Summary

The idea of making up an astro-egyptological database comes from the project of forming an international team of researchers into Astronomy and Egyptology, willing to study together the astronomical orientation of such monument, the astronomical content of some painting or writing dating from ancient Egypt. Within this dossier are already described different types of vestiges (the Nabta megaliths, the Old Kingdom pyramids, the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, the sarcophagus of Idy, the southern ceiling of the tomb of Senenmut at Deir el-Bahari, the Karnak water clock, the northern ceiling of the tomb of Seti I at Western Thebes, the el-Lahun papyrus and the Ebers calendar, the Book of Nut, the temple of Isis at Dendara and the round Dendara zodiac), whose study tells us about the shape and the name of the constellations filling the sky of ancient Egypt, the symbolism associated with the rising of the Sun, the principle of working of the stellar clocks and water clocks, the way the ancient Egyptians described the creation of the world ; more generally, their knowledge of the celestial vault, of the celestial rhythms, of the successive solar and stellar cycles, of the slow changes in the celestial vault accross the millenia. This dossier is not a general introduction to ancient Egyptian Astronomy : it reveals the results obtained by applying modern methods (conceiving of numerical models, probabilistic approach) to ancient Egyptian problematics. As our knowledge increases, new problematics will therefore enrich this dossier.

Author

Karine Gadré, Culture Diff' company-head.
Dates of first publication and successive updates : april 2006 / september 2006
This dossier was first published in the form of a calendar entitled "De Atoum à Hubble : voyage dans le cosmos entre passé et présent", then the topic of a lecture on the 9th december 2005 at Rieumes, Haute-Garonne (31), France.

Access to the content

This dossier is made up of 25 pages and 20 illustrations. An interactive menu, a chronological space, a search by theme and by keywords are otherwise available. To access its content and check these functionalities, simply click on the upper menu.

Exlusively at Culture Diff'

From now on, each Egyptian term is written in the hieroglyphic and transliterated forms. In order to benefit from this improvement, simply download the related fonts then copy them in your file entitled True Type Fonts.

Further information

(AstroEgypto) Forming an international team of researchers into Astro-Egyptology
(AstroEgypto) Astro-Egyptology : a new research area involving both Astronomers and Egyptologists
(AstroEgypto) The astronomical orientation of the pyramids of Egypt
(AstroEgypto) The sky of ancient Egypt : stellar clocks, water clocks and astronomical ceilings
(AstroEgypto) The rising of the Sun in ancient Egypt : a daily recreation
(AstroEgypto) The heliacal rising of Sirius in ancient Egypt : a source of historical dating
(AstroEgypto) The round Dendara zodiac. The temples of Isis and Hathor
(AstroEgypto) The creation of the world : ancient Egyptian myths and scientific reality
(AstroSoftware) Software determining the days of heliacal setting and rising of any star visible with the naked eye
(AstroSoftware) Software determining the astronomical source of orientation of any monument
(Egyptian Gallery) Ancient Egypt "Room"

Bibliography

Gadré Karine, "Le ciel de l'Egypte ancienne : horloges stellaires, clepsydres et plafonds astronomiques", Culture Diff', 2006.
Gadré, Karine, "La création du monde : mythes égyptiens et réalité scientifique", Culture Diff', 2004.
Gadré, Karine, "Le zodiaque circulaire de Dendérah. Les temples d'Isis et d'Hathor", Culture Diff', 2004.
Gadré, Karine, "Les pyramides d'Egypte : la chronologie de leur édification, leur architecture interne et externe, leur orientation astronomique", Culture Diff', 2003.
Gadré, Karine, "Logiciel de détermination de la source astronomique d'orientation de tout édifice", Culture Diff', 2003.
Gadré, Karine, "Le lever héliaque de Sirius, source de datation historique", Cahiers Caribéens d'Egyptologie n°6 et Culture Diff', 2003.
Gadré, Karine, "Logiciel de détermination de la date de lever héliaque d'une étoile", Culture Diff', 2003.
Gadré, Karine, "Le lever du Soleil sur la Terre d'Egypte : une recréation au quotidien, African Skies/Cieux Africains n°6 et Culture Diff', 2001.
Malville J. McKim, Wendorf Fred, Mazar Ali A, Schild Romauld, "Megaliths and Neolithic Astronomy in southern Egypt", Nature Volume 392, april 1998, pages 488-491.