FOREIG N. RECENT PUBLICATIONS, AND Literary and Scientific Intelligence. THE ZODIAC of DENDERA, (With a Plate.) THIS highly interesting monument of Egyptian learning, at a time long antecedent to the Christian era, is the envied property of the King of France, who purchased it of M. Saulnier, for the benefit of the French nation. Although it has been for some time exhibited to the public, it still attracts a crowd of curious admirers to the Museum, where it is for the present deposited; it will, however, soon be removed to the Royal Library, where it is to remain. The most learned of all countries, who visit Paris, are not less anxious to study, than the public in general are to view, this venerable remain of antiquity. The elucidation of the Zodiac of Dendera employs the pens of many of the ablest antiquaries on the Continent of Europe, among whom may be particularly mentioned M. Sickler, who has published a dissertation in the Algemeine Litteratur Zeitung; and M. l'abbe Halma, who has published three memoirs, at Paris; M. Biot also has read at the Academy of Sciences, and communicated to the Academy of Inscriptions, a very elaborate work on the same subject. M. Fourier is also preparing a memoir; and M. M. Saulnier and Lelorrain, to whose enterprizing and indefatigable exertions Europe, and especially France, is indebted for this zodiacal monument, are publishing a new engraving. M. Francœur has also given to the world a notice of this antiquarian curiosity in the Revue Encyclo'pedique. Although all these disquisitions are very erudite, they are also very different; we have therefore thought that an engraving of the Zodiac of Dendera, accompanied with a brief historical and descriptive account of it, would not be unacceptable to our readers; our endeavours may probably gratify curiosity or stimulate research. When the French, who were pursuing the course of the Nile to penetrate into Upper Egypt, under the command of General Desaix, arrived at Dendera, the ancient Tentyris, scattered ruins announced to them the site of an ancient city, but the rubbish they at first perceived did not allow them to form an idea of the state of preservation of the edifices they were to behold. At the sight of the great temple of Dendera they were all struck with a general sentiment of admiration, and the whole army rent the air with applause. A singular homage paid by the French to the civilization and genius of men who had preceded them by three thousand years! In surveying the halls of the temple, General Desaix first discovered the Circular Zodiac which is now in Paris; he informed the learned men who attended the Egyptian expedition, and they exhibited the greatest anxiety to become acquainted with this wonder of Thebais, the palaces of Louqsor and Karnac, and a cluster of monuments that attested the ancient splendour of regions at this period almost a desert. M. Denon hastened to Dendera to admire these superb edifices, and to take a copy of the Zodiac. Among the learned, who attended the expedition into Egypt, were several students under the superintendence of the celebrated professors M. M. Berthollet, Monge, We cannot suffer this opportunity to pass without giving our unqualified approbation to this monthly publication. The Revue Encyclopedique possesses the very rare quality of being devoted exclusively to Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts. Politics and Religion are alike excluded, and it is for that reason as well as others, like the European Magazine under its present manage'ment, an acceptable visitor in all families. The Revue Encyclopedique is divided into four Sections:-1st, Memoirs, Notices, and Miscellanies—2nd, Analyses of and Extracts from the most approved Publications-3rd, Bibliographical Bulletin, containing notices of the best works recently published in all countries-4th, Scientific and Literary Intelligence from every part of the globe. Eur. Mag. Vol. 82. 3 G 442 and Fourier. Among these young stu dents were, Malus, Lancret, Jomard, Samuel Bernard, Corabæuf, Jollois, Devilliers, Dupuis, &c. To the last three we are indebted for the discovery of another Zodiac at Dendera, which is on a much grander scale than the former. Scarcely had M. M. Jollois and Devilliers heard, at Syout, of the discovery that had just been made of these monuments of Thebais than they formed the project of exploring them; they went to Qene, a modern town, two leagues from Dendera, situated on the opposite border of the Nile. General Belliard, who commanded there, approved of the object of their journey, and promised them an escort every time they should go to Tentyris; but these visits became so frequent that they were unwilling to make such constant use of this favour. A boatman, whom they bribed at a high price for the additional risk in trespassing on the General's orders, carried them to the western border of the Nile; whence they proceeded to the examination of the monuments they intended to take drawings of, in defiance of the heat and the pestilential vapours of a burning climate, and the privation of repose, so desirable near the torrid zone, to which may be added the fear of encountering the Arabs. The last danger was perhaps the greatest, and it was to guarantee their safety in this particular, that General Belliard ordered them not to leave Qene without an escort. One of them, descending into a gloomy and encumbered ball, shuddered with horror at finding his feet resting on a dead body. By the light of his flambeau he discovered that a man, with his hands bound, had been strangled about two years since; he was most probably some unfortunate traveller, who had been robbed and assassinated by the Arabs, and then precipitated into this vault to prevent all traces of the crime. This man had perished in this inhospitable clime a victim to the admiration he felt on beholding this ancient monument! These sorrowful reflections did not cool the zeal of the young students, and it is to their exertions we owe the only faithful copies of the Egyptian Zodiac. When they had penetrated through the rubbish that surrounded the temple, which did not promise any thing to indemnify them for the trouble of their journey, a new appearance suddenly presented itself; which we give in the words of M. Dubois-Aymé :—“ I was slowly advancing, when, at the mo ment of attaining the eminence, I rais ed my eyes and beheld six female heads of a colossal size. My imagi permit the perception of any other nation thus suddenly awakened did not object; I remained for an instant motionless with astonishment. I knew place; this was all I had remembered; that I should find a temple in this and figures that were before me. When I had no anticipation of the dimensions I recovered my surprise, I perceived on further advancing, the majestic faornaments that form its decoration. I cade of the temple, and the numerous ed aloud, 'How beautiful!' and repeatcannot describe my feelings; I exclaimed it to my Qaouâs, as if they could understand me." After passing a door, the effect of which is grand and imposing, the portico of the grand temple is discovered. The entablature is supported, sixty feet high, by the six colossal figures of Isis before mentioned. The beholder feels to a fairy region, and is struck with as if he were suddenly transported inadmiration. Ail the walls, interior as well as exterior, according to the Egyptian cus tom, are ornamented and entirely covered with sculpture; even the columns are so decorated. These sculptures were formerly stained with different colours, and part of them is still in a thus, undoubtedly, the Egyptians regood state of preservation. It was impressions were their sacred language, corded their remarkable events: these the walls were their books. On these monuments were found two inscriptions, which led several persons to attribute them to the Greeks or the Romans. The Gothic architecture, the elevated winged, neither has it two faces; and The whole forms a mass of architecture made to triumph over time; and while these ancient monuments still exist, those built since the time of Alexander are buried in the dust.Besides, how are we to believe in the non-existence of these superb edifices, which Herodotus represents as very ancient even in his time? And is it possible that, unknown to the universe, a vanquished nation should receive from its conquerors, without their having deigned to speak of them, monuments, that in splendour and extent surpass all that is most admirable elsewhere? The two inscriptions do not prove, that we are indebted to the Grecians and Romans for these temples; they are, simply, the dedications of flattery to formidable enslavers. What would be said in future ages to the men, who should affirm against historical evidence, that Napoleon constructed the Louvre, grounding his belief on the cyphers that are engraved on every part of the palace? But this is too seriously discussing au opinion, that does not bear even the appearance of truth; and which, after all, decides nothing, with regard to the antiquity of the Egyptians. But supposing this Zodiac to have been invented by them, and afterwards imitated by the Greeks, of which the spheres of Eudoxus and Eratosthenes are examples, still the glory of the invention must be conceded to the Egyptians, and the distant period to which we are compelled to recur, in order to interpret the astronomical facts they represent, is an additional proof of their high antiquity. The whole of the buildings consist of several interior halls. A staircase, that is impassable on account of the fallen rubbish, leads to the terrace, on which has been built, by the Arabs, a village, consisting of a few miserable huts; the terrace can only be ascended by means of a steep eminence, composed of heaped-up rubbish. The village was built in this asylum, because the horses of the Bedouins cannot climb the dangerous path. One of the Zodiacs is placed beneath the portico. It is carved on the sides of the ceiling; six of the signs commencing with the Lion, are on a fillet, and appear retiring from the temple; while the other six, on a parallel fillet, seem entering; so that these twelve signs, in the order they are represented on the Zodiac, and a crowd of other emblematic devices that are mixed with them, form a grand procession. We are indebted to Mr. Fourier for an ingeni. ous remark, which serves to explain the whole scene, which represents the appearance of the heavens at the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Sun being in the Constellation of Cancer. The symbolical figures are evidently intended to represent the characteristic epoch of the inundation of the Nile; this pheno menon, which occurs annually, shortly after the Summer Solstice, is the cause of the great fecundity of the soil; in every age, the inhabitants have celebrated its return by festivities; and it is one of the events represented by the Zodiac. On the terrace of the temple is a pavillion, with three divisions: the first is without a roof, and leads into the second, which has two windows, and thence into the third, which receives light from the door only; all the walls are covered with beautifully carved figures; the painting has yielded to the influence of time, or has been destroyed by the smoke of the flambeaus used by travellers in their researches. It is in the middle division that the Circular Zodiac is situated. The ceiling of this hall is divided into two equal parts, by a figure, carved in a kind of cylindrical niche, and its feet are in the very finest style of sculpture. Along each side runs a border of hieroglyphics; and in the left space is the Zodiac we are going to describe,—an Engraving of which we have inserted in the present Number. A medallion, covered with sculpture, is supported by twelve figures, each in the attitude most appropriate to the action represented; a circular band or border, on which hieroglyphics are engraved, entirely surrounds the medallion; on its circumference, is a row of figures, with their heads turned towards the centre; they are all of the same height, and form a circular procession, about five feet in diameter. In the interior of this circle are a great number of symbolical devices, the greater portion of which are representations of the Constellations, the most conspicuous being the twelve signs of the Zodiac, with precisely the same forms and attributes as they are represented on the Great Zodiac of the Portico. And as the ranging them in a circle would prevent the possibility of distinguishing which of the signs took the lead, the artist, in order to shew that the Lion is the conductor or chief of the procession, has turned the figures of the Twins and of Cancer, that bring up the rear, so as to draw them nearer the centre. Thus, the curve of the twelve Constellations is very nearly spiral, with a single revolution, and the Cancer and the Lion are placed on the same radius of this circumference. It is obvious, that the signs of the Zodiac in this representation are intended as a fac-simile of those carved on the sides of the portico; it is, also, a procession, in which each figure faces the back of the preceding; and this order is equally observed with the unknown figures that are on the Zodiac. They are so placed, that the Sun performs his revolution, commencing with the Lion, and terminating with the Cancer. In the two Zodiacs of Dendera, the Constellations do not bear any relation to the size and distance observed in the celestial hemisphere. It is evident, that the astronomical figures, here represented, are not intended for images of the heavens: the Circular Zodiac is not a planisphere, though that name has been frequently given to it. But it is not the less certain, that the subjects transmitted to posterity, by the aid of the chissel, are astronomical, and that the Zodiacal Constellations are of Egyptian invention: and that, at Dendera, the Lion is the sign that in ancient times presided in the heavens at the commencement of the inundation of the Nile. Among the twelve large figures, that appear to sustain the Zodiac on the outside of the medallion, are two emblems, that greatly assimilate to the beams of a balance. They are placed at the opposite extremities of a diameter, that pass from the Scorpion to the Bull. These emblems are evidently intended to indicate the two sigus of the Equinox, In the same contour there are two hieroglyphical devices, also, opposite to each other, that square with a diameter extending from the Lion to the Water-bearer, which were then the Solstitical signs. These four emblems are the only ones carved in the spaces left between the twelve large figures. The position in which they are placed is too remarkable to leave a doubt, as to the intention of the artist, which was to indicate the Solstices and the Equinoxes. Though the medallion is not a planisphere, all the signs, that characterise the state of the heavens at the period it was constructed, are there assembled. It was exceedingly difficult to copy on the spot the multitude of figures represented in these two compartments. To say nothing of the danger of the enterprise, it was necessary to remain in a very irksome position, to observe carefully all the proportions of size and distance between unintelligible and fantastical figures, and to work only during those hours, that a proper light was thrown upon the sculpture. We ought not, therefore, to reproach M. M. Denon and Hamilton with the frequent misrepresentations found in their copies; but we must pay our tribute of applause to M. M. Jollois and Devilliers, whose designs were executed with extreme fidelity, which is the more praiseworthy, because, while they were occupied in this dangerous undertaking, they could have no idea, that France would one day possess these very Zodiacs, and that their works would be tried by so rigorous a test. The antiquity of this monument, or rather of the time to which we must refer to find that state of the heavens represented in these works, is very easily ascertained. We know that the changes produced in the celestial ap pearances of the heliacal risings of Sirius are the effects of the precession of the equinoxes. We must go back, at least eight hundred years, perhaps more, before our era, to find the celes tial phenomena represented in these monuments. We are led by these observations to a most remarkable historical fact; that Egypt, thirty centuries ago, was in the very highest state of prosperity, and that the arts and sciences were there cultivated with the greatest success. But the temples of Esné prove a still greater antiquity. The circular Zodiac of Dendera is, as has been before mentioned, carved in a kind of compact freestone, the cieling of the hall is composed of three great stones, so admirably cemented together, that the places where they were joined were not discovered until measures were commenced to remove them. One of these stones bears almost the whole of the zodiacal medallion, besides eight of the twelve large figures which seem to support it: the whole forms a long square, about twelve feet in length, and six in breadth; the second stone, which occupies the middle of the cieling, is of finer and more dense free-stone, it contains the remainder of the Zodiac and the four other large figures that sustain that part, the grain of the stone being closer, the sculpture is more delicate and better preserved. The same stone, when it formed part of the cieling, contained also the beautiful figure of Isis, that reaches along the small axis of the hall, and a part of the hierogly. phical figures of the remainder of the cieling that is covered by the third stone. These three stones are of very |