| The ancient Egyptian civilization was one of the first | | | | * Saturn, known as Horus, bull of the sky |
| and greatest civilizations on the whole world..and the | | | | * Venus, known as god of the morning |
| fact that the ancient Egyptians had done many | | | | The ancient Egyptians had used astronomy for many |
| achievements which covered most sides of the | | | | different practical sides..and one of their best |
| human life, including the political and social | | | | achievements was setting the new year always to |
| improvements , as well, their advances in many | | | | coincide with the rising of Sirius in mid-July and the |
| scientific majors. Let's talk now about what they have | | | | annual flooding of the Nile. |
| achieved in the science of astronomy. | | | | Flooding was happening every year and at the same |
| The Egyptians were very interested in the stars and | | | | time. The ancient astronomers and priests, noticed that |
| constellations and they gave much care for that | | | | the flooding always occurred at the summer solstice, |
| exciting science. From the Middle Kingdom, | | | | which also just happened to be when the bright star |
| constellations were often depicted on coffins as star | | | | Sirius rose before the sun and so, they were able to |
| clocks, showing the length of time stars were visible or | | | | predict the annual flooding, a skill which in turn rendered |
| invisible. | | | | them considerable power. Then they divided the year |
| From the New Kingdom, ceilings of tombs and temples | | | | into twelve months of 30 day, followed by a five day |
| often displayed the constellation of stars. These | | | | feast period. |
| constellations were the same as the ones we see | | | | In addition to this,..the Egyptians used astronomy in |
| today, but represented differently. For example, Orion | | | | scheduling temple-building ceremonies, which relied on |
| was represented as a man turning his head and Ursa | | | | the visibility of the constellations we refer to now as |
| Major was represented as a bull's foreleg. From the | | | | the Great Bear and Orion... as well,..they could set the |
| Middle Kingdom, the Egyptians were able to recognize | | | | cardinal points for the orientation of the pyramids by |
| five planets, known as stars that know no rest, which | | | | observing the North Star. Finally, it is important to say |
| were often associated with Horus, the Egyptian god of | | | | that The stars were not used to predict the fate of |
| the sky: | | | | humans in Egypt until the Ptolemaic period when the |
| * Jupiter, known as Horus who limits the two lands | | | | Greeks introduced astrology. The most famous zodiac |
| * Mars, known as Horus the red | | | | in Egypt is on the ceiling at Denderah and dates to the |
| * Mercury, known as Sebegu (a god associated with | | | | first century AD. This zodiac displays all the familiar |
| Seth) | | | | zodiac signs, including Leo, Aries, and Taurus. |