aymoib@mailer.scu.eun.eg
ABSTRACT1. The author shows that the Hermopolitan cosmogony was inspired by a most spectacular natural phenomenon: the total eclipse the Sun.
2. The author provides evidence that the ancient Egyptian astronomers observed the transits of Venus and Mercury and naked-eye sunspots, and interpreted them as the 'nostrils of Re'.
SUMMARY
The creation myths in ancient Egypt were variant, plentiful, and
fascinating! The main cosmogonies were those of Heliopolis, Hermopolis,
Thebes, and Memphis. Each town had its own legend, and sometimes more
thanone version of the legend. The creation myths played an essential rule
in the religious and politic life in ancient Egypt.The Egyptian Cosmogonies, though plentiful, I believe they all had
been inspired by a most spectacular natural phenomenon: the total eclipse
of the Sun. Under the title Egyptian Cosmology, I recently wrote a study
of three parts. In this part we shall focus on the Hermopolitan
cosmogony.There are four different versions of the Hermopolitan cosmogony.
Below I present the legends, with my own interpretations between
brackets.1. The Cosmic Egg
In this version of the Hermopolitan cosmogony, a celestial goose
(the solar corona) lied a dark egg (the dark New Moon). The bird oflight,
Re (the Sun), burst out from the egg (the Sun emerged from behind the
darkdisc of the Moon). Re then created the world.2. The Ibis
In a similar version, the celestial goose was replaced by anibis.
The ibis (the solar corona), laid the Cosmic Egg. Re, the creator of the
world emreged from this egg.3. The Cosmic Flower
This version is so poetic! A Lotus flower (the solar corona),
emerged out from the primeval ocean Nun (the dark sky). The Cosmic
Flowercontained the divine child Re (the Sun). A stron beam of light (the
diamond ring effect, or Baily's Beads seen close to totality) caused
the petals to open. Re cast his brilliant rays (the Sun reappeared after
the totality).4. The Scarab Beatle
The Lotus flower (the solar corona) opened its petals to reveal a
scarab beatle (the dark New Moon). The scarab then transformed itself
into the divine child Re (the Sun's reappearance from behind the Moon's
disc).The Egyptologists intelligently had thought that the connection
between the Lotus flower and the Sun is that the Lotus flower opens in
the day and closes in the night. I am not totaly convinced . . . All
flowers open in the morning and close by night! I rather believe that
the shape of the solar corona in some ancient total eclipse visible in
Hermopolis could have been the source of inspiration.While the Egyptologists made the intelligent guess that the
presence of the primeval ocean, Nun, was an influence of the Flood of
the Nile, I cannot conceive that it is the only natural phenomenon that was
involved in the making of the creation myths. I rather tend to add the
solar and lunar eclipses. Probably, the solar eclipses can sololey
interpret the cosmogonies.
(The influence of the lunar eclipses is evident in the legend of Horus
and Set.)THE NOSTRILS OF THE SUN?
Does the Sun have nostrils? Certainly not! However, in a hymn to
Re, these nostrils were mentioned:
"The Land of Pont is stablished [to give] the perfumes which
thou smellest with thy nostrils."(Source: W. Budge, Egyptian Religion, p. 147, University Books, NY,
1959)I believe that some natural sight might have inspired the ancient Egyptian
to believe the Sun to have nostrils? There are three wonderful phenomena
that occur on the disc of the Sun, and could have been envisioned as
nostrils of the Sun . . .The first phenomenon is the naked-eye visibility of sunspots.
Around the maximum of the 11-year sunspot cycle, some spots may grow
large enough to be visible to the unaided eye. A naked-eye, bipolar group
would seem quite as if it were nostrils of the Sun.The other two phenomena are the transits of the inferior
planets, Venus and Mercury across the disc of the Sun. When such transits occur,
a planet seems like a little black dot crossing the solar disc slowley.
Possibly this phenomenon was seen by the ancient Egyptians as nostrils
of the Sun. The above phenomena are easily observable when they occur near
sunrise or sunset. The Sun's rays are weak during these times, allowing
watching the Sun easily, and more safely than in the day.ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TRANSIT RECORDS
The 'nostrils of Re' are a clear evidence that the genius
ancient Egyptian astronomers observed the transits of Venus and Mercury, and
recorded naked-eye sunspots.THE MONUMENTS OF KING TUT
In 1923, archaeologist Howard Carter made the historic discovery
of the undsiturbed tomb of King Tutankhamun (1340-1331 BC). The golden
monuments occupy a whole vast hall of the Cairo Museum. Two pieces are
of special interest to this study! One piece depicts King Tut in the form
of a Lotus flower. The other is a bed shaped in the form of the primordial
cow Mehet, a celestial goddess which carried the child Re to the
'Horizon of Heaven' (eclipse). (The author has shown in earlier studies that the
terms 'Horizon of Heaven' and 'Horizon of God' mentioned frequently in
the Egyptian texts, mean 'eclipse'.) This is an explicit statement that
the ancient Egyptian envisioned the Sun to have been borne through a
solar eclipse. It seems true that also the solar eclipses intuited the belief
in resurrection and life after death, and represented some meaning of
death.This is the subject of another study.
Aymen Ibrahem
Copy rights: Aymen Ibrahem, 2000.