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one to celebrate the underworld. In the case of Shenhur the ceiling only has 6 zodiacs,
representing the journey from summer (Leo) to winter (Capricorn) (Huxley 1985, 75-77; Shaw
2014, 149).
A few notable things in the depictions include a small human figure sitting under Libra, also
referred to as the balances. Libra exists of a set of scales. Libra was the constellation of the month
of the autumn equinox. Libra and Scorpio were closely related as zodiacs. The balance pans are
formed by the pincers of Scorpio. The scales of Libra could also be referred to as the “the horns of
the Scorpion. The intimate relationship with Scorpio suggested danger and a fear of retribution.
The balances actually appeared rarely. It is possible the viewer was meant to “see” them in scorpio
(Huxley 1985, 75-77).
What is interesting about the depiction of Libra and Scorpio in the temple of Shenhur is that the
scorpions head is depicted facing Saggitaurus. It is described as “incorrectly” in this article as the
actual constellation would face the other way, towards Libra. Another interesting zodiac is
Saggitaurus. Saggitaurus is portrayed with a dual head and a scorpions tail in the temple of
Shenhur. Egypt adopted the Babylonian version of Saggitaurus, which assimilated into their local
theology. It became tradition in Egypt to depict this zodiac with a scorpion’s tail and a dog’s head
growing behind a human head, like the example in Shenhur. The Greeks used less complicated
zodiacs based on the Assyrian example: a man-horse (centaur) with a drawn bow. This simpler
vesion was also used by the Persians (Huxley 1985, 80-83).
Fig. 45 Original temple ground plan (de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2012, 2)