Dendera zodiac facts for kids
The Dendera zodiac is a famous ancient Egyptian stone carving. It's a type of bas-relief, which means the images are slightly raised from the background. This special carving was found on the ceiling of a chapel at the Hathor temple in Dendera.
The zodiac shows pictures of Taurus (the bull) and Libra (the scales). This chapel was started during the Ptolemaic period, a time when Greek rulers were in charge of Egypt. Later, the Roman emperor Tiberius added the front part of the chapel.
For a long time, people argued about how old the zodiac was. Some thought it was from the New Kingdom, a much older time. But today, most experts agree it's from the Greco-Roman period. The Dendera zodiac is now on display in Paris, at the Musée du Louvre. It's considered a very important ancient map of the sky.
What Does the Dendera Zodiac Show?
The main part of the zodiac is a round "sky disc." It's centered around the North Star. You can see Ursa Minor, a small constellation, shown as a jackal. Inside this disc are pictures of the zodiac signs.
Some of these signs look like the ones we know today, like the Ram, Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn. But others are shown in a more Egyptian way. For example, Aquarius is shown as the flood god Hapy. He holds two vases pouring out water. Experts believe some of these images are similar to older sky maps from Mesopotamia.
Four women and four pairs of falcon-headed figures hold up the sky disc. They are placed evenly around the disc. The outer ring of the disc has 36 figures. These figures represent 36 groups of stars called "asterisms." The ancient Egyptians used these to track time at night. They also used them to divide their year into 36 "weeks" of ten days each.
This circular zodiac is very special. Most other zodiacs found in ancient Egyptian art are rectangular.
History of the Zodiac
During the French invasion of Egypt by Napoleon, a man named Vivant Denon drew pictures of the Dendera zodiac. This was in the early 1800s. Later, in 1802, Denon published his drawings. These drawings caused a big debate about how old the zodiac was. People argued if it was thousands of years old or just a few hundred. They also wondered if it was a map of the sky or an astrological chart.
In 1821, an antique dealer decided to remove the circular zodiac from the temple. He used saws, jacks, and even gunpowder to get it out! The zodiac was then moved to Paris, France. By 1822, it was placed in the Royal Library. Later, in 1922, it was moved to the Musée du Louvre, where it is today. In recent years, an Egyptologist named Zahi Hawass started a petition. He wants the zodiac, along with other ancient items like the Rosetta Stone, to be returned to Egypt.
How Old Is It?
The debate about the zodiac's age was called the "Dendera Affair." Many smart people, like Joseph Fourier, tried to figure out its age. Some thought it was from 2500 BC. Jean-François Champollion, who famously decoded hieroglyphs, thought it was from the 4th century AD.
Today, scientists like Sylvie Cauville and Éric Aubourg have dated the zodiac to 50 BC. They did this by studying the positions of the planets shown on the zodiac. The arrangement of the five planets known to Egyptians at that time happens only once every thousand years. They also found two eclipses shown on the zodiac.
- A solar eclipse is shown by a circle with the goddess Isis holding a baboon (the god Thoth). This points to the date of March 7, 51 BC.
- A lunar eclipse is shown by an Eye of Horus inside a circle. This points to the date of September 25, 52 BC.
These details helped scientists figure out the exact age of this amazing ancient sky map.
