Astronomical Myths Part 5

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 3000 B.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.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ZODIAC.

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 invisible _beneath 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. But leaving 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 pa.s.sed the meridian at midnight at a certain time, and that six months afterwards the group exactly opposite in the heavens pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sociated 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 circ.u.mference 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 called _Nakshatras_ (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 lat.i.tude 40. This arose from the brightness of the moon extinguis.h.i.+ng 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 word _siou_ does 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 they corresponded 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, called _Abigitten_, 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 called _Pervis_, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 c.o.c.k, the Dog, and the Pig. The j.a.panese 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, wis.h.i.+ng to immortalise herself, asked Jehanjir to be allowed to reign for four-and-twenty hours, and took the opportunity to have a large quant.i.ty 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, _Taschter_ over the east, _Sateris_ over the west, _Venaud_ over the south, and _Hastorang_ over the 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 being to 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 a.s.signed, 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 it _does_ then enter--be it Fishes, or Aquarius, or the Ram--is called by the same name--and is called a _sign_; 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 former must 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 always _nearly_ at the same angle, this curve will be very nearly a circle, as represented on preceding page.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 motion _relatively_ to 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 ill.u.s.tration now, though not a very satisfactory one. Hipparchus cites a pa.s.sage from the sphere of Eudoxus, in which he says, _Est vero stella quaedam in eodem consistens loco, quae 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 1300 B.C. the two stars, [Greek: b] Ursae Minoris and [Greek: k] 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 or a little after, although, of course, there is nothing in _this_ argument (though there may be in others), to prevent us dating it when [Greek: a] Draconis was near the pole, 2850 B.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 to _confirm_ our 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 years B.C., or nearly 2,000 years ago, at which time the equinox was exactly at [Greek: b]

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 4456 B.C., and any nearer approximation must depend on our ability to fix on any particular _part_ of the constellation as the original equinoctial point. We may say that whoever invented the zodiac would no doubt make this point the _beginning_ of a sign, and therefore date its invention 2400 B.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 back the 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 c.u.m cornibus annum Taurus."

The date in this case would be about 4500 B.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 the _Pleiades_ actually does play this part. So much interest cl.u.s.ters, 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 pa.s.s 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, _A_ stands for Taurus, _B_ for 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 with zodiacal signs, and Taurus at the head of them. The zodiac of the paG.o.da of Elephanta (Salsette) commences with the same constellation.

However, reasons have been given for a.s.signing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.]

In the first instance, no doubt, the names of the zodiacal constellations would depend on the princ.i.p.al star or stars in each, and these stars and the portion of the ecliptic a.s.signed to 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 Oenopides 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 formed separately, 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 the _Greeks_ in 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 more accurately 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 a.s.sociated 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 Scarabaeus, and the Fish, without perceiving the absurdity of it.

It is certain at least that the G.o.ds 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 than _vice versa_.

Among the Greeks indeed, who had, so to speak, their G.o.ds 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 G.o.ds. 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 their patriarchs and these signs, though the history of that connection may not well be made out. The twelve signs are mentioned as being wors.h.i.+pped, 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 wors.h.i.+pped 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 a.s.s 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 culture in 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 a.s.sign definitely each G.o.d 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 G.o.d Apis, who was wors.h.i.+pped 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 name _neomenia_. They characterised the neomenias of the various months by making the animal whose sign the sun was entering accompany the Isis which announced the _fete_. 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.