AE stellar orientation

Stellar Orientaion

Thuban marked the North Celestial Pole (NCP) to within a few arc minutes c. 2787 BC, the only stationary point of light in the ancient Egyptian sky. By the early Old Kingdom (OK) however, it had slowly ‘drifted’ away from the NCP, but still a useful aid for finding north. To a casual observer in the early OK, Thuban still appeared as a stationary point of light, but with careful observation using a vertical straight edge set up with a plumb line, it was possible to determine that it actually moved in a tight circle around the NCP and appeared due north twice every 24 hours.

hite fronted goose (Anser albifrons)

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22679881/0

Bean Goose (Anser fabalis)

Red-breasted goose (Branta ruficolis)

yramid: 106.20m square; height ~66m (based on an angle of incline of 51. 95 degs.) - little is left of the pyramid (served as a stone quarry 

rom the Roman Period)  (EA No. 23, M. Valloggia 2003: 11)

Base of pyramid,  ~155m above sea level - "The pyramid stands on a height which rises to 155m a.s.l."  (M&R Part V, 1966: 34 (cites Vyse)).  According to these measurements, the apex of Djedefre's pyramid was ~14.6 m (~28 cubits) higher than the apex of Khufu's pyramid.

mean deviation north from east = 50 arcmins; west from north = 47 arcmins.

Cemetery associated with Djedefre's mortuary complex, located 1.5 km to the north east.  (EA No.28, M. Baud 2008: 16-18)

Djedefre's pyramid in relation to Khufu and Menkaure's pyramids, see here

Name of pyramid:  sHdw-Dd=f-ra (Sehdu-Djedefre) (Hannig 2003: 1573)

Translation:

'Djedefre is a shining star' (Strudwick 2005)

'Starry sky of Djedefra'  (Quirke 2001)

‘Radjedef's star’ (J.P. Allen 1998)

‘Djedefre’s Starry Sky’ (Verner 1997)

'The Pyramid which is the sehdu-star' (Baines & Malek 1986)

'Djedefre is a sehed-star' (Edwards 1985)

‘Radjedef belongs to the firmament’ (Hornung 1978)

According to Hannig's 'Egyptian Dictionary I - Old Kingdom and FIP', sHdw is star, and with the sky determinative, firmament / starry sky (Hannig 2003: 1178)

As the sky determinative is not included in the writing of the name of Djedefre's pyramid, the most likely meaning of sHdw, is star.

An example of sHd (star) in the Pyramid Texts:

"Pepi will row the Sun in the sky's span, a star of gold (sHd n nbw)....."  P 318  (PT 467)  Sethe Vol 1: 496; §889cd

'star of gold' (sHd nbw) §889d

sHdw is either star or stars, and sHdw pt, is either 'star of the sky' or ‘stars of the sky’ depending on the context.

When sHdw is used in parallel with sky (pt), the meaning is ‘starry sky’ or 'stars of the sky' or 'star of the sky', for example:

"....follow Horus's eye to the sky, to (be) a star of the sky (sHdw pt) .....Shu, who bears Nut, bear Horus's eye to the sky, to (be) a star of the sky......."  N 523  (PT 689 §§2090c, 2091b)

The ‘Beaten Path of Stars’ (msqt sHdw) may refer to the Milky Way, but might also refer to the ecliptic (the path of the sun across the sky from east to west), which means sHdw could refer to the stars that precede or follow the sun.

According to J.P. Allen’s explanation of how pyramid names are constructed, ‘Djedefre’s star’ refers to the pyramid as a star:

“Pyramid names are composed of an epithet plus the king's name.  The epithet refers to the pyramid (mr: masculine), not the king, as shown by the determinative and by the names of Khufu's and Amenemhat I's pyramids. The name as a whole is a direct-genitive construction.  In abbreviations the second part of the construction, the king's name, can be left out.”  (J.P. Allen 1998)

The pyramid was a manifestation of the king – the pyramid as a star, associates the dead king, Djedefre, with a star.

The name of Snefru’s Dynasty 4 pyramid at Dahshur:

'Snefru appears’ (Strudwick 2005);  ‘the place of Snefru’s appearance’ (Allen 1998)

Sahure’s pyramid:  ‘The appearance of the ba of Sahure’ (Strudwick 2005);  ‘the place where Sahure’s manifestation appears’ (Allen 1998)

Neferirikare’s pyramid:  ‘The ba of Neferirikare’ (Strudwick 2005); ‘Neferirikare’s manifestation’ (Allen 1998)

These names imply the pyramid was a manifestation of the king / a manifestation of the ba of the king.

According to inscriptions found within four Dynasty 6 pyramids, the ba of the king appeared as a star in the sky:

"You (Nut) have encircled the land and everything within your arms, and have placed this Pepi as an Imperishable Star that is in you (P 20)..........that you (Nut) might make (each of) them a star, as 'She of a Thousand Bas' (xA-bAw), and they might not go away from you as stars, you should not let Pepi be away from you, in your identity of the above.”  P 22 (PT 434 §785)

Allen's note on 'She of a Thousand Bas':  “Nut, whose "Thousand Bas" are the stars of the night sky.”

From the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts:  "See, its starry sky (xA.s-bAw, lit. its 'thousand-are-her-bas') is in Iunu, the sun-folk are in Kheraha, because its thousand gods are born...."  CT 1030

Plutarch  (c.46 - 120 AD) in his 'Isis and Osiris', Chap 21, mentions that the Egyptians believed "souls shine as the stars":

“Eudoxus says that, while many tombs of Osiris are spoken of in Egypt, his body lies in Busiris; for this was the place of his birth; moreover, Taphosiris requires no comment, for the name itself means "the tomb of Osiris."  I pass over the cutting of wood, the rending of linen, and the libations that are offered, for the reason that many of their secret rites are involved therein. In regard not only to these gods, but in regard to the other gods, save only those whose existence had no beginning and shall have no end, the priests say that their bodies, after they have done with their labours, have been placed in the keeping of the priests and are cherished there, but that their souls shine as the stars in the firmament, and the soul of Isis is called by the Greeks the Dog-star, but by the Egyptians Sothis,  and the soul of Horus is called Orion, and the soul of Typhon the Bear.”  (The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia, Vol V, English translation, F.C. Babbitt 1936: 53-54)  link

(Eudoxus, c.409 - c.350 BC - spent time in Heliopolis (Iunu), Egypt, pursuing his study of astronomy and mathematics; Typhon = Seth (stx);  Sothis = Sopdet (spdt), Sirius, the brightest star in our sky)

Nut, personification of the visible sky, was identified with the royal pyramid that enclosed and protected the physical remains of the king:

“You have been given to your mother Nut in her identity of the burial chamber, and you have been elevated to her in her identity of the tomb's superstructure.”  T 196 (PT 364  §616)

The king was given to his mother Nut in her identity of the sarcophagus.  (M 291)

The king was not confined to his pyramid:

“The mastaba has been opened for you, the sarcophagus's [lid has been pulled back for you], the sky's door has been pulled opened for you......as you go forth from here as a star, as the morning god / star.”  (N 411)

“This Unis has come to you, Nut; this Unis has come to you, Nut, having left his father on earth, having left Horus behind him, having grown wings as a falcon, feathered as a hawk, his ba, having fetched him, his magic having provided him.  (Unis), you shall part your place in the sky among the stars of the sky, for you are the lone star at Nut's shoulder.”  W 156  (PT 245)

Pepi is ba.....Pepi will row the Sun in the sky's span, a star of gold.......A flier has flown:  Pepi has flown away from you, people. He is not off to the earth:  Pepi is off to the sky.  You his local god, the ka of this Pepi is at your fingers.  (P 318)

Nefermaat, and Hemiunu were both ‘Overseer of all the king’s works’, which meant they may have had overall responsibility for the design and construction of the royal mortuary complexes of Snefru and his son Khufu.

Nefermaat, most likely a son of Snefru (or perhaps Huni), was a ‘Priest of the goddess Shezmetet’ (Hm nTr Szmtt).  Nefermaat’s son, Hemiunu, followed in his father’s footsteps, and was also a ‘Priest of Shezmetet’.

The leonine goddess, Shezmetet, is attested from the Early Dynastic Period, but little is known of her role in the royal afterlife of Dynasty 4.  The earliest description of her role is found in the Pyramid Texts of Unis - Shezmetet gave birth to the king, as a star - the king appearing as a star:

“Unis is a great one:  Unis has emerged from the Ennead's thighs.  Unis has been conceived by Sekhmet, and Shezmetet is the one who gave birth to Unis, a star (sbA) with sharp front and extensive goings, who fetches what the above has for the Sun every day.  Unis has come to his seat with the Two Ladies on it, appearing as a star (sbA).”  W 159  (PT 248)  Sethe Vol 1: 143; §§262-3

From the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts:

".....I have issued from between the thighs of the Enneads; Shesmet conceived and bore me."  (CT 364);  "I was conceived and borne by Shesmetet......"  (CT 485)

Snefru embraced by a leonine goddess (Bastet?, Sekhmet?, Shezmetet?) - from Snefru's Valley Temple)

Shezmetet was represented in the cult complex of Userkaf.  (A. Labrouse, J.P. Lauer 2000: doc. 209. fig. 281)

Niuserre with leonine goddess

Nut personified the sky, and she also was seen in the tomb's superstructure - the pyramid itself represented the sky:

You have been given to your mother Nut in her identity of the burial place, she has collected you in her identity of the burial chamber, and you have been elevated to her in her identity of the tomb's superstructure.  T 196

The Osiris king was also manifested in the pyramid:

Ho Horus!  This Pepi Neferkare is Osiris, this pyramid of Pepi Neferkare and this work are Osiris.  Betake yourself to him and don't be far from him in his identity of the pyramid.  (Sethe Vol. 1: 375; §1657b)

Osiris was lord of the sky:

In the Dynasty 6 tomb of Merefnebef, Tjeset, mother of the vizier, kneels at her son's feet with the accompanying text:  "His mother honoured by Anubis, Tjeset......His mother honoured by Osiris, lord of the sky, Tjeset."

An inscription of the west wall of the antechamber in the pyramid of Pepi I:  "This Pepi has come to you, lord of the sky.  This Pepi has come to you, Osiris." (repeated 3 times) P 327 (PT 477)

Not only the ba of the king appeared as a star, but also the king as an akh - the king became akh in the Akhet (§342), took control of the Akhet as ‘Horus of the Akhet’ (§4), and the king became the greatest official of the akhs, the northern Imperishable Stars of the sky (§1220)

“As the great one spends the day with his ka and goes to bed with his ka, so this Pepi will spend the day with his ka and go to bed with his ka...... You shall become akh, Pepi, at the fore of the akhs.......she will give your ferocity, Pepi, into all the gods' eyes; into the eyes of the akhs, the Imperishable Stars......the Red Crown, great of bas.....will put your bas, Pepi, at the fore of the Dual Ennead.....Horus has you become akh.......Ho, Pepi!  You shall become ba as the bas of Iunu / Nekhen / Pe, you shall become ba as the living star at the fore of his brothers.....” (P 319ab)

These texts help shed light on the underlying meaning of ‘Khufu’s Akhet,' the name of the pyramid of Djedefre's father.

According to the Pyramid Texts, the pyramid was a manifestation of the king:

“Ho, Horus!  This Pepi Neferkare is Osiris, this pyramid of Pepi Neferkare and this work are Osiris.  Betake yourself to him and don't be far from him in his identity of the pyramid.”  Sethe Vol 1: 375  §1657b

“A Geb offering that Atum has given:  the installation of this pyramid and this god's enclosure for Pepi and for his ka, and that this pyramid and this god's enclosure be restricted to Pepi and to his ka.  This eye of Horus is clean:  may it endure for them.  He who shall give his finger against this pyramid and this god's enclosure of Pepi and his ka, he has given his finger against Horus's Enclosure (or Mansion) in the Cool Waters.”  P 483 (PT 534)  Sethe Vol 2: 218-9  §1277bc, §1278a

“The embalmed body of the king lay in or under the pyramid, which together with its entire compound, was considered his body." note: The pyramids were personified (C. Wilke, "Zur Personifikation von Pyramiden," ZÄS, LXX [1934], 56-83), and the title of the queens of Dyn.VI shows that the name of the royal pyramid stood for the name of the deceased himself. Thus the daughter of Unas is the royal daughter of the body of the (the pyramid) ‘Perfect are the Places of Unas’; see P Montet, "Reines et Pyramides," Kemi, XIV (1957), 92-101)" (‘The Pyramid of Unas’, Piankoff 1968: 4)

The mother, wife, and daughter of the king referred to the pyramid as the king himself:

Mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the pyramid of Neferkare, Ankhesenpepy.  (Strudwick, 2005: 384)

... Royal mother of the pyramid of  [Neferkare] ...

... Royal wife of the pyramid of [Meryre] ...

... Royal wife of the pyramid of [Merenre] ...  (Strudwick, 2005: 385)

The iry pat, royal wife of the pyramid of Neferkare, his beloved.  The eldest king's daughter of his body of the pyramid of Meryre, Neit.  (Strudwick, 2005: 385)

She who belongs to the pyramid of Unas, king's bodily daughter, the imakhu in the sight of the Great God......  (Strudwick, 2005: 387)

The eldest king's daughter of his body the pyramid of Teti, the companion of Horus, his beloved one, the imakhu in the sight of the Great God, the king's daughter, Inti.  (Strudwick, 2005: 388)

The name, Djedefre, incorporates the ideogram for ‘sun’, N5 (ra).  Djedefre's Horus name, ‘Horus has become’ (Hrw xpr), also has an underlying solar association.

“The function of the Pyramid Texts, in common with all ancient Egyptian funerary literature, was to enable the deceased to become an akh; in Egyptian , such texts were known as sAxw:  literally, “akh-makers” or “akhifiers.”  Two forces played a key role in this transition, incorporated by the Egyptians in two gods, the Sun and Osiris.  The Sun was the original and daily source of all life:  his appearance at the creation and at every sunrise thereafter made life possible in the world.  Newly born at dawn, he was often called xprr “Beetle” by analogy to the verb xpr “come into existence” or “evolve”; from the latter root he was also known as xprj “Evolver.”  (J.P. Allen 2005: )

Earlier kings were also associated with the Sun:

‘Horus, Lord of the Sun’ (Hrw ra nb) - the Horus name of a Dynasty 2 king:

‘Sun of Gold’ (ra nbw) - the ‘Golden name’ of  the Dynasty 3 king, Horus Netjerikhet:

Gold in the Pyramid Texts:

"Pepi will row the Sun in the sky's span, a star of gold (sHd n nbw) on whom the sunlight's bull has put the headband, a spear of gold to the sky's span..... P 318  (PT 467)  Sethe Vol 1: 496; §889cde

'star of gold' (sHd nbw) §889d

"Since this Pepi has received the golden kilt (swH nbw), this Pepi shall go to the sky and be settled like the earth."  P 501 (PT 501) Sethe Vol 2: ; §1416ab

"Teti has found his seat empty in the poop of the sun's bark of gold."  T 181 (PT 359 §602c)

"Your mouth has been parted by the great one of the morning (dwA wr) in the Enclosure of Gold (Hwt nbw)."  P 487 (PT 359 §602)

"A double destiny awaits the king - single still, but not alone, as one star among many, but continuing like the stars to be an aspect of, and to reflect, the supreme celestial body, the sun."  (Quirke 2000: 117)

Djedefre's cartouche, carved into the rock face of a 20m high flat-topped sandstone hill south-west of Dakhla in the Western Desert:

Detail:

The 'collar of beads' sign (S12) with what appears to be three flagpoles similar to the sign, D61, is above Djedefre's name in the cartouche.  This may simply be a variant of Djedefre's 'name of gold' or 'Horus of Gold' name ('Falcons of Gold or 'Three Golden Falcons') that has the S12 sign surmounted by three falcons.

Chris Tedder, January 2010