Speckled about the backdrop of modern Egypt are many traditional temples from the Mediterranean shore all the way to the southern boundary with the Sudan, most located in the Nile Valley but scattered elsewhere as well. Some of these temples are very famous and preside over others. The Temples of Luxor and Karnak, Philae, Kom Ombo, Esna, Edfu and others are a few such ones. Among these most imperative of temples may also be noted as Dendera, which provides examples of a predominantly affluent multiplicity of later temple features, explicitly its astronomical zodiac ceiling.

The Astronomical Ceiling:

The ceiling is festooned with vultures, winged disks, and the union between Hathor and Horus. The ensigns are striking and are considered original. The rest of the ceiling is a emblematic representation of the north and south halves of the skies, the separated hours of day and night, and the expanse of the moon and sun. The bays to the right show the northern stars while the ones to the left show the southern stars. The figures of Nut dominate each conclusive part of the hall. The continuing cycle of a day is represented by Nut. Her garb is the sky; between her legs is the dawn of the sun, which she swallows, giving rise to its disappearance and the night. The second band shows the planets, stars and symbols of the Roman zodiac.

Historical Astrology in Egypt

Astrology has played a chief role in society since the commencement of early civilization, and maybe even before that. Its authority can be seen in almost every part of the world. The account of astrology is a long one, and universal belief is that its origins lie with the Greeks. However, a closer look shows that the foundations for astrology were laid much earlier than that of the Greeks and that the Egyptians had a lot more to do with this than anyone else. The Egyptian influence will be discussed further; but first, it will be very helpful to describe the history of astrology up to the point that the Egyptians became involved.

The Sumerians, who settled in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC, mark the first example of a people who worshipped the sun, moon, and the brightest star and planet - Venus. They considered these heavenly bodies’ as gods, or their homes. The moon god’s name was Nanna, the sun god was called Utu, and the god of Venus was named Inanna. The Sumerians were Monotheistic in faith, in fact, other gods, especially those of creation, were more important in the Sumerian pantheon. The Akkandians, near Sumer, adopted the sun, moon and Venus gods, with their names changed. This was common with the gods in ancient times: the gods were accepted by a society, but their names were changed.

The priests of the time who are said to have communicated with the gods were considered the first rulers. Temple systems were fashioned and staffs of as many as several hundred to several thousand people in various roles were "employed" to fulfill various needs and wants of the priests. There were junior priests, counselors, musicians, potters, etc. Later, it became indispensable to have military leaders and some of these became kings. These kings usually had in their company a seer, or "baru-priest." This person was an interpreter of the skies -- he would read the sky for warnings, which usually involved eclipses of the moon and the sun. It could be said that the "baru-priests" were the first authentic astrologers. In order to be able to communicate with the gods, huge mounds were built which represented shrines. These, with time, grew to larger structures called "ziggurats." (Later, these ziggurats would be used to map the star configuration and to gaze at the sky for omens.)

The Sumerian baru-priests were under quite a bit of stress to envisage in the approved manner. Predictions became more of an art than a science, since the priests had to be a bit devious in their work. They did succeed in predicting eclipses with seemingly accurate mathematics; thus contributing significantly to the later enlargement of the laws of astronomy in it’s splendor. (It may be useful at this point for some to make the difference between astrology and astronomy. Astronomy is the methodical study of the stars and planets and their whereabouts. Astrology is the pseudoscientific study of the control of heavenly bodies and their various movements and what effects they have or will have on humanity. They premeditated a calendar; identified the basic cycles of the sun, moon, planets and stars; and divided their year into twelve months based on the moon’s twelve cycles during a year.

The focus of the Babylonians was on the well-being of the kingdom and the king, not of the personage. For this reason, predictions revolved about things that would affect this well-being. The Babylonian priests correctly documented Venus’s appearances and disappearances and because of this unpredictable activities (due to the verity that Venus revolves about the sun backwards) Venus became associated with love and war. Someplace around 1300 BC, the precursors of the individual birth horoscopes were formulated. These were merely predictions based on which month a child was born in.

The Assyrian Era marked an original segment in the expansion of astrology. At this time, the sun god, called Shamash now, was given an elevated position. The state was still painstaking more important than the individual; thus the omens and predictions were still directed at the events that would affect the state. The Assyrians overcame a long time problem -- they produced a dependable and precise calendar. Star maps were plotted appropriately, constellations were shaped, and astrolabes or lists of stars were made. Omens were considered very vital to the Assyrians and the priests-astrologers-astronomers would present their omens to the courts often.

The Assyrians had developed constellations. By 600 BC, some of the eighteen would be mutual and some would be deleted to form the twelve constellations of the zodiac. There is an assured amount of hullabaloo over just how these constellations were named. The following is a list of the names: the Latin names first -- the name we are most familiar with, then the Babylonian name. Much of astrology today is based on the relationships these constellations have with the different seasons. The constellations should not be confused with the traditional signs of the zodiac, as the latter had not yet been created back then.

The Assyrians positioned as much or even more value on the five planets they had acknowledged and their movements into these constellations. The rationale for this is that they believed the planets were gods or at least the home of gods. The names given to these planets as well as the sun and moon were ultimately replaced by the Greek names, then the Roman names, and eventually the English names.

The subsequent phase in the history of astrology is the New Babylonian period (600-300 BC). Up to this point, really the only kind of astrology being practiced was omen astrology, or the foretelling of major events. It was throughout the New Babylonian period that the signs of the zodiac were invented and horoscope, or birth, astrology had its beginnings. Some of the outstanding astrologers of this period were Kiddinu, Berossus, Antipatrus, Achinopoulus, and Sudanese.

The Greeks began their enormous influence on astrology during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Alexander the Great managed to spread the Greek way of life, also known as Hellenism, to places such as Alexandria and Antioch. The Hellenistic period spanned from the time of his death in 323 BC to the middle of the second century BC, when the Romans took the eastern Mediterranean under their control. The Greeks were conscientious for incorporating mythology into astrology. Up to this point, the same gods existed, just under different names.

This was the epoch of such famous forerunners of modern science as Plato, Pythagoras, who asserted that the earth was spherical and traveled around the sun; Leucippus, whose theory would later be the beginnings of atomic science; and Aristotle. Other scientists complicated with the study of astronomy, such as Eudoxus, held the opinion that astrology was preposterous and no one should believe prophecies about his life based on which day he was born. However, astrologers such as Critodemus, Apollonius of Myndus, and Epigenes of Byzantium continued to refine horoscopy astrology.

The Romans were not as tolerant of astrology. About 250 BC, outsized quantities of the common citizenry were engrossed in astrology, but the conservatives fought against most any outside religion, including Christianity. They offered quite logical arguments against the use of astrology and horoscopes, saying that people born on the same day at the same time had very different destinies, and that people born on different days at different times sometimes died at the same times. Nonetheless, astrology spread in Rome, regardless of numerous attempts to eject all astrologers from the empire. Eventually, astrology gained reception, mostly because the Romans had a confident respect for the Greeks’ education.

In 331 BC, Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria. This marks the beginning of the Greco-Roman period in Egypt’s history. Alexandria eventually rose to be one of the most famous of the Hellenistic capitals. Hellenism is the term describing the Greek way of life. The people of Alexandria retained some of their Egyptian culture, but it became mixed with that of the Greeks, Romans, Macedonians, Persians, Syrians, Jewish, and Chileans. When the Roman Empire was on the verge of decline, Alexandria managed to preserve its reputation as a center for edifying activity. By the time Alexandria began its decline, the scientific revolution was over, and astrology was accepted and believed by almost everyone. It was at this time that Claudius Ptolemy surfaced.

It is known that Claudius Ptolemy was not Greek and was not even a Ptolemy (that is, he was not related to the Ptolemaic rulers). He was an Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who lived in the environs of Alexandria. Bits and pieces of information from his writings and from comments from his contemporaries are the only sources of information about Ptolemy’s life. He was born in Upper Egypt, and some say that he was the head librarian at the museum or library at Alexandria.

Ptolemy worked from the data of past astrologers to map over one thousand stars. He compiled a list of 48 constellations, and described the longitude and latitude lines of the earth. He was a believer that the earth was the center of the universe and worked to progress this theory. His effort in this area was in his thirteen volume work called the Almagest. Here, the Ptolemaic system is described, thus elucidating why some planets seemed to move backwards for periods of time in their orbit around earth. He theorized that each planet also revolved in a smaller circle as well as a larger one. This was called the "epicycle."

He wrote the book, Geography, and in it created maps and latitudes and longitudes. He studied the refraction of light in his book, Optics. Also, he studied harmonics and wrote yet another book describing his findings. However, it was his work called Mathematical Treatise in Four Books, also referred to as The Prognostics Addressed to Syrus, that would be the groundwork for modern astrology as it is practiced in the West. The name we use for the work today is the Tetrabiblos.

No original version of the Tetrabiblos still exists. All that remain are translations and copies of it, the oldest of which is Arabic and dates only to AD 900. Eventually, the Latin translations became familiar to the Europeans.

The first book defined Ptolemy’s interpretation of practicing astrology as well as astronomy, for by this time, there were many who opposed astrology. He said that it should not be abandoned merely because there are a few people who mistreat it. He explained the signs, when they begin, and why they begin there.

The second book of the Tetrabiblos describes astrology as it relates to countries. Ptolemy makes the point that astrological events of countries and race supersede those of the individual. He particularized which planets rule over which country, and he also made the peculiarity between human signs and animal signs. He notes that soul signs cause things to happen to humans and animal signs affect animals. Finally, Ptolemy explains how the planets affect earth. For example, Saturn was thought to cause cold, floods, poverty, and death. Mars caused war and drought. Comets and shooting stars were taken as causes of extreme weather.

The third book dealt with the individual self. The Tetrabiblos examined conception and birth, saying that it was healthier to work with the conception date and that this date should be known by observation. The sign that were rising at the time of conception, the moon’s phase, and the movements of the planets were all taken into consideration. The father’s influence was shown through the sun and Saturn, while the mother’s was shown through the moon and Venus.

Finally, the forth book of the Tetrabiblos handled matters of occupation, marriage, children, travel, and "houses" of the zodiac. The particular angles of various planetary positions were used to calculate them.

The Tetrabiblos merely compiled almost all of the astrological works written up to that point. Only very few modifications have been made to them, since then, and most of what we know as astrology comes from this important work. Critics claim that it is "tedious and dry" to read, and that there are some inconsistencies in Ptolemy’s ideas. They added that he did not take into explanation the precession of the equinoxes. He undoubtedly knew about this phenomenon, an overlapping between signs and constellations that gets larger over time (about 5 degrees per three hundred years) this is one of the greatest flaws in his work.

There were also tribulations with his association between astrology and the seasons. His belief that the conception time was preferable to birth time is a misguided one, as conception time for an individual is actually rather difficult to calculate. For the most part, the Tetrabiblos has proved invaluable to this day.

Ptolemy himself seemed to be quite narcissistic. It is thought that he may never have in fact practiced astrology, and there has not been a lone horoscope found that was created by him. Some suggest that he wasn’t a scholar of art, but merely a correspondent of it.

Probably the most disturbing allegation against Ptolemy is that his figures were deliberately slanted and doctored to fit his hypotheses. A study of Ptolemy’s figures was done in 1977, and the findings were that most of his data was fraudulent. For more on this subject, one should refer to the book by R. Newton, The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy. It is hard to hold this against Ptolemy; he was, of course, working in ancient times.

In his defense, we may say that, he was living during a time when "politically incorrect" beliefs could be grounds for punishment. It essentially may not have been safe for him to expose the truth; instead he may have been forced to make his numbers fit into incorrect theories. Apparently, fear for his own life is the reason why he did not act on his knowledge.

After Ptolemy, many astrologers followed. Some noteworthy Egyptians in the field were Paul of Alexandria, Hephaestion of Thebes, and Palchus, Ptolemy’s work was sustained and commented on by these people.

After about AD 500, astrology died away for a while. It was born again in the eighth century when Islam began practicing Hellenistic astrology. It was Albumasar, a Muslim intellectual, who was instrumental in bringing astrology as we know it to the Western world.

In conclusion, it can be said that Egypt has played a major role in the development of astrology. Egypt has had the delight of experiencing many diverse cultures in its land, which has enriched Egypt’s history and aided its people to become innovators of new ideas that would last for centuries and even on into today.

About the Temple:

Dendera is positioned about 60 kilometers north of Luxor on the west bank of the Nile River opposite the provincial modern town of Qena.
Dendera is located in an area that in ancient times was known as Iunet, or Tantere (Greek Tentyris), which was a unsophisticated capital and imperative sacred site during several periods of Egyptian history.