The Naos of the Decades and the Astral Aspects of Divine Judgement

The Naos of the Decades is a remarkable monument due to the originality of its decoration and the un­usu­al history of its discovery. Its reconstruction is the result of a veritable puz­zle of ar­chæo­logi­cal histo­ry: the roof of the chapel, which is exhibited in the Louvre ever since 1817, was discovered on land and has never been under water. Its base and rear we­re brought to light in 1940 during underwater exca­vations carried out by Prince ῾Omar Toussoun. And finally, several slabs of its lateral walls (major frag­ments of both side walls of the Naos) were discovered under water, in Abukir Bay, by the Europe­an Institute for Underwater Archæology (IEASM) in collabo­ration with the Department of Underwater Ar­chæology of the Egyptian Supreme Council of An­tiquities (SCA). One of these recen­tly disco­vered slabs revealed a mythological text about the cre­ation of the de­canal stars, of which there exists no ot­her known version! This contains an ori­ginal Cosmogony which throws an entirely new light on the mythological functions which the Egy­pti­ans attributed to these stars ever since the most ancient time. The Book of Nūt, whose oldest cur­rently known version dates back to the New Kingdom, explains in detail the course of the deca­nal stars and the Sun, but it was demonstrated that it goes back at the very least to the Middle Kingdom. Its data allow establish­ing a connection between the five figures engra­ved in each frame of the decades on the Naos and the various stages of the decanal stars during their annual and daily trajectories. Hence, we also present here a new astronomical and mythologi­cal inter­pretation of the Naos of the Decades in the light of the astronomical text of the Book of Nūt. On the Naos of the Decades, Rē^c issued a decree attributing the power of life and death to the decanal stars. It further specifies that the god Shū stands at their head. This outstanding monument displays fra­mes con­taining five figures surrounded by legends. Each frame is attributed to one decade and contains an astrological text aiming at the de­struction of the enemies of Egypt. The actions of these decanal stars depend on the hour of day or night, according to the Sun’s position in the sky relative to them. Decisi­ons on life and death are not accidental, but are determined by the «Books», i.e.: by the results of the di­vine judge­ments. The Naos itself appears to be one of them, a Book of Shū entrusted by this god to Sekh­met/Sirius, re­gent of the decans, to have these judgements carried out by the decans in her retinue.