The Images of the Scorpion Goddess Serket in the Ancient Egyptian Star Charts

The article studies the images of the scorpion goddess Serket in the astronomical drawings of the ancient Egyptians. Based on the analysis of a wide range of sources the author reveals a connection between the image of Serket and the Cancer constellation, where the point of the summer solstice was located in ancient times (in the zodiacs of the Graeco-Roman Period, the sign of Cancer was already represented as a crab). The rising of Sirius preceded the flooding of the Nile, an event that coincided with the rising of Orion and the Sun’s movement from Cancer constellation to Leo. The work shows that the relationship between these events can already be traced in the paintings of Naqada II Period jars containing images of scorpions, crocodiles and snakes, and persists throughout Egyptian history up to the Late Period. Thus, there is reason to talk about the appearance of star maps back in the Predynastic Period. The author suggests that such a map is represented in the reliefs of the Scorpion macehead, where the flower / star designates Sirius and the scorpion – the Cancer constellation. The hoe in the hand of the king, serving here as a marker of the flood, in the round Dendera Zodiac represents the Canis Major constellation, which includes Sirius. The relationship between the summer solstice and the rising of Sirius is also reflected in the myth of Horus’ suffering from a scorpion bite, which caused a drought in the country and brought the sun god’s boat to a halt.