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Egypt was one of the most important places in the development of astrology, although astrology first originated in Babylon. Star charts have been found in Egypt that go back as far as 4,200 BC.
Astrology in Egypt was dominated by the combination of the sun and the dog-star Sirius, as they foretold when in the year the great river Nile would flood. It was believed that the concerted action of the sun and Sirius together would bring the floods, upon which the whole of Egyptian civilisation depended, bringing fertility and life to what would otherwise be barren desert.
Many of the pharaohs had a great interest in astrology. Rameses VI, who ruled Egypt from c.1143 - 1136BC, was one of these. He is believed to be responsible for fixing the Cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. He also had ordered a magnificent hall in the great temple of Amon at Karnak, which was engineered in relation to the fixed points on the Celestial Sphere. Another pharaoh, Rameses II who ruled Egypt sometime between c.1279-1213BC had a remarkable sky map carved on his tomb. It was possible to read from the map the culmination of the stars for each hour of the night throughout the year. It is believed that the pyramids of Egypt were oriented towards the North Pole of the sky and had a dual role as burial place of the pharaohs and astrological calculators.
It is thought that some of the astrological signs of the zodiac originated in Egypt, although most did originate in Babylon. Aries the ram appears for the first time in an Egyptian zodiac, although the head of a goose was also used as a symbol by the Egyptians. It is also possible that the sign of Gemini the Twins first appeared in Egypt, named after the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, which were called the 'Two Stars' by the Egyptians. There is also evidence of a babylonian origin for Gemini however, as the symbol of the twins appears there too. Leo the Lion is almost certainly Egyptian in origin, as the Babylonian name for the same constellation was the Great Dog. Virgo the virgin is quite likely to have originated with the Egyptian grain goddess Nidaba, as in Egypt the harvest began when the full moon was in Virgo. In Babylon the equivalent constellation was called the Great Mother.
After the occupation by Alexander the Great in 332BC, Egypt came under Greek rule and influence. It was in 'Alexandrian Egypt' as it was called, that Babylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition of Decanic astrology to create Horoscopic astrology. This new system was labelled as "horoscopic astrology" because it employed the use of the ascendant, otherwise known as the horoskopos in Greek, and the twelve celestial houses which are derived from it. Its endeavour to trace the horoscope of the individual from the position of the planets and stars at the time of birth represents the most significant contribution of the Greeks to astrology. This new form of astrology quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, the Middle East and India. Particularly important in the development of horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy , who lived in Alexandria in Egypt. Ptolomy's work, the Tetrabiblos laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. Under the Greeks and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, and Signs of the zodiac were rationalized and their function set down in a way that has changed little to the present day. Ptolemy's work on astronomy was also the basis of Western teachings on the subject for the next 1,300 years.According to Firmicus Maternus, the system of horoscopic astrology was given early on to an Egyptian pharaoh named Nechepso and his priest Petosiris. They apparently wrote a major textbook which explicated the system and it is from this text that much of Hellenistic astrology drew from. This system formed the basis of all later forms of Horoscopic astrology.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
22.01.2007. 11:40
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