mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

142 6 Method of Astronomical Determination of the Dates Encoded in Egyptian Zodiacs
dence between the initial data and the solution, but
we looked at such a solution that could be regarded
as eventually satisfying the required conditions. If it
was the case, we did not reject such a solution. For
example, a planet was annotated on the Egyptian zodiac
with a visibility attribute, while it was possible
to confirm its visibility on the real sky only for a specific
time of observations. Namely, either before the
dawn or after the dusk. In such cases of a morning or
evening visibility only, the related solution was not
rejected.
– The submersion of the Sun was measured in degrees
in direction perpendicular to the local horizon. Let us
point out, that the submersion of the Sun could in fact
be much smaller than the actual distance (also measured
in degrees) from the Sun to the planet which
was at this moment on the horizon (either rising above
it or setting down). Indeed, the shortest ark on the celestial
sphere, joining the planet and the Sun, doesn’t
need to be perpendicular to the horizon. Therefore,
it is clear that using the distance from the Sun to a
planet for verification of the visibility conditions can
lead to a mistake. Considering the time difference between
the rising (or setting down) of the Sun and the
planet can also lead to an error. In fact, it may take
sometimes longer sometimes shorter for the Sun to
reach the horizon from the positions with the same
submersion behind the horizon. It depends on the angle
between the ecliptic and the local horizon, which
is different at different locations on the Earth. This
angle varies with the latitude of the place of observations.
[C] Accordance with the Partial Horoscopes. We required
that the symbolic description of every partial horoscope,
present on the Egyptian zodiac, should be in full
agreement with the real astronomical situation on the sky,
which occured near the corresponding equinox or solstice
point for the year indicated by the considered solution.
It turned out in practice, that this was a very strong requirement,
which could never be satisfied by a random
solution. For our purposes it was sufficient to have one or
two non-trivial partial horoscopes in order to eliminate
all the wrong solutions. (Let us recall that sometimes the
partial horoscopes shown on the Egyptian zodiac may be
trivial, i.e. any solution will always satisfy them).
– In general, the verification of the solutions, with respect
to the partial horoscopes, depends strongly on
the convention when, according to the creators of the
zodiac, the beginning of the year was taking place. For
example, if the obtained solution indicated the spring
date for the main horoscope, than in order to check its
requirements related to the partial horoscope of the
winter solstice, we had to proceed in different ways,
depending when was the beginning of the year. If the
beginning of the year was in September, we analyzed
the winter solstice that took place in December preceding
the main date. Or, if the beginning of the year
was in January, then we looked at the winter solstice
that occurred in December following the main date
(i.e. in December of the same year).
– We have already mentioned earlier, that according to
all the indications, the beginning of the year used on
the Egyptian zodiacs was in September. However, we
shouldn’t exclude a possibility that, on certain zodiacs,
the beginning of the year may turn out to be
in March or January. Therefore, in our verification of
the solutions with respect to the partial horoscopes,
we considered all the possible conventions for the beginning
of the year. We did it as follows: first we
were assuming that the beginning of the year was in
September, and if the solution failed to agree with the
partial horoscopes, other beginnings of the year were
also considered. However, for all the obtained final solutions
the beginning of the year turned out to be in
September.
6.8 Color-Annotated Zodiacs
At the first glance, this Egyptian zodiac looks like a complicated
and confusing collection of symbols. Only after long
and careful analysis of its contents it becomes clear that it is
indeed an astronomical chart.
In previous chapters we’ve described the main features
of an Egyptian zodiac. It turned out that a usual Egyptian
zodiac is composed of several symbolic “layers,” each of them
carrying its own “load” of information. With some time and a
little patience, an experienced eye becomes able to distinguish
those symbols on an Egyptian zodiac, which belong to the
same layer. Only then, the meaning of the zodiac becomes
understandable.
In order to make easier for the reader to recognize different
symbolic layers on Egyptian zodiacs, we will use the so called
color-annotated zodiacs. Let us explain what it is about. A
color-annotated zodiac is the first concrete result of the initial
stage of the analysis of an Egyptian zodiac. At this stage
we identify the symbols representing zodiacal constellations,
planets, partial horoscopes, etc. However, at this stage, it is
still not fully determined what exactly each of these symbols
represents. For example, it is still uncertain what exactly is
the planet represented by a certain planetary symbol on the
zodiac, or what is the meaning of the symbols shown in a
partial horoscope.
More precisely, a color-annotated zodiac is a drawing of an
Egyptian zodiac, on which astronomical symbols, related to
different symbolic levels, were marked using different colors.
The colors were chosen arbitrarily, without any relation to
the actual meaning of the zodiac. These colors are:
(1) Red — Figures of the Zodiacal Constellations. We
used this color to partition the astronomical chart, shown
on an Egyptian zodiac, into zodiacal constellations.