AR1 Decan Lists

Astronomical representations can be categorized according to their decanal content (EAT3).  Often, representations which share similar decanal content share other commonalities of style and/or layout.  In EAT3, Neugebauer and Parker grouped their "monuments" (astronomical texts) into decan list families.  They named each family after the earliest occurrence of that decan list.  This naming convention can be confusing (for example, there are three families named after "Seti I", because the earliest instance of each occurred in the reign of that pharaoh).  In this database, we use "AR1" to refer to one tradition of decans used in Astronomical Representations.  AR1 is equivalent to the Senmut Family in EAT3.

The AR1 decan list is the most common list in astronomical representations, and the list with the widest distribution over time.   The list can be accompanied by one of two sets of decanal deities.  The less common deity list, AR1 variant, is restricted to four closely-related 20th dynasty tomb ceilings.  This variant, which is called Senmut B in EAT3, is discussed on a separate page.  EAT3 also identifies another subgroup, called Senmut A, of three members (8 Ramses II A, 9 Ramses II B, and 17 Ramses III A) which are treated here as members of AR1 (Symons, 2015b).

AR1 occurs in thirteen astronomical representations known to date, with a further five astronomical representations that have been hypothesized to have originally been based on the AR1 model, but are too fragmentary to be entirely certain:  Tomb of Karakhamun, Tomb of Ibi, Sarcophagus of Ankhhapy, Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (A-31), and Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (A-28).

Occurrences of decan list AR1 in astronomical representations

The "key" in the first column is the code used to distinguish this astronomical representation in the table later on this page. 

Key	Title	Location	Date	EAT3 Name
1	Tomb of Senenmut	TT 353, Deir el-Bahari	18th Dynasty	2 Senmut
2	Water clock (Amenhotep III)	Found at Karnak; now in Egyptian Museum, Cairo	18th Dynasty	3 Amenhotep III
3	Ramesseum (Second Hypostyle Hall)	West Bank, Thebes	19th Dynasty	8 Ramses II A & 9 Ramses II B
4	Medinet Habu	Sanctuary of Osiris, Room 25, Medinet Habu	20th Dynasty	17 Ramses III A
5	Tomb of Petamenophis	TT 33, Tombs of the Nobles, Asasif, Thebes	Late Period	32 Pedamenope
6	Tomb of Karakhamun	TT 223, Tombs of the Nobles, Asasif, Thebes	Late Period	-
7	Tomb of Ibi	TT 36, Tombs of the Nobles, Asasif, Thebes	Late Period	-
8	Tomb of Montuemhet	TT 34, Tombs of the Nobles, Asasif, Thebes	Late Period	33 Montemhet
9	Ceiling Block (Roda)	Stored near the Nilometer at Roda	Late Period	36 Roda
10	Sarcophagus of a bull	JE 86723, Egyptian Museum, Cairo	Late Period	37 Abu Yasin
11	Sarcophagus of Ankhhapy	CG 29301, Egyptian Museum, Cairo	Late Period	38 Ankhhapy
12	Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (A-31)	Animal Necropolis, Tuna el-Gebel (central part of ceiling)	Greco-Roman	40 Hermopolis A
13	Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (C-2)	Animal Necropolis, Tuna el-Gebel	Greco-Roman	41 Hermopolis B
14	Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (A-28)	Animal Necropolis, Tuna el-Gebel (central part of ceiling)	Greco-Roman	42 Hermopolis C
15	Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (B-2)	Animal Necropolis, Tuna el-Gebel	Greco-Roman	43 Hermopolis D
16	Water clock (Ptolemy II)	N 664 = AF 894, Louvre Museum, Paris	Greco-Roman	44 Ptolemy II
17	Water clock (Florence)	?	Greco-Roman	45 Florence
18	Coffin of Hornedjitef	6678, British Museum, London	Greco-Roman	46 Harendotes

 

Composition of decan list AR1

This table shows the decans composing decan list AR1, their deities in most of the occurences, and their appearances in astronomical the astronomical representations listed above. For details (especially of variant deities, spelling, order, survival in damaged areas, and bibliographic references), see the individual records for each astronomical representation by clicking on the name of the representation in the table above. No decans survive in 14, Tuna el-Gebel Gallery C (A-28).

In the first column, the numbering assigned to this decan name in the list of all decans in EAT3.  In the second column, the sequential numbering for this decan in the list AR1 is given.

Legend
●	Decan is present in the star table
○	Decan is omitted
▲	Decan appears in the 'triangle' area of the list
-	Decan is not expected to occur
	Parts of the decan list that are missing through loss or damage

 

EAT3	AR1 List	Decan	Deity or Deities	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	15	16	17	18
1	1	tpy-a knmt	Hapy, Imseti	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							●
2	2	knmt	Isis	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●				●			○
4	3	Xry xpd knmt		●	●	●	●	●	●		●		○				●			●
6	4	HAt DAt	Duamutef, Children of Horus	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●				●			●
8	5	pHwy DAt		●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●				●			●
10	6	TmAt Hrt	Duamutef	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●				●		●	●
12	7	TmAt Xrt		●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●						●	●
13	8	wSAti	Duamutef, Hapy	●	●	●	●	●	●										●	●
15	9	bkAti		●	●	●	●	●	●		●								●	●
19	10	tpy-a xntt	Horus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●									●	●
20	11	xntt Hrt		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●								●	●
21	12	xntt Xrt	Seth	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●						●	●
22	13	Tms n xntt	Horus	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●						●	●
25	14	sApti xnwy	Isis, Nephthys	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●						●	●
28	15	Hry-ib wiA	Seth	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●						●	●
30	16	sSmw	Seth	●		●	●	●	●		●		●						●	●
32	17	knmw	Children of Horus	●	●	●		●	●	●	●		●							●
33	18	tpy-a smd	Horus	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							●
36	19	smd	Hapy	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							●
37	20	sit	Isis	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●		●							●
38	21	sAwy sit	Duamutef	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●		●							●
39	22	Xry xpd srt	Kebehsenuf	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●							●
40	23	tpy-a Ax(wy)	Duamutef	●	●	●	●	●	●				●							●
41	24	Ax(wy)	Duamutef, Kebehsenuf	●	●	●		●	●		●		●							○
44	25	bA(wy)	Hapy, Imseti	●	●	●		●	●		●		●							●
45	26	xntw Hr(w)	Children of Horus	●	●	●		●	●		●		●							●
47	27	(xntw) Xrw		●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							●
48	28	qd	Hapy, Kebehsenuf	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							○
49	29	sAwy qd		●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●							○
50	30	xAw	Children of Horus	●	●	●		●	○		●		●			●				○
51	31	art	Eye of Horus	●	●	●	●	●	○		●		●			●		●		●
55	32	Hry rmn sAH	Children of Horus	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●			●		●		●
59	33	Xry rmn sAH	Children of Horus	●		●	●	●	●		●		●			●				○
60	34	rmn sAH	Eye of Horus	○		●	●	○	○		○		○			○				○
63	35	sAH	Osiris	●			○	●	●		●		○	●	●	●		●		○
68	36	spdt	Isis	●	●	●		●	●		●		●	●	●	●				●
84	A	Stwy	Hapy, Duamutef	▲	▲	▲		▲		▲	▲	▲	▲		▲		▲			▲
90	B	nsrw	Imseti	▲	▲	▲		▲			▲		▲							▲
91	C	sSpt	Eyes of Horus	▲	▲			▲			▲	▲	▲				▲			▲
93	D	hpds	[ ]	▲	▲	▲		▲		▲	▲	▲	▲							○
94	E	abSs	Horus	▲	▲	▲		▲			▲		▲							▲
95	F	nTr wAS	Duamutef	▲	▲	▲		▲			▲		▲							▲