The Pyramids Point the Way
When people think of Astronomy and Astronomical discovery, Egypt is not necessarily the first place to come to mind. However, Egypt is full of innovation regarding what we know as Astronomy as well as Astrology. The Egyptians did not merely look at the sky to admire the shining objects that appeared every evening. Instead, they analyzed the patterns emerging and the concepts of how and why behind them. They wondered what the purpose and the meaning of these beings were. In this article we are going to dive in to the ancient Egyptian thought process and what their beliefs revealed.
Individuals are most commonly familiar with the ancient Babylonian astrology signs. Beautiful symbols that have developed to influence
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Though, every morning as the sun rose the citizens believed this was the rebirth and immorality of the gods shining upon them, giving the people hope. Egyptians established different gods for each location of the sun. Around noon, the light was related to the god Ra due to the sun’s outstanding strength and brightness. Despite the attribution to the sun, gods were also believed to be the constellations, and astronomical bodies, which individuals studied in the atmosphere drifting above. The constellation Americans commonly describe as Orion, is referred to as Osiris, one of the gods of death and rebirth. Osiris was thought to be the creator of human civilization of the ancient world. Three stars create what people know as Orion’s belt. In ancient Egypt, these three starts seemed to have great significance. It was thought by the ancients that all the gods descended from the belt of Orion (or Osiris), appearing on land as regular humans. There are several theories that each star of the belt aligns precisely with the top of each great pyramids. Though pyramids were essentially built to remember the Pharaohs, and send them into the afterlife, pyramids also played a compelling role in Egyptian astronomy. Specifically, in the pyramid of Giza, the last of the seven wonders to still exist, the southernmost shafts are directed toward the god Sirius’ star, thus marking the start of a new year. Likewise, the northernmost side faces the circumpolar star which is said to represent the immortals because they never set. The main pyramid known as the pyramid of Giza points precisely toward the North. This technique was portrayed in the construction of the plethora of temples and pyramids built during the Egyptian
Amun-Re is often referred to as the most important and powerful god of Ancient Egypt. Amun-Re was the god of the sun. “Amun-Re is the main name of the sun god, but also has three different names in which describe the phases of life that Amun-Re goes through each day.”(Budge, Pg. 92) When examining the ancient Egyptian god Amun-Re, four main points must be understood, including: the origin of Amun-Re, the characteristics of Amun-Re, how Amun-Re was worshiped, and how Amun-Re impacted Egyptian life.
The surest foundation for the origin of science in its practical form is to be found in the ìco–rdination and standardization of the knowledge of common sense and of industry.î[1] One of the first occurrences of this co–rdination can be traced back to 2500 BCE in the form of edicts from the ancient Babylonian rulers, who issued royal standards of length, weight and capacity. Non-Semitic Sumerians also laid down the elements of mathematics and geometry at that time, making use of fractions, decimals, circles and radial angles. But knowledge as we know it today was tightly woven with magical notions, and as both spread westward they instilled in European thought a reverence for ìspecial numbers, their connections to the gods and the application of geometrical diagrams to the prediction of the future.î[2] As well, the ancient Babylonians were fascinated by the heavens. They were the first to make a map of the stars and associate them with animals like the Ram, Crab and Scorpion, names that we still use to this day. They also realized the periodicity and reliability of astronomical movement and phenomena, and were soon able to predict many of them. Tablets have been found dating to the sixth century BCE that predicted the relative positions of the sun and moon, as well as forecasted the occurrences of eclipses.[3] Out of all this knowledge the Babylonians built up a fantastic system of astrology, through which the starsówhich were thought to fix and foretell the course of human affairsówould give up their secrets.
The stars, moons, sun, and planets were the “gods”. They believed the Earth was the center of everything, and they believed some Maya dynasties descended from the sun and the moon. Temples were often built with astronomy in mind, aligned with the movements of planets, the sun, or the moon.
Greek mathematics began during the 6th century B.C.E. However, we do not know much about why people did mathematics during that time. There are no records of mathematicians’ thoughts about their work, their goals, or their methods (Hodgkin, 40). Regardless of the motivation for pursuing mathematical astronomy, we see some impressive mathematical books written by Hippocrates, Plato, Eudoxus, Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Hipparchus, Heron and Ptolemy. I will argue that Ptolemy was the most integral part of the history of Greek astronomy.
In their beliefs, the Egyptians formulated the specific concept of the mound of creation from the imagery of islands of high ground emerging from the annual Nile flood (Trigger, 4). The creation story of Seth, Osiris, and Isis centres the Nile as the birth of Egypt (White, 30). However, although the Nile has vastly affected the religion of the Egyptians, many of their gods were not inspired by the Nile. For instance, Horus, Shu, and Re were worshipped as the god of the sky, light, and sun respectively (Wilson, 222). These gods including many others reveal that the Egyptians created many deities based off of the forces of nature, in which there was a plentitude. Therefore, it can be positively insinuated that although the Nile was highly regarded in Egyptian religion since it was the birthplace of Egypt and its most important gods, however the Nile only shared a small portion in their religion as many other gods representing different powers were also worshipped. In their culture, the Nile has also influenced greatly. For example, the majority of pyramid construction took place at the period of high Nile, when the great blocks of stone could be floated from the quarries to a point near the pyramid plateau (Wilson, 84). Moreover, separation of land by the Nile lead to the ideology of dualism and balance, both of which can be found in art, literature, or mythology
Thesis statement: In this research, I will investigate the basic concepts of the Egyptian mythology and its gods.
Over thousands of years, the ancient Egyptian civilization been closely associated with religion, mythologists have considered itself one of the most important fundamentals of the Egyptian civilization, more than five thousand years, and the pillars of the establishment of the Egyptian state and standardization. However, I was always fascinated about the myths in the middle east, not because I was born in Iraq and grew up in an Assyrian family, it’s because the ancient Egyptians have contributed in adding many civilizational achievements to the world through the knowledge of their agriculture, stability, creating the first major central country in the region, and may be accompanied by the presence of major achievements in various fields in
Thesis:In Ancient Egypt the Moon has had many religious names and is both feared and worshiped.
One of the most interesting aspects of ancient Egypt is its religion. The depth of Egyptian thinking and rich imagination displayed in the creation of ideas and images of the gods and goddesses is beyond compare. On elaborating their beliefs, the Egyptians were working on the cosmic plane searching for an understanding of the most basic laws of the universe (Religion). The ancient Egyptians instilled their religion into every aspect of life including their art and architecture.
Ancient Egyptians were the first of many to study and observe astronomy. The people built their way of life around what they saw and what they discovered. Many of the first man made objects were based on celestial events such as the stone circles in Nabta Playa, Egypt. This stone circle was proof that the Ancient Egyptians had some type of calendar, which is currently the calendar we use today. It was based on the lunar cycle. It is a cycle of 12 months with three seasons of four months to balance with the Nile River. A 24-hour cycle was created and they used a sundial to tell the time. The Egyptians used the stars to tell their night time because certain stars appeared at certain times of the night. (1)
Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than the rough position of sun or nightly change of moon phase requires inventing both accurate observation tools (a stone circle, a gnomon used to indicate the sun's shadow, a means to measure the position of stars in the sky) and a system of recording that could be understood by others. The ancient Greeks struggled with these problems too, using both native technology and inquiry, and drawing upon the large body of observations and theories gradually gleaned from their older neighbors across the sea, Egypt and Babylonia. Gradually moving from a system of gods and divine powers ordering the world to a system of elements, mathematics, and physical laws, the Greeks slowly adapted old ideas to fit into a less supernatural, hyper-rational universe.
The long-lasting legacy of Greek astronomical traditions and their significant influence on the development of scientific ideas are highlighted by Ptolemy's influence. Beyond idle speculation, Greek astronomy had profound practical applications that influenced both ancient society and the course of scientific inquiry. Greek astronomers, exemplified by figures like Hipparchus, made significant advancements in observational methods during antiquity (Fraser, 1996). Hipparchus, renowned for his meticulous approach, created detailed star catalogs and devised methods to determine celestial positions with unprecedented accuracy. These catalogs served practical purposes in ancient society, proving indispensable for timekeeping, navigation across seas, and predicting crucial astronomical events such as eclipses, which held significant cultural and religious significance.
Cosmology is the study of the structure of the universe, and cosmogony is about the origin of the universe. Egyptian cosmology is established on consistent scientific and philosophical principles of the universe as a whole. In viewing the astronomical system of the Egyptians the question as to just what interpretation was placed upon it as regards the actual mechanical structure of the universe cannot be avoided. The entirety of the Egyptian civilizations was built upon an inclusive and specific understanding of universal laws that express the order and intent of the divine. The Sun and the Nile dominated the Egyptian worldview predominantly. The idea of godhood was flexible. Kings and noblemen could become gods. Even the common people could
"The Egyptian sun god Ra, considered the father of all pharaohs, was said to have created himself from a pyramid-shaped mound of earth before creating all other gods. The pyramid’s shape is thought to have symbolized the sun’s rays" (Donald B. Redford, Ph.D., Penn State).[2]
Astronomy dates back to ancient times when peoples such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese kept written records of astronomical events and occurrences. Today’s seven day week originates from the Babylonians’ seven important bodies in the night sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The ancient Egyptians used the stars to align their pyramids and many of their corridors in almost perfect north-south or east-west directions. The Chinese were experts at predicting solar eclipses. They believed that a solar eclipse was a dangerous warning. Chinese astronomers were executed if they failed to predict an eclipse.