The Origin of the Cult of Horus in Predynastic Egypt - page 6

The Origin of the Cult of Horus in Predynastic Egypt - page 6

Figure 2 is a rock drawing from Haugsbyn, somewhat more than 50 km removed from Tanum. It represents the stars at the center of heaven:

1) in the form of the stars of Draco, with the star delta-Draconis, the Arabic Al Tinnin, ("heaven’s serpent, dragon") as the pole of the ecliptic, (represented as an X in a square); and,
2) in form of the stars of Ursa Minor, as stars of the celestial pole (represented at Haugsbyn as a star in an oval). The star Pherkad (near the star Kochab) marks the north celestial pole. The identification is clear, unless the "hammer" is seen to point to the North Star, which would then be Kochab. For our analysis, which is which makes little difference.

In that era - which I date to ca. 3500 B.C. on the basis of the rock drawings - Thuban was not found in the stellar constellation Draco, as one can see in Figure 2. Draco’s tail, as at the Extern Stones, ends at the star iota-Draconis (the star called Edasich).

The illustration above left from Haugsbyn in Sweden comes from the website of Bengt Hemtun. He writes as follows:[12]

"Then I searched for a pole and read that it should be Thuban in Dragon, but it did not fit well. Then I saw the Little Bear at rock 1 in Haugsbyn.... A dominating figure on rock 1 is this and it is perhaps a mirrored Little Bear with a common centre marking on the pole star Koschab .... It became natural to try Koschab as a pole star and it fits for the time 3100 to 1000 BC. It is with the accuracy we need for this solving of the structures."

Hemtun is therefore the opinion that Thuban did not fit the rock drawing as the pole star and that the northern heavenly-pole was rather to be found in the constellation of Ursa Minor at Kochab.[13]

The name Edasich for iota-Draconis comes from the Arabic Al Dhih as well as Al Dikh, the dog-like hyena.[14] It is a word which is easily confused with Al Dibh "Wolf"" and also with Hebrew Da'ah "falcon-like bird". In the Bible, the same Hebrew word was translated as dragon, snake and jackal.[15]
__________
[12] Bengt Hemtun, Backegatan 3 B, Mellerud, S-46430 Sweden, catsha@catshaman.com, phone 046-0530-41925. See http://www.catshaman.com/13Sumerian/03round.htm.
[13] Hemtun is of the opinion that the star Kochab marked the pole star. Kochab is brighter than Pherkad and since the size of the cupmarks reflect the magnitudes (brightness) of the stars,. Kochab appearls to be located under Pherkad, so that Pherkad would mark the pole star position, unless the "hammer" form points to the North Star as being Kochab.
[14] Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Dover, NY, 1963, p. 210, see also JAS, Arabic Star Names.
[15] Gerardus D. Bouw, Draco the Dragon, Biblical Astronomer, Number 100, "The [translations of the] modern versions [of the Bible] avoid dragons like the plague they are. The NASV translates the Hebrew word as a serpent in Deu. 32:33, but then translates the same word as a "jackal" in Isa. 34:13. In Psa. 74:13 the translating committee felt it safe to translate the Hebrew as "sea serpent" but in Jer. 9:11; 14:6; Mic. 1:8, and Mal. 1:3, it’s back to a "jackal" again. For some reason, the committee decided that it’s all right to use "dragon" in Revelation."