Originalveroffentlichung in: J. Steele, A. Imhausen (Hg.), Under One Sky. Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East, AOAT 297 (Munster 2002), S. 283-294
A Goddess Rising 10,000 Cubits into the Air ...
Or Only One Cubit, One Finger?
Joachim Friedrich Quack, Berlin
M y starting point will be a hieroglyphic inscription from the temple o f Philae. This temple is situated in the very south o f Egypt, near the first cataract o f A s w a n . T h e temple was built and decorated mainly during the Ptolemaic period, in the
Hellenistic age. Naturally, this does not preclude the use o f older texts as models for the inscriptions. However, I will postpone questions o f dating and first present the actual inscription.
T h e inscription is placed in the great hypostyle hall o f the temple. It is not part o f an offering scene, but stands as a so-called monograph.1 T h e hieroglyphic text is:
g, <»<=>
A
l o •
n °
00
• ^( ?©
as
_ 0 £ i Q Q
A text giving fundamental information about the specific theology and mythology of a locality.
284 J.F. Quack
Translated, it runs as follows:2
" ( T h i s district...), it is called Per-Mereret.
It is the place where Shu and Tefhut stopped when they came northwards f r o m B u g e m while a great flame was around her.
She burned the enemies o f her father R e .
She went up into the sky 10,000 cubits and immediately became peaceful.
T h e n Shu said to Tefnut,
when he had seen her making a great massacre among the rebels:
' M a y y o u remain, m a y y o u remain there,3
m a y y o u be risen, m a y y o u be risen there, m a y y o u remain in Elephantine,
m a y y o u remain there, m a y y o u be risen in Bigge,
y o u w h o have kindled4 a torch against all enemies o f Ptah in M e m p h i s at the [first] time.'"
O n the whole, the translation does not present too m a n y difficulties. However, there is one particular point which should be further commented on. A b o v e , I have translated the measure o f distance as 10,000 cubits. Unfortunately, the orthography is susceptible to t w o different interpretations. T h e hieroglyphic sign o f the finger f is the ordinary numeral for 10,000. A t the same time, it can be read as a measure, i.e.
the width o f a finger. So, the goddess could rise either 10,000 cubits into the sky or just one cubit and one finger. T h e last reading has never been considered before because at first glance it does not seem to make much sense. However, it cannot b e excluded offhand. A s a matter o f fact, to express a comparatively large distance just in cubits would be like giving the distance f r o m L o n d o n to O x f o r d in yards instead o f miles. T h e Egyptians w o u l d have had larger units o f measurement at hand, especially the " r o d " , if they had wished to give larger distances.
Therefore, I w o u l d like to consider both possibilities. Several questions have to be answered at this point. W h o is this goddess and what does it mean that she is rising into the sky? C a n such an image be connected with any kind o f observable astronomical phenomenon? D o e s an astronomical interpretation o f the underlying myth give any help towards establishing which interpretation o f the number is correct?
2 The text was printed and translated in JUNKER (1917), p. 96. A more recent translation can be found in INCONNUE-BOCQUILLON (2001), p. 53.
3 The r in the text is an obvious scribal error for im, as was recognised by JUNKER (1917), p. 96 n. 3. Surprisingly, INCONNUE-BOCQUILLON (2001), p. 53, while noting that the text is corrupt, still tries to translate it as it stands ("reste, pour y paraitre"). This is not acceptable, for the construction of preposition plus stative is impossible in Egyptian grammar. In my translation, I have replaced the Egyptian abbreviation "twice" by really repeating the text intended to be read twice.
4 Following Junker, I interpret sti.t as a participle. The position of Inconnue-Bocquillon that this is an infinitive serving as heading of a ritual text, while syntactically possible, does not make much sense in this context.
A Goddess Rising 10,000 Cubits into the Air... or Only One Cubit, One Finger? 285
T h e goddess in this inscription is called Tefnut. Together with her brother Shu w h o is also mentioned in the text, she is the child o f the primeval g o d Arum, a manifestation o f the Egyptian solar god. T h e m y t h o l o g y connected with her includes one highly relevant point for the inscription in question: T h e goddess has become separated from her father and dwells far away in the southeast in the country called B u g e m . Her brother Shu, together with Thot, the god o f w i s d o m , tries to bring her back to Egypt and to her father. A f t e r m a n y delays and problems, they manage to do this. T h e text I a m discussing here describes one stage o f this return journey.
T h e final meeting o f the goddess with her father takes place in Memphis, which is also mentioned in our inscription. W h i l e some texts simply dwell o n the happy reunion o f the family, others add a more dramatic point. T h e children o f the sun-god are supposed to fight against the enemies o f their father. T h i s aspect is highlighted at two points in our text. O n the one hand, the killing o f the enemies takes place at Bigge, just south o f the Egyptian border, just before the goddess reaches Egypt. O n the other hand, it is combined with Memphis, the place o f the final meeting with the sun-god.
T h i s complex myth is normally designated, in Egyptological research, as the myth o f the far-away goddess, though " h o m e - c o m i n g goddess" w o u l d be nearer to the truth.5 T h e most complete narrative about it is found in a very long D e m o t i c text k n o w n b y its modern title " M y t h o f the E y e o f the Sun", found in at least six different papyri o f w h i c h several are still unpublished.6 In this text, the protagonists are given as an Ethiopian cat and a little dog-ape. A l s o , m u c h additional information, mostly in the f o r m o f short statements and epithets, can be found in Hieroglyphic temple inscriptions.
Several previous scholars have speculated on possible connections between this myth and natural phenomena. T h e first scholar to deal extensively with it, Hermann Junker, was reluctant to admit any such notion. H e preferred to interpret it o n a very simplistic level as a straight folk story.7 I f he admitted any astronomical reality behind it, he opted for a lunar interpretation, without going into any details.8 Such an interpretation in connection with the m o o n is still accepted nowadays in some quarters,9 though it can be hardly considered as the consensus o f Egyptology.
Even before that, Kurth Sethe proposed that there was a meteorological background to the story. H e thought that the myth was prompted b y dark clouds
The most important studies on this subject are JUNKER (1911); JUNKER (1917);
SETHE (1912); further bibliographical references are given by INCONNUE-BOCQUILLON (2001), p. 9 f ; to be added are e.g. KEES (1931); STERNBERG (1985), pp. 224-228; ENDRODI (1992);
for more, see below note 9, 13 and 15f.
6 Text editions for pLeiden I 384 see SPIEGELBERG (1917); DE CENIVAL (1988); for pLille dem. 31 see DE CENIVAL (1985), DE CENIVAL (1987); DE CENIVAL (1989); for pTebtunis Tait 8 see TAIT (1974); TAIT (1977), pp. 35-37, T. 3. For the Greek Version of pBM 274, see REITZENSTEIN (1923); WEST (1969); T o m (1985), pp. 168-182. A new German translation of the whole narrative will be published in an anthology of Demotic literature by Friedhelm Hoffmann and the author of this communication.
7 JUNKER (1917), p. 129f.
8 JUNKER (1917), pp. 166-168.
q Most explictely DERCHAIN (1971), p. 12f. and pp. 36-44; DERCHAIN (1972), p. 45;
DERCHAIN (1978), p. 51, n. 2; VERHOBVEN (1986).
286 J.F. Quack
temporarily covering the sun; the absence o f the sun w a s interpreted as absence o f the goddess.1 0 T h i s idea has b e e n so c o n c l u s i v e l y criticised b y o t h e r s " that it d o e s not need m u c h m o r e c o m m e n t .
T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , another astronomical interpretation that, at least temporarily, has gained acceptance. It goes b a c k to a passing idea offered b y E . Schwarze and reported b y W i l h e l m Spiegelberg.1 2 A c c o r d i n g to this theory, the apparent m o v e m e n t o f the solar orbit during the different seasons should b e the cause o f the religious m y t h o f the absence o f the goddess. T h o u g h Spiegelberg never elaborated the details o f this interpretation and did not stake his reputation o n it, s o m e h o w it b e c a m e the standard o p i n i o n o f Egyptologists1 3 and got included in the m o s t important reference tools.1 4
A n alternative solution connected the return o f the g o d d e s s with the arrival o f the N i l e inundation in Egypt.1 5 T h i s has not b e e n elaborated in m u c h detail, but the m o s t interesting fact about it is that several scholars h a v e mentioned the intimate
connection between the heliacal rising o f Sirius and the beginning o f the inundation.1 6
Here, I w o u l d like to recall m y o w n p r o p o s a l offered s o m e years ago. I pointed out that it m a d e sense to understand the return o f the goddess as a m y t h i c a l interpretation o f the heliacal appearance o f the star Sirius after its period o f i n v i s i b i l i t y .1 71 referred to an inscription indicating that the goddess appeared in the h o r i z o n behind Orion,1 8 but had to p o s t p o n e a detailed discussion for further studies.
M e a n w h i l e , an important step forward has b e e n m a d e b y A l e x a n d r a v o n L i e v e n . W o r k i n g with m y p r o p o s e d m o d e l , she was able to d e v e l o p m e a n i n g f u l
interpretations for several c o s m o l o g i c a l inscriptions in the temple o f Esna, w h i c h allude to the m y t h o f the return o f the goddess.1 9
A l t h o u g h it is i m p o s s i b l e to give a c o m p l e t e demonstration within the limited frame o f this publication, I w o u l d like to indicate at least s o m e o f the m o r e relevant texts and arguments in order to p r o v i d e m y case with a better foundation. S o m e general discussion o f earlier research also seems in order.
T h e theory o f the inundation o b v i o u s l y cannot explain m a n y details o f the myth.
M o s t relevantly, the v e r y text I a m discussing here clearly states that the goddess is
10 S E T H E ( 1 9 1 2 ) , p. 3 8 .
11 Seee.g. JUNKER (1917), p. 165f.
12 SPIEGELBERG ( 1 9 1 5 ) , p. 8 7 7 , n. 1; SPIEGELBERG ( 1 9 1 7 ) , p. 2.
13 The most important recent proponents were BARTA (1969), p. 77; BRUNNER- T R A U T ( 1 9 8 0 ) , p. 3 4 ; V A N DIJK ( 1 9 8 3 ) , p. 2 4 0 ; K U R T H ( 1 9 8 3 ) , pp. 1 6 1 - 1 6 3 a n d n. 4 ; KURTH (1982-1983), p. 73; GRAEFE (1984), p. 903f.; STERNBERG (1985), pp. 224-228.
14 E . g . BONNET ( 1 9 5 2 ) ; O T T O ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; SMITH ( 1 9 8 4 ) .
15 SAUNERON ( 1 9 6 2 ) , p. 5 8 f ; a n d e s p e c i a l l y DESROCHES-NOBLECOURT a n d KUENZ ( 1 9 6 8 ) , p l l 5 f . ; DESROCHES-NOBLECOURT ( 1 9 9 3 ) , p p . 2 8 a n d 4 2 ; a c c e p t e d b y POSENER-
KRIEGER(1976), p. 4 4 7 f ; BARGUET( 1977), p. 20; GERMONT(1989), p. 227.
16 GERMOND (1989), pp. 194-196 and 224-233; NAGUIB (1990), pp. 3 7 - 4 8 ; see also K E S S L E R ( 1 9 8 8 ) , p. 183.
17 QUACK (1995), p. 116, note k.
18 Q U A C K ( 1 9 9 5 ) , p. 109, n. 14.
19 VON LIEVEN ( 2 0 0 0 ) , p. 7 5 ; VON LIEVEN ( 2 0 0 1 ) .
A Goddess Rising 10,000 Cubits into the Air ... or Only One Cubit, One Finger? 287
rising in the sky. This does not make sense with the water o f the Nile inundation.
This might rise 16 cubits above zero-level, but neither 10,000 cubits nor 1 cubit, 1 finger into the sky. I believe that the inundation-theory mistakes an incidental part o f the whole situation for the basic core.
A s the goddess is always designated as the daughter o f the sun-god to w h o m she returns, any interpretation identifying the goddess herself with the sun runs into serious trouble: one sun w o u l d have to play two roles at once.
T h e interpretation o f the goddess as the m o o n faces a similar dilemma. O n e o f the two gods responsible for bringing her back is, after all, the god Thot, w h o is a typical lunar deity.20 Besides, in Egypt the m o o n is always connected with male gods.21 It can be clearly seen in some texts that specific points in the phases o f the m o o n are significant for the return o f the goddess in an ideal schema,22 but they never go so far as to indicate that the goddess herself is the moon.
If, however, the goddess is Sirius, everything fits together. T h e lunar figure is a companion o f the goddess watching over her punctual arrival. T h e father is the sun, and his meeting with his daughter w o u l d be a most appropriate expression o f the heliacal rising o f the star.
A more detailed study o f this problem w o u l d have to include the astrological ideas about the horoscope o f the world as exposed in Greek and Latin texts23 and, incidentally, depicted o n the ceiling o f the hypostyle hall in Dendera.2 4 In this model, the world is born when the horoscope (ascendant) is in Cancer, in the eleventh hour o f the night when Sirius is at the horizon. T h e m o o n either stands also in Cancer (as indicated b y Firmicus Maternus), directly beside Sirius. T h e n he can be just a small sickle because the sun, standing in Leo, is rather close by. Or, as shown on the ceiling o f Dendera, he is in his hypsoma in Taurus, three signs away f r o m the sun which means that he is about the sixth or seventh day o f the Egyptian lunar cycle.
This is all the more important as several Egyptian sources connect the festival o f the return o f the goddess with the feast o f the sixth day o f the lunar month.2 5 For a complete elucidation, further studies will be necessary.
S u m m i n g up, the essential situation o f the myth shows clearly that sun and m o o n have to assume roles different from the goddess herself, but their presence would tally very well with interpreting the goddess as Sirius. O n e additional detail in favour o f this interpretation is that according to all clear-cut geographical indications, the goddess is coming from the south-east.26 This is the direction in which the newly rising Sirius becomes visible f r o m Egypt while it w o u l d not really fit either the sun
20 All citations from the demotic text given by JUNKER (1917), p. 167f. in favour of his interpretation, as a matter of fact, connect the moon not with the goddess herself but with Thot or other male gods.
21 This has clearly been stated by WESTENDORF (1989), p. 89 against the lunar interpretation of Tefnut by Verhoeven.
22 The best cases can be found in the inscriptions from Kom Ombo.
23 BOUCHE-LECLERCQ (1899).
24 A fuller discussion of this will be included in my forthcoming work on the Egyptian decans.
25 The references are given by BARTA (1969), p. 75 f
26 JUNKER (1917), p. 80f.
2 8 8 J.F. Quack
or the moon. Furthermore, it is frequently stated that the goddess comes as a head- ornament, or a snake on the b r o w o f her father. Such a model, implying the presence o f the goddess just before her father, corresponds very well to the rising o f Sirius just before the sun. S o m e other texts, especially from the temple o f Esna, say that the sun-god is snatching the light o f the goddess, and such a mythological statement is visibly connected with the rising sun outshining the star.
N o w I will give some citations from Egyptian texts to support this model even further. I begin with two examples from the D e m o t i c text.27 This is b y far the longest and most coherent account o f the myth. T h e goddess says:
" Y o u are a baboon with his b o w , so that y o u are like Sothis w h o has created those w h o have created us. I a m the noble male vulture o f the lord o f Thebes, i.e. the vulture on w h o s e b o d y no male happens."
T h i s is commented b y
"she compares herself to Neith, because she is the one w h o came into being without anyone creating her [...], the one w h o brought herself into being, w h o is Sothis before w h o m all things are done, and who, also, is the year. If people are intending to make the word " y e a r " in writing they should use a vulture for it. It is her w h o has created the month because she is the primordial goddess who has created
everything o n earth. Everything came forth from her. He has arrived at making the goddess appear in the f o r m o f an amulet for the year. A female b a b o o n is what he has used for that. H e hung the b o w into the sky and the arrows are her stars" (Mythus Leiden 9, 6-15).
A t first glance, this passage might seem like complete gibberish. However, it becomes much clearer on closer examination. T h e one trying to bring the goddess back to Egypt is a form o f the god Thot, and Thot often has the f o r m o f a baboon.
T h e b a b o o n is, o f course, the dog's-ape. There is attestation, especially f r o m Greek treatises o f the n o n - G r e e k constellations, that there was the constellation o f an ape- or dog-headed figure with a b o w belonging to the paranatellonta o f Leo. So we have, indeed, a baboon with his b o w in the sky, rather close to Sirius. O n the other hand, the goddess Sothis, the Egyptian form o f Sirius, can sometimes be represented in the late period as shooting arrows, mainly because o f a connection with Satis.
O b v i o u s l y , the purpose o f this passage is to bring the two protagonists o f the demotic text in intimate connection with figures o f the starry sky, and at the same time to create a model o f their close relationship.
Another passage f r o m the D e m o t i c text might seem even more straightforward.
T h e little dog-ape offers a hymn:
" M a y the sky carry a w i n d from the north and may it bring the scent o f Punt up with it.
M a y the inundation f l o w before it.
M a y the sun appear in the morning,
2 7 C o m p a r e t h e e d i t i o n s b y SPIEGLEBERG ( 1 9 1 7 ) a n d DE C E N I V A L ( 1 9 8 5 ) . F o r r e a s o n s o f space, I have refrained from giving also the Demotic text.
A Goddess Rising 10,000 Cubits into the Air ... or Only One Cubit, One Finger? 2 8 9
being a sun-disc with large flame.
M a y his looks be j o y f u l and his rays endowed with life,
without any clouds on the w a y o f Sothis.
M a y her rays be within the circle o f Egypt, m a y she throw them against the Nubian countries"
(Mythus Leiden 16, 4-8).
This describes the ideal situation around the date o f the heliacal rising o f Sirius. A period o f prolonged north wind is traditionally connected with the beginning o f the inundation.28 T h i s is the time when Sirius, c o m i n g f r o m the south-east, starts to become visible again in Egypt. So, m y interpretation that the myth o f the return o f the goddess is the mythical picture o f the heliacal rising o f the Sirius fits very well.
L a c k o f time prevents me f r o m dwelling o n all aspects o f the myth in the temple inscriptions. Still, I will discuss one specific text f r o m the temple o f Philae. There, it is said about the dangerous goddess Sakhmet:
wnn Shm.t wsr.ti m snm.t hr "Sakhmet is powerful in B i g g e inwh sbi.w m hh-i pri-i m n£r.t while burning the enemies with r p.t hpr rn-$ pw n Spt.t her flame. She came forth as
fire-serpent into the sky, and so her name 'Sothis' came into b e i n g " (Philae I, 69, 6-9).2 9
T h e connection with our starting point is obvious. A g a i n , we have the goddess furious and burning the enemies in combination with an ascent into the sky. In addition, we are given one further detail. T h e name o f the goddess while rising into the sky is explicitly given as Sothis, and this is the Egyptian name for Sirius.
B y n o w , it should be reasonably clear that the goddess rising into the sky is, indeed, a mythological model connected with the heliacal rising o f Sirius. W e can, however, still proceed a bit further. A characteristic incidence o f the return o f the goddess is the fact that she becomes furious,30 or more specifically, burns the enemies o f her father. However, afterwards her fury is quenched and she is cooled down, or it is said that she becomes peaceful and j o y o u s . H o w would this fit with Sirius?
In order to solve this problem, we have to take the symbolic meaning o f colours in Egypt into account. Wrath and fury against enemies are always combined with the hot colour red, while the cool colours green and blue are connoting peace, j o y and harmony. Here, we have to remember an astronomical fact. W h e n rising directly in the horizon, Sirius appears red, due mainly to the influence o f the atmosphere and its dust.31 A f t e r climbing up a bit more, it assumes its normal white-blue colour. G i v e n
28 A U F R E R E ( 1 9 9 1 ) , p. 2 4 8 .
29 Also translated by INCONNUE-BOCQUILLON (2001), p. 83.
30 See, for this, e.g. the text given by JUNKER (1917), p. I l l with the interpretation given by Q U A C K ( 1 9 9 3 ) , p. 7 6 f . , b u t u n f o r t u n a t e l y o v e r l o o k e d b y INCONNUE-BOCQUILLON ( 2 0 0 1 ) p. 27.
31 S e e , f o r this L E I T Z ( 1 9 9 3 ) .
290 J.F. Quack
the attitude o f the Egyptians towards these colours, it is hardly surprising that they should interpret this change o f colour as turn f r o m a furious to a peaceful mind. So, this detail about our inscription also fits within the framework o f m y general model.
That brings us finally back to the question o f the measurement. A s I have mentioned, the goddess rises up into the sky to a height o f either 10,000 cubits or just one cubit, one finger. T w o questions arise: does this exact indication fit with the
general model, and is a decision between the two options possible?
If we want to connect the cubit-measurement in any w a y with some sort o f measurement in the sky, we have to look for other possible references in more or less astronomical contexts. There is one Egyptian testimony which might be o f some help for applying measurements to the sky. T h e netherworld guide " A m d u a t " - the B o o k o f W h a t is in the Netherworld - describes the circuit o f the sun within the twelve hours o f the night. For the second and third hour, it is specifically indicated that the sun traverses 309 I t e m within it. T h e Item is the largest distance measurement k n o w n in Egypt. It corresponds to what the Greeks called " S c h o i n o s " and it has a normal distance o f about 10.5 kilometers.3 2 T h i s is most probably the equivalent to 20,000 cubits. I f w e suppose that this is the normal velocity o f the sun according to Egyptian conceptions, w e can compare it with our inscription.
T h e result w o u l d be quite devastating: the goddess rises only b y one 618th part o f the distance that the sun covers in one hour. Transferred in angular measurements, the sun covers 15° in an hour, so the goddess w o u l d rise b y only 1 minute and about 27 seconds o f the arc; it w o u l d remain almost stable near the horizon. Such a result does not make sense. H o w can w e explain the failure?
O n e solution w o u l d be that the two different values are simply o n different levels and not meant to be compared o n the same scale. Another solution is that the 10,000 cubits are not meant to be any specific value. T h e y m a y only indicate that the goddess rises quite a bit up into the sky. Finally, there remains the third possibility, and that is to explore possible meanings o f the alternative reading 1 cubit 1 finger.
A t first sight, this seems even more disappointing than the other value. Such a distance could easily be managed b y an ordinary human jumping. Still, I w o u l d like to mention something which seems all the more appropriate as this is a j o i n t conference on Egypt and Mesopotamia. A s is well known, in Mesopotamian astronomy the cubit measure was used for measuring angular distances in the sky.33
O n e cubit corresponds to either 2° or 2;30°. O n e finger is 0;05°. I f w e apply such a value to the Egyptian indication, we w o u l d get about 2;05° or 2;35°. Especially the last value seems not too bad, as the measurement o f 2;30° for one cubit was far more usual. Such an angular distance does not seem unreasonable. It is a noticeable rise above the horizon but not very high up into the sky. It w o u l d just fit with the short distance a star can cover on its heliacal rising before becoming extinct b y the sun's light.34
32 SCHLOTT-SCHWAB (1981), pp. 118-122.
13 See most recently HUNGER and PINGREE (1999), pp. xiv and 147. Cf. also
GRASSHOFF (1999), pp. 137-139 and FATOOHI and STEPHENSON (1997-1998), pp. 210-214.
34 As a reaction to my original lecture, Dr. T. de Jong was kind enough to calculate Sirius risings for Memphis and Philae at the times around 300, 600, and 1500 B C for four-year- sequences. The minimal altitude of Sirius, in those cases, was just 2.3 degrees, while 2.5 degrees (or 2;30°) is not infrequent. The mean altitude for Philae is mostly 2.6 degrees
A Goddess Rising 10,000 Cubits into the Air ... or Only One Cubit, One Finger? 291
There is one more point. A s already said, Sirius can appear quite red and this w o u l d be associated with the fury o f the goddess. Such a redness, according to modern observations, can happen up to about 3° above the horizon.3 5 This w o u l d not be too far f r o m the value we get when interpreting the Egyptian inscription by
Mesopotamian angular measurements; and thus, the point in the sky where the goddess becomes peaceful w o u l d be about the point where Sirius ceases to appear reddish to the observer. O f course, all this might be just a strange coincidence, but it does not seem useless to test it.
N o w , it is time to summarize. T h e myth o f the return o f the goddess has a distinct astronomical background. It is a description in mythological terms o f natural phenomena associated with the heliacal rising o f Sirius. Such a result shows quite clearly that research o n Egyptian astronomy cannot afford to concentrate on " p u r e "
scientific texts while neglecting the religious background. Rather it is typical for the Egyptians that astronomical background is presupposed in religious texts.
For the particular inscription indicating h o w much the goddess went up into the sky, we are still facing two alternatives. Either w e read it as 10,000 cubits; then we cannot pinpoint any specific meaning for the number. O r we read it as 1 cubit 1 finger; then, b y applying measuring units otherwise only attested for Mesopotamia,3 6
w e can reach a result which tallies reasonably well with the facts about the heliacal rising o f Sirius. This should make it acceptable, at least as a working hypothesis.
References
AuFRERE, Sydney. 1991. L'univers minerale dans la pensee egyptienne
(Bibliotheque d'Etude 105) Cairo: Institut francais d'archeologie orientale du Caire.
BARGUET, Pierre 1977. " L e cycle lunaire d'apres deux textes d ' E d f o u " . Revue d'Egyptologie 2 9 : 1 4 - 2 0 .
BARTA, Winfried. 1969. "Zur Bedeutung des ,y«wr-Festes". Zeitschrift fiir Agyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 95: 7 3 - 8 0 .
BONNET, Hans. 1952. Reallexikon der dgyptischen Religionsgeschichte: 7 3 3 - 7 3 5 (s.v. Sonnenauge). Berlin: D e Gruyter
BOUCHE-LECLERCQ, Auguste. 1899. L'astrologie grecque. Paris: E. Leroux (Reprint Aalen: Scientia Verlag 1979).
BRUNNER-TRAUT, E m m a . 1980. Altagyptische Tiergeschichte und Fabel. 6TH
Edition. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
DE CENIVAL, Francoise. 1985. " L e s nouveaux fragments du 'Mythe de l'ceil du soleil' de l'lnstitut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptologie de Lille". Cahier de Recherches de Vlnstitut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptologie de Lille 7: 9 5 - 1 1 5 .
(around 300 BC it is 2.7) which is 2;36° - almost exactly the value of the Egyptian inscription if read as one cubit, one finger and interpreted by the Mesopotamian measuring conventions. The value for Memphis is quite similar, normally about 0.1 degrees higher.
35 L E I T Z ( I 9 9 3 ) , p. 153.
36 In an unpublished astrological text from Tebtunis, a "cubit" is mentioned, but the context is not sufficiently well established to ascertain that the cubit is used as an angular
measurement.
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