251

MEMOIR

On the Antiquity of the Zodiacs of ESNEH and
DENDERA.

PART II. [Continued from No. XLVII. p. 174.]

4

THOSE who are of opinion that the zodiacs of Esneh and Dendera have been constructed since the commencement of the Christian æra, either have, or may have, employed the following arguments:-First, it may be proved from the architecture of the temples, as well as from some inscriptions found by Mr. Bankes, that these buildings, with their planispheres and hieroglyphics, are not much, if at all, more ancient than the time of Antoninus Pius. Secondly, the temple of Esneh, which is generally supposed to be the most ancient, was dedicated to Ammon; and as Strabo says, that the inhabitants adored Minerva and the latus-fish, it may be suspected that the temple was not yet built in the time of that writer. Thirdly, if we suppose the zodiacs to have been formed for the purpose of representing the state of the heavens at any particular epoch, we may naturally conclude that they were constructed for the time when the temples were built. Fourthly, the date of the oblong zodiac of Dendera, may be decided by this circumstance that the sign of Cancer is there represented by two beetles of different sizes, one of which indicates the ascending, and the other the descending part of the sign. Fifthly, it is not possible, that the summer solstice could be intended to be represented in any of these zodiacs, as corresponding with any other sign than Cancer, because the Balance is found in its proper place.

1. It is not essential to my inquiry to ascertain the exact date, when the temples of Esneh and Dendera were built, since the zodiacs on the roofs might have been copied from more ancient monuments. The evidence of Mr. Bankes seems to prove that these temples were built in the time of Adrian and Antoninus Pius. In a letter addressed by this distinguished traveller to my learned friend Mr. David Baillie, he has made various observations, which denote at once his acuteness, and the accuracy with which he had examined the architecture, sculpture, and masonry, of these celebrated ruins; and as it appears to

be his decided opinion, that the whole of the workmanship was of a much later date than I had supposed, I am rather inclined to relinquish my former opinions upon this part of the subject. Still, however, some remarks may be made on the statements of Mr. Bankes. He observes that the capitals of the most ancient columns to be found at Thebes, and in Nubia, have the form only of the simple bell, and one or two other forms; and he adds, that these capitals are placed either upon polygonal or fluted shafts. The capitals of the columns at Esneh and Dendera, more particularly at the latter place, are of much more laborious workmanship, and exhibit clusters of lotus-flowers, intermixed with foliage, and even with grape and date branches. Now it may be remarked, first, that peculiar flowers, plants; and trees, were dedicated to different deities, and that therefore there might have been considerable differences in the architectural ornaments of different temples. The palm-tree was sacred to Isis, the vine to Osiris, the lotus to Horus and Harpocrates; secondly, that the temples of Esneh and Dendera may have been of much later date than those of Thebes, and yet may have been built long before the times of the Cæsars, or even of the Ptolemies; and thirdly, that if these temples had been built under the auspices either of the Ptolemies or of the Cæsars, we might have expected them to have borne more resemblance to the models of architecture to be found in Greece and Italy.

There is another statement, on which some observations may be made. The hieroglyphics on the columns are not of ancient Egyptian workmanship, but, as it appears from the inscriptions found by Mr. Bankes, are of the time of Antoninus Pius-the style of workmanship on the columns and on the cieling, is the same; and therefore the zodiacs, which are in relief painted over, are of the same date with the hieroglyphics carved on the columns. But is it impossible that the zodiacs should have been traced on the roofs, before the hieroglyphics were cut in the columns ? - Might not the temples have existed for ages, before the Greeks engraved the hieroglyphics? Is the identity of style, between the engravings on the columns and the reliefs on the cielings, such that no imitation of manner can account for the resemblance? Does it appear that the style of workmanship at Esneh and Dendera is so clearly of the same age, that no doubt can well exist on the subject?

2. Mr. Bankes observes, "that the temple of Esneh was

dedicated to Ammon, and that he should be sorry to maintain that it did not exist in Strabo's time, but that this writer expressly says, that the inhabitants of Latopolis adored Minerva and the latus-fish.". On turning to Strabo I find Mr. Bankes's reference to that author to be perfectly correct; but Mr. Bankes does not mention in his letter, why he affirms that the temple was dedicated to Ammon; and I can only conclude, that he has made this affirmation from the symbols and images which adorn the building, as I can find nothing in the zodiac to authorise the assertion. But the Egyptian Neitha, who was prevólnλus, was a very different deity from the 'Alva of the Greeks, or the Minerva of the Latins, and was in many respects the same with Phtha, or Ptha, whose name is often improperly written Phthas, and Pthas. This God, who was likewise agosonAug, is also identified with Ammon, (or Amoun, as the name should be written,) by Iamblichus; and thus it becomes very difficult to distinguish Neitha from Ptha, and Ptha from Amoun. Neither is it less to our purpose to observe, that both Amoun and Neitha presided in the constellation of Aries-Hear Proclus xpiòv Exeïvos (oi Aiγύπτιοι) διαφερόντως ἐτίμων, διά τε τὸν "Αμμωνα (lege "Αμουνα) κριο πρόσωπον καθιδρυμένον, καὶ ὅτι γενέσεως ὁ κριὸς ἀρχὴ, καὶ ταχυκίνη τότατός ἐστιν ὡς περὶ τὸν ἰσημερινὸν καυηστερισμένον.—Again, in speaking of Neitha:--καὶ γὰρ τῶν ζωδίων, ὁ κρίος ἀνεῖται τῇ θεῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἰσημερινὸς κύκλος. Besides this, we are to remember that the sheep was sacred to Amoun at Thebes, and to Neitha at Sais. It may have happened, that Amoun and Neitha were worshipped conjointly at Esneh; but from what I have already stated, it seems very possible, that Neitha may have been represented xgióuogos; and that this deity may consequently have been easily mistaken for Amoun.

3. The observations which I have made on Mr. Bankes's letter may not, perhaps, be altogether unworthy of his attention. But Mr. Baillie, a ripe scholar, and an acute observer, who has visited Egypt, is better able to speak of its architectural remains than I am; and as this memoir is chiefly written for his perusal, he will judge how far the remarks, which I have been making, may be just. I must however contend, that the antiquity of the temples does not affect the antiquity of the zodiacs, which might have been copied from monuments of much remoter times. I shall allow then, that the temples were built in the age of

Antoninus Pius, while I maintain, that the zodiacs repre'sented on the cielings, like the hieroglyphics engraved on the columns, were copied by Greek artists, who knew very little of the meaning of either, from exemplars which they had before them.

The emblems and figures, which are crowded round the signs, especially in the zodiacs of Dendera, have very little appearance of being of Greek origin. Neither does it appear that the signs themselves were copied from a Greek model. The Balance is distinctly represented in all these zodiacs; and the Alexandrian Greeks, the only astronomers in Egypt in the time of Antoninus, always, as far as can be now known, represented the sign in question by the claws of the Scorpion; and when, or where, it may be asked, have the Greeks ever designated the sign of Cancer by a scarabæus? The division of the zodiac into decans, was at least not usual among the Greeks; and they knew little or nothing of the mythology connected with this division. All the figures wear the Egyptian costume. Some of these are human figures represented with the heads of the sacred animals of Egypt. There is nothing Greek in the designs. What Greek artists would have imagined, though they might have condescended to copy, the two long disproportionate figures, which are made by hideous contortions to embrace the great zodiac of Dendera?

In addition to these remarks it may be observed, that it would be difficult to conceive a reason, why the Greek artists should have constructed an astronomical monument calculated for the Egyptians only, and that at a time when the Egyptians were become incapable of either constructing it for themselves, or of understanding it when constructed by others. More than a century before the reign of Antoninus Pius, Strabo had mourned over the desolations of the city, where Plato and Eudoxus had gleaned those remnants of science, which had escaped the destructive vigilance of Persian tyranny. Besides, what could the Greeks, who are supposed to have built the temples of Esneh and Dendera, have known of the mythological symbols of the Egyptians of the Thoths of their religious and rural years-of the Gods with the heads of bulls, and rams, and dogs, and hawks, that presided over certain constellations? What could it have signified to them, whether the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided, or not, with the Thoth

of the vague year of the Egyptians? Why were they to calculate, that this could happen only once in 1460 years? But it may be said, that these zodiacs were traced from patterns furnished by the astronomers of Alexandria. Would Ptolemy, or his disciples, have taken the trouble of making calculations for periods by which they never reckoned? The use of the old civil year of the Egyptians had been long abolished; and the use of the Julian year had been established by the laws of Julius Cæsar and Augustus. Would the Greek astronomers, in the face of these laws, have set about composing a zodiac, which should harmonise with the first year of a Sothic period? But it may be said there were astronomers, or at least astrologers, in Egypt, who would have done all this. Vettius Valens, who lived in the time of Adrian and Antoninus, wrote on the subject of Egyptian astrology, reckoned by the Egyptian months, and was accustomed to cite the books of King Necepsos. It is a little unlucky for Vettius Valens, that he clearly did not understand the Egyptian language; for in a passage cited by Selden from his unpublished work, which is now I believe in the King's library at Paris, he says, that the Egyptians called the planet Mars "Agr", ἐπεὶ τῶν ἀγαθοποιῶν, καὶ τῆς ζωῆς παραιρέτης ἐστίν. Cedrenus gives us a very different account; and tells us that the Egyptians called the planet Mars "Egrao, and that this word signifies, παντὸς γένους ζωογονίαν, καὶ πάσης ουσίας καὶ ὕλης φύσιν καὶ δύναμιν διατακτικὴν καὶ ζωογονικήν. Thus according to Vettius, Mars was called Artes, which name indicates that he removes and destroys all that is productive of good, and conducive to life; while, according to Cedrenus, the same planet was called Ertosi, which signifies vivification, or the generation of life of every sort, and the nature and power of all substance and matter ordinating and generating life. Now the word Artes seems utterly inconsistent with any etymology to be found for it; and it is obvious that Vettius meant the very word Ertosi, which Cedrenus has written; for Ertosi bears a sense not remote from that which Vettius affixes to Artes, a name which he must have coined. Nam EP, er, est facere, says Jablonski; TOCI vero, tosi (nulav, damnum significat erit igitur er-tosi damnum inferens. This is nearly, but not quite accurate. Jablonski seems to have taken the T before OCI for the feminine article; but this is not the case.

′