Astronomical orientations were important to the people of ancient Egypt who were regular sky observers. Monuments were built to have a certain astronomical orientation (Egyptian Astronomy Facts). During the Ptolemaic period, scientists reached solid conclusions on the earth’s rotation around the sun and the approximate geo sphere of the planet. At 1100 BC, Amenhotep created a catalog of the universe in which only five constellations are recognized.

Ancient Egyptian Astronomy Facts

We know that Egyptians had a polytheistic religion. It is interesting to note that certain gods were seen in the constellations, and others were represented by actual astronomical bodies. The constellation Orion, for instance, represented Osiris, who was the god of death, rebirth, and the afterlife.

 

 

Facts of Egyptian Astronomy

The Milky Way represented the sky goddess Nut giving birth to the sun god Ra. The stars in Egyptian mythology were represented by the goddess of writing, Seshat, while the Moon was either Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing, or Khons, a child moon god.

Flooding

Flooding of river Nile was predicted by the priests who realized that flooding always occurred at the summer solstice which was also when the bright star Sirius rose before the Sun. Therefore, the three seasons; the flooding season, the growing season and the harvesting season were based on astronomy. These seasons were divided into four lunar months.

Astronomers later found many connections between the Orion constellation and the way ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids. For example, Orion’s “belt” of three stars in the middle matches the arrangement of the three Pyramids on the Giza Strip.

Construction was based in relation to stars, the stars, zodiac, and constellations. Pyramids are aligned very accurately, the eastern and western sides run almost due north and the southern and northern sides run almost due west.

Pyramids

The pyramids were probably originally aligned by finding north or south, and then using the midpoint as east or west. This is because it is possible to find north and south by watching stars rise and set. They were also in accordance with the star B Scorpii’s rising direction. The temple of Amun-Re at Karnak was aligned on the rising of the midwinter sun.

Egyptian Astronomy played a considerable part in religious matters for fixing the dates of festivals and determining the hours of the night. The titles of several temple books are preserved recording the movements and phases of the sun, moon, and stars.