Hans: “As does other stars I suspect”


A few stars crossed the same area of the sky as the 3-star asterism in Orion, but its not known if any of these other stars played an important role in the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs as Orion did. One of these stars has an interesting connection with Orion. Epsilon Scorpii, in the scorpion constellation reached a similar altitude due south as Alnilam, the middle star in Orion’s belt during the reign of Khufu. When Alnilam was setting over the south western horizon, Epsilon Scorpio was simultaneously rising over the south eastern horizon. The ancient Greeks noticed this phenomena and incorporated it into their astral mythology concerning Orion, but its not known if it was significant to the ancient Egyptians. The scorpion goddess Selket (srqt, ‘She Who Aspirates Throats’) was a protective deity guarding the deceased king. In the PTs, the king is an Imperishable Star, son of the great sky that is in the midst of Selket’s enclosure. The earliest depictions of Selket on the astronomical ceilings, show Selket close to the Big Dipper asterism in the northern sky that makes it unlikely the scorpion constellation was the ancient Egyptian Selket.

So we are left with Orion. The general consensus among Egyptologists is that the large distinctive star pattern known as Orion was personified or associated with the god Sah. According to the earliest PTs, Sah was the ‘father of the gods’ who legitimised the king’s status in the sky as a great power, which makes a link between Khufu’s Akhet and Sah / Orion relevant in the context of their afterlife beliefs. Sah / Orion also gave his hand to the king when he ascended to the sky as did Sopdet / Sirius, the brightest star in their sky. The brothers of Sirius were the Sun and Orion.

The upper northern shaft is linked to their Pole Star Thuban, around which the northern Imperishable Stars circled. The ancient Egyptians aspired to become Akh - the place of becoming Akh was the Akhet, and the PTs inform us the northern Imperishable Stars were Akhs, and so a link between Khufu’s Akhet and the northern Imperishable Stars is understandable in the context of their afterlife beliefs.

Chris