Validity of the new orientation theory (1/4)

Accordance with the textual sources

Under the Old Kingdom, the heliacal settings of the stars alpha and beta Canis Minoris occurred around mid-May ; their heliacal risings, around the middle of July. Their (heliacal) settings coincided or so with the lower transit of beta Ursae Minoris and the upper transit of eta Ursae Majoris. Their (heliacal) risings coincided or so with the upper transit of alpha Ursae Minoris and the lower transit of eta Ursae Majoris.

In each case, the star eta Ursae Majoris materializing the end of Meshketiu - the Big Dipper - therefore was in a specific configuration - in lower or upper transit depending if alpha or beta Canis Minoris made its rising or setting in the night or twilight sky. This simultaneity of events recalls the foundation texts of the temples dated to the New Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Period : "I have grasped the stake along with the handle of the mallet. I take the measuring cord in the company of Seshat. I consider the progressive movement of the stars. My eye is fixed upon the Bull's Thigh constellation. I count off time, scrutinize the clock, and establish the corners of the temple", says Pharaoh on one of the walls of the Temple of Horus at Edfu (26).

As suggested before, it is therefore highly probable that the configuration in which the Big Dipper was - the upper or lower transit of eta Ursae Majoris, in this case - commanded the beginning of the temple alignment ceremony. The correlation between the times of lower and upper transits of the star eta Ursae Majoris and the times of (heliacal) risings and settings of the stars alpha and beta Canis Minoris reinforces the hypothesis that one of them was used to align the Old Kingdom pyramids.