pleiades
Ancient Egyptian Planets
For the ancient Egyptian skywatchers observing all five planets in the southeastern sky before dawn over the days leading up to the winter solstice and beyond was a wonderous experience
Conjunction of all five visible planets in 2667 BC - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn viewed from Netjerikhet's mortuary complex Lat. 29° 52' 16.7" N; Long. 31° 12' 59" E; Voyager 4.5: LMT 05:37 05.12.2667; Starry Night Pro Plus: 06:19 27.12.2667 BC:
Celestial 'dance' of the planets 16 days later, winter solstice Voyager 4.5: LMT 06:01; 21.12.2667; Starry Night Pro Plus: 06:54; 12.01.2666:
3 days later Voyager 4.5: 25.12.2667 BC; Starry Night Pro Plus: 16.01.2666 BC:
Venus, the brightest of the planets; Jupiter, the second brightest and Mars, the 'Red' planet, rising over the southeastern horizon (Voyager 4.5: LMT 04:40, 25.12.2667 BC; Starry Night Pro Plus: 05:40, 16.01.2666 BC):
The configuration of the Venus, Jupiter, Mars conjunction around the Winter Solstice bears a striking resemblance to the site layout of the three largest pyramids on the Giza plateau. Venus, the brightest planet, corresponds to the largest of the three pyramids built for Khufu (G1). Jupiter, the second brightest planet to Khafre's pyramid (G2) and Mars, to Menkare's pyramid (G3) the smallest of the three that used red granite for the lower part of the casing.
Mars is offset from the Venus Jupiter line and Venus and Mars appear equidistant from Jupiter the centre planet. The angle of the three planets relative to the horizon matches the angle of the 3-pyramid layout with G1 and G3 more or less equidistant from the centre pyramid G2 and G3 is offset from the G1 - G2 line.
The 3-star asterism in the centre of Orion also bears a striking resemblance to the site layout of the three largest pyramids on the Giza plateau. The angle of the asterism relative to the horizon closely matches the angle of the Giza layout when Alnitak and Saiph are in vertical alignment in the southeastern sky.
Orion over Netjerikhet's mortuary complex viewed from any suitable location along a ~52.2° south of east sightline from Djedefre's and over Menkaure's pyramid:
An inscription in the pyramid of Merenre that mentions a stairway for the king's ascent to Orion (sAH):
sq(j) n.k rdw j<r> dAt jr bw nt(j) sAH jm Szp jH pt a.k
“A stairway (rdw) has been laid down for you away from the Duat (dAt) and toward the place where Orion (sAH) is, and the Sky’s Ox (jH pt)* shall receive your arm.” (M 375 (PT 610) Sethe Vol. 2: 406; §1717ab). *a star or constellation
An enlarged view of the 3-star asterism:
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury are depicted in the tomb of Senenmut, on the earliest astronomical ceiling that has survived in the architectural record:
Venus, 'The Crosser' (DA) - the name is placed above the figure of a Heron. Later ceilings have: 'The star which crosses' (sbA DA) and "is accompanied by the deity names BaH and Wsir (Osiris) which may be separate but may be regarded as one, BaH-Wsir, and taken as the name(s) of the heron." (EAT Neugebauer & Parker 1969: 177-181)
Jupiter, 'His name is Horus who bounds the two lands' (Hrw tAS-tAwy rn.f)
Saturn, 'His name is Horus Bull of the Sky' (Hrw kA pt rn.f).
Mercury, sbg(w) - associated with Seth.
Mars is depicted on later astronomical ceilings: 'His name is Horus of the dual Akhet' (Hrw axty rn.f). In the Ptolemaic period, Mars is 'Horus the Red' (Hrw dSr).
Venus is associated with the inundation and Osiris - Jupiter and Mars with Horus. Osiris is associated with Orion (sAH) in the earliest Pyramid Texts dating from the end of Dynasty 5.
Khufu's pyramid (G1) has the top opening of the upper south shaft connected to the sarcophagus chamber facing an area of the sky where the distinctive 3-star asterism in the centre of Orion crossed every 24 hours and where the sun crossed twice a year.
The view south of east from Hatshepsut's mortuary temple - dawn 22.12.1458 BC - the same order of the planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus matches the line-up of planets on Senenmut's astronomical ceiling:
Part of Senemut's ceiling showing from right to left, Jupiter, Saturn Mercury, and Venus:
Hatshepsut reigned from c.1473 - c.1458. The depiction of four of the five visible planets on the ceiling of Senenmut's tomb may commemorate the occasion when Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus were briefly visible together at dawn in the eastern sky perhaps around the time Hatshepsut's passed away, or when her funerary ceremonies were being held.
Hatshepsut's Horus name, 'Horus, Powerful of Kas' (Hrw wsrt-kAw) appears in the two serekhs above Jupiter and Saturn.
Planets in the Pyramid Texts?
The meaning of gnmw in PT 273 Sethe Vol. 1: 205-6; §393c
Translations:
Pleiades (Faulkner 1924)
Pleiades (Peet 1931)
agitations (Mercer 1952)
planets (Faulkner 1969; Lichtheim 1973)
moving things(?) (J.P. Allen 1994)
decans (Eyre 2002)
the movements (of the stars) (Assmann, D. Lorton 2005)
‘those who move’ (J.P. Allen 2005)
'hastening ones' (Shmakov 2012)
Pyramid of Unis, gnmw: W12 (g) N35 (n) T35 (nm) G43 (w)
Pyramid of Teti, gnmw: W12 (g) N35 (n) T35 (nm) G17 (m) G43 (w) + ‘walking legs’ det. for ‘motion’ D54 x 3
Hieroglyphs, Sethe Vol 1: 205-6; §393c:
Translations of the first lines of PT 273, Sethe Vol 1: 205-6; §393abc - 394ab (CT 573 VI, 177)
Pyramids of Unis and Teti, Antechamber, east wall:
gp p.t jHjj sbAw
nmnm pD.wt sdA qs.w Akrw
gr r=sn gnmw
mA.n=sn wj xa=kj bA=kj
m nTr anx mjt.w.f wSb m mjw.wt=f
R.O. Faulkner 1924: 97 (The “Cannibal Hymn” from the Pyramid Texts; JEA Vol. 10, No. 2 - July 1924) Link
The sky pours water, the stars darken (?),
The Bows rush about, the bones of the Earth-gods tremble,
They are still (?), the Pleiades (?)
When they see Wenis appearing, animated,
As a god who lives on his fathers and feeds on his mothers.
T.E. Peet 1931: 60 (A Comparative Study of the Literatures of Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia):
The sky rains, the stars are darkened:
The Bows are in commotion, the bones of the Earth-gods tremble.
The Pleiades are silent when they behold Unas going up, a soul,
As a god who lives on his fathers and feeds on his mothers.
A. Mercer 1952 (The Pyramid Texts - link):
The sky is overcast, the stars are darkened,
the bows are agitated, the bones of the earth-gods quake.
The agitations cease after they have seen N. dawning (as) a ba,
as a god who lives on his fathers and feeds on his mothers.
R.O. Faulkner 1969: 80 (The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts):
The sky is overcast,
The stars are darkened,
The celestial expanses quiver,
The bones of the earth-gods tremble.
The planets(?) are stilled,
For they have seen the King appearing in power,
As a god who lives on his fathers
And feeds on his mothers
Faulkner note: “Sethe is surely right in reading gr r.sn, rather than grr.sn as I did in JEA 10, 99; nor do I now believe that gnmw has anything to do with Coptic ‘Pleiades’. The precise meaning of the word remains obscure; since it clearly refers to moving objects (Sethe ‘die Bewegungen’) in a celestial context, I suggest that its meaning may be ‘planets’.”
M. Lichtheim 1973 (2006): 36 (Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol 1, The Old and Middle Kingdoms)
Sky rains, stars darken,
The vaults quiver, earth’s bones tremble,
The planets* stand still
At seeing Unas rising as power,
A god who lives on his fathers,
Who feeds on his mothers!
*Lichtheim note: Faulkner, Pyramid Texts, p.83 n.3, has suggested the meaning “planets” for gnmw
J.P. Allen 1994: 22 (‘Reading a Pyramid’ - link)
The sky has clouded over,
The stars have been obscured,
the arcs (of the sky) have quaked,
the bones of the horizons have trembled,
and moving things(?)* have grown still,
for they have seen me arisen
and impressive as a god who lives on his fathers and feeds on his mothers.
*Allen note: The meaning of 393c gnm.w is conjectured from its determinative in Teti, the parallel stnm.w of CT VI 177d, and its immediate context.
C. Eyre 2002: 77-8 (The Cannibal Hymn, a Cultural and Literary Study):
Sky darkens; stars go out;
Vaults (of heaven) tremble; bones of earth shake.
The decans are stilled against them.
They have seen Unis, risen (xaj), empowered (bA),
As god living on his fathers, feeding on his mothers.
Eyre commentary: “The use of star-clocks on coffin lids of the early Middle Kingdom, tabulating the progress of the decans, emphasises their importance to the imagery, and perhaps the liturgy, of rituals of transition.”
Eyre note: “Cf. the parallel CT VI, 177d, where gnmy is replaced by snmw: for tnm as wandering stars or planets see Kraus, Astronomische Konzepte, 157. For no apparent good reason Faulkner, Pyramid Texts, 83 rejects the identification gnmy with Coptic ‘Pleiades’ (Crum, 821a; Westendorf, Koptisches Handwörterbuch 459 = hieroglyphic knm, knmwt, (Wb. V, 132-33). The knm / knmwt stars are the constellation that comprises the leading decans in astronomical texts: Neugebauer and Parker, Egyptian Astronomical Texts III, 157-60, no. 1-4, and cf. also Leitz, Tagwählerei, 167, 241, 457, 183-86. Here I translate the leading section as pars pro toto ....” (Eyre 2002: 77)
J. Assmann, D. Lorton 2005 (2001): 58 (Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt)
The sky is clouded, the stars are veiled,
the arches (of the sky) quake, the bones of the earth gods tremble,
the movements (of the stars) are stilled,
for they have seen the king, how he appears, ba-mighty,
as a god.........
J.P. Allen 2005: 50 (The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, W 180a; T 275a):
The sky has grown cloudy, the stars obscured;
the (sky’s) arcs have quaked, the horizons’ bones shaken;
and those who move have grown still, having seen Unis apparent and ba
as the god who lives on his fathers and feeds on his mothers.
Corresponding text in Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts (Faulkner, CT 573 VI, 177):
The sky is overcast,
the stars are darkened,
The celestial expanses quiver,
The bones of the earth-gods tremble.
The planets(?) (stnm.w) are stilled,
Which see me ascending and exalted.
As this god, Lord of myriads,
who lives on offerings, whom Osiris has equipped.
Faulkner note: This spell is a later version of the so called ‘Cannibal Hymn’, Pyr. Utt. 273-4. It is a classic example of what can happen to a text in the course of transmission......
PT 509 §1120 - 23 (Pepi I, Merenre, Pepi II), is similar to PT 273:
The sky has spoken, the earth has trembled,
Geb has quaked, the god’s two countrysides have yelled, the earth has been hacked,
and a presented offering laid down before this Meryre, alive and stable.
So, he will go forth to the sky.
He will cross the Basin for life and authority, travel across the fierce lake, one who topples Shu’s walls.
So, he will go forth to the sky, his wingtips those of a big bird. His entrails have been washed by Anubis,
and Horus’s service in Abydos - Osiris’s purification - has been performed.
So, he will go forth among the stars and the Imperishable Stars.
His sister Sothis (spdt) and his leader the morning god, shall take his arm to the Marsh of Rest (sxt Htp).
(J.P. Allen, P 462)
Hannig’s Egyptian Dictionary I, has the entry: gnmw [pl] Art Bewegungen (Hannig 2003: 1368)
rough English translation, “some kind of movements” ?
Faulkner’s 1924, and Peet’s 1931 translation has ‘Pleiades’, apparently based on quimout, Coptic for ‘Pleiades’, but in his 1969 translation, Faulkner has ‘planets’ with a question mark. He notes that since it clearly refers to moving objects, in a celestial context, the meaning may be ‘planets’, but with no explanation, he rejects a connection with Coptic ‘Pleiades’.
Eyre has ‘decans’, seeing an apparent connection with the knm / knmwt decan stars.
Allen's "those who move" is conjecture based on the ‘walking legs’ determinative for ‘motion’ (D54 x 3) in Teti's text, the parallel stnm.w of CT VI 177d, and its immediate context.
Pleiades, Coptic = quinmout (link)
gnXt ‘star’ ref. CT I, 262 (Faulkner : 290)
Mercer has planets for sHdw usually translated 'stars' or 'starry sky':
PT 374 §658de, 659a
Mercer 1952:
Thou art not seized by Akr.w (earth gods)
Thou art not rejected by the sHd.w (planets)
The two doors of heaven are open for thee,......
Faulkner 1969:
you will [not] be seized by the earth-gods, you will not be opposed by the starry sky.
The doors of the sky will be opened to you.....
Allen 2005:
You will [not] be seized by the horizons, you will not be barred by the stars.
The sky's door has been opened to you.......
Celestial Terms
Definitions from the Glossary in J.P. Allen's 'The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts'.
Sun
Apparent in Heat (and Jubilation) (xaj tAw Hknw) Epithet of the Sun
Enduring One (nxx) Epithet of the Sun at sunset (J.P. Allen 2005: 429)
Controlling Power (sxm) When singular, the Sun or Horus..... (J.P. Allen 2005: 428)
Moon
Courser (xnzw) A designation of the crescent moon, also seen as a knife.... (J.P. Allen 2005: 428)
Chris Tedder, Spring 2009