Ancient Egyptian astronomy in tomb scene, illustration. This scene is from the ceiling of a tomb dating from the second millennium BC in Ancient Egypt. The figures represent constellations or protective deities, and the columns of text across top list planets and stars known as the decans. The twelve circles in the lower part, each divided into twenty-four segments for the hours of the day and night, are labelled with the names of the months of the year. This scene from the tomb of Senenmut (TT 353) dates from the New Kingdom (Dynasty 18), in the period from around 1479 to 1458 BC. Senenmut was a high official in the court of Hatshepsut, Egypt's most successful female pharaoh. His tomb is in Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, Upper Egypt. This illustration (tempera on paper) was produced by Egyptologist Charles K. Wilkinson (1897-1986) on an expedition for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.