Prow of the boat. We specially regret the apparent



impossibility of identification of Antares with the Red of the Front (Tms n

xntt).

In order to text our ideas, we also tried to fit the pattern with the later

representations of the decans of the New Kingdom, taking the ceiling of Senmwt tomb as an example where the system is, apparently, a heliacal rising

device yet. Here we have considered Ast spdt as Sirius and not as all the

Triangle. The results are summarised in Table 4 and we can see that the system

still adjusts reasonably but not in every feauture.

The analysis of the “Book of Nut”, where, almost surely, we are dealing with ameridian transit system based upon the decans, developed perhaps in the Middle

Kingdom (c. 1850 BC) when the heliacal rising system started to give problems(see N&P or Clagett, 1995), will be left for future works. This is because we

believe that it deserves a longer discussion, in connection to the Ramesside star

clocks (Clagett, 1995; Belmonte, 2001).

Finally, our proposal was tested with the decans represented in the ceiling of

the Hipostyle Hall of the Temple of Hathor in Denderah (c. 50 BC). In thisepoch, the decans were almost surely areas of 10º along the Ecliptic, associated

to the zodiacal signs, and there should be few connections with the original

decan stars selected for the diagonal clocks more than 2000 years earlier. As

demonstrated in Table 5, this seems to be the case since several proposals are problematic but still some previous identifications would be operative (see, for

example, the Pleiades and the Hyades like xAw and art, respectively). These

would be the last signatures of a former glorious past.

One final hypothesis, resulting from the analysis, would be that ancient Egyptian

skylore, referenced for the first time in written sources in the Pyramid Textxs (c.

2350 BC), would have inspired the creation of the decanal system somewhere in the

Middle Egypt around 2200 BC, perhaps during the poorly known period of rule of

the Hereacleopolitan dynasties.

Figure 4: The southern sky with the

approximate locations proposed for

the rest of the 36 decans of the coffinlids (see Table 3) and the most

important constellations, the Circle

(head of Cetus) the Sheep (area of Grus and Piscis Austrinus), the Boat

(Capricornus) and the Front (area of

Scorpius). This figure complements

Figure 3. In our proposal, the decan

wS3t bk3ti

(i.e. the Sothern Cross) was later

divided into two, the Twins (wsAti,& Cru) and the Two Pregnants

(bkAti, & Cru).



Table 1: The decans identified by numbers (see Table 3) and the stars rising onintervals of decades for 2800 BC at Middle Egypt and for 2200 BC at Memphis,

Thebes and Asswan.

N 26ºN 2800 BC 30ºN 2200 BC 23½ºN 2200 BC 25½ºN 2200 BC

1 Phact or Adhara Phact or Adhara Phact or Adhara Adhara or Columba

2 CMa or Columba CMa or Columba CMa or Columba Cma or Columba

3 Dove’s leg or Pup Dove’s leg or Pup Dove’s leg or Pup Dove’s leg or Pup

4 Velae or ..... Velae or Alsuhail Canopus or Alsuhail

5 Canopus or Alsuhail Alsuhail ( Car) Canopus or Regor Velae or 1st False Crux

6 Velae (1ª False Cross) or.... Vel & Car or

Canopus

False Cross: Vel, Car, Vel False Cross

7 False Cross ( Car, Vel, Car) Vel & Car False Cross ( Car), Car Some of Argo or Cen

8 Cen or Gacrux Cen or Gacrux Cen Cen & Gacrux

9 Crux or Cen Crux or Cen Crux Crux

10 Cen & ¿ Cen? Cen Cen Cen & Cen

11 Cen & Antares Cen & Antares Cen Antares or ... (Lup, Cen)

12 Sco, Sco, Sco or ... Sco, Sco, Sco or ... Sco, Sco & Antares or ... Sco, Sco, Sco or ...

13 Sco, Ara or Tri Sco, Ara or Tri Sco or Tri Sco, Ara or Tri

14 Sag or Sag or ... Sag or ... Sag & Sag or ... Sag or Sag or ...

15 Corona Australis Cor Aus or Sag &

Sag

Sag & Sag or Cor Aus Cor Aus or Sag & Sag

16 Some of Pavo Some of Pavo or Sag Sag & Sag Pavo

17 Pav or some of Cap Pav or some of Cap Pav or some of Cap Pav or some of Cap

18 Cap, Ind or Mic or Mic Mic or Mic Mic or Mic PsA & Psa (Sheep)

19 Gru or PsA Gru Gru or PsA Gru or oPsA

20 Gru (h & X Per) 1& 2 Gru (h & XPer)

Gru (h & X Per) Gru (h & X Per)

21 Fomalhaut or 1

&2

Gru Gru & Fomalhaut Fomalhaut or 1

&2

Gru Fomalhaut or 1

&2

Gru

22 Gru 1 & 2 Gru Gru Gru

23 Pho or Cet (south of Psc) Gru Gru or .... Pho, Cet or Gru & Gru

24 Diphda (Deneb Kaitos) or ... Pho or a faint of

Sculptor

Pho or a faint of Scu lptor Diphda (Deneb Kaitos)

25 Diphda or ... Diphda (Deneb Kaitos) Diphda (Deneb Kaitos) Cet or & Cet

26 Cet or & Cet Cet or & Cet Cet or & Cet Point of Pentagon

27 Cet or ¿Mira? Cet (Pentagon) Cet (Pentagon) Mira or Point of Pentagon

28 Mira, Pleiades, Pentagon Menkar (Penta) &

Pleiades

Menkar (Penta) & Pleiades Menkar & Pleiades

29 Menkar (Pentagon) Tau & Tau Tau or .... Tau & Tau (Hyades) or ...

30 Aldebaran & Hyades Aldebaran & rest of Hyades

Aldebaran & Hyades Aldebaran & Hyades

31 Arch of Ori Arch of Ori Arch of Ori Arch of Ori

32 Bellatrix & base of the arch Bellatrix & base of the

arch

Bellatrix & base of the arch Bellatrix & base of the arch

33 Alnitak, Mintaka, Ori, Eri Alnitak, Mintaka,

Ori, EriAlnitak, Mintaka, Or i, Eri Belt, Or i, Rigel

34 Alnilam, Rigel, M42, M44 Alnilam, Rigel, M42,M44

Alhilam, Rigel, M42, Saiph Saiph

35 Saiph or Lep Saiph or Lep Lep or Cma Between Lep & CMa

36 Sirius Sirius Sirius Sirius or Phact



Table 2: The 36 decans of the diagonal star clocks: probable identification by places (c. 2200 BC) . N Coffins (D. IX to XI) Date Middle Egypt ( 27º) Date Memphis 30º Date Aswan 23½º

1 knmt 16/07 (12±4/7) CMa (1.5) 21/07 (16/7) CMa (1.5) 13/07 (8/7) CMa (1.5)

2 s3wy knmt 27/07 (28±4/7) Pup (2.7) 02/08 (1/8) Pup (2.7) 23/07 (23/7) Pup (2.7)

3 Xry xpd knmt 06/08 (4±5/8) Pup (2.2) 12/08 (9/8) Pup (2.2) 02/08 (31/7) Pup (2.2)

4 h3t x3w 16/08 (14±5/8) Vel (1.8) (*) 22/08 (19/8) Vel (1.8) 12/08 (9/8) Vel (1.8) Car (4)

5 phwy x3w 26/08 (27±5/8) Vel (2.0) 01/09 (1/9) Vel (2.0) [ Car (29/8)] 22/08 (22/8) Vel (2.0)

6 Tm3t Hrt 05/09 (7±5/9) Car (2.2) 11/09 (12/9) Car (2.2) 01/09 (1/9) Car (2.2)

7 Tm3t Xrt 15/09 (12±5/9) Car (¿.?) 22/09 (16 a 24/9) Car (1 a 5) 11/09 (7 a 14/9) Car (1 a 5)

8 wS3t bk3Ti 25/09 (23±4/9) Cru (1.6) 02/10 (2/10) Cru (1.6) All Crux 22/09 (22/9) Cru (1.2) Top of Crux

9 ipDs (sSpt) 06/10 (4±4/10) Cen (0.6) & Crux 12/10 (8/10) Cen (0.6) 02/10 (1/10) Cen (0.6)

10 sbSsn (tpya xntt) 16/10 (13±3/10) Cen (0.0) 22/10 (21/10) Sco (1.0) Cen (16) 12/10 (10/10) Cen (0.0)11 xntt Hrt 26/10 (28±1/10) Sco (2.3) 01/11 (1/11) Sco (3.1) 22/10 (19/10) Sco (1.0)

12 xntt Xrt 05/11 (6±1/10) Sco (1.6) 11/11 (7/11) Sco (1.6) 01/11 (1/11) Sco (3.6)

13 Tms n xntt 15/11 (15±1/11) Sag (3.0) M8 21/11 (18/11) Sag (1.8) M8 11/11 (14/11) Sag (3.0) ? M8

14 kdty (s3pti xnwy) 25/11 (24±1/11) Sag (2.0) 01/12 (2/12) CrA (4.0) 21/11 (18/11) Sag (2.7)

15 xnwy 05/12 (5±2/12) y Sag (4.0) 11/12 (7/12) y Sag (4.0) 02/12 (30/11) CrA (4.0)

16 Xry-ib wi3 16/12 (16±1/12) / Cap (3.6/3.1) ? 21/12 (16/12) / Cap (3.6/3.1) 12/12 ?

17 --4 persons-- (Ssmw) 26/12 (25±4/12) Ind (3.1) ? 31/12 (27/12) Cap (4.1) Ind (29) 22/12 (21/12) Ind (3.1) ?

18 knmw (tpya smd) 05/01 (7±1/1) / Cap (3.7/2.9) ? 10/01 (9/1) Cap (2.9) 01/01 ?

19 smd srt 15/01 (16±4/1) Gru (3.0) 20/01 (20/1) Gru (3.0) 11/01 (12/1) Gru (3.0)

20 srt 25/01 (29±10/1) Gru (1.7) 31/01 ? 21/01 (19/1) Gru (1.7)

21 s3wy srt 04/02 (4±5/2) PsA (1.2) 10/02 (9/2) PsA (1.2) Gru (8) 31/01 (29/1) Gru/ PsA (2.8/1.2)

22 Xry xpd srt 14/02 (16±12/2) Gru (2.1) 20/02 (18 to 21/2) 1/ 2 Gru (4/4.1) 11/02 ?

23 tpya 3xwy 25/02 (23±8/2) Scr (4.5) 02/03 (1-4/3) Gru- Scr (2.1-4.3) 21/02 (15-21/2) Scr- Gru (4.5-4.3)

24 3xwy 07/03 (18±18/3 ) Scr (4.5) 12/03 ? 03/03 (28/2) Scr (4.5)

25 imi xt 3xwy 17/03 (14±5/3) Cet (2.0) 22/03 (20/3) Cet (2.0) 13/03 (9/3) Cet (2.0)

26 b3wy (or xntw) 27/03 (22±5/3) Cet (3.4) 01/04 (27/3) Cet (3.4) 23/03 (17/3) Cet (3.4)

27 kd 06/04 (8±3/4) Cet (4.3) 11/04 (11/4) Cet (4.3) 02/04 (5/4) Cet (4.3) ¿?

28 x3w 16/04 (16±2/4) Pleiades (2.9) 21/04 (18/4) Pleiades (2.9) 12/04 (12/4) cet (3.5) Tau (15)

29 ar(y)t 26/04 (30±4/4) Tau (0.8) Hyades 02/05 (4/5) Tau (0.8) Hyades 23/04 (26/5) Tau (0.8) Hyades

30 Xry ar(y)t 07/05 (6±2/5) Tau (3.4) Hyades 12/05 (9/5) Tau (3.4) Hyades 03/05 (4/5) Tau (3.4) Hyades

31 rmn Hry s3H 17/05 (14±3/5) 88/90Tau (4.2/4.3) 22/05 (22/5) ³Ori (3.2) 13/05 (11/5) 88/90Tau (4.2/4.3)

32rmn Xry s3H

27/05 (28±3/5)

6

Ori (4.5) (**) 01/06 (1/6) Ori (0.5) &

6

Ori (4.5) 23/05 (21-23/5) Ori-

6

Ori (0.5-4.5)33 abwt 06/06 (4±5/6) Ori (0.1) Belt 11/06 (9/6) Ori (0.1) Belt 02/06 (31/5) Ori (0.1) Belt

34 Xrt wart 16/06 (13±4/6) Ori (2.1) or Lepus 21/06 (17/6) Ori (2.1) or Lepus 12/06 (9/6) Ori (2.1) or Lepus

35 tpya spd 26/06 (26±4/6) CMa (2.0) 01/07 (1/7) CMa (2.0) 22/06 (22/6) CMa (2.0)

36 spd (tpya knmt) 06/07 (5±3/7) CMa (4.1) 11/07 (9/7) CMa (4.1) 02/07 (2/7) CMa (4.1)

spdt (22±6/6) Sirius (-1.5) Sirius (26/6) Sirius (19/6)

(*): (16±12/8) Ca r (-0.7) (**): (26±4/5) Ori (0.5)



Table 3: Identification of the Decans of the Star Clocks. The table presents, for each decan, a

number, its hieroglyphic name and transliteration, our proposed translation and suggested

identification (with average magnitude mv and declination for 2200 BC), the number of

days of invisibility (time in the Duat) and, finally, the degree of confidence that we have inthe proposed identification.

N DECANS Coffins

(D. IX-XI)

Translation Star/Asterism mv Days

1knmt Cow CMa and back

of CMa

1.5

-2887 7 4

2s3wy knmt Cow Twins Pup & ....

2.7

-36100 7 4

3Xry xpd knmt Under the Tail

of the CowPup

2.2

-3498 8 4

4h3t x3w Front of Myriad Vel

[or Car (-0.7)]

1.8

-41107 10 3

5phwy x3w Back of Myriad Vel

2.0

-44115 7 3

6Tm3t Hrt Upper Zmat

(Wing)Car

2.2

-46116 10 2

7Tm3t Xrt Lower Zmat

(Wing)Car

1.5

-44101 8 2

8wS3t bk3ti The Twins &

the 2 PregnantsSouthern Cross

( , , & Cru)

1.6

-3798 10 5

9ipDs (sSpt) Its own count

(Luminous)Cen or Part

of Crux

0.6

-3797 8 4

10’ sbSsn Sage’s Star Cen (or Cen)

0.0

-3998 9 4

10” tpya xntt Head of the Front

(or Prow or South)Sco (or Cen)

1.0

-0846 4 4

11xntt Hrt Upper of the Front

(or Prow or South)

Sco or .....

2.3

-20

61 4 3

12xntt Xrt Lower of the front

(or Prow or South)Sco

1.6

-2258 4 3

13Tms n xntt Red of the Front

(of Prow or South)Sag & ...

(with M8)

3.0

-1355 3 1

14’ kdty 2 Circles Sag with CrA

2.0

-3047 3 3

14” s3pti xnwy Khanuy’s Net CrA with

Sag & Sag

4.0

-3075 6 3

15xnwy 2 Khanuy Fishes Sag & Sag

4.0

-3476 6 3

16Xry-ib wi3 Heart of the Boat Cap & Cap

3.6

-1738 1 3

17 -4 persons- (Ssmw) Crew?

(Winepress?)

Cap & ....

4.0

-30

58 4 3

1: Speculative 2: Likely 3: Probable 4: Highly probable 5: Almost

sure



N DECANS Coffins

(D. IX-XI)

Translation Star/Asterism mv Days

18’ knmw Secret Stars ? Cap & .....

2.9

-26

45 2 3

18” tpya smd Head of Horn PsA

4.3

-4178 10 2

19smd srt Horn of the Sheep Gru

3.0

-4684 9 2

20srt Sheep or Goat Star Gru

1.7

-55124 20 3

21s3wy srt Sheep Twins 1/ 2Gru or

PsA (1.2/72 10)

2.8

-44122 10 3

22Xry xpd srt Under the Tail

of the SheepGru

2.1

-53120 20 2

23tpya 3xwy Head of the

Two SpiritsScr

4.5

-44100 15 1

243xwy The Two Spirits Scr

4.5

-46122 14 1

25imi xt 3xwy Favourite of the

Two SpiritsCet

2.0

-3185 7 2

26’ b3wy The Two Souls Cet or ...

3.4

-2672 6 1

26” xntw “Khentu” Cet or ...

3.4

-2672 6 1

27kd Circle or

SheepfoldCet & the

Pentagon of Cetus

4.3

-1560 3 4

28x3w Myriad or Flock Pleiades

2.9

0442 2 5

29ar(y)t Jaw

(or Rising Stars)Tau & Hyades

0.8

0043 5 5

30Xry ar(y)t

Lower Jaw Tau(Lower Hyades)

3.4

00 54 2 5

31rmn Hry s3H Upper Arm of Sah Between 88/90Tau

& 3Ori

3.2

-0363 4 4

32rmn Xry s3H Lower arm of Sah 6Ori or

Ori (0.5/53 7)

4.5

-0673 3 4

33abwt

(sAH)Trident or Sceptres

(Sah)Ori and the Belt

0.1

-1775 6 5

34Xrt wart Lower Leg Ori (or Lep)

2.1

-2076 6 3

35tpya spd Before the Triangle CMa

2.0

-2581 7 5

36spd (tpya knmt) Triangle

(Cow Head)CMa & the

[Sirius (-1.5/66 6)]

4.1

-2082 7 5



Table 4: Heliacal risings in the New Kingdom and the decans in the ceiling of the tomb of Senmwt. The table presents the 36 original decans that we have used in the analysis and compares them with those found in the ceiling.

5th

and 6th

columns propose heliacal rising dates and possible identification for those later decans, respectively. It is

obvious that the system was not working properly already for this epoch.

N 36 original decans Senmwt N Date Heliacal rising 1500 BC 25½º

1 knmt tpya knmt (0) 1 18/07 (16/7) CMa ?

2 s3wy knmt knmt (I) 2 29/07 (30/7) Pup ?

3 Xry xpd knmt Xry xpd knmt (I) 3 08/08 (8/8) Pup

4 h3t x3w h3t D3t (II) 4 18/08 (16/8) Vel (11/8) Car

5 phwy x3w phwy D3t (II) 5 28/08 (30/8) Vel

6 Tm3t Hrt Tm3t Hrt (III) 6 07/09 (3/9) Car

7 Tm3t Xrt Tm3t Xrt (III) 7 17/09 (17/9) Car

8 wS3t bk3ti wS3ti (IV) 8 27/09 (26/9) Cen (1/10) Cru

bk3ti (IV) 9 08/10 (6/10) Cru (Crux)

9/10 ipDs & sbSsn (1) 10 18/10 (14 & 22/10) & Cen

tpya xntt (V) 11 28/10 (29/10) Sco

11 xntt Hrt xntt Hrt (V) 12 07/11 (7/11) Sco

12 xntt Xrt xntt Xrt (wi3) 13 17/11 (16/11) Sco13 Tms n xntt Tms n xntt (wi3) 14 27/11 (25/11) Sag ?

14 kdty s3pti xnwy (wi3) 15 07/12 (3 & 7/12) Sag & Sag ?

15 xnwy (2) 16 18/12 (16/12) & Sag

16 Xry-ib wi3 Xry-ib wi3 (wi3) 17 28/12 (24 & 25/12) & Cap

17 “4 Persons” Ssmw (wi3) 18 07/01 (6/1) Ind (5/1) Cap ?

18 knmw knmw (wi3) 19 17/01 (18/1) & Cap ?

19 smd srt tpya smd / smd

(srt) (3)20 27/01 (25/1) PsA / (29/1) Gru ?

20 srt sit (3-nwt Xt)

(srt)21 06/02 (11/2) Gru ?

21 s3wy srt s3wy sit (srt) 22 16/02 (14/2) PsA

22 Xry xpd srt Xry xpd srt 23 27/02 (20 a 22/2) 1 & 2 Gru ?

23 tpya 3xwy tpya 3xwy 24 09/03 (5/3) Scr ?

243xwy 3xwy

25 19/03 (22/3) Scr ?25 imi xt 3xwy b3wy (Xt 4-nwt) 26 29/03 (29/3) Cet

26 b3wy or xntw xntw Hrw & xntw

Xrw (VI)

27 08/04 ?

27 kd kd & s3wy kd (VII) 28 18/04 (16/4) Cet

28 x3w x3w (Xt 5-nwt) 29 28/04 (25/4) Pleiades

29/30 ar(y)t & Xry

ar(y)t

art (4) 30 09/05 (6/5) Tau (Hyades)

31 rmn Hry s3H rmn Hry s3H 31 19/05 (20/5) 90Tau

32 rmn Xry s3H rmn Xry s3H 32 29/05 (28/5) Ori / (31/5) Ori

33 abwt s3H ( Xt 6-nwt) 33 08/06 (9/6) Ori (Belt)

34 Xrt wart ah s3h 34 18/06 (17/6) Ori

35 tpya spd

36 spd 3st spdt 35 28/06 (28/6) Sirius

36 08/07 (10/7) CMa (11/7) Col ¿?

(0). Some misplacings might have been produced. These decans, (I) to (VII), are found in pairs in the same column.

(1): sSpt ( Cen?) & sbSsn ( Cen?) are found among the triangular decans. (2): Between s3pti xnwy & smd there are loses and changes of several stars and decans.(3): Together in the same box.

(4) The position of the following 5 decans has been altered.



Table 5: Transit Decans of the ceiling at the Hipostyle Hall in Denderah, dating c. 50 BC. The table presents the

36 original decans that we have used in the analysis and compares them with those found in the Denderah ceiling. 5th

and 6th

columns propose the expected right ascension (error of ±0.2 hours) and hypothetical identification for thoselater decans, respectively. At this time, the decans have been already converted in 10º sectors of the zodiacal signs

(column 77h) with little connection to the original decan stars. Notice the possibility of identification of Tms n xntwith Antares which did not work for earlier times when the decans were part of a heliacal rising device.

N 36 decans Hipostyle Hall N (h) 50 BC at 26º Sign

1 knmt St 2 6.6 Pup (6.8) ?

2 s3wy knmt knm 3 7.2 Vel (7.1)

3 Xry xpd

knmt

xnt Xry 4 7.9 Vel (7.9) or Vel (7.8)

4 h3t x3w h3t D3t 5 8.6 ?

5 phwy x3w phwy D3t 6 9.2 ?

6 Tm3t Hrt tm3t 7 9.9 Car (9.5) ?

7 Tm3t Xrt

8 wS3t bk3ti wS3tbkti 8 10.6 Cru/ Cru (10.5/10.6)

9 ipDs ipts (Its own count,

Harem?)

9 11.2 Cru (11.0)

10 sbSsn sbhs (Faint Star) (1) 10 11.9 Cen (12.0)

tpya xntt 11 12.6 Cen (12.5 ) ?

11 xntt Hrt xnt Hrt 12 13.2 ?

12 xntt Xrt xnt Xrt 13 13.9 Sco (14.2) ?

13 Tms n xntt Tms n xnt 14 14.6 Sco (14.5) ?

14 kdty

15 xnwy spti xnwy 15 15.2 Sco (15.3) ?

16 hry-ib wi3 Xry-ib wi3 16 15.9 Sag (15.9) ?

17 “4 Persons” Ssm 17 16.6 Sag (16.8) ?

18 knmw knm 18 17.3 Sag/ CrA (17.0/17.1) ?

tpya smd 19 17.9 Ind (17.9)

19 smd srt smd 20 18.6 Cap (18.6)

20 srt srt 21 19.2 Gru (19.4) or some in Cap

21 s3wy srt s3 srt (Little sheep) 22 19.9 Cap (19.9) - 1/ 2Gru (20.2)

22 Xry xpd

srt

Xry xpd srt 23 20.6 Gru (20.4) ?

23 tpya 3xwy tpya 3xw 24 21.2 PsA/ Gru (20.9) Scr (21.3)

24 3xwy 3xw 25 21.9 Scr (21.5)

25 imi xt

3xwy

tpya b3wy 26 22.6 Pho (22.6) ?

26 b3wy b3w 27 23.2 Cet (23.4) ?

xnt Hr 28 23.9 Cet (0.1) ?

xnt Xr 29 0.6 Cet (0.6)

27 kd

s3 kd 30 1.2 Cet (1.2)

28 x3w x3w 31 1.9 Pleiades (1.9)

29/30

ar(y)t & Xry

ar(y)t

art 32 2.6 Tau & Hyades (2.4/ 2.7)

31 rmn Hry

s3H

rmn Hry 33 3.2 6Ori (3.3)

32 rmn Xry

s3H

33 abwt Ts ark (Bow) 34 3.9 Ori & Belt (3.9)



34 Xrt wart wart (Leg) 35 4.6 Col (4.4)

35 tpya spd tpya spdt 36 5.2 Sirius (5.2) or CMa (4.9)

36 spd spdt 1 5.9 CMa ( ) (5.5) or CMa(6.0)

(1): There is also a a3 phty rhn pt t3 (Bridge between Heaven and Earth).

Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure for me to acknowledge the Organisation of INSAPIII for providing a

marvellous environment to discuss about Astronomy and Culture and, specially, Prof.

Giorgia Fodera’-Serio for her encourage and support. Thanks are also due to Dr. Miguel

Angel Molinero, Egyptologist of La Laguna University, for interesting discussions which

have greatly improved large parts of the paper. Part of this work is a result of the 5 year

directorship of the author at the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, with easy access to thePlanetarium. This work has been partly financed by the IAC under the project P7/93

Arqueoastronomía.

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j. a. belmonte:the decans and the ancient egyptian skylore

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