Byrd: “Orion doesn't rise in the same position in the night sky throughout the year... just as the sun doesn't rise in the same place throughout the year.”

Orion always rose over the same area of the eastern horizon throughout the year during Khufu’s reign. The sun on the other hand rose over the north eastern horizon in the summer, due east at the spring and autumn equinoxes, and over the south eastern horizon during the winter months. The Sun and Orion were brothers. Alnilam, the middle star in ‘Orion’s belt’ at the centre of the Orion constellation, rose about 18° south of east, and reached an altitude of about 45° at its highest point due south, before it set about 18° south of west.

Twice a year the Sun synchronized with the rising and setting of ‘Orion’s belt’, and with its highest point in the sky due south. The Sun aligned with the upper south shaft connected to Khufu’s sarcophagus chamber twice a year, but ‘Orion’s belt’ aligned with the upper south shaft every 24 hours throughout the year (visible with the naked eye for about 6 months).

During Khufu’s reign, the Sun and Orion synchronised in the 4th month of ‘Inundation’ (Axt) and the 3rd month of ‘Emergence’ (prt, lit. ‘growing).

Chris