PART II. Plates.

PLATES.

PART II.

PLATES XV., XVI., XVII., AND XVIII.

In the foregoing pages arguments have been urged in support of the view that the ecliptic circle, at the remote date (speaking in round numbers) of 6000 B.C., had been portioned by some “ancient race of men” into twelve divisions; and that the twelve constellational figures of the Zodiac had then also been imagined under forms more or less closely resembling those which we recognize in the heavens at the present day.

Most of the arguments in favour of this opinion are necessarily based on considerations connected with the phenomena of the heavens, effected in the long course of ages by a slow revolution of the earth’s axis. Astronomers during the last two thousand years have carefully observed the effects and studied the causes of this slow terrestrial movement, and they can now tell us with confidence and exactness that the space of 25,868 years is required for the accomplishment of one such revolution of the earth’s axis.

In our enquiry into the astronomy of the ancients we need not at all turn our minds to the difficult subject of the causes, or indeed even to the fact, of this slow movement of the earth’s axis, further than to realize fully that its effects have been to produce a slow but continuous change in the apparent position of the fixed stars, a change not in their position relatively to each other, but in their distances from the heavenly equator and its poles.

The effort to fully realize these effects by means of careful calculations and measurements must prove to any but an astronomer a most arduous task; but, by aid of the mechanical contrivance called a “precessional globe,” much of the difficulty of the task may be overcome. The accompanying diagrams have been drawn from a precessional globe, which can be adjusted so as to show the position of the poles and equator amongst the fixed stars, at dates distant from each other by intervals of 538 years.

1800 A.D. is the date to which the globe in question originally refers; the intervals of 538 years can be reckoned backwards or forwards from this date.

I have shown in continuous outline those constellations for whose first imagining it seemed to me as early a date might be claimed as that referred to in each diagram; all others are given in dotted outline. The strange figures of the “ancient constellations” are here drawn as they are represented on the globe; but the fixed stars which mark these figures for observers of the heavens, I have not ventured to indicate, as to do so would have required great accuracy of drawing and measurement. It is not for a moment to be contended that all the ancient constellations were imagined exactly under the forms by which we have learnt to know them from classic representations, from the poem of Aratos, and from the star list of Ptolemy. Variants of many of the figures are to be met with in astronomical atlases and on the celestial globes in use to-day; and to establish the relative claims concerning the antiquity of these variant forms is a branch to itself of research.

That these constellations have indeed been well denominated “ancient” is scarcely to be denied, and our only wonder, when studying the subject, must be, not that some differences are to be met with as to the exact form under which, at different dates and by different nations, these figures were delineated in the heavens, but rather the wonder must be that (as archæological research is always more and more clearly establishing) through many thousands of years, and by nations long and widely separated, the stars, which to an unaccustomed observer seem to be scattered in wild and random profusion on the sky, should have been divided into the same distinct groups, and thought of as representing the same mysterious beings.

But though it may be impossible to maintain that the Grecians have handed down to us in an absolutely unchanged form the figures of the ancient constellations as they were first imagined in remote ages, yet many proofs may be cited in favour of the opinion, that not lightly or arbitrarily did astronomical artists venture to tamper with the Zodiacal and extra-Zodiacal figures.

Some of these proofs have already been pointed out in the foregoing Papers. Attention will be drawn to others in the consideration of the diagrams here given.

In Plates XV., XVI., XVII., and XVIII., the positions of the solstitial and equinoctial colures amongst the constellations are given at the date 5744 B.C. Had it been possible, I should have liked to have drawn these diagrams as at 6000 B.C.--not only because it is easier to deal with and to remember a round number such as that, but also because at that date the solstitial colure passed through the ecliptic only one degree distant from the initial point of the Indian Zodiac--a point which there seems good reason to believe was the initial point of many, other than Indian, ancient Zodiacs.

Owing to the mechanical restrictions of the precessional globe, it was not possible to adjust it to any more accurate date than that of 5744 B.C.

It will not be necessary here to reiterate the considerations in favour of the opinion already advanced that the calendrical importance of the constellation Aries in some nations, and its symbolical importance in the mythology of others, may best be explained by the supposition that the choice of this constellation as “Prince and Leader” of the signs was made not when its stars marked the spring equinox, but when they marked the winter solstice.

Let us rather take this opinion as a working hypothesis, and turn our attention to the importance, in ancient symbolism, of the four constellations--Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricornus--which, according to this hypothesis, marked the four seasons, and the cardinal points 6000 B.C.

Next in this order to Aries comes Cancer, The Crab (see Plate XVI.). In Babylonia, it seems to be established that a tortoise, not a crab, represented the fourth constellation of the Zodiac. In Egypt, as we learn from the Zodiacs of Esneh and Denderah, it was the scarabæus beetle that held the place given to the crab in the Grecian sphere.

There is a sort of outward resemblance between these three creatures, wide apart as they are anatomically from each other. They are all hard-shelled, creeping, and insignificant-looking animals. Why under any of these three forms a constellation of the Zodiac should have been depicted, it is difficult to conjecture; but if we have to admit that in Egyptian astronomy the beetle played the important part of marking as a constellation one of the quarters of the ecliptic circle, this admission will furnish us with an adequate reason for the extraordinary honour paid in Egyptian symbolic art to this lowly, and in itself unattractive, insect.

The scarabæus, according to our hypothesis, marked in ancient calendrical tradition the spring equinox when in conjunction with the sun, and the autumn equinox in opposition to it. And it was as presiding visibly in opposition that we may reasonably suppose it gained such honour in Egypt. For the autumn, not the spring, is in that land the time when vegetation begins to burst into life, and when all Egypt rejoices. I think, moreover, that facts connected with the worship of the Apis Bull will further strengthen the opinion that the Egyptians considered the constellations in opposition to the sun to be those which presided over particular seasons and months.

See below, pp. 234, 235.

To trace allusions in the symbolic art of Egypt to Libra--the third in order of the constellations we are now discussing (see Plate XVII.)--is, it must be confessed, not so simple a matter, and it is with some diffidence that I put forward the following suggestion--i.e., that we may perhaps find in the “two feathers,” so prominent in Egyptian mythologic imagery, a reference to the two scales of the Balance (Libra).

In allegorical language we speak often of the even scales of Justice, and in art the goddess is always represented with the Balance in her hand. In Egyptian symbolism and art, I think the two feathers represented the equal weights of the scales of Justice. In the great judgment hall of Osiris, the souls of men were weighed in the balance. The soul, or heart, of the dead Egyptian was placed in one scale, while a feather--or the figure of the goddess Mait, wearing on her head a single plume or feather--occupied the other. Mait was the goddess of Justice, and we often read also of “the two Maits who preside over Justice and Truth.”

There is a woodcut in Prof. Maspero’s Dawn of Civilization, p. 130, in which the head-dress--the symbolic head-dress--so often to be met with in Egyptian mythologic representations, is very clearly drawn. It was in studying this woodcut that the idea first suggested itself to my mind, that in this head-dress we may find a reference to the four constellations which, when the Zodiac was first imagined, marked the four colures--the four quarters of the heavens--that it was in fact an astronomic monogram, combining four figures in one.

In this head-dress very plainly are to be seen the horns of a ram, and those of a goat. Less convincingly, perhaps, the disc from which spring the goat’s horns suggests “the disc enclosing a scarabæus,” under which form the sun as Khophri--“He who is”--was sometimes represented by the Egyptians.

Maspero, p. 139.

Ibid. p. 138.

The two feathers in outline clearly show themselves, but to connect these two feathers with the scales of Libra is only adventured as a possible means of giving an astronomic value to the so often repeated combination of the forms in this head-dress.

As to Capricornus (the fourth of the constellations which marked the colures 6000 B.C.), (see Plate XVIII.), we do not meet with any representations, so far as I know, of a goat-fish on Egyptian monuments, but on Babylonian boundary stones and engraved gems this monster is often to be seen, exactly represented in form and attitude as on the Grecian sphere. The goat’s horns are all we find portrayed in ancient Egyptian art, and when they are portrayed they appear together with the ram’s horns, and often springing out of a ram’s head. For this curt reference to the goat (Capricornus) a reason may be found by remembering that this constellation, in opposition, presided--traditionally--over the least honoured season of the Egyptian year--the arid season preceding the inundations.

It should be borne in mind that all the Egyptian mythologic symbolism we have been considering must necessarily have only embodied traditions already even under the earliest dynasties extremely ancient; for it was, as may be seen in the Plates, about 6000 B.C. that the colures touched the extreme western degrees of the constellations Aries, Cancer, and Libra--and a point some degrees to the west of Capricornus, as it is now drawn. In each succeeding century the colures moved still more to the west, through the stars, and from 6000 down to 4000 B.C. they were no longer to be observed in the four already named constellations, but in Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius.

It is curious to note that there seems to be no pronounced allusion in Egyptian art or literature to these four constellations, though there are indications (see pp. 230-238) which may lead us to believe that the astronomical phenomena of the later date, 4000 B.C., were closely observed, and seem to have formed the basis of much of the mythology of Egypt.

These facts tend to confirm the conclusion--so often advocated in this book--that the ancestors of the Egyptians, as also of all the great civilized nations of antiquity, followed through many long ages the same sidereal calendar--one based on the observation of the colures amongst the fixed stars 6000 B.C. And it would seem that not till about 4000 B.C., when the colures had traversed, from east to west, the constellations Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius, and had arrived at the eastern degrees of Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio, did astronomic authorities in Egypt direct their attention to a reform of the calendar and introduce into it, and into religious observances, references to these four last-named constellations.

Turning to Plate XVI. we may notice that the equinoctial colure, marking out as it does the extreme western limits of the constellation Cancer, passes also through a part of the constellation Gemini. This fact may, I think, help to explain some of the legends connected with the twins Castor and Pollux in ancient lore.

A very brilliant star glitters on the head of each twin. These stars are of almost equal lustre and well deserve the name of twin stars; and so we can easily suppose how it was that the imaginative astronomers who, at the early date in question, mapped out the figures of the Zodiac, noticing that the equinoctial colure passed between these two bright stars, should have elected to represent them as marking the heads of twin figures, which they determined should symbolize the equal day and night of the season over which they presided.

These two stars, thousands of years after they had ceased to mark the equinox, were still associated by the Greeks with the twin heroes--Castor and Pollux--brothers who, according to the legend, were “possessed of an immortality of existence so divided among them, that as one dies, the other revives.” The learned Dr Barrett has pointed out that “this furnishes a complete description of Day and Night.” This remark of Dr Barrett’s becomes especially interesting if we attribute the first symbolizing of day and night by these stars to the work of astronomers at a date when the day and night these stars symbolized were of exactly equal length, and when, therefore, the equal stars and equal alternation of light and darkness might both be fitly symbolized as twins.

At Plate XVIII. it is to be observed that the equinoctial colure, instead of adjoining Capricornus, occupies an almost central position in the preceding constellation, Sagittarius. This fact, together with other considerations, has led me to think that originally only the bow and arrow of Sagittarius were imagined for that division of the ecliptic; and that the huge composite figure of the archer--half man and half horse--was added to the original design in later ages, by astronomers who chose the spring equinox instead of the winter solstice for the beginning of the year.

In discussing the Median calendar, the importance which seems to have been given by the ancestors of the Medes to the constellation Sagittarius, at a date when it marked the spring equinox, was dwelt upon. It will, I think, appear likely, when we come to study Plates XIX. and XX., that as early as 4600 B.C. constellations were imagined to honour and mark the equinoctial as well as the solstitial seasons.

Perhaps then, at that date the constellation Sagittarius was extended to its present dimensions; and it may be that some centuries later, when the colure of the winter solstice had passed into the constellation Aquarius, some astronomers desired--like Gudea of Lagash and Tchuen-Hio in China--to honour that season, and to make it the beginning of the year. It may be that such astronomers dealt with the eleventh constellation of the Zodiac, as earlier ones had dealt with Sagittarius, and that they added to what was possibly originally only a water jar, Amphora, the figure of the water pourer Aquarius.

These ideas are put forward very speculatively. They were partly suggested by noticing that in the Indian Zodiac the name of the constellation Sagittarius is merely Dhanus (arrow), and the name of Aquarius is Kumbha (water jar).

In the diagrams which we have been discussing, it will be observed that only the twelve figures of the Zodiac, and two of the extra-Zodiacal constellations, are given in continuous outline, one of these two is Draco--the dragon or serpent whose folds surround the Pole of the Ecliptic--the central point of the circle of the Zodiac.

That the astronomers who traced out the circle of the Zodiac on the heavens, and imagined its twelve strange figures, should also have devoted attention to, and marked out, its central point, is not improbable. The Pole of the Ecliptic, unlike the Pole of the Heavens, is immoveable amongst the fixed stars. At 6000 B.C., as at the present date, the stars of Draco surrounded this point--a point not itself marked by any conspicuous star. We have not, however, I think, at present sufficient grounds for deciding at what exact date the constellation Draco was imagined under the form it now holds. But that it is very ancient there is no doubt.

For the first depicting on the vault of heaven of the figure of Bootes, I claim with much stronger conviction the date of 6000 B.C., and the latitude of 45° north. For then and there Bootes might be seen at midnight of the summer solstice, standing upright on the northern horizon, his head reaching nearly to the Pole of the Heavens. Never since that date has he held so commanding a position in the sky, nor at any more southern latitude could his whole figure have been represented as standing on the horizon.

One further suggestion as to this constellation I am tempted to make. Not, it is true, on the same firm astronomical grounds as those put forward for the date of the first imagining of the figure, but a suggestion based on the Greek name of the constellation.

The name Bootes has been translated as ox-driver, and of him Aratos says:--

“The Bear-ward, whom mankind the Ploughman call, Because he seems to touch the wain-like Bear.”

The Phainomena or “Heavenly Display” of Aratos, done into English verse by Robert Brown, Jun., F.S.A., line 92.

The seven bright stars which mark the tail and part of the body of the Great Bear are often spoken of as “the Plough,” and in the large remaining space allotted on the sphere to the constellation Ursa Major, it would not be difficult to include oxen harnessed to the brightly marked celestial plough.

I have said that at midnight of the summer solstice the constellation Bootes--if we suppose it to have been imagined at 6000 B.C.--presided visibly over the northern sky. But we have learnt from the month names in the Accadian calendar that the astronomers who instituted it always directed attention to the constellations which invisibly accompanied the sun in his daily journeyings from east to west, rather than to those which (in opposition) were visible through the hours of the night. For example--all through the mid-winter month of the sacrifice of righteousness, the stars of the Ram--the celestial symbol of that sacrifice--were invisible, hidden in the overpowering light of the sun. In like manner, I think, we may assume that at the close of the Accadian year--in the “month of the sowing of seed” or in “the dark month of sowing,” when mortal husbandmen were following on earth their ox-drawn ploughs, Bootes, the ox-driver, though invisible to the bodily eye, appeared to the mental vision of the astronomer, following unweariedly the ox-drawn plough in the sky.

The various suppositions here put forward will lead those who accept them as probably correct, to picture to themselves the existence, at the early date of 6000 B.C., in latitude 45° N., of a race of men--not savages, and not merely pastoral nomads--but a race of agriculturists who tilled the ground and reaped its fruits--a race possessed of high intellectual power--who respected law and justice, and whose religion taught them to offer to their god “sacrifices of righteousness.”

PLATES XIX. AND XX.

In Plate XIX., fig. 1, it is the constellation known in the Grecian sphere as Hercules that claims our attention. At the date and latitude above named, this constellation, if then it had already been imagined, culminated gloriously on the northern meridian at midnight of the spring equinox. The head of the hero, or demi-god, touched the very zenith, and with his club brandished aloft he must have seemed well fitted to triumph over, not only the dragon coiled beneath his feet, but over every opposing power.

As was said at p. 223 about Bootes, 6000 B.C., so it may here be repeated of Hercules, 4667 B.C., “never since that date has he held so commanding a position in the sky.”

At the present date of writing, and in our English latitudes, Hercules “will ever rise reversed,” and through the summer and autumn months his kneeling figure is always to be seen hanging head downwards in the southern quarter of the sky.

The Phainomena or “Heavenly Display” of Aratos, done into English verse by Robert Brown, Jun., F.S.A., line 669.

Grecian writers, some centuries B.C., were already puzzled to account for this “reversed” position of “the Kneeler.” Aratos, from whom I have quoted above, thus further wonders as to this constellation. At line 63 we read:--

“... like a toiling man, revolves A form. Of it can no one clearly speak, Nor to what toil he is attached; but, simply, Kneeler they call him. Labouring on his knees, Like one who sinks he seems;”

and again at line 614--

“The Kneeler ... He who is ne’er far distant from the Lyre, Whoe’er this stranger of the heavenly forms May be.”

The Phainomena or “Heavenly Display” of Aratos, done into English verse by Robert Brown, Jun., F.S.A., line 669.

4600 B.C. no such difficult speculations could have presented themselves to the minds of those who, in the joyous springtime of the year, beheld in imagination, night after night, the grand and conquering figure of this god or hero, typifying for them, as we may easily suppose, the ever-increasing triumph at that season of the power of light over darkness.

Plate XIX., fig. 2. It was perhaps at this same date that the cluster of stars “led round in circle” close to the bow of Sagittarius, and exactly marking the equinoctial colure, was figured as a crown, and that so depicted, as I have contended at page 76, this constellation suggested the symbolic circle, crown, or wreath which sometimes takes the place of the bow in Assur’s hand, and which almost always is present in the hand of Ahura Mazda in Median representations of that figure.

The Phainomena or “Heavenly Display” of Aratos, done into English verse by Robert Brown, Jun., F.S.A., line 401.

At Plate XX., fig. 1, I have drawn the constellation Hydra as it would have appeared at the date 4667 B.C. At pages 117, 118, the reasons which led me to suppose that this constellation was then first imagined have been given.

At Plate XX., fig. 2, it may be seen how 4667 B.C. the figure of Orion very accurately marked the equinoctial colure, and this fact may incline us to suppose that the giant hunter--so often, according to Grecian legend, in conflict with the powers of high Heaven--was depicted about this date by ancient astronomers to represent the strength of the adverse powers which, at the autumnal season in the mythologies of northern nations, appear in combat with, and temporarily triumphant over, the powers of light.

In favour of the high date here claimed for the imagining of Orion’s figure under very much the same form as that still depicted on our globes, there are some indications to be observed in the Sanscrit names of the Nakshatra, which contains the stars, λ φ₁ φ₂ Orionis--i.e., the stars marking the head of Orion.

This Nakshatra is known in Hindu astronomy under two quite different names--viz., Mṛigashirsha and Agrahayani. The Sanscrit word, Mṛigashirsha, means literally “Wild beast’s head,” and B. G. Tilak, in his work, The Orion; or, Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas, basing his opinion upon many ingenious and recondite arguments, supposes that ancient Indian astronomers gave the name of Mṛigashiras to the stars of Orion, which they imagined portrayed in the sky an “Antelope’s head” transfixed by an arrow--the arrow being marked by the three bright stars so well known to us as Orion’s Belt.

Mṛiga, there can be no doubt, carries often with it in Sanscrit literature the meaning of “antelope”: but Tilak expressly says at p. 97, “Though I have translated the word Mṛigashiras by ‘Antelope’s head,’ I do not mean to imply that Mṛiga necessarily meant ‘an antelope’ in the Vedic literature.” Again, at p. 151, he says: “The word Mṛiga in the Rigveda, means according to Sâyaṇa both a lion and a deer.”

Again, as to the other name of the Nakshatra--Agrahayani--it has the meaning of “first-going” (of the sun) understood. In a long dissertation on this name, Tilak contends that it marked an important point in the annual course of the sun, and then further seeks to derive the Greek name Orion from the Sanscrit word, Agrahayani. Of the value of the etymological arguments advanced, I am quite unable to judge, but on astronomic grounds it would not seem an improbable derivation.

But the acceptance of Tilak’s contention as to the derivation of the name Orion would make it reasonable to suppose that not only the name but also the configuration of the constellation might, in the astronomy of the Greek and Indian nations, resemble each other; and thus we should be more ready to believe that Mṛigashirsha referred to the lion’s head on Orion’s arm, and not to an “antelope’s head”--a head which, as depicted by Tilak at p. 100, would alone have filled nearly all the space in the heavens occupied in the Grecian sphere by the huge figure of the giant hunter known to us as Orion.

The indications furnished by these two Sanscrit Nakshatra names, if they are followed, must lead us to attribute the imagining and naming of the constellation Orion to a time before that when the ancestors of the Greeks and Indians went their separate ways to the west and to the east, and so will strengthen the claim here made for the depicting of the constellation on the sky as early as 4600 B.C.

It will be noted that in the suggestions here offered concerning Hercules, Corona Australis, Hydra, and Orion, a change in the symbolic methods followed by earlier astronomers, 6000 B.C., must be supposed.

It was to the constellations invisibly accompanying the sun that the originators of the Zodiac appear to have directed their attention. But the symbolic figures we have now been studying--there can, it seems to me, be little doubt--were designed to mark visibly, and, therefore, in opposition to the sun, the various seasons of the year.

A great astronomic activity, a sort of astronomic renaissance, in fact, seems to manifest itself as we study the celestial globe at 4600 B.C., and to this date I would attribute the origin of the astronomic myths of many nations.

PLATE XXI.

The figures in this Plate have been drawn from the globe adjusted to the date, 4128 B.C., Lat. 40° N.

In The Median Calendar and the Constellation Taurus I have put forward considerations drawn from Median and Assyrian sources, which seemed to me to lead to the conclusion that at about the date 4000 B.C. very close attention was given to the position of the colures amongst the fixed stars, and that at that date very special honour was given by the ancestors of the Medes to the constellation Sagittarius--the constellation which at the spring equinox was in opposition to the sun, and therefore visible all through the night. I need not here reiterate what was there advanced on this point concerning Median and Assyrian symbolism, but rather I now desire to draw attention to the existence in Egyptian art and mythologic teaching of what I cannot but think is very constant reference to the position of the colures, as they might have been observed--speaking in round numbers--from 4000 down to 2000 B.C.

It will be seen at Fig. 4 that the equinoctial colure, at the earlier of these dates, touched the confines of the constellation Sagittarius, and might even then, with almost equal right, have been claimed as adjoining those of Scorpio. We can well imagine that the astronomic school which carried out the reformation in method discussed above (pp. 222, 227), which resulted in the imagining of the constellations Hercules and Corona Australis, and in the extension, as I suggested, of the boundaries of Sagittarius--we can well imagine that this school would with reluctance admit the baleful image of Scorpio to take the post of leader of the year, so long held by Sagittarius. But from 4000 B.C. onwards to 2000 B.C. the constellations that did actually mark the equinoctial and solstitial colures, were Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, and Aquarius.

Volumes of controversy have been written concerning the astronomic teachings of the ceilings of the temples of Denderah and Edfu, as to the position of the colures amongst the fixed stars, suggested by the arrangement of the figures of the Zodiac in both these temples. The date astronomically referred to in these designs was claimed by some to be about 4000 B.C., but when it was proved that these temples had been restored in Ptolemaic times, and the ceilings probably redecorated then, the high claims put forward for the first imagining of these astronomic designs could no longer with certainty be upheld. A strong reaction in opinion then took place, and it was again and again asserted that the Egyptians were probably not even acquainted with the so-called Grecian twelve-fold division of the ecliptic till after the introduction of European culture into Egypt. To seek for allusions in ancient Egyptian mythology or art to any of the twelve Zodiacal constellations was, therefore, a much discouraged attempt.

But if the testimony of the ceilings of the Denderah and Edfu temples is rendered suspect by their Ptolemaic restoration, the same objection cannot be raised against the evidence borne by the ceiling of an ancient Egyptian building, which has certainly not been restored in Ptolemaic times. In the Description de l’Égypte, we find a careful drawing of a “Tableau astronomique au Plafond de l’un des tombeaux des rois.” In the central portion on either side of this ceiling a monstrous hippopotamus and crocodile are represented, together with various beings depicted on a much smaller scale. In the drawing here given, of one of these central groups, we find, as it seems to me, very clear reference to the four figures--Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, and Aquarius (= Amphora).

Description de l’Égypte, 10 vols., Paris, MDCCCXII.-XXIII., Vol. I., Antiquités, planche 95.

The monstrous hippopotamus and crocodile here depicted are, I am strongly inclined to believe, representations, not of any particular constellation, but rather of the solstitial and equinoctial colures; and the four not at all, except astronomically, related figures of the Bull, Scorpion, Lion, and Water-jar, are here very clearly in evidence.

In Egyptian mythology the Apis Bull held a very important place. “It was regarded as a symbol and incarnation of Osiris, the husband of Isis, and next to Râ, the great divinity of Egypt.” Grecian authorities tell us that the Apis Bull was black, with some distinctive white markings; and on its back (or tongue, according to variant accounts) the figure of a scarabæus was to be observed. From a drawing in Ebers’ Egypt, Vol. I., p. 121, we may, however, gather, as I think I have seen it elsewhere stated, that the Apis Bull was marked by equal areas of black and white. Such equal areas would fitly symbolize the equal day and night of the equinoctial season, and the presence of the scarabæus on the back or tongue of the Bull--if the suggestion made at p. 218 should prove to be correct--would point to the traditional connexion of that creature with the same equinoctial season.

It has often been assumed that the golden calf set up and worshipped in the wilderness by the Israelites was a representation of the Apis god of Egypt; and that so also were the calves set up by Jeroboam in Bethel and in Dan on his return from Egypt. We read in 1 Kings xii. 32, “And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month.” ... Ver. 33, “So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.”

Now, from our knowledge of the Babylonian calendar, and its correspondence with that in use in Palestine, we may conclude that the “eighth month” (Marchesvan), devised by Jeroboam, was that during which the sun traversed the constellation Scorpio, and during which Taurus was dominantly visible all night; and when in this constellation the full moon of the fifteenth or festival day was to be observed. This mention of the eighth month in connexion with the worship of the golden calves--a worship, as has been supposed, copied from Egyptian practice--greatly strengthens the opinion that the Apis Bull was in Egypt looked upon as a living representative of the Zodiacal Bull--the constellation which in the time of the early dynasties marked, in opposition to the sun, the autumnal equinox.

In Median mythology and art we have seen the great importance of Tauric symbolism: but there is a wide difference between the Tauric symbolism of the Medes and the Egyptians. Mithras, the Median sun-god, again and again triumphs over and slays the Bull. In Egypt, on the contrary, the Sacred Bull is honoured and worshipped during its lifetime, and reverently embalmed, and with all pomp and glory buried after its death.

This difference in the mythologic conceptions of Media and Egypt may be attributed, I think, to the difference of climatic conditions in the two countries.

In Media, spring--in Egypt, autumn--is the joyous and fruitful season of the year. In the early ages, when Median and Egyptian mythologies took their rise, Taurus was at the spring equinox in conjunction with the sun, and was, therefore, slain by its overwhelming brightness; but at the autumn equinox that same constellation, in opposition, rose when the sun set, and all night long was visible. In Median art, it is the Bull immolated by the sun in springtime that is represented. In Egyptian symbolism, it is to the Bull triumphantly traversing the sky by night, in the autumn season, that attention is directed.

In the light of these astronomic considerations, it is interesting to think of the fanatical act of Cambyses in slaying the Apis Bull, as one prompted not only by fury at seeing the high honour paid to the Egyptian god, but also by an insane pride, which made him desire to imitate the triumph of Mithras--the Persian sun-god--over the Bull in the heavens, by killing its earthly representative, the Apis Bull.

In the days of Cambyses, when Apis worship prevailed in Egypt, and even still earlier when the children of Israel, in imitation of this worship, set up the golden calf in the wilderness, the raison d’être for the honour paid to Taurus as a star mark of the autumnal season no longer existed; for we know that about 1800 B.C., the equinoctial colure had left that constellation, and had entered the eastern degrees of the constellation Aries. Egyptian history assures us, however, that the institution of the Apis worship was effected by some king of the first dynasty in the far back ages when Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, and Aquarius did actually preside over the four seasons of the year. Moreover, the recent discoveries of the tombs of kings and other personages, in the first Egyptian dynasty, lead us back to the remote date of 4000 B.C., when the very earliest observations of the colures in the four above-named constellations could have been made.

In these ancient tombs, amongst other objects, have been found slate slabs of various shapes--some of them, in their general outline, as it appears to me, representing in the flat the form of a jar or vase. In the accompanying cuts, a proposed restoration of the broken-off top of one of the slates is given, and is distinguished from the existing portion of the slate by being drawn in dotted lines. Both sides of these slabs are covered by finely executed carvings, not incised but in relief. The subjects of the reliefs are very varied, but prominent amongst them, and exactly repeated more than once, is the figure of a bull trampling under his feet, and preparing to gore with his horns, a fallen human foe. Lions are also portrayed in many attitudes, and on one slate, where in the upper register this triumphing bull is represented, below it in a crenellated cartouche a lion and an urn or jar are to be seen in close proximity to each other. On another slate, a scorpion is delineated above a crenellated cartouche; and representations of scorpions carved in relief on mace-heads and on jars, and scorpions carved in the round, have been met with in great numbers in the excavations at Hierakonpolis--the site also of the discovery of one of the most important of the carved slates here described.

It is difficult, I think, to resist the conclusion that we have in the carvings on these ancient slate objects references not to merely terrestrial bulls, lions, scorpions, and water jars, but rather to the constellations, already imagined under those forms, whose stars, at the date when these carvings were made, marked in conjunction with, and in opposition to, the sun, the four seasons of the year.

In the centre of many, if not of all, of the slates under our notice, there is carved on the obverse a ring surrounding a depression. “Mr Quibell’s theory, which is still adhered to by Professor Petrie, is that this ring was intended to receive the green paint with which it is supposed the earliest Egyptians painted their faces,” but Mr Legge in his Paper, from which I have here quoted (contributed to the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, May 1900, pp. 137, 138), puts forward a different view, which, if it is correct, would lend support to the astronomic interpretation above proposed for some of the carved representations. Mr Legge considers that the rings represented the sun, and that “it is quite possible that this significance was heightened by the introduction of some bright substance, such as gold foil.” He points out that the composite monsters of the slates, all of which are represented on certain ivories, which he names, are always associated with the sun-disk. He believes these figures to have a symbolic meaning, though he does not in his Paper claim the especial astronomic interpretations I have above advocated.

PLATE XXII.

This plate has been drawn from the globe adjusted to the dates and latitudes of 5744 B.C. Lat. 18° N., and of 3588 B.C., Lat. 23° N.

In Grecian legend Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, the sea-monster (Cetus), and Perseus are associated together, and on the Grecian sphere five neighbouring constellations represent the actors of the legend.

Studying these constellations as they must have appeared to observers of the heavens at different dates, we shall, I think, see some reason to attribute the imagining of the figure of the hero Perseus to a later age than that of the other members of the group, and, on the other hand, there are considerations which may make us hesitate whether we should not place the origin of the constellation Andromeda at an even earlier date than those of Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and the sea-monster. One point in the legend, however, finds strong astronomic support from a study of the precessional globe--namely, the fact that Cepheus and Cassiopeia were personages of Ethiopian--i.e., of tropical provenance.

See below at p. 246, and pp. 242, 243.

It will be seen in Plate XXII., fig. 1, that only in a latitude as far South as 18° N. could the figure of Cassiopeia--even at the early date of 6000 B.C.--have been imagined as that of a queen seated in royal dignity, and visible in the northern quarter of the heavens.

By referring to Plate XV., we may learn that in Lat. 45° N. at that date, Cassiopeia would have appeared in the southern quarter of the sphere, head downwards, while the figure of Cepheus could only have been observed by turning first to one and then to the other quarter of the sky. As, however, the head of Cepheus would have marked so exactly the solstitial colure 6000 B.C., it seemed to me only right to seek for a latitude in which his figure and that of his queen should appear upright and in the same quarter of the heavens--a latitude, therefore, in which it might be possible to suppose these constellations had been originated as star-marks of the solstitial season. To attain this object it was necessary to set the globe to the very low latitude of 18° N.

To suppose at 6000 B.C. so wide a diffusion, not only of the human race, but also of astronomical science and authority, seemed to involve an historical unlikelihood. Moreover, even if for the sake of suitably establishing the dignity of this regal pair one were tempted to suppose the great improbability of schools of astronomy existing, and with equal authority instituting constellations as star-marks for the year, in regions as far north as Lat. 45° N. and as far south as 18° N.--even so, I do not think the position of the constellations themselves in relation to the solstitial colure as shown in the diagram is by any means so convincingly symmetrical as to force us to accept the date 6000 B.C. for their origin. The head only of Cepheus appears on the meridian, his figure and the whole constellation of Cassiopeia lie considerably to the east of that line.

Under these circumstances it is satisfactory to find at a later, and therefore at a more historically probable date, and still in an Ethiopian (tropical) latitude, a meridian line on and about which the constellations Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and Cetus form a well-balanced group.

This meridian, it is true, is not that of a solstice or an equinox; but it is one which marked a very important astronomical moment--namely, the commencement of the calendrical year--the year counted from the entry of the sun into the constellation Aries. (See Plate XXII., fig. 2.)

Of the high calendrical importance attached through thousands of years to this point in the sun’s annual course by the Accadian and Babylonian nations and by the Hindus down to the present day, astronomic records testify. Egyptian mythology and Chinese traditions also, as I have claimed, refer to it: it need not, therefore, surprise us to find constellations imagined to mark the beginning of a year counted from that point, even at a date when this beginning did not coincide either with solstice or equinox.

3500 B.C. is the approximate date I would suggest in a latitude not far from 23° N. for the origin of the constellations Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and probably also for that of Cetus.

The legend tells us that Cassiopeia by boasting of her own or of her daughter’s surpassing beauty incurred the enmity of the nereids. She is

“... that starr’d Ethiop queen that strove To set her beauty’s praise above The sea-nymphs, and their power offended.”

Milton, Il Penseroso.

It seems to me that for this legend, as for many others, an astronomic basis may be assigned. 3500 B.C. the solstitial colure passed through the constellation Aquarius. The stars of that constellation might then not unfitly have been likened to sea divinities, and rival schools of astronomers and calendar keepers may have exalted the praise, on the one hand, of the stars that marked a calendrical, and, on the other hand, of those that marked a solstitial year.

A curious fact as to the lines in which Aratos refers to the constellation Cassiopeia must here be noted.

Aratos versified “the Phainomena of the astronomer Eudoxos, who lived cir. B.C. 403-350.” It has often been pointed out that the facts concerning the constellations which Aratos and Eudoxos record “are to a great extent traditional and archaic, and belong to another and far earlier epoch.” What is said of Cassiopeia is a case in point; for thus the poet deplores her pride and its punishment at line 654 et seq.--

“And now she, too, her daughter’s form pursues, Sad Kassiepeia; nor seemly still Show from her seat her feet and knees above; But she head foremost like a tumbler sits: With knees divided: since a doom must fall On boasts to equal Panopê and Doris.”

The Phainomena or “Heavenly Display” of Aratos, ub. supr.

Now in Eudoxos’ time and in his latitude, though Cassiopeia’s head did by a few degrees extend into the southern heavens, yet her position was not so deplorably ignominious as the poem would suggest. Three thousand years earlier the pity for her expressed by Aratos would have been more appropriate, for then her whole figure for observers in lat. 35° N. would have been visible in the southern quarter of the sky, and her feet, not her head (as at Lat. 23° N.), would have been on the zenith.

These considerations may lead us to suppose that the idea of Cassiopeia’s pride, and the fit punishment of it--i.e., her reversed position in the heavens, must have assumed form in northern latitudes almost at as early a date as the constellation figures were first imagined in tropical latitudes.

If this be so, it is indeed curious to find a legend which embodied the animus of astronomic rivalry 3500 B.C. handed down for thousands of years, and repeated in what professed to be a somewhat scientific treatise at a date between 400 and 300 B.C., when the astronomic facts no longer tallied with those narrated in the legend.

As to Andromeda, the classic story describes her as the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia; but the constellation itself--except on legendary grounds--might equally well have marked the beginning of a solstitial year 6000 B.C., or of a non-solstitial and calendrical year 3500 B.C.

The terrible prevalence of human sacrifices in ancient times, and at the solstices especially, may make us almost fear that the representation of a chained human victim had its place in the sphere at the earlier (solstitial) date.

The chains which bind Andromeda’s arms are fastened by staples to the sky. They appear (at fig. 1) at 6000 B.C. as though driven into two important astronomic lines--i.e., one of them into the line of the equator, the other into that of the solstitial colure. This may, of course, be a mere coincidence, and should not be allowed to weigh at all heavily in the almost evenly adjusted balance of probabilities regarding the date of the origin of the constellation Andromeda. Her story is so interwoven, not only with that of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, but also with that of the sea-monster Cetus, that we should not hastily attempt to dissociate the members of this group.

The very interesting question as to what southern people first depicted the Ethiopic king and queen on the sphere cannot be answered on astronomic grounds. We know that the latitude in which these figures were imagined must have been tropical, if the date of their imagining was as early as 3500 B.C. But we cannot learn from the celestial globe what was the longitude of the land in which they were so imagined. Ethiopia proper, and parts of Arabia and India, lie within the tropics, and the term Ethiopia, in classic writings, embraces all these countries.

Etymologists are, I believe, divided in opinion as to what language the rather un-Grecian names, Cepheus and Cassiopeia, were derived from. Some writers have suggested for their origin the Sanscrit names Capuja and Cassyape: and if, as I have already urged, the Aries-year was followed in ancient Vedic times in India, the Sanscrit derivation suggested will seem not an unlikely one. Nor under these suppositions would it be difficult to propose a possible Sanscrit origin for the name Andromeda, though for this purpose we should have to deprive the legend of all its classic and romantic charm. Cassyape, in Sanscrit story, is not the name of a gloriously beautiful queen, but of a “sage,” and it might be that the constellation Andromeda also, for ancient Indian astronomers, represented merely a human sacrifice, not that of the beautiful daughter of a beautiful mother. Though in the Rig Veda there is no legend of the sacrifice of a woman, yet in it we meet with seven consecutive hymns referring to the sacrifice, real or symbolical, of Sunahśepas, the son of a rishi or sage, who, according to the commentators, had consented to yield his son up to this cruel fate. The prayers of the victim, addressed to many gods, at last result in his deliverance.

Two other hymns in the Rig Veda relate to the great ceremony of the sacrifice, real or symbolical, of a horse. I give at p. 252 some of the considerations which have convinced me that the praises of the winged steed--i.e., of the constellation Pegasus, and not merely the praises of an earthly horse, are the subject of these two hymns. The ceremony in question bore the name of Aswamedha, literally Horse-Sacrifice.

In reading and comparing these two series of sacrificial hymns, some points of contact present themselves, and, observing this, it occurred to me that some Sanscrit word ending in Medha--i.e., sacrifice, and conveying the meaning of human sacrifice, might by ancient Indian astronomers have been attached to the constellation, which for us represents the hapless Andromeda: for if we suppose that the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus were imagined in India, but adopted with an appropriate legend into the Grecian sphere--the names of the personages in the legend at the same time suffering a Grecian change--it would be easy further to suppose that the Indian name of the constellation near to them, transformed and misunderstood, came to represent in Grecian story not merely a human sacrifice, but that of the much-to-be-pitied daughter of the proud Cassiopeia.

Whether these fanciful speculations concerning the names of the actors in the ancient legend be adopted or not need not affect our judgment as to the reasonableness, or otherwise, of the date, 3500 B.C., and of Lat. 23° N. for the origin of the constellational group here discussed.

PLATE XXIII.

The figures in this plate have been drawn from the globe adjusted to the following dates and latitudes. Figs. 1 and 2, 3589 B.C., Lat. 35° N. Fig. 3, 3050 B.C., Lat. 35° N. Fig. 4, 1443 B.C., Lat. 40° N.

The probable dates for the first imagining of four constellations are here given--namely, for the Centaur, Ophiuchus, Auriga, and Perseus.

For the Centaur the date in round numbers of 3500 B.C. (fig. 1) is suggested: at that date his huge figure would have well marked, in opposition, the beginning of the calendrical Aries-year; or, in conjunction with the sun, the beginning of the seventh month of the same year. It is not necessary, at that date, to attribute a low latitude to the astronomers who designed this figure: in that of 35° N., as shown in the diagram, the whole constellation would then have been well above the horizon. The much earlier epoch of 6000 B.C. might perhaps be claimed for the Centaur. At that date, as I have assumed, the calendrical and the solstitial year coincided. (Compare Plate XVII. and Plate IX.) As between 6000 and 3500 B.C. I have often hesitated, but on the whole I have come to think the later date, as here given, the more probable.

Fig. 2.--Again at the date 3500 B.C. and in the latitude 35° N. I have drawn the constellation Ophiuchus as it would have appeared in opposition to the sun at the season of the spring equinox; triumphing over the powers of darkness--namely, the scorpion on which he treads and the serpent which he crushes with his hands. Although at the date in question Hercules’ position in the northern heavens was not quite so commanding and symmetrical as it was a thousand years earlier (see Plate XIX.), yet in the lower latitude given here (Plate XXIII., fig. 2) the heads of Hercules and of Ophiuchus would have been on the zenith, and these brothers might have been seen, one of them in the northern and the other in the southern quarter of the sky, strongly combating and conquering the forces of winter and darkness at the season of the spring equinox.

Fig. 3.--For Auriga, I have suggested the later date of 3000 B.C., for then the bright star Capella, the most important star in the constellation and one of the brightest in that part of the sky, was on the meridian in conjunction with the sun at noon of the spring equinox--and in opposition at mid-night of the autumn equinox.

The star Capella has, by several writers, been identified with the star “Icu of Babylon” mentioned in many of the Babylonian astrological texts. If this identification of Capella and “Icu of Babylon” should be established as correct, we ought, I suppose, to credit Babylonian astronomers with the delineation of the figure Auriga.

Fig. 4.--Unless we adopt on the authority of the Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Andromeda legend the date 3500 for Perseus, it will seem, I think, almost necessary to attribute the much later one of 1433 B.C. for the designing of this constellation. At the earlier date the position of Perseus--see Plate XXII., fig. 2--militates against the likelihood of its having then been imagined; as part of the figure of Perseus would have been visible in the northern and part in the southern hemisphere.

In favour of the later date we may note the way in which the figure of Perseus has been fitted in, as it were, between already-named constellations, so that though restricted to a small space it still retains heroic proportions.

The star Algol, whose strange alternations of magnitude may well have suggested to the ancients the winking of the eye of some malignant monster, was imagined by the astronomers who drew the figure of Perseus, as on the brow of the Gorgon Medusa. It will be seen in the Plate how, at the date there given, this mysterious star exactly marked the equinoctial meridian.

The northern latitude 40° N., suitable for the imagining of this constellation, and its name Perseus, seem to point to an Iranian school of astronomers as the probable originators of this figure.

PLATE XXIV.

It will be seen that by consulting the precessional globe it has been possible to suggest dates at which the various simple and composite human figures, represented on the (Grecian) sphere could have been originally imagined in an upright position, either on the northern or southern meridian at some well-marked time of the year--that is of either a cosmical or a calendrical year.

That many other of the remaining ancient constellations--Canis Major and Canis Minor, Aquila, Cygnus, &c., were depicted and named at very remote dates, there can, I think, be little doubt. The wide-spread traditions connected with these figures demand an early origin for them. It is probable that the heliacal rising of certain bright stars in these constellations at some special season of the year, rather than their culmination at noon or at midnight, may have been the occasion for the interest taken in them.

A further study of the precessional globe with this thought present would probably suggest approximate dates for the imagining of some of these constellations, small in extent but marked by bright stars.

I will now only allude to the two remaining ancient constellations of wide extent--namely, to Argo and Pegasus.

Glancing at Plate X. (Astronomy in the Rig Veda) the almost upright and symmetrical position of Argo 3000 B.C. may suggest the likelihood that at that date or perhaps a few hundred years later, and in a latitude about 12° higher than that given in the diagram, this constellation was imagined. It will be observed that all the stars of Argo, even the bright and southern Canopus at 35° N. would have been above the horizon and visible at midnight of the winter solstice. At noon of the summer solstice they would have been above the horizon, but invisible in conjunction with the sun.

But now turning our thoughts to the constellation Pegasus, a difficulty confronts us at every date from 6000 B.C. downwards even to this present A.D. 1903: Pegasus as depicted on the globe has held and still holds a reversed position in the heavens. The very fact that for all the other ancient constellations which represent living beings, it has been possible to find some season and some date at which they could have been observed upright in the sky, makes it a more imperative need to seek for some explanation of the anomalous treatment meted out by astronomers of old to the winged steed.

In this stress of difficulty, I venture to make a suggestion which will, I fear, at first sight, appear far-fetched and fanciful, and quite out of line with other suppositions put forward in this book.

My suggestion is that an error concerning the right depicting of this constellation was fallen into by some astronomers of old, and that this error was handed down to us through the Grecian school.

If on some clear autumnal or winter night we search for the constellation Pegasus, not on a globe or map but in the southern quarter of the actual sky, we may quickly recognise it by four very bright stars which mark the corners of an almost exact and very extensive square on the vault of heaven. Then stretching away from the lower and western corner of this square still farther towards the horizon and to the west, we may trace the faint stars which mark the neck, and the somewhat brighter star which marks the head of the Demi-Horse: while starting from the upper western corner of the square and stretching still higher towards the zenith, and to the west we detect the lines of fainter stars which mark the fore legs and the hoofs of Pegasus. If we allow the four stars of the “square of Pegasus” still to mark the body of the horse, and think of the upper lines of faint stars as marking its neck and head and of the lower ones as marking its fore legs and hoofs, the figure exactly reversed will still fit within the limiting lines of the constellation, with the satisfactory result that the winged steed, not miserably floundering on its back but upright and alert, will be seen in our mental vision night after night pursuing its course from east to west across the heavens.

But even to arrive at so satisfactory a result, we might scarcely dare to propose without some other plea than its mere desirability, so arbitrary a method of dealing with the reversed position of Pegasus, as that of thus correcting a supposed error on the part of early astronomers.

There is, however, I think, in Grecian and in Vedic legend some support to be found for the opinion that the original position of Pegasus was upright and not reversed.

Though on the Grecian astronomic sphere Pegasus appears reversed, on no artistic monument, vase, or coin is he thus represented, and in Grecian legend he is ever a glorious and highly-prized friend and helper of gods and heroes. Amongst other achievements, we read of him that he produced with a blow of his hoof the inspiring fountain Hippocrene.

In the Rig Veda we read of a swift horse, belonging to the Aswins, who from his hoof filled a hundred vases of sweet liquor.

Max Müller has pointed out that the Aswins possessed a horse called Pagas. The stars α and β Arietis are in Hindu astronomy called the “Aswins,” and at p. 137 I have contended that these stars in Vedic times symbolised the twin heroes, the Aswins, the possessors, according to Max Müller, of the horse Pagas. If we look at Pegasus in the sky, and observe how closely following that constellation the bright stars that mark the head of Aries appear, we shall easily understand how these Aswins might have by Vedic bards been imagined as possessing and driving in front of them the swift steed Pegasus.

In two hymns addressed to the Aswins we read as follows:--

MAṆḌALA I.--Súkta cxvi. and verse 7.

“You filled from the hoof of your vigorous steed, as if from a cask, a hundred jars of wine.”

And again in the next hymn, cxvii. verse 6--

“You filled for the (expectant) man a hundred vases of sweet (liquors) from the hoof of your fleet horse.”

Wilson’s translation of the Rig Veda.

As Pegasus is now represented his hoofs touch no well or fountain, cask or vase. But if we depict him as suggested above (see Plate XXIV.), his hoof would indeed appear as almost in the act of striking the vase in the constellation Aquarius, from which the abundant waters gush forth.

I have already alluded to the Aswamedha hymns in the Rig Veda as probably referring not merely to the sacrifice of an actual horse, but rather to a symbolic sacrifice of the winged horse of the constellation Pegasus. In support of this opinion I will quote from the hymns in question:--

MAṆḌALA I.--Súkta clxii.

“1. Let neither MITRA nor VARUN̂A, ARYAMAN, ÁYU, INDRA, RIBHUKSHIN, nor the Maruts censure us: when we proclaim in the sacrifice the virtues of the swift horse sprung from the gods.

“2. When they, (the priests), bring the prepared offering to the presence (of the horse), who has been bathed and decorated with rich (trappings), the various-coloured goat going before him, bleating, becomes an acceptable offering to INDRA and PÚSHAN.

“3. This goat, the portion of PÚSHAN, fit for all the gods, is brought first with the fleet courser, so that TWASHT́ṚI may prepare him along with the horse, as an acceptable preliminary offering for the (sacrificial) food.”

Looking at Plate XXIV., Figs. 1, 2, we may observe how the constellation Capricornus “goes before” that of Pegasus, and we may understand the aspiration that Twasht́ṛi may prepare him along with the horse as an acceptable preliminary offering.

After many verses entering into minute and rather horrible details of the “immolation” and even of the cooking of the sacrificial horse the 19th verse adds--

“There is one immolator of the radiant horse, which is Time”; and these words seem to carry us back from thoughts of an actual to a, in some way, symbolical sacrifice, especially when at verse 21 we read:

“Verily at this moment thou dost not die; nor art thou harmed; for thou goest by auspicious paths to the gods. The horses of INDRA, the steeds of the Maruts shall be yoked (to their cars), and a courser shall be placed in the shaft of the ass of the AŚWINS (to bear thee to heaven).”

The following hymn (lxiii.) I give in extenso:--

MAṆḌALA I.--Súkta clxiii.

1. Thy great birth, O Horse, is to be glorified; whether first springing from the firmament or from the water, inasmuch as thou hast neighed (auspiciously), for thou hast the wings of the falcon and the limbs of the deer.

2. TRITA harnessed the horse which was given by YAMA: INDRA first mounted him, and GANDHARBA seized his reins. Vasus, you fabricated the horse from the sun.

3. Thou, horse, art YAMA: thou art A’DITYA: thou art TRITA by a mysterious act: thou art associated with SOMA. The sages have said there are three bindings of thee in heaven.

4. They have said that three are thy bindings in heaven; three upon earth; and three in the firmament. Thou declarest to me, Horse, who art (one with) VARUN̂A, that which they have called thy most excellent birth.

5. I have beheld, Horse, these thy purifying (regions); these impressions of the feet of thee, who sharest in the sacrifice; and here thy auspicious reins, which are the protectors of the rite that preserve it.

6. I recognise in my mind thy form afar off, going from (the earth) below, by way of heaven, to the sun. I behold thy head soaring aloft, and mounting quickly by unobstructed paths, unsullied by dust.

7. I behold thy most excellent form coming eagerly to (receive) thy food in thy (holy) place of earth; when thy attendant brings thee nigh to the enjoyment (of the provender), therefore greedy, thou devourest the fodder.

8. The car follows thee, O Horse: men attend thee; cattle follow thee; the loveliness of maidens (waits) upon thee; troops of demi-gods following thee have sought thy friendship; the gods themselves have been admirers of thy vigour.

9. His mane is of gold; his feet are of iron; and fleet as thought, INDRA is his inferior (in speed). The gods have come to partake of his (being offered as) oblation; the first who mounted the horse was INDRA.

10. The full-haunched, slender-waisted, high-spirited, and celestial coursers (of the sun), gallop along like swans in rows, when the horses spread along the heavenly path.

11. Thy body, horse, is made for motion; thy mind is rapid (in intention) as the wind; the hairs (of thy mane) are tossed in manifold directions; and spread beautiful in the forests.

12. The swift horse approaches the place of immolation, meditating with mind intent upon the gods; the goat bound to him is led before him; after him follow the priests and the singers.

13. The horse proceeds to that assembly which is most excellent: to the presence of his father and his mother (heaven and earth). Go, (Horse), to-day rejoicing to the gods, that (the sacrifice) may yield blessings to the donor.

Many passages in this hymn, such as those in verse 3 referring to Trita and Soma, may suggest corroborative astronomic observations, but I would here especially refer to the description, verse 1, of the horse possessing “the wings of the falcon,” and in verse 6 to the words, “I behold thy head soaring aloft, and mounting quickly by unobstructed paths, unsullied by dust.”

V. pp. 176, 177.

As I read these hymns I cannot think merely of an actual horse led to sacrifice, but of the winged celestial Pegasus; nor is it easy to think of that celestial horse as it is at present depicted, reversed in the sky.

The Vedic poet beheld his head soaring aloft, but in the previous verse he has said, “I have beheld Horse, ... those impressions of the feet of thee”; and if these “impressions” were the stars which, on the Grecian sphere, marked the horse’s head, but, as I have contended, originally marked his hoof, then we shall understand how, associated with Soma, and identical with Trita by a mysterious act--i.e., at the season of the summer solstice, and when the moon was at its full in the constellation Aquarius, ancient astronomers imagined to themselves the horse Pegasus producing with his hoof the sweet exhilarating waters of the fountain Hippocrene.

The date of this particular legend concerning the hoof of Pegasus I should be inclined to place at about 3000 B.C., when the solstitial colure was so closely marked by “those impressions of the feet” of the “swift horse sprung from the gods.” For the first imagining of the constellation I think that of 4000 B.C. is more probable (see Plate XXIV., Figs. 1, 2).

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 2.

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 1.]

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Equinox.

FIG. 2.

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Equinox.

FIG. 1.]

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Summer Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Winter Solstice.

FIG. 2.

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Summer Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Winter Solstice.

FIG. 1.]

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox.

FIG. 2.

5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox.

FIG. 1.]

4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox.

FIG. 2.

4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox,

FIG. 1.]

4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Equinox.

FIG. 2.

4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Summer Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Winter Solstice.

FIG. 1.]

4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox.

FIG. 4.

4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Summer Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Winter Solstice.

FIG. 3.

4,128 B.C. Lat 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 1.

4,128 B.C. Lat 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Solstice.

FIG. 2.]

5,744 B.C. Lat. 18° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 2.

3,589 B.C. Lat. 23° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, beginning Calendrical Year.

Visible--Midnight, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.

FIG. 4.

5,744 B.C. Lat. 18° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 1.

3,589 B.C. Lat. 23° N.

Constellations above Northern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon beginning Calendrical Year.

Visible--Midnight, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.

FIG. 3.]

1,433 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Equinox.

FIG. 4.

3,050 B.C. Lat. 35° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Spring Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Autumn Equinox.

FIG. 3.

3,589 B.C. Lat. 35° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.

Visible--Midnight, beginning Calendrical Year.

FIG. 1.

3,589 B.C. Lat. 35° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Autumn Equinox.

Visible--Midnight, Spring Equinox.

FIG. 2.]

3,050 B.C. Lat. 23° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 2.

4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.

Constellations above Southern Horizon.

Invisible--Noon, Winter Solstice.

Visible--Midnight, Summer Solstice.

FIG. 1.]

INDEX

Ab ab-gar, 4

Abba uddu, 4

Abel, 164

Abhra, 113

Abib, 165, 166, 168, 170

Aboo Simbel, 39, 40, 41

Abraham, 167

Abu, 2, 4

Accad, 6, 52-57, 80. See Calendar

Achæmenid kings, 60, 73

Açvinî. See Aswinī

Adar, Adaru, 2-6, 69

A’ditya, 253

Agane, 151

Agni, 125-131, 138, 140, 153, 172, 181, 183

Agrahayani, 228

Ahi, 111. See Vritra

Ahura Mazda, 60, 64, 65, 73-76, 81-83, 149-155, 172, 227

Airu, 2, 4, 11

Aitareya Brahmana, 140

Akiba, Rabbi, 163

Albumassar, 17, 18

Alexander, 25, 91, 103

Algol, 246

Alphonsus, 23

Altair, 67

Amen, 32-41

Amen-Ra, 32-34, 39-41

Amon. See Amen

Amphora, 44, 45, 67, 79, 204, 223, 233, 236

Andromeda, 239-244, 246

Anna, 48

Apām Napāt, 126

Apin-am-a, 4

Apis Bull, 218, 233-235

Apollo, 156

Apollonius of Tyana, 97

Aptya. See Trita

Aquarii β, 196

Aquarius, 9, 40, 44-47, 51-57, 66-70, 79, 80, 83, 123, 124, 129-132, 144, 174-179, 197, 199, 202, 209, 221-223, 232-235, 241, 250, 251, 255

Aqrabu, 44

Aquila, 66-70, 80, 124, 248

Arakh-makru, 4

Arakh-samna, 2, 4

Aratos, 216, 224-227, 241, 242

Archer. See Sagittarius

Arcitenens, 44

Argo, 248

Aries, 1-19, 24-44, 53-57, 92, 94, 104, 145-147, 170, 171, 186-190, 209, 210, 217, 218, 220, 224, 235, 245, 251

Arietis α and β, 94, 137, 142, 143, 251

Arsacidæ, 4

Artemis, 156, 157, 160

Arū, 44

Aryaman, 252

As a-an, 4

Assara Mazas, 149, 150

Assur, 74-79, 83, 84, 86, 150-155, 227

Assurbanipal, 6, 69

Assyrian Standard, 77-80, 83, 86

Asteria, 179

Asura, 81, 82, 85, 86, 112, 150-153, 182, 183

Asura maha, 153

Aswamedha, 244, 251

Aswinī, 92-94, 104, 132, 134, 136-148, 172, 181, 183, 187, 188, 210, 251, 253

Aswins, the. See Aswinī

Atharva Veda, 94, 133, 136

Atri, 141, 181-184

Attic year, 180

Auriga, 245, 246

Ava, 85

Avesta. See Zend Avesta

Áyu, 252

Babylonia. See Calendar

Bahu. See Bau

Bailly, Jean Silvain, 17, 20, 26, 27, 29

Barrett, Dr, 222

Bar zig-gar, 4, 7, 10, 13-15, 53, 104, 165, 166, 171, 172

Bau, 47-55, 57, 69, 210-212

Bel, 16, 81

Bel-Merodach, 69

Bélier. See Aries

Beltis, 16

Bentley, Mr, 100

Bergaigne, 140, 143

Berosus, 18, 83

Bethel, 233

Bible, the, 21, 84, 164-170

Bodhanundánath Swami, 157

Boötes, 223-226

British Museum, 3, 8

Brown, Robert, 224, 226, 247

Browne, Bishop, 21

Brugsch, 33

Bull. See Taurus

Bulls, Assyrian, 87

Burgess, 90, 93, 98

Cain, 164

Calendar, Accadian, 1-23, 57-58, 103, 145-147, 187, 208-210, 224

---- Babylonian, 1-3, 103, 165, 234

---- Chinese, 185-211

---- Egyptian, 31, 34, 38, 39

---- Grecian, 180

---- Gregorian, 193-196

---- Hebrew, 162-170, 234

---- Indian, 88, 92, 96, 104, 132-148, 167, 171, 176, 181-184, 188, 217

---- Lagash, 54, 57

---- Median, 56-87, 222, 229

---- Persian, 58-61

---- Roman, 11, 159, 180, 193

Cambyses, 235

Cancer, 8, 36, 44, 218-221

Canis Major, 248

Canis Minor, 248

Canopus, 248

Capella, 246

Caper, 44

Capricornus, 52, 218, 220, 222, 252

Capuja, 243

Cassiopeia, 239-244, 246

Cassyape, 243

Castor, 221, 222

Centaur, 155-158, 245

Cepheus, 239-244, 246

Cetus, 239-243

Chaitra, 134-138, 171, 172, 181, 188

Che, 202

Chevreau, 23

Ch’in, 207

China, History of, 197-209

Chipiez. See Perrot

Chiron, 155, 156

Chons, 32, 33

Cisilivu, 4

Claudius Ptolemy, 17, 216

Clemens Alexandrinus, 23

Confucius, 206, 207

Cook, 21

Corona Australis, 77, 229, 230

Crab. See Cancer

Cumont, 61

Cuthah, 85

Cuzallu, 4

Cygnus, 248

Cyrannid books, 17

Dan, 233

Darmesteter, 60

Denderah, 218, 232

Deuteronomy, 169, 170

Devas, 82

Dhanus, 223

Dharbitu, 4

D’Herbelot, 18

Diana, 158

Dianus, 158

Doris, 242

Draco, 223

Dupuis, 27-29

Dûzu, 2, 4

Dvita, 177-180

Eagle, 64. See Aquila

Ebers, 35, 233

Eden, 21, 22

Edfu, 232

Ekâṣhṭakā, 134

Ekata, 177-180

Ekhud, 48

Elam, 81

Ellilla, 48

Elul, 2, 5

Eninnu, 48

Enzu, 44

Epping and Strassmaier, 1-16, 44, 45, 102

Equulei, α, 196

Esneh, 218

Eudoxos, 241, 242

Eul-ya, 185, 204

Eusebius, 17

Evetts, 48

Exodus, 165, 170

Fasti Siculi, 23

Fomalhaut, 67

Freya, 96

Gamaliel, Rabbi, 163

Gandharba, 253

Gan-ganna, 4

Ganymede, 70

Garga, 97

Gàthàs, 153

Gaubil, 204

Gemini, 10, 44, 77, 146, 220, 221

Genesis, 21, 210

Genica, 17

Gir-tab, 8

Go, 113

Goat-fish, 8, 220

Golden calf, 233, 235

Gregory XIII., 11, 193

Griffin, 68

Griffiths, 31

Gu, 9, 44-47

Gudea, 48-57, 208, 209, 222

Gula, 9, 46-57, 69, 209

Gutium, 81

Hamath, 85

Ḫammurabi, 3, 4, 6, 12, 83-85

Heb en-ant, 35

Hecate, 179

Hermes, 17

Hercules, 226, 229, 230, 245, 246

Herodotus, 81

Hierakonpolis, 236

Hillebrandt, 122

Hippocrene, 251, 255

Hiu, 196-209

Hommel, 149-151

Horus, 33, 40

Hsiâ, 207

Hvarya, 150

Hydra, 117-123, 132, 227, 229

Icu, 246

Indra, 111-124, 130, 131, 138, 148, 172-183, 252-254

Innanna, 6

Innannanki, 5

Isaac, 167

Isis, 33

Istar, 4, 10, 84

Jacob, 167

Jana, 158

Janus, 158-160

Jemsheed, 58

Jensen, 45, 49, 50, 68, 102

Jeroboam, 233, 234

Jerusalem, 163

Jesuits, 194-196, 207

Johnston, 40

Jones, Sir William, 89, 90, 95, 96

Josephus, 20, 169

Jupiter, 47, 103

Kailáçe, 158

Kaiomurs, 58

Kang, 186, 188

Kao-yang, 201

Karnak, 35, 36, 39

Kas, 4, 10

Ker Porter, 58, 65

Khar-sidi, 4, 10

Khophri, 220

Ki Gingir-na, 4, 10

Kîmta-rapaštu, 6

Kio, 185, 186, 188, 191, 210

Kis, 69

Kislimu, 2, 4

Kneeler, The, 226

Kou, 205

Kriṣánu, 125

Krishna, 182

Krittikā, 94, 134, 136

Ku (sarikku), 44

Kumbha, 223

Lactantius, 23

Lagash, 48-57, 68, 69, 208, 209, 222

Lajard, 63, 66

Lâṭadeva, 98

Layard, 74, 77

Legge, Mr, 234

Legge, Professor, 197, 200, 207

Lehmann, 102

Leo, 44, 64-70, 79, 80, 83, 221, 232, 233, 235, 236

Libra, 44, 218-220

Lion. See Leo.

Lugal-ki-ušuna, 6

Lydda, 163

Lyra, 226

Macdonell, 111-128, 153, 175

Magan, 49

Mâgha, 134, 135

Mahesa, 157

Mahler, 102

Mailla, Père de, 197-200

Mait, 219

Manda. See Umman Manda

Mangala, 96

Marchesvan, 234

Marduk, 5

Mars, 103

Maruts, 173-175, 184, 252, 253

Maspero, 33, 49, 68, 69, 219

Mašu, 44

Maut, 32, 33

Mayer, 102

Medusa, 246

Memnonium, 35

Memphian Triad, The, 33

Mercury, 9, 103

Merodach, 68

Mesopotamia, 8, 49, 80, 83-86, 209

Mills, 153

Milton, 181, 241

Mishna, 163

Mithræum, 62

Mithras, 60-65, 74, 81, 234, 235

Mitra, 81, 252

Mlechchas, 95, 97

Moguls, 95

Montucla, 89

Moses, 165, 167

Mṛiga, 228

Mṛigashirsha, 228

Müller, Max, 251

Muna-xa, 8

Munga, 4

Muradi, 17

Nakshatra, 92, 94, 104, 132, 133, 136, 142, 188, 227-229

Nanâ, 6

Nekropolis, 35-37

Nicephorus, 23

Nile, 32, 35, 36, 37

Nineveh, 73, 74, 84, 86

Ningirsu, 48-51, 208

Ningiszida, 48

Ninib, 49-53, 208

Nisan, 2-19, 53, 69, 163-166

Nisannu. See Nisan

Noah, 58

Noel, 205

Nowroose, 58-60

Oldenburg, 151, 152

Olivet, 163

Onuphrius Panvinius, 23

Ophiuchus, 245, 246

Oppert, 102

Orion, 157, 227-229

Ormuzd, 65

Osiride pillars, 40

Osiris, 33, 219

Ostia, 62

Pa, 44

Pagas, 251

Paitámaha, 98

Pañchasiddhântikâ, 98

Pan̂i, 112

Panopê, 242

Panvinius, Onuphrius, 23

Passover, The, 169, 170

Pauliśa, 98

Pavamāna. See Soma

Pegasus, 244, 248-255

Peking, 194, 195

Perrot and Chipiez, 64, 71, 73

Persepolis, 64, 70, 72-74, 86, 87

Perseus, 179, 239, 245-247

Petrie, 236

Phalgunī, 134, 135

Pharisees, 169

Philastrius, 23

Philostratus, 97

Phœnicians, 81

Pisces, 44, 80, 174, 177-179, 202, 220, 221

Piscium ζ, 93

Pleiades, 94

Plumptre, 163

Poissons, Les. See Pisces

Pollux. See Castor

Ptah, 40

Ptolemy, 17, 216

Pulukku, 44

Punjaub, 128

Púshan, 252

Quibell, 236

Ram. See Aries

Rameses II., 35-40

Ramessides, 33

Rashis, 92

Ravi, 96

Revatī, 92, 93, 104, 132, 138, 143, 187, 188

Ribhukshin, 252

Ricci, Matteo, 194

Rig Veda, 92, 105-148, 153, 171-184, 228, 244, 251-255

Rim-sin, 3, 4

Rishis, 97, 106, 108, 123, 130, 133

Romaka, 98

Roman year, 180

Rome, 61, 172, 193

Rudra, 152-160, 172-174, 184

Ṛṣis, 141. See Rishis

Šabahu, 4

Šabâtu, 2

Sabbath, 163, 169, 170

Sadducees, 169

Sagitta, 125

Sagittarius, 8, 76-83, 147, 150-160, 172-174, 220-223, 227, 230

Sam, 36

Samaria, 84, 85

Samaritan Pentateuch, 22

Samson Agonistes, 181

Samsu-iluna, 3, 4

Sani, 96

Sara zig-gar, 4. See Bar zig-gar

Sargon I., 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 80, 81, 83, 151

Sargon II., 78

Sassinide dynasty, 60

Satapatha Brahmana, 141

Sater, 96

Saturn, 103

Saura, 98

Savitṛ, 140

Sávitra, 98

Sâyaṇa, 228

Sayce, 7, 9, 46, 69, 81, 102

Scarabæus, 218, 220

Schall, J. A. von, 194, 195

Schlegel, Gustav, 185, 186, 190, 191, 204, 205

Scorpio, 8, 44, 63-67, 80, 221, 231-236

Se-dir, 4, 13, 14, 146, 147

Se-ki-sil, 4, 13, 14, 146, 147

Seleucidæ, 4

Semites, 83-85

Sepharvaim, 85

Septuagint, 22

Seth, 20

Seti, 36, 39

Shou, 33

Shuddh Paksha, 182

Shukla, 182

Siddhāntas, The, 98. See Sūrya Siddhānta

Simannu, 2, 4

Sing-king, 186

Siou, 185, 188, 196, 197, 202, 207

Sirius, 31, 38

Siva, 157, 173

Slates, 235-238

Sóma, 96

Soma, 107, 108, 111, 121-125, 131, 138, 172-177, 253-255

Souciet, 204

Southern Crown, 77

Sphinxes, 32, 34

Spica, 28, 167, 170, 171, 188-190, 210

Standard, Assyrian, 77-80, 83, 86

Strassmaier. See Epping

Strauchius, 23

Sucra, 96

Suidas, 23

Su-kul-na, 4

Sunahśepas, 244

Suria, 150

Surias, 150

Súrya, 182, 183

Sūrya Siddhānta, 90, 93, 98, 187

Susa, 70-73, 87

Swarbhánu, 182, 183

Syncellus, 17

Taittirîya Brāhmana, 136

Taittirîya Sanhitâ, 134-136, 139

Talmud, 162, 163, 169

Tasritu, 4

Taurus, 8, 11, 44, 56-87, 146, 154, 156, 159, 160, 221, 232-236

Tchuen-Hio, 197-210, 222

Tebitu, 2, 4

Telloh, 48, 49

Te (mennu), 44

Theban Triad, The, 32, 33

Thebes, 34

Thibaut, 98

Thor, 96

Thoth, 38, 39

Thraetona, 178

Thrita, 178

Tilak, B. G., 134, 135, 228

Tischritu, 2, 4

Tisri, 163

Tithis, 176, 180, 182

Tortoise, 8, 218

Trita Aptya, 175-181, 184, 253-255

Triton, 178, 179

Tsivan, 4

Tuisco, 96

Tul-cu, 4

Twasht́ṛi, 252

Twins. See Gemini

Tyana, 97

Ūdhar, 113

Ulûlu, 2, 4

Umman Manda, 81-86, 151

Unger, 27

Universal History, 21

Ursa Major, 224

Uṣas, 139, 140

Usher, Archbishop, 21, 22

Utu, 5

Vadya Paksha, 182

Vala, 112

Valley, Feast of the, 36, 38

Varāha, 97-99

Varāhamihira. See Varāha

Varuna, 152-154, 252, 253

Vâsisṭha, 98

Vasus, 253

Vedas, 95, 106, 128. See Atharva Veda, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda

Venus, 103

Verethraghna, 114

Verseau. See Aquarius

Vierge. See Virgo

Virgil, 159

Virginis α, 188

Virgo, 10, 28, 44, 80, 185, 186, 220, 221

Vossius, Isaac, 23

Vrihaspati, 96

Vritra, 111-123, 148, 177

Vrtrahan, 114

Wan-nian-shu, 194

Water-jar. See Amphora

Water-man. See Aquarius

Week, Days of, 96

Whitney, 93, 187

Wilson, 112, 124-127, 153, 182, 251

Woden, 96

Wogue, 169

Yajur Veda, 94, 133-135

Yama, 253

Yāska, 141

Yavan, 95, 97

Yoga stars, 142

Zamama, 69

Zend Avesta, 60, 113, 114, 178

Zeus, 70

Zib, 44

Zibanîtu, 44

Zodiac, 2 et passim

Zu, 69

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=FUNAFUTI=; or, Three Months on a Remote Coral Island. An Unscientific Account of a Scientific Expedition in the South Seas. By Mrs EDGEWORTH DAVID. With a Postscript on the Continued Work of the Expedition, by Professor BONNEY, D.Sc., F.R.S. With Illustrations. Large Crown 8vo. 12s.

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LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

Transcriber’s Notes

Depending on the hard- and software used to read this text and their settings, not all elements may display as intended.

Inconsistent spelling and use of diacriticals (also in names), punctuation and hyphenation have been retained, except as mentioned under Changes below.

Page 5, Iraba^{m}-šin: possibly an error for Iriba^{m}-šin.

Page 188, paragraph starting Spica (α Virginis) is the chief star ...: the use of quote marks around ... “siou Kang), président aux métamorphoses de la création,” ... is as in the source document.

Changes made

Footnotes and illustrations have been moved out of text paragraphs. Footnotes have been moved to directly under the paragraph where they are referenced.

Obvious minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected silently.

Some occurrences of Ibid. have been replaced with the full title for the sake of clarity.

Page 5, footnote : Ululu changed to Ulûlu; Sabahu changed to Šabahu.

Page 39: ... the temple to Amen-Ra ... changed to ... the temple of Amen-Ra ....

Page 98, ... over the Paulisa and Romaka Siddhāntas ... changed to ... over the Pauliśa and Romaka Siddhāntas ....

Index: the spelling of some entries has been changed to conform to that used in the text.