Horus, Foremost Star of the Sky

Sed Festival (HAb sd)

Half-sky objects carried by priests - 6th Dynasty relief of Niuserre:

Pair of half-sky signs combined with Shen-signs occur among objects depicted on the interior of the Middle Kingdom inner coffin of Seni. Above the signs is a hieratic label naming them mdnbw wsxt. "The word mdnbw is probably a substantive with prefixed m, derived from the verb Dnb, and meaning 'boundary', 'limit', or, more literally, 'point of turning back'." (JEA Vol. 64; Spencer 1978: 54) They were placed in the Broad Hall / Court (wsxt).

Coffin of Seni - British Museum EA30842

"Painted wooden inner-coffin of Seni with lid: the exterior is carefully painted, with an eye-panel and standard texts, with references to the protection given to the dead man by the goddess Nut. The inside of the coffin is richly decorated. A "false door" and a table of offerings are painted close to the head of the deceased, enabling his spirit to pass freely in and out of the coffin and to receive nourishment. Elsewhere the walls are divided horizontally into zones. At the top is an elongated hieroglyph for "sky," a blue vault studded with stars; below this comes a large inscription promising that Seni will receive offerings and enjoy a state of blessedness. Next comes the "frieze of objects," a narrow band filled with pictures of granaries, items of clothing, pieces of jewellery, tools, weapons, furniture, vessels and many other commodities. Their names are written above them. Among these objects there are also amulets and items of royal regalia, such as sceptres and kingly headdresses; these would magically assimilate the dead man, whatever his rank in life, to Osiris, ruler of the netherworld." (link)

Senusret I (Kheperkara) running before Min (Middle Kingdom):

New Kingdom sanctuary of Amun - Thutmoses III standing before Amun:

One of the various determinatives used to write the word 'cavern' (TpHt) is a half-sky sign combined with a shen-sign. Other determinatives used are: a 'half-sky', 'gateway' (O32), 'shrine' (O20), 'place' (O1) (Egyptian Dictionary I, Hannig 2003: 1446)

TpHt in the Pyramid Texts:

P 32 (PT 438) Sethe Vol. I: 447; §810, 811:

Pepi I has the 'shrine' det. for TpHt - Pepi II, the 'half-sky / shen' det.

Allen: “Live! Live - you have not really died - like Horus, foremost of Khem (xm), lives: he to whom the great cavern (TpHt wrt) has been opened, the Heliopolitan, he of the great baton, the great one of the sedan chair of Foremost of Westerners (xntj-jmntjw).”

Shmakov: "he to whom the great cavern of Heliopolis (TpHt wrt jwnw) has been opened…"

Faulkner: "Live the life, for you have not died the death, just as Horus who presides over Khem lives. The great Cavern of On is opened to him, (even he) the Great One of the litter, the Great One of the carrying-chair of the Foremost of the Westerners."

Mercer: "Live a life, and thou shalt certainly not die a death, like Horus lived, who dwelt in Letopolis, after the great grave (hole) of Heliopolis was opened for him…"

(Khem (xm): modern Ausim, due west of Iunu)

P 292 (PT 456) Sethe Vol. 1: 475; §852d:

Allen: “…for whom the Looking (Waters’) caverns (TpHt) are opened, to whom the sunlight stretches are released.”

Faulkner: “…the apertures of the sky-windows are opened for you, the movements of the sunshine are released for you.”

Mercer: "the apertures of the (heavenly) windows are open for thee, the steps of light are revealed for thee."

P 457 (PT 503) Sethe Vol. II: 93; §1078b:

Allen: “The sky has been opened, the earth has been opened, the Looking (Waters’) caverns (TpHt) have been opened, the stretches of Nu have been opened, the sunlight’s stretches have been loosed by this sole one who is stable every day”: this has been said before him as he goes up to the sky.”

Faulkner: The sky is opened, the earth is opened, the apertures of the celestial windows are opened, the movements of the Abyss are revealed(?), the movements of the sunlight are released, by that One who endures every day. This one who is before me speaks to me when I ascend to the sky.”

Mercer: "The door of heaven is open, the door of earth is open, apertures of the (heavenly) windows are open, the steps of Nun are open, the steps of light are revealed by that one who endures always. I say this to myself when I ascend to heaven…"

P 523 (PT 581) Sethe Vol. II: 331; §1551a:

Allen: “ This which is your cavern – Osiris’s broadhall (wsxt), Pepi, that fetches the wind – is what will bring the northwind and bear you as Osiris, Pepi.”

Shmakov: "it (i.e. the cavern) will enhance the northwind"

Faulkner: “This is your cavern of yours, the Broad Hall, O Osiris this King, which brings the wind that it may strengthen(?) the north-wind and lift you up as Osiris this king.”

Mercer: "This thy cavern there is in the broad-hall of Osiris N., which brings the wind. The north wind refreshes; it raises thee as Osiris N."

(Broadhall (wsxt) – in mortuary temples, the room in front of the sanctuary (wider than deep), traditional locus of offering rites. (J.P. Allen 2005: 427))

N 358 (PT 604) Sethe Vol. II: 388; §1680b:

Allen: "Raise yourself, great father Pepi Neferkare, and sit at their fore. The Looking (Waters') cavern has been opened for you and your stride will broaden the sunlight."

Faulkner: “Raise yourself, O my father, great King, that you may sit in front of them; the aperture of the sky-window is opened for you and your sunshine-stride is extensive”

Mercer: "Raise thyself up, father N., the great; sit before them; the apertures of the (heavenly) windows are open for thee; broad are thy steps of light."

'Astronomical ceiling' in the tomb (353) of Senenmut

from right to left (following Sirius) - Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus

Jupiter (upper right corner), Saturn, Mercury (left of Saturn), Venus (just above the eastern horizon), dawn, winter solstice, 23.12.1458 BC

Diodorus Siculus 1st century BC

‘Library of History’ Book 1

"Now as for the stories invented by Herodotus and certain writers on Egyptian affairs, who deliberately preferred to the truth the telling of marvellous tales and the invention of myths for the delectation of their readers, these we shall omit, and we shall set forth only what appears in the written records of the priests of Egypt and has passed our careful scrutiny." (Chap. 69)

"Now the Egyptians say that also after these events a great number of colonies were spread from Egypt over all the inhabited world. To Babylon, for instance, colonists were led by Belus, who was held to be the son of Poseidon and Libya; and after establishing himself on the Euphrates river he appointed priests, called Chaldaeans by the Babylonians, who were exempt from taxation and free from every kind of service to the state, as are the priests of Egypt; and they also make observations of the stars, following the example of the Egyptian priests, physicists, and astrologers. They say also that those who set forth with Danaus, likewise from Egypt, settled what is practically the oldest city in Greece, Argos, and that the nation of the Colchi in Pontus and that of the Jews, which lies between Arabia and Syria, were founded as colonies by certain emigrants from their country; and this is the reason why it is a long-established institution among these two peoples to circumcise their male children, the custom having been brought over from Egypt. (Chap. 28)

"Now it is maintained by the Egyptians that it was they who first discovered writing and the observation of the stars, who also discovered the basic principles of geometry and most of the arts, and established the best law. (Chap. 69)

"In the education of their sons the priests teach them two kinds of writing, that which is called "sacred" and that which is used in the more general instruction. Geometry and arithmetic are given special attention. For the river, by changing the face of the country each year in manifold ways, gives rise to many and varied disputes between neighbours over their boundary lines, and these disputes cannot be easily tested out with any exactness unless a geometer works out the truth scientifically by the application of his experience. And arithmetic is serviceable with reference to the business affairs connected with making a living and also in applying the principles of geometry, and likewise is of no small assistance to students of astrology as well.

For the positions and arrangements of the stars as well as their motions have always been the subject of careful observation among the Egyptians, if anywhere in the world; they have preserved to this day the records concerning each of these stars over an incredible number of years, this subject of study having been zealously preserved among them from ancient times, and they have also observed with the utmost avidity the motions and orbits and stoppings of the planets, as well as the influences of each one on the generation of all living things - the good or the evil effects, namely, of which they are the cause.

And while they are often successful in predicting to men the events which are going to befall them in the course of their lives, not infrequently they foretell destructions of the crops or, on the other hand, abundant yields, and pestilences that are to attack men or beasts, and as a result of their long observations they have prior knowledge of earthquakes and floods, of the risings of the comets, and of all things which the ordinary man looks upon as beyond all finding out. And according to them the Chaldaeans of Babylon, being colonists from Egypt, enjoy the fame which they have for their astrology because they learned that science from the priests of Egypt." (Chap. 81)

Chris Tedder

Vihtavuori, March 2013