Hi y'all,
I put together some quotes from the Pyramid Texts, based on Faulkner's translations, that deal with the 'height' and 'zenith' of the sky. In every case, the height or zenith is in relation to Re, the sun god. I think that this is significant not only because it shows a consistent pattern but also because it contrasts so markedly with Pyramid Texts which describe the location of Sah, or if one prefers, Orion, for the most part in relation to the horizon.
To start with, here are the height/zenith passages (I have given links to Kurt Sethe's hand drawn glyphs for these texts):
Lines 948-949b (Sethe V2 p. 29) 948 I will go and escort Re in the place of the gods who have gone to their doubles, who live in the Mounds of Horus and who live in the Mounds of Seth. | 949 Behold, I have come and gone, for I have reached the height of the sky, and I have not been opposed by the Great Ones of the Castle of the Mace, who are in the Milky Way(?). | 950 The Day-bark is summoned for me and I am he who bales it out, for Re has set me as a possessor of life and dominion.
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line 804 (Sethe V1 p. 443) The two daughters of the King of Lower Egypt, his first-born, the two Great Ladies, bore you, Re has summoned you from the zenith(?) [skn] of the sky as Horus who presides over his thigh-offerings, . . .
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line 854 (Sethe V1 p. 476) From Utt. 456, Praise of the sun-god) Hail to you, Soul [ba] who are in your blood, Unique One of whom the gods spoke, who takes his place at the zenith of the sky, in the place where you are content. You traverse the sky in your striding, you include Lower and Upper Egypt within your journeyings; |
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line 1016 (Sethe V2 p. 71) May you remove yourself to the sky upon your iron throne, may you cross the lake, may our face be khawi(?) in the north of the sky, may Re summon you from the Zenith(?) of the sky; may you mount up to the god and may Seth (variant is Horus) be brotherly to you;
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lines 1169-1170 (Sethe V2 p. 154) 1169 Re finds you on the banks of the sky as a waterway-traveler who is in the sky: 'Welcome, O you who have arrived', say the gods. | 1170 He sets his hand on you at the zenith(?) of the sky; 'Welcome, O you who know your place', say the Ennead.
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www.lib.uchicago.edu]
Faulkner uses '(?)' after his translation of zenith. This sign, as you can see in the linked glyphs, is zkn, or skn, sometimes with a 'canal' sign as a modifier (determinative?). If someone has Allen's translations for these lines, it might be interesting to compare them with Faulkner's.
Now, for the contrast, read the 'Orion' texts as can be found here, [
www.kennyzen.com] for the location of Sah -- Orion. Not only is there not even a single reference to Sah as being at the height or zenith of the sky, but the consistent theme is of Sah in relation to the horizon(s).
When this evidence is considered, I find it very difficult to comprehend an ardent defence of the proposal that the upper southern shaft of Khufu's pyramid was intended to be aligned to Orion crossing the meridian. To selectively ignore Old Kingdom texts that clearly connect Re, the sun god, with the height of the sky (crossing the meridian) and to ignore the bulk of evidence that Orion was associated mainly with events at the horizon seems to me be highly questionable.
Ken
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2007 12:27PM by Ken B.
