ceiling at The Introductory Gallery - egyptian galleries, brooklyn museum

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    Brooklyn Museum: The ceiling design is based on a nineteenth-century artist's imitation of an astronomical calendar that once decorated the ceiling of the main temple of the goddess Hathor in southern Egypt. The blue circle, surrounded by various gods and goddesses, represents the night sky. The odd creatures shown within it are ancient Egyptian zodiac signs.
    Louvre Museum, Le Zodiaque de Dendera: "The vault of heaven is represented by a disc, held up by four women assisted by falcon-headed spirits. Thirty-six spirits or "decans" around the circumference symbolize the 360 days of the Egyptian year. The constellations shown inside the circle include the signs of the zodiac, most of which are represented almost as they are today. Aries, Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn, for example, are easily recognizable, whereas others correspond to a more Egyptian iconography: Aquarius is represented as Hapy, the god of the Nile flood, pouring water from two vases. The constellations of the northern sky, featured in the center, include the Great Bear (Ursa Major) in the form of a bull's foreleg. A hippopotamus goddess, opposite Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, represents the constellation of the Dragon."

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