http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== _The Lion (Leo) was known in the New Kingdom_ - Part 1 © Robert G. Bauval 2002 _Alleged crouching lion on Denderah Zodiac_ This photograph (and others below) taken by Richard Fusniak in July 2002 is described as: "19th century copy of the actual Zodiac carved in the ceiling of a chapel at Temple of Hathor at Dendara, Roman period 1st century AD. Marble copy sculpted by J.J. Castex 1819 from casts or squeezes of original taken during Napoleonic expedition to Egypt E.1.1.1862." This beautiful masterpiece, although badly lit, is located in the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge, England. Ed Krupp and various others on 'In the Hall of Ma'at' phorum board, viz. Mikey Brass, Joanne Conman et al, have recently argued that there is a small 'crouching lion' on the Circular Zodiac of Denderah which can apparently be clearly seen protruding from the right side of the Thigh (Ursa Major). Krupp's contention is that this alleged 'crouching lion' is the very same 'lion' shown on the earlier New Kingdom astronomical drawing such as those of the Seti I tomb and the Ramesside tombs. Let us examine this possibility. The Circular Zodiac of Denderah, as it is well known, one was attached to the ceiling of a chapel in the main temple of Hathor at Denderah. This zodiac was removed (with the use of gunpowder) from its original place in 1827 by French civil engineers and shipped to France, where it today can be seen at the Louvre Museum in Paris. When Napoleon's scientist visited the temple of Hathor at Denderah in 1799, the Circular Zodiac was, of course, still in its original place. Artists made drawings of it, which have been published in the Description de L'Egypte in 1814-1821. Also after it arrived in Paris, the zodiac was carefully examined closely by Biot in 1845-6, who also made a very detailed drawing. FIG 1. Drawing of the Circular Zodiac made on location at Denderah during the 1799 Napoleonic occupation of Egypt. FIG. 2: Drawing by the astronomer Biot in 1846. He shows the little crouching animal (shaded in yellow) stuck on the Bull's Thigh with its head looking backwards. FIG. 3: Marble reproduction from a plaster cast of the original Zodiac. One can clearly see the 'alleged' crouching lion on top right hand side of the thigh. Fig 3 (above right) shows the small crouching animal more or less the same as Biot, but more details on the forelegs parts, which one foreleg folded inwards and the other extended outwards. This type of foreleg belongs to the BOVINE class of animals - such as the ram, the cow/bull, the horse, the gazelle etc... Whereas LEONINE/FELINE class of animals have forelegs that fold outwards. Thus the small creature, whatever it is, is of the BOVINE type i.e. cannot be a 'lion'. FIG. 6a: Ram-headed Sphinx with Lion's body. FIG. 6b: Ram Sphinx. FIG. 6c: Aries/Ram in Denderah Zodiac marble reproduction at Cambridge FIG. 6d: Original Denderah Zodiac. Small bovine creature with folded fore-leg. FIG. 7a: Aries on (1) Coffin of Heter (2) Osiris Chapel Denderah (3) Zodiac of Athribis FIG.7b: When these images are flipped, the similarity of 'ram 2' with the small figure in Fig. 6d above is striking. Clearly from the above, the small creature protruding from the Thigh on the Denderah Zodiac is very similar to the Aries/Ram figure shown on the various Ptolemiac zodiacs i.e. it has bovine forelegs depicted as the Aries/Ram of Denderah, and its head is turned in the same posture looking backwards FIG.8a: Denderah depiction * HIPPO* * THIGH* *LEO* FIG.8b: Actual Skymap * HIPPO* * THIGH* * LEO* FIG.8c: New Kingdom * HIPPO** THIGH** LION* From the above, it is clear that the LEO on the Denderah Zodiac is one and the same as the LION on the New Kingdom drawings. The slight difference in positioning of the Lion/Leo is due to the fact that the artist of the Denderah Zodiac is depicting a circular sky/planisphere, whereas the artists of the New Kingdom are depicting the same constellations on a rectangular/planisphere. Part 1 <../articles/nkleo.html> Part 2 <../articles/nkleo2.html> Part 3 Part 4 <../articles/nkleo4.html> Part 5 <../articles/nkleo5.html>