“Reflections on the Dendara Zodiac: Addressing the What, When and Why” Rosalind Park (EEG Meeting Talk)
On Sunday Rosalind Park talked to the Essex Egyptology Group about the Dendara Zodiac ceiling, and astrology in Ancient Egypt. The Dendara Zodiac was originally in one of the chapels on the roof of the Hathor Temple at Dendara. When discovered by Napoleon’s expedition in 1799 it was removed from the temple (with gunpowder!) and brought back to France. It’s now on display in the Louvre (see the picture below that I took when I visited in 2011). And in its place in Dendara is a plaster cast (which has been painted black to mimic the original). It’s a pretty big visitor attraction in the Louvre but it has been largely ignored by Egyptologists. When the ceiling was discovered hieroglyphs hadn’t been deciphered, but some of the astronomical/astrological symbols on the ceiling were recognisable as ones that have been passed down to Western culture via the Greeks (like a crab,… Read More »“Reflections on the Dendara Zodiac: Addressing the What, When and Why” Rosalind Park (EEG Meeting Talk)