Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/151

Rh star was a sure precursor of the inundation. It seemed to them to be a warning star by whose first appearance they were to be ready to move to safer spots, and thus acted for each family the part of a faithful dog, whence they gave it the name of 'the Dog' or 'Monitor,' in Egyptian 'Anubis,' in Phcenician 'Hannobeach.'"

Sirius, on account of this great service which it rendered the Egyptians, was held in great reverence by them and called "the Nile Star." Under the name Anubis it was deified and this god was emblematically represented by the figure of a man with the head of a dog. It was also worshipped under the names "Sothis" and "Sihor."

Sirius was furthermore known to the Egyptians as "Isis" and "Osiris." If the first letter is omitted from this latter appellation we get "Siris," a name very similar to the modern title of the star.

Other Egyptian names for the star were "Thoth" or "Tayaut" meaning "the Dog," "Hathor," the barker, the monitor, and at Philæ it was called "Sati."

Sirius was worshipped in the valley of the Nile long before Rome had been heard of. In its honour many temples were erected so magnificent in their architectural proportions as to excite wonder and amazement even in this age of noble edifices.

Lockyer found seven Egyptian temples so arranged that the beams from this brilliant star in its rising or setting penetrated to the inner altar, the holy of holies. This feature of architecture is called orientation. Notable among these temples oriented to Sirius was the temple of Isis at Denderah, where Sirius was known as "Her Majesty of Denderah." Here the rising beams of Sirius flashed down the long vista of the massive pylons, and illumined the inner recesses of the temple. What a wonderful sight there must have been enacted within that darkened edifice when, in the presence of a vast multitude silent in meditation, there suddenly appeared a beam of silver light, that laved the marble altar in a refulgence born of the depths of