Reference point of the calendar Sothis ascents
 
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In Egyptology , the reference point of the calendar Sothis rising is understood to be that geographical region in ancient Egypt to which the recording of the heliacal rising of the star Sothis relates. The reference point can be identical to the observation point of the calendar Sothis rising, but it does not have to be; For example, Greenwich Mean Time was used from 1884 to 1926 as the reference point for universal time and was then replaced by Universal Time (UT) .
Reference and observation places of Sothis
When choosing the location for observing the heliacal rising of Sothis, at least one problem arose for the Egyptians: the Sothis rising did not take place at the same time. From the southernmost point of Elephantine, the heliacal sighting was delayed in a northerly direction. In Alexandria , Sothis could not be seen until at least 7 to 8 days later. For the Egyptians, choosing a central location like Memphis meant that the announced dates were considered late for the south and premature for the north.
Richard Lepsius considered a fixed reference point that shows only minimal deviations for all of Egypt. However, since no historical arguments could be found for this possibility, the Egyptologists deleted his considerations from the discussion. The Egyptian chronology was initially based on Memphis as a fixed reference point. In this context, it made sense to see Memphis as a cultural and economic center. However, more recent astronomical and historical data speak against Memphis as the "recording site of Sothis" in the early days of ancient Egypt.
Older eras
In contrast to the earlier traditional assumption of Memphis as an observation site, the sites Thebes and Elephantine were also under discussion. Of both places, however, only Elephantine enables a synchronous classification of the Ebers calendar with the Egyptian chronology.
Jürgen von Beckerath suspected a changing reference location for the epochs before the late period . However, the assumption is inconsistent with the practice of hard data in the Egyptian calendar and in the initial coupling of the heliacal Sothisaufgangs the first Akhet I . The analysis of the records of older Sothis data also shows that the use of only one reference point was practiced.
Greco-Roman time
It is very likely that Memphis or Alexandria were the reference points in the Greco-Roman times . A casual mention of the late antique author Olympiodorus from the 6th century AD makes this statement possible. According to him, the heliacal Sothis sighting was celebrated in Alexandria when "the star of the Memphites" rose. Olympiodors was interested in clarifying political questions in Egyptian history. The relevant calendar-astronomical questions did not fall into his field of research, which is why no distorting tendency can be seen in his reference.
Reference point Elephantine
Mythological connections
There are several factors that speak for the mythological basis for choosing the Upper Egyptian region of Elephantine as the original reference point. The Unification Festival is based on the unification of the empire that started in Upper Egypt. The majority of the formative early cult centers were also in Upper Egypt. Kurt Sethe , on the other hand, postulated Heliopolis in Lower Egypt as a prehistoric center. Recent research cannot confirm Set's assumption. The Egyptologist Jochem Kahl was able to prove that in the early days the red crown of the north meant the north in Naqada , Upper Egypt .
The area around Elephantine is the time of the summer solstice , the only "shadowless" region in Egypt when the sun at noon in the zenith , culminates a special feature that Herodotus mentioned in his reports. In Egyptian mythology, the goddess Sopdet caused the onset of the Nile flood during her heliacal rise , which began in the "sources of the Nile near Elephantine". In connection with this, the measurements of the Nile height made in Elephantine were of great importance in connection with agriculture .
Astronomical basics
The relocation of the reference point from Elephantine to Memphis has been proven beyond doubt from an astronomical point of view . The date of the Canopus Decree was based on Memphis or the Nile Delta as the reference point. The recording of the heliacal rise in the Ebers calendar under Amenophis I was recorded for the 9th Schemu III . There are 38 days between the 1st Schemu II and the 9th Schemu III, which is why the “Ebers date” is between 89 and 86 BC. When Memphis was chosen as the reference site.
In the course of the Sothis cycle , the “Memphis date of the boar calendar” under Amenophis I must be from 1544 to 1541 BC. In retrospect, the founding of the 18th dynasty under Ahmose I in the years 1577 to 1574 BC fall . Would be relocated. Since this change can be excluded on the basis of the ancient Egyptian chronology, the Ebers date proves two different reference locations. For the time of Amenophis I, only Elephantine comes into question, while in Greco-Roman times Memphis or the Nile Delta served as a reference point for the records.
| Heliacal rise of Sothis with reference point Memphis / Nile Delta | |||
| incident | Egyptian date | Possible years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebers calendar (date) | 9. Scheme III | 89 to 86 BC Chr. | |
| Canopus Decree | 1. Schemu II | 241 to 238 BC Chr. | |
| Ebers calendar | 9. Scheme III | 1544 to 1541 BC Chr. | |
| Sesostris III. (7th year of government) | 16. Peret IV | 1875 to 1872 BC Chr. | |
See also
literature
- Rolf Krauss : Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt (= Hildesheimer Egyptological contributions. Vol. 20). Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, ISBN 3-8067-8086-X .
- Hieratic papyri from the State Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage. Delivery 1: Ulrich Luft: The Illahun Archives. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-05-001854-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath : Once again on the reference points of the Sothis data. In: Göttinger Miscellen . (GM). No. 83, 1984, pp. 13-14.
- ↑ Kurt Sethe : Prehistory and the oldest religion of the Egyptians (= treatises for the customer of the Orient. Vol. 18, 4, ISSN 0567-4980 ). German Oriental Society. Leipzig 1930, § 110 (reprint. Kraus, Nendeln 1966).
- ↑ Jochem Kahl : Upper and Lower Egypt: A dualistic construction and its beginnings. In: Rainer Albertz (Ed.): Spaces and Limits. Topological concepts in the ancient cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (= sources and research on the ancient world. Vol. 52). Utz, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8316-0699-3 , pp. 3-28 ( online ).
- ↑ Herodotus: Historien , Book 2, 118.
- ↑ a b Rolf Krauss: Sothis and moon dates. 1985, pp. 70-71.