Holger Isenberg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Byrd, Hermione:
> Sure, that scarab-crab figure is strange. Looks
> like the ancient artist was undecided.

No indecision -- that sort of thing wouldn't have been allowed in a sacred space. That's the Egyptian deity Kephri. In scarab form, he represents the sun at daybreak. He is emerging from Nut, something that is part of the known details of the ancient Egyptian religion. (https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/khepri/)

> But it definitely represents the constellation of cancer
> as it follows sequentially the depicted zodiac

Look closely. Crabs are wide animals and have eight walking legs, not six. In addition, crabs don't have a divided back (the division between the beetle's wings is very clear) nor do they have a tiny head on their thorax. The link I gave above shows a drawing of Kephri with the same proportions and features. The ancients depicted crabs with huge front claws.

> constellations after Taurus and Gemini in the
> ceiling relief shown before and then in the 2nd
> similar size and shaped ceiling relief next to it
> (not shown yet before), the scarab-crab precedes
> the constellation of Lion which is then completed
> to Capricorn in that 2nd relief.

I need to look at some of the translations of the inscriptions in the temples. I'm not really convinced of this (but I haven't looked yet so I could be wrong about this.)

> I was already convinced to the correct position of
> cancer behind the sun(rays) that it is cancer as
> that’s the new year indicator shortly before the
> yearly flood and the most important event in for
> the local civilization.

It also seems unlikely since it doesn't follow the pattern of the other zodiac signs. I haven't done any research on the zodiac as it existed in ancient astronomy. I do know that they watched for the rising of Sirius... which they COULD see. "Sun in Cancer" on the other hand, they could not see since the stars of that constellation don't appear in the night sky at that time.

> Later, Michael in the
> German forum, who was also skeptical about that
> detail at first, found the connection via the 2nd
> relief and the continuous sequence of
> constellations.
>
> You can find that discussion starting with text
> “Skarabäus - Krebs” on
> [www.aegyptologie.com]
>
> I have to point out that Michael does not agree
> with my other interpretations, but at least about
> the scarab-crab we see it identically.

I noted that but want to look further. I also note that the identification as "crab" was made more than a hundred years ago, by scholars who didn't have as good a set of translations as we do today.

> Also notice the similarity in English between crab
> and scarab

It's one of those amusing coincidences. "Crab" enters English from its German roots and describes how the animal creeps: [en.wiktionary.org] "Scarab" comes from the Latin word for beetle: [en.wiktionary.org]

-- Byrd
Moderator, Hall of Ma'at