mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

8.1 The Athribis Zodiacs of Flinders
Petrie
8.1.1 Decoding of the Main Horoscopes: Six
Variants for Identification of Planets
In Chapter 2 (see section 3.3), we have already discussed the
Athribis zodiacs and the previous attempts of their astronomical
dating. Drawings of these zodiacs are shown on Figure
2.19 (see also Figure 3.9). Let us recall that the Athribis zodiacs
were painted on a ceiling of an ancient Egyptian burial
cave. These two zodiacs were located one beside the other.
They were discovered in 1901, near the city Athribis in Upper
Egypt (not far from Sohag), by the famous Egyptologist
W. Flinders Petrie 1 . Let us point out that inside the city of
Athribis there was an ancient temple of a similar type to the
temples in Denderah 2 . We should not exclude such a possibility
that a zodiac could also be placed in this temple. Unfortunately,
we were unable to find any detailed description of this
temple. If there was indeed a zodiac inside the Athribis temple,
it could be extremely interesting to decode its date and
compare it with the dates on the other two Athribis zodiacs.
Since the two Athribis zodiacs were found in a burial cave,
their dates are most likely related to the occupants buried in
this tomb. In the 19th and 20th centuries there were two
attempts of the astronomical dating of these zodiacs, undertaken
by Knobel and Morozov. In section 3.3, we have
discussed the flaws and mistakes in Knobel’s and Morozov’s
decodings. In particular, we have demonstrated that their decodings
couldn’t be correct because the same symbols on the
upper and lower zodiacs were identified as different planets.
For these reasons, we have to start the identification process
right from the beginning. Nevertheless, our final decoding
turned out to be very close to the one that was initially
proposed by Flinders Petrie.
On Figures 8.1 and 8.2, we present a detailed reproduction
of the Flinders Petrie drawings of the Athribis zodiacs. The
color annotated Athribis zodiacs are shown on Figures 8.3
and 8.4.
Let us now analyze the symbolism of these two zodiacs:
the symbols of zodiacal constellations, planetary figures and
elements on the partial horoscopes.
Zodiacal Constellations on the Athribis zodiacs are easy to
identify. They are arranged in the sequence of usual symbols
in the correct order. All the individual zodiacal symbols on
the Athribis zodiacs were already discussed in section 5.1 (see
Figures 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6, 5.10, 5.11, 5.13—5.16, 5.18, 5.19).
Let us point out that on the Athribis zodiacs, the female figure
holding the Leo’s tail is the main representation of Virgo.
Usually, on the Egyptian zodiacs, such a figure represents the
secondary Virgo. However, on the Athribis zodiacs there is a
single representation of Virgo. On the color annotated zodiacs
1 See [4], Vol. 6, p. 731.
2 See [4], Vol. 6, p. 731.
(see Figures 8.3 and 8.4) the constellation figures are marked
in red.
All the Planetary Symbols on the Athribis zodiacs, except
the Sun, Moon and Mercury, are represented by figures of
birds. N.A. Morozov was well aware of this particularity of
the Athribis zodiacs. Even before Morozov, this fact was also
noticed by Egyptologists. Our analysis confirms the correctness
of this identification. The only problem here is how to
assign the “roles” to these birds, i.e. exactly what planet is
represented by each bird? We will discuss this question, but
first let us identify the symbols of the Sun, Moon and Mercury.
SUN: On each of the Athribis zodiacs, there is a disc representing
the Sun. On the Upper zodiac, such a disc is located
in Taurus. On the Lower zodiac, it is placed under Capricorn
and Aquarius.
MOON: On the Lower Athribis zodiac, Moon is shown under
Sagittarius. A color picture of this fragment is presented
in Figure 3.9. Moon is represented there by a dark-red disc
standing on a narrow but quite tangible greenish crescent.
Therefore, it is rather straight forward observation that it
has to be Moon. Nevertheless, because of this red color of the
disc, we have also considered the other variants, where this
symbol was the Sun, while the other disc without a crescent,
was assumed to be Moon. We did not get even a one pair
of solutions for these decodings. Consequently, on the Lower
Athribis zodiac Moon is shown in Sagittarius. Notice that on
the both Athribis zodiacs there is also another disc in Libra,
with a bird inside. This one is not Moon in the main horoscope
but a symbol of the Paschal Full Moon. In subsection 5.9.1,
we’ve already explained that this symbol represents Moon reflecting
the light of the Sun-bird. On the color fragment of the
Lower Athribis zodiac (see Figure 3.9), the disc is red and the
bird inside is yellow.
On the Upper zodiac, a crescent representing half Moon is
shown under Gemini. It is possible to recognize that this crescent
was also accompanied by a disc (see Figure 8.1). Unfortunately,
this fragment of the zodiac was partially damaged.
Nevertheless, knowing Moon’s representation on the Lower
zodiac we can guess that a similar symbol was also used on
the Upper zodiac. In this way we can conclude that on the
Upper zodiac Moon is shown in Gemini.
MERCURY: On the both Athribis zodiacs we can recognize
a similar male figure with a planetary walking stick. There
are no other figures holding walking sticks, except one figure
in the partial horoscope area on the Upper zodiac. On the
Upper zodiac, this male figure is located under Taurus, and
on the Lower zodiac it is under Pisces. On the Lower zodiac,
it is easy to recognize that this figure has two faces, but on
the Upper zodiac this fragment was damaged and the head
of that figure is missing. We are already familiar with such a
male symbol with a planetary walking stick — it is Mercury
in the main horoscope (see subsection 5.4.9). Consequently,
Mercury on the Upper zodiac is shown in Taurus.