The Zodiacs

Without even googling, I am certain that what you see here has been the subject of a multitude of (probably very expensive but one hopes well-executed) tattoos: this is the famous Dendera zodiac of about 50 BCE, one of the most complete star-charts from the Ancient world. What you can see on it is fantastic.

The three images show this bas-relief sculpture differently: a clear artistic rendition, a photo of the Dendera Zodiac (now in the Louvre, after a 19th century antiques dealer had it removed from the temple at Hathor in Dendera Egypt using *gunpowder*), and a colored image that shows the different figures clearly.

Here are just a few aspects of this ancient planisphere: the North Star, represented by Ursa Minor as a jackal in the center; the zodiac symbols (most are the same as ours today, such as Taurus the bull and Libra the scales); five planets visible to Egyptians (shown as the humanoid deities representing them, like Venus), and 36 figures representing the 36 40-minute blocks of time dividing their days/the 36 10-day weeks (with five leftover days) of their year (making 360 degrees). There are even symbols of a solar and lunar eclipse, which helped scholars date the zodiac!