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George S (Fx) 5th grade

 Hs there been any connection learned about the pyramids of egypt and the ancient sun god ra as to rather or not the pyramids were used to study the sun?

Dear George,

I can tell you what I do know about the pyramids near Cairo, and their relationship to stars. But I am not an expert on Egypt, so I am not aware of a solar connection, but perhaps someone else in this discussion Forum can chime in.  What I know is that the Great Pyramid has a shaft that was designed so that the star Sirius can shine down the shaft and illuminate the face of the buried Pharao. Isn't that amazing?

Isabel Hawkins

 Hi George,

I'm not an expert on this topic, but I think it is very interesting because I took a lot of anthropology courses in college.

The pyramids were built primarily to be the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs, so I don't think they were used to study the sun.  However, the sun god Ra and other gods that represented different aspects of the sun were very important to the ancient Egyptians.  There are archaeological sites in Egypt that may have been related to early observations of the motions of the sun and other objects in the sky.  An Egyptian "stonehenge" type structure can be found in a large basin known as Nabta Playa.  The temple at Abu Simbel had a special alignment with the sun to celebrate the birth and coronation of Rameses II.  The temple of the sun god Amon-Re at Karnak also appears to have special alignments with the sun at certain times of the year.  You can read more about these site here:

Nabta Playa - http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/locations/egypt_stone.htm

 Abu Simbel - http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/locations/abusimbel.htm

El Karnak - http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/locations/elkarnak.htm
 

Kris

George,

 The pyramids were primarily built as tombs for the Pharaohs and not to study the sun.  The cult of the Sun-God Ra began developing toward the end of the pyramid-building period (around 4th dynasty) and many temples were built to honor him.  Interestingly, worship of the God Osiris (death) was important in the 3rd dynasty, before Ra.  So one could say that the setting Sun (representing death) was more important to early Egyptians than the rising Sun (representing birth or re-birth).  

Mitzi