Solar Week - Ask a Question



Come here during Solar Week (next one: March 22-26, 2021) to interact. To post a question, click on your area of interest from the topics below, and then click on the "Ask New Question" button. Or EMAIL or tweet or plant in Answer Garden your question about the Sun or life as a scientist to us -- and watch for it to appear here.  You can also visit our FAQs (frequently asked questions). In between Solar Weeks in October and March, you can view all the archives here.

PrevPrev Go to previous topic
NextNext Go to next topic
Last Post 3/21/2008 8:44 AM by  Kris Sigsbee
ancient sites
 2 Replies
Sort:
You are not authorized to post a reply.
Author Messages

Anonymous





Posts:


--
3/20/2008 9:49 AM

    Hi,

    Have the egyptian pyramids been linked to any solar obseravtions, or in connection with other sites outside of egypt?


    David Alexander



    New Member


    Posts:50
    New Member


    --
    3/20/2008 9:58 AM

    I am not entirely sure how much the pyramids had to do with solar observations or sun worship but many of the pyramids lie along the path of solar eclipses. One of the most powerful Egyptian gods was Ra the Sun god, of course, so the Sun was very important to them. Horus and Atum were also different names for the Sun the first associated with sunrise and the other with the evening Sun.

    David


    Kris Sigsbee



    Basic Member


    Posts:415
    Basic Member


    --
    3/21/2008 8:44 AM

    Hello,

    I'm not an expert on this topic, but I think it is very interesting because I took a lot of anthropology courses in college.

    The pyramids were built primarily to be the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs, so I don't think they were used to study the sun or other objects in the sky. However, as David pointed out, the sun god Ra and other gods that represented different aspects of the sun were very important to the ancient Egyptians. There are other archaeological sites in Egypt that may have been related to early observations of the motions of the sun and other objects in the sky. An Egyptian "stonehenge" type structure can be found in a large basin known as Nabta Playa. The temple at Abu Simbel had a special alignment with the sun to celebrate the birth and coronation of Rameses II. The temple of the sun god Amon-Re at Karnak also appears to have special alignments with the sun at certain times of the year. You can read more about these site here:

    Nabta Playa - http://sunearthday.nasa.g...ions/egypt_stone.htm

    Abu Simbel - http://sunearthday.nasa.g...ations/abusimbel.htm

    El Karnak - http://sunearthday.nasa.g...cations/elkarnak.htm

    Kris

    You are not authorized to post a reply.


    Twitter Feed

    Scientist Leaderboard

    Name # of replies
    Multiverse skin is based on Greytness by Adammer