The Hidden Role Of The Milky Way In Ancient Egyptian Mythology
April 11, 2024 University of Portsmouth
Image shows the sky goddess Nut, covered in stars, is held aloft by her father, Shu, and is arched over Geb, her brother the Earth god. On the left, the rising sun (the falcon-headed god Re) sails up Nut’s legs. On the right, the setting sun sails down her arms towards the outstretched arms of Osiris, who will regenerate the sun in the netherworld during the night.
Ancient Egyptians were known for their religious beliefs and astronomical knowledge of the Sun, Moon, and planets, but up until now it has been unclear what role the Milky Way played in Egyptian religion and culture.
A new study by a University of Portsmouth astrophysicist sheds light on the relationship between the Milky Way and the Egyptian sky-goddess Nut.
Nut is goddess of the sky, who is often depicted as a star-studded woman arched over her brother, the earth god Geb. She protects the earth from being flooded by the encroaching waters of the void, and plays a key role in the solar cycle, swallowing the Sun as it sets at dusk and giving birth to it once more as it rises at dawn.
The paper draws on ancient Egyptian texts and simulations to argue that the Milky Way might have shone a spotlight, as it were, on Nut’s role as the sky. It proposes that in winter, the Milky Way highlighted Nut’s outstretched arms, while in summer, it traced her backbone across the heavens.
More:
https://scienceblog.com/543668/the-hidden-role-of-the-milky-way-in-ancient-egyptian-mythology/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Absolutely mind-boggling!
I did see that PBS program, and it's available on YouTube. I posted that link in the Latin America forum a night ago, or so.
Thank you, so much, rampartc. We're all learning together, for sure! 
View of the Milky Way galaxy from Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania. (© Ridall Photography - stock.adobe.com)
APRIL 11, 2024
by Study Finds Editor
Cultures around the world have long projected myths and legends onto the night sky, imagining gods and spirits, heroes and beasts. Now, a new study suggests that for the ancient Egyptians, a key figure of their cosmos – the sky goddess Nut – may have been linked to the most prominent feature of the night sky: our own galaxy the Milky Way.
In Egyptian mythology, Nut (pronounced “noot”) was a central deity, the goddess of the sky itself. She was often depicted as a woman arched over the earth, her body covered in stars. The Sun god Ra was said to travel across her body each day, disappearing into her mouth at sunset and emerging again, reborn, at dawn from between her legs.
But while Egyptologists have long known of Nut’s symbolic connection to the sky, her specific link to astronomical features was less clear. Was she just a figurative representation, or did the Egyptians tie her to something they could actually observe?
That’s the question that Dr. Or Graur, an astrophysics professor at the University of Portsmouth, set out to investigate. Using advanced astronomical software, he simulated what the night sky would have looked like in ancient Egypt during different eras and seasons. Then, he compared those views to descriptions of Nut found in key Egyptian texts. His paper is published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.
More:
https://studyfinds.org/milky-ways-mystical-role-in-ancient-egyptian-beliefs-explained-by-astrophysicist/
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array
Atacama Desert Chile
