Abstract
V.
IT is imperative to be perfectly definite and clear on the question of the amplitudes above 26° at Thebes. Any amplitude within 26° means that up to that point the sun at sunrise or sunset could be observed some day or days of the year—once only in the year if the amplitude is exactly at the maximum, twice if the maximum is not reached. But in the case of these temples with greater amplitudes than 26°, it is quite clear that they can have had nothing to do with the sun. Is there, then, any additional line of evidence that the Egyptians used these temples to observe the stars? Here a very interesting question comes in; a temple built at one period to observe a star could not go on for ever serving its purpose, for the reason that the declination of the star must change by precession. Therefore a temple built with a particular amplitude to observe a particular star, useful for one period would be useless for another.
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LOCKYER, J. On some Points in the Early History of Astronomy. Nature 44, 199–202 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/044199a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/044199a0