In Chapter XVIII. I have shown that one of the temples, and possibly a series of them, at Thebes were directed to γ Draconis. It is interesting, then, to carry the inquiry further. It may possibly explain how it is that we get a definite statement about the _āk_ of the Great Bear in one case and a certain sure orientation to γ Draconis in the other. In the first place, it has to be borne in mind that when a star is circumpolar--that is, never sets--no temple can be directed to its rising. Now, accepting the _āk_ as the brightest star (and as I stated in Chapter XVII., it might, indeed, have been the central one as well in the old constellation, for we do not know its limits), we have to deal with the facts concerning α Ursæ Majoris, called by the Arabians Dubhe. The latitude of Denderah is a little over 20° N., therefore all stars with a less polar distance than that--or, to put it another way, all stars with a declination greater than (90°-26° = 64°. N.)--will be circumpolar. Now, the declination of Dubhe was greater than 64° between 4000 B.C. and 1500 A.D. (I neglect refractions and hills); hence, if there is any truth in the statements made in the building ceremonials, the temple could not have been founded between those dates. But what are the records concerning this temple? We know that the structure as we see it was built in the time of the last Ptolemies and the first Roman emperors, and I have already shown that at those dates the Great Bear (the old Thigh) did not rise at all, as it was circumpolar. It is also known that there was a temple here in the time of Thothmes III., and even earlier, going back to the earliest times of Egyptian history. King Pepi, of the Sixth Dynasty (_circ._ 3233 B.C.), is portrayed over and over again in the crypts. Even this is not all the evidence in favour of a high antiquity. In one of the crypts (No. 9), according to Ebers and Dümichen, there are two references to the earliest plans of the temple. One inscription states that the great ground-plan (_Senti_) of Ant (Denderah) was found in old writing on parchments of the time of the followers of Horus (sun-worshippers) preserved in the walls of the temple during the reign of King Pepi. Another inscription goes further, referring to the restoration by Thothmes III. (_circ._ 1600 B.C.) of the temple to the state in which it was found described in old writings of the time of the King Chufu (Cheops) of the Fourth Dynasty (_circ._ 3733 B.C.). If any faith is to be placed in this inscription, it seems to me to suggest a still higher antiquity. There would have been more reason for describing an antique shrine than a brand new one. Still another inscription runs:--