Zodiac of Dendera 01
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Zodiac of Dendera 01
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Zodiac of Dendera, Egypt. Probably around 50 BC. Full view.
Full view of the Zodiac of Dendera, This bas-relief actually represented a night skyscape, on the ceiling of a chapel in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, where the mysteries of the resurrection of the god Osiris were celebrated.
The vault of heaven is represented by a disc, held up by four women assisted by falcon-headed spirits. Thirty-six spirits or "decans" around the circumference symbolize the 360 days of the Egyptian year. The constellations shown inside the circle include the signs of the zodiac, most of which are represented almost as they are today. Aries, Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn, for example, are easily recognizable, whereas others correspond to a more Egyptian iconography. The constellations of the northern sky, featured in the center, include the Great Bear (Ursa Major) in the form of a bull's foreleg. A hippopotamus goddess, opposite Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, represents the constellation of the Dragon.
The date of its creation has not yet been established beyond doubt. The leading theory is supported on the interpretation of certain symbols and figures. The five planets that were known at the time can be associated with certain signs of the zodiac. This particular configuration of the planets among the constellations occurs only about once every thousand years; an astrophysicist has dated it between 15 June and 15 August 50 BC. Two eclipses are represented exactly where they occurred. The solar eclipse of 7 March 51 is depicted as the goddess Isis holding a baboon (the god Thoth) by its tail, signifying her attempt to stop the moon from hiding the sun. The lunar eclipse of 25 September 52 is represented by an udjat-eye (the "whole one"), because a lunar eclipse only occurs when the moon is full.
The representations of the signs of the zodiac as we know them today did not appear in Egypt until the Greco-Roman Period. This monument reflects the way Egyptian cultural elements merged with Babylonian and Greek astronomical and astrological theories, as a result of the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations of the 8th and 6th centuries BC, and the Persian and Greek invasions of the 6th and 4th centuries. All these data contradict the initial theory that dated the zodiac around 2500 BC.
More amazing images from Ancient Civilizations one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/ancient+civilizations
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
November 10th, 2020
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