I've written before that I've been trying to see the Dendera Zodiac in the Louvre for years. The basement galleries in the Louvre are below the level of the river and there had been the danger of flooding. On all my previous visits the room housing the Zodiac was being used to store items moved from eleswhere in the basement and it was sealed. I was able to peer through a gap but all I could see were some packing cases and items shrouded in bubble wrap. Other items were stored up the sides of one of the staircases so it was encouraging to see that they had gone. The smell of sewage that had haunted the basement on previous visits was also absent.

So, at last, when I reached the room I was pleased to find it open and I was able to see the Zodiac. I'd seen the reproduction that now replaces it in situ at Dendera and there's a good copy in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge but it was nice to see the original.

Obviously I was keen to photograph it but that's not easy as it's realistically placed on the ceiling and, unfortunately, not all the small spotlights were working. Anyway here's a few photos:











Jon

www.egyptarchive.co.uk