ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DENDERAH STAR MAP - ($35 US)
CELESTIAL CALENDAR
replica
Stone cast hieroglyphic panel, 140 mm (5.5"), antique gold finish, with black wood display stand, back-label & parchment description.
Scaled-down reproduction of the remarkable Zodiac Calendar from the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Denderah in Egypt.
One of the most significant relics of ancient Egypt, it has both puzzled and delighted scholars since it was stumbled upon by Napoleon's Discovery Expedition of 1798. It was "removed" by an antiquities thief in 1822, who sold it to the king of France for 150,000 francs. It is now preserved in the Louvre.
An important scientific inheritance from the past, it effectively incorporates the known astronomical knowledge of the ancient world. The precision of the images and star positions on the circular array, especially the elusive Pole Star which moves every 15,000 years, reveal the unexpected sophistication of Egyptian astronomy.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Dated to the First century BC, the Denderah Calendar is the only complete working zodiac that survives from antiquity. More than simple astrology, it is a well-executed celestial map which calculates the EarthÕs journey through our local star field, from one part of the zodiac to another.
Designed as a chronometer of cosmic cycles, it is the first depiction of the heavens to use stereographic projection and graphically displays the complete 25,625 year precessional cycle of our solar system's orbit around Galaxy Centre. Similar to the well-known Mayan Calendar, it calculates an end to the present world cycle early in the 21st century.
Scholars have determined the Calendar calibrates the commencement of our current world cycle from approximately 10,500 BC. This corresponds to the cataclysmic end of the Holocene Era 12,500 years ago, when all the large mammals disappeared overnight and the Ice Age came to an abrupt end.
............................CALENDAR DETAILS..............................
Many of the Denderah star symbols correlate with those of Mesopotamia, demonstrating how the Egyptian master astronomers synthesized contemporary Greek and Babylonian knowledge into the Egyptian system.
The outermost circle of the calendar is divided into 36 decans, each spanning a 10-day interval. The first decan draws level with Sirius.
The second circle displays the constellations of the southern hemisphere, whereas the third circle shows the constellations of the northern hemisphere.
The figures of the Zodiac are aligned along the eccentric circle of the ecliptic.
The axis joining Cancer to Capricorn (the solstices) points in a north-south direction. The temple's transverse axis is perfectly oriented towards the heliacal rising of Sirius, which rose in the east.
Sirius, portrayed as a squatting cow, is correctly shown at the point of maximum culmination on the celestial meridian of the southern hemisphere.
The circumpolar stars are identified as the Jackal, Ursa Minor, containing Polaris, the Thigh is Ursa Major, containing Dubhe and the upright Hippo is Draco, containing Thuban, which was the pole star during the Pyramid Age.
The Cow of Hathor with the star between her horns is identified as Canis Major, containing Sirius. And the striding figure of Osiris is Orion, containing Betelgeuse and Rigel, two first magnitude stars.
Many of the Denderah star symbols correlate with those of Mesopotamia, demonstrating how the Egyptian master astronomers synthesized contemporary Greek and Babylonian knowledge into the Egyptian system.
The outermost circle of the calendar is divided into 36 decans, each spanning a 10-day interval. The first decan draws level with Sirius.
The second circle displays the constellations of the southern hemisphere, whereas the third circle shows the constellations of the northern hemisphere.
The figures of the Zodiac are aligned along the eccentric circle of the ecliptic.
The axis joining Cancer to Capricorn (the solstices) points in a north-south direction. The temple's transverse axis is perfectly oriented towards the heliacal rising of Sirius, which rose in the east.
Sirius, portrayed as a squatting cow, is correctly shown at the point of maximum culmination on the celestial meridian of the southern hemisphere.
The circumpolar stars are identified as the Jackal, Ursa Minor, containing Polaris, the Thigh is Ursa Major, containing Dubhe and the upright Hippo is Draco, containing Thuban, which was the pole star during the Pyramid Age.
The Cow of Hathor with the star between her horns is identified as Canis Major, containing Sirius. And the striding figure of Osiris is Orion, containing Betelgeuse and Rigel, two first magnitude stars.
Postage:
Ground: $6 Australian dollars - Australia New Zealand
Air: $8.50 USD - Asia, India, Pacific, Japan
Air: $10 USD - USA & Canada
Air: $12 USD - Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain, Mediterranean, Africa, South America & most other locations.
Combined postage when required postal insurance or more expensive registered mail available on request.
Local Australian ground postage 2-3 days
Airmail Europe, USA & Canada 7-14 days
