The Dendera Zodiac of Egypt | An Ancient Babylonian Copy?

This is a slight update to a video I made 2 years ago when I had only half as many subscribers, and now that I’m going to start looking into astronomical beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, I thought it would be good to have another look at the famous Dendera zodiac, to refresh our memories on the most famous star map carved by the ancient Egyptians.

Found on a ceiling in the Temple of Hathor, which is part of the Dendera Temple Complex, south of Abydos in Upper Egypt, was once one of the most famous bas-reliefs in Ancient Egypt – the Dendera Zodiac.


It is notable for its depiction of the constellations, which include the different signs of the zodiac. Most are easily recognised by modern-day observers as they appear almost the same as their modern equivalents but, nevertheless, there are also several signs that are less easily identified as they are represented in accordance to Ancient Egyptian iconography, or so we are told. There is in fact evidence to say that far from having a truly ancient Egyptian origin, it is in fact copied from a Babylonian source.


Watch the video to find out more and please like and subscribe! All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only.

Matt Sibson
544K subscribers