Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source BookThe 2nd of 3 vols. by Prof. Marshall Clagett on Ancient Egyptian Science. Contents: Part I: Intro. to Egyptian Calendars; Parker's Account of the Old Lunar Calendar; The Later Lunar Calendar; The Origin of the Civil Calendar; Sothic Dates & the Ebers Calendar; The Night Hours; Decanal Clocks; Transit Decanal Clocks; The Ramesside Star Clock; Outflow Water Clocks; Inflow Water Clocks; Shadow Clocks; Egyptian Sundials; Traces of a 24-hour Day with Equal Hours; Astronomical Ceilings & Other Monuments; The Ceiling of the Secret Tomb of Senmut; The Vaulted Ceiling of Hall K in Seti I's Tomb; Egyptian Zodiacs. Part II: Documents. Part III: Bibliography & Indexes. Part IV: Illustrations. |
Common terms and phrases
added Akhet ancient appears Astronomical beginning Book Borchardt calendar called ceiling Chapter civil column constellations copy cycle decade decans deities depicted described Determined diagram discussion Document Duat Dynasty earlier Ebers Egypt Egyptian epagomenal days evidence fact Feast festival figure four given gods head Heart i.e. Hence Horus Hour included indicated inscription Introduction King later length lower lunar lunar calendar lunar month mark means measured mentioned middle month Neugebauer and Parker night northern observation offering Opposite the Heart original Orion Papyrus Peret period Plate position presented probably reference reign represented rising rnpt scales season Senmut Seti shadow clock Shemu signs Sothis star suggested Taken temple third tomb transits translation twelve vertical volume water clock zodiac
Popular passages
Page 419 - Nous avons donc ici une table des influences, analogue à celle qu'on avait gravée sur le fameux cercle doré du monument d'Osimandyas, et qui donnait, comme le dit Diodore de Sicile, les heures du lever des constellations avec les influences de chacune d'elles. Cela démontrera sans réplique
Page 419 - Ce sont des tables des constellations et de leurs influences pour toutes les heures de chaque mois de l'année; elles sont ainsi conçues: "Mois de Tôbi, la dernière moitié. — Orion domine et influe sur l'oreille gauche. "Heure
Page 405 - days. Each column contains thirteen entries, one for the beginning of the night, and one for each of the twelve hours. Throughout the Calendar a star occurs in one of seven positions, "the middle," the right eye, ear or shoulder, or the left eye, ear or shoulder. The position is not merely described in words, but
Page 410 - some years back, first of all to ascertain the date at which the Calendar was drawn up, and, secondly, to identify a certain number of the asterisms which it contains. The method which I adopted was this: "Whatever may have been the length of the Egyptian hours of the night, the sixth
Page 411 - This inference of date," as the Astronomer Royal remarks, "is necessarily a very vague one but from the whole nature of the case a vague date is all that can be asked for. It is sufficient for us to know that the Calendar records observations
Page 516 - (1924), pp. 43-50. Sloley, RW, "Primitive Methods of Measuring Time with Special Reference to Egypt," The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology,
Page 411 - The approximate date of the Calendar being known, the next question is, what remarkable stars at that date culminated at the intervals before and after Sirius, which are assigned by the Calendar to its asterisms? And finding, for instance, that in 1450 BC the approximate Right Ascension of
Page 420 - dissertation. The fundamental hypothesis of this dissertation is that the Calendar is a record, for astrological purposes, of the risings of stars and constellations. This hypothesis Is entirely without foundation in the Egyptian text, which contains no allusion whatever either to astrology or to risings of stars. M.
Page 406 - month, and two hours later on the thirty-first night, cannot possibly be many degrees distant from the meridian at the eleventh hour of the sixteenth night. This is true, even upon the supposition that the hours of the Calendar may vary in length according to the season.