Nashville Surveyor's Craft, Early TN Temple Builders, and Mound Bottom

Yesterday I took a Confederate Tour of Mt Olivet Cemetery here in Nashville, TN. It gave me some clarity on Eugene Lewis, the gentlemen who had the Cheops built at Centennial park and had it rebuilt as his tomb at the cemetery. It turns out that he was an engineer that worked with the railroad system on Queen and Crescent project. He lived in Dickson County and his home and property are currently up for sale to developers. Researching him, his surveying craft used on the railroad, his interest in the pyramids, and connection to New Orleans let me to another site of historical significance in Middle TN. The 3 pyramid structures at Pack Site, Mound Bottom, and Paint Rock Bluff.

Pattison Forge Tunnel created
by slaves 1818 for Iron industry

This video provides a good overview of burial practices connecting the mounds, astronomy, and teken type structures among the Native Americans. These were the features I found striking at the Mt Olivet cemetery  The Obelisk, the Pyramid, cross in the circle symbol, and astronomical alignments.  The Mace ritual in Egypt was developed before the 1st Dynasty as evidenced in the Narmer's Palette and Macehead, more on this dicussed in this article. In the Pyramid Text the mace is a ritual
instrument symbolizing spiritual illumination.The Mound Bottom Mace inscribed near Nashville, TN is believed to belong, according to this TN Site, to the Native American culture from AD 1,000-AD 1300. Their societies were collectively known as the Mississippian Culture or the Temple Mound Builders. Agricultural innovation was happening at the site with new strains of maize, beans, and squashes being developed to produce surpluses for the rising population concentrated at the site. It is also at Harpeth River State Park that "Montgomery Bell created this engineering masterpiece he named Pattison Forge in 1818: a 200-foot tunnel chiseled by slaves through solid rock at the “narrows” of the Harpeth River. " This site "was the first "full-scale" water diversion tunnel built in the United States. It is also apparently the first "full-scale" tunnel of any type in the United States, according to histories of tunneling. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994.[2][3]It is now included in Harpeth River State Park.[4] It was built at about the same time, but apparently slightly before, the 450-foot (140 m) Auburn Tunnel of Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Navigation Canal, which began use in 1821." (Wiki). For my personal family tree my ancestors were brought into Savannah from Africa because of their skills with iron. Seeing this ingenuity in Middle TN having been built by those of African descent is only a reminder to me of the theft of skilled labor taken from Africa do drive industry in America.

In The Harpeth River: A Biography by James Crutchfield, he recounts that the tunnel was 16 by 8ft high and delivered 2500 cubit ft of water per minutes. To get the water back into the original channel Bell built the Narrows of the Harpeth. He was a holder of as many as 300 slaves which helped build the tunnel. He was known as the "Iron Master". Or dare I say the Master of the Ironworkers. Crutchfield states, "At some point Bell became a convert of the idea of freeing all of the slaves and helping them return to Africa." This was popular during the period of 1820-1847, the liberation of slaves to Liberia, where my step-father is from. He continues  "Bell presented the offer to his slaves but only about 50 of them were interested in the idea..He tool them to Nashville to catch a boat to New Orleans" then presumably off to freedom. In 1850 he was awarded by London the "The Best Iron in the World" Award.

The Narrows of the Harpeth River has rock art that is reachable by canoe. This is notable because this piece of art is of the sun and crescent moon. The petroglyphs painted here are called Paint Rock Bluff and are on the perpendicular side of the cliff 200 ft above the river and visible for several miles. Chrutchfield notes that they were somehow used in religious ceremonies. "The  sun is estimated to be about five feet across and the distance that the symbols lie below the overhang of the cliff makes it difficult to imagine how the primitive artist reached this place in order to paint these images." He continues, "the Natchez Indians of Mississippi were also sun worshipers  Their society was broken down into castes, the highest of which, the nobles, were actually called "Suns". The principal chief himself was called the Great Sun. He was thought to be the younger brother of the Sun, and every morning would find him on top of a large mound welcoming his older brother upon his arrival in the eastern sky and directing his journey across the skies by a wave of the arm from east to west"(Chrutchfield, 68). This story reminds me of the astrological significance of the story of O'siris and Set. Not the myth of later dynasties but the early story indicators that can be unraveled by astronomy in the crossing of the sun across the sky from morning to sun set telling time like on the sundials dividing (dismembering) the day into the hours-HR (Horus).

The site in Middle TN is very similar to the Cahokia site.

The Nashville Site is not as well preserved as the Pack site that it is a part of is privately owned by separate individuals and not a state park. 

Seshat, Ocean Goddess and Creation Stories in East Africa

We stand tall because we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors...

My notes from Sept 2, 2012,
Mawu sent Adanhu and Yewa from the sky with Ayida Weddo. To me this story sounds very similar to the Adam and Eve story. The slaves brought over who carried these stories thought so as well, it was why they accepted the doctrine because it was their truth, but told in the way of the foreigners that brought them here. They noted that the key difference was the Christian inclusion of the fruit in the creation story (Dahomean Narrative: A Cross Cultural Analysis by Melville J. Herskovits). They stated Legba does not give fruit. In my opinion this is because the fruit in the bible creation story is symbolic of knowledge.

Mawu was the moon god. Lisa was the sun god. In their creation story only Mawu can give sekpoli (breath of life). Their story includes a monkey and Veve of Damballa (sky godm Damballah-rainbow serpent, becongo of Angola and Bantu) with a 7 pointed star on top. They associated this with Christ, Our Lady of Mercy, St Patrick, and Moses. The Black Madonna of Czestochowa.

What was striking to me in how this connects to Egypt was Ayida Weddo representation of holding up the heavens, the rainbow serpent. They also associate red with male, and blue with female. This reminded me of Shu & Nut in the Egyptian pantheon.

Yewa was said to make record of tombstones and was associated with the final resting place. There were several other attributes:

1. maintained garden of rare flowers
2. virgin
3. looked in his EYEs (sin)
4. Fest day is 10/30
5. cemetary tools are known, other tools are secret
6. knowledge of embalming, body preservation, passing over.
7. she likes silence, no sex
8. Day is Thursday
9. maiden-old maids, fierce, independent, crone, wisdom
10. Egg is placed on a mound of flower in ritual to her
11. rules mind, intellect, cosmic equilibrium
12. Veve Damballah emblems all have stars, some with a heart , cross, two right angles inverted.

Yeye means mother, Awa means our. so her names means Our Mother. She was compared to Our Lady of the Homeless and the Virgin of Montserrat. The number is 11 and its multiples (Seshat was noted as the women of the 11th hour in instances of transformation into the otherworld and the souls travel to heaven. She stood at the last gate in the journey into the Duat, only achieved after the soul could defeat the serpent.)

"Behold", said Ra, "I will send SHU to breath upon GEB, and he will have air that is sweet and blue, and I will kiss him and all manner of vegetation will clothe him." Now the hands (PTAH) pushed together GEB and NUIT, and from this union came forth all manner of living things. 

During this union the great serpent APEP entered into many of the living beings and told them, "Perhaps RA was not so vigilant, and what of it if he saw them do things that he would not approve of; he was not the all-powerful and the night was just as beautiful as the day..."

In Egypt Nut (sky goddess):

1. Having power over the water Khort-Neter
2. Sycamore Tree of Nut
3. Egg of Nekek-ur
4. Wore a blue robe or rainbow colored robe.
5. Apep-Rainbow Serpent

September 9, 2012 notes

I came across info on Yoruba then back to New Orleans and Voodoo, Marie Luvoux. I listened to a webcast where she was described as the "architect of New Orleans" she had a Congolese background. 

Yemaja(Yemoja, Yemaya, Yemaja) is considered to be the greatest deity in Santeria. She is of all time. She is the mother of all things. In the bible the creation story/eden and serpent-knowledge. Without Yemaya their would be destruction and death she germinates the seed. 

Comes from the Ifa Nigeria Oresha. Osha-of the sea. Olugun-bottom of the sea. among the Benin/Ghanian/Togo-spirit of the ocean. She is transatlantic slave trade, mother of water. In voodoo-Hegway capt of the sea. La Terena-sustunance from ocean, mother of the waters. The ocean bring her number is 7. 9/7 is her birthday. 9/10 is Marie Lavous. 9/8 Oshun. 7 is the master number. 3 Trinity, 7 creation, 9 completion. Divine Mathematics. Her food offerings are watermelon, celery, watercrest, molases. Her day is Saturday.Yemaya/Yemoja/Yemoja- color is blue and white. Our lady of Regla and Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. Ymoja Yemowo Mami Wata.

• Brazil the names are Yamanja, Iemanja, Janaina. 
• In Cuba Yemaya Yemayah, Iemanya. In Haiti La Sirene, La Siren (Mermaid). 
• USA Yemalla, Yemana, Yemoja. Uruguay Ienanja. 
• Dominican Republic Yemalla, La Diosa der mor ( sea goddess). 

Her symbol symbolizes anything ocean related. 2 tailed mermaid, 7 bracelets, 7 blue and 7 white beads.
Food Fish, coconut, watermelon, cantaloupe, white wine, seafood, coffee, lettuce.
Feast Day is 9/7 (Santeri). 2/2 (Brazil).
Chakra is heart.
Animals are dolphins, ducks, geese, swans, sea horses, and blue butterflies.

Veve Baron Samedi

Legend holds that one must not look at Ashaba, she is so beautiful you can not look at her directly. Benin Fa - spirit of celestial palm tree (Ifa).

Veve of Maman Brigitte

Veve of Maman Brigitte

"Yemonja is Yeye mo eja or mother of fishes. She is not just the to layer of the Sea(because that is where most of the fish live) she is also the Orisha of the Ogun river in Nigeria and the spokes person of Olokun the Orisha of the Ocean. We call on Yemonja or Ora so that she can send our prayers to Olokun. Remember there are different Yemonjas, Ashaba, Asesu, Ogunte, Mayelewo, etc." Orijuwon

Seshat, "She is drawn with her standard atop her head, wearing the spotted leopard skin robes of the Setem priests, the funerary priests who are drawn on temple friezes with the spotted robe and mask of Yinepu (Greek: Anubis). Where other Gods hold the was-scepter in hand, she bears one of notched palm leaves that terminates at the bottom with a tadpole which rests on the symbol of eternity"http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/egyptian-goddesses/s.htm

OME. The palm tree, from the leaves of which the dresses used by the dancers of the OBUDU are made.

The leopard is known by the names ATALAGBA, OGYUHA, EKME, and OGIAME or queen.
OGIAME reminds me of the XIVILI word KAMA, royal wife or queen. OGIE-CI is the word the Bini use for the King indigenous to the country, equivalent to NKICI CI of the BAVILL
When a man killed a leopard he had to take it to the OBA, who gave the hunter a boy and a girl in exchange for it. The OBA used to try very hard to obtain the leopard alive, so that he might sacrifice it. On doing so he would put his finger into its blood and make a mark with it on his forehead, from his hair to his nose. Fans for his use were made of the leopard's skin, or it was made into a coat for the great war chief EZOMO or OJUMO. The claws also were strung together and worn by this chief as a band around his head.
Women were not allowed to look at the leopard's face.
The dance connected with the leopard ceremonies is called IGWE.

Naples Archaeological Museum Picture of Sculpture of Atlas with Farnese Globe on his shoulders. Roman Copy of Hellenistic original, 2nd Century AD.  Oldest known representation of the celestial sphere

"Orpheus," says he, "introduced from Egypt the greatest part of the mystical ceremonies, the orgies that celebrate the wanderings of Ceres, and the whole fable of the shades below. The rites of Osiris and Bacchus are the same; those of Isis and Ceres exactly resemble each other, except in name." Now, as if to identify Bacchus with Nimrod, "the Leopard-tamer," leopards were employed to draw his car; he himself was represented as clothed with a leopard's skin; his priests were attired in the same manner, or when a leopard's skin was dispensed with, the spotted skin of a fawn was used as a priestly robe in its stead. This very custom of wearing the spotted fawn-skin seems to have been imported into Greece originally from Assyria, where a spotted fawn was a sacred emblem, as we learn from the Nineveh sculptures; for there we find a divinity bearing a spotted fawn or spotted fallow-deer (Fig. 21), in his arm, as a symbol of some mysterious import. The origin of the importance attached to the spotted fawn and its skin had evidently come thus: When Nimrod, as "the Leopard-tamer," began to be clothed in the leopard-skin, as the trophy of his skill, his spotted dress and appearance must have impressed the imaginations of those who saw him; and he came to be called not only the "Subduer of the Spotted one" (for such is the precise meaning of Nimr--the name of the leopard), but to be called "The spotted one" himself. We have distinct evidence to this effect borne by Damascius, who tells us that the Babylonians called "the only son" of the great goddess-mother "Momis, or Moumis." Now, Momis, or Moumis, in Chaldee, like Nimr, signified "The spotted one." Thus, then, it became easy to represent Nimrod by the symbol of the "spotted fawn," and especially in Greece, and wherever a pronunciation akin to that of Greece prevailed. The name of Nimrod, as known to the Greeks, was Nebrod. * The name of the fawn, as "the spotted one," in Greece was Nebros; ** and thus nothing could be more natural than that Nebros, the "spotted fawn," should become a synonym for Nebrod himself. When, therefore, the Bacchus of Greece was symbolised by the Nebros, or "spotted fawn," as we shall find he was symbolised, what could be the design but just covertly to identify him with Nimrod?


* In the Greek Septuagint, translated in Egypt, the name of Nimrod is "Nebrod."


** Nebros, the name of the fawn, signifies "the spotted one." Nmr, in Egypt, would also become Nbr; for Bunsen shows that m and b in that land were often convertible.


We have evidence that this god, whose emblem was the Nebros, was known as having the very lineage of Nimrod. From Anacreon, we find that a title of Bacchus was Aithiopais--i.e., "the son of Aethiops." But who was Aethiops? As the Aethiopians were Cushites, so Aethiops was Cush. "Chus," says Eusebius, "was he from whom came the Aethiopians."



Atlas (/ˈætləs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄτλας) held up the celestial sphere

The first part of the term "Atlantic Ocean" refers to "Sea of Atlas", the term "Atlantis" refers to "island of Atlas".

(the idea of Atlas carrying the Earth is not correct according to the original myth) on his back. One of Heracles's labours was to collect the apples of the Hesperides, guarded by Ladon. Heracles went to Atlas and reasoned with him. Eventually, Atlas agreed to collect the apples, and Heracles was left to carry the weight. Atlas tried to leave Heracles there, but Heracles tricked him and Atlas was left to carry the heavens forever. In his epic Odyssey,Homer refers to this Atlas as "one who knows the depths of the whole sea, and keeps the tall pillars who hold heaven and earth asunder".

The armillary or celestial sphere is traced to Hipparchus (said inventor of trig), who traces it to Eratosthenes (said inventor of geography). Eratosthenes was a "Greek" mathematician, geographer, poet, athlete, astronomer, and music theorist. A lot of specialties for one man to invent..... Needless to say, although given a title as a Greek he was born in Libya and was the Chief Librarian of the Great Library of Alexandria. He died in Alexandria. Both Libya and Alexandria, Egypt are in Africa. 

Spiderman 3 and OSCORP's The Tree Of Life

July 5th, 2012 my family and I went to see the new Spiderman movie while visiting NJ. In one of the early scenes at OSCORP there was a tour given by a lady who explained that the company had their own Tree of Life connecting all of their divisions. I thought that was interesting since I have been seeing Seshat's symbols in movies lately. This movie having as one of its most important actions "transmutation": the ability of a human body to obtain supernatural powers and change at will.  This movie also uses the "honeycomb" symbol I wrote about in my early blogs regarding Seshat and early Egypt, the "Poetic Honey Mead" and the significance of this symbol in ancient KMT.

From my journal notes:
The movie was a lot like secret societies beliefs and what they hold onto of Egypt. The central theme was that of keeping a secret. When Spiderman let out the formula all hell broke loose and he had to fix the damage. If he had kept it to himself it would not have been used for bad. There is that assumption that (myster or mathmematics) will be used wrongly if put in the wrong hangs- as the central vice of the movie. Moreover, that not everyone is to have that knowledge because it solves unknowns, it touches on divinity, and enables manifestation, creation, or innovation. New tools for usage.

This comic is associated with The Brotherhood of the SHIELD. Shields conseal to protect. This "Brotherhood" is said to be from Egypt, according to the historical story line. What is also of note is that the owner of OSCORP, Norman, comes from an Egyptian sarcophacus. There is no doubt to me that the symbolism is intentional. But why are they using African symbols and history in their story telling. To me it is the continueation of a culture of those interested in science, mathematics, astronomy, and so consistently Egypt. So many great, well known "stars" in the scientific realm wrote more books about Egypt's sciences and script than about the math and sciences they were popular in history for, including Sir Isaac Newton and Tesla.

From my half sleep ramblings of connections between the movie and Seshat:

Green reptilian
Blue antegen
Top
Animism atributes
Half human, half animal
Egyptian science of animals godlike features with humans
O S C O R P...Scorpio, osiris,
Mary mother, auntie M, OS like Oz in wizard of OZ. Top of building in large city. Peter lives in Queens, Oscorp is in Manhattan.
Dinner with whole fish per speroson branzino

Tree of life in the movie had a Rnorman osborne in tree, from egyptian sarcophagus.hino and Scorpioan

Brotherhood of the SHIELD
Secret Society from Egypt
Newton, Tesla, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci
divisions are Psi, Black ops, Eye, Strike

From my online search:

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is 2010 comic book ongoing series published by Marvel Comics, premiering with a first issue cover dated June 2010. It details the secret history of the occult organization the Shield. The series is written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Dustin Weaver.^[22][23][24]

[edit] Plot

The series details the secret history of an occult organization called the Brotherhood of the Shield, with a history extending back to ancient Egypt. The main story of the first issue is set in 1953, when Shield agents Nathaniel Richards and Howard Stark enlist a young man named Leonid with unspecified superpowers into the organization, taking him to Shield's High Council in the Immortal City under Rome. The High Council reveals that they know "the final fate of Man", and their mission is to ensure nothing threatens the world before this occurs. They have chosen Leonid because he has a destiny.^{[volume & issue needed]}
Flashbacks reveal that the Shield was founded by Imhotep following a battle (alongside Apocalypse and the original Moon Knight) against the Brood, and that previous agents include Zhang Heng (who tricked a Celestial into using the sun to give birth to its child instead of destroying the Earth or the Moon to do so), Galileo Galilei (who fought against Galactus) and Leonardo Da Vinci (who is shown with a mysterious device, flying off in an ornithopter).^{[volume & issue needed]" from wiki}

It seems there is a difinate relationship among the science of the ancient Egyptians and the comics, hollywood, and entertainment industry. They are using the symbols and stories of the ancient Egyptians. This does not, however, mean that their stories are of the ancient thought (Thoth).

Aion Time God

What were the egyptians conveying in reference to Seshat, the goddess of time. She is pictured putting notches in the palm to determine the times that kings would rule. Her headress was aligned with the stars. She had a science to her that related both to astronomy and the heavens, and ages or times on earth here in the physical. The terms ae and others that relate to time go back etymologically to Seshat. We should look into this connection of the greek terms as well as the hebrew terms in their reference to Seshat or lineage from those teachings in Egypt to better understand what early writers were conveying. 



æ (upper case Æ)
Æ, letter of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet, listed in 24th and final position by Byrhtferð (1011). Called æsc "ash tree" after the Anglo-Saxon ᚫ rune.

Etymology 1

Cognate with Old Saxon êo, Ol Frisian ewa, êwe, ê, â, Old German êwa, êha, êa, ê (German Ehe).
[edit]Noun
ǣ f
law, scripture
God is wisdom and æ woruldbuendra. God is the wisdom and law of world-dwellers.
ceremony, custom, marriage
[edit]Declension

aei onta
always (aei) Aei means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject’s life.

The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time.
‘Aion, transliterated aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouravou, i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of one’s life is called the aeon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one’s life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium  the mythological period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases.

Aion corresponds with the Old Testament (Hebrew) word OLAM. (As translated in the Septuagint).

GRS Mead in his "Fragments of a Faith Forgotten" summarizes the second book of "IEAO" in such a way as to imply that Aion refers to "worlds" or "spaces" in the visionary or "out of the body" state.

In "Maximus Confessor : He divided wisely the Ages" there is a passage where it appears the word "aiones" might be understood in two senses. One as referring to this (physical) life, this (physical) world or this physical existence and secondly in reference to the "future" spiritual life or world(s).

The word aeon, also spelled eon or æon, originally means "life", and/or "being", though it then tended to mean "age", "forever" or "foreternity". It is a Latin transliteration from thekoine Greek word ὁ αἰών (ho aion), from the archaic αἰϝών (aiwon). In Homer it typically refers to life or lifespan. Its latest meaning is more or less similar to the Sanskrit word kalpaand Hebrew word olam. A cognate Latin wordaevum or aeuum (cf. αἰϝών) for "age" is present in words such as longevity and mediæval.[1]

Although the term aeon may be used in reference to a period of a billion years (especially in geology, cosmology orastronomy), its more common usage is for any long, indefinite, period of time.

Contents
1 In Cosmology
eon
1640s, from L. aeon, from Gk. aion "age, vital force, lifetime," from PIE root *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity" (cf. Skt. ayu"life," Avestan ayu "age," L. aevum "space of time, eternity," Goth. aiws "age, eternity," O.N. ævi "lifetime," Ger. ewig"everlasting," O.E. a "ever, always").
cosmos
c.1200 (but not popular until 1848, as a translation of Humboldt's Kosmos), from Gk. kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word with several main senses rooted in those notions: The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (cf. kosmokomes "dressing the hair") as well as "the universe, the world." Pythagoras is said to have been the first to apply this word to "the universe," perhaps originally meaning "the starry firmament," but later it was extended to the whole physical world, including the earth. For specific reference to "the world of people," the classical phrase was he oikoumene (ge) "the inhabited (earth)." Septuagint uses both kosmos and oikoumene. Kosmos also was used in Christian religious writing with a sense of "worldly life, this world (as opposed to the afterlife)," but the more frequent word for this was aion, lit. "lifetime, age."





Fig. 2. Byrhtferb's diagram of the physical and physiological fours supplied from MS. 17 of St. John's College, Oxford, written in the year 1110.

This figure exhibits the twelve signs [of the Zodiac] and the two solstices and the two equinoxes and the four seasons of the year; and there are designated therein the four names of the elements and the titles of the twelve winds and the four ages of man. And, moreover, these are conjoined with the four letters of the name of Adam the first created. Furthermore, it shows which months have thirty moons and which have twenty-nine."

Turning to the details of the diagram itself, we may note first that it has the usual mediaeval arrangement of the East at the top instead of the North as in our modern system. The diagram is bounded by a curve divided into three bands or layers. The outside band gives the twelve signs of the zodiac. Within this are ranged the solar months

The main part of the Handboc is occupied by a scientific treatise on the calendar and on mathe
baet ys manualis on Iyden handboc on cnglisc" which may be translated:
"We set down this encheiridion, that is manual in Latin and handbook in English."9 matics. Following on this are three tractates on "The Ages of the World," "The Loosing of Satan," and "The Seven Deadly Sins."

9 Page 133. The Handboc is not numbered in folios, as is usual with MSS., but in pages like a modern book.

The Greek word encheiridion is commonly encountered in Anglo-Saxon works and is used to describe a treatise of any kind.10 It does not seem especially confined to short works and thus resembles the modern German Handbuch. We find the word in the writings of Bede, King Alfred and Alcuin.

Of Byrhtferb' little is known. He was a monk of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire and he lived during the reign of Aethelred (reigned 979-1016). The literary output of Byrhtfero" included commentaries on the writings of Bede. One of these commentaries is on the "De temporum ratione," 11 a work dealing mainly with the divisions of time as deduced from astronomical data and largely occupied with the fixation, by such means, of the Church festivals. The Handboc of Byrhtfer'S contains very similar material and includes sections on the concurrents,

ByrhtferS wrote a commentary on Bede's "De natura rerum," two works entitled "De principiis mathematicis" and "De institutione monachorum," together with a small unpublished "Prœmium super Bedam de temporibus." This last is in MS., St. John's College, Oxford, 17, fo. I2v-i3r

Within the outer diagonal bands are inner diagonal bands showing similar qualities for the four elements. Related to these again are the four points of the compass, arranged to illustrate the "four letters of the name of the protoplast Adam."
A Anathole Oriens East
D Disis Occidens West
A Arcton Aquilo North
M Mesembrios Meridies South

We will not here attempt to trace fully this elaborate custom of associating what we have called the physical and physiological fours.We may, however, make some remarks on the development of the conception.

The earliest division of the ages of man is not into four but into seven, and in this form it appears in the pre-Hippocratic treatise, irepl ifidonadwv. Hippocrates himself in the" Aphorisms" (111 18) has a triple division, trcudes, p&ooi and yipovrts. Nevertheless, in his "De victus ratione" (I, 33) there appears a fourfold division connected with the four elementary qualities thus:...

We would lay some stress on the diagram accompanying our text or rather on the formula which it represents. It is one of the few passages in the scanty Anglo-Saxon medical literature which give us an insight into the theories on which the minds of the early Englishphysici were working. These theories were Greek in origin and the presence of this Greek element separates such writings from a yet earlier stratum in which the point of view remains truly Teutonic and barbarian. We have shown that, in spite of the profound Greek influence, certain primitive Anglo-Saxon elements survive in the Byrhtfero" diagram of the physical and physiological fours. The formula of the diagram is of wider interest than to the special student of Anglo-Saxon literature, since the comprehension of the theory on which it is based is necessary to anyone who seeks to understand mediaeval science and especially pre-scholastic medicine.

The figure exhibits to perfection the fundamental doctrine of the interrelation of macrocosm and microcosm, a theory which may be followed as a guiding thread through

u The simpler scheme suggested by Isidore and Bede is also reproduced in St. John's College, Oxford, MS. 17, fo. 39 v. An early example of a graphic expression of this scheme is encountered in a document of French workmanship in rustic capitals, dating from not later than the ninth century, Bibliotbeque nationale MS., Iat. 5543, fo. 136 v. This figure is reproduced by Charles Singer: "Studies in the History and Method of Science," Oxford, 1917, Plate xiv.

the bewildering labyrinth of mediaeval science. This doctrine, whether frank and open, as in many Neoplatonic writings and in the document before us, or whether allegorized, overlaid and developed, as in much of the later Arabian and scholastic literature, was yet ever present in the minds of such mediaeval writers as concerned themselves with natural phenomena. These men were imbued with ideas inherited perhaps from the Stoic school of philosophy and interpreted by a simplified Greek astrology under the syncretic influence of the Hermetic writings. To them the principle of universal solidarity, that is of the interrelation of all parts of the universe and their mutual interdependence, was the ruling motive of philosophia naturalis. They considered that ancient authority, both divine and profane, had provided them with a key to the structure of the great outer universe. With this key they believed themselves able to unlock also the secrets of the lesser inner world. Thus the investigation of the details of the human mechanism came to be regarded as superfluous or even misleading, since the necessarily partial character of such an enquiry might lead to misrepresentation of that great whole towards the comprehension of which every mind must strive. Anatomy and physiology were, therefore, altogether neglected or rather replaced by such mnemonic systems as that before us. At times the theologians, seeking to demonstrate the direct influence of God upon his world, would break through the charmed circle of universal solidarity. At other times again, the theory of macrocosm and microcosm was given a Christological interpretation by mystical writers, more or less unconsciously under neo-PIatonic influence. In the main, however, this view of the interdependence of man and his world held its own in the Dark Ages, and persisted little changed, right through the period of scholasticism and of the Arabian revival, on through the Renaissance, and down to the time when the human intellect was relieved from its long thraldom to ancient philosophy by the rise of the experimental method.

The innermost part of the diagram is intended to portray the prototype of man, Adam, the protoplast, the first created. In certain other similar early schemes the outermost part of the diagram suggests either actually or allegorically Him in whose image man was made. It was thus intended to suggest that just as we may know something of God, the Creator, from the world that he has wrought, so by a knowledge of that world there is revealed to us something of the nature of man the creature.26

Seshat and the Palm Branch

An aspect of Heh, an ancient Egyptian god.
Heh represents the concept of infinity
or eternity and the hieroglyph depicting
 him represents the number one million.
He holds a pair of notched palm branches
 which signify 'year'.

Seshat's Tools for the Stretching of the Cord Ceremony

Zawi Hawass published in 2009, In Search of Cosmic Order: Selected Essays on Egyptian Archaeoastronomy. This book contains Unveiling Seshat: New Insights Into The Stretching of the Cord Ceremony by Juan Antonio Belmonte, Miguel Angel Molenero Polo, and Noemi Miranda. I was excited to find this today (4/22/12) because I have been wanting to see more research on the tools used in the early building sciences of Kemet. I wanted to know more about the symbol of Seshat which was obviously linked to tools in use. But where was the analysis and pictures? Well this essay gives a good commentary on the subject. They say it was the Roman period that stopped using Seshat in the iconography, which was seen as early as the time of King Khasekhemuy. They correlate the Roman gromae with Seshat. A groma is a vertical staff with a cross at the top used for surveying. The stretching of the cord ceremony can be seen in iconography dating back to the 2nd Dynasty (2890 to 2686 BC). It was brought to my attention by a friend some years ago that it is also in the bible written by King Solomon. Ezra 3:10-12

Connecting Seshat (7) To Other Regions in Africa

This past week at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library I came across the Encyclopedia of African Religion edited by Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama. In Volume 2 page 610-611 information on the number 7mentions Seshat. On page 608 there is information on her as a non-worshiped deity.

This book describes her as the goddess of writing and measurement and the ruler of books. It states that Djuhuty and Seshat were divine sesh (scribes). It mentions Seshat's name being inscribed on the obverse side of the upper register of narmer's palette. As you know from my previous blogs, I believe there were several divinely inspired scribes (or alternately those who were rewriting from ancient early books) throughout the history of writing, with Seshat (or the women who were scribes) being the first and referenced by those who came after her.

The encyclopedia states, "In pre- or protodynastic times, the people of Kemet used canons, a system of proportions resenting and anthropometric description of the body based on the standardization of its natural proportions expressed in the ratios of Egyptian measures of length for metrological purposes. They knew that the various parts of the human body are constant and immutable in all individuals irrespective of any differences in size and dimensions." The book continues with more information on Seshat stating, "Seshat's inspirations for counting and measurements are demonstrated in city planning, architecture, seagoing vessels, recitations in spells and rituals, writing, medicine, music, and placement of figures in reliefs, bas reliefs, and reliefs en crux" (p609).

Dinger: "god/goddess" or "sky"
Ur III Sumerian cuneiform for An

Moreover, the book provides insight into Seshat and the number 7 in Africa when it states, "The association of the number 7 with wisdom comes with Seshat's title "Foremost of Libraries"(p610). In addition, "Among the Bambara and Dogon, 7 is the number of harmony. It signifies the harmony of the male or masculine, represented by the number 3, whith the female or feminine, represented by the number 4. It has been suggested that the pyramid also embodies the harmony of 7 because it is a 4, square base) topped with a 3 (triangle). Among the Akan, the queens mother's number is 3 and the king's is 4, a different configuration, but still totaling 7. Also amnog the Akan, the number 7 is significant in divination because it is an odd number. The practice of attributing gender to numbers is found throughout Africa." The grouping of 4 +3 is also seen among the Sumerians where the determinative used for deity or god/goddess was a seven pointed star later represented with 4 points and 3 lines, this symbol also doubles as the ideogram for sky. There are 7 gods who decree, 4 primary (Anu, Enlil, Ki, and Enki) and 3 sky gods (Ishtar, Sin, and Sama). This is just one of the many ways that ties other cultures in Africa with the knowledge that was taught in Kemet/Egypt nearly 7,000 years ago with the introduction of writing. One of the main differences in the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation among the people of the Nile Valley and the rest of Africa is through writing, which the Egyptians prized as timeless having writen on papyrus which has not biodegraded in thousands of years. The Nile Valley is very unique in that its inhabitants are in a dry arid area that is also lush within proximity of the Nile River. This enables them to use materials that do not biodegrade for building and burial. In other areas of Africa where people live was not conducive to materials that support building that last thousands of years or papyrus. The dominant means of transfer of knowledge was through the oral tradition. However, the cultural similarities of the early Egyptians are found in other African cultures from hairstyles that still are worn today that were adorned by pharoahs to festivals and manner of speech.

The encyclopedia also provides examples of how the mathematics and sacredness of the number 7 in ancient Kemet is also found to be sacred among other cultures in Africa. It states, "The number 7 is also central to egyptian mathmatics, the fundamental equation 1+2+4=7 reflects the egyptian method of calculating based on continued doubling. Further, when 7 is multiplied by doubling, the first three multipliers are always 1, 2, and 4, which equals 7. These equations factor into the Egyptian table of length used to calculate pyramid measurements. Egyptian fractions are calucalted by muliplying them by the number 7." although 7 is a conspicuous number in many cultures, it is also taboo. The Kolokuma Ijo associate the number 7 with great divinities, so it is to be avoided. Among the Mandak and Ga, the avoidance of the number 7 is found in speech where 7 is referred to as 6+1..Malinke, Mbundu, Kikuyu..use a non number name for 7, mug-wanja, and people do not divide things in portions of seven nor do children travel in groups of seen. Seven curses can ve evoked, each represented by seven sticks aimed at the victim....Kamba circumcision festivities span 7 days, and cracking a whip 7 times brings good fortune to elephant hunters. ..There are 7 elemental powers: darkness, light, air earth, water, fire and blood. In the mythology there are seven hathors, seven souls or ra, seven nomes of egypt, seven stages of the solar bark, seven glorious ones, seven servants of horus, seven with anup at the popel, seven molders with ptah, seven souls of atum ra, seven assistants to maat, seven wise masters of arts and sciences who assist ptah in his measurements of the earth, seven who assist ausar in amenta, and seven states of ptah's creation. Seven also factors into egyptian funerary culture. In royal tombs as early at 3100 BC seven sacred oils were used to anoint the body during funerary rituals. The specific oils are not known, although it is speculated that lotus and cedar are among them. The step pyramid at saqqara, part of an ancient burial complex has seven steps."

The book further gives insight into the Dogon mythology which relates to the word, knowledge, writing, and the scribal art signified by Seshat in predynastic Egypt, as represented on Narmers palate, where her iconography was central to the word or "script", particularly those words or instructions connected with the heavens or were considered divine. It was this scribal art of the early times that led to the development of papyrus which later held the science of astronomy and mathematics used in architecture. Through the centuries this became ritualized in the stretching of the cord ceremony. But originally the word, papyrus, he heavens, and creation stories were written and represented with Seshat then later Dhwty/Thoth, known as "lord of the holy words", who was again later identified with the Greek Hermes Trismegistus. "Words to be spoken" on papyrus were translated as "Spells". I think that these concepts taught can also be found in other parts of Africa as the encyclopedia explains, "Among the Dogon the spirit of the seventh ancestor is responsible for world order. This spirit also wove a cloth that is a manifestation of the Word and imparted it to humanity. The word for the cloth is soy meaning "it is the spoken word." Soy is also the word for seven. In addition, during the creation process, the Dogon supreme deity, Amma, spun seven worlds above and seven worlds below. Inside the first seed of creation the po, there were seven vibrations. Each vibration represents a stage in the development of life. The image of the po seed with seven lines of various lenghts extending from its center symbolically preresents Amma as twins, or masucline and feminine. Two lines are for the head, two for the arms, two for the legs, and one for the sex organ. Here again we see seven as the unity of male and female. This is also the case among the Bambara, a group related to the Dogon. The Bambara hold seven to be a unity of male and female, as well as intelligence and earth. Among the Zulu, there are seven judges for eternity, the abakulu. In the diaspora, the spiritual significance of seven manifests in the Seven Powers of Africa, which are a selection of seven orisha from the Yoruba tradition. These are found in Spanish speaking areas of the diaspora as well as in the African American conjure and folk traditions....The 7th child of a seventh child was believed to be spiritually powerful....seven is the number that denotes God, which according to their teachings is man." Denise Martin Ancient Egypt, Light of the world and African Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures.