Through ancient Egyptian texts, the author shows that the solar gods of ancient Egypt were all inspired by solar eclipse phenomena. The author argues that:

• The Sun god Atum is the eclipsed Sun passing the second contact of a total eclipse.
• Re is the eclipsed Sun shining past the third contact as the Diamond Ring effect.
• The scarab Khepri was a representation of the dark New Moon.
• The hawk Horakhty is the Sun through totality.
• The Great Sphinx was the Egyptian 'Lord of Solar Eclipses'.
• Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of solar eclipses.
• The God Aten of the Amarna Revolution is the shadow bands phenomenon.

THE ISLAND OF CREATION

I have demonstrated earlier that the Egyptian hieroglyph 'akhet' stands for 'solar eclipse', not 'horizon'. Thus, the term "Akhet net Pet", which has been misinterpreted as 'Horizon of Heaven', means 'solar eclipse' instead. The term akhet which has been misinterpreted as 'horizon', thus means either 'solar
eclipse', temple, pyramid, or tomb, depending on the text in which it occurs. In the coming texts, please replace "the Horizon of Heaven" and "Horizon" by 'eclipse'. If you have not read my work yet, I recommend to have a look at my studies:

1.Aymen Ibrahem, Egyptian Cosmology, Part VII, Karnak the Horizon of Heaven, 2000. It is available on the web at:  http://members.aol.com/KCStarguy/blacksun/egyptianeclipse.htm
2.Egyptian Cosmology, Part II, The Heliopolitan Cosmogony, a Revised Edition, at the Egypt News Bulletin Board of guardians Egypt at: www.guardians.net/
3.Eclipses in Ancient Egypt, Part IV, Observations, at the Forum of Akhet Egyptology at: www.akhe.co.uk/index.htm

It is this enlightenment that has enabled me to crack most of ancient Egypt's top riddles, including the topic of this study - the solar gods of ancient Egypt. This revolutionary concept of "akhet" will even alter our traditional conception of the Egyptian pantheon.

Now Akhet, the island of creation, is the dark New Moon. The Sun was believed to have been born in a solar eclipse. In most text books on Egyptology we find the following definitions of the solar gods: Khepri was the rising Sun, Re was the Sun at noon, Atum was the setting Sun, and Horakhty was the Sun on the horizon. I believe this is principally not accurate!

If the definitions of the Egyptian solar gods are so distinct, why there are such mergers of the gods as: Atum-Horakhty, Re-Horakhty, and Re-Atum-Khepri?! That is, Re-Horakhty, would be together the Sun at noon and on the horizon, i.e., two different manifestations at once.

Now, according to my interpretation of the hieroglyph akhet, Horakhty is literally the eclipsed Sun! And, I rather find that, in a total solar eclipse, the four aspects of the Sun are observed simultaneously:

     1. Atum: a Sun setting in the sky on the eastern limb of the New Moon.
     2. Horakhty: a Sun dwelling in the Akhet the shrine of heaven (behind the New Moon).
     3. Khepri: a divine, winged scarab (the New Moon winged with the solar corona).
     4. Re: a fierce, brilliant, newly born Sun, the Diamond Ring.

Thus, in a total solar eclipse, four Suns are observed: setting, dwelling, transforming, and rising. And, needless to say, the solar eclipse is an awesome, inspiring phenomenon, even in modern times. Its influence is far more powerful than the daily sunrise and sunset, which must have certainly affected the mythologies of the gods. Sunrise and sunset must have represented only prominent aspects of the universal order to the ancient Egyptians. On the other hand, they regarded the solar eclipse an abrupt catastrophe, as I have shown in earlier studies.

I am pleased and honored that I am the first astronomer to discover ancient Egyptian solar eclipse records. I have actually extracted quite many. I have shown that the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead, hold records of the voices of ancient Egyptian priests praising the Sun shining past totality. Through those texts, I believe I have found explicit definitions of the solar gods of ancient Egypt as eclipse phenomena.

PERFECT ATUM

I believe the following text defines Atum as the eclipsed Sun:

                              Hail to you, lord over eternity,
                                    Atum great forever,
                           You have joined the Horizon of the Sky,

(Source: J. Foster, Hymns, Prayers, and Songs, p. 42, Scholars Press, 1995.)

Thus, according to my interpretation of the "Horizon of Heaven", the text describes a graceful moment: the Sun is passing the second contact, disappearing in the sky, and totality begins . . . Now the Primeval Ocean Nun prevails . . . To the ancient Egyptians this was Dooms Day, the end of a Universe . . . Atum, the old Sun god, has completed his mission.

A CHARMING, DAZZLING BABY!

However, totality is quite brief, lasting only a few minutes . . . Out of the waters of the abyssal Nun, Re shines as a pyramidion of dazzling light (the Diamond Ring) on the Primeval Hill (the western lunar limb). The Universe is born anew with the birth of Re, a charming, divine child beaming his rays to give life to the world! The following texts illustrate my ideas:

              Worship of Re when he rises from the Eastern Horizon of the Sky

(Source: J. Foster, Hymns, Prayers, and Songs, p. 85, Scholars Press, 1995.)

My interpretation of the text is that it describes the appearance of the Sun after the third contact. The "eastern horizon of the sky" is certainly the western lunar limb.

Another text, I believe, shows the Sun is reborn as the divine Child Re after totality:

                              Thou risest in heaven's horizon,
                   and thy disk is adored when it resteth upon the mountain
                                 to give life unto the world.
               Thou risest, thou risest, and thou comest forth from the god Nun.
                                Thou dost renew thy youth,
                and thou dost set thyself in the place where thou wast yesterday.
           O thou divine child. who didst create thyself, I am unable [to describe] thee.

(Source: W. Budge, The Egyptian Religion, p. 148, University Books, NY, 1959.)

A text from the Papyrus of Nekht states that the Sun recreates her youth after the eclipse:

                          Gleaming from the Horizon of the Sky,
                          you suffuse the Two Lands with turquoise.
                            This is Re-Horakhty the divine youth,
                                     Heir of Eternity,
                             who begot himself and bore himself.

(Source: J. Foster, Hymns, Prayers, and Songs, p. 87, Scholars Press, 1995.)

A text from the Tomb of Kheruf praises the beauty of the Divine Child:

                      How beautiful you are on the Horizon of Heaven,
                       and the Two Lands are suffused with turquoise!
                    This is Re-Horakhty, the Divine Child, Heir of Eternity.

(Source: J. Foster, Hymns, Prayers, and Songs, p. 46, Scholars Press, 1995.)

When the Sun is "on the Horizon of Heaven", it is certainly the Diamond Ring. It is clear from the hymn that Kheruf was fascinated by the appearance of the Diamond Ring.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The two venerated Suns, Atum and Re, were inspired by solar eclipse phenomena. Atum is the eclipsed Sun passing through the second contact, a Sun that has completed her mission. Re is the Diamond Ring whose primal manifestation was the Benben (the Diamond Ring), the most sacred cult image in ancient Egypt, shining on the Primeval Hill (the western lunar limb). The Sun dies as Atum and is reborn as Re. From the texts, it stems out clearly that Nun, the Father of all gods, was the darkness of totality.

Dr Eric Flescher (KCStarguy@aol.com) has kindly established an archive, which includes many of the author's work, at his website at:

                http://members.aol.com/KCStarguy/blacksun/egyptianeclipse.htm

Also, more of my studies are available at [please have a look at each]:

www.infis.org/aymenibr.htm
www.jas.org.jo/article.html
www.vhs.gilching.de/phorum/
www.eclipse-chasers.com/egypt1.htm
www.eclipse-chasers.com/egypt2.htm
www.eclipse-chasers.com/egypt3.htm
www.eclipse-chasers.com/egypt4.htm
www.eclipse-chasers.com/egypt5.htm
www.eclipse-chasers.com/akhet.html

The archives (on the web) of the Solar Eclipse Mailing List at:

www.hydra.carleton.ca/pipermail/eclipse/
www.akhet.co.uk/index.htm

Guardian's 'Discuss Egypt' under the topic 'Egypt News' at: www.guardians.net/

REFERENCES

     1. Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, The AUS Press, 1997.
     2. Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson, The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, p. 43,  The AUC Press, 1995.
     3. Snow, The Dynamic Universe, West Publishing Co., 1985.
     4. Margaret Bunson, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 1991.
     5. J. P. Arnold, Night Sky Photography, George, Phillip, 1988.