Fig. 9.Fig. 9.
That the celestial sphere was a conception known to others than the Greeks is easily proved. The Arabians, for instance, certainly did not borrow it from them; yet they have the same things represented. Above is a figure of a portion of an Arabian sphere drawn in the eleventh century, where we getrepresented plainly enough the Great and Little Bears, the Dragon, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, with the Triple Head of Medusa; the Triangle, one of the Fishes, Auriga, the Ram, the Bull obscurely, and the Twins.
There is also the famous so-called zodiac of Denderah, brought from Egypt to Paris. This in reality contains more constellations than those of the zodiac. Most of the northern ones can be traced, with certain modifications. Its construction is supposed to belong to the eighth centuryB.C.Most conspicuous on it is the Lion, in a kind of barque, recalling the shape of the Hydra. Below it is the calf Isis, with Sirius, or the Dog-Star, on the forehead; above it is the Crab, to the right the Twins, over these along instrument, the Plough, and above that a small animal, the Little Bear, and so we may go on:—all the zodiacal constellations, especially the Balance, the Scorpion, and the Fishes being very clear. This sphere is indeed of later date than that supposed for the Grecian, but it certainly appears to be independent. The remains we possess of older spheres are more particularly connected with the zodiac, and will be discussed hereafter.
From what people the Greeks received the celestial sphere, is a question on which more than one opinion has been formed. One is that it was originated in the tropical latitudes of Egypt. The other, that it came from the Chaldeans, and a third that it came from more temperate latitudes further to the east. The arguments for the last of these are as follow:
There is an empty space of about 90°, formed by the last constellations of the sphere, towards the south pole, that is by the Centaur, the Altar, the Archer, the Southern Fish, the Whale, and the Ship. Now in a systematic plan, if the author were situated near the equator there would be no vacant space left in this way, for in this case the southern stars, attracting as much attention as the northern, would be inevitably inserted in the system of constellations which would be extended to the horizon on all sides. But a country of sufficiently high latitude to be unable to see at any time the stars about the southern pole must be north both of Egypt and Chaldea.
This empty space remained unfilled until the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, except that the star Canopus was included in the constellation Argo, and the river Eridan had an arbitrary extension given to it, instead of terminating in latitude 40°.
Another less cogent argument is derived from the interpretation of the fable of the Phœnix. This is supposed to represent the course of the sun, which commences its growth at the time of its death. A similar fable is found among the Swedes. Now a tropical nation would find the difference of days too little to lead it to invent such a fable to represent it. It must needs have arisen where the days of winter were very much shorter than those of summer.
The Book of Zoroaster, in which some of the earliest noticesof astronomy are recorded, states that the length of a summer day is twice as long as that of winter. This fixes the latitude in which that book must have been composed, and makes it 49°. Whence it follows, that to such a place must we look for the origin of these spheres, and not to Egypt or Chaldea.
Plate III.Plate III.—Chaldean Astronomers.
Diodorus Siculus speaks of a nation in that part of the world, whom he calls Hyperboreans, who had a tradition that their country is the nearest to the moon, on which they discovered mountains like those on the earth, and that Apollo comes there once every nineteen years. This period being that of the metonic cycle of the moon, shows that if this could have really been discovered by them, they must have had a long acquaintance with astronomy.
The Babylonian tablets lead us to the belief that astronomy, and with it the sphere, and the zodiac were introduced by a nation coming from the East, from the mountains of Elam, called the Accadians, before 3000B.C., and these may have been the nation to whom the whole is due.
On the other hand, the arguments for the Egyptians, or Chaldeans being the originators depend solely on the tradition handed down by many, that one or other are the oldest people in the world, with the oldest civilization, and they have long cultivated astronomy. More precise information, however, seems to render these traditions, to say the least, doubtful, and certainly incapable of overthrowing the arguments adduced above.
The zodiac, as already stated, is the course in the heavens apparently pursued by the sun in his annual journey through the stars. Let us consider for a moment, however, the series of observations and reflections that must have been necessary to trace this zone as representing such a course.
First, the diurnal motion of the whole heavens from east to west must have been noticed during the night, and the fact that certain stars never set, but turn in a circle round a fixed point. What becomes then, the next question would be, of those stars that do descend beneath the horizon, since they rise in the same relative positions as those in which they set. They could not be thought to be destroyed, but must complete the part of the circle that is invisiblebeneath the earth. The possibility of any stars finding a path beneath the earth must have led inevitably to the conception of the earth as a body suspended in the centre with nothing to support it. Butleaving this alone, it would also be concluded that the sun went with the stars, and was in a certain position among them, even when both they and it were invisible. The next observations necessary would be that the zodiacal constellations visible during the nights of winter were not the same as those seen in summer, that such and such a group of stars passed the meridian at midnight at a certain time, and that six months afterwards the group exactly opposite in the heavens passed at the same hour. Now since at midnight the sun will be exactly opposite the meridian, if it continues uniformly on its course, it will be among that group of stars that is opposite the group that culminates at midnight, and so the sign of the zodiac the sun occupies would be determined.
This method would be checked by comparisons made in the morning and evening with the constellations visible nearest to the sun at its rising and setting.
The difficulty and indirectness of these observations would make it probable that originally the zodiac would be determined rather by the path of the moon, which follows nearly the same path as the sun, and which could be observed at the same time as, and actually associated with, the constellations. Now the moon is found each night so far to the east of its position on the previous night that it accomplishes the whole circumference in twenty-seven days eight hours. The two nearest whole number of days have generally been reckoned,some taking twenty-eight, and others twenty-seven. The zodiac, or, as the Chinese called it, the Yellow Way, was thus divided into twenty-eight parts, which were calledNakshatras(mansions, or hotels), because the moon remains in each of them for a period of twenty-four hours. These mansions were named after the brightest stars in each, though sometimes they went a long way off to fix upon a characteristic star, as in the sixteenth Indian constellation,Vichaca, which was named after the Northern Crown, in latitude 40°. This arose from the brightness of the moon extinguishing the light of those that lie nearest to it.
This method of dividing the zodiac was very widely spread, and was common to almost all ancient nations. The Chinese have twenty-eight constellations, but the wordsioudoes not mean a group of stars, but simply a mansion or hotel. In the Coptic and ancient Egyptian the word for constellation has the same meaning. They also had twenty-eight, and the same number is found among the Arabians, Persians, and Indians. Among the Chaldeans, or Accadians, we find no sign of the number twenty-eight. The ecliptic or "Yoke of the Sky," with them, as we see in the newly-discovered tablets, was divided into twelve divisions as now, and the only connection that can be imagined between this and the twenty-eight is the opinion of M. Biot, who thinks that the Chinese had originally only twenty-four mansions, four more being added by Chenkung (B.C.1100), and that theycorresponded with the twenty-four stars, twelve to the north and twelve to the south, that marked the twelve signs of the zodiac among the Chaldeans. But under this supposition the twenty-eight has no reference to the moon, whereas we have every reason to believe that it has.
The Siamese only reckoned twenty-seven, and occasionally inserted an extra one, calledAbigitten, or intercalary moon. They made use, moreover, of the constellations to tell the hour of the night by their position in the heavens, and their method of doing this appears to have involved their having twenty-eight constellations. The names of the twenty-eight divisions among the Arabs were derived from parts of the larger constellations that made the twelve signs, the first being the horns, and the second the belly, of the Ram.
The twenty-eight divisions among the Persians, of which we may notice that the second was formed by the Pleiades, and calledPervis, soon gave way to the twelve, the names of which, recorded in the works of Zoroaster, and therefore not less ancient than he, were not quite the same as those now used. They were the Lamb, the Bull, the Twins, the Crab, the Lion, the Ear of Corn, the Balance, the Scorpion, the Bow, the Sea-Goat, the Watering-pot, and the Fishes.
Nor were the Chinese continually bound to the number twenty-eight. They, too, had a zodiac for the sun as well as the moon, as may be seen on some very curious pieces of money, of which those figured below are specimens.
Fig. 10.Fig. 10.
On some of these the various constellations of the Northern hemisphere are engraved, especially the Great Bear—under innumerable disguises—and on others the twelve signs of the zodiac. These are very different, however, from the Grecian set—they are the Mouse, the Bull, the Tiger, the Hare, the Dragon, the Serpent, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Cock, the Dog, and the Pig. The Japanese series were the same. The Mongolians had a series of zodiacal coins struck in the reign of Jehanjir Shah (1014). He had pieces of gold stamped, representing the sun in the constellation of the Lion; and some years afterwards other coins were made, with one side having the impress of the particular sign in which the sun happened to be when the coin was struck. In this way a series is preserved having all the twelve signs. Tavernier tells the story that one of the wives of the Sultan,wishing to immortalise herself, asked Jehanjir to be allowed to reign for four-and-twenty hours, and took the opportunity to have a large quantity of new gold and silver zodiacal coins struck and distributed among the people.
The twenty-eight divisions are less known now, simply from the fact that the Greeks did not adopt them; but they were much used by the early Asian peoples, who distinguished them, like the twelve, by a series of animals, and they are still used by the Arabs.
So far for the nature of the zodiac, as used in various countries, and as adopted from more ancient sources by the Greeks and handed on to us. It is very remarkable that the arrangement of it, and its relation to the pole of the equator, carries with it some indication of the age in which it must have been invented, as we now proceed to show.
We may remark, in the first place, that from very early times the centre of the zodiacal circle has been marked in the celestial sphere, though there is no remarkable star near the spot; and the centre of the equatorial circle, or pole, has been even less noticed, though much more obvious. We cannot perhaps conclude that the instability of the pole was known, but that the necessity for drawing the zodiac led to attention being paid to its centre. Both the Persians and the Chinese noted in addition four bright stars, which they said watched over the rest,Taschterover the east,Saterisover the west,Venaudover the south, andHastorangoverthe north. Now we must understand these points to refer to the sun, the east being the spring equinox, the west the autumnal, and the north and south the summer and winter solstices. There are no stars of any brilliancy that we could now suppose referred to in these positions; but if we turn the zodiac through 60° we shall find Aldebaran, the Antares, Regulus, and Fomalhaut, four stars of the first magnitude, pretty nearly in the right places. Does the zodiac then turn in this way? The answer is, It does.
The effect of the attraction of the sun and moon upon the equatorial protuberance of the earth is to draw it round from west to east by a very slow motion, and make the ecliptic cross the equator each year about one minute of arc to the east of where it crossed it the year before. So, then, the sidereal year, or interval between the times at which the sun is in a certain position amongst the stars, is longer than the solar year, or interval between the times at which the sun crosses the equator at the vernal equinox. Now the sun's position in the zodiac refers to the former, his appearance at the equinox to the latter kind of year. Each solar year then—and these are the years we usually reckon by—the equinox is at a point fifty seconds of arc to the east on the zodiac, an effect which is known by the name of the precession of the equinoxes.
Now it is plain that if it keeps moving continuously to the east it will at last come round to the same point again,and the whole period of its revolution can easily be calculated from the distance it moves each year. The result of such a calculation shows that the whole revolution is completed in 25,870 years, after which time all will be again as it is now in this respect.
Fig. 11.Fig. 11.
If we draw a figure of the zodiac, as below, and know that at this time the vernal equinox takes place when the sun is in the Fishes, then, the constellation of the Ram beingto the west of this, the date at which the equinox was there must be before our present date, while at some time in the future it will be in Aquarius.
Now if in any old description we find that the equinox is referred to as being in the Ram or in the Bull, it tells us at once how long ago such a description was a true one, and, therefore, when it was written. This is the way in which the Zodiac carries with it an intimation of its date. Thus in the example lately referred to of the Persians and their four stars, it must have been about 5,000 years ago, according to the above calculation, that these were in the positions assigned, which is therefore the date of this part of Persian astronomy, if we have rightly conjectured the stars referred to.
We have already said that the signs of the zodiac are not now the same as the zodiacal constellations, and this is now easily understood. It is not worth while to say that the sun enters such and such a part of the Fishes at the equinox, and changes every year. So the part of the heavens itdoesthen enter—be it Fishes, or Aquarius, or the Ram—is called by the same name—and is called asign; the name chosen is the Ram or Aries, which coincided with the constellation of that name when the matter was arranged. There is another equally important and instructive result of this precession of the equinox. For the earth's axis is always perpendicular to the plane of the equator, and if the latter moves, the formermust too, and change its position with respect to the axis of the ecliptic, which remains immovable. And the ends of these axes, or the points they occupy among the stars, called their poles, will change in the same way; the pole of the equator, round which the heavens appear to move, describing a curve about the pole of the ecliptic; and since the ecliptic and equator are alwaysnearlyat the same angle, this curve will be very nearly a circle, as represented on preceding page.
Fig. 12.Fig. 12.
Now the pole of the equator is a very marked point in the heavens, because the star nearest to it appears to have no motion. If then we draw such a figure as above, so as to see where this pole would be at any given date, and then read in any old record that such and such a star had no motion, we know at once at what date such a statement must have been made. This means of estimating dates is less certain than the other, because any star that is nearer to the pole than any other will appear to have no motionrelativelyto the rest, unless accurate measurements were made. Nevertheless, when we have any reason to believe that observations were carefully made, and there is any evidence that some particular star was considered the Pole Star, we have some confidence in concluding the date, examples of which will appear in the sequel; and we may give one illustration now, though not a very satisfactory one. Hipparchus cites a passage from the sphere of Eudoxus, in which he says,Est vero stella quædam in eodem consistens loco, quæ quidem polus est mundi.(There is a certain immovable star, which is the pole of the world.)
Now referring to our figure, we find that about 1300B.C.the two stars, β Ursæ Minoris and κ Draconis were fairly near the pole, and this fact leads us to date the invention of this sphere at about this epoch, rather than a little before ora little after, although, of course, there is nothing inthisargument (though there may be in others), to prevent us dating it when α Draconis was near the pole, 2850B.C.This star was indeed said by the Chinese astronomers in the reign of Hoangti to mark the pole, which gives a date to their observations. The chief use of this latter method is toconfirmour conclusions from the former, rather than to originate any. Let us now apply our knowledge to the facts.
In the first place we may notice that in the time of Hipparchus the vernal equinox was in the first degree of the Ram, from which our own arrangement has originated. Hipparchus lived 128 yearsB.C., or nearly 2,000 years ago, at which time the equinox was exactly at β Aries. Secondly, there are many reasons for believing that at the time of the invention of the zodiac, indeed in the first dawning of astronomy, the Bull was the first sign into which the sun entered at the vernal equinox. Now it takes 2,156 years to retrograde through a sign, and therefore the Bull might occupy this position any time between 2400 and 4456B.C., and any nearer approximation must depend on our ability to fix on any particularpartof the constellation as the original equinoctial point. We may say that whoever invented the zodiac would no doubt make this point thebeginningof a sign, and therefore date its invention 2400B.C.; or on the other hand, if it can be proved that the constellations were known and observed before this, we may have to put backthe date to near the end of the sign, and make its last remarkable stars the equinoctial ones, say those in the horns of Taurus. Compare the line of Virgil,
"Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annumTaurus."
"Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annumTaurus."
The date in this case would be about 4500B.C.—or once more some remarkable part of the constellation may give proof that its appearance with the sun commenced the year—and our date would be intermediate between these two. In fact, the remarkable group of stars known as thePleiadesactually does play this part. So much interest clusters, however, round this group, so much light is thrown by it on the past history of astronomical ideas—and so much new information has recently been obtained about it—that it requires a chapter to itself, and we shall therefore pass over its discussion here. Let us now review some of the indications that some part of the constellation of the Bull was originally the first sign of the zodiac.
We need perhaps only mention the astrological books of the Jews—the Cabal—in which the Bull is dealt with as the first zodiacal sign. Among the Persians, who designate the successive signs by the letters of the alphabet,Astands for Taurus,Bfor the Twins, and so on. The Chinese attribute the commencement of the sun's apparent motion to the stars of Taurus. In Thebes is a sepulchral chamber withzodiacal signs, and Taurus at the head of them. The zodiac of the pagoda of Elephanta (Salsette) commences with the same constellation.
However, reasons have been given for assigning to the zodiac a still earlier date than this would involve. Thus Laplace writes:—"The names of the constellations of the zodiac have not been given to them by chance—they embody the results of a large number of researches and of astronomical systems. Some of the names appear to have reference to the motion of the sun. The Crab, for instance, and the He-Goat, indicate its retrogression at the solstices. The Balance marks the equality of the days and nights at the equinoxes, and the other names seem to refer to agriculture and to the climate of the country in which the zodiac was invented. The He-Goat appears better placed at the highest point of the sun's course than the lowest. In this position, which it occupied fifteen thousand years ago, the Balance was at the vernal equinox, and the zodiacal constellations match well with the climate and agriculture of Egypt." If we examine this, however, we see that all that is probable in it is satisfied by the Ram being at the vernal, and the Balance at the autumnal equinox, which corresponds much better with other evidence.
The Zodiac of Denderah.The Zodiac of Denderah.
In the first instance, no doubt, the names of the zodiacal constellations would depend on the principal star or stars in each, and these stars and the portion of the ecliptic assignedto each may have been noticed before the stars round them were grouped into constellations with different names. In any case, the introduction of the zodiac into Greece seems to have been subsequent to that of the celestial sphere, and not to have taken place more than five or six centuries before our era. Eudemus, of Rhodes, one of the most distinguished of the pupils of Aristotle, and author of a History of Astronomy, attributes the introduction of the zodiac to Œnopides of Chio, a contemporary of Anaxagoras. They did not receive it complete, as at first it had only eleven constellations, one of them, the Scorpion, being afterwards divided, to complete the necessary number. Their zodiacal divisions too would have been more regular had they derived them directly from the East, and would not have stretched in some instances over 36° to 48°, like the Lion, the Bull, the Fishes, or the Virgin—while the Crab, the Ram, and the He-Goat, have only 19° to 23°. Nor would their constellations be disposed so irregularly, some to the north and some to the south of the ecliptic, nor some spreading out widely and others crammed close together, so that we see that they only borrowed the idea from the Easterns, and filled it out with their ancient constellations. Such is the opinion of Humboldt.
With regard to the origin of the names of the signs of the zodiac, we must remember that a certain portion of the zodiacal circle, and not any definite group of stars, forms each sign, and that the constellations may have been formedseparately, and have received independent names, though afterwards receiving those of the sign in which they were. The only rational suggestion for the origin of the names is that they were connected with some events which took place, or some character of the sun's motion observed, when it was in each sign. Thus we have seen that the Balance may refer to equal nights and days (though only introduced among theGreeksin the time of Hipparchus), and the Crab to the retrogression or stopping of the sun at the solstice.
The various pursuits of husbandry, having all their necessary times, which in the primeval days were determined by the positions of the stars, would give rise to more important names. Thus the Ethiopian, at Thebes, would call the stars that by their rising at a particular time indicated the inundation, Aquarius, or the Waterer; those beneath which it was necessary to put the plough to the earth, the Bull stars. The Lion stars would be those at whose appearance this formidable animal, driven from the deserts by thirst, showed himself on the borders of the river. Those of the Ear of Corn, or the Virgin of harvest, those beneath which the harvest was to be gathered in; and the sign of the Goat, that in which the sun was when these animals were born.
There can be but little doubt but that such was the origin of the names imposed, and for a time they would be understood in that sense. But afterwards, when time was moreaccurately kept, and calendars regulated, without each man studying the stars for himself, when the precession of the equinoxes made the periods not exactly coincide, the original meaning would be lost, the stars would be associated with the animals, as though there was a real bull, a real lion, &c., in the heavens; and then the step would be easy to represent these by living animals, whom they would endow with the heavenly attributes of what they represented; and so the people came at last to pray to and worship the several creatures for the sake of their supposed influence. They asked of the Ram from their flocks the influences they thought depended on the constellation. They prayed the Scorpion not to spread his evil venom on the world; they revered the Crab, the Scarabæus, and the Fish, without perceiving the absurdity of it.
It is certain at least that the gods of many nations are connected or are identical with the signs of the zodiac, and it seems at least more reasonable to suppose the former derived from the latter thanvice versâ.
Among the Greeks indeed, who had, so to speak, their gods ready made before they borrowed the idea of the zodiac, the process appears to have been the reverse, they made the signs to represent as far as they could their gods. In the more pastoral peoples, however, of the East, and in Egypt, this process can be very clearly traced. Among the Jews there seems to be some remarkable connection between theirpatriarchs and these signs, though the history of that connection may not well be made out. The twelve signs are mentioned as being worshipped, along with the sun and moon, in the Book of Kings. But what is more remarkable is the dream of Joseph, in which the sun and moon and the other eleven stars worshipped him, coupled with the various designations or descriptions given to each son in the blessing of Jacob. In Reuben we have the man who is said to be "unstable as water," in which we may recognise Aquarius. In Simeon and Levi "the brethren," we trace the Twins. Judah is the "Lion." Zebulun, "that dwells at the haven of the sea," represents Fishes. Issachar is the Bull, or "strong ass couching down between two burdens." Dan, "the serpent by the way, the adder in the path," represents the Scorpion. Gad is the Ram, the leader to a flock or troop of sheep. Asher the Balance, as the weigher of bread. Naphtali, "the hind let loose," is the Capricorn, Joseph the Archer, whose bow abode in strength. Brujanin the Crab, changing from morning to evening, and Dinah, the only daughter, represents the Virgin.
There is doubtless something far-fetched in some of these comparisons, but when we consider the care with which the number twelve was retained, and that the four chief tribes carried on their sacred standards these very signs—namely, Judah a lion, Reuben a man, Ephraim a bull, and Dan a scorpion—and notice the numerous traces of astronomical culturein the Jewish ceremonies, the seven lights of the candlestick, the twelve stones of the High Priest, the feasts at the two equinoxes, the ceremonies connected with a ram and a bull, we cannot doubt that there is something more than chance in the matter, but rather conclude that we have an example of the process by which, in the hands of the Egyptians themselves, astronomical representations became at last actually deified.
It has been thought possible indeed to assign definitely each god of the Egyptians to one of the twelve zodiacal signs. The Ram was consecrated to Jupiter Ammon, who was represented with a ram's head and horns. The Bull became the god Apis, who was worshipped under that similitude. The Twins correspond to Horus and Harpocrates, two sons of Osiris. The Crab was consecrated to Anubis or Mercury. The Lion belonged to the summer sun, Osiris; the Virgin to Isis. The Balance and the Scorpion were included together under the name of Scorpion, which animal belongs to Typhon, as did all dangerous animals. The Archer was the image of Hercules, for whom the Egyptians had great veneration. The Capricorn was consecrated to Pan or Mendes. The Waterer—or man carrying a water-pot—is found on many Egyptian monuments.
This process of deification was rendered easier by the custom they had of celebrating a festival each month, under the nameneomenia. They characterised the neomenias ofthe various months by making the animal whose sign the sun was entering accompany the Isis which announced thefête. They were not content with a representation only, but had the animal itself. The dog, being the symbol of Cannulus, with which the year commenced, a living dog was made to head the ceremonial of the first neomenia. Diodorus testifies to this as an eye-witness.
These neomenias thus came to be called the festival of the Bull, of the Ram, the Dog, or the Lion. That of the Ram would be the most solemn and important in places where they dealt much in sheep. That of the Bull in the fat pasture-lands of Memphis and Lower Egypt. That of Capella would be brilliant at Mendes, where they bred goats more than elsewhere.
We may fortify these opinions by a quotation from Lucian, who gives expression to them very clearly. "It is from the divisions of the zodiac," he says, "that the crowd of animals worshipped in Egypt have had their origin. Some employed one constellation, and some another. Those who used to consult that of the Ram came to adore a ram. Those who took their presages from the Fishes would not eat fish. The goat was not killed in places were they observed Capricornus, and so on, according to the stars whose influence they cared most for. If they adored a bull it was certainly to do honour to the celestial Bull. The Apis, which was a sacred object with them, and wandered at liberty through thecountry, and for which they founded an oracle, was the astrological symbol of the Bull that shone in the heavens."
Plate IV.Plate IV.—The Zodiac and the Dead in Egypt.
Their use of the zodiac is illustrated in an interesting manner by a mummy found some years ago in Egypt. At the bottom of the coffin was found painted a zodiac, something like that of Denderah; underneath the lid, along the body of a great goddess, were drawn eleven signs, but with that ofCapricornusleft out. The inscription showed that the mummy was that of a young man, aged 21 years, 4 months, and 22 days, who died the 19th year of Trajan, on the 8th of the month Pazni, which corresponds to the 2nd of June,A.D.116. The embalmed was therefore born on the 12th of January,A.D.95, at which time the sun was in the constellation of Capricornus. This shows that the zodiac was the representation of the astrological theories about the person embalmed, who was doubtless a person of some importance. (See Plate IV.) Any such use as this, however, must have been long subsequent to the invention of the signs themselves, as it involves a much more complicated idea.
Among the most remarkable of the constellations is a group of seven stars arranged in a kind of triangular cluster, and known as the Pleiades. It is not, strictly speaking, one of the constellations, as it forms only part of one. We have seen that one of the ancient signs of the zodiac is the Bull, or Taurus; the group of stars we are now speaking of forms part of this, lying towards the eastern part in the shoulders of the Bull. The Pleiades scarcely escape anybody's observation now, and we shall not be, therefore, surprised that they have always attracted great attention. So great indeed has been the attention paid to them that festivals and seasons, calendars and years, have by many nations been regulated by their rising or culmination, and they have been thus more mixed up with the early history of astronomy, and have left more marks on the records of past nations, than any other celestial object, except the sun and moon.
The interesting details of the history of the Pleiades have been very carefully worked out by R. G. Haliburton, F.S.A., to whom we owe the greater part of the information we possess on the subject.[1]
[1]Mr. Haliburton's observations are contained in an interesting pamphlet, entitledNew Materials for the History of Man, which is quoted by Prof. Piazzi Smyth, but which is not easy to obtain. It may be seen, however, in the British Museum.
[1]Mr. Haliburton's observations are contained in an interesting pamphlet, entitledNew Materials for the History of Man, which is quoted by Prof. Piazzi Smyth, but which is not easy to obtain. It may be seen, however, in the British Museum.
Let us first explain what may be observed with respect to the Pleiades. It is a group possessing peculiar advantages for observation; it is a compact group, the whole will appear at once; and it is an unmistakable group and it is near the equator, and is therefore visible to observers in either hemisphere.
Now suppose the sun to be in the same latitude as the Pleiades on some particular day; owing to the proximity of the group to the ecliptic, it will be then very near the sun, and it will set with it and be invisible during the night. If the sun were to the east of the Pleiades they would have already set, and the first view of the heavens at sunset would not contain this constellation; and so it would be so long as the sun was to the east, or for nearly half a year; though during some portion of this time it would rise later on in the night. During the other half year, while the sun was to the west, the Pleiades would be visible at sunset, and we immediately see how they are thus led to divide the whole year into twoportions, one of which might be calledthe Pleiades below, and the otherthe Pleiades above. It is plain that the Pleiades first become visible at sunset, when they are then just rising, in which case they will culminate a little after midnight (not at midnight, on account of the twilight) and be visible all night. This will occur when the sun is about half a circle removed from them—that is, at this time, about the beginning of November; which would thus be the commencement of one half of the year, the other half commencing in May. The culmination of the Pleiades at midnight takes place a few days later, when they rise at the time that the sun is really on the horizon, in which case they are exactly opposite to it; and this will happen on the same day all over the earth. The opposite effect to this would be when the sun was close to the Pleiades—a few days before which the latter would be just setting after sunset, and a few days after would be just rising before sunrise.
We have thus the following observations, that might be made with respect to this, or any other well-marked constellation. First, the period during which it was visible at sunset; secondly, the date of its culmination at midnight; thirdly, its setting in the evening; and fourthly, its rising in the morning: the last two dates being nearly six months removed from the second. There are also the dates of its culmination at sunrise and sunset, which would divide these intervals into two equal halves. On account of the precession of the equinoxes, as explained in the last chapter, the time at which the sun has any particular position with respect to the stars, grows later year by year in relation to the equinoctial points. And as we regulate our year by the date of the sun's entrance on the northern hemisphere, the sidereal dates, as we may call them, keep advancing on the months. As, however, the change is slow, it has not prevented years being commenced and husbandry being regulated by the dates above mentioned. Any date that is regulated by the stars we might expect to be nearly the same all over the world, and the customs observed to be universal, though the date itself might alter, and in this way. So long as the date was directly obtained from the position of the star, all would agree; but as soon as a solar calendar was arranged, and it was found that at that time this position coincided with a certain day, say the Pleiades culminating at midnight on November 17, then some would keep on the date November 17 as the important day, even when the Pleiades no longer culminated at midnight then, and others would keep reckoning by the stars, and so have a different date.
With these explanations we shall be able to recognise how much the configurations of the Pleiades have had to do with the festivals and calendars of nations, and have even left their traces on customs and names in use among ourselves to the present day.
We have evidences from two very different quarters of the universality of the division of the year into two parts by means of the Pleiades. On the one hand we learn from Hesiod that the Greeks commenced their winter seasons in his days by the setting of the Pleiades in the morning, and the summer season by their rising at that time. And Mr. Ellis, in hisPolynesian Researches, tells us that "the Society Islanders divided the year into two seasons of the Pleiades, orMatarii. The first they calledMatarii i nia, or thePleiades above. It commenced when, in the evening, these stars appeared at or near the horizon, and the half year during which, immediately after sunset, they were seen above the horizon was calledMatarii i nia. The other season commenced when at sunset these stars are invisible, and continued until at that time they appeared again above the horizon. This season was calledMatarii i raro, i.e.the Pleiades below." Besides these direct evidences we shall find that many semi-annual festivals connected with these stars indicate the commencement of the two seasons among other nations.
One of these festivals was of course always taken for the commencement of the year, and much was made of it as new-year's day. A new-year's festival connected with and determined by the Pleiades appears to be one of the most universal of all customs; and though some little difficulty arises, as we have already pointed out, in fixing the date withreference to solar calendars, and differences and coincidences in this respect among different nations may be to a certain extent accidental, yet the fact of the wide-spread observance of such a festival is certain and most interesting.
The actual observance at the present day of this festival is to be found among the Australian savages. At their midnight culmination in November, they still hold a new-year'scorroboree, in honour of theMormodellick, as they call the Pleiades, which they say are "very good to the black fellows." With them November is somewhat after the beginning of spring, but in former days it would mark the actual commencement, and the new year would be regulated by the seasons.
In the northern hemisphere this culmination of the Pleiades has the same relation to the autumnal equinox, which would never be taken as the commencement of the year; and we must therefore look to the southern hemisphere for the origin of the custom; especially as we find the very Pleiades themselves calledVergiliæ, or stars of spring. Of course we might suppose that the rising of the constellation in themorninghad been observed in the northern hemisphere, which would certainly have taken place in the beginning of spring some 5,000 years ago; but this seems improbable, first, because it is unlikely that different phenomena of the Pleiades should have been most noticed, and secondly, because neither April nor May are among any nations connected with this constellation by name. Whereas in India the year commenced in the month they calledCartiguey, which means the Pleiades. Among the ancient Egyptians we find the same connection betweenAthar-aye, the name of the Pleiades, with the Chaldeans and Hebrews, andAthorin the Egyptian name of November. The Arabs also call the constellationAtauria. We shall have more to say on this etymology presently, but in the meantime we learn that it was the phenomenon connected with the Pleiades at or about November that was noticed by all ancient nations, from which we must conclude that the origin of the new-year's spring festival came from the southern hemisphere.
There is some corroboration of this in the ancient traditions as to the stars having changed their courses. In the southern hemisphere a man standing facing the position of the sun at noon would see the stars rise on his right hand and move towards his left. In the northern hemisphere, if he also looked in the direction of the sun at noon, he would see them rise on his left hand. Now one of a race migrating from one side to the other of the equator would take his position from the sun, and fancy he was facing the same way when he looked at it at noon, and so would think the motion of the stars to have altered, instead of his having turned round. Such a tradition, then, seems to have arisen from such a migration, the fact of which seems to be confirmed by the calling the Pleiades stars of spring, and commencingthe year with their culmination at midnight. In order to trace this new-year's festival into other countries, and by this means to show its connection with the Pleiades, we must remark that every festival has its peculiar features and rites, and it is by these that we must recognise it, where the actual date of its occurrence has slightly changed; bearing, of course, in mind that the actual change of date must not be too great to be accounted for by the precession of the equinoxes, or about seventy-one years for each day of change, since the institution of the festival, and that the change is in the right direction.
Now we find that everywhere this festival of the Pleiades' culmination at midnight (or it may be of the slightly earlier one of their first appearance at the horizon at apparent sunset) was always connected with the memory of the dead. It was a "feast of ancestors."
Among the Australians themselves, thecorroboreesof the natives are connected with a worship of the dead. They paint a white stripe over their arms, legs, and ribs, and, dancing by the light of their fires by night, appear like so many skeletons rejoicing. What is also to be remarked, the festival lasts three days, and commences in the evening; the latter a natural result of the date depending on the appearance of the Pleiades on the horizon at that time.
The Society Islanders, who, as we have seen, divided their year by the appearance of the Pleiades at sunset, commenced their year on the first day of the appearance, aboutNovember, and also celebrated the closing of one and the opening of a new year by a "usage resembling much the popish custom of mass for souls in purgatory," each man returning to his home to offer special prayers for the spirits of departed relatives.
In the Tonga Islands, which belong to the Fiji group, the festival ofInachi, a vernal first-fruits' celebration, and also a commemoration of the dead takes place towards the end of October, and commences at sunset.
In Peru the new-year's festival occurs in the beginning of November, and is "calledAyamarcafromaya, a corpse, andmarca, carrying in arms, because they celebrated the solemn festival of the dead, with tears, lugubrious songs, and plaintive music; and it was customary to visit the tombs of relations, and to leave in them food and drink." The fact that this took place at the time of the discovery of Peru on the very same day as a similar ceremony takes place in Europe, was only an accidental coincidence, which is all the more remarkable because the two appear, as will be seen in the sequel, to have had the same origin, and therefore at first the same date, and to have altered from it by exactly the same amount. These instances from races south of the equator prove clearly that there exists a very general connection with new-year's day, as determined by the rising of the Pleiades at sunset, and a festival of the dead; and in some instances with an offering of first-fruits. What the origin of thisconnection may be is a more difficult matter. At first sight one might conjecture that with the year that was passed it was natural to connect the men that had passed away; and this may indeed be the true interpretation: but there are traditions and observances which may be thought by some to point to some ancient wide-spread catastrophe which happened at this particular season, which they yearly commemorated, and reckoned a new year from each commemoration. Such traditions and observances we shall notice as we trace the spread of this new-year's festival of the dead among various nations, and its connection, with the Pleiades.
We have seen that in India November is called the month of the Pleiades. Now on the 17th day of that month is celebrated the Hindoo Durga, a festival of the dead, and said by Greswell to have been a new-year's commemoration at the earliest time to which Indian calendars can be carried back.
Among the ancient Egyptians the same day was very noticeable, and they took care to regulate their solar calendars that it might remain unchanged. Numerous altered calendars have been discovered, but they are all regulated by this one day. This was determined by the culmination of the Pleiades at midnight. On this day commenced the solemn festival of the Isia, which, like thecorroboreesof the Australians, lasted three days, and was celebrated in honour of the dead, and of Osiris, the lord of tombs. Now the month Athyr was undoubtedly connected with the Pleiades, being that "in whichthe Pleiades are most distinct"—that is, in which they rise near and before sunset. Among the Egyptians, however, more attention was paid to astronomy than amongst the savage races with which the year of the Pleiades would appear to have originated, and they studied very carefully the connection between the positions of the stars and the entrance of the sun into the northern hemisphere, and regulated their calendar accordingly; as we shall see shortly in speaking of the pyramid builders.
The Persians formerly called the month of NovemberMordâd, the angel of death, and the feast of the dead took place at the same time as in Peru, and was considered a new-year's festival. It commenced also in the evening.
In Ceylon a combined festival of agriculture and of the dead takes place at the beginning of November.
Among the better known of the ancient nations of the northern hemispheres, such as the Greeks and Romans, the anomaly of having the beginning of the year at the autumnal equinox seems to have induced them to make a change to that of spring, and with this change has followed the festival of the dead, although some traces of it were left in November.
The commemoration of the dead was connected among the Egyptians with a deluge, which was typified by the priest placing the image of Osiris in a sacred coffer or ark, and launching it out into the sea till it was borne out of sight.Now when we connect this fact, and the celebration taking place on the 17th day of Athyr, with the date on which the Mosaic account of the deluge of Noah states it to have commenced, "in the second month (of the Jewish year, which corresponds to November), the 17th day of the month," it must be acknowledged that this is no chance coincidence, and that the precise date here stated must have been regulated by the Pleiades, as was the Egyptian date. This coincidence is rendered even stronger by the similiarity of traditions among the two nations concerning the dove and the tree as connected with the deluge. We find, however, no festival of the dead among the Hebrews; their better form of faith having prevented it.
We have not as yet learnt anything of the importance of the Pleiades among the ancient Babylonian astronomers, but as through their tablets we have lately become acquainted with their version of the story of the deluge, we may be led in this way to further information about their astronomical appreciation of this constellation.
From whatever source derived, it is certain that the Celtic races were partakers in this general culture, we might almost call it, of the Pleiades, as shown by the time and character of their festival of the dead. This is especially interesting to ourselves, as it points to the origin of the superstitions of the Druids, and accounts for customs remaining even to this day amongst us.