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On Sothis and the Morning Star

It has frequently been observed that star-worship pervades the
earliest religion of Egypt.  Certainly this is true of that religion
as it is represented in the Pyramid Texts.  Countless passages therein
identify the king with one celestial body or another and describe in
some detail his peregrinations (or his soul's) throughout the stellar
regions until he ultimately comes to reside in a celestial Elysian
fields.

Despite numerous attempts to identify various stars and planets in the
Pyramid Texts there is little agreement as to the specific asterisms
involved and, in any case, there are grave problems with virtually
every one of the identifications proposed thus far.  In this essay we
will examine the passages which have been advanced as referring to
Sirius and the Morning Star.  The correct identification of these two
bodies is a matter of paramount importance not only for a correct
understanding of ancient Egyptian religion but, because of the heavy
reliance upon astronomically-oriented methods of retrocalculating
history (via the so-called Sothic cycle), of an adequate foundation
for ancient chronology as well.

On Spd.t And Sirius

The Pyramid Texts are thought to have been compiled in the third
millennium BCE, although many of the passages may reflect predynastic
beliefs.  Composed by various scribes throughout the centuries and
renowned for numerous conundrums and internal inconsistencies, these
texts are not without their difficulties for the researcher of
comparative mythology.  Such problems notwithstanding, the Pyramid
Texts represent the oldest body of literature dealing with the various
celestial bodies and, as such, they constitute a vital link in any
theory attempting to make sense of archaeoastronomical traditions.

It would appear to be the unanimous opinion of Egyptologists that
Sirius is mentioned repeatedly in the Pyramid Texts.  Indeed, it has
been said that "the identification of the goddess Spd.t, Greek Sothis,
with the star we call Sirius, is the only one in these texts which is
unquestioned."  Neugebauer and Parker offer a similar opinion: "That
spd and spdt 'Sothis' are both identified with Sirius is one of the
rare certainties in Egyptian astronomy."  Inasmuch as we will have
reason to dispute such claims, it is necessary to review the extensive
evidence bearing on the question.

The precise meaning of the word Spd.t
¢ÍÍÍß2^?is uncertain, but most scholars have attempted to interpret it
as "sharp", from the root spd, "sharp, pointed" (with reference to PT
186, 632, 723).  The celestial body Spd.t is mentioned several dozen
times in the Pyramid Texts, frequently in a formula corresponding to
the following pattern: "The King's sister is Sothis [Spd.t], the
King's offspring is the Morning Star [Neter Dwa]."

At the outset of our investigation it may be relevant to ask upon what
basis has Spd.t been identified with Sirius?  A summary of the
literature on the subject reveals the following reasons cited in favor
of the identification: (1) supposed references in the Pyramid Texts
and elsewhere to Sothis' role as a herald of the New Year;  (2)
supposed references in the Pyramid Texts and elsewhere to Sothis'
association with the annual flooding of the Nile; (3) various passages
in the Pyramid Texts which speak of an intimate relation between
Sothis and a star S
ah, the latter conventionally identified with Orion, thereby
supporting the identification of Sothis with Sirius.  We will examine
each of these arguments in turn.

Various scholars have attempted to demonstrate an association between
Spd.t and the celebration of the New Year in the Pyramid Texts.  There
are, in fact, but two passages which speak of a relationship between
Sothis and the year; however, the context is such that the
significance of the appellation "Year" is quite uncertain.  Passage
965, for example, reads as follows: "It is Sothis your beloved
daughter who prepares your yearly sustenance in this her name of Year
and who guides the King when he comes to you."  Passage 883 contains a
similarly obscure reference to the Year: "The sky has borne you [the
king as a star, but not Spd.t] with Orion, the year has put a fillet
on you with Osiris"

In his discussion of the star-religion of earliest Egypt, Faulkner
suggests that the appellation "Year" refers to the fact that the
heliacal rising of Sothis marked the start of a new agricultural
year.  Briggs, citing the same passage(s), goes so far as to state:
"Since early in the Old Kingdom the heliacal rising of Sothis had
heralded each new year."  In fact, however, there is little support
for the opinion that the Egyptians regulated their calendar in
accordance with the movements of Sirius during the Old Kingdom.
Perhaps it can be shown that Sirius had a connection with the
agricultural year at some later point in Egyptian history, but
projecting such beliefs back to early times is not methodologically
sound, particularly in the absence of supporting evidence in the
earlier period.  Certainly passage 965 cannot be used to prove the
point as it has no demonstrable connection with the calendar,
agriculture, or New Year celebrations.

Faulkner also cites the following passage as a reference to the
heliacal rising of Sothis: "The sky is pregnant of wine, Nut has given
birth to her daughter the dawn-light, and I raise myself indeed; my
third is Sothis, pure of seats."  Here too, rather than a clear
reference to the heliacal rising of Sothis, we appear to be presented
with an inference on Faulkner's part, owing more to that scholar's
preconceptions than to a careful evaluation of the evidence.

Equally questionable are the supposed references to Spd.t's connection
with the flooding of the Nile.  Kakosy, for example, offered the
following summary of the mythology surrounding Sothis:
The flood [of the Nile] was considered as a gift of the goddess, whose
appearance [heliacal rise] also initiated a new year.  Already in
the Pyramid Texts the goddess was characterized as "Year".  The
connection with the year and the flooding of the Nile remains the
outstanding characteristic of Sothis.

Having already established the speciousness of the alleged
connection of Sothis with the New Year in the Pyramid Texts, the
question arises as to possible references to Sothis and flooding.
Here the evidence is unequivocal: An association between Spd.t/Sothis
and the flooding of the Nile is not to be found in the Pyramid Texts.
Inasmuch as the coincidence between Sothis' heliacal rising and the
annual inundation of the Nile was the most noteworthy feature of this
star's appearance, emphasized by the Greeks and cited by numerous
historians as providing the impetus for the development of the
Egyptian calender, the absence of testimony on this score in the
Pyramid Textswhere Spd.t figures prominentlymust give us grounds for
caution when considering the conventional identification of Spd.t with
Sirius.

Later sources, it is true, do contain reference to an association
between Sothis and the flooding of the Nile.  The astronomical ceiling
of Ramses II, for example, bears the following statement addressed to
the king: "You go up to Heaven as Isis-Sothis on the Morning of the
New Year, when it announces to you the Jubilee and Nile without injury
(?)."  Yet even if we grant an association between Sothis and the
Nile-flood in later times this does not necessarily support the
identification of Sothis and Sirius, particularly in the absence of
other evidence linking the goddess to this star.  As we will see,
moreover, the traditions linking Sothis with the flooding of the Nile
are susceptible of another interpretation.

As for the supposed references to Orion in the Pyramid Texts, here too
the evidence does not bear out the conventional opinion.  The star
identified as Orion is S
AÅh¢£x?.  This body, together with Sothis and "Morning Star", features
prominently in the imagery associated with the king's ascension to
heaven.  A typical passage is the following: "May you ascend to the
sky, may the sky give birth to you like Orion."  Another passage
contains the following declaration: "Live and be young beside your
father, beside Orion in the sky."

In all of the various passages having to do with S
AÅh there is nothing which makes the identification of this body with
Orion certain and, in fact, several passages would appear to preclude
this identification.  One passage, for example, speaks of the king's
traveling to the northern portion of the sky, where SAÅh and the
DwAÅ.t will be found:
For you have traversed the Winding Waterway in the north of the
sky as a star crossing the sea which is beneath the sky.  The
Netherworld [Dw
a.t] has grasped your hand at the place where Orion [Sah] is, the
Bull of the Sky has given you his hand"

As a constellation of the southern hemisphere, it is absurd to speak
of traveling to the North to find Orion.  Nor does this constellation
have any obvious relationship with the DwAÅ.t, the latter regionas we
will seebeing regarded as the place from whence the Sun rises.

Other scholars have likewise questioned the identification of S
AÅh with Orion.  Anthes, for example, upon examining the references to
SAÅh, was forced to admit that their subject was a star, not a
constellation.  Faulkner, similarly, suggested Procyon or Aldebaran as
the reference for SAÅh, while others have favored an identification
with Canopus.  Obviously the identification of SAÅh with Orion cannot
be regarded as certain and thus the argument identifying Spd.t with
Sirius because of that star's association with SAÅh is undermined.

There would thus appear to be a dearth of references in the Pyramid
Texts to any phenomenacelestial or terrestrialthat might logically be
related to the star Sirius.  Other evidence from within the Pyramid
Texts, moreover, is inconsistent with the conventional explanation of
Spd.t.  For example, if Spd.t was Sirius and Neter Dw
a Venus, as per the conventional opinion, how do we account for the
fact that these two celestial bodies are consistently described as
cooperating together in some act?  Witness the following passage: "I
ascend to the sky among the Imperishable Stars, my sister is Sothis,
my guide is the Morning Star, and they grasp my hand at the Field of
Offerings."  Do Sirius and Venus typically appear together, as if
engaging in a cooperative act?  On the contrary, Sirius and Venus
typically occupy different regions of the sky, Venus moving along the
ecliptic and Sirius being fixed in the southern sky.  Indeed, aside
from their respective prominence in the sky, the two bodies would
appear to have little in common.  A similar objection could be raised
with respect to the intimate relationship which pertains between
SAÅh/Orion and the Morning Star in the Pyramid Texts, needless to say.

It is also noteworthy that the aforementioned passage describes the
king's ascension to the region of the "imperishable" stars (I
ÓMW-SK), explicitly placed in the North and commonly identified with
the circumpolar stars.  How then are we to understand Spd.t's being in
the Northern skies, if indeed it is to be identified with Sirius?  The
obvious conclusion is that either Spd.t or the "imperishable stars"
has been misidentified inasmuch as Sirius has no apparent relation to
the region associated with the circumpolar stars.

Spd.t in the Pyramid Texts  

Leaving the question of Spd.t's celestial identification open for the
moment, we proceed to an analysis of its role in the Pyramid Texts.
There, perhaps, we will find some basis for a proper identification of
the star-goddess.  In brief, the outstanding characteristics of Spd.t
as represented in the Pyramid Texts may be summarized as follows: (1)
personification as a goddess, identified with Isis; (2) parent of a
divine child known alternately as Horus or Spd.w; (3) intimate
relationship with SAÅh; (4) guide of the dead to heaven.

The word Spd.t is feminine in nature, as demonstrated by its suffix (t
represents the feminine ending in the Egyptian language).  In
accordance with this gender, Spd.t is identified with the goddess
Isis.  Indeed this identification is so early that there seems little
reason for seeing in Spd.t anything but an epithet of the great
goddess.

The key to the mystery surrounding the identification of Spd.t centers
around the celestial identification of Isis.  Most scholars, as we
have seen, favor an identification with Sirius.  The inspiration for
this view, almost certainly, derives from Greek influence,
Plutarchamong othershaving identified Isis with Sothis-Sirius.

Other Greek writers, however, identified Isis with the planet Venus.
So too did the Egyptians themselves.  Is it possible that this planet
offers a suitable candidate for the celestial counterpart of
Isis-Spd.t?  Certainly this identification would make the most sense
from the standpoint of comparative religion, the mother goddesses of
many lands being identified with Venus.  The Greeks themselves, for
example, identified Aphrodite with the planet Venus, and Greek
colonists in Egypt identified Aphrodite with Isis.  It is commonly
acknowledged, moreover, that Aphrodite's cult was influenced by
religious concepts from the ancient Near East, where the Sumerian
Inanna and Akkadian Ishtar were identified with the planet Venus.

It is significant that Isis shared numerous characteristics in common
with Near Eastern Venus-goddesses.  One of Isis' most prominent
functions, as is well-known, was as a goddess of lamentation.  The
same function is shared by Ishtar-Venus, who in an early Babylonian
hymn is invoked as the "star of lamentation".  One of Isis' most
common epithets, "Queen of Heaven", while otherwise unknown in the
traditions surrounding Sirius, finds a close parallel in the
terminology associated with Venus, the latter body being known as the
"Queen of Heaven" throughout the ancient Near East.

Other epithets of Ishtar find close parallels in the traditions
surrounding Isis-Sothis.  The epithet Nin-gir-gi-lum, "Queen of the
head-band", for example, recalls the aforementioned connection of
Sothis with the fillet of Osiris, found in PT 883.  The epithet
Me-a-ni, signifying "omen of abundance" calls to mind Sothis' role as
a goddess of abundance in conjunction with the flooding of the Nile.

The star Spd.t, as Sekhmet, was said to have once rose to heaven as a
fiery serpent.  Although such language is wholly foreign to the
ancient traditions surrounding Sirius, it finds remarkable parallels
in the ancient conceptions surrounding the planet Venus.  The
planet-goddess Inanna, for example, appears as a fire-breathing dragon
in the Exaltation to Inanna: "Like a dragon you have deposited venom
on the landRaining the fanned fire down upon the nation"

In striking contrast to the planet Venus, Sirius does not play a
significant role in ancient myth or religion.  In Greece, for example,
Sirius was not identified with any member of the Greek pantheon, nor
did it have an appreciable role in any religious ritual.  Condos,
surveying the evidence on this question, observed: "Despite the fact
that Seirios was the brightest of all stars in antiquitynevertheless,
it was of no particular significance in Greek mythology."

In ancient Babylon, similarly, where the movements of Venus were
observed and chronicled with great diligence from the earliest times,
the star Sirius plays a decidedly subordinate role.  Commonly
identified as the asterism mul Kak-si-di, the "arrow," Sirius is all
but absent from Babylonian mythology and/or religious cult.

A similar situation is discernable in ancient Mesoamerica.  There too
Sirius is apparently absent from the leading pantheons and religious
cults.  The planet Venus, however, figured prominently in all known
pantheons and in numerous rituals and myths.  Perhaps most relevant to
our thesis here is the fact that the earliest calendars of the Maya
were designed to accord with the movements of the planet Venus.

Having already documented the fallaciousness of S
AÅh's identification with Orion, we proceed to a discussion of the
various passages which speak of Spd.t as a guide to the dead king (or
his soul) during his ascension to the sky.  Passage 821-822, for
example, reads as follows: "You will regularly ascend with Orion from
the eastern region of the sky, you will regularly descend with Orion
into the western region of the sky, your third is Sothis pure of
thrones, and it is she who will guide you both on the goodly roads
which are in the sky in the Field of Rushes."

Here again I know of no cultures that conceived of Sirius as acting as
a guide to the soul during its ascent to heaven.  More than one
culture, however, ascribed just such a role to the planet Venus.  On
the stele of Albano, for instance, the star of Venus is depicted as
accompanying the soul of a child during its ascent to heaven.
Australian aborigines likewise preserve memory of Venus' role as
escort of the departing soul: "When a person dies, his/her spirit is
believed to be conducted by the star [Venus] to Bralgu [the Australian
netherworld], its last resting place."

Having investigated the earliest references to Sothis we have found
little if anything that can be certainly related to the star Sirius.
Indeed, it has been shown that the vast majority of the traditions
associated with Sothis-Isis would appear to have reference to the
planet Venus.  The most compelling argument against the customary
identification of Spd.t with Sirius, however, results upon
consideration of the traditions surrounding the related term Spd.w,
the latter star being identified as the goddess' son.

Horus SPd.W

The obvious relation between the two names Spd.t (¢ß2^??) and Spd.w
(¢ÍÍß2^¡) has naturally led to some confusion as to their relationship
and respective celestial identifications, if not amongst the ancient
scribes themselves, at least amongst modern scholars seeking to
understand the ancient texts.  Most scholars have assumed that the
latter term likewise signifies Sirius.  Kakosy, for example, held that
Sirius also had a male-aspect in addition to the identification with
Isis: "Already in the Pyramid Texts Sirius was conceived of as an
astral form of Horus (Hr Spd)."  Anthes drew a similar conclusion and,
as we have seen, so too did Neugebauer and Parker.

It is our opinion that these scholars have been misled by the
similarity between the words Spd.t and Spd.w (or Spd).  To identify
both gods with the same celestial body would make nonsense of the
Pyramid Texts, where Spd.t and Spd.w are clearly distinguished in
gender and nature, being in fact represented as mother and son.

What, then, do we know about Spd.w? The cult of Spd.w endured
throughout several millennia, being attested in the first dynasty and
sporadically thereafter through the Roman occupation of Egypt.  The
earliest pictographs of the god typically show a kneeling falcon with
two or three feathers projecting upwards from the top of his head.
Alongside the falcon is usually set a triangular-shaped object
ßand it is this sign which ultimately came to serve as the
determinative of the god's name.

Briefly, the outstanding characteristics associated with this figure
may be summarized as follows: (1) He was regarded as the son of
Isis-Spd.t; (2) identified with Horus; (3) warrior-god responsible for
defending the borders from invasions, later becoming a god of the
foreign land or foreigners; (4) close association if not
identification with a terrifying sword; (5) association with the
ksbt%ANOT
¥c{&EC trees; (6) renowned for his prominent teeth.

Spd.w's role as a war-god, although prominent in later Egyptian
tradition, receives only brief mention in the Pyramid Texts.  Budge
summarizes the warrior-aspect of Spd.w's cult as follows:
In this form he is called, "Sept, the smiter of the Menti",i.e., the
tribes of the Eastern Desert and Arabia.  Sept was clearly a god
of battles, and he was called the "Bull that trampleth on the
Menti"; he was the "strengthener of Egypt", and the protector of
the temples of the godsAs the "lord of battle" Sept is depicted in
the form of a hawk-headed lion with the tails of a lion and hawk,
and in his hands, which are those of a man, he holds a bow and a
clubSept is mentioned even in the Book of the Dead with the
attributes of a god of war.

Several passages in the Pyramid Texts allude to the bizarre
circumstances of Spd.w's conception, which is said to have occurred as
a result of Isis' consorting with Osiris upon the latter's death: "You
have placed her upon your phallus and your seed issues into her, she
being ready (spdt) as Sothis (Spdt), and Har Sopd issues from you as
Horus who is in Sothis."  Here Spd.w is identified with Osiris' son,
commonly known as the Child Horus, while Spd.t appears in the guise of
Isis.  To maintain with Kakosy that Spd.w and Sirius are one and the
same celestial body is to hold that Horus (Spd.w) and Isis (Spd.t) are
one and the same, an apparent absurdity.

Further confirmation that Spd.t and Spd.w were not the same celestial
body comes upon consideration of the passages which speak of
Horus-Spd.w living within Sothis.  In passages 632d and 1636b, for
example, there occurs the expression Hr jmj Spd.t, "Horus who appears
in Sothis."  Later literature preserves the same tradition.  Here we
seem to be presented with a situation whereby Horus-Spd.w was
conceived of as at once living within Spd.t-Sothis and being born from
it.  Such passages are difficult to explain if Spd.t and Spd.w were
the same celestial body.

Horus: The Morning Star  

Granted that Horus-Spd.w and Isis-Spd.t are not the same celestial
body, with which body should Spd.w be identified?  Among the few
scholars who distinguish between Spd.w and Spd.t, Sethe and Budge
would have Horus-Spd.w represent the rising sun.  But in what sense
could it be said that the Sun lives within Spd.t, whether the latter
is to be identified with Sirius or Venus?

That Horus Spd.w is not the Sun is evident from the Pyramid Texts.
There the god is numbered among the followers of Re and thus clearly
distinguished from the ancient sun-god.  The same conclusion is also
supported by the fact that Horus-Spd.w is expressly identified with Dw
a.w (d1?   ).  Now the latter god is certainly a celestial body, as
its determinative confirms, the name suggesting a star of the morning
(dwa signifying "morning").

Most commentaries upon the god Dw
a.w attempt to distinguish him from the Dwa of the Morning Star
(?d1?).  While it is true that the names of the respective deities
have different determinatives, I would favor their identification
based upon their common identification with Horus.  Thus Horus is
identified with Neter Dwa in at least five passages in the Pyramid
Texts.  And as we have seen, Dwa.w is identified with Spd.w and thus,
albeit indirectly, with Horus.  Their common identification with
Horus, together with the obvious similarity in names, supports the
conclusion that the two gods are to be identified, originating,
perhaps, as alternative names for the same star during different
phases.

Whether or not one accepts this argument, the relations of the
respective Dw
a's in the Pyramid Texts pose a host of problems for conventional
scholars.  If Horus Spd.w is to be identified with the rising Sun, as
per Sethe and Budge, why did Egyptian scribes employ the
star-determinative for Dwa.widentified with Spd.wrather than the sign
of the sun?  And if the numerous passages identifying the king as
Horus Spd.w are to be understood as reflecting his identification with
Sirius, as per Anthes and Kakosy, how are we to explain the passages
where the king is identified as Horus Dwa, the "Morning Star"?
Anthes, obviously aware of the difficulties presented by these
passages, saw no alternative but to conclude that the king (and Horus
with him) was identified with Sirius in some passages and the planet
Venus in others.

While it is always possible that several originally distinct
traditions have here been conflated, thereby producing a hodgepodge of
contradictory beliefs, it is our opinion that there is a simpler
solution, one capable of reconciling the various traditions
surrounding the king's stellar identification.  Thus it is our opinion
that Horus Spd.w and Horus Dw
a represent the same celestial body, hitherto misidentified as Sirius
and Venus respectively.

Horus, Nergal, and the Planet Mars

How does the identification of Horus with "Morning Star" affect our
thesis with regard to the planetary identification of Spd.t; i.e., how
can Isis-Spd.t be identified with the planet Venus and Horus with the
Morning Star if, as we hold, the two were originally separate
celestial bodies?  The answer, it would appear, is as follows: The
"Morning Star" in Egypt was not the planet Venus.

It is well-known, of course, that various planets can appear in the
role of "morning star".  A text of Ramses VI (c. 1148-1138), for
example, appears to identify Mercury as such.

Granted that Horus is identified with Dw
a, and that the latter body is to be distinguished from Venus, how
then do we discover its celestial identity?  Here, unfortunately, the
Pyramid Texts provide little help.  In the first place, astronomy as
such did not exist at the time these texts were composed.  The various
celestial bodies were viewed simply as gods, known variously as Ra,
Isis, Horus-Spd.w, SAÅh, Neter Dwa, etc., and although their various
relationships and adventures were observed and chronicled with great
diligence such did not include systematic record keeping and/or
mathematical precision.

In the absence of a formal astronomy, it is difficult to be certain of
the celestial reference of such terms as "Morning Star".  Many
centuries later, it is true, Egypt did develop a rudimentary astronomy
under Hellenistic influence, at which time some of the planets
received divine names.  During this period Venus was called Isis and
Mars the Red Horus.  It is possible that such identifications reflect
ancient traditions and attest to a general continuity between the
astral traditions of the Pyramid Age and those of Hellenistic times.
Such a continuity, however, is difficult to prove and ultimately
unlikely.

Given this situation, there would appear to be but several means of
arriving at a secure identification of the respective celestial bodies
mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.  The most obvious approach would be to
compare the characteristics of the various stars with the
characteristics of the celestial bodies known to modern astronomy.  It
is this approach, of course, which has hitherto received the most
attention and, as we have seen, has produced few positive results.  An
alternative approach, that favored here, would be to compare the
Egyptian traditions surrounding the various celestial bodies with
those known from ancient astronomies elsewhere.  Here the Babylonian
material is especially helpful, for it was in Babylon that a
scientific approach to astronomy first developed, the observation of
planetary bodies having long been a practice.

In Babylonian tradition the planet-god Nergalexplicitly identified
with Marsshares numerous characteristics in common with Horus-Spd.w.
The Akkadian war-god par excellence, Nergallike Horuswas intimately
associated with the Netherworld, being invoked as Lugal-kes-da, "King
of the Netherworld".  As Horus-Spd.w was associated with a terrifying
sword, so too was Nergal invoked as Lugal-gir-ur-ra, "King of the
frightful or terrifying Sword".  Indeed, the identification between
Nergal and the sword was so close that the god could be addressed
simply as U-gur, "Sword".

Although a detailed comparison of the cults of the two gods is beyond
the scope of this article, it is sufficient to note that the core
characteristics which distinguish the Egyptian god find close
parallels in the cult of the Akkadian Nergal.  As Horus-Spd.w was
associated with the Ksbt tree, so too was Nergal intimately associated
with various trees, being invoked as Bel-sar-be, "King of the Mulberry
Tree".  As the Egyptian god was associated with foreign lands, so too
was Nergal invoked as Lugal-uru-bar-ra, "King of the Foreign City".

If Horus-Spd.w is to be identified with Mars, many of the traditions
surrounding this god become understandable.  Consider the god's
intimate relationship to the "East" and the place of the rising of the
Sun.  In Egypt the term for the place of the rising of the Sun was a
?t, conventionally translated as "horizon".  As scholars have long
known, however, there was a very concrete reference to the a?t,
inadequately conveyed by the modern term "horizon".  As its hieroglyph
revealsZthe  a?t originally signified the twin-peaked mountain over
which the ancient sun-god appeared. In his name of Harachte"Horus of
the horizon(s)"Horus was thought to bear an intimate relationship to
this place.  So too was Horus-Spd.w, for he was identified with
Horus-Harachte.

But Horus was elsewhere thought to bear an intimate relationship to
Manu, the mountain associated with the Sun's descent.  Indeed the name
Harachte reflects this dual role, as the word achti is plural and has
reference to the two horizons, that of the Sun's "rising" and that of
its "setting".  These traditions associating Horus-Spd.w with the dual
horizons, needless to say, have proven particularly puzzling to those
scholars who would see in this god a personification of Sirius.  For
how could a relatively stationary star like Sirius appear to rise in
the East with the Sun and set in the West?  Obviously puzzled, Kakosy
commented as follows upon this apparent incongruity: "Strange to say,
the God is split into a western and eastern Sothis-Horus."

A wealth of evidence indicates that it was the planet Mars, not
Sirius, which formed the subject of these traditions surrounding
Horus-Spd.w.  Thus, it is significant that Egyptian astronomical lore
identified Mars as Harachte"Horus of the horizon(s)"the very god
identified with Hr. Spd.w.  And as has so often proved to be the case
with this god, we can point to an exact parallel in the cult of
Nergal, who was known to bear an intimate relationship to the mountain
associated with the sun-god's rising.  Thus it is said of Nergal that
he "rises in the mountain where the sun rises."  Elsewhere, moreover,
Nergal was intimately connected with the mountain of the sun's
descent.  Witness the epithet Lugal-ki-du-su-a, "King of the Site of
the Sun's going down".

That these epithets associated with Nergal have celestial significance
is obvious.  Indeed, as we have elsewhere documented, such epithets
reflect the intimate association of the planet Mars with ancient
conceptions of the World Pillar, the latter deemed to be the place
from whence the sun rose and set.  Although frequently envisaged as a
cosmic mountain, the World Pillar could be symbolized with various
other forms.  In Mesopotamia, as throughout the ancient world, it was
envisaged as a giant tree.  It is in this fashion that we would
interpret Nergal/Mars' intimate relationship with the sacred
Meshu-tree, described as "that pure treewhose roots reached as deep
down as the bottom of the underworldwhose top reached as high as the
sky of Anum."  The epithet Meslamtae characterizes Nergal as he "who
issues forth from the Mesu tree."

Similar traditions prevailed in ancient Egypt.  The Pyramid Texts, the
Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead all contain hymns celebrating
the luxurious tree (under various names) in heaven over which the Sun
appears.  One of the names for this tree, apparently, was the
ksbt-tree, and as we have seen, it is this tree that was intimately
associated with Horus-Spd.w.  Indeed, one of the stock epithets of
Spd.w, attested already in the Pyramid Texts, invokes the god as "He
who is under the ksbt-tree."  Far from representing an anomaly, Horus'
connection with the ksbt-tree offers a perfect complement to his
connection with the World Mountain as Horus Harachte and provides
further evidence for seeing in this god a personification of the
planet Mars.  For as Cirlot and other scholars of ancient symbolism
have documented, the association between the planet Mars and the tree
of heaven/World pillar is well-established: "The Tree of Life, when it
rises no higher than the mountain of Marsis regarded as a pillar
supporting heaven."

In addition to the mountain and tree, Egyptian scribes appear to have
compared the World Pillar to a giant ladder or stairway leading to
heaven.  It was via this celestial staircaseknown alternately as the m
ak.t and sdsdthat the deceased king typically mounted to heaven, and
it forms the subject of numerous hymns in the Pyramid Texts.  The
following passage is typical: "A stairway to the sky is set up for you
among the Circumpolar Stars."  Elsewhere the heavenly stairway is
explicitly associated with the Dwa.t, the celestial homeland of Sah:
"May a stairway to the Netherworld [Dwa.t] be set up for you to the
place where Orion [Sah] is, may the Bull of the sky take your hand,
may you eat of the food of the gods."

That Horus is intimately associated with this stairway is confirmed by
the epithet nb m
ak.t, "lord of the ladder."  Elsewhere Horus is said to dwell "upon
the sdsd of the sky."

Significantly, Horus' role as regent of the celestial ladder finds a
close parallel in the cult of Nergal.  In the ancient text known as
Nergal and Ereshkigal, for example, it was Nergal who mounted the
celestial staircase in order to scale the kingdom of the gods.  The
epithets Lugal-tilla, "King of the broad way" and Lugal-an-za-gar,
"Lord of the pillar," would likewise appear to have reference to
Nergal's connection to the World Pillar, the stairway to heaven.

It is important to emphasize the specificity of these epithets.  Thus,
while Horus' role as a war-god and god of the Netherworld might be
paralleled by a host of other deities, other characteristics of the
godsuch as the intimate association with the "horizon", ladder of
heaven, sacred tree, and terrifying swordare quite specific and the
presence of analogous epithets in the cult of Nergal attests to the
fundamental affinity of these two gods.  There is a perfectly logical
reason for the similarity between the cults of Horus and Nergal: Both
gods originated as personifications of the planet Mars.

Horus and the Ship of Heaven

There is some evidence that the Egyptians may not have forgotten the
original celestial identification of Horus after all.  On the ceiling
of Senmut (c. 1473 BCE) there is a reference to "the red one of
?ntt."  In his commentary upon this asterism Neugebauer had nothing to
offer in the way of an identification, noting only that the red star
seemed to have some relation to a constellation depicting a ship.
Although the context of this reference is obscure, it is of interest
here inasmuch as the planet Mars is one of only a handful of celestial
bodies that present a reddish appearance.

The ship of heaven is one of the most dominant themes in Egyptian
religion.  Significantly, Horus bore an intimate relationship to this
ship, the god frequently being pictured in the bow of Ra's boat.  A
similar situation is apparent in the Pyramid Texts, where both
Horus-Spd.w and Horus Dw
a.t are associated with celestial ships.  Horus Dwa.t, for example, is
invoked as the "soul dawning in the bow of this his ship". Here the
word translated as "bow" is ?nt, obviously related to the word for the
region associated with the red star on the ceiling of Senmut.  Of
Horus Spd.w, similarly, it is said that he appeared as a "spirit
(dwelling) in the dndrw-barque".

As a star-god Horus is invoked under the name of Hr. 
?nty.  In the Pyramid Texts, for example, Hr. ?nty was identified as
sba da wad wr, "the great star that ferried over the great green
sea".  Horus' intimate relation to the celestial ocean is elsewhere
conveyed by his epithet ymy wad wr, signifying "dweller in the great
green sea".

It is on the ceiling of Senmut, as we have already noted, that the
planets first make their appearance in Egyptian iconography.  Of the
five planets known to ancient man, only Mars is absent.  The above
considerationsthe fact that Horus is specifically represented in the
bow of Ra's boat (as is Horus of the Dw
a.t) coupled with the fact that the bow of the boat is signified by
the same name as the boat on the ceiling of Senmut, a word which
elsewhere appears as an epithet of Horus as a star-godraise the strong
likelihood that the red star pictured on the ceiling of Senmut is the
planet Mars, the star of Horus.

Horus of the DW
a.T

A common epithet of Horus in the Pyramid Texts invokes him as Hr.w
Dwa.t, "Horus of the Dwa.t".  In contrast to Dwa.w, which is masculine
in nature and consistently associated with male gods, the related word
Dwa.t is feminine in declination and signifies the region to whence
the souls ascend upon death and from whence appeared the ancient
sun-god.  Although frequently translated as "Netherworld", the Dwa.t
is to be understood as a celestial region as its determinative K
confirms.  Various passages mentioning the Dwa.t support this view:
"Make the sky clear and shine on them as a god; may you be enduring at
the head of the sky as Horus of the Netherworld."  Passage 1301 is of
like import: "May you go up as Horus of the Netherworld who is at the
head of the Imperishable Stars"  The clear import of these passages is
that Horus of the Dwa.t shines in the heavens amidst the circumpolar
stars.

It is commonly believed that the Dw
a.toriginally written simply Da.tis related in some way to the planet
Venus.  Horus himself, as we have seen, was identified with Neter Dwa,
conventionally understood as the Morning Star.  And, as was the case
with Spd.t and Spd.w, scholars have regarded the two terms Dwa and
Dwa.t as synonymous, both having reference to Venus as the Morning
Star.  Briggs, for example, offered the following opinion:
Except when identified with Horus (805a, 1207a, 1295a, 1871b,
2014a), the Morning Star is feminine.  She is the daughter of Nut
(1082b), mother of N. and Sah (820e), and mother of N. (341c,
1001b, 1123c, 1707a).

It is our opinion that two distinct celestial bodies are described by
the terms Dwa and Dwa.t, only the latter of which is related to
Venus.  This fact is demonstrable in a number of ways.

The phrase "Horus of the Dw
a.t", together with other passages describing the movements of Horus
with respect to the Dwa.t, makes it apparent that the god and the
heavenly region are to be distinguished.  And, inasmuch as Horus-Spd.w
and Dwa are identified, this would appear to argue for the distinction
of Dwa and Dwa.t as well.  Indeed, it is our opinion that the
relationship between Horus-Dwa and the Dwa.t forms a close parallel to
that between Horus-Spd.w and Spd.t.  Both involve a relationship
between a masculine star and a feminine star; and in both cases the
feminine entity is a star which functions as a residence of Horus
(here one naturally thinks of the analogous function of Hathor as a
goddess and as the "house of Horus").

Having earlier documented the intimate relationship of Horus with the
mountain of the sunrise we are in a position to offer a solution to
the enigmatic references to Horus Dw
a.t.  As we have seen, the Pyramid Texts leave no room for doubt that
the Dwa.t is a region associated with the place of the rising of the
ancient sun-god.  Here the hieroglyph for the bilateral dw is
significant: ?  It would appear to depict nothing other than the
cosmic mountain, the "twin-peaked" mountain associated with the rising
of the sun in ancient Egypt, as throughout the ancient world.  Indeed,
the only difference between this glyph and that of the "horizon"Zis
the presence of the orb between the two peaks of the mountain.  This
would appear to support the conclusion that the two terms dw and Dwa.t
are cognate despite the difference in hieroglyphs.  If so, the names
Horus-Harachte and Horus Dwa.t would have a similar significance, each
commemorating Horus' indissoluble connection with the mountain of the
sunrise.

There is one other tradition associated with this celestial region
which is of fundamental significance with regards to the thesis
advanced in this essay: It was believed that the Nile-flood came from
the Dw
a.t.  This tradition, if nothing else, should alert us to the
possibility that the flooding associated with Horus, Spd.t, and other
celestial bodies was celestial in nature and only secondarily related
to the terrestrial Nile, an interpretation which receives a good deal
of support in the Pyramid Texts.  Consider, for example, the following
passage in which the king is identified with Horus: "May you become a
spirit which is in the Netherworld [Dwa.t], may you live of that
pleasant life whereof the Lord of the Horizon lives, (even) the Great
Flood which is in the sky." Elsewhere it is said of Horus that he
comes forth from the Nile.  Such traditions, together with numerous
others in the Pyramid Texts, confirm that the imagery associating
Horus and Spd.t with flooding was predominantly celestial in
nature.

Mars and Venus    

If Horus is to be identified with the planet Mars, and Spd.t with
Venus, how are we to understand their various mythical relations?  The
simplest explanation, of course, would be to understand their
relations by reference to Mars' close proximity to Venus.  Is there
any evidence that ancient skywatchers were concerned with Mars'
movements with respect to Venus?  Significantly, Babylonian omens
speak of the ominous portents associated with Mars' appearing in close
proximity to Venus: "If at Venus' rising the Red Star enters into it:
the King's son will seize the throne."  Here, in the conjunction of
Mars and Venus, we find the very relationship proposed as the basis of
Horus-Spd.w's relationship to Spd.t-Isis.

Conclusion

An examination of the role of the star Spd.t in the Pyramid Texts has
demonstrated that there is little evidence for the conventional view
that it signifies the star Sirius.  Indeed, the preponderance of
evidence supports the conclusion that by Spd.t the planet Venus is
meant, as  nearly every characteristic of Isis-Sothis-Spd.t finds a
close analogue in the cults of Venus-goddesses of other lands.

Another surprise emerged upon consideration of the traditions
surrounding Isis/Sothis' son Horus-Spd.w.  Here we documented that
remarkable correspondences exist between the cults of Horus-Spd.w and
the Babylonian god Nergal, the latter god being securely identified
with the planet Mars.

The ramifications of these findings are far reaching.  The logic
behind the chronology computed upon the basis of supposed references
to Sothis (understood as Sirius) is shown to be without foundation, at
least in the early period.  When and if Isis-Sothis ever became
identified with the star Sirius is a question which deserves further
study, but such an identification is not unlikely given the well-known
fact that names and traditions become transferred during the process
of assimilation and syncretization (witness the assimilation of Apollo
to the Sun in Greek religion, in direct contradiction to the earliest
traditions).  Hitherto it was believed that ancient Egypt alone made
Sirius the focal point of its calendrical machinations, while other
advanced peoples, such as the Babylonians and Maya, were preoccupied
with the movements of the planet Venus.  This view is almost certainly
incorrect and has had a retarding influence upon a proper
understanding of ancient Egyptian religious development.

Also undermined by this new understanding of Sothis as Venus is the
logic behind the identifications of other celestial bodies mentioned
in the Pyramid Texts, including S
ah and Horus as the Morning Star.  Indeed, we would suggest a thorough
reevaluation of all astral identifications in the most ancient
Egyptian texts, including such apparently obvious celestial bodies as
those typically assigned to Ra (the Sun), Thoth (the Moon), and the
circumpolar stars.  Until now the study of the most ancient texts has
been governed by a uniformitarian approach to the ancient cosmos;
namely, the belief that the currently most prominent celestial bodies
must have been uppermost in the ancients' minds as well.  The latter
belief is demonstrably erroneous.  A new approach to the ancient
traditions is warranted, one free from preconceptions based upon the
current arrangement of the solar system.  The key to these researches,
as always, must be the comparative method.  What the Egyptian texts
lack in astronomical proficiency can always be supplemented by the
archaeoastronomical traditions of other cultures.  Only by following a
proper methodology will it be possible to achieve a true understanding
of the origins and nature of the celestial worship which ordered the
lives of the ancient peoples the world over.  Great revelations lie
ahead.

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