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 <../articles/nkleo.html> Part 2 <../articles/nkleo2.html> Part 3 <../articles/nkleo3.html> Part 4 Part 5 <../articles/nkleo5.html> © Robert G. Bauval 2002 _Ancient Astronomical Drawings: The Common Prototype_ There are many so-called Astronomical drawings, usually on the ceilings of tombs and coffins, from the New Kingdom onwards that, although often show variations, nonetheless quite obviously are artistic attempts to depict the same religious theme. Mythological figures used in the New Kingdom and thought to represent constellations in the Northern sky are usually the Hippopotamus, the Bull/Bull's Thigh, the Lion, various crocodiles, and sometimes two male figures, one with a hawk's head, and a female goddess. The artists, however, were often faced with the need to make alterations and adaptations to suit the prevailing spatial circumstances and artistic tastes, such as the size of the tomb's ceiling and the general decoration of the area involved. For example, Neugebauer & Parker demonstrated that the artist that created the Senmut astronomical ceiling developed his image from an older and common prototype, but then gave way to artistic license so that a balanced scene was achieved that fitted the spatial confines of the tomb's ceiling ---much like a modern painter would do if given a different size canvas, or a sculptor would do if given a different block of stone to make a 'reproduction' from an original or common prototype. Fig. 1: Seti I astronomical drawing Fig. 2: NEW KINGDOM. Original Senmut drawing of Northern sky. Regarding the Senmut ceiling, Neugebaur & Parker wrote: "Figure 27, which is identical with Figure 2, illustrates what we believe to have been the original grouping of the constellations which Senmut rearranged because of spatial considerations... As can be seen in Plate 1, traces of an earlier version are clear. Croc was horizontal and larger, Lion lower and larger, and there was no Man with hands raised as though spearing Croc. To make room for the latter, a second version raised and reduced Lion in size, and Croc was reduced and drawn on a slant. Moreover, for reasons which are discussed in detail in Chapter IV under Sak, we believe that Mes (Bull/Thigh), An and Serket in Senmut have, for lack of space between Man and Hippo, been raised to their present position and they almost surely should be lowered. Figure 2 is an attempt at a reconstruction of the model of the Northern constellations which Senmut used and adapted to suit the available space." EAT III p. 11 and p. 184. The same view was recently expressed by Donald V. Etz in JARCE, where he wrote that, "To add the figure with upraised arms, and a smaller human figure in front of the deities, the artist moved the lion and crocodile and made them smaller... The Senmut artist apparently also increased the vertical dimension proportionally, to adapt to the dimension of the tomb ceiling... the elements vary among the displays, but the family resemblance is sufficient to indicate that all of them probably descend from a common prototype older than the coffin of Heny." JARCE vol 34, p. 145 Fig. 3: Rearranged Senmut drawing taken from Neugebauer & Parker Fig. 27. The 'coffin of Heny' dates from the 11th Dynasty, c. 2050 BC. However, neither Neugebauer & Parker nor D. Etz venture as to what might have been this older and 'common prototype', but there is little doubt that the original inspiration of the astronomical ceilings was, quite obviously, the sky itself, and, therefore, it is in the pattern of stars or constellations that we must look for the original 'model' that inspired the early ancient Egyptian artists. The first thing to remember, however, is that all these astronomical drawings, whether found on the ceiling of tombs or the ceiling of coffins, were put there because they were deemed to be of vital importance for the 'resurrection' or 'rebirth' rituals performed on the dead person. And this not suprising, because from the earliest times the religious funerary texts make it clear to us that the afterlife destination of the dead king was to be among the Imperishable Stars or Circumpolar Stars in the Northern sky. These stars occupy a region that is defined by a circle whose circumference is about 30 degrees from the north celestial pole. In ancient Egyptian times, the main constellations that occupied this circle were *Draco, Ursa Major* and *Ursa Minor* as depicted in *Skymap 1.* (below). Skymap 1: The Circumpolar 'circle' seen from Egypt in c. 3000 BC, the start of the Dynastic Age. It is well-known, however, that all ancient Egyptian funerary texts, from the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts to the Late Period Carlsberg Papyrus, make it also abundantly clear that the 'time' of rebirth was to occur when the event known as the heliacal rising of Sirius would take place in the east of the sky. This all-important yearly event was when the star Sirius would appear for the first time after a 70 days period of invisibility from the night sky. All we have to do, therefore, is to reconstruct the Northern sky as it appeared at the exact heliacal rising of Sirius in order to see what the ancient Egyptian saw, and attempt to equate the celestial images to those found in the New Kingdom drawings. It is generally accepted that astronomical observations of the sky, and in particular the heliacal rising of Sirius, were performed by the astronomer-priests of Heliopolis in very early dynastic times. It is not unreasonable to suppose, however, that observations began several centuries before the dynastic periods, even perhaps as far back as 5000 BC, as was shown by Jane B. Sellers for example. We will take this remote date as the 'common prototype' for the religious ideologies that were eventually formulated in the Pyramid Texts and, much later, in the astronomical drawings. At that epoch the heliacal rising of Sirius (as seen from the region of Heliopolis) took place near the 18 July Julian (2 weeks after the summer solstice). At this precise time the sun had just entered the zodiacal region of Leo, the Lion constellation, and also that this constellation was fully risen and floating just above the North-Eastern horizon as this reconstruction of the sky shows in *Skymap 2.* (below). Skymap 2: Eastern sky view just before dawn on 18 July c. 5000 BC as seen from Heliopolis at time of the Heliacal Rising of Sirius Let us now view the Northern sky by panning our eyes 90 degrees to the left. See *Skymap 3.* (below). Skymap 3: Northern sky view just before dawn on 18 July c.5000 BC as seen from Heliopolis at time of the Heliacal Rising of Sirius In *Skymap 3.* (above) we can see that the dominant constellations are *Ursa Major (Big Dipper)* at the centre of the image, flanked by *Draco* on the left, and *Leo* on the right and down, the latter floating just above the horizon line. In many other similar tombs, such as that of Tausert and others royal tombs in Thebes, this typical image is also often shown 'mirrored' so that the Hippo is on the left of the Pole and the Lion is on the right. Let us mirror the drawing from Senmut and see what we get: Fig. 4: Rearranged Senmut drawing (mirrored) taken from Neugebauer & Parker Fig. 27. Now compare *Skymap 3.* (Northern sky view) with the Senmut mirrored image (Fig. 4). Note how the *HIPPO* relates to *DRACO*; the *THIGH* relates to *URSA MAJOR*; and the *LION* relates to *LEO*. Also note how the *North Meridian* colored red on the Skymap relates to the *vertical pole* in the Senmut drawing. That Fig. 4. is almost certainly nearer the common prototype is shown in Fig. 5. (below left) from the Ramses VI ceiling: Fig. 5: NEW KINGDOM: Ramses VI C (mirrored). Fig. 6: NEW KINGDOM: From Brugsch Rec. de mon. eg. II, Plate XIX. (Not mirrored). Compare Fig. 4. (Senmut Northern sky mirrored) to *Skymap 3.* (Northern sky view). It is obvious that: The *HIPPO = DRACO* The *BULL/THIGH = URSA MAJOR (Big Dipper)* The *LION = LEO*. As I explained previously, the reason why the 'lion' on the drawings is made to face the other way is precisely because the artists 'mirrored' the image round without altering the typical representation of the figures. Now look at Fig. 7. (below). Fig. 7: Superimposed Dendarah Zodiac figures of Hippo, Thigh, and Lion on Northern sky map. The sequence: *HIPPO/DRACO* *BULL'S THIGH* *LEO (LATE PERIOD)* is very clearly the same as: * HIPPO* *BULL'S THIGH* *LION (NEW KINGDOM)* And /both/ very clearly are the same as: *DRACO* *URSA MAJOR* *LEO (SKYMAP)* When the Greeks conquered and occupied Egypt in 332 BC, and founded the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria that lasted to 30 BC, they adopted the ancient Egyptian religion and merged their own to it. The same seems to have been done for the astronomical ceilings/coffins, which is made very obvious in the Denderah circular Zodiac and linear Zodiac, see Fig. 8: This shows how the Greeks attempted to integrate their 12 Zodiacal constellations into the traditional 'common prototype' ancient Egyptian astronomical image. (As many authorities have shown, it is quite easy to demonstrate that the circular Zodiac represents the sky at the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius.) The Greek-Egyptianized (or Egyptian-Hellenized) artist of the Denderah Circular Zodiac has realised that there was already a 'Leo' in the Egyptian prototype, and thus replaced it with another Leo figure of the Greek-Roman style. It is obvious that had the artist thought that the New Kingdom Lion was NOT Leo, then he would surely have added another lion somewhere just above the figure of Leo. The fact that the artist did not do this but only shows the Hippo and the Thigh in the Northern part of the sky, confirms that the clearly recognised 'Leo' in the 'lion of the New Kingdom drawings. This is also confirmed in the so-called linear/rectangular zodiac of Denderah, where only one 'zodiacal' lion is shown, and no lion is shown in the Northern sky next to the Hippo and the Thigh. Fig. 8: Introduction of Zodiac into ancient Egyptian traditional astronomical image as depicted by Dr. Sylvie Colville. Integrating the idea of the zodiac into the existing egyptian sky images clearly presented a logistical and artistic problem for the Greco-Roman artists in Egypt. It thus became easier and more aesthetic to isolate the 12 zodiac constellations from the rest of the non-zodiac constellations (decans). Fig. 9a: LATE PERIOD. Linear Zodiac of Denderah showing 'Zodiacal Lion' and also the Northern constellations. Fig. 9b. Closer views showing relevant areas of interest - Northern sky and Leo. In Fig. 10. (below) showing the Coffin of Heter, it can be seen that the Roman artist separated the 12 zodiac signs (shaded in yellow) from the traditional ancient Egyptian astronomical drawings. This was achieved by having drawing a sharp line dividing the zodiac from the rest of the Egyptian images. Fig. 10. ROMAN PERIOD: Coffin lid of Heter c. 90 AD. It is also clear from this and others coffins like it that the Roman artists no longer tried to integrate the zodiac with the ancient Egyptian common prototype as was the case with the earlier Denderah zodiac, but now are only interested is using these ancient images as talismans and magical devices placed randomly around the zodiac, in patterns to fit the shapes and sizes of the sarcophagi. It is clear that the original and very ancient Egyptian common prototype was being given a subordinate role to the 12 zodiac figures by the Romans, and gradually by the end of the Christian Era the Egyptian common prototype gave way completely to the 12 zodiacal signs in popular astrological lore. Part 1 <../articles/nkleo.html> Part 2 <../articles/nkleo2.html> Part 3 <../articles/nkleo3.html> Part 4 Part 5 <../articles/nkleo5.html> <../../index.html> <../../books.html> <../../articles.html> <../../links.html> <../../photos.html>