The Dawn of Astronomy: A Study of the Temple-worship and Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians |
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Common terms and phrases
1st of Thoth Abydos amplitude ancient Annu astronomical Aswân autumnal equinox axis Babylonia Biot Brugsch built calendar Canopus celestial CHAPTER circumpolar constellation cult cycle dawn declination determine Draconis dynasty earth east and west ecliptic Edfû Egypt Egyptian temples Egyptologists Epiphi equator Eridu fact goddess Hathor temple heavens heliacal rising Heliopolis Hills hippopotamus horizon Horus inquiry inscriptions Isis Karnak Khons king latitude Lepsius Marduk Mariette Maspero Memphis Mesori moon myth mythology Nile northern observations orientation Osiris Pachons Payni pole precessional movement priests probably Ptah pylons pyramid question Rameses Rameses II Ramesseum referred represented rise and set rising of Sirius rising or setting sanctuary Seti II solar temple solstitial Sothic cycle southern stars Spica summer solstice sun-god sunrise sunset temple of Amen-Ra temple of Hathor temple of Isis Thebes Thoth true Ursa Majoris vague walls winter solstice worship zodiac
Popular passages
Page 133 - Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
Page 382 - He taught them to construct cities, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of the Earth, and showed them how to collect the fruits; in short, he instructed them in everything which could tend to soften manners and humanize their lives.
Page 381 - Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason by name Cannes, whose whole body (according to the account of Apollodorus) was that of a fish ; that under the fish's head he had another head, with feet also below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish's tail. His voice too and language was articulate and human, and a representation of him is preserved even to this day.
Page 23 - I look upon the sunrise and sunset, on the daily return of day and night, on the battle between light and darkness, on the whole solar drama in all its details that is acted every day, every month, every year, in heaven and in earth, as the principal subject of early mythology.
Page 89 - Shang-te, and faces the north. The platform is laid with marble stones, forming nine concentric circles. The inner circle consists of nine stones, cut so as to fit with close edges round the central stone, which is a perfect circle. Here the Emperor kneels, and is surrounded first by the circles of the terraces and their inclosing walls, and then by the circle of the horizon.
Page 232 - All nature shouts for joy. The men, the children, the buffaloes gambol in its refreshing waters, the broad waves sparkle with shoals of fish, and fowl of every wing flutter over them in clouds. Nor is this jubilee of nature confined to the higher orders of creation. The moment the sand becomes moistened by the approach of the fertilizing waters it is literally' alive with insects innumerable.
Page 88 - Emperor's ancestors are placed on the top ; they are 2 feet 5 inches long, and 5 inches wide. The title is in gilt letters ; that of heaven faces the south, and those of the ancestors east and west. The Emperor, with his immediate suite, kneels in front of the tablet of Shang-Ti and faces the north.