Constellations of ancient Egypt

In the last post I talked about the border line between two very old empires, I probably left you a bit 'hanging' in regards, to… so much more... :) well this is because it is not possible for anyone to explain something in short, especially not at the levels of how the ancient Egyptian worked. 

There is clear evidence that the constellations changed in ancient Egypt.

Constellations of ancient Egypt a picture from Sety I tomb:

 

Sety the First belongs to the 19 Dynasty, which were around 1200 B.C. He was not a king by blood (royal blood), but he indeed was a true king of his time. 

This image portrays some of the constellation of ancient Egypt, and how they choose to see them. The harmony which one can see everywhere in their writing and images, seem to be less preferred when it comes to this part of the tomb. Their placement seems as important as the images themselves.

I completely understand why some descendants thought this to be a devils work, especially considering how the creatures look. But to understand the ancient Egyptian mindset, one has to open up for more possibilities than we have in this so-called modern time.

The concept of the 'devil' descends from many older cultures too, just with other names and attributes. But I find the ancient Egyptians truly understood these concepts to their fullest, and understood how to depict it in a harmonious way (the story of Seth and Horus portrays their understanding of 'evil,' whom was never 'just' evil - a person fallen for his own personal inner demon, in the choices they made.) 

No one can claim that they truly understand the Egyptian gods, even less can be said about their 'star-gods.' But they left us their thoughts and words, as the Greeks probably would call 'The holy writing from the heavens.' The Picture above is actually a mythological story about these 'star-gods'.

It is believed that it is the battle of Seth and Horus, these images seems portrayed different in tombs. Some of these creatures (images) have been identified with our modern constellation chart. These stars are called the circumpolar stars (In ancient Egypt they were known under the name 'Khemiu-seku'), which is probably another word for 'fixed' as they did not rise or set, in the time of the Dendera temple.

On these ceiling images we probably find different mythological stories, because of their different looks. I think that the man, that has his fist raised towards the crocodile's nose, is a star-form of Sety I (in this case), he is helping Horus in the journey across the night sky. 

In the man's other hand, we see his hand raised and a Bull is standing upon an odd looking 'plate'. This is actually interesting if you ask me. Because Sety I was known for is love of hunting Bulls, in the Temple at Abydos, is one of the only existing images of Sety I teaching his son Ramesses II how to catch the Bulls. 

This was also a form of exam for the boy, in that this would show Ramesses II strength, if manhood was upon him. This image above could be indicating his ‘triumph’ over the Bull, fitting perfectly into their stories about the constellations.

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"On many inscriptions the constellation which, as I have stated, represent the hippopotamus, is really represented as a crocodile, or as a crocodile resting on the shoulders of a hippopotamus, so that there is no doubt that the crocodile and the hippopotamus were variants; and we can quite understand, further, that the hippopotamus must have been brought into Egypt by a tribe with that totem, who must have come from a very long way up the Nile, since the hippopotamus was never indigenous in the lower reaches of the river; so that we have in the myth to do with a hippopotamus-worshipping tribe, which, for that reason, probably came from a region very far to the south."

From J. Norman Lockyer (1836-1920)

In the area more south of Aswan, the crocodiles were sacred animals, even being mummified.