he
stream."

Before advancing further, the following authoritative statements,
establishing the supremacy of pole-star cult in ancient Egypt, should be
presented.

According to Sir Norman Lockyer, "It seems extremely probable that the
worship of circumpolar constellations went on in Babylonia as well as in
Egypt in the earliest times we can get at" (_op. cit._ p. 363). "There can
be no question that the chief ancient constellation in the North was the
Great Bear or, as it was then pictured, the Thigh (Meskhet)" (p. 216). "In
the exact centre of the circular zodiac of Denderah we find the jackal
[Anubis] located at the pole of the equator: it obviously represents the
present Little Bear" (p. 362).

"With regard to Anubis, it is quite certain that the seven stars in Ursa
Minor make a very good jackal with pendent tail, as generally represented
by the Egyptians and that they form the nearest compact constellation to
the pole of the ecliptic...."

Sir Norman Lockyer adds that he is informed by Dr. Wallis Budge that "An
was an old name of the sun-god," but also states, in another page of his
work that "the worship of Anubis, as god of the dead or the night god ...
was supreme until the time of Men-kau-ra, the builder of the third pyramid
of Gizeh" (B.C. 3633, Brugsch; B.C. 4100, Mariette; p. 363).

Pending the production of astronomical texts which amply demonstrate that
An was a name of a god of the night sun, Polaris, the following
establishes that, at Annu or Heliopolis, in remotest antiquity and amongst
the pyramid builders, the cult of a northern star prevailed.

"The first civilization as yet glimpsed, so far as temple building goes,
in Northern Egypt, represented by that at Annu, or Heliopolis, was a
civilization which combined the cult of a northern star with a
non-equinoctial solar worship".... "I know not whether the similarity in
the words Anu, Annu and An results merely from a coincidence, but it is
certainly singular that the most ancient temples in Lower Egypt
(Heliopolis and Denderah) should be called Annu or An, if there be no
connection with the Babylonian god Anu" (Lockyer, _op. cit._ p. 321).

The well-known fact that the entrance passage to the earliest pyramid
known, that of Medum, and of all pyramids hitherto explored, has not only
been found on the north face of the structure but is also believed to have
oriented towards "Sut-anup," the pole-star (of the period of its
construction), unquestiona