The Egyptian Book of the dead by P. Le Page Renouf and Edouard Naville

repetition of an important passage in Chapter 110. But the differences are very considerable, and it is for criticism to decide the question of priority between the two recensions. Whichever be the earlier recension, the present one is of very great interest and importance. It is found on two of the most carefully written papyri of the eighteenth dynasty. But the most interesting feature is the mythological allusion at this date (_at latest_) to an astronomical phenomenon, with reference to which later researches may furnish fresh evidence. The speaker in this chapter is said (not merely implied, as in Chapter 110, _see_ note 5) to be Thoth, who is the measurer of all things in heaven and earth, and the author and regulator of all science. He is here said to have established the _equilibrium_ ⁂⁂⁂ between the Divine Pair, Horus and Sutu; that is Day and Night. Such an equilibrium, strictly speaking, never exists except at the _Equinoxes_. But the most important passage is, “I have rescued the _Âtu_ from his backward course.” The ⁂⁂⁂ _Âtu_ is a mythological _fish_, who is represented as following the course of the Bark of Rā. The meaning of the name is, _the Cleaver_, _Divider_, _Cutter in two_ ⁂⁂. It is one of the appellatives of the Sun-god, with reference to his path through the sky. But what is that solar phenomenon specially deserving to be characterised by its _motion backwards_ ⁂⁂⁂? I do not think any astronomer would hesitate to answer, that _Precession_ is meant. The cause of Precession could only be known to really scientific philosophers (which is out of question in this case), but the _phenomena_ would necessarily be noted by those who had important interests in keeping their calendar correct.[109] Even the Chinese, by dint of records and without any mathematics, came to infer the precession of the equinoxes; so did the Egyptians apparently at a very much earlier period; and Hipparchus, who has the credit of the discovery, may have learnt it from them. Although ⁂⁂ is commonly represented as a _fish_, the same name is given to a _Crustacean_ ⁂, ⁂ whose organs of locomotion are specially adapted for backward motion. “_Rescuing_ the Âtu from its backward course” can mean nothing less than being able to _correct_ or (in technical language) to _equate_ the phenomena. It might perhaps be suggested that the backward course here spoken of has reference to the year of 360 days, corrected at an early period by the addition of the five supplementary days. This would certainly have been a very probable explanation of the clause, but for the direct connection which this has with what precedes, concerning the equilibrium between Day and Night; that is, the Equinox.