These reliefs are located on the circle that surrounds a compass rose on the Nevada side of the Hoover Dam access road.
Each relief depicts one of the signs of the zodiac.
Unfortunately there is no sign at the site indicating the artist, title or date.
Each sign of the Zodiac is associated with a different constellation.
For purposes of this Waymark, the example is the sign, Scorpio, which Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Scorpio ... is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac. It spans the 210-240th degree of the zodiac, between 207.25 and 234.75 degree of celestial longitude. Under the tropical zodiac, the sun transits this area on average between October 23 and November 22, and under the sidereal zodiac, the sun currently transits the constellation of Scorpius from approximately November 16 to December 15.
Associations
In Ancient Egypt, Scorpio was the equivalent of the Serpent. Serpents were worshiped by ancient Egyptians. In Egypt, not only are there serpents of the houses, but each quarter in Cairo had a serpent-guardian (Lane).
Before the discovery of Pluto in 1930, which is the true ruler of Scorpio, the surrogate planetary ruler of Scorpio was Mars, but modern astrologers tend to use Pluto as the sole ruler since the planet's general character and qualities are mainly compatible with Scorpio characteristics and attributes.
Mythology
According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, the giant huntsman Orion went away to the island of Crete to spend his time hunting in company with goddess Artemis and Leto. Orion threatened to kill every beast, which made the goddess of earth, Gaia, angry. To punish him for his arrogance, she sent against him a huge Scorpion which stung Orion to death. At the prayer of Artemis and Leto, Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods, put Orion and the Scorpion among the stars as a memorial of him and what had occurred."
As for the associated constellation, Scorpius, Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ... It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way...
Scorpius contains many bright stars, including Antares (a Sco), "rival of Mars," so named because of its distinct reddish hue; ß1 Sco (Graffias or Acrab), a triple star; d Sco (Dschubba, "the forehead"); ? Sco (Sargas, of unknown origin); ? Sco (Jabbah); ? Sco (Girtab, "the scorpion"); p Sco (Iclil); s Sco (Alniyat); and t Sco (also known as Alniyat, "the arteries").
Marking the tip of the scorpion's curved tail are ? Sco (Shaula) and ? Sco (Lesath), whose names both mean "sting." Given their proximity to one another, ? Sco and ? Sco are sometimes referred to as the Cat's Eyes.
Most of the bright stars are massive members of the nearest OB association: Scorpius-Centaurus. Its bright stars form a pattern like a longshoreman's hook.
The star d Sco, after having been a stable 2.3 magnitude star, flared in July 2000 to 1.9 in a matter of weeks. It has since become a variable star fluctuating between 2.0 and 1.6. This means that at its brightest it is the second brightest star in Scorpius.
U Scorpii is the fastest known nova with a period of about 10 years...
The star once designated ? Sco (despite being well within the boundaries of Libra) is today known as s Lib. Moreover, the entire constellation of Libra was considered to be claws of Scorpius (Chelae Scorpionis) in Ancient Greek times, with a set of scales held aloft by Astraea (represented by adjacent Virgo) being formed from these western-most stars during later Greek times. The division into Libra was formalised during Roman times."