Scientists from the University of Tübingen discovered 12 relief tables with zodiac signs in an ancient Egyptian temple. This has been reported area University.
The construction of the temple in the city of Esna, about 60 kilometers south of Luxor, began during the Ptolemaic period but continued for centuries. Now all that remains is the entrance hall, where scholars discovered beautifully painted frescoes depicting the vulture-headed goddess Nekhbet and the snake-headed goddess Wadjet, as well as the 12 zodiac signs.
To do this, they removed 2000-year-old dirt from the frescoes, under which the painting was almost invisible. Archaeologists were lucky: even the colors of the paints were preserved under a layer of dirt.
Scholars explained that the zodiac signs were part of Babylonian astronomy and did not appear in Egypt until the time of the Ptolemies. A few years ago, finds in the temple made it possible to find the ancient Egyptian names of the constellations: Mesehtiu (Great Dipper), Sakh (Orion) and others.
Work on the temple began in 2018, since then more than half of the ceiling has been cleared, as well as 8 of the 18 columns and 2 architraves supporting the ceiling. Scientists hope to find more pictures here in the future.