mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

202 7 The Dates Shown on the Monumental Zodiacs in the Denderah and Esna Temples
diac, the area of this partial horoscope is extended up to
the figure of Sagittarius (see Figures 7.41 and 7.42).
We begin with the upper row in that fragment of the zodiac.
Notice the symbol of the spring equinox — a figure
sitting on a podium marked with a diagonal cross. It is
located right above Pisces. Around that symbol we find
the figures of the minimal partial horoscope, i.e. Mercury
and Venus (see Figure 7.42). Of course, Venus and Mercury
always appear near the proximity of the Sun, so this
information has no real value for the verification of admissible
solutions.
In the middle row of this area of the zodiac we find many
figures belonging to the partial horoscope. Between the
symbols of Pisces and Aquarius there is a male figure.
It has two faces and holds a snake. These attributes are
typical for Mercury (see subsections 5.4.9 and 5.4.10). It
is an indication that Mercury on the spring equinox day
was located either in Pisces or in Aquarius.
In between the symbols of Aquarius and Sagittarius, there
is shown a gathering of planetary figures standing on
boats or snakes. There are exactly six such figures in
this location. On the color annotated zodiac (see Figure
7.42), all these figures are marked in green, because
most probably they indicate a supplementary astronomical
scene. In fact, there are too many planetary symbols
for just one partial horoscope. On the other hand, and this
is important, all the planetary symbols from the partial
horoscopes are shown in the middle row without pull-out
attributes. Since the planets of the main horoscope are
shown in the bottom row, there is no need for using special
symbols to distinguish them form the planetary symbols
of the partial horoscopes. The same arrangement was
also used in the case of the Big Esna zodiac. Nevertheless,
all the figures in this astronomical scene (except one
small male figure located under the left end of Capricorn)
are placed on pull-out symbols of snakes or boats.
In the upper part of this scene, we see three figures placed
on a long snake. The fist one is a walking male figure with
jackal’s head, followed by another male figure with a disc
replacing its head, and the last figure is shown in a sitting
position. It is possible that this is a symbolic representation
of a half-revolution of Mercury around the Sun.
Indeed, it could symbolize Mercury that was visible, then
when it disappeared behind the Sun, and finally when
it came to rest (the sitting position), before it begins to
move backward towards the Sun. This is exactly how the
real motion of Mercury appears on the sky.
Under the snake, there is a large male figure in a horizontal
position. It is also standing on a snake. On its right,
there is a small female figure on a boat — probably a
representation of Venus. Further to the right and slightly
down, there is a male figure with cat’s or lion’s head. It
walks in the opposite to the other figure direction (i.e.
to the left). We can conclude, that in this supplementary
scene, three other planets were also involved, among them
Venus.
In summary, in this supplementary scene, there are shown
four planets, among them Venus and Mercury. Since this
configuration of planets is located between Aquarius and
Capricorn, the Sun at that time was either in Aquarius
or Capricorn. That means, this astronomical event
took place in January or February. Let us point out that
this scene appears next to the symbol of Aquarius, right
above the aquarian bracket in the bottom row. As we conjectured
it earlier (see subsection 5.1.11), the symbol of
Aquarius was probably a representation of John the Baptist.
Let us notice that on January 6, according to Julian
calendar, the Christian Church celebrates Epiphany,
which is one of its oldest festival commemorating Baptism
of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to check if on this particular
day, indicated by the astronomical solution, there
were indeed four planets in the proximity of the Sun. In
our check-up list we will reserve a spacial place for this
supplementary scene.
Let us return to the partial horoscope of the spring
equinox. In the middle row there is only one figure left
about which we didn’t comment anything yet. It is a male
figure holding a stick with a high ornament on his head.
Clearly, it indicates one more planet of the partial horoscope
which was either located between Capricorn and
Sagittarius.
In the bottom row there are no symbols of partial horoscopes.
In this way we have obtained the following decoding of the
partial horoscope of the spring equinox: Mercury, which
was in Pisces or Aquarius, Venus, and one more planet
located in Capricorn.
[D] Partial Horoscope of the Summer Solstice: The Sun
on the summer solstice day was usually shown on the
Egyptian zodiacs in Gemini (see subsection 5.8.4). On
the Small zodiac, the symbol of the summer solstice is
located in the upper row above Gemini. It is a figure of a
cobra with upright fore body, standing on a podium (see
Figure 7.42) located in between two sitting female figures
(the shapes of female breast can be easily distinguished).
The female figure on the left holds a typical planetary
walking stick. The other sitting female figure, the one on
the right from the summer solstice symbol, holds in her
hand an object resembling a loop in a shape of an eye.
There are three wavy lines marked across this object. It
is clear that it is a representation of Venus.
A little further to the right, there is an accumulation of
snakes, snakes with wings and a bird. Similar symbols
were also present in the summer solstice area on the Big
zodiac (on the left from Gemini). Among those symbols
we are able to recognize only one planetary symbol. It is
a two-headed snake representing Mercury. In this way, in