Il zodiaco di Dendara illustrato

[Testa, Domenico (1746-1852).] Il zodiaco di Dendara illustrato. [8], xvii, 62pp. Folding plate. Genoa: Tipografia Ponthenier, 1822. 202 x 121 mm. (uncut and largely unopened). Original plain blue wrappers, upper third of spine splitting, minor spotting. Small lacuna in upper right corner of title, but very good to fine.

First Edition. An illustrated description of the Dendara Zodiac, an Egyptian bas-relief that originally formed part of the ceiling of a temple dedicated to Osiris in Egypt's Dendera temple complex. The circular sculpture, now in the Louvre, depicts the constellations of the zodiac, some in their familiar Greco-Roman representations and others in a more Egyptian form. It also shows the five planets known to the Egyptians in a configuration identified as having occurred in the summer of 50 BCE, together with depictions of the lunar eclipse of 25 September 52 BCE and the solar eclipse of 7 March 51 BCE. This evidence has enabled modern astrophysicists to date the Dendara Zodiac to between 15 June and 15 August BCE; however, the Zodiac's age was a source of controversy in the 19th century, with estimates ranging from 2500 BCE to 147 CE.