According to Dr. Wallis Budge, the ancient Egyptians called their land Bak
or Baket, Ta-Mera and Khem or Kamt, also Ta-Nehat, “the land of the
sycamore” and the land of “the eye of Horus.” It was divided into two
parts: Upper Egypt, Ta-res or Ta-kema=“the southern land,” symbolized by
the vulture; and Lower Egypt, Ta-Meh, Mah-Ti or Meh-Ta, literally,
“North-land,” symbolized by the serpent. Two great ancient cities or
capitals were respectively known as Annu Meht, “Annu of the North,” and
Annu Qemat, “Annu of the South.” The kings of Egypt styled themselves
Suten-Net, “King of the North and South” and Nebtaui, “lord of the two
earths.” As such the king wore the double crown made up of the tesher or
net, the red crown of Northern or Lower Egypt and the hetet or het, the
white crown of Southern or Upper Egypt (The Nile, p. 27).
It will be shown further on that the high white and low red crowns were
respectively worn by the king and the queen at a certain period of
Egyptian history. It is well known that, in numerous pictorial
representations, the Egyptian men are painted with red, but the women with
white skins. The above facts show that there existed a curious association
of red with the north and the male sex, and of white with the south and
the female sex.(106)
It is a familiar fact that the Egyptian hieroglyph and determinative sign
for town, city or village consisted of a circle with four divisions. The
usual form of this sign, the phonetic value of which is nu or nut, is
shown as fig. 60, 1, _a_. On a bas-relief preserved at the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford, I noted the variant 1, _b_. It is interesting to collate
these signs with the cross-symbols (2) which express the sound of uu, un,
and ur, and to note that the sign for a capital in Egypt contains a
division into four=un or ur, and that the latter word is actually the
familiar name of the famous centre in Babylonia where cities laid out in
the form of a square and “four-god cities” existed, and the kings were
termed “lords of the four regions” and “kings of Sumer and Akkad,” the two
ancient divisions of the Babylonian state.
It thus appears doubly significant that, in Egyptian, the word ur
signifies “great, great one” and is also the name of a god, which is
expressed in hieroglyphic writing by the cross, a mouth and a seated god,
the determinative for divinity. What is more, ur-u=chiefs, ur-t=the name
of a crown and ur-t=those who rest, all of which words show that the
Egyptian ur was associated with the idea of divinity, greatness, crowned
chieftainship, repose and the cross-symbol which is incorporated in nut,
the sign for capital or city.
The fact that the symbols for the two great divisions of ancient Egypt,
the red crown of Northern or Lower Egypt, and the white crown of Southern
or Upper Egypt, are found surmounting the sign nut (3), sufficiently shows
that this symbol also stood for an extended capital, a state, and that
both “lands” constituted at one time separate units or reproductions of
the identical plan. Returning to the ancient capitals known as the “Annu
of the North” and the “Annu of the South:” according to Dr. Wallis Budge
the first occupied the site of Heliopolis and was identical with the city
of On mentioned in Genesis (XLI: 45). The Annu Qemat was Hermonthis, the
modern Menth, Armant or Erment, situated on the west bank of the Nile a
little to the south of the ruins of Thebes. It is noteworthy that the name
for Thebes, given in the cuneiform inscriptions and Hebrew scriptures, No
(Ezek. XXX:4) and No-am-on (Nahum III:8), is in one case the simple
inversion of On, the Hebrew name of Heliopolis, the Northern Annu, while
in the second instance the name of Thebes incorporates both forms.
The allusion to the “square of the city of Edfu,” and to buildings laid
out on a square ground-plan, contained in inscriptions cited by
Brugsch,(107) also furnishes an indication, which can doubtless be
multiplied, that, as in Babylonia, Egyptian cities were sometimes built in
the form of a square. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the square (slightly
elongated) is employed to express the consonant _p_. The sign appears to
have been cryptic and to have constituted the symbol of the god Ptah, “The
Opener,” considered as the most ancient of Egyptian gods. According to Dr.
Wallis Budge, “the sign is the picture of a door made up of a number of
boards fastened together by three cross-pieces at the back, and there can
be no doubt that the word for door was connected with the verb pth=to
open, and that it was pronounced something like ptah (compare the Hebrew
pethah). The sound of the first letter of ptah being _p_, the phonetic
value of the door became _p_” (First steps in Egyptian, p. 5). To the
above I add the observation that the plain square or outline of the door,
without indications of boards and cross-pieces, is usually employed in the
published texts. The association of the square, representing a door with
three cross-beams, and expressing the sound ptah is particularly
interesting when connected with the word for earth or land=ta, and the
method of expressing the word universe=taui, by the threefold repetition
of the sign ta, which resembles a cross-beam (fig. 60, 5). An interesting
association of the square with earth or land is seen in one of the signs
for province or nome=sept or hesp, which consists of a series of squares,
evidently representing theoretical territorial divisions and possibly a
system of canal-irrigation. Other suggestive signs for sep consist of a
circle containing two strokes; a circle enclosing four dots and a double
circle (fig. 60, 4). It is interesting to find an isosceles triangle
employed, with a slight addition, to express the word ta=land, as well as
sept=province (fig. 60, 4 and 5), and to find on analyzing the circular
sign for nut=sky, which is likewise the determinative for city, that it
contains four triangles. These converge towards the centre, as do the
triangular sides of the square pyramid, and thus the sign nut and the
pyramid clearly appear to express a whole divided into four parts, the
square form being connected with earth and the circle with the sky.
[Illustration.]
Figure 60.
A proof that the quadriform organization was extensively employed in
ancient Egypt, is furnished by Dr. Wallis Budge’s statement that each nome
or province was divided into four parts, and had its capital or “nut.” The
inference is that each nome constituted a miniature reproduction of the
state and that the sign nut represented its theoretical plan. On the other
hand, the fact that the triangle constitutes one sign for the nome itself,
indicates that, originally, the nome was identified as one of four
divisions of the state only and that, like Babylon, Egypt must have been
theoretically divided, not only into two main divisions, but also into
four regions, corresponding to the
North=Meh-ta, literally North land.
West=Amen-ta, literally Hidden land.
South=Resu.
East=Aba.
In the extracts from the Pyramid texts published by Dr. Wallis Budge
(Pyramid of Unas, Fifth dynasty), the following invocation occurs: “O gods
of the west, O gods of the east, O gods of the south, O gods of the north,
four these, who embrace _the four quarters of the earth holy_.” These four
quarters are represented in hieroglyphics by the sign for land=ta,
repeated four times, which thus express, literally, “the four lands” or
regions. Allusion is also made in the same inscription, to the “four
fields of heaven.”(108)
The four gods, termed by Egyptologists the “genii of the dead,” were Amset
or Mestha, Hapi, Tuaumutef and Kebhsenuf, and it was the custom to place
the canopic vases representing them under the bier. The canopic vases
were, however, also supposed to be under the protection of four sky
goddesses, identified with the cardinal points, whose names are usually
given as Isis, Nephthys, Neith and Serk-t(?). A particularly interesting
instance of the employment of the cross-symbol in connection with the four
“gods of the horizon,” as they are termed, is to be found in the Book of
the Dead, published by Lepsius and reproduced by Dr. Wallis Budge
(Dwellers on the Nile, p. 158). The four gods in mummy form, stand in a
line behind a table laden with offerings. A large crux decussata (St.
Andrew’s cross) is painted on the right shoulder of the foremost god, a
fact to which I shall revert and discuss further in dealing with the
cross-symbol and swastika in Egypt. Having traced quadruplicate
territorial divisions and quaternions of gods, let us next present proofs
of an organization of the population into four “races.”
Dr. Wallis Budge, referring to Chabas and Naville, states that “the
Egyptians of the later empire believed that Ra-Harmachis, attacked his
foes, who fled in all directions from before him. Those who came to the
south became the Cushites, those who came to the north became the Amu,
those who came to the west the Libyans and those who came to the east the
Shasu, and thus were the four races of mankind made” (The Dwellers on the
Nile, p. 53).
The fact that the Sphinx has been designated as the image of Ra-Harmachis
_i. e._ Heru-em-chut and of his human representative, and that the
distribution of people to the cardinal points and the origin of four races
of men is assigned to him, are particularly interesting and suggestive,
especially in connection with the familiar table of nations given by
Moses, who says “and the sons of Ham, Cush and Mizraim and Phut and
Canaan” (Gen. X:6). Dr. Wallis Budge states that Ham or Kham is the same
as Khem and is the name Kamt, _i. e._ black, by which the Egyptians
generally called their land. I venture to point out that in the following
passages the name Ham seems to be more applicable to a deity such as
Amen-Ra or to his human representative a king, than to Egypt itself: “And
smote all the firstborn in Egypt and the chief of their strength _in the
tabernacles of Ham_” and again “Wondrous works _in the land of Ham_.”...
It is well known that Mizraim, the second name given above, was employed
by the Hebrews as a designation for Egypt. The inhabitants of the region
of Cush are represented on Egyptian monuments and we are told that “at the
outset they appear to have had a religion and speech akin to that of the
Egyptians. We find Phut most probably, in the Punt of the inscriptions,
the land ... situated to the south of Egypt on both sides of the Red sea.
The fourth son [of Ham], Canaan, is represented by the original
inhabitants of Canaan, who were probably near relations of the Egyptians”
(Wallis Budge, The Dwellers on the Nile, p. 52). While tradition and
documentary evidence thus associates the four sons of Ham with certain
regions and cardinal points, Egyptian monuments exhibit representations of
people of four different colors, _i. e._ red, yellow, black and white.
“The ancient Egyptians ... recognized four races of men. They themselves
belonged to the ‘Rot’ or red men; the yellow men they called ‘Namu’—it
included the Asiatic races; the black men were called ‘Nahsu,’ and the
white men ‘Tam-hu.’ The following figures (fig. 61) are copied from Nott
and Gliddon’s ‘Types of Mankind,’ p. 85, and were taken by them from the
great works of Belzoni, Champollion and Lepsius” (Donelly, Atlantis, p.
195).
Pursuing our investigations of the territorial divisions of Egypt, we
learn, from Mr. Wallis Budge, that collectively there were 42 nomes in
Upper and Lower Egypt. This number is identical with that of the 42 gods
represented in the Book of the Dead as being with Osiris in the hall of
Two Truths where the dead were judged. The 42 “judges of the dead” are
represented as seated figures, with human or animal heads, and are equally
divided into two groups. From the “negative confession” which the deceased
makes to his judges, we learn that each god was identified with a
locality, some amongst them being addressed as “coming out from” such
important cities as Heliopolis, Sais, Bubastis, etc. The inference I
venture to make is that these 42 judges were the gods of the 42 nomes who,
with Osiris, the chief god and the “President,” formed the council of
gods, which judged and ordered the affairs of men.
[Illustration.]
Figure 61. The Races Of Men According To The Egyptians.
It is moreover natural to suppose that terrestrial administrations of
justice must also have been executed by a supreme council of men, composed
of the king, the living image of Osiris, and the chiefs of the 42 nomes of
Upper and Lower Egypt, who personified, as elsewhere, the totemic divinity
of tribe or district. Postponing further discussion of the number 42,
associated with nomes and gods, let us examine further data concerning the
territorial organization of ancient Egypt.
Dr. Wallis Budge tells us that, “during the rule of the Greeks (B.C.
342-332), Egypt was divided into three parts: Upper, Central and Lower
Egypt. Central Egypt consisted of seven nomes, and was called Heptanomis”
(Nile, p. 28). The seven-storied pyramid of Sâkkarah and the employment of
the signs expressing “three regions” and “four regions or lands,” to
signify the whole land or universe, prove that, long before Greek rule,
the ancient Egyptians, like the Babylonians, employed the heptameredal
system. Thus, according to Herodotus, “There are seven classes of
Egyptians, and of these some are called priests, others warriors, others
herdsmen, others swineherds, others tradesmen, others interpreters and
lastly pilots; such are the classes of Egyptians; they take their names
from the employments they exercise” (Euterpe II, 164). Passages from Prof.
Flinders Petrie’s History of Egypt (Vol. II, pp. 156 and 185) afford,
moreover, instances of the conquest of a heptarchic government by an
Egyptian king and the employment, in about B.C. 1500, of the number seven,
as a mystic or sacred number, in a letter from a Syrian prince to the
Egyptian king.
In the record of the triumphal return of Aa-kheperu-ra, the seventh king
of the eighteenth dynasty (B.C. 1449-1423), it is said: “His Majesty
returned in joy of heart to his father Amen; his own hand, with his mace,
had struck down the seven chiefs, which were of the territory of Pakhsi
(near Aleppo)”.... “Six of these enemies were hanged in front of the walls
of Thebes; the seventh [probably the chief of chiefs], was brought to
Nubin and was hanged on the wall of the town of Napata, to show forth for
all time the victories of the king among all people of the negro land,
inasmuch as he had taken possession of the nations of the south and he had
bound the nations of the north and the ends of the whole extent of the
earth on which the sun rises and sets, without finding any opposition,
according to the command of his father Amen-ra of Thebes.” A letter from a
Syrian prince to Amenhotep III (B.C. 1414-1379), opens thus: “To the king,
my master, my god, my sun, this is said: Yatibiri, the servant, the dust
of thy feet, at the feet of my king, my master, my god, my sun, seven
times, and seven times more, I fall down.(109)”...
While the above data suffice to establish that more than a thousand years
before Greek rule was established in Egypt its inhabitants were familiar
with the seven-fold scheme of organization, the following extremely
interesting portion of Brugsch’s monumental work, already cited,
indirectly teaches much concerning the divisions of the land of Egypt. The
ancient Egyptian astronomers regarded the nocturnal heaven as the exact
counterpart of the land of Egypt (I, p. 176). In the inscriptions, the
firmament is frequently considered geographically, as a region comprising
countries surrounded by seas and traversed by rivers and canals, and
covered with cities and houses and divided into nomes which corresponded
to those of Egypt, excepting in point of number, there being thirty-six
celestial nomes. According to the inscriptions and pictures in the royal
tombs at Thebes, there was a celestial eastern sea (uat-ura abti), a
western sea (uat-ura amentti) and a northern sea (uat-ura mahtet or
mehtat). Special mention is made of “the waters” and land of the “northern
place of light above the constellation of the Great Bear.”
The lands of Punet (Punt?), Uthenet, Kenemti and Sa-nutart-mahti, “the
northern land of God” are designated, beside other names which correspond
to the terrestrial geographical situation of outlying foreign countries
known to the Egyptians. There was a celestial city, “Anu or On,” whose
eastern and western sides or places of light are frequently mentioned. The
mention of a single Anu or On, names which are found applied to the most
ancient capitals of the land of Egypt, is particularly noteworthy. It will
be shown further on, upon Sir Norman Lockyer’s authority, that, in the
exact centre of the circular zodiac at Denderah, the jackal, expressing
the name Anubis, “is located at the pole of the equator and obviously
represents the present Little Bear.” This and other data establish beyond
a doubt that the celestial Anu, On or No, was supposed to be situated in
Polaris and that the terrestrial capital was intended to be the
counterpart of the apparent seat of central rule and government according
to fixed laws and order of rotation. The idea that, after death, the human
soul lived again in the celestial sphere is shown in the following address
to a departed spirit contained in the Bulak papyrus cited by Brugsch: “The
images of the gods of the Southern and Northern countries appear to thee
in the thirty-six nomes; thou goest where they are as a perfect soul, thou
doest what pleases thee in the heaven, thou art amongst the constellations
of the thirty-six Beka.”
This word is rendered by Brugsch as the “Dekane” in German and I have been
unable to find its exact equivalent in English. The Dekanes are alluded to
in an inscription from the Ptolemaic period cited by Brugsch (_op. cit._
I, p. 135) as follows: “They shine forth after the sun has set. They _run
in a circle_, and continually release each other. They become apparent at
sunset at hours varying with the seasons.” The Dekane constellations or
stars were those which rose at the beginning of each decade or period of
ten days, which constituted the Egyptian “week.” There were thirty-six or
4×9 of these in the Egyptian year, at the end of which an epact of five
days was added, each day being consecrated to one of the five chief gods.
Deferring the discussion of the Egyptian numerical calendaric system, I
merely point out here the obvious agreement between the number of
celestial nomes = 36, the number of decades in the year of 360 days to
which should be added the familiar fact that each day and decade had its
special “god.” Laying stress upon the point that in ancient Egypt we find
thirty-six celestial, geographical districts, corresponding to the
thirty-six decades of the year and to thirty-six gods, I take pleasure in
pointing out how clearly the following passages of Sir Norman Lockyer’s
“Dawn of Astronomy” show that the thirty-six gods had as many human
representatives, priests, who performed certain religious rites and homage
in the chief temple in a fixed order of rotation. “Even at Philæ in late
times, in the temple of Osiris, there were 360 bowls for sacrifices, which
were filled daily with milk by a specified rotation of priests. At
Acanthus there was a perforated cask into which one of the 360 priests
poured water from the Nile daily;” an enforced act of obedience recalling
the punishment of the daughters of Danaë. As Sir Norman Lockyer justly
remarks “these temple ceremonials are an evidence of their antiquity and
may be regarded as traditions preserved by the conservative priesthood.”
I am inclined to regard the above mentioned acts of empty homage as
survivals of conditions strictly analogous to those which existed in
ancient America, where each geographical district of the state was
associated with a class of people under their representative, and a day of
the calendar on which obligations towards the central government, such as
the paying of tribute, had to be performed in a fixed order of rotation,
corresponding to the annual circuit of the circumpolar constellations
around the pole star.
During centuries the most remarkable of these, Ursa Major, like the hand
of a great celestial dial, moved by an unseen ruling power apparently
located in Polaris, became visible after dusk and pointed towards the four
quarters of heaven in succession, at intervals of nine decades of days. As
in China and elsewhere at the present day, its position was referred to as
a guide in determining time, during the night, and the seasons; and
mankind became familiarized with the idea of a changeless inexorable law
and order governing the universe and determining human periodical
activities, and thus directly influencing individual lives. Added to this
the idea of a heavenly kingdom, traversed by the celestial Nile, the Milky
Way, and in which each familiar locality in Egypt had its counterpart, it
is easy to follow the spread of the belief that there was a close
connection between the stars and their terrestrial counterparts and that
they directly influenced the destinies of individuals, each of which had
its particular star in the sky.
The following portions of the decree inscribed B.C. 238 on the famous
trilingual stela of Canopus, preserved at Gizeh, contain what appear to me
to be distinct allusions to the ideal of a terrestrial kingdom, laid out
and governed in accordance with the system and fixed laws observed as
existing in the heavens and governing the movements of celestial bodies.
The hieroglyphic text records the establishment of festivals “in accord
with the existing fundamental laws upon which the heavens [the movements
of heavenly bodies] are established.”... The Greek translation of this
passage reads: “according to the now existing order of the world
[universe]” and the demotic version is: “in accordance with the scheme,
upon which the heaven is established ” (Brugsch, _op. cit._ I, p. 180).
Further facts concerning celestial and terrestrial territorial divisions
remain to be examined and discussed.
A number of representations exist in which the figure of the sky-goddess,
Nut, appears as though stretched across the vault of heaven, her feet
resting on the earth in the east and the tips of her fingers touching the
horizon in the west. A study of certain texts cited by Brugsch clearly
shows that it was for very practical and sensible reasons that the
Egyptian astronomers had adopted the plan of an imaginary human form
stretched across the nocturnal heaven, as it enabled the position of
constellations and stars to be definitely located. Lepsius has shown that,
in a series of inscriptions in the tombs of Ramses VI and Ramses IX, the
movements and positions of stars are given in connection with the parts of
an imaginary human form in the sky. It is thus said of a star that it was
situated: “in the middle of the breast, in the right eye, the left eye,
the right ear, the left ear, the right arm, the left arm, the left thigh.”
Brugsch (_op. cit._ I, p. 187) quotes the opinion of Lepsius that the
parts alluded to in the above inscriptions, referred to an imaginary male
figure stretched across the firmament and viewed _en face_, and publishes
a theoretical reconstruction of this imaginary figure. It recalls that of
a Buddha and suggests the idea that the Egyptian schematical figure must
have also been imagined as seated on the stable centre of the heaven.
Egyptian astronomical texts, which I shall cite further on, appear to me
to show distinctly that the lotus flower (the name for flower being ankh)
was employed to express the sound ankh, which means “life” and that it
occurs in connection with other symbols of the pole-star god.
Returning to the representations of Nut stretched across the sky, it
should be noted that this employment of the human form belongs to the same
category as the Sphinx, which appears to have been the terrestrial
counterpart of the celestial schematical figure. On the other hand, the
sign nut, consisting of a circle with four divisions, like the pyramid,
represents the successful attempt to express the same thought in abstract,
geometrical form, such as would be intelligible to an initiated,
intellectual minority only.
It will be seen further on that I advance the view that the pyramid, being
a miniature reproduction of the scheme of the universe, contained a sacred
central chamber, representing the sacred Middle, and that this was
destined to be the “house of eternal repose” for the dead king, the
representative of the universal god.
As Dr. Wallis Budge tells us: “If the deceased succeeds in passing the
ordeal [of judgment after death] satisfactorily, he comes forth at once as
a god (there is no place of probation), he becomes identified with Osiris,
in whose shape his mummy is made” (The Dwellers on the Nile, p. 177).
The following text, from the inscription on an amulet found on the neck of
the mummy of a young girl, preserved at the Berlin Museum, is explained in
the official catalogue of the museum (p. 343), as signifying that “the
mummy was supposed to lie in the centre of the whole world:” “The sky is
locked over the earth, the earth is locked over the beyond and the beyond
is locked over this strong mummy-case of the departed
Osiris-Hathor-tsen-usire....” As the “beyond” in the inscription evidently
signifies the “underworld,” the idea that the mummy case, resting on the
earth, was being pressed upon from beneath by the underworld, and from
above by the sky, is clearly conveyed and is in keeping with the sign for
universe, already alluded to, which represents three regions superposed.
The “deification” of the mummy, which is named “Osiris-Hathor,” is an
interesting instance of the idea that the mummy became the image not only
of the goddess Hathor but also of the god Osiris, or Ptah, who is usually
represented in the form of a mummy.
A remarkable instance of a king in a pyramid being actually worshipped and
bearing the name of Ptah, added to his own, is given by Professor Flinders
Petrie (_op. cit._ II, p. 257). “... The figure of the king Teta, entitled
Teta-mer-en-ptah, is placed in a triangle, which is suggestive of a
pyramid (as Men-nefer is written with the same triangle on this naos).
Rather than suppose a new king at this period, we should see in this the
worship of a pyramid king, Teta, of the sixth dynasty....” The association
of Ptah, who is regarded as perhaps the oldest of all gods of Egypt, with
the square=ptah and the pyramid and the mummy, is of extreme interest,
especially as Egyptian texts contain references to “a single god, who
becomes a quaternary of gods” (Brugsch II, 408), and we therefore see that
the idea of Four in One was a familiar one. The personification of Ptah
usually consists of a mummy holding a sceptre, expressing strength, life
and stability. Under the form of Osiris he usually holds the curved
sceptre denoting dominion, beside the symbols for life, rule and power,
and is entitled the “lord of the holy land, lord of eternity, prince of
everlasting, the president of the gods, and the head of the corridor of
the tomb.” Considering that in all pyramids hitherto explored, the
corridor of the tomb is directed towards Polaris, it appears obvious that
the supreme god of “life, strength, eternity, rule and power,” was a
personification of Polaris, the stability of which was naïvely expressed
by the body in mummy form symbolizing the absolute repose and immobility
of death, combined with an animated face and the symbols of living, active
power.
As the divine land is expressly designated as the divine land of the north
in astronomical texts and that this celestial region had its terrestrial
counterpart, it is naturally in Lower Egypt, that the holy land of the
north must be sought.
Investigation speedily proves that the most ancient vestiges of
civilization are situated in the neighborhood of Memphis which, under the
kings of the fourth and the sixth dynasties, reached its height of
splendor. It is in the land of the north, Meh-ta, that the extremely
ancient seven-storied pyramid of Sakkârah lies, and that there exists the
area of about thirty kilometers in which eighty pyramids are concentrated,
and which constitutes the great burial ground of countless generations of
Egyptians of all periods. A curious detail, to which I shall refer again,
is the affinity in sound of the name for “north land,” Meh-ta, and
mit=death or the dead, and the undeniable resemblance of both words to the
Nahuatl, ancient Mexican mictlan=the North, or underworld, from
mic-quiztli=death and tlan=land (_cf._ Egyptian ta=land).
In Egypt, as elsewhere, the western horizon, below which sun, moon and
stars disappeared, was naturally regarded as the entrance to the region of
the underworld. The west being therefore designated amen-ta, “the hidden
or concealed land or region,” it is all the more significant to find the
single entrance and exit corridor of each pyramid directed, not towards
the west, the underworld, but towards the stable centre of the northern
region of the sky. It would therefore seem as though the intention had
been to establish a direct line of communication between the tomb chamber
in the centre of the pyramid and the divine “northern land of God,” the
sacred mountain Manu and the shining celestial city Anu, lying “between
the east and west,” _i. e._ in the Middle, where the supreme star-god
dwelt in eternal repose. An interesting proof that the longing of the
souls of the dead tended towards the north is furnished by the common
prayer-formula: “may my soul ... inhale the north-wind and drink from the
stream.”
Before advancing further, the following authoritative statements,
establishing the supremacy of pole-star cult in ancient Egypt, should be
presented.
According to Sir Norman Lockyer, “It seems extremely probable that the
worship of circumpolar constellations went on in Babylonia as well as in
Egypt in the earliest times we can get at” (_op. cit._ p. 363). “There can
be no question that the chief ancient constellation in the North was the
Great Bear or, as it was then pictured, the Thigh (Meskhet)” (p. 216). “In
the exact centre of the circular zodiac of Denderah we find the jackal
[Anubis] located at the pole of the equator: it obviously represents the
present Little Bear” (p. 362).
“With regard to Anubis, it is quite certain that the seven stars in Ursa
Minor make a very good jackal with pendent tail, as generally represented
by the Egyptians and that they form the nearest compact constellation to
the pole of the ecliptic....”
Sir Norman Lockyer adds that he is informed by Dr. Wallis Budge that “An
was an old name of the sun-god,” but also states, in another page of his
work that “the worship of Anubis, as god of the dead or the night god ...
was supreme until the time of Men-kau-ra, the builder of the third pyramid
of Gizeh” (B.C. 3633, Brugsch; B.C. 4100, Mariette; p. 363).
Pending the production of astronomical texts which amply demonstrate that
An was a name of a god of the night sun, Polaris, the following
establishes that, at Annu or Heliopolis, in remotest antiquity and amongst
the pyramid builders, the cult of a northern star prevailed.
“The first civilization as yet glimpsed, so far as temple building goes,
in Northern Egypt, represented by that at Annu, or Heliopolis, was a
civilization which combined the cult of a northern star with a
non-equinoctial solar worship”.... “I know not whether the similarity in
the words Anu, Annu and An results merely from a coincidence, but it is
certainly singular that the most ancient temples in Lower Egypt
(Heliopolis and Denderah) should be called Annu or An, if there be no
connection with the Babylonian god Anu” (Lockyer, _op. cit._ p. 321).
The well-known fact that the entrance passage to the earliest pyramid
known, that of Medum, and of all pyramids hitherto explored, has not only
been found on the north face of the structure but is also believed to have
oriented towards “Sut-anup,” the pole-star (of the period of its
construction), unquestionably proves that the pyramid builders assigned a
particular importance to the north. Referring the reader to Sir Norman
Lockyer’s work for a mass of valuable and interesting information
concerning the orientation of Egyptian temples, I merely quote the
following statements which not only show that throughout Lower Egypt
north-star worship existed, but also establish the interesting and
important fact that in Upper Egypt a totally different astronomical cult
was carried out during an unknown length of time.
“It is an important fact to bear in mind that in the North of Egypt, in
early times, the stellar temples were more particularly directed to the
north, while south of Thebes, so far as I know, there is only one temple
so directed” (p. 225).... “From the astronomical point of view ... there
are distinctly two series [of temples and monuments in general], (leaving
out of consideration the great pyramid builders at Gizeh) absolutely
dissimilar astronomically; ... there are at least two sets [of
temple-builders], one going _up_ the river building temples to the north
stars, the other going down the river building temples to the south stars;
and the two streams practically met at Thebes, or at all events they were
both very fully represented there either together or successively.”
Sir Norman Lockyer proceeds to say: “The double origin of the people thus
suggested on astronomical grounds may be the reason of the name of ‘double
country,’ used especially in the titles of kings, of the employment of two
crowns, and finally of the supposed sovereignty of Set over the north, and
of Horus over the south divisions of the kingdom” (_op. cit._ p. 345). “In
short, in Lower Egypt the temples are pointed to rising stars near the
north point of the horizon, or setting north of west. In Upper Egypt we
deal chiefly with temples directed to stars rising in the southeast, or
setting low in the southwest. Here again we are in presence of ...
distinct differences of astronomical thought....” (p. 341). “With regard
to the northern stars observed rising in high amplitudes, we have found
traces of their worship in times so remote that in all probability at Annu
and Denderah α Ursæ Majoris was used before it became circumpolar. We deal
almost certainly with 5000 B.C.... _New_ temples with nearly similar
amplitudes ... were built at later times ... it may be suggested that the
stellar observations made in them had ultimately to do with the
determination of the hours of the night; this seems probable, for in Nubia
at present, time at night is thus told.”
“It is possible that observations of these stars [which are nearest the
pole and move most slowly] might have been made in such a way that, at the
beginning of the evening the particular position of γ Draconis, for
instance, might have been noted with regard to the pole-star; and seeing
that the Egyptians thoroughly knew the length of the night and of the day
in the different portions of the year, they could at once, the moment they
had the starting-point afforded by the position of this star, practically
use the circle of the stars round the north pole as the dial of a sort of
celestial clock. May not this really have been the clock with which they
have been credited? However long or short the night, the star which was at
first above the pole-star after it had got round so that it was on a level
with it, would have gone through a quarter of its revolution. In low
northern latitudes, however, the southern stars would serve better for
this purpose, since the circle of northern circumpolar stars would be much
restricted. Hence there was a reason in such latitudes for preferring
southern stars. With regard both to high north and south stars, then, we
may in both cases be in presence of observations made to determine the
time at night. So that the worship of Set, the determination of the time
at night by means of the northern stars, might have been little popular
with those who at Gebel Barkal and elsewhere in the south had used the
southern ones for the same purpose ...” (p. 344).
Valuable and suggestive as these observations are, I venture to point out
that the following texts appear to indicate very clearly that, as in China
and Mesopotamia, in the present day, the ancient Egyptian high-priest and
king on important public occasions simply utilized the conspicuous
constellation of Ursa Major as a measurer of time.
In the account of the ceremonial used at the laying of the foundation of
the temple at Edfû, it is stated that the king’s glance was directed to
the Ak or “Middle” and to Meskhet=Ursa Major. A part of the full
translation of the inscription quoted from Nissen by Sir Norman Lockyer
(_op. cit._, pp. 176 and 179) represents the king as speaking, thus:
“Looking to the sky and recognizing the ’ak’ of the Bull’s Thigh
constellation, I establish the corners of the temple of Her Majesty.” It
is further said “With his glance directed towards the ‘ak’ of the Bull’s
Thigh constellation he [the king] establishes the temple house of the
mistress of Denderak, as took place there before.”
Having found out, by referring to Egyptian dictionaries, that er-ak means
“in the middle,” and em-aka “in the midst or middle,” while Hak was a word
employed for “king,” I suggest that these meanings afford a different and
much more simple explanation of the “ak” mentioned in the inscription than
that given by Sir Norman Lockyer and Dümichen. In dealing, further on,
with the astronomical signs and names associated with the pole of the
ecliptic, I shall, moreover, point out that the bull=ka, employed as an
astronomical symbol of Ursa Major, may have been adopted as a cryptic sign
for Polaris, merely because its name contained the letters of the word
ak=the Middle. The recurrence of the same letters in Hak=king seems to
explain also why the king of Egypt was entitled “the bull.”
Returning to the inscription relating to the ceremony of laying the
foundation stone; in other texts cited by Sir Norman Lockyer we find the
king saying: “I have grasped the wooden peg [stake] and the handle of the
club; I hold the rope with Sesheta [his female consort]. My glance follows
the course of the stars; my eye is on Meskhet; standing as divider of time
by his measuring instrument” (Duemichen’s version) or “mine is the part of
time of the number of the hour-clock ” (Brugsch’s version). In another
part the king says “... I let my glance enter the constellation of the
Thigh (representing the divider of time at his measuring instrument)”
(Duemichen’s translation) or “the part of my time stands in the place of
his hour-clock” (Brugsch’s translation). Sir Norman Lockyer notes that
“the word merech or merechet, in which Brugsch suspects hour or
water-clock, does not occur elsewhere.”
Whatever differences there may be in the Brugsch and Duemichen
translations and the interpretations of the word ak, the above texts
establish that the Egyptian king directed his glance to “the Middle” and
that the constellation Meskhet=Ursa Major was connected with
time-measurement and the establishment of the four quarters of the temple.
As I shall show further on, the “Sesheta,” mentioned in the text as
performing the ceremony with the king, appears to be not a “mythical
goddess,” as Sir Norman Lockyer infers, but the living “divine queen,” and
consort of the king. She is represented with the insignia of Isis, whereas
he wears the crown of Osiris, and I note that while she holds her stake in
her left, he holds his in his right hand. Deferring a discussion of the
position of Egyptian queens, I point out here that, in the interesting
description of a foundation ceremonial, preserved in an inscription
relating to the rebuilding of a temple at Abydos, about B.C. 1380, the
Sesheta, entitled the “mistress of the laying of the foundation stone,”
seems to have been the chief actor, since it is she who addresses the
king, as follows: “The hammer in my hand was of gold, as I struck the peg
with it, and thou wast with me in thy capacity of Harpedonapt [?]. Thy
hand held the spade during the fixing of its [the temple’s] four corners
with accuracy by the four supports of heaven” (Lockyer, p. 175).
The “four supports of heaven” referred to here are obviously “the gods
Mestha, Hapi, Tuamautef and Qebhsennuf,” who are recorded in the Book of
the Dead (chapter 17) as being “those which find themselves behind the
constellation of the Thigh in the northern heaven.” In an inscription in
the kings’ graves at Thebes mention is made of the “four Northern Genii
who are the four gods of ‘the follower’ [obviously a circumpolar
constellation]” (Lockyer, p. 147). They seem to be also identical with the
“four constellations [Akhemusek] which are found in the northern heavens,”
and the “sailors or oarsmen in the bark of Ra,” mentioned in the same and
in many other inscriptions. The four “gods” are represented with human
bodies respectively surmounted by the head of a man, an ape, a jackal and
a hawk and are identical with the “genii of the dead,” represented on the
canopic vases placed at the four corners of the bier. In this connection
attention is drawn to how clearly the symbolism of the mortuary customs
becomes apparent when it is realized that the mummy, the image of
Ptah-Osiris, and of the pole-star god, was laid to “eternal rest” in an
imaginary “sacred centre,” obtained by naïvely placing the effigies of the
gods of the cardinal points, the personifications of the “four stars of
the northern heaven,” at the corners of the bier. The same dominant
thought which underlies the popular use of the canopic vases clearly led
to the building of the vast pyramids which constituted the sacred “centres
of the world” par excellence, the square base typifying the four regions
and “corners” of the earth; the triangular sides the four divisions of the
sky, which converge to a single Middle, associated with Polaris, the
sacred pole or ak of the Cosmos.
Returning to the subject of the measurement of time by means of the
circumpolar constellations, it is instructive to find that the Egyptian
determinative sign for “time” consists of a central dot with a circle
drawn around it and to note that the only celestial body that could be
accurately figured as occupying the centre of a circle described around it
is the primitive sun, Polaris.
The Egyptian for “time” is rek, an inversion of ker=the night, the common
sign for which is a band, figuring the sky, from the centre of which a
star is suspended by a thread. As the star is usually formed by two lines,
diagonally crossed, at the end of the thread, there is a strong temptation
to see in the hanging single star an actual representation of a cross
symbol. It is particularly striking to find in Brugsch’s work, that the
determinative for time is actually represented, in numerous cases, as
close to the single hanging star (fig. 62, 9). I leave it to the reader to
form his own conclusions whether this group represents Polaris and the
circuit of time measured by the circumpolar constellations, or whether it
merely represents, as Brugsch states, the winter solstice, _i. e._ the day
sun in the nocturnal sky.
There exists a remarkable variant of the determinative of time, which I
shall discuss more fully further on. Instead of a mere dot, a five-pointed
star is distinctly figured in the centre of the circle (fig. 62, 12). This
variant furnishes, in my opinion, convincing proof of the meaning of the
determinative for time, which also constituted the well-known sign for
Ra=god, and forms a part of the name of the supreme divinity of Egypt,
Amen, or Amon or Amun Ra, the “hidden or secret god,” whose name
contradicts the current assumption that Ra signifies the diurnal sun
merely, and that Amen-Ra was a “solar” deity.
The following texts relating to the “supreme true but hidden god” amply
demonstrate that the chief characteristic of his cult was that it was
shrouded in secrecy and mystification. Others, which I shall quote farther
on, allow us clearly to perceive that individuals were obliged to pass
through a series of initiations into the meanings of cabalistic signs and
symbols of the divinity before they attained the pure knowledge of the
nature of the mysterious, “hidden divinity.” On reading the texts of the
famous “Book of the Dead” it has frequently occurred to me that the
negative confession and judgment of the soul of the departed may
originally signify the actual confession and judgment of an applicant for
initiation into the secrets of the priesthood and the astronomical and
theological knowledge they so rigidly guarded from the ignorant multitude.
The highest knowledge and most profound secret they could impart was
doubtlessly the acknowledgment and perception of the existence of a
supreme power which governed the universe on a certain plan, which the
rulers of the land of Egypt endeavored to apply to its organization and
government in order to make it a celestial kingdom upon earth.
The rigidly-adhered-to policy of the ruling caste was, however, the
shrouding and concealment of their store of knowledge from the uninitiated
and the gradual admission of select individuals to the inner chambers of
secrecy. The following texts show that even the true name of the supreme
divinity was wrapped in impenetrable mystery, but the assumption that we
are dealing with a pole-star god seems to enable us to penetrate the
obscurity of the formulæ employed by the scribes to veil the true meaning
of the texts.
Beginning with the hymn published by Mr. Wallis Budge, in his useful
handbook, “The Nile,”(110) we find Amen-Ra addressed as “King, _One_ among
the gods, _myriad are his names, how many are they, is not known_ ... the
lord of Law, _whose shrine is hidden, ... whose name is hidden from his
children in his name Amen_.”... In the legend of Ra and Isis (XXth
dynasty) he is designated as “the god divine, the creator of himself, the
creator of heaven, earth, breath of life, fire, gods, men, beasts, cattle,
reptiles, fowl of the air, fish, king of men and gods, _in form one_, to
whom periods are as years, _many of names, not known are they, not know
them the gods_.”(111)
The mysterious supreme god is further spoken of in the hymn as ... “the
lord of the uræus crown, exalted of the plumes; the serpent Mehen, and the
two uræi are the (ornaments) of his face....” Mention is likewise made of
his lordship over the Sekti boat (which sailed from the place of rising in
the East) and the Atet boat (which sailed to the place of setting in the
West); he is also addressed as the “god Khepera in his boat.” In many
passages he is apparently identified with the sun, “the eye of Horus,” but
is at the same time, also addressed as Ani, the lord of the New Moon
festival and he is termed “_the lord of all the gods_ whose appearances
are in the horizon.” His all-embracing nature is clearly conveyed by the
passages terming him “the maker and lord of things which are below and of
things which are above;” “of the heaven and earth.” The above evidence
suffices to show that, on the one hand, Amen-Ra is constantly referred to
as the “One god, without a second, the knowledge of whose nature is
concealed from men and gods, who reveals himself in innumerable forms; who
exerts hidden control and universal dominion and is associated with
stability and power, time and eternity.” On the other hand, stress is laid
on his dual nature: Amen-Ra is bi-sexual and self-creative; alternately
becomes light and darkness; and the sun and moon are the eyes of his
“hidden face,” which, literally translated, yields Amen-Hra.
In the hymn previously cited he is also termed the “lord of the sky, the
establisher of all things, ... the extender of foot-steps.... _One_ in his
times as among the gods....” He is apostrophized as “the maker of the
gods, who hast stretched out the heavens and founded the earth,” “the
chief who makest the earth like unto himself,”.... “President of the great
cycle of the gods, _only one without his second_ ... living in Law every
day.... O Form, _one_, creator of all things, O _one_ only, maker of
existences ... he giveth the breath of life to (the germ) in the egg....
Hail to thee, thou _only one_!... _He watches all people who sleep_ ...
all people adore thee.... O thou ... _the untiring watcher_, Amsu-amen
lord of eternity, the Maker of Law....” Another passage states: “the aten
(disk) is thy body” (_i. e._ image or symbol). In the legend of Ra and
Isis, quoted above, the god is made to say of himself: “I am the maker of
the hours, the creator of days, I am the opener of the festivals of the
year.... I am he who when he opens his eyes [_i. e._ the sun and moon]
becometh light, when he shutteth his two eyes, becometh darkness.” Brugsch
tells us that Ra, whom he accepts as the day-sun, was addressed as the
master of double or two-fold force, who illuminates the world with his two
eyes and “was symbolized by two lions.” Further on I shall quote facts
establishing that the king and queen of Egypt were respectively named the
right and left eye of Amen-Ra, were associated with sun and moon, regarded
as the personifications of Osiris and Isis, and that these deities were
represented in the form of uræus serpents with human heads, and that the
two serpents were employed as symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt. Mr. Wallis
Budge informs us that Amen-Ra was named “bull ... in thy name of ‘Amen
bull of his mother,’ and that he was entitled ‘lord of the thrones of the
two lands;’ ‘king of the gods;’ ‘maker of mortals;’ ‘mighty law.’ ” In one
of his forms he is represented as wearing horns (an allusion to duality
and the title of bull) and feathers (=mat=maat=law) and holding the
emblems of stability, power, dominion and rule.
[Illustration.]
Figure 62.
Before demonstrating that the chief astronomical signs of the Egyptian
zodiac partake of the nature of a rebus and express the sound of the
various attributes and titles and some of the “myriad of names” of the
“hidden god,” contained in the preceding texts, I point out how clearly
the conception of Amen-Ra, as shown in these hymns and invocations, is
consistent with a pole-star origin. We have, moreover, the authoritative
opinion of Brugsch that “the hieroglyph and name Ra did not only refer to
the day-sun, but also designated certain brilliant stars,” which he
presumes to be the planets (_op. cit._ I, p. 79). This identification of
the name Ra with stars involuntarily obliges one to recall the Sanscrit
tara=star while the Chinese employment of a plain circle to designate
“star,” also finds its analogy. Let us now examine the hieroglyphic signs
and symbols of Ra and note how intelligible they become when the god is
identified as Polaris.
The following (fig. 62) are some of the modes in which the name Ra is
found expressed in texts published in Mr. Wallis Budge’s “First steps in
Egyptian:”
Fig. 62, 1. By a dot in the centre of a circle, the determinative of
“time.”
2. By the latter accompanied by the image of a seated god and the numeral
1.
3. _Idem_, partly surrounded by a serpent in motion and accompanied by the
numeral 1.