Acts of the Conference Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient

World. British Museum London, June 25-27 2001, ed. J. M. Steele & A. lmhausen
(AOT 297; Münster 2009)

The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus:

Astronomical and Mythological References

Rolf Krauss, Berlin

The Eye of llorus as a HeavenlY BodY

The eye of Horus is a very complex mythological notion.t One of its aspects
is

,or*ological. In the Hymns to the Diadem th9 eye of Honrs is addressed as

the
White Crown and identihed as a heavenly body:2

Praise to the White Crown:

Veneration to You, eYe of Horus,
white one, great one, at whose beauty the Ennead rejoices,
when it rises in the eastern horizon.
Those who are in the lifting up of Shu praise thee,
those who go down in the western horizon,
when you shed light for those who are in the Duat'

In 191 1 Adolf Erman identified the eye of Horus here as the sun, which indeed rises
in the east and may shed light to those in the netherworld after setting in the west.
that the
Erman based his interpretation on the notion, well-known in ancient Egypt,
sun and moon were the tvro eyes of the sky god. Since Erman's day Egyptological
scholarship has determined that this idea evolved very late historiäally speaking-3
show
The Hymns to the Diadem date to the Middle Kingdonr, and thus they cannot
any trace of the idea that the sun was one of the eyes of the sky
god'
But even in Erman's day, the "great, white eye of Horus" could have. lt:"
with its
understood alternatiuely as a star which rises in the east. Simultaneous
the which embodies the eye of
ascent, other stars set in the west. As long as star
Horus is visible, i.e. until sunrise, it sheds light for
its the blessed dead who
themselves are stars in a part of the sky understood as the Duat'
the
The issue is complir"trd because the eye of Horus is sometimes described as
eye of the sun god Rä, as in the following citations from the Pyramid
Texts:

(PT $ 6e8 b-d. T.P.M.)

the Sehed star of NN will be made high with Ra,

I Wesrr,NDoRF (1980), P.48-51.

2 EnuRN (l9l l),p.22.
SpntneRs (1934), p. 85f; Ruontrzxv (1956)' p' lZf'
'
194 R. Krauss

that NN travels to and fro is in the Fields of Offering.

NN is this eye of Ra which spends the night
and is conceived and born every day.

Variant ($ 698 d. N):

NN is this eye of Horus which spends the night
and is conceived and born each day.

Kurt Sethe in his commentary to this text explained the eye of Ra as simply another
name for the sun itself.a He did not attach much importance to the variant "eye of
Horus" for "eye of Ra". Yet Sethe himself remarked the contradiction inherent in his
interpretation according to which the sun would travel to and fro in the Fields of
Offering, since the Fields of Offering are otherwise quite clearly a part of the starry
night sky. By contrast to Sethe, Rudolf Anthes considered it quite possible to explain
the eye of the sun as a star or at least an entity differing from the sun itself.s An
argument in favour of this proposal is found in the well-known myth about the eye of
the sun god which left its lord to search for his twin children. When the eye returned
to the sun god, another eye had grown in its place. The original eye became
exceedingly angry and raged against the sun god. To pacify the eye the sun god gave
it another place on his brow.6 If this myth reflects reality or nature, then the eye
which leaves the sun god and afterwards returns to him cannot be identical with the
sun disk itself.

The Planet Venus as the Eye of Horus

The prime candidate for a heavenly body which moves away from the sun only to
return is the planet Venus. It can be hypothesized that Venus embodies the eye of Ra
as well as the eye of Horus. The mythological notion that there are two eyes of Horus
could relate to Venus as the Morning Star: Horus the Younger and as the Evening
Star = Horus the Elder. Both these forms of the god Horus were sons of Osiris and
Isis. The Elder Horus was conceived and born before Seth, the brother of Osiris and
Isis, killed Osiris. The Younger Horus was conceived posthumously, after the
murder of Osiris.
Egyptologists know that the gods around Osiris embody stars and constellations.
Osiris himself appears as the constellation Orion, whereas Isis is identical with the
fixed star Sirius, and Seth is the planet Mercury.7 In a struggle, Seth gouged out
Horus's eye . The wounded eye went missing, but the moon god Thoth returned it to
Horus and made it whole again. Because of the planetary association attested for
Seth and the proposed planetary association of Horus with Venus, it is feasible that

o Srrnr, (1962),p.277.
t ANrrms (1961), p.9.
u Orro (1975),p.564f.
t Nrucrseuenand PaRxln (1969), p. 180.
 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Mythological References 195

the myth about the eye, lust wounded and afterwards healed, Ieflects astronomical
observations centering on Mercury, Venus and the moon.8

The Eye of Horus the Elder as Venus, the Evening Star, in the
Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days
The so-called calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Dayse contains information which
reinforces the identification of Seth with the planet Mercury and shows that the eye
of Horus the Elder embodies the planet Venus as the Evening Star.'' The calendar
contains prognostications for each day which is termed either "lucky" or "unlucky"
accordingly. In general, the predictions are based on the activities of gods. The
calendar, which is preserved in two manuscripts dating from around 1200 BCE, runs
through one entire civil year from day I to day 365. For the convenience of non-
Egyptologists in what follows, I shall not refer to the days in terms of the Egyptian
calendar, but count them instead from 1 to 365.
Horus or his eye is mentioned from day 18 to day 350, i.e. during a time span of
332 days. If Horus or his eye does indeed represent the planet Venus, the entries
cannot relate to continual visibility as Morning or Evening Star, because one such
phase does not last more than 270 days. The calendar specihcally mentions Horus
the Elder's eye on days 213 and 218 and again on days 3l I and 315. On day 218 the
eye of Horus the Elder is said to be incomplete, because its parts are counted as
fractions whose sum amounts to less than ll2. But on day 349 the eye of Horus is
described as in a state of particular completeness: "This eye of Horus has come,
being hlled, being sound, nothing is missing in it."
If this state of affairs is the continuation of what was described on day 218, then
we are dealing with the same eye of Horus between days 213 and 350, that is, for a
period of 137 days or more than half a visibility period of 270 days. The period of
visibility in question should have ended on day 350 + x and started 270 days earlier
on day 80 + x. Therefore Horus or his eye which are mentioned between days 18 and
72 should not relate to the eye of Horus the Elder, but rather to the eye of Horus the
Younger. It is possible to determine which eye of Horus relates to the Evening Star
or the Moming Star, because the calendar provides information about a period of
invisibility after day 72:

day 103: Appearance of the White One

day I I l: Search for the Akhet eYe
day 168: Search for the Akhet eye in Letopolis
day 169: Finding/Seeing ofthe god

In the guise of the White One, the eye of Horus appeared on day l03.rtThe search
for the Akhet eye is to be understood as a search for the eye of Horus.'' The fact that
t Kneuss (1997),p.287 ff.
n Lsnz(1994).
'o Kreuss (1990), pp.49-56; KRAUSS (1999), pp.233-254.
tt For White One as a synonym for the eastern eye of Horus, cf. the Hymns to the Diadem,
above.
 196 R. Krauss

there was a search for the Akhet eye on day l l l could indicate
that the eye was
difficult to find or was not to be found at all. Fifty-seven days later
a search for the
Akhet eye was made in Letopolis, the cult centre of Horus the Elder.
The following
day, the god was found or seen. The 57 day interval between
the two searches
corresponds to the lower range of the approximately 55 to 70
days of invisibility of
Venus between Moming and Evening star phases. (The invisibility
of venus
between Evening and Morning star phase amounts to about
indicates that the eye of Horus the Elder is to be identified
19 days
"t;";t.j i;;;
as the Evening Star in the
Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days.
one day after the hnding or seeing the god, the udjat eye, another
designation of
the eye of Horus, had moved towards the south and kept on moving
in this direction
until, on day 190, the eye was on the move towards the north.

day 170: The Udjat eye moves towards the south

day 188: Following the eye two gods move towards the south
day 190: Two Gods accompany the mighty flame towards the north

In astronomical terms, the movement of the udjat eye or the ..mighty flame,,
first
southwards and then northwards indicates that the rouih"rn
declinatön of venus was
first decreasing and then increasing for 20 days at most following first
visibility. The
designation udjat eye was used indiscriminately for the right ä t"rt of Horus
from the New Kingdom onwards.la "y"

Astronomical Dating of the Carendar of Lucky and unlucky Days

If_the interpretation suggested here be accepted, it should be possible
to determine in
which particular year venus as the Evening star became visitre
after 5g days or less
of invisibility around day 169 and when the planet's southern declination
started to
decrease some days later. Because the oldest manuscript
of the calendar dates to the
reign of Merneptah at the latest, the year in question äught to be
earlier than 1204
BCE when he died. on the assumption that the calendaioriginated
in Memphis or
Heliopolisrs and that the observations it records were made ihere,
ihe astronomlcal
computations are calculated for latitude 29.9o, using UraniaStar 16
l . 1.
whether the Akhet eye alias Venus was found or seen on day l l
r is equivocal;
therefore, it is unclear whetler invisibility lasted 58 days or less.
the invisibility of
Venus continues for about 58 t 3 days when the upper conjunction
takes place at
solar longitude between 230" and 330o; thereafter, the onr"t of
evening vlsibility
occurs 24 to.-34 days after upper conjunction, i.e. at solar longitude
of ca. 2540 to
(360' +; 4o.17 These conditions implyihe pe.ioa between 1700
and 1250 BCE when

l2
Akhet eye is a designation ofthe eye ofHorus on days 295 and 309;
cf. berow
t3
vAN DER Waentslr (1942), p. 50.
l4
Grurprrns (1958), p. l82ff.
t5
Letrz (1994), p. 8.
t6
PlErscrsrrc and VollueNN (1995).
t7
vRNorn.WetRoeN (1942), p. 50; Hunnn (1982), p. 1 l.
 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Mythological References 197

day 169, as the begiruring of evening visibility, corresponded to a solar longitude of

ca. 254" to (360" +) 40. Within this period the onset of evening visibility took place
in Lower Egypt on day 169 only in the following years, each separated from the next
by an interval of 8 years reflecting the short-term cyclic behaviour ofVenus:

-1305/04 -1289/88 -1273172

-1297t96 -1281/80 -1265164

Before -1305/04 Venus became visible in Lower Egypt on day 170 or earlier; at that
time the southern declination was decreasing, not increasing around day 169' In
years later than -1265164 Venus became visible before day 169, at a time when the
southern declination was increasing. Figure 1 illustrates the movement of the
Evening Star southwards in -1305/04, -1297196 and -1265164. The situation in other
cyclic years can be interpolated. After -1305/04 the movement southwards became
more conspicuous and oflonger duration.

Figure 1. Positions of Venus between day 169 and 200,

30 minutes after sunset; horizon at Memphis, years
-1305104, -1297196 and -1265164

Taking into consideration the times of Mercury's, alias Seth's, visibility reduces the
number of possible alternatives. The calendar records a case of visibility on day 164:'
"Do not go out on it at the begiruring of dawn. It is the day of seeing the rebel and
Seth's killing him in the bow of the great barque of the sun god." Presuming that
198 R. Krauss

Mercury is Seth, the notion of the god standing in the bow of the solar barque can be
understood as Mercury seen at dawn on the eastern horizon.l8 For the ancient
Egyptians who imagined that the sun god travelled in a barque, it was evident that
Mercury-Seth stood in the prow of the solar barque. Between -1305104 and -1265164
the planet was visible on day 164 only in the following years:

-1305/04
_1297196
-1265t64

These years fit the astronomical indications of the calendar to a greater or lesser
extent. For example -1265/64 hts the entry for day 340 to a lesser degree than the
two other possible years: "It is the day of the entering of the eye of Ra into his [the
sun god's] horizon." As stated above, the eye of the sun god is identical with the eye
of Horus. Therefore the text seerns to say that the eye of Horus the Elder (venus the
Evening Star) set at the same spot on the horizon where the sun had set earlier on the
same evening. In principle this situation pertains when the declination of Venus the
Evening Star and the setting sun is the same. There are uncertainties to consider,
such as the ancient observer's definition of sunset and different values of refraction
for the setting of the sun and of Venus. The following table contains the differences
in declinations of venus, minus declinations of the sun, between sunset and the
setting of Venus around day 340 for the three years in question:

day -1304 -1296 -1264

335 +5'
336 +11' +4J',
53t -12' +30'
338 -36' -6'
339 -60' -lg'
340 -83' -41' +127'
341 +104'
342 +80'
343 +56'
344 +32'
345 +9'
346 -15'
341 -39',

The declinations of the sun and Venus do not match on day 340 in any of the three
alternatives. In the years -1291196 und -1305/04 the declinations were more or less
identical very shortly before day 340, but not in -1265164. Therefore it is more likely
that the calendar refers to -1297 19 6 or - I 305/04 than to -1265 I 64.

't KReuss (1990), p. 52

 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Myhological References 199

Venus and Mercury at the Western Horizon in -1297196

There follows an analysis ofselect calendar entries:
day 214: Gods and goddesses are satisfied, when they see the children of Geb resting
on their thrones.
day 215: Setting forth of the majesty of Horus.

Geb's children of day 214 are evidently identical with the children of Geb's spouse
Nut of day 28 (see below). The situation described for day 214 seems to be a
conjunction of Mercury and Venus. In the preceding days Venus had gotten nearer to
Mercury. On day 216 Venus passed by Mercury: Venus's movement on day 215 may
have been understood by the observer as "setting forth". This interpretation of days
214 and 215 is only possible in -1297196, but not in -1305/04 and -1265164, when
Mercury was not visible in the evening around day 214. This indicates that the
calendar originated in -1297 196.

horizon
240" 250' 260

Figure 2. Conjunction of Mercury and Venus on day 214 in

-1296,30 minutes after sunset; horizon at Memphis.

More than a month later, on day 250, the calendar records: "Setting forth of the
majesty [or: the White One] of the sky going north."tt This could relate to the fact
that around day 250 Venus moved into the northwestern part of the sky, north from
azimuth270".
On day 250 the position of Venus was about 30o west of Orion; a month later
Venus passed Orion whose heliacal setting started around that date in antiquity.
There is a slight possibility that the calendar entry of day 276 relates to Venus
passing by Orion: "Setting forth by Horus to repel what is done against his father and
taking advice with the followers of his father Onnofris." As Figure 3 shows, Horus,
alias Venus, met Jupiter and Saturn in close conjunction on day 2'76.Under the given
circumstances Jupiter and Saturn could have been described as followers of Orion,

'n Kneuss (1999), p.238.

 R. Krauss

alias osiris. The veiled reference to something unpleasant that happened to orion,
alias Osiris, could be understood as the heliacal setting of the stars ofOriotl Figure
3
illustrates the stars of the Greek Orion for the reader's orientation. I follow Locher in
identiffing the 'belt stars' of the Greek orion as the stars above the head (the crown)
of the Egyptian Orion.2o

horizon
230' 250' 270
Figure 3. conjunction of venus, Jupiter and Saturn, on day 276 in -1296,
30 minutes after sunset; horizon at Memphis.

Between day 303 and 324 the calendar refers to a crisis which was foreshadowed
on
day 295, when the Akhet eye was described as satisfied; soon thereafter the
wrath of
the eye would erupt.

day 295: The Akhet eye is satisfied

day 300: setting forth of Shu. He will bring back the udjat-eye. It is
. pacified on this day by Thoth
day 303: Raging of the majesty
day 305: Going of the goddess to the place whence she came
day 309: Peace between Ra and the Akhet eye
day 3l l: The eye of Horus the Elder, rages against Ra
day 314: Raging of the eye of Horus the Elder
day 324: He intends to move back towards the south.

The number of calendar entries during the period shows that the observer was
intrigued by this period of crisis, when venus srowed down on the way northwards
and then started returning towards the south. The return is inauguiated by
the

20 Locnan (1993),
pp. 279-281.
 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Mythological References 201

"setting forth of Shu", who shall bring back the eye, and by the pacifrcation of the
eye by Thoth. Thoth and Shu appear here in their traditional roles vis-ä-vis the Udjat
It is possible that the remark about Shu was inserted after the return of the eye.
"y".'t
Otherwise it is necessary to suppose that the observer already knew on day 300 that
the return of the eye was imminent. It is feasible that the observer knew about the 8
year cycle of Venus and that, on the basis of what had occurred in -1305/04 he
anticipated what would happen in -1291196.
The eye raged on days 303, 3 I I and 3 14, but was peaceful on day 309. It just so
happens that these are the days when Venus slowed down, but it remains unclear
how the observer understood raging and peacefulness. The remark on day 324 about
"his" intention to move towards the south can be understood in terms of astronomy.
The observer could have realized on that day that Venus had moved southwards after
standing still around day 310: According to computation Venus set on day 310 at an
azimuth of 300" 8', on day 324 of 299' 35'. The difference amounts to the diameter
of a full moon which may well have been detectable with the aid of a plumbline.

c\|

o.v 3d
,hy
aos
9r_
,t%

260' 210 2AO'

Figure 4. Positions of Venus after day 240 in -1296, 30 minutes after sunset;
horizon at Memphis.

Actually it was the northern declination of Venus which reached its maximum during
these days of crisis, whereas the elongation was still increasing. The elongation
reached its maximum around day 354, when the calendar does not mention Horus or
his eye. But it does so 5 days earlier, on day 349, when, for practical purposes, the
elongation had already attained its maximum. On day 349 the calendar records that
the eye of Horus had come, was filled and complete, without anything missing. This

'' JLrHxrn (1917), pp 124,151.

 R. Krauss

assertion could relate to the state of maximum elongation when the brilliance of the
Evening Star is very conspicuous.
The situation on day 349 is reminiscent of what the calendar recorded for day
213 or about 130 days earlier: "Fight of the great ones with the goddess l{zpyt
[uraeus at the brow]. She counts what lies ahead of her. That eye of the Elder Horus
(1ryfusn they> see
comes into being as a lion. Day 218: The Ennead is in veneratior,
that eye of Horus the Elder in its place, being counted in all its parts. 1164, lll28,
ll4, ll8,1116 lll are with it in all of its countings."
The information that the eye of Horus the Elder underwent a change, becoming a
lion on day 213, could relate astronomically to those evenings when Venus asserts
herself by remaining visible longer in the evening and becoming brighter. Five days
later the fractions of the eye of Horus are mentioned. Because of the lacunae in the
text it is unclear whether all fractions were enumerated. The anomalous presence of
1/128 argues against a reconstruction of the complete series which ends with l/64.
Comparing the remark for day 349 with that for day 218, the latter probably means
that the eye has not yet been completely filled, i.e. that the planet had not yet attained
its maximum brilliance.

Venus and Mercury at the Eastern Horizon in -1297196

Venus the Morning Star became visible months before day I of the Calendar of
Lucky and Unlucky Days. According to computation with UraniaStar 1.1 Venus
remained visible in all of Egypt between day I and day 1 I 1 or day ll2. The search
for the Akhet eye on day I I l, considered above, would have taken place on the last
day of visibility or the last but one.
The entries for days 25 to 28 concern not only Venus but Mercury as well: Day
25: Sakhmet goes to the east, to repel the confederates of Seth. Day 26: Fight
between Horus and Seth in the Duat/Underworld. Isis helps Seth. Horus turns against
Isis. Isis mns away from Horus. Day 27: Peace between Horus and Seth. Day 28:
Children of Nut are peaceful and content.
Sakhmet is a well-known mythological designation for the eye of Horus.22 The
calendar's assertion that Sakhmet went to the east on day 25 could express the fact
that the eye of Horus, alias Sakhmet, was seen as Morning Star on that day. Because
Seth/Mercury had become visible in the east two days earlier, the Egyptian observer
could interpret the situation as Sakhmet repelling the confederates of Seth,
supposedly the fixed stars in the neighbourhood of Setb/Mercury, which would be in
principle the stars in the ecliptical belt.
The frght in the Underworld on day 26 can be understood as taking place before
Venus, alias Horus, and Mercury, alias Seth,. rose above the hor2on. Isis who helped
her brother Seth against her son Horus embodies Sirius among the fixed stars.
Figure 5 illustrates the situation on day 26 in -1297 at the moment when Venus rose
before the onset of astronomical dawn: Mercury is still below the horizon, Sirius had
risen about 20 minutes earlier than Venus. The Egyptian observer interpreted the
rising of Sirius before Venus as Isis running away from Horus.

22 Lurz(1994),pp.60f.
 The Eye of Horus and the pranet venus: Astronomical
and Mythological References 203

Figure 5. Sirius, Venus, and Mercury on day 26 in _129./,

ca. 3h
15m local time; horizon at Memphis.

The astronomical situation varied little between days 26 and

2g: The ecliptical
distance between the two planets decreased from 10o32'
to 9o22,. The ancient
Egyptian observer chose- to describe the joint appearance
of Mercury and venus on
days 27 and 28 as peace between Seth anä Horus.
If the astronomical interpretation of days 25 to 2g suggested here is
correct, then
the calendar of Lucky and unlucky oays de{initely
refers to -1297196, because in
-1305/04 and -1265164 Mercury was not visible on days
25 to 2g.
on day 72 the calendar records that the udjat eye was positioned above
the head
of the sun god. The entry seems to refer to the observation that
venus was visible
directly above the approaching s'n on day 72 in -1297. This
phenomenon resulted
from three factors: on mornings in autumn the ecliptic
has a steep angle; around day
72 in -1297 venus had a northern latitude and a western
elongation of onry 15.g".
Venus was nearing a vertical position above the rising
sun b-efore day 72 as the
following table shows:

day in -1297 difference in azimuth between

Venus and the sun at sunrise

50 2.970
54 2.29"
59 1.580
64 1.00'
69 0.56.
72 0.35"
74 0.240
79 0.02"

The situation of day 72 is illustrated in Figure 6. The planet

continued to occupy this
position until the end of visibility. why G calendar
recorded this configuration only
for day 72 remains open.
 R. Krauss

Figure 6. Venus at suffise on day 12 in -1297, horizon at Memphis.

Conclusions
Planetary Identities of Seth and Horus
Proof for the identity of Seth and Horus (or his eye) with Mercury and Venus,
respectively, follows from the correspondence between assertions in the calendar and
astronomical phenomena observable in year -1291196: a) conjunction of Mercury
and Venus around day 26 (August 8, -1297); b) position ofVenus above the head of
the sun god on day 72 (September 23, -1297); c) visibility of Mercury on the
morning of day 164 (December 24, -1297); d) beginning of evening visibility of
Venus on day L69 (December 29, -1297); e) movement of Venus in azimuth first
southwards beginning on day 170 (December 30, -1297), then northwards at least
since day 190 (January 19, -1296); f) conjunction of Mercury and Venus onday 214
(February 12, -1296); g) movement of Venus to the north of the sky around day 250
(March 19, -1296); h) return of Venus towards the sun, beginning around day 310
(May 18, -1296); i) setting of the sun and Venus in the same spot around day 340
(June 17, -1296);j) complete filling of the eye of the Elder Horus around the time of
greatest brilliance ofVenus as the Evening Star around day 349 (June 26, -1296).
Additional indications supporting the identification of Horus or his eye with
Venus are known from sources other than the Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky
days." Therefore the definitive identification of Horus the Elder or his eye with
Venus as the Evening Star should not come as a surprise. The calendar does not
describe the eastern eye of Horus or the eye of the Younger Horus explicitly as
Venus the Mormng Star. But given the premise that the ideas about the eyes of
Horus are consistent, the identity of the eastern eye of Horus with Venus as the
Morning Star can be inferred from the identity of the eye of the Elder Horus and
Venus as the Evening Star.

23 KRAUSS (1997), pp. 261-274.

 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Mythological References 205

The wounded eye of Horus is not mentioned explicitly in the Calendar of Lucky
and Unlucky Days. Rather, the calendar speaks of filling the eye of Horus, alias the
Evening Star, on days 218 and 349. The "filling" is incomplete on day 218, but
complete on day 349.lt is possible that the frlling of the eye relates to the brilliance
of the Evening Star which reaches its maximum only towards the end of a period of
visibility. In the case of the Morning Star, the process is reversed: maximum
brilliance is attained at the beginning of the visibility period and decreases towards
its end. Therefore the Moming Star is an unsuitable identification for the eye to be
filled.
The Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky days indicates how the Evening Star
distances itself from the sun god and returns to him. The myth about the eye which
leaves the sun god relates how the eye became enraged when it returned to find
another eye in its place. But in the Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky days the eye is
said to become angry long before its return. Perhaps the mlth reflects the fact that
the Evening Star becomes visible only after a two-months period of invisibility. It is
feasible that this period was interpreted as a state of being lost. The increase of
elongation after the beginning of visibility could be explained as the distancing of
the star from the sun god.
The Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts and the Celestial Diagram all include both
Horus/Venus and Seth./Mercury. They occur in these funerary contexts as helpers, or
sometimes enemies, of the blessed dead who appear as stars in the sky. In the realm
of political ideology both planets were important, because they were manifest in the
king. As early as the beginning of dynastic times Horus seems to be identified with
the planet Venus. The names of f,rve so-called royal vineyards describe Horus as a
star.2a The name of Djoser's vineyard reveals that Horus is a particular star "at the
front of the sky". The identification of Horus with Venus as known from the Pyramid
Texts suggests itself. If so, Horus's partner Seth may already have been equated with
Mercury at this early time. Royal ideology and ideas about the Hereafter seem to
have had cosmological and stellar foundations which may well go back to
predynastic times.

Beginning of the Calendrical Day

The astronomical analysis of the Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days
coincidentally provides confirmation of Michel Malinine's conclusion that the scribe
considered the calendrical day to begin before sunrise at dawn.25 Malinine analyzed
a passage in the calendar to show that the calendrical day began at dawn (Egyptian:
hdtl). On II peret 14 Seth appears at hd-tl in the bow of the solar barque.
Furthermore, the lst third of the calendar day II Peret 14 is described as unlucky.
The user of the calendar is advised not to leave his house. On these premises
Malinine concluded that the calendrical day begins before sunrise during ft{-t|.
Malinine did not take into consideration the identity of Seth with Mercury.
Because Mercury rises at dawn and disappears from sight long before sunrise, it

Hrrcr (1987), pp.204 f; Zreerrus (1978), pp. 204 ff

MALTNTNE (1935-1938), pp. 8871 898.
206 R. Krauss

follows from the calendrical assertion and its astronomical interpretation that the
ancient Egyptian calendar day started at hd-tl.
The meaning of hd+J is deducible from the times when the angular positions of
the Big Dipper (Mesekhtiu) were observed, i.e. at the begiruring and the middle of
the night and finally at hQ-t1.26 Because the stars of the Big Dipper disappear from
sight at the beginning of civil daurn, h/+l is equivalent to a position of the sun of at
least about 7o below the horizon.2T

Astrology in the Ramesside Period

In general, astrology was unknown in ancient Egypt before the middle of the lst
millenium BCE, when the influence of Babylonian astrology is first noticeable.
However, there are two earlier isolated instances. An official inscription from the
middle of the 9th century BCE mentions a case of political upheaval in connection
with a lunar eclipse. In the last decades, most scholars understood the text to mean
that political turmoil had occurred, although no negative portent such as a lunar
eclipse had predicted it.28 According to the older Egyptolog^ical interpretation of the
same text which may be grammatically sound after all," the political upheaval
occurred before an actual eclipse of the moon. Regardless of which interpretation is
correct, both share the notion that a lunar eclipse was a bad omen.
An allusion to astrology is found in an inscription of King Merneptah. In his 5th
year (1208 BCE) Memeptah recorded his victory over invading Libyans. According
to the text, Pharaoh's victory came not unexpected to some, among them
"interpreters of portents who watch their stars".3o It it unclear whether these
astrologers were native Egyptians or not.
The earliest systematic Babylonian observations of Venus date to the time of
Ammisaduka. Ancient Egyptian observations of Venus and Mercury as attested in
the Calendar ofLucky and Unlucky days are several centuries younger. InBabylonia
and Egypt the stars were observed for the purpose ofashological prognostication. In
Babylonia the prognostications related to the king, whereas the predictions listed in
the calendar of lucky and unlucky days applied to everyone.

The Venus Year of Velikovsky

The identihcation of the eyes of Horus with Venus as Evening and Morning Star has
a bearing on the idea of Immanuel Velikovsky that Sothis as the star of Isis is not
Sirius, but the planet Venus instead, and that the Egyptian year of 365 days was a
Venus year.3' Lynn Rose took up this idea in an emended version.32 Both the original

26
Neucseeuen and Panrcn (1 969), p. 5 1

27
KRAUSS (in press).
2a
Cevnqos (1958), pp. 88f.
29
JANSEN-WrNKEI-N (1994), p. 127.
30
BRUNNER (197 3), pp. 26f.
3l
VELTKovSKY (197 7), pp. 237 -244.
32
Rose (1999), pp. I l9-125.
 The Eye of Horus and the Planet Venus: Astronomical and Mythological References 20'7

idea and the up-date are invalid,33 not only because elements ofthem are nonsensical
and charlatanesque, but also because the eyes of Horus, not Isis, are identical with
the planet Venus.

References
ANTHES, Rudolf. 1961. "Das Sonnenauge in den Pyramidentexten". Zeitschrift fiir
Älgyptische Sprache 86: l-21.
BRII.{NER, Helmut. 1973. "Zeichendeutung aus Stemen und Winden in Agypten".
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CAMINoS, Ricardo A. 1958. The Chronicle of Prince Osorkon. (Analecta
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ERMAN, Adolf. l9ll. Hymnen an das Diadem der Pharaonen aus einem Papyrus
der Sammlung Golenischeff (Abhandlungen der Königlich Preußischen
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Georg Reimer.
GINZEL, Karl F. 1906. Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie.
Das Zeitrechnungswesen der Völker. I.Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs.
GzuFFITHS, John G. 1958. "Remarks on the Mythology of the Eyes of Horus".
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HELCK, Wolfgang. 1987. (Jntersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit (Agyptologische
Abhandlungen 4 5 ). Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz.
HUBER, Peter J. 1982. Astronomical Dating of Babylon I and Ur 11l (Monographic
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JITNKER, Hermann. 1917. Die Onurislegende. (Kaiserliche Akademie der
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KRAUss, Rolf. 1990. "Vorläufige Bemerkungen zu Seth und Horus/Horusauge im
Kairener Tagewählkalender nebst Bemerkungen zum Anfang des
Kalendertage s". Bulletin de la Sociötö d'Egtptologie Genöve 14: 49_56.
Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den
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Postscript

The present article was read in 2001at the Under-One-Sky conference in London; it was
published the following year. At the SEAC conference in 2010 I returned to the topic of Horus
the Elder embodying the planet Venus as Evening Star and Horus-son-of-Isis (Horus the
younger by implication) embodying Venus as Morning Star.1 In the interim Jochem Kahl had
concluded on the basis of the Thinite epigraphic material that “Horus ... was a star god rather
than a celestial god at the beginning of the Early Dynastic period.” 2 In other words –
Egyptologists have left behind (once and forever?) the Late Period and Hellenistic
understanding of the sky god Horus with sun and moon as his eyes. Furthermore, Kahl could
also show that the sun god Re was introduced in the Second Dynasty under King Raneb or
possibly under his predecessor Hetepsekhemwy.3 Thus the interpretation of the original
cosmological ideology of the Egyptian state as stellar with the king as earthly embodiment of
the (‘male’) planet Venus has entered main stream Egyptology.
Reading through my article I find passages which I would correct or at least formulate
differently today. I would emphasize that the almanac is not an astronomical diary, but rather
a calendar of lucky and unlucky days which from time to time associates human fate with the
planetary gods Seth-Mercury and Horus-Venus. I also want to point out that the authors of the
almanac had enough time to redact the entries with hindsight, since the core of the text will
have been composed in the course of an entire calendar year.
The figure below illustrates the path of Venus and the positions of Venus and Mercury
which were dealt with in the article as published.

Venus & Mercury in -1297/96

30

20

10
Reihe1
declination

Reihe2
0 Reihe3
equator Reihe4
Reihe5
-10

ecliptic

-20

-30
540 450 360 270 180 90 0
right ascension in degrees

Paths of morning and evening star along the ecliptic in –1297/96

and specific positions of Venus and Mercury; equatorial coordinates

The figure depicts the path of Venus along the ecliptic (Reihe 1) during the Egyptian
civil year from I #Xt 1 to Hrjw rnpt 5 or from July 14 to July 13 (Julian) in –1297/96; the

1
R. Krauss, Stellar and solar components in ancient Egyptian mythology and royal ideology, in: Astronomy and
Power: How worlds are structured. Proceedings of the SEAC 2010 Conference. M.A. Rappenglück, B.
Rappenglück, N. Campion, F. Silva, eds. ( BAR IS 2794; Oxford 2016) 137-141.
2
J. Kahl, Ra is my lord (Wiesbaden 2007) 2.
3
Kahl, Ra, 62.
earlier and later paths are not depicted. The green line (Reihe 2) represents the path of Venus
as morning star, the red line (Reihe 3) as evening star. The path during invisibility between
morning and evening star phases is not indicated, likewise the paths of Mercury, to avoid
smudging of different lines. Tables 1 & 2 list the positions of Venus (Reihe 5) and Mercury
(Reihe 4) on those almanac days which are discussed in the article. The positions follow from
right to left as they are listed in the tables.

almanac day 25-28 164 214

Julian cal. date –1297 –1297 –1296
Aug 7 – 10 Dec 24 Feb 12

Table 1: Positions of Mercury

–1297
almanac day 18 25, 26, 27, 28 72 103 169
Julian cal. date July 31 Aug 7 –10 Sep 23 Oct 24 Dec 29
–1296
almanac day 188 190 213,214,215 218 276 295
Julian cal. date Jan 17 Jan 19 Feb 11 – 13 Feb 16 April 14 May 3

almanac day 300 303,305 309,310,311 314 315 324

Julian cal. date May 8 May 11, 13 May 17-19 May 22 May 23 June 1

almanac day 340 349

Julian cal. date June 17 June 26

Table 2: Positions of Venus

Suggested reading:

Katja Goebs, Crowns in early Egyptian funerary literature: Symbols of royalty, rebirth, and
destruction (Oxford 2007).

Jochem Kahl, Ra is my lord (Wiesbaden 2007).

Rolf Krauss, Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexten

(Wiesbaden 1997).
– Astronomische Komponenten im Kannibalenhymnus der ägyptischen Pyramidentexte,
in: Mitteilungen de Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie 28 (2007) 103-114.
– Über Horus und die Horus-Augen sowie andere Elemente der altägyptischen
Astronomie, in: Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 40 (2008) 205-219.
– Egyptian Calendars, in: de Kêmi à Birīt Nāri 3 (2006-2008) 105-113.
– Stellar and solar components in ancient Egyptian mythology and royal ideology, in:
Astronomy and Power: How worlds are structured. Proceedings of the SEAC 2010
Conference. M.A. Rappenglück, B. Rappenglück, N. Campion, F. Silva, eds. ( BAR IS
2794; Oxford 2016) 137-141. (uploaded to academia.edu)