The dawn of astronomy / A study of the temple-worship and mythology of the ancient Egyptians

Chapter 2: THE DAWN OF ASTRONOMY

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

Combines field measurements of temple axes, study of inscriptions, and astronomical reasoning to argue that many Egyptian temple orientations reflect solar and stellar phenomena; it links building alignments to festival timings, cult divinities, and ritual practice. The narrative surveys temple plans and mythic motifs, compares orientations with celestial events, and explains methods for using such evidence to infer ritual calendars and relative chronology. Technical analysis and descriptive chapters are interwoven to show how observations of the sky informed architectural design, ceremonial use, and the symbolic language of temple worship.

THE
DAWN OF ASTRONOMY

A STUDY OF
THE TEMPLE-WORSHIP AND MYTHOLOGY
OF THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

BY
J. NORMAN LOCKYER

Fellow of the Royal Society; Correspondent of the Institute of France, the Society for the Promotion
of National Industry of France, the Royal Academy of Science, Göttingen, La Società degli
Spettroscopisti Italiani, the Royal Academy of Palermo,
Natural History Society of Genera, the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia,
and the Royal Medical Society of Brussels;
Member of the Royal Academy of Lincei, Rome, and the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia;
Honorary Member of the Academy of Natural Science of Catania, Literary and Philosophical
Society of Manchester, Philosophical Society of York, and Lehigh University;
Member of the Committee on Solar Physics, and Professor of Astronomical Physics in
the Royal College of Science